The role of female directors in promoting CSR practices: An international comparison between family and non‐family businesses

This article analyzes a panel of 550 international firms, for the period 2004 to 2010, to compare the role of female directors in family and non‐family firms in promoting responsible practices. Many studies have associated the presence of women on the board with a higher degree of socially responsible commitment. However, we found that this is much less so in family firms than in non‐family firms. In family firms, corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment does not vary significantly with the presence of female directors, as the latter tend to behave in accordance with the family orientation toward CSR. This orientation depends on the stakeholders being addressed, with greater social responsibility shown toward external stakeholders than internal ones.     

New Moralities for New Media? Assessing the Role of Social Media in Acts of Terror and Providing Points of Deliberation for Business Ethics

Social media offers a platform for diffused stakeholders to interact with firms—alternatively praising, questioning, and chastising businesses for their CSR performance and seeking to engage in two-way dialogue. In 2014, 163,402 public messages were sent to Fortune 200 firms’ CSR-focused Twitter accounts, each of which was either shared, replied to, “liked,” or ignored by the targeted firm. This paper examines firm reactions to these messages, building a model of firm response to stakeholders that combines the notions of CSR communication and stakeholder salience. Our findings show that firm response to a stakeholder on social media is positively and most significantly associated with what we refer to as the stakeholder’s connective power but negatively associated with the firm’s own connective power. To a lesser extent, firm response is positively associated with the stakeholder’s normative power but negatively associated with the firm’s own normative power. Firm response is also shown to be positively associated with stakeholder urgency in terms of both the originality of a stakeholder message and the expression of positive sentiment.

     

When Organizational Justice Matters for Affective Merger Commitment

We investigate when organizational justice matters to employees’ commitment in the postacquisition process after a company is taken over in a cross‐border acquisition. Overwhelming evidence from the literature suggests that employees who are treated fairly during acquisitions are more committed to their new firms. We extend this finding by dividing organizational justice into three subdimensions: informational justice, interpersonal justice, and procedural justice. We find evidence that procedural justice is an important antecedent of affective merger commitment at an early stage of the integration period, while informational justice becomes important at a later stage. Further analysis on heterogeneity between the target firm's employees and the bidder firm's employees reveals that, immediately after the acquisition, target firm's employees value knowing where they will be at the new firm (procedural justice), while bidder firm employees are more concerned about communication and transparency (informational justice). Our results point to the importance of organizational justice in a cross‐border merger and acquisition (M&A) setting and the need for a separate study of issues related to bidder firms and target firms. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Family-centred non-economic goals and the internationalisation of family firms: Evidence from Australia

Despite the growing body of literature on the internationalisation of family firms, further research is required to understand the underlying factors that influence their international behaviour. Past research has consistently shown that family firms are less likely to adopt an internationalisation strategy compared to their non-family counterparts, yet we still have limited understanding of the underlying reasons why this is so. By incorporating the bifurcation bias concept to the socioemotional wealth perspective of family firm behaviour, we argue that greater attention needs to be given to the influence of family-centred non-economic (FCNE) goals on the family firm’s international behaviour. Using survey data collected on over 300 Australian family firms, regression analysis was used to examine the influence of FCNE goals on the family firm’s extent of international involvement. The results suggest that business families which emphasise FCNE goals are more likely to exhibit a lower attitudinal commitment towards international expansion, which in turn determines the level of international involvement of the family firm. Results also suggest that the extent of international involvement of the family firm has a significant negative effect on the level of achievement of FCNE goals.     

Family Firms and Labor Productivity: The Role of Enterprise‐Level Bargaining in the Italian Economy

We investigate the role of Italian firms in labor productivity performance. We find that family‐owned firms have lower labor productivity than their non‐family counterparts. In a second step, we estimate the role of firm‐level bargaining (FLB) to determine whether family‐controlled firms that adopt this type of bargaining may partially close the gap in terms of labor productivity with their non‐family competitors. Our results, obtained through IV estimation to control for endogeneity bias, suggest that enterprises under family governance achieve significant labor productivity gains—greater than those achieved by their non‐family counterparts—when they adopt firm‐level bargaining.     

Financial Attitudes in Family Firms: The Moderating Role of Family Commitment

This study investigates how family commitment moderates whether and how financial knowledge, positive experience with debt suppliers, and economic goal orientation affect owner–managers' attitudes toward debt financing in family firms. Using a sample of 280 German family firms, we find significant relationships between both financial knowledge and positive experience with debt suppliers and owner–managers' financial attitudes toward debt. Our findings show that family commitment moderates these relationships such that high family commitment increases the impact of prior experience with debt suppliers, though the effect of economic goal orientation is lowered and reversed. Overall, we contribute to research on financial decision making, capital structure, and social capital in family firms.     

Export Commitment and the Global Financial Crisis: Perspectives from the New Zealand Wine Industry

The study investigates how firms adjusted their export commitment in response to the recent global financial crisis. Findings based on New Zealand wine companies suggest that firms' commitment to exporting is influenced by both their export performance achieved before the crisis and the negative effect that the crisis exerted on their subsequent export performance. These two performance‐induced influences can be further moderated by managerial attitude toward exporting and managers' perceptions of export market uncertainty. Theoretically, the study builds on the behavioral theory of the firm and extends the past performance–strategy relationship to the situation of exporting in a financial crisis.     

Driven to Be Good: A Stakeholder Theory Perspective on the Drivers of Corporate Social Performance

Despite growing evidence of the benefits to a firm of improving corporate social performance (CSP), many firms vary significantly in terms of their CSP activities. This research investigates how the characteristics of the stakeholder landscape influence a firm’s CSP breadth. Using stakeholder theory, we specifically propose that several factors increase the salience and impact of stakeholders’ demands on the firm and that, in response to these factors, a firm’s CSP will have greater breadth. A firm’s CSP breadth is operationalized as the number of different sub-domains of CSR for which a firm has taken positive actions and is captured using a unique dataset from Kinder, Lydenburg, and Domini (KLD). This data set includes positive and negative firm actions across more than 35 different dimensions of socially responsible behavior. Findings based on a longitudinal, multi-industry sample of 447 US firms during the period from 2000 to 2007 demonstrate that firms which: (1) have greater sensitivity to stakeholder needs as a result of the firm’s strategic emphasis on marketing and/or value creation, (2) face greater diversity of stakeholder demands, and (3) encounter a greater degree of scrutiny or risk from stakeholder action have a greater breadth of CSP in response to the stakeholder landscape that they face.     

Stakeholder Salience in Public and Private Firms: Results from Tanzania

It has become evident that Western concepts of business and management must be evaluated within their realms of application. The objective of this research was to analyze the effects of stakeholder attributes of power, legitimacy, and urgency on the stakeholder salience of shareholders, employees, customers, and community in state-owned and privatized firms in Tanzania. In general, the framework developed and used in Western studies proved useful in characterizing Tanzanian management perceptions toward stakeholders. That is, when using a common questionnaire, results were obtained that linked stakeholder saliency with underlying attributes. Nevertheless, the saliency profile for stakeholders was different in the Tanzanian culture from previous studies in the United States and Spain. In a Tanzanian context, employees, customers, and community attained inferior status compared to the results obtained in developed countries for which the theory had been developed. Profiles were also different in comparing state-owned and privatized firms in Tanzania. Results indicated that the effects on salience are similar for shareholders but different for the remaining stakeholder groups in the two categories of firms. Some policy recommendations are made as a consequence of observations, and the need for further work is acknowledged.     

They Are Not All the Same! Investigating the Effect of Executive versus Non‐executive Family Board Members on Firm Performance

Drawing on faultlines and challenging the assumption that family board members form a homogenous subgroup, we hypothesize that the distinction between executive and non‐executive family board members can create faultlines that affect firm performance. We propose that the discrepancy between results and goals can activate and exacerbate faultlines. Using a sample of 421 family small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), we find a U‐shaped relationship between the ratio of family executive board members and firm performance showing the consequences of relationship‐based and task‐related faultlines. Moreover, we find that the U‐shaped relationship occurs when firms perceive that they under‐achieve their objectives, whereas a reverse J‐shaped relationship appears when firms over‐achieve their objectives.     

Do employees value strategic CSR? A tale of affective organizational commitment and its underlying mechanisms

Virtually all studies that focus on the relationship between CSR perceptions and employees’ organizational commitment have not taken into consideration the fit between social and environmental activities and a firm’s business‐unit strategy. This is essential to inquire because scholars have argued that when companies ingrain CSR activities into their strategy‐making process (i.e., in their vision, mission, and overall business model), this might send a more compelling message that resonates closer to workers’ personal standards, and actually enhance employee‐level outcomes. Nevertheless, there is no certainty “if” and “how” these evaluations could affect employees’ organizational commitment. To address this issue, we use cue consistency theory and social identity theory as overarching frameworks to develop a model where we conceptually link perceptions of strategy‐CSR fit with a particular type of organizational commitment: affective. In addition, we posit and test three mediators to understand the underlying psychological mechanisms of this relationship: perceived external prestige, organizational identification, and work meaningfulness. Through structural equation modeling, and using a heterogeneous final sample of 579 employees, we find compelling evidence to support the fact that strategy‐CSR fit enhances employees’ affective organizational commitment through the proposed mediators. Academic contributions and practical implications are then discussed.     

Socially responsible downsizing: Comparing family and non‐family firms

This study seeks to investigate whether family firms are more likely to downsize their workforce than their non‐family counterparts. Drawing on socioemotional wealth approach, we first explore the effect of family presence on workforce downsizing. Furthermore, we examine the moderating role of R&D activity on the family presence–downsizing relationship. Our sample covers a panel of manufacturing SMEs in Spain over the 1993–2014 period. We find that family firms are less likely to downsize than non‐family firms. Our results also reveal a negative association between R&D activity and workforce downsizing. Finally, the relationship between family presence and downsizing is contingent upon R&D activity, that is, family firms engaged in R&D activities are less likely to downsize than non‐innovative family firms.     

Stakeholder Management Theory, Firm Strategy, and Ambidexterity

Stakeholder theory scholars have recently addressed two crucial calls: the first is for the integration of strategy and ethics, of stakeholder theory and strategic management, and the second call is for the development of a dynamic approach to stakeholder management. I have attempted to answer these calls by developing a theoretical framework that links together stakeholder management, stakeholder commitment to cooperate with the firm, key decision makers?? ethical commitment, and firm strategy. Starting from the basic assumption that managers cannot meet all stakeholders?? demands immediately and in a tailored manner, I contend, first, that an ambidextrous approach to stakeholder management is conducive to stakeholders?? commitment to cooperate for the sustainable well-being of the firm and, second, that firm strategy and key decision makers?? ethical commitment moderate the relationship between an ambidextrous stakeholder management and stakeholder commitment to cooperate. Furthermore, drawing on this theoretical framework, I attempt to address the call for the integration of strategy and ethics by proposing a three-level conceptual model that distinguishes the objectives, the field, and the levers of integration. Finally, I outline a set of propositions that, taken together, represent a first attempt to develop a dynamic approach to stakeholder management.     

Organizational Commitment in Mexican Small and Medium-Sized Firms: The Role of Work Status,Organizational Climate,and Entrepreneurial Orientation*

In this study, we examine the role of individuals' commitment in small and medium-sized firms. More specifically, we argue that employees will commit themselves to their firm based on their current work status in the firm, their perception of the organizational climate, and the firm's entrepreneurial orientation. We also examine how individuals' commitment affect the actual effort they exert vis-à-vis their firm. The study's hypotheses are tested by applying quantitative analyses to survey data collected from 863 Mexican small and medium-sized businesses. We found that individuals' position and tenure in the firm, their perception of psychological safety and meaningfulness, and the firm's entrepreneurial orientation all are positively related to organizational commitment. We also found a positive relationship between organizational commitment and effort. Finally, our findings show that organizational commitment mediates the relationship between many of the predictor variables and effort. We discuss the limitations and implications of our findings and provide directions for future research.     

Radical innovation in (multi)family owned firms

By integrating organizational learning theory with the family firm literature, we seek to enhance our understanding of radical innovation in (multi)family-owned firms. We theorize that the goal diversity and path dependency that multifamily ownership creates negatively affects the positive relationship between knowledge integration and radical innovation. However, this is not the case for multifamily-owned firms in which family members embrace a commitment to change. We contend that commitment to change mitigates the negative moderating effect of multifamily ownership by ensuring the effective translation of integrated knowledge into radical innovation within the firm. Overall, our results highlight the complexity of radical innovation in (multi)family-owned firms as a product of the joint effect of knowledge integration, the number of unrelated owning families, and a commitment to change.     

Employees' awareness of their impact on corporate reputation

Corporate reputation is critical for cultivating stakeholder relationships and, specifically, for regaining public trust. Corporate reputation results from the firm's interactions with stakeholders, emphasizing the important role employees play in reputation management. However, employees are not necessarily aware of, or prepared for, this extra-role assignment, indicating a gap in research and a managerial challenge. The purpose of the present article is to identify how employees' awareness of their impact on their employers' reputation is influenced by pride, job satisfaction, affective commitment, and perceived corporate reputation. An online survey of employees working for firms ranked in Fortune's America's Most Admired Companies Index provides empirical evidence. The findings underline the prominent effect pride in membership has regarding employees' awareness of their impact on corporate reputation. Study findings further deliver insights into opportunities and risks for managers who wish to use internal reputation building strategies to enhance corporate reputation.     

When less family is more: Trademark acquisition,family ownership,and internationalization

This study examines the relationship between international performance and the orientation of the firm towards trademark acquisition, and discusses family ownership as a moderator of this association. We conceptualize our study along three interrelated lines of ‘openness’ i.e. openness towards external resources, openness of governance, and openness towards international markets. The empirical investigation relies on a panel data analysis over four years, and on a cross-industry sample of European listed companies consisting of 712 observations. Our outcomes reveal that the attitude of the company to enrich the brand portfolio with externally developed trademarks is positively associated with the firms’ international performance. We also find that this relationship is moderated by family ownership. “Less family is more”: we find a positive relationship of openness towards trademark acquisitions with the firms’ international performance, which decreases with the presence of a family in a dominant position.     

Organizational attention to corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance: the moderating effects of corporate governance

Many studies have explored the antecedents of corporate social performance (CSP), such as institutional forces and stakeholder pressures. However, few studies examine CSP from a socio‐cognitive perspective. To address this research void, this study adopts an attention‐based approach to examine the relationship between managers' attention to social issues and CSP. More important, this study reports that this relationship will be moderated by governance mechanisms that constrain managerial discretion. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms, this study provides empirical support for these arguments. Therefore, our study adds new insights to the literature addressing CSP from a socio‐cognitive perspective and speaks to the structural features, both inside and outside organizations, that guide managers' attention.     

At the intersection of corporate governance and performance in family business settings: Extant knowledge and future research

Despite the proliferation of research on governance and performance of family firms over the past decades, the extant empirical evidence remains inconclusive. Acknowledging multiple sources of family firm variation, scholars started explaining the observed differences in governance structures and performance outcomes by taking into consideration the heterogeneity among family firms. In this paper, we undertake a review of the literature at the intersection of governance and performance in family firms to elucidate (a) the role of various governance attributes as performance drivers; and (b) the variability of governance effects across different performance indicators. By taking stock of what is already known and discussing avenues for further investigation, we seek to contribute to a more fine‐grained understanding of the intricate governance–performance relationship in light of the heterogeneous nature of family firms. The key priorities for future inquiry consist in: the identification of missing mediating and moderating variables; the inclusion of currently underexplored governance determinants of family firm performance; and the analysis of complementarity and substitution effects among multiple attributes of monitoring and their changing dynamics over time to secure an optimal governance–performance alignment in family firms.     

利益相关者显著性的整合研究框架——主观感知与主体属性

利益相关者显著性研究经历了“基于身份”静态观到基于“主观感知”和“主体属性”动态观的转变过程。静态观的利益相关者显著性研究已不能帮助焦点企业管理者在一个动态复杂环境中有效识别出显著的利益相关者,但动态观在“谁是显著的利益相关者”问题上仍争议颇多。鉴于此,以动态观为切入点,把利益相关者显著性的影响因素分为焦点企业的主观感知和利益相关者的主体属性这两大研究视角,提炼出一个识别利益相关者显著性的整合研究框架。