Advertising,avoiding, disrupting,and tabooing: The discursive construction of diversity subjects in the Turkish context

This study investigates organizational diversity discourses in Turkey – a non-Western, politically relevant, yet underrepresented context. Using a Foucauldian perspective on power and discourse, we scrutinize how power relations in the Turkish context are (re)produced. Based on our analysis of company websites and semi-structured interviews with various actors (e.g., HR managers), we propose a conceptual framework of the discursive construction of diversity subjects at work along the dimensions of (1) visibility of organizational diversity discourses and (2) contestation of meaning within organizational diversity discourses. The combination of these dimensions yields four discursive dynamics as illustrated in our data (Advertising, Avoiding, Disrupting, Tabooing). This framework may inspire future context- and power-sensitive investigations on diversity discourses at the workplace.     

Does Having a Dysfunctional Personality Hurt Your Career? Axis II Personality Disorders and Labor Market Outcomes

Despite recent interest in how psychiatric disorders affect work outcomes, little is known about the role of personality disorders (PDs), which are poorly understood yet prevalent (15%) and impairing. We used nationally representative data for 12,457 men and 16,061 women to examine associations of PDs with any employment, full-time employment, chronic unemployment, being fired or laid off, and having trouble with a boss or co-worker. Antisocial, paranoid, and obsessive-compulsive PDs demonstrated the broadest patterns of associations with adverse outcomes. Findings suggest that PDs may have implications for the productivity of co-workers as well as that of the disordered employees themselves.     

Country‐Specific Profiles of Performance Management in China,Germany, and the United States—An Empirical Test

The vast majority of the literature on performance management (PM) chooses a contextual perspective, focusing on the cross‐country comparison of single elements of the PM system. Simultaneously, a conceptual basis and an encompassing comprehension of country‐specific peculiarities are lacking. Based on a suggested conceptualization of the elements of PM (criteria, actors, methods, purposes, feedback) and hypotheses developed from an encompassing literature review, the authors present empirical findings from a quantitative study including 167 managers from multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries in three culturally and institutionally diverse major economies (Germany, United States, and China). Contrary to what the literature suggests about the local peculiarities of PM, the results of the present study show significant country‐specific differences in only 6 out of 16 investigated PM features. Furthermore, the analytical categorization of “Western” countries versus China cannot be empirically confirmed. In contrast, more similarities between China and Germany than between Germany and the United States are identified. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Bank market power and the intensity of borrower discouragement: analysis of SMEs across developed and developing European countries

Small Business Economics - This paper analyzes the effect of bank market power on the financial constraints of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the study of borrower...     

The cognitive and the action-oriented elements of competence along the innovation process – evidence from R&D teams in the medical equipment sector

Abstract

Organizations are constantly searching for ways to enhance their innovative capacity and to sustain their competitive advantage. Much of the literature focuses on knowledge as the key driver for this pursuit. Unlike other studies, we define experience and knowledge as two basic elements of competence by borrowing from the experiential and cognitive learning theories and contrast their impact on the innovativeness of R&D teams. Building on the competence based perspective, we posit that the differences in competence inputs explain variations in team innovation performance along the innovation process. To test our assumptions, we analyzed the aggregated knowledge and experience levels for different technology competences of 868 employees in 49 R&D teams in a large contract-engineering corporation in the medical equipment sector. The findings reveal that technology experience is particularly fruitful within innovation implementation and is a driver for successful market introduction. The research contributes to the understanding when competence elements are especially important.     

Willingness to Pay for Green Products in Air Travel: Ready for Take‐Off?

We examine the willingness to pay (WTP) for green products in air travel. Green products in aviation are supplementary services, which are sold on top of the travel service (e.g. carbon offsets, organic on‐board food). We identify a set of potential green products in aviation and report the preferences for additional airline services of 811 Swiss air travellers using an adaptive choice‐based conjoint survey. We find that 20% of those passengers who are interested in purchasing supplementary services show a considerable WTP for green products. The green segment differs from the regular segment only in terms of behavioural features, not in terms of demographic or socio‐economic characteristics. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment