{"title":"The Death of Trust Across the U.S. Finance Industry","authors":"P. Limbach, P. Rau, Henrik Schürmann","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3559047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3559047","url":null,"abstract":"Across all industries in the U.S., we document a significant and unique decline in the level of generalized trust among finance professionals relative to the decline of trust in the general U.S. population. This decline occurs in different age cohorts and among different levels of seniority. It is related to a lack of confidence only in institutions that are relevant to the finance industry. The relative decline of trust is associated with changes in economic conditions, the professional environment in the finance industry, and with the decreasing level of socialization among finance professionals.","PeriodicalId":304185,"journal":{"name":"CGN: Sociology (Topic)","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125157202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Bayer, Juriy Krivobokov, Maksim Gavrilov, V. Vasilyeva
{"title":"The Culture of Conflict Resolution and Its Influence on Employee Retention: A Study of Russian Companies","authors":"J. Bayer, Juriy Krivobokov, Maksim Gavrilov, V. Vasilyeva","doi":"10.24108/preprints-3112035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24108/preprints-3112035","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose – The purpose of this paper is a pilot study of e-communications in three Russian firms to assess the culture of conflict resolution and the impact of strategies on employee retention at these firms. \u0000Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative and quantitative research through a questionnaire and observation method to confirm the results. We use questionnaires by spontaneous sampling with quota elements; employees of the three selected firms have an equal chance of getting into an anonymous sample. \u0000Findings – The culture of conflict in any organization should include professional mediation (fulfilled either by professional instructor or by a specially trained HR-specialist). All members of the organizational “family” should be informed that dealing with conflict and solving it is much better and productive than hiding and suppressing it. \u0000Research limitations/implications – The paper shows the first results of the conflict study. It shows obvious drawbacks of contemporary empirical conflict solving. Further research should explore the effects of the recommendations we made and their fulfillment. \u0000Originality/value – The article assesses the main conflict triggers in Russian organizations of various sizes. It also reveals the key assumptions that both workers and employers have that prevent them from effectively resolving conflicts. Based on empirical results, we have developed practical recommendations on conflicts that will be useful not only for managing the organizations we have studied but also for those who have ever encountered a conflict at work.","PeriodicalId":304185,"journal":{"name":"CGN: Sociology (Topic)","volume":"37 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123401814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"CSR as a Socially Constructed Phenomenon: Simulating the Interplay between Public Expectations and Firms' Choices","authors":"Peter Kotzian","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3529305","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3529305","url":null,"abstract":"Compliance in the domain of CSR differs from financial compliance in that mere abidance to legal rules is insufficient. By its very nature, CSR compliance is a socially constructed phenomenon. Public expectations regarding CSR evolve over time but are also driven by how the majority of firms behave. CSR non-compliance is constituted by not meeting these expectations. Firms meeting or exceeding public expectations receive a bonus in terms of public support, firms not meeting public expectations get punished, and firms respond to this by choosing their CSR engagement.<br><br>Using an agent-based-model, we simulate this interaction. For firms, we presume simple decision rationales based on benefits and costs. We vary model parameters, like CSR-related costs, but also the public’s ability to perceive CSR-related out-/under-performance and the magnitude of the punishment and rewards associated with this. Of interest are CSR levels in the firm population, how firms adapt their CSR engagement, depending on the parameters chosen but also, which parameter constellations correspond to observations of CSR levels in reality. Looking at differences between a setting in which the public predominantly punishes under-performance as opposed to a setting in which the public predominantly rewards out-performance we see different implications. For constellations with a high malus for under-performance, firms which substantially lag in terms of CSR quickly catch up to avoid reputational costs. In the long run, in particular after the laggards caught up, the CSR development responds to the bonus associated with outperforming the average in terms of CSR. For constellations with a substantial bonus for CSR out-performance, firms with very low costs of CSR engagement specialize in CSR, set high initial levels of CSR engagement and constantly out-perform the rest of the population and pull the CSR average upwards. Comparing constellations with empirical data, we see that the catching-up effect can be found in the development of the CSR engagement of firms as measured by data from the Thomson-Reuters-Eikon Database, while there is no corresponding CSR escalation of high performers.","PeriodicalId":304185,"journal":{"name":"CGN: Sociology (Topic)","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114219507","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Whistle While You Work? The Relational Determinants of Reporting Wrongdoing","authors":"Patrick Bergemann, B. Aven","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3528256","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3528256","url":null,"abstract":"Although much of the misconduct that occurs within organizations is detected by other employees, many of those witnesses do not “blow the whistle” on their colleagues. Their reluctance may be due in part to the relationships in which employees are embedded within their organizations. In this paper, we theorize that social factors can interact to facilitate or inhibit whistleblowing within organizations. We contend that employees respond differently when the wrongdoing occurs either inside or outside of their workgroups, and that this distinction is moderated by the internal cohesion of those workgroups. When internal cohesion is high, individuals are less likely to report wrongdoing conducted by other members of the workgroup; however, high cohesion also promotes willingness to report wrongdoing observed outside the workgroup. Using unique data on observed and hypothetical whistleblowing by 33,755 US federal employees in 24 departments and agencies, we provide support for our arguments and show how competing explanations of whistleblowing can be integrated by situating them in particular social contexts. Together, these results reveal trade-offs in the detection of misconduct and help explain why wrongdoing in organizations may be so difficult to eradicate.","PeriodicalId":304185,"journal":{"name":"CGN: Sociology (Topic)","volume":"34 6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132656705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Take a Stand or Keep Your Seat: Board Turnover after Social Movement Boycotts","authors":"M. McDonnell, J. A. Cobb","doi":"10.5465/AMJ.2017.0890","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2017.0890","url":null,"abstract":"While prior work has shown that a firm’s market performance affects the loyalty of its board, little is known about how corporate social responsibility affects directors’ willingness to serve. In t...","PeriodicalId":304185,"journal":{"name":"CGN: Sociology (Topic)","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131585861","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Platforms at Work: Automated Hiring Platforms and Other New Intermediaries in the Organization of Work","authors":"Ifeoma Ajunwa, D. Greene","doi":"10.1108/S0277-283320190000033005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/S0277-283320190000033005","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract \u0000This chapter lays out a research agenda in the sociology of work for a type of data and organizational intermediary: work platforms. As an example, the authors employ a case study of the adoption of automated hiring platforms (AHPs) in which the authors distinguish between promises and existing practices. The authors draw on two main methods to do so: critical discourse analysis and affordance critique. The authors collected and examined a mix of trade, popular press, and corporate archives; 135 texts in total. The analysis reveals that work platforms offer five core affordances to management: (1) structured data fields optimized for capture and portability within organizations; (2) increased legibility of activity qua data captured inside and outside the workplace; (3) information asymmetry between labor and management; (4) an “ecosystem” design that supports the development of limited-use applications for specific domains; and (5) the standardization of managerial techniques between workplaces. These combine to create a managerial frame for workers as fungible human capital, available on demand and easily ported between job tasks and organizations. While outlining the origin of platform studies within media and communication studies, the authors demonstrate the specific tools the sociology of work brings to the study of platforms within the workplace. The authors conclude by suggesting avenues for future sociological research not only on hiring platforms, but also on other work platforms such as those supporting automated scheduling and customer relationship management.","PeriodicalId":304185,"journal":{"name":"CGN: Sociology (Topic)","volume":"93 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121178111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Role of Governance on the Wellbeing of Individuals or Organisations","authors":"S. Turnbull","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3094734","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3094734","url":null,"abstract":"Ten of the eleven OECD metrics established for measuring individual wellbeing can be directly affected by how organizations are governed. Two types of governance architecture are considered: (i) simple centralised command and control hierarchies and, (ii) an ecological form universally found in nature and pre-modern societies that Nobel Laureate Elinor Osprom described as possessing “polycentric compound” decision-making centres as also found in human brains. Modern stakeholder controlled organisations that survive over generations typically possess an ecological form of governance. This can be explained by the ability of networks to simplify complex dynamic environments as comprehensively as required to survive from distributed decision-making. While centralised hierarchies simplify complexity incompletely and less immediately by filtering data through different levels that can obscure harms, opportunities and existential threats. The paper concludes that the OECD metrics provide a basis for rating the quality of governance of organisations or democracy with rich opportunities for research.","PeriodicalId":304185,"journal":{"name":"CGN: Sociology (Topic)","volume":"85 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114272531","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Credit Rating Agencies: Using Historical Research to Reveal a Cultural Pattern","authors":"D. Cash","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.2810136","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.2810136","url":null,"abstract":"The leading Credit Rating Agencies facilitated the Financial Crisis of 2008. As a result, extensive reforms were enacted to limit the negative effect of the agencies upon the marketplace, and therefore society. However, the agencies continue to transgress, and have become even more profitable and impenetrable. In order to provide some insight to why the agencies behave in the way that they do, this article will utilise historical research to present a teleological demonstration that there is an underlying culture that prevails through each era and is the foundation for their callous disregard to the safety of the financial system. Revealing this culture may then enable us to think differently when we discuss how best to regulate this unique sector of the financial arena.","PeriodicalId":304185,"journal":{"name":"CGN: Sociology (Topic)","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124514406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Birth Order Paradox: Sibling Differences in Educational Attainment","authors":"Kieron J Barclay","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2583855","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2583855","url":null,"abstract":"This study uses population register data to examine the relationship between birth order and educational attainment in Sweden, and demonstrates that while the net effect of birth order on educational attainment is negative, later-born children often spend longer in education. The explanation for this finding is due to educational expansion in Sweden in the 20th century, which outweighs the negative causal effect of birth order for the affected cohorts. This is particularly true for women due to the fact that the rate of increasing educational enrolment has been greater for women than for men. These results also show that later-borns in large families particularly benefit from educational expansion due to the longer average birth interval between the first and last child in large families, meaning that the supply of educational opportunities increased to a greater extent in the intervening period. However, in periods where education is not expanding, later-born siblings continue to fare worse than first-borns.","PeriodicalId":304185,"journal":{"name":"CGN: Sociology (Topic)","volume":"40 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122874070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Lazzarini, Sandro Cabral, L. Pongeluppe, L. C. D. M. Ferreira, Angélica Rotondaro
{"title":"The Best of Both Worlds? Impact Investors and Their Role in the Financial versus Social Performance Debate","authors":"S. Lazzarini, Sandro Cabral, L. Pongeluppe, L. C. D. M. Ferreira, Angélica Rotondaro","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2492860","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2492860","url":null,"abstract":"Over the last decades, management scholars have tried to examine whether profitability can be achieved with actions that also improve social and environmental performance. More recently, this debate has gained new traction with the emergence of the so-called \"impact investors,\" who not only avoid firms with negative practices, but also actively seek projects with proven metrics of social impact. In other words, they represent a new class of investors where financial and social performance are expected to be harmonized. In this paper we aim to understand how impact investors approach financial and social goals, and the mechanisms used to gauge and reconcile these performance dimensions. Given the still evolving stage of the impact investing industry, we follow a grounded theory approach using data from qualitative interviews and discussions groups with investment funds, social entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations and other actors in the industry. We then contribute with a novel theoretical framework proposing how different types of impact investors and contractual arrangements emerge in two situations: when financial and social goals are naturally aligned (\"complements\") and when pursuing superior profitability might undermine actions to increase social performance (\"substitutes\").","PeriodicalId":304185,"journal":{"name":"CGN: Sociology (Topic)","volume":"34 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115058095","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}