Loren Falkenberg

Ethical behaviours in organizations: Directed by the formal or informal systems?

Past research has focused on individual culpability with the assumption that individuals will further their own self interest over that of the organization, given an appropriate opportunity. In contrast, this research shifts the focus from individual motivation to the influence of the formal and informal control systems of organizations on ethical behaviours. An open-ended interview approach was used to collect data. It was found that pressures within the informal system were the dominant influence in the resolution of ethical issues. The dominance of the informal system, however, varies according to the economic position of the organization.

The Role of Collaboration in Achieving Corporate Social Responsibility Objectives

Managers are encouraged to develop deeper, collaborative relationships with NGOs as they execute their CSR strategies, and they have benefited from guidance to date that has focused on the dyadic relationships between a single firm and a single NGO. However, corporate relationships in CSR can include broader collaborations with both other firms and multiple NGOs. This article provides a framework for examining a range of collaboration opportunities and provides managers guidance for matching CSR strategies with the goals of the firm. The framework focuses on specific strategies that firms can employ to help ensure that returns from investments in CSR are maximized.

Improving the Accuracy of Stereotypes Within the Workplace

Organizations experience high levels of inefficiency when decisions are based on inaccurate stereotypes. As humans are dependent upon stereotypes in their daily information processing, a critical issue is the identification of conditions that produce more accurate stereotypes. This article delineates a social cognition model of stereotyping and identifies thefactors involved in developing more accurate stereotypes. The model is applied to gender stereotypes to indicate how these stereotypes may be modified. Managerial implications and future research issues are identified with the anticipation that these ideas will provide guidelines as to how to stimulate more accurate stereotypes in organizations.

Dual-career and dual-income families: Do they have different needs?

Dual-earner families have been treated as if they are a homogenous group of individuals having to cope with similar demands. Yet these families vary in their rationale for both spouses working outside the home (from financial necessity to personal growth) and the responsibilities each spouse assumes in the home. Given the variations in work and home responsibilities it is proposed that members of dual-earner families should be studied on the basis of (a) the rationale each spouse has for working, (b) the responsibility each spouse assumes in the home, and (c) the gender of the spouse. A model delineating the different problems experienced by individuals within these subgroups is developed based on an extensive review of the literature.

Eliminating the Barriers to Employment Equity in the Canadian Workplace

Have employment equity programs achieved the goal of equity for women in the workplace? We argue that they have not because gender stereotypes still persist. In fact, they may have created resentment and antagonism towards successful women and employment equity initiatives. Arguments are developed for the Canadian government to create a self-regulating system, in which the government plays a role of educator as opposed to monitor.

Does feminism belong in business ethics

Contemporary society is experiencing dramatic shifts in its expectations for business and its practices. Within the academic realm two voices of change are the “feminist” and “business ethics” perspectives; unfortunately, these two perspectives often advocate conflicting expectations for business organizations. The purpose of this article is to provide an analysis of the expectations each perspective advocates, and to draw relevant implications for future business practices. Our general conclusion is that the feminist perspective maintains a system of gender dichotomies and fails to recognize shifts in the balance of powers. In contrast, a business ethics perspective moves beyond gender issues and dichotomous systems to the recognition that contemporary society is comprised of minorities, and that the rights of all minorities must be recognized and balanced. We suggest that the feminist perspective must reposition with the rapid shifts currently occurring within our society before it can be a “voice” that should be listened to by business organizations.

Can Organisations Respond to the Role Overload in Dual‐Earner Families?

The interaction of work and household responsibilities in dual‐career families is described. If married, the woman manager almost always faces the traditional demands placed on women by husband and family. The notion of “role overload” is developed but it is stressed that this need not mean that a woman′s productivity on the job suffers. Organisations need to recognise that women′s work patterns differ from men′s and should evaluate quality of work, not necessarily the number of hours on the job. By understanding the demands women face and by providing women the flexibility needed to deal with them, both the quality of working life for women and their contributions to the firm can be enhanced.

The rigour–relevance gap in professional programmes: Bridging the ‘unbridgeable’ between higher education and practice

The tension between the rigour and the relevance of higher education research remains an important and hotly contested topic among scholars, administrators, practitioners and policymakers. This debate is most evident in professional programmes in which scholars are challenged to pursue new knowledge independent of its immediate relevance to practice while simultaneously contributing actionable knowledge to their profession. This two-part study explores whether the resulting pressure has an impact on the scholarly output and recruitment practices of different professional programmes. The results show that the context of the profession has a significant influence on the level of integration between academia and industry.