Robert J. Bies

Consumer Privacy: Balancing Economic and Justice Considerations

Consumer privacy is at the center of an ongoing debate among business leaders, privacy activists, and government officials. Although corporations face competitive pressures to collect and use personal information about their customers, many consumers find some methods of collection and use of their personal information unfair. We present a justice theory framework that illustrates how consumer privacy concerns are shaped by the perceived fairness of corporate information practices. We describe a set of global principles, fair information practices, which were developed to balance consumer privacy concerns with an organizations need to use personal information. We conclude by discussing three alternatives for implementing fair information practices with particular attention to the Internet: government regulation, industry self-regulation, and technological solutions.

Getting Even or Moving On? Power, Procedural Justice, and Types of Offense as Predictors of Revenge, Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Avoidance in Organizations

A field study and an experimental study examined relationships among organizational variables and various responses of victims to perceived wrongdoing. Both studies showed that procedural justice climate moderates the effect of organizational variables on the victims revenge, forgiveness, reconciliation, or avoidance behaviors. In Study 1, a field study, absolute hierarchical status enhanced forgiveness and reconciliation, but only when perceptions of procedural justice climate were high; relative hierarchical status increased revenge, but only when perceptions of procedural justice climate were low. In Study 2, a laboratory experiment, victims were less likely to endorse vengeance or avoidance depending on the type of wrongdoing, but only when perceptions of procedural justice climate were high.

Social Accounts in Conflict Situations: Using Explanations to Manage Conflict

Considerable attention has been given to different behavioral strategies of conflict management (e.g., avoidance, compromise, collaboration). However, conflict theory and research has overlooked a simple, but effective strategy for managing conflict: the use of social accounts or explanations. In this paper, we review the literature on the use of social accounts in conflict situations and find it supports the argument that social accounts can be an effective conflict- management strategy. Based on this analysis, we propose several promising directions for future theory development and research concerning the role of social accounts in conflict situations. In addition, we identify tradeoffs and dilemmas created when social accounts are used to manage conflict.

Just laid off, but still a “good citizen?” only if the process is fair

Recent United States Congress legislation (the WARN Act of 1988) mandates that organizations must provide at least 60 days notice before a layoff of 50 or more employees can be instituted. As a consequence, individuals who are notified of their layoff often remain in their jobs for a significant period of time-and managers hope that these people will be good “organizational citizens” during thisremaining time. This article identifies different psychological factors that could explain why individuals would remain good citizens, even after notification of their impending termination. In a survey of 147 skilled employees who received notification of their layoffs, we found that the perceived fairness of the layoff process was the primary factor influencing their citizenship behavior. Additional analyses suggested that the perceived adequacy of the explanation of the layoffs, and whether the layoff victims were treated with respect and dignity, were the primary factors influencing the perceived fairness of the layoff process. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.

Poetic justice or petty jealousy? The aesthetics of revenge

Abstract The growing body of research on workplace revenge has focused on morality-based principles (e.g., organizational justice) that people use to judge acts of revenge. By contrast, in the present research, we report findings from two studies that focus on aesthetics-based principles (e.g., the “beauty” of executing the act of revenge) that people use to judge acts of revenge. In Study 1, a qualitative analysis of revenge incidents, we identify altruism, poetic qualities, and symmetry as aesthetic principles that people use to judge acts of revenge. In Study 2, a quantitative analysis of a policy-capturing experiment, we focused on the symmetry principle. Specifically, we examined the influence of the symmetry of method and symmetry of consequences in revenge. In that study, we found that workplace revenge is judged less harshly when consequences are symmetric than when they are asymmetric. However, symmetry has the opposite effect on judgments when it comes to symmetry of methods: similar methods were judged more harshly than dissimilar methods. We discuss the influence of aesthetic principles on judgments about revenge, and whether such principles legitimate or delegitimate an act of revenge.

Coping with a Layoff: A Longitudinal Study of Victims

This article reports the results of a longitudinal study of layoff victims and how they cope with job loss. We examine whether the perceived fairness of layoff procedures, corporate and government assistance programs, and individual differences influence the choice of problem-focused and/or symptom-focused coping strategies. Our findings challenge traditionally held assumptions about factors that may be associated with successful coping. Specifically, perceptions of the fairness of layoff procedures and adequacy of government assistance programs were negatively related with problem-focused strategies used by layoff victims, and there was no relationship with corporate assistance programs and the choice of coping strategy. In addition, self-blame for the job loss was positively related to a symptom-focused strategy. Suggestions for future research on victims of layoffs are discussed.

Privacy and procedural justice in organizations

This paper advances the argument that individual privacy is a procedural justice issue in organizations. A review of the organizational privacy literature supports this argument, and new directions for procedural justice research are suggested. In addition, it is argued that a focus on individual privacy highlights the political and paradoxical implications of procedural justice issues in organizations.

“Righteous” Anger and Revenge in the Workplace: The Fantasies, the Feuds, the Forgiveness

Revenge is part of the social fabric of organizational life. For many, revenge is typically viewed as an irrational, if not evil, response, to events in the workplace. However, there is an emerging scholarly view of revenge that departs from that conventional wisdom. This view is what we refer to as “revenge as justice.” In this chapter, we review a growing body of research across academic disciplines that finds the motivation for revenge is, more often than not, grounded in a perception that one has been the victim of undeserved harm and feelings of injustice. Drawing on empirical findings, we argue that revenge is not motivated by mere anger grounded in frustration, but a righteous anger, an emotional response to correct and prevent injustice. As such, revenge is central to the process of justice in organizations. While righteous anger is core variable in our analysis, we illustrate how cognitive mistakes and biases can shape the emotion of righteous anger and the act of revenge. Finally, we argue that there is a rationality and morality to revenge, which must be understood through emotional lens of righteous anger.

A Systems Perspective on Forgiveness in Organizations

AbstractDespite the widespread interest in forgiveness across a diversity of disciplines, the study of forgiveness has been strongly influenced by a psychological (i.e. individual-level) approach. Although this has provided many fruitful insights, it has also resulted in a fragmented literature that has underemphasized the multilevel and contextual nature of this phenomenon. Drawing upon a broad multidisciplinary approach, we provide a singular definition of forgiveness and integrate research on forgiveness into a multilevel systems approach. In doing so, we demonstrate that a deeper understanding can be realized by conceptualizing forgiveness as a part of a system of interconnecting psychological, social, structural, and cultural relations. By embedding forgiveness into context, our systems perspective provides novel insights into the factors that facilitate and constrain forgiveness at multiple levels of analysis, how the interplay between contextual levels can shape forgiveness at lower levels (e.g. in...

“Down and out” in D.C.: How Georgetown M.B.A. students learn about leadership through service to others

This article describes a community service project in which M.B.A. students learn about and experience directly the dynamics of leadership and power. The purposes of this project are to help students better understand the social reality of powerlessness, and how they, through their political activism and influence management skills, can improve the situations and lives of powerless people in the local community. In so doing, students begin to see the connection between political action and moral ends, the fundamental learning objective of this project.Wisdom is knowing what to do next. Virtue is doing it.(David Starr Jordan)