Vanessa Hill

An approach to identifying consensus in a subfield: The case of organizational culture

Abstract Most researchers recognize the importance of social interactions in the creation of scientific knowledge and new paradigmatic approaches. Nevertheless, methods summarizing major paradigms in a field, such as traditional literature reviews, divorce knowledge generation from its highly social context. Based on the assertion that knowledge is generated in part through social interactions among researchers, we introduce a cognitive network approach to identifying areas of consensus in a scientific subfield. This approach involves using a combination of social network analysis and textual map analysis techniques to locate points where meanings and people congregate. We illustrate this approach by examining the literature in the organizational culture subfield. Analyzing 70 texts in the organizational culture area, we use textual map analysis to identify changes in the conceptualization of culture over several decades and social network analysis techniques to changes in the key actors over this same period. We find that consensus within this field has evolved over time and is shaped by the social structure of researchers in the culture field. We discuss the potential contribution of this technique for providing insight into the process by which paradigms become established in organizational theory in particular, and research communities in general.

The Role of Moral Values in Instigating Morally Responsible Decisions

What drives the decision to act with virtue when one faces an ethical challenge? Events occurring in social interactions pose moral queries that drive people to respond with ethical strength, or to turn away. To understand the role of values in motivating morally responsible behavior, we identify military managers’ reasons for action when faced with a wartime moral dilemma. We employ qualitative methods to reveal a network of interconnected values, reflecting inferences between them and paths serving as motivations for action. Our approach unpacks what lies behind values that drive virtuous decisions, which we test quantitatively. The laddering technique we employ also serves as a tool, shedding light on the cognitive backstage of ethical decision making. Helping managers become aware of their tacit assumptions will be useful to augment ethics training and management practice. Implications and suggestions for additional research are presented.

Curves in the high road

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to trace a history of American codes of business ethics as they evolved from religious bases to legalistic bases to an international emphasis.Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes the evolution of business codes of ethics over the twentieth century in relation to the development of social issues.Findings – It is found that ethical codes are influenced by the prevailing ideology of the time regarding the social responsibility of business. The earlier part of the twentieth century emphasized religious values governing the treatment of customers and competitors and the responsibility of businesses for the well‐being of their employees by directing their private as well as business conduct. The latter part of the twentieth century stressed legal compliance as government regulation sought to control business behaviors that were harmful to society and to the environment. Entering into the twenty‐first century, we are seeing an increase in international emphases...

An exploration of leadership experiences among white women and women of color

Purpose – The specific aims for this paper are to deal with the conflicting research findings associated with the factors that influence the success of female leaders while using race (African American) as the core variable in this paper.Design/methodology/approach – A literature review was done. An empirical survey was designed and pre‐tested for face validity, relevance, clarity of items, and ease of administration and response. Two versions of the survey were pilot tested with two focus groups.Findings – The analysis centered on racial differences between Caucasian and African American female leaders. Chi‐square test was used for the primary original data, and t‐test for the mean subgroup scores obtained in Likert‐type items. The primary finding is that while Caucasian women and African American women face similar gender obstacles, the factors that determine their paths to success differ significantly.Research limitations/implications – The present study provides an excellent starting point to infuse r...

Win Friends and Influence People

Organizational culture research has primarily focused on organizations characterized by permanent, full-time employment relationships. The workplace is increasingly characterized by multiple employment relationships. It is not clear that current understandings of culture capture what occurs in these organizations. Employing participant observation and survey methods, the authors use a grounded theory approach to explore the transmission of cultural values and practices in a temporary placement agency, an organization characterized by multiple employment relationships. The authors find that successful purveyors of cultural values are characterized by how well they are liked and their perceived importance to their coworkers’ success rather than traditional means of culture management, such as policy and hierarchical authority.