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A new issue of Human Relations is available online:  Human Relations July 2015; Vol. 68, No. 7 - we hope you enjoy reading these articles.

The entire issue can be accessed online at http://hum.sagepub.com/content/68/7?etoc and will be free to access throughout July.

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SPECIAL ISSUE: Economic inequality and management

Guest editors: Hari Bapuji and Suhaib Riaz

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Introductory note

Paul K Edwards

Human Relations July 2015, 68(7): 1055–1057, doi:10.1177/0018726715593057

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/68/7/1055?etoc

Abstract

The topic of this special issue is an important and timely one, as all the articles explain. It is also a particularly challenging one for scholars: just how we turn the injunction to connect organizations to inequality into a meaningful research programme is harder than might seem. I am thus particularly grateful to the special issue editors for defining an agenda and producing a set of articles that addresses it. Given that the agenda is challenging, the format of the special issue is slightly unusual. We have the usual five articles on specific topics. Framing them are essays by each of the special issue editors that explain and address different aspects of the wider scholarly challenges of the agenda. Hari Bapuji synthesizes a mass of research that explores the links running from inequality to organizations; he also indicates the contributions of each of the articles. Suhaib Riaz looks at how organizations themselves generate inequality and the intersections between dimensions of inequality and the methodological challenges involved. Each offers a framework with different but potentially complementary ways of thinking about inequality and organizations. In this very short note I offer some very brief further reflections on the connections between agenda and articles.

Individuals, interactions and institutions: How economic inequality affects organizations

Hari Bapuji

Human Relations July 2015, 68(7): 1059–1083, doi:10.1177/0018726715584804

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/68/7/1059?etoc

Abstract

Research in a number of disciplines has shown that high levels of economic inequality adversely affect individuals and societies. Surprisingly, research examining the business consequences of societal level economic inequality is virtually nonexistent. In this article, I present a framework to study how economic inequality affects organizational performance. I suggest that economic inequality indirectly affects organizational performance via human development in the society, and directly via its effects on individual employees and their workplace interactions, as well as via the institutions in which the organizations are embedded. Further, I present a brief research agenda that seeks to illuminate the relationship between economic inequality and management and conclude with an overview of this special issue.

Bringing inequality back in: The economic inequality footprint of management and organizational practices

Suhaib Riaz

Human Relations July 2015,  68(7):  1085–1097, doi: 10.1177/0018726715584803  

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/68/7/1085?etoc

Abstract

In this article, I argue for 'bringing inequality back in' to organizational research in order to investigate the role of management and organizational practices in macro-level economic inequality. To set an agenda in this area, I suggest considering three loci where the links between organizations and inequality may be observed: the organizational locus comprising the producer/employee, investor and consumer dimensions; the inter-organizational locus to help disentangle issues related to the distribution of economic rewards across value chains, large financial versus non-financial organizations, and across occupations and organizations in general; and socio-political system as a locus where issues related to social change, political influence and the institutional system may be unpacked. In addition, I suggest considering the link between organizations and inequality from other important vantage points: elites, demographics, global inequality and debt. I also briefly highlight issues related to data and analyses. Throughout, I discuss the contributions of the five articles in the special issue and how they push us towards this agenda. Finally, I suggest that it may be helpful to think of an 'inequality footprint' of management and organizational practices, potentially leading organizations to reduce and reverse this footprint and ensure that economic benefits reach wider society.

Asymmetric intergroup bullying: The enactment and maintenance of societal inequality at work

Soydan Soylu and Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington

Human Relations July 2015, 68(7): 1099–1129, first published on January 21, 2015, doi:10.1177/0018726714552001

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/68/7/1099?etoc

Abstract

What does inequality mean for dysfunctional organizational behaviours, such as workplace bullying? This article argues that workplace bullying can be understood as a manifestation of intergroup dynamics originating beyond the organization. We introduce the construct of asymmetric intergroup bullying: the disproportionate mistreatment of members of low status groups, with the intended effect of enhancing the subordination of that group in society at large. Analysis of data from 38 interviews with public and private sector workers in Turkey depicts a pattern of asymmetric intergroup bullying, undertaken to achieve organizational and broader sociopolitical goals. Respondents reported bullying acts used to get rid of unwanted personnel, with the goal of avoiding severance pay, or of removing supporters of the former government from positions of political and economic influence. Bullying was also described as working towards the dominance of the sociocultural worldview of one political group over another. We discuss asymmetric intergroup bullying as one mechanism through which acute intergroup hierarchy in the broader society corrupts management practice and employee interactions, in turn exacerbating economic inequality along group lines.

Economic inequality of the badli workers of Bangladesh: Contested entitlements and a 'perpetually temporary' life-world

Fahreen Alamgir and George Cairns

Human Relations July 2015, 68(7): 1131–1153, first published on March 18, 2015, doi:10.1177/0018726714559433

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/68/7/1131?etoc

Abstract

This article discusses the experience of economic inequality of badli workers in the state-owned jute mills of the postcolonial state of Bangladesh, and how this inequality is constituted and perpetuated. Nominally appointed to fill posts during the temporary absence of permanent workers, the reality of badli workers' employment is very different. They define themselves as 'a different category of workers', with limited economic entitlements. We undertake content analysis of the badli workers' narratives to identify elements that they themselves consider constitute these economic entitlements. We consider their perceptions of discrimination and exclusion and explain how, in response to these feelings, they construct their survival strategy. From this, through the writings of Armatya Sen, we discuss the badli workers' contextual experience and understanding of economic inequality in relation to extant theoretical understandings, seeking to contribute to the field and to empirical studies in the subaltern context.

Pay dispersion and organizational innovation: The mediation effects of employee participation and voluntary turnover

Taiyuan Wang, Bin Zhao, and Stewart Thornhill

Human Relations July 2015, 68(7): 1155–1181, doi:10.1177/0018726715575359

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/68/7/1155?etoc

Abstract

Building on social comparison theory, we posit that a firm's pay dispersion affects its innovation through employee participation and voluntary turnover. By analyzing data collected at both employee and organizational levels from 1419 firms, we found that pay dispersion had an inverted U-shaped effect on employee participation, which in turn enhanced innovation. Pay dispersion had a positive effect on voluntary turnover, which in turn impaired innovation. These findings contribute to research on economic inequity by revealing the mediation mechanisms of employee participation and voluntary turnover in the relationship between pay dispersion and organizational innovation.

What motivates entrepreneurial entry under economic inequality? The role of human and financial capital

Emanuel Xavier-Oliveira, André O Laplume, and Saurav Pathak

Human Relations July 2015, 68(7): 1183–1207, doi:10.1177/0018726715578200

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/68/7/1183?etoc

Abstract

Based on a multilevel analysis of nearly 120,000 observations across 31 countries between 2001 and 2008, we provide novel insights into the moderating effects that economic inequality may have on the distinct roles that human and financial capital play on different types of entrepreneurship. As inequality increases, both forms of capital become weaker deterrents of entry into necessity entrepreneurship, whereas for opportunity entrepreneurship, only financial capital becomes a stronger predictor of entry. We also show that, regardless of inequality levels, both human and financial capital exhibit decreasing marginal returns on the likelihood of entry into necessity entrepreneurship, and that in the case of opportunity entrepreneurship, financial capital exhibits increasing marginal returns. However, inequality does impact the magnitude of marginal returns. Additionally, our statistical analysis provides quantitative support to extant literature arguing that higher levels of economic inequality foster both types of entrepreneurship albeit having a stronger impact on necessity entrepreneurship, and that human and financial capital have distinct effects on entry into necessity versus opportunity entrepreneurship. All these findings have pertinent policy implications and shed light on the under-researched role of inequality on entrepreneurship.

Inequality, corporate legitimacy and the Occupy Wall Street movement

Paul Shrivastava and Olga Ivanova

Human Relations July 2015, 68(7): 1209–1231, doi:10.1177/0018726715579523

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/68/7/1209?etoc

Abstract

This exploratory study examines legitimacy challenges to business spawned by growing inequalities. It uses aesthetic inquiry in the context of the Occupy Wall Street movement to understand the processes of organizational legitimation and delegitimation. By studying photos of slogans and placards from the Occupy Wall Street movement, we show how corporate and business legitimacy are challenged by the public. We identify different types of legitimacy challenges across organizational systems' levels. We explore implications of these challenges for corporations and the use of aesthetic strategies as delegitimation signals by Occupy Wall Street protesters in order to express their support or discontent with existing norms, values and standards.

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THIS MONTH'S FREE ACCESS ARTICLE

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Terms of engagement: Political boundaries of work engagement–work outcomes relationships

Rachel E Kane-Frieder, Wayne A Hochwarter and Gerald R Ferris

Human Relations 2014 67(3): 357–382, doi: 10.1177/0018726713495068

Free to access until 31 July 2015

This paper identifies an important, and hitherto unstudied, boundary condition of the impact of work engagement on individual work outcomes. The finding that perceptions of organizational politics moderate the engagement–work outcomes relationship is both interesting and theoretically important. The findings not only indicate when work engagement relates to these work outcomes but also a high degree of novelty in the use of this perspective as a boundary condition of the relationships examined. The strength of the paper lies in its inclusion of 4 studies and the examination of moderation effects in relation to a number of dependent variables. 

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WHY PUBLISH IN HUMAN RELATIONS?

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Human Relations is an A* journal – the highest category of quality – in the Australian Business Deans Council (ABCD) Journal Quality List 2013. It is also ranked 4 in the Association of Business Schools (ABS) Academic Journal Guide 2015. With an impact factor of 2.398, it is also ranked as one of the top 5 journals in social and interdisciplinary sciences.

2-year impact factor: 2.398 - Ranked: 35/185 in Management and 5/95 in Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary

5-year impact factor: 3.187 - Ranked: 37/185 in Management and 3/95 in Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary

Source: 2014 Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters, 2015)

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CALLS FOR PAPERS

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Special issue: Conceptualising flexible careers across the life course – submit by 1 March 2016 
http://www.tavinstitute.org/humanrelations/special_issues/Flexible%20careers.html

Special issue: Global supply chains and social relations at work – submit by 30 April 2016 
http://www.tavinstitute.org/humanrelations/special_issues/Global%20supply%20chains.html

Submit your review article to Human Relations

Human Relations welcomes critical review papers that advance our understanding of social relationships at and around work. The journal seeks papers that contribute to the field through a new theory, new methods, a novel synthesis of extant evidence, or a combination of two or three of these elements. Reviews that identify new research questions and that make links between management and organizations and the wider social sciences are particularly welcome.

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RECENT ONLINEFIRST PREVIEW ARTICLES

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Is non-family social capital also (or especially) important for family firm performance?

Valeriano Sanchez-Famoso, Naveed Akhter, Txomin Iturralde, Francesco Chirico, and Amaia Maseda

Human Relations, first published on June 29, 2015 as doi:10.1177/0018726714565724

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/07/01/0018726714565724.abstract

Abstract

This article reports on a study investigating the effects of both family and non-family social capital on firm performance. Specifically, we contend that non-family social capital has a stronger effect on firm performance than family social capital and it also serves as a mediator between family social capital and firm performance. Using a sample of 172 Spanish family firms that includes two respondents per firm, we test a structural model that confirms our hypotheses. Our results extend the understanding of social capital beyond family firms by exploring both family- and non-family-based social relationships in a context in which social factors are predominant.

What happens when you can't be who you are: Professional identity at the institutional periphery

Jelena Zikic and Julia Richardson

Human Relations, first published on June 30, 2015 as doi:10.1177/0018726715580865

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/06/30/0018726715580865.abstract

Abstract

This article examines the impact of large scale, 'macro' role transitions on professional identity. Drawing on in-depth interviews with two different groups of immigrant professionals, it theorizes how organizational outsiders with established professional identities respond to the institutional requirements and specifically to professional pre-entry scripts in their new host country. The study demonstrates how identity work evolves among each group as they navigate the permeable and impermeable pre-entry scripts in their respective professions. It identifies both barriers and facilitators to engagement with, and fulfillment of, local pre-entry scripts. These findings demonstrate how different professional domains and power structures create different opportunities for re-entry and as a result give rise to different forms of identity work – involving, for example, identity customization, identity shadowing, struggle and enrichment. Implications for policy makers in the field will be discussed, focusing on how different groups of professionals respond to unique forms of identity threat emerging from their respective professional institutions and structural barriers.

Shadows and light: Diversity management as phantasmagoria

Christina Schwabenland and Frances Tomlinson

Human Relations, first published on June 18, 2015 as doi:10.1177/0018726715574587

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/06/17/0018726715574587.abstract

Abstract

Within the field of critical diversity studies increasing reference is made to the need for more critically informed research into the practice and implementation of diversity management. This article draws on an action research project that involved diversity practitioners from within the UK voluntary sector. In their accounts of resistance, reluctance and a lack of effective organizational engagement, participants shared a perception of diversity management as something difficult to concretize and envisage; and as something that organizational members associated with fear and anxiety; and with an inability to act. We draw on the metaphor of the phantasmagoria as a means to investigate this representation. We conclude with some tentative suggestions for alternative ways of doing diversity.

The longer your work hours, the worse your relationship? The role of selective optimization with compensation in the associations of working time with relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure in dual-career couples

Dana Unger, Sabine Sonnentag, Cornelia Niessen, and Angela Kuonath

Human Relations, first published on June 11, 2015 as doi:10.1177/0018726715571188

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/06/11/0018726715571188.abstract

Abstract

This two-wave panel study investigates the associations between working time, selective optimization with compensation in private life and relationship outcomes (i.e. relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure) in dual-career couples. We propose that one partner's selective optimization with compensation in private life either mediates or moderates the association of this partner's working time and relationship outcomes (i.e. relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure). Moreover, we postulate the crossover (i.e. transmission) of relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure within the couple. To test these hypotheses, we conducted an online study with a time lag of six months, in which 285 dual-career couples took part. We found evidence for selective optimization with compensation in private life as a mediator: working time spent by partners in dual-career couples was associated with selective optimization with compensation in their private life that, in turn, predicted relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure. Results did not support the assumption that one partner's selective optimization with compensation in private life moderates the association between working time and relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure. Relationship satisfaction, but not self-disclosure, crossed over within the couples. The results challenge the assumption that longer work hours have negative consequences for romantic relationships.

Who am I? Mothers' shifting identities, loss and sensemaking after workplace exit

Shireen Kanji and Emma Cahusac

Human Relations, first published on March 16, 2015 as doi:10.1177/0018726714557336

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/06/15/0018726714557336.abstract

Abstract

We analyse mothers' retrospective accounts of their transition from professional worker to stay-at-home mother using a framework that integrates sensemaking and border theory. The data come from in-depth interviews with former professional and managerial women in London. Continuing struggles to reconcile professional and maternal identities before and after workplace exit illustrate how identity change is integral to workplace exit. The concept of 'choice', which takes place at one point in time, obfuscates this drawn-out process. Mothers pay a high cost in lost professional identities, especially in the initial stages after workplace exit. They cope with this loss and the disjuncture of leaving employment by moving back and forth across the border between home and work – a classic action of sensemaking. Subsequent communal sensemaking and community action bolster mothers' fragile status at home, eventually leading to reconciliation of their loss and finally enabling them to view their exit 'choice' as right.

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Claire Castle

Managing Editor, Human Relations 

Email: c.castle@tavinstitute.org

Website: www.humanrelationsjournal.org

OnlineFirst forthcoming articles: http://hum.sagepub.com/content/early/recent

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2-year impact factor: 2.398 - Ranked: 35/185 in Management and 5/95 in Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary

5-year impact factor: 3.187 - Ranked: 37/185 in Management and 3/95 in Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary

Source: 2014 Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters, 2015)