Caucus
8AM - Dr Huadong Yang: Hybrid Work Arrangements (10242)
Paper sessions
8AM - Professor Tolga Bektas (author): The Role of Technology Readiness in Consumers’ Acceptance of Autonomous Delivery Service (13913)
9.45AM - Dr Lisa Day (session moderator): Sensemaking, Framing, and Meaning-Making (21980)
9.45AM - Dr Sam Horner (author): Developing Conceptual Foundations for Contextualized Entrepreneurship Education (15156)
10.45AM - Professor Wolfgang Sofka (author): How Salary Comparisons Among Spouses and Social Norms Affect the Salary Negotiations of R&D Workers (20003)
11.30AM - Professor Jordi Surroca (author): The Role of CEO Creativity in CEO Successor Selection After Corporate Misconduct (20138)
3PM - Dr Samah Shaffakat and Professor Lilian Otaye-Ebede (authors): Exploring Organizational Processes that Enable Contrapower Harassment in Academia (21361)
3.15PM - Professor Jordi Surroca (author): Less Severe but More Intense: Achievability as Search Motivation in the Vicinity of Aspirations (16292)
5.45PM - Professor Jordi Surroca (author): There Is a Dark Side to Everything: CEO Creativity and Corporate Social Irresponsibility (19489)
Professional development workshops
3PM - Dr Tomi Koljonen (organiser): Expertise in and Around Organizations: Taking Stock and Moving Forward (15923)
3.30PM - Dr Irene Margaret (panelist): Understanding and Empowering the Asian Scholars Diaspora in Academy of Management (17974)
Symposium (panel)
1.15PM - Dr Svetlana Flankova (organiser): Beyond the Facade: Corporate Greenwashing and Ways to Address It (18427)
5PM - Professor Mike Zundel (panelist): Agency at the Crossroads: New Paths, Problems, and Perspectives for a Central Concept (19727)
8AM - 9.30AM CT (UTC-5), Swissotel Chicago (Verbier)
Hybrid Work Arrangements (10242)
CAUCUS
Session: 511
Organisers
- Karin Sanders – UNSW Business School, Australia
- Andrew Dhaenens – UNSW Sydney
- Huadong Yang – University of Liverpool Management School
Summary
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to challenge traditional work arrangements. Researchers worldwide are studying hybrid work arrangements concerning the various needs and preferences of working in organizations. This caucus aims to openly discuss research relating to hybrid and flexible work arrangements and explore future ways of collaboration.
8AM - 9.30AM CT (UTC-5), Sheraton Grand Chicago (Columbus B)
The Role of Technology Readiness in Consumers’ Acceptance of Autonomous Delivery Service (13913)
PAPER SESSION
Division: TIM - Technology and Innovation Management
Session: 577 - Understanding Markets: User and Institutional Enablers
Authors
- Ya Liang, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
- Lixian Qian, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
- Yang Lu, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
- Tolga Bektas, University of Liverpool Management School
Abstract
Recent innovations in autonomous driving have spotlighted its potential in last-mile delivery, but there is insufficient research to understand consumers’ acceptance of autonomous delivery service (ADS) powered by autonomous driving technology. We fill this research gap by examining the role of technology readiness (TR) in influencing consumer acceptance of ADS in an extended Behavioral Reasoning Theory framework. We find that two TR traits, namely innovativeness and discomfort, can affect both individuals’ reasons for and against accepting ADS. However, optimism and insecurity, as two other TR traits, only influence the positive and negative reasoning for accepting ADS respectively. The influences of TR traits on consumers’ acceptance intention are mediated by the reasoning process, where the “reasons for” demonstrates stronger effect than “reasons against”. Our study also investigates the antecedents of TR traits, with the findings that younger individuals have both stronger TR motivators and weaker TR inhibitors while better educated consumers only demonstrate stronger TR motivators. This study offers valuable insights into the innovation acceptance in last-mile delivery service, with theoretical and managerial implications.
9.45AM - 11.15AM CT (UTC-5), Fairmont Chicago - Millennium Park (Crystal Room)
Sensemaking, Framing, and Meaning-Making (21980)
PAPER SESSION
Division: SAP - Strategizing Activities and Practices
Session: 658
Session moderator
9.45AM - 11.15AM CT (UTC-5), Hyatt Regency Chicago (Skyway 260)
Developing Conceptual Foundations for Contextualized Entrepreneurship Education (15156)
PAPER SESSION
Division: MED - Management Education and Development
Session: 648 - Entrepreneurship in Management Education
Author
Abstract
Pedagogical research concerned with EE has grown dramatically in recent years, yet the field of EE is currently at a crossroads. The conceptual foundations of EE remain underdeveloped, precipitating a condition in which the contours of EE, in terms of its aims, pedagogies, and outcomes are contingent on the assumptions about the nature of entrepreneurship that are held by educators. This is problematic for two reasons, first, the conceptual ambiguity functions to undermine the legitimacy of EE as a field of educational practice and a domain of academic research, second it has led to a skewed emphasis on some approaches (e.g silicon-valley style venture creation programmes) over others. This is particularly concerning because recent developments in the field of entrepreneurship have problematized the acontextual nature of this dominant model of entrepreneurship. To address the conceptual ambiguity that characterizes EE, and the associated problems of the silicon-valley model of EE, this paper develops a novel epistemological basis for entrepreneurship education. We draw on Gregory Bateson’s theory of deutero-learning, which places context at the heart of learning, to develop an explanation of why dominant models of EE have thus far failed to address the pressing issues of our time, including income inequality and ecological breakdown. We also build on the underlying epistemological premises of deutero-learning to develop a model of ‘ecological entrepreneurship education’ that aims at stimulating deep learning in students through the means of provocation and self-awareness. In so doing, we contribute to the EE literature by advancing a novel conceptualization of learning and education. We also contribute to the broader entrepreneurship literature by developing a theory of context that foregrounds the mutual-causal coordination that characterizes entrepreneurs’ interactions with their environments.
10.45AM - 12.15AM CT (UTC-5), Sheraton Grand Chicago (Sheraton Ballroom II)
How Salary Comparisons Among Spouses and Social Norms Affect the Salary Negotiations of R&D Workers (20003)
PAPER SESSION
Division: STR - Strategic Management
Session: 609: Strategic Innovations: Navigating Corporate Purpose and Market Dynamics
Authors
- Andreas Distel – Rotterdam School of Management
- Agnes Guenther – University of Utah, David Eccles School of Business
- Wolfgang Sofka – University of Liverpool Management School and Copenhagen Business School
Abstract
R&D workers are of strategic importance for firms because they accumulate tacit knowledge about their employers’ technologies. They have substantial bargaining power about their salaries because this knowledge would be attractive for competitors but hard to replace by their existing employers. While these conditions are well understood, we know comparatively little about when R&D workers are motivated to negotiate aggressively for higher salaries. We draw on theoretical mechanisms from social comparisons within marriages in social psychology and reason that R&D workers who earn less than their spouses will negotiate higher salary increases. Further, we propose that social norms make this effect stronger for male R&D workers who are traditionally considered as the breadwinners in households as well as for R&D workers who have a relatively higher-ranked job than their spouses which makes them sensitive to seeing their status threatened. We test and support these hypotheses for 70,312 married R&D workers in 3,710 unique firms in Denmark between 2008 and 2016.
11.30AM - 1PM CT (UTC-5), Sheraton Grand Chicago (Lakeview)
The Role of CEO Creativity in CEO Successor Selection After Corporate Misconduct (20138)
PAPER SESSION
Division: STR - Strategic Management
Session: 771 - CEO Characteristics and Experience
Authors
- HE Li – Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University
- Philip J. Steinberg – University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business
- Jordi Surroca – University of Liverpool Management School
- Hille C. Bruns – Groningen University (RuG)
Abstract
Although research has discussed various characteristics associated with CEO successors in firms with corporate misconduct, few studies have explored the CEOs’ less visible cognitive abilities. This study investigates the role of CEO creativity, as a prominent cognitive ability, in CEO successor selection following corporate misconduct. Based on prior research on the "dark side" of creativity, we propose that companies with disclosures of misconduct tend to select less creative CEOs as successors because less creative CEOs are more likely to be well-received by stakeholders after corporate misconduct. Additionally, the role of creativity in selecting a CEO successor is influenced by industry conditions. Results from analyses of S&P 1500 firms generally support our hypotheses.
1.15PM - 2.45PM CT (UTC-5), Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile (Lakeview)
Beyond the Facade: Corporate Greenwashing and Ways to Address It (18427)
SYMPOSIUM (PANEL)
Divisions: ONE - Organizations and the Natural Environment, STR - Strategic Management, IM - International Management
Session: 850
Organisers
- Svetlana Flankova – University of Liverpool Management School
- Valentina Marano – Northeastern University
- Ruth V. Aguilera – Northeastern University
- Pete Tashman – UMass Lowell
Panelist
- Ioannis Ioannou – London Business School
- Eun-Hee Kim – Fordham University
- Thomas Peyton Lyon – University of Michigan
- A. Wren Montgomery – Ivey Business School
- Maurizio Zollo – Imperial College Business School
Summary
Organizations worldwide are increasingly pressured to act more responsibly. A key strategy they are using to address these pressures is disclosing their efforts and impacts in the environmental and social arenas. Firms’ efforts to communicate their environmental and social performance and practices have increased in recent years, but so have instances of greenwashing. The United Nations identified greenwashing as a major barrier to achieving a sustainable future because it misleads stakeholders and detracts from genuine, impactful action in this realm. In response to the growing issue of greenwashing, governments and supranational organizations worldwide have started to implement legislation to curb this practice. These regulatory changes pose both challenges and opportunities for companies. Our panel symposium brings together leading scholars on this topic to engage in a dynamic discussion on management theory and practice related to greenwashing and corporate miscommunication issues more broadly. The purpose of this panel symposium is to explore existing research on greenwashing and to stimulate further investigation into this critical global issue.
3PM - 4.30PM CT (UTC-5), Fairmont Chicago - Millennium Park (Embassy Room)
Expertise in and Around Organizations: Taking Stock and Moving Forward (15923)
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP (PDW)
Divisions: OMT - Organization and Management Theory, CTO - Communication, Digital Technology, and Organization
Session: 941
Organisers
- Kasper Elmholdt – Aalborg University
- Tomi Koljonen – University of Liverpool Management School
Presenters
- William C. Barley – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Lisa Ellen Cohen – McGill University
- Ingrid Erickson – Syracuse University School of Information
Facilitators
- Giada Baldessarelli – Stockholm School of Economics
- Curtis Kwinyen Chan – Boston College
- Mayur Prataprai Joshi – Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa
Summary
Management scholars have a long-standing interest in expertise, a phenomenon, and a concept with significant consequences for important individual, group, organizational, occupational, and institutional practices and outcomes. Organizational research has so far approached the topic from various perspectives that draw on rich and varied traditions of studying expertise across social and behavioral sciences. However, challenges around conceptual and definitional clarity, as well as unclear distinctiveness from related concepts like knowledge, skill, and learning, may hinder the value of the concept in studying important contemporary phenomena that shape and are shaped by expertise. Experts and expertise also face significant contestation and change, due to phenomena including, but not limited to, emerging technologies like generative artificial intelligence and automation; media issues like mis- and disinformation; and political trends such as populism and polarization. It is, therefore, imperative to take stock of how expertise has been considered in organizational research, and further, chart a way forward for future research. By taking stock of previous research and exploring new avenues for inquiry in contemporary organizations, our PDW thus aims to focus on how management and organization scholars can study expertise in and around organizations and contribute to organization and management theory. Our PDW will stimulate discussion and reflection on this question through presentations and a panel discussion. Through facilitated roundtables, we will encourage new scholars to engage with the study of expertise, and throughout the program, build community around the study of expertise in and around organizations.
3PM - 4.30PM CT (UTC-5), Hyatt Regency Chicago (Skyway 272)
Exploring Organizational Processes that Enable Contrapower Harassment in Academia (21361)
PAPER SESSION
Division: MED - Management Education and Development
Session: 938 - Management Educator and Practice
Authors
- Samah Shaffakat – University of Liverpool Management School
- Pisitta Vongswasdi – WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management
- James Stewart – Liverpool John Moores University
- Lilian Otaye-Ebede – University of Liverpool Management School
Abstract
This paper investigates the phenomenon of 'contrapower harassment' in UK higher education sector where students exert undue influence and hostility towards their educators. The research examines how neoliberal ideologies and the commodification of education have led to a shift in the power dynamics, enabling such harassment. Through in-depth qualitative interviews with faculty members from various UK universities, the study uncovers the various forms and impacts of this harassment, and importantly identifies the key institutional processes embedded in the UK higher education system that facilitate it. The findings also illustrate how academics and university staff accommodate this new power relations and hostile work environment. This study contributes to the discourse on the challenges faced by academics in a neoliberal educational environment and provides rich empirical insight into a growing, yet rarely-discussed aspect of academic life. These insights are important at a time when university claim academic well-being while undermining it in practice.
3.15PM - 4.45PM CT (UTC-5), Fairmont Chicago - Millennium Park (Crystal Room)
Less Severe but More Intense: Achievability as Search Motivation in the Vicinity of Aspirations (16292)
PAPER SESSION
Division: OMT - Organization and Management Theory
Session: 965 - Search and Learning
Authors
- Karen Van Gia Tu – University of Groningen
- Pasi Kuusela – University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business
- Pedro Faria – University of Groningen
- Jordi Surroca – University of Liverpool Management School
Abstract
While research in the behavioral theory of the firm has often shown that organizations intensify their search as their performance falls further below aspirations, some studies unexpectedly found that organizations are highly responsive also when their performance falls only slightly below aspirations. We reconcile these puzzling findings by studying organizations’ motivation to address their performance shortfall in the vicinity of aspirations. Our core argument is that organizations perceive closing a small performance-aspiration gap as easily achievable. Following the self-efficacy perspective, this perceived achievability motivates organizations to intensify their search to close such gap. Overall, we predict that organizations’ propensity to change decreases when performance falls from slightly to moderately below aspirations, before increasing as performance falls further below aspirations. Further, we suggest the effect of performance slightly below aspirations on change to be stronger when organizations possess a high level of success experience. Using U.S. patent data from 1980 to 2015, we find support for our hypotheses. Our study contributes to the behavioral theory of the firm by showing a more complex functional form of the relationship between performance shortfall and search, thus deviating from the typical linear and inverted-U shaped patterns.
3.30PM - 5PM CT (UTC-5), Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile (O'Hare)
Understanding and Empowering the Asian Scholars Diaspora in Academy of Management (17974)
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP (PDW)
Divisions: MSR - Management, Spirituality, and Religion, DEI - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, MED - Management Education and Development
Session: 966
Organisers
- Sunny Jeong – Wittenberg U.
- Benito Teehankee – De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
Panelist
- Anna Fung – American University, Kogod School of Business
- Pooja Khatija – PhD Candidate at Case Western Reserve University, Organizational Behavior
- Xiaoan Li – Fetzer Institute
- Himani Singh – University of Mannheim
- Maria Eduarda Soares – ISEG/ULisboa
- Irene Margaret – University of Liverpool Management School
- Poonam Zantye – Boston College
Summary
The "Understanding and Empowering the Asian Diaspora in Academia" workshop, drawing from the "Voices of Asian Diaspora" monthly meetings initiated by the Management, Spirituality, and Religion (MSR) Division at AOM, aims to address the multifaceted challenges faced by Asian scholars in the academic sphere since COVID. Since its inception on May 17, 2023, these meetings have become a crucial platform for Asian diaspora scholars to voice their unique concerns, share experiences, and build a robust support system. This workshop is designed to encapsulate and extend these discussions, offering insights into navigating racial profiling, minor aggressions, identity challenges, mental health issues, graduate student struggles, and the intricacies of academic publishing and funding. Comprising a series of panel discussions led by experienced academicians, the workshop will explore strategies to address these challenges, fostering an environment of understanding, solidarity, and actionable solutions. The sessions will cover topics ranging from coping with racial profiling and microaggressions to understanding the nuances of faculty identity in minority contexts. Mental health concerns specific to Asian scholars, challenges faced by Asian graduate students, and effective ways to ally with Asian colleagues will also be discussed. Additionally, the workshop will provide valuable insights into grant writing, networking, and strategies to increase academic paper citations, crucial for scholarly success. This workshop aims not only to enlighten but also to empower attendees with practical tools and knowledge, enhancing their capability to thrive in diverse academic environments and contribute meaningfully to their respective fields.
5PM - 6.30PM CT (UTC-5), Fairmont Chicago - Millennium Park (Ambassador Room)
Agency at the Crossroads: New Paths, Problems, and Perspectives for a Central Concept (19727)
SYMPOSIUM (PANEL)
Divisions: OMT - Organization and Management Theory, SAP - Strategizing Activities and Practices
Session: 1053
Organisers
- Ibrat Djabbarov – Imperial College London
- Daniel Milner – Oklahoma State University
- Andrey Pavlov – Cranfield School of Management
Panelist
- Maria Jose Murcia – IAE Business School & CESIS, Austral University
- Mike Zundel – University of Liverpool Management School
- Mary Uhl-Bien – Texas Christian University
- Sebastiano Massaro – Surrey Business School
Summary
Our assumptions of agency characterize how we as scholars understand and research leadership, strategy, entrepreneurship, and technological changes, to name just a few. The concept of agency is central to creating, changing, and dealing with challenges ranging from minor issues to societal grand challenges. Although ubiquitous in organization research and an undercurrent in management theory and practice, agency remains largely under-theorized. As societies and organizations face wicked problems – e.g., societal grand challenges, inequity, mental health – bringing agency into the foreground can help scholars develop new perspectives and conceptual insights about how actors can be creative agents, change and enact change, and respond to challenges (Battilana, Yen, Ferreras, & Ramarajan, 2022; Sewell, 1992). Furthermore, the stories we pay attention to and the angles from which we study organizations as management scholars often favor agentic elements. For example, how peripheral and central actors instigate change at organizational or field levels (Greenwood & Suddaby, 2006; Greenwood, Suddaby, & Hinings, 2002; Suddaby & Greenwood, 2005), how entrepreneurs develop intentions, or managers strategize (Hengst, Jarzabkowski, Hoegl, & Muethel, 2020; Jarzabkowski, Bednarek, Chalkias, & Cacciatori, 2018) are all tightly connected to what it means to be an agent. Our interpretations and lenses may propel a particular view of agency. Scholars advancing the agential realism perspective argue that how we measure and observe shapes our perception of agency (Barad, 2007). For example, actor- network theory highlights that agency is not limited to humans and can extend to non-human entities such as objects and technologies (Latour, 2005). These perspectives are underpinned by researchers’ assumptions and their ontological, epistemological, and methodological orientations (Gioia, 2022). Moreover, separate from the nature or ontology of agency are its causes and consequences. The diversity of organizational research examining a wide range of phenomena of creativity, change, and challenges across different contexts and theoretical lenses can yield new insights about the nature, causes, and consequences of human agency. As organization scholars, we can leverage the diversity of organizational research streams to develop fresh perspectives and nuances on agency. For this symposium, we invited scholars representing a broad range of perspectives to offer diverse insights on agency from different research streams in management and organization studies. Our expert panel will provide insights from processual and relational ontology, leadership and complexity, strategy and technology, and neuroscience.
5.45PM - 7.15PM CT (UTC-5), Sheraton Grand Chicago (Colorado)
There Is a Dark Side to Everything: CEO Creativity and Corporate Social Irresponsibility (19489)
PAPER SESSION
Division: STR - Strategic Management
Session: 1063 - Corporate Social Irresponsibility
Authors
- HE Li – Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University
- Philip J. Steinberg – University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business
- Jordi Surroca – University of Liverpool Management School
- Hille C. Bruns – Groningen University (RuG)
Abstract
Individual creativity is generally regarded as an important competency for CEOs that positively affects organizational outcomes. However, based on recent insights from the field of psychology, we theorize that CEO creativity may also hold undesirable implications for the firm as it can increase firms’ likelihood to engage in corporate socially irresponsible (CSIR) activities. Moreover, we identify conditions for when our theory applies. We propose that proximity to bankruptcy, strategic flexibility, and track record of corporate social responsibility serve as moderators that enhance our focal relationship. In a longitudinal study of 883 firms for years 2009 to 2020, we find support for the hypothesized relationship between CEO creativity and CSIR and the moderating effects of proximity to bankruptcy and strategic flexibility.
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