The historical evolution of corporate governance is considered, highlighting the different eras of governance, the dominant theoretical and practical paradigms, the reformulation of paradigms and counter paradigms. Two alternative and sharply contrasting theorizations, one collective and collaborative (the work of Berle and Means), the other individualistic and contractual (agency theory and shareholder value) are focused upon. The explanatory potential of Blair and Stout's team production theory is elaborated, and its conception of the complexity of business enterprise, with a mediating hierarch (the board of directors) securing a balance between the interests of different stakeholders. The potential for reform of corporate purpose, corporate governance and directors’ duties is examined with reference to the UK Modern Company Law Review. The impact of the intensification of the financialization of corporations is analysed, with the increased emphasis upon short-termism. The origins of the global financial crisis in shareholder value orientations and the continuing reverberations of the crisis are explored. Finally, the imperative of the advance of sustainable enterprise is argued, and the critical changes necessitated in corporate purpose and directors’ duties.

Individuals in organizations must frequently enact a series of ongoing decisions in real-time dynamic contexts. Despite the increasing need for individuals to manage dynamic decision-making demands, we still understand little about individual differences impacting performance in these environments. This paper proposes a new construct applicable to adaptation in such real-time dynamic environments. Cognitive agility is a formative construct measuring the individual capacity to exhibit cognitive flexibility, cognitive openness and focused attention. This study predicts that cognitive agility will impact adaptive performance in a real-time dynamic decision-making microworld computer game called the Networked Fire Chief; a simulation developed to study and train Australian fire fighters. Cognitive agility, operationalized through three distinct methods (performance measures, self-reports and external-rater reports), explained unique variance beyond measures of general intelligence on the total score of adaptive performance in the microworld.

In this study, we examine the impact of portfolio configuration on corporate performance in a technological vertical downstream alliance portfolio. First, we explore whether differences in characteristics such as innovativeness, reputation, and bargaining power between a focal firm and its partners affect corporate performance. Second, considering these differences between a focal firm and its partners, we analyze whether an alliance portfolio structure spanning structural holes or a densely embedded network is preferable. We examine 44 leading Korean defense firms over the period 1995–2010 using the two-step generalized method of moments. Our principal arguments emphasize that differences between a focal firm and its partners (in terms of innovativeness, reputation, and bargaining power) affect corporate performance differently. This concept contrasts that of previous studies, which argued that allying with dominant partners is generally better. The arguments also emphasize that the alliance portfolio structure should differ depending on the differences in terms of the three capabilities between a focal firm and its corporate partners.

Contextualizing organizational behavior research means considering the influence of context and illuminating how context influences organizational behavior. In this article, we examine the field of organizational behavior against the criteria of contextualized research, finding it comes up short. We discuss the influences of context and contextual influences and identify ways to contextualize organizational behavior research. We provide examples of contextualized research and outline future directions for contextualized organizational behavior research. Lastly, we issue a call and urge scholars to take up the challenge of putting context back into their organizational behavior research and opening new research pathways and innovative theory for examining organization behavior.

What if our actions were imbued with the sacred? What if activism in organisations evokes better local society and responsible global community? What if sacred activism signals the performance of a deeper understanding and mindful actions for contextualising management and organisations in South Asia? These are some of the questions we pose to scholars and practitioners as we seek to present the multiplexities and singularities that epitomise South Asia. We address the braided realities and opportunities presented by religion, culture, ethnicity, gender and governance to contextualise organisations and management among the 1.67 billion people who constitute South Asia. We calligraph our interpretations and future possibilities based on historical traditions and extant data, mindful that some parts of this vast region are grappling with religious radicalisation, East–West tensions, underdevelopment, low literacy rates, violence against women, and international debts and handouts. This heterogeneous region also has a major BRICS country (i.e., India), provides CEOs to the world, scientists to NASA, outsourcing facilities to global corporations, has a young population, a huge middle class, and is actively participating in mergers and acquisitions in the global corridors of commerce. Our poignant hope is to inform and suggest possibilities for constructing enriching engagements and research in this region.

In this article we show how specific family business logic shapes managerial practices. Based on empirical material from 20 case studies of family ownership governance, our study identifies seven core characteristics of family ownership logic. These include active, visible and persistent ownership with few owners, relatively stable strategic development encompassing multiple ownership goals, autonomy towards capital markets, and a strong identification and emotional bonding with the business. By considering the family business context, we find managerial practices that are prevalent in the majority of businesses around the world and that have implications for ownership research. It is concluded that by taking the logic of ownership into consideration when studying family businesses, researchers in this field can contribute to the growing literature on sociocultural and behavioural factors in corporate governance relations.

This study quantitatively and qualitatively examines perceptions of organizational justice among 227 professionals/managers and 210 non-professional full-time employees across Australia in relation to their work–life balance. Findings confirm that the professional/managerial groups perceive higher levels of organizational justice than the non-professional group in all work–life balance/justice dimensions (procedural, distributive, interpersonal and informational), demonstrating the pervasive power status differences between different occupational groups. This study underlines the importance of justice-based work–life balance efforts for all occupational groups to create more inclusive and fair organizations. We conclude with policy implications and directions for future research.

This paper investigate the degree to which environment uncertainty affects inter-organisational alliance partner selection in small to medium-sized enterprises and blends the resource-based view in a multiple-mediator model in which different dimensions of alliance motivation (cost and strategy) act as mediating mechanisms that transmit the positive effects of environment uncertainty to partner selection criteria. Four hypotheses are developed and then tested on a survey data sample of 108 firms in the Taiwanese steel industry. Our research findings show the mediating effects of alliance motivation cost and strategy and understanding how environment uncertainty impacts alliance motivation (cost and strategy) within small to medium-sized enterprises.

Individuals who allege bullying bring their own version of events to any investigation, and regardless of the allegations made, there is always more than one account of what took place. Perception influences the interpretations placed on our actions and that of others, especially in terms of whether these constitute bullying in the context in which they are observed. Since investigators, and researchers, are heavily reliant on self-reports, it is important to understand how subjectivities affect individual interpretation and responses. Based on Heider’s Balance Theory, this conceptual article presents a series of propositions relating to subjective factors in perceiving an act as bullying. Research which explores these factors will facilitate better understanding of allegations of bullying. Potential implications for research, awareness raising, education and training, investigation and interpretation of allegations of workplace bullying are advanced.

Increasingly within industries voluntary codes (standards) are being developed and subsequently used by firms to address social and environmental issues. On any particular issue multiple competing codes may be available for adoption by firms. Given a choice of codes, which ones will firms adopt? Building on existing institutional and economic research pertaining to voluntary codes this paper proposes a theoretical model as to why some codes are perceived as legitimate by firms and hence are widely adopted while others are not. This model proposes that, in addition to the role of the code's content, the characteristics of the adopting firm, and environmental factors, the origins of a voluntary code, including the characteristics of the developer creating it, the development process, and the opportunity for firms to engage in formalized ‘normative conversations’ regarding the code subsequent to its adoption, will influence whether potential firm adopters perceive the code as legitimating and hence decide to adopt it. Rather than code adoption simply reflecting institutional mimicry or a rational transaction by adopting firms this model suggests that both the creation and the maintenance processes surrounding codes play important roles in the perceptions of legitimacy and subsequent adoption of codes by firms.

In recognition of middle managers as influential strategists we collected 654 responses from South African middle managers detailing their spontaneous and unguided descriptions of their strategic roles in the organisation they represent. The results show that middle managers generally associate their strategic role strongly with the traditional perspectives on the roles as implementers of strategies and communicators linking their subordinates and higher levels of management. We add the roles of ‘advocacy’ and ‘improving operational performance’ to the conventional elements of strategy implementation, and the roles of ‘managing performance’ and ‘driving compliance’ to the role of downward influence. Focus group discussions contextualised and authenticated these roles within the South African private and public sectors.

Although perceptions of physically, socially, and morally stigmatized occupations – ‘dirty work’ – are socially constructed, very little attention has been paid to how the context shapes those constructions. We explore the impact of historical trends (when), macro and micro cultures (where), and demographic characteristics (who) on the social construction of dirty work. Historically, the rise of hygiene, along with economic and technological development, resulted in greater societal distancing from dirty work, while the rise of liberalism has resulted in greater social acceptance of some morally stigmatized occupations. Culturally, masculinity tends to be preferred over femininity as an ideological discourse for dirty work, unless the occupation is female-dominated; members of collectivist cultures are generally better able than members of individualist cultures to combat the collective-level threat that stigma inherently represents; and members of high power-distance cultures tend to view dirty work more negatively than members of low power-distance cultures. Demographically, marginalized work tends to devolve to marginalized socioeconomic, gender, and racioethnic categories, creating a pernicious and entrapping recursive loop between ‘dirty work’ and being labeled as ‘dirty people.’

Mentoring received by protégés has been shown to play an important role in relieving protégés’ job-related stress. However, literature on the relationship between mentoring and job-related stress has yielded mixed and inconclusive results. Our research seeks to reconcile the conflicting implications by examining protégés’ individual traditionality and trust in mentor as moderators on the relationship between mentoring and job-related stress. We tested the hypotheses with data from a sample of 210 protégés from a large company in China. Results of our two-way and three-way interaction effect tests revealed that: (1) traditionality moderated the negative relationship between mentoring and job-related stress in such a way that the relationship was stronger for protégés with higher rather than lower traditionality; (2) the influence that mentoring had on job-related stress was strongest for protégés with both high traditionality and a high level of trust in mentor.

This paper examines the impact of personality trait of dispositional affect and contextual variables of multiple commitments on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) in two occupational groups. Three dimensions of OCBs were considered: helping, civic virtue and sportsmanship behaviors. We used positive and negative affectivity scale to measure dispositional affect. For commitments, we examined affective and normative organizational and occupational commitments. The data were collected from 180 engineers and 180 teachers. The findings show that affect, multiple commitments and occupation all have significant impacts on different dimensions of OCBs. Dispositional affect had the most influence on all three dimensions of OCBs. In addition, helping behavior is affected by normative organizational commitment while civic virtue behavior is influenced by affective commitments (both organizational and occupational) and occupation. Sportsmanship behavior is explained by occupation and affective organizational commitment. Occupation has been shown to make a unique contribution to understanding OCBs. The present study showed that the teachers, for example, exhibited more civic virtue and sportsmanship behaviors than the engineers. Implications of the findings for future research and practice are discussed.