From inconsistency to hypocrisy: When does “saying one thing but doing another” invite condemnation?

It is not always possible for leaders, teams, and organizations to practice what they preach. Misalignment between words and deeds can invite harsh interpersonal consequences, such as distrust and moral condemnation, which have negative knock-on effects throughout organizations. Yet the interpersonal consequences of such misalignment are not always severe, and are sometimes even positive. This paper presents a new model of when and why audiences respond negatively to those who “say one thing but do another.” We propose that audiences react negatively if they (a) perceive a high degree of misalignment (i.e., perceive low “behavioral integrity”), and (b) interpret such misalignment as a claim to an undeserved moral benefit (i.e., interpret it as hypocrisy). Our model integrates disparate research findings about factors that influence how audiences react to misalignment, and it clarifies conceptual confusion surrounding word-deed misalignment, behavioral integrity, and hypocrisy. We discuss how our model can inform unanswered questions, such as why people fail to practice what they preach despite the risk of negative consequences. Finally, we consider practical implications for leaders, proposing that anticipating and managing the consequences of misalignment will be more effective than trying to avoid it altogether.     

Moralische Arbeitsteilung

In modernity, organizations are the most powerful actors. All the more important is the “dark side” of organizational morality. While organizations, on the one hand, ensure or claim to ensure efficiency and reliance they have, on the other, a considerable potential to suppress the moral point of view and to produce or fabricate legitimation. The paper concentrates on this dark side—on problems of the moral division of labor, the organization of hypocrisy, legitimation through procedures, rent-seeking and the related corporate power vis-à-vis law, regulation and politics.     

Trade and Factor Market Reforms in China

The benefits of the multi‐faceted liberalization of the Chinese economy can be seen in various indicators of economic development. The rate of growth of the economy, the flow of foreign investment in China, and rising quality of life are some of the indicators of gains from the liberalization process. Most of the research has focused on the role of trade reforms on the Chinese economy. There is, however, one unfinished agenda that has not been addressed adequately by policy makers as well as academia, i.e. labor‐sector reforms. In this paper, we analyze the effect of labor market liberalization in China using a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model. Most CGE models on China using a neoclassical approach assume that there is a single wage rate for the economy. This is a simplifying assumption and has strong implications. Studies show that inter‐industry wage differentials persist even after accounting for obvious explanations such as differences in human capital or job hazard. Inter‐industry structural rigidities in developing countries lead to wage differentials. In China, labor mobility from the rural to the urban sector is restricted. Furthermore, China is on its way to joining the WTO agreement. As a signatory to the WTO agreement, China would be required to reform its trade sector by eliminating tariffs. In this paper, we explicitly model wage differentials in the case of the Chinese economy. Various counterfactual experiments have been conducted to introduce efficiency by the removal of factor market differentials in China in the presence and absence of tariff and non‐tariff barriers. Our results indicate that factor market reforms are essential to the realization of full gains from accession to the WTO agreement.     

Changing Strategy Processes and Strategy Content in Public Sector Organizations? A Longitudinal Case Study of NPM Reforms’ Influence on Strategic Management

New Public Management reforms have been argued to intensify the use of strategic management in public organizations, but there is a need to understand how reforms influence specific aspects such as strategy processes and strategy content. The NPM reforms are expected to formalize and professionalize strategy processes and strategy content towards greater competitiveness, but this may counter cooperation between organizations, which is essential in many areas for overall service provision. Research has provided little empirical knowledge about the simultaneous competition and cooperation in the public sector. This study offers such knowledge via a panel case study of five Danish upper secondary schools over a ten‐year period during a large NPM reform. The study includes three rounds of interviews with school principals before, during and after the reform, combined with secondary data. The study shows that, during reform implementation, strategy processes become more formalized and professionalized, and that teachers, in particular, lose influence. Regarding strategy content, the authors find an increase in external focus and competition, though schools maintain a focus on cooperation. The results suggest that NPM reforms can significantly change strategic management in public organizations, and that this is not necessarily at the expense of cooperation, at least in the short run.     

Evaluating the Evaluators: Should Investors Trust Corporate Governance Metrics Ratings?

Companies are under increasing pressure to have their corporate governance rated by an independent corporate governance metrics firm, such as Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) or Governance Metrics International (GMI). These rating firms claim to be able to determine how effective and responsive a company’s board is. Institutional investors have begun using these board governance ratings when deciding which firms to include in their stock portfolios. This paper considers whether investors, many of whom claim to be socially responsible, should be relying upon board governance metrics. We find that these metrics are not good indicators of either the quality of a firm’s earnings or of its ethics.     

Was kosten Kliniken? Zur Weiterentwicklung des Krankenhaussektors am Beispiel Berlins

The costs of hospitals. Developments of the German hospital sector evaluated in the case of Berlin This article illustrates the development of the German hospital sector evaluated in the case of the capital Berlin. Due to the difficult economic situation of the hospital sector after the reunification major reforms became unavoidable. Especially a reduction of the average days of stay per case created overcapacities of personell. But all the reforms which have been taken during the last years had to consider the major role of the hospital sector for the labour market of the city. On the one hand the article shows, that the reforms of the nineties have been successful also with regard to the important role for the labour market. On the other hand the restructuring of the hospital sector is not finished yet, there is still a need for further reforms.     

Uncertainty, Contrariness and the Double-bind: Middle Managers' Reactions to Changing Contracts

This article describes the emerging changes in psychological contracts being experienced by British middle managers in relation to their employing organizations, the middle managers' negative reactions to these changes and organizational responses to such negativity. By analysing case studies of 16 organizations, a classification of changes to five elements of the psychological contract are identified: knowledge, motivation, goals and means, role behaviour and ethics. By analysing the semi-structured interviews of 37 middle managers, selected from a much larger database for their obvious negative reactions, a continuum of such reactions is considered: uncertainty, contrariness and double-bind. This consideration leads, then, to suggestions for further research.     

评分不一致性对在线评论有用性的影响——归因理论的视角

哪些因素会影响在线评论的有用性一直是理论界和实践界都十分关心的问题,但现有研究对在线评论的星级评分是如何影响评论有用性这一问题仍未形成统一的结论。基于此,本文以归因理论为分析框架,构建了在线评论的星级评分与产品的平均星级间的不一致性对评论有用性的影响的研究模型,并重点探讨产品的评论总量以及评论的星级评分和平均星级间差异的方向对这一影响的调节作用。本文以携程网上832233条酒店评论为样本,采用零膨胀负二项回归方法对理论模型进行了实证检验,研究结果表明,评分不一致性对评论的有用性有显著的负向影响,而某种产品的评论总量以及星级评分和平均星级间差异的方向对评分不一致性和评论有用性间的关系起到调节作用。当产品的评论总量越高或评论的星级评分与产品的平均星级间的差异为正向差异时,评分不一致性对评论有用性的负向影响越强。本文的研究成果既为理解在线评论有用性提供了理论贡献,也有助于电子商务或第三方评论网站管理和应用在线评论。     

基于漂移度的动态组合评价方法研究

为了解决多种动态评价方法评价结论非一致性问题,提出动态组合评价方法。以相容动态评价方法集为基础对不同动态评价方法的漂移性进行测度研究,提出了基于漂移度的动态组合评价方法。最后用一个实例说明本研究实际应用上的有效性。基于漂移度的动态组合评价方法对解决多种动态评价方法评价结论非一致性问题提供了思路,是综合评价方法研究的有益补充,可以利用该方法进行应用研究。     

基于方法集化的动态组合评价方法研究

为了解决多种动态评价方法评价结论非一致性问题,提出动态组合评价方法。给出关于可比动态评价方法集和相容动态评价方法集的定义,并运用模糊聚类分析方法确定相容动态评价方法集;然后以相容动态评价方法集为基础确定可能的组合评价集,建立评价方法集化模型,寻找一个最满意的组合评价,并对该评价结论进行相容性检验。最后用一个实例说明本研究实际应用上的有效性。基于方法集化的动态组合评价方法对解决多种动态评价方法评价结论非一致性问题提供了思路,是综合评价方法研究的有益补充,可以利用该方法进行应用研究。     

Organizational Transformation and Top-Down Change: The Case of the NHS

This paper analyses the effects of government-sponsored attempts to change the way that the NHS, one of the largest employers in Europe, is managed. The theoretical issues raised relate to the concept of transformational change and attempts at public-sector restructuring, which set the context for the presentation of data. The empirical research, carried out over three years, examines the changes since the most recent reforms (the NHS and Community Care Act 1990).
The research considers the extent of organizational change which can be seen as the outcome of these reforms in relation to: a multiple and inter-related change agenda; the creation of new forms of organization; the creation of new roles; the reconfiguration of power relations; and the creation of a new culture, ideology and organizational meaning. These are presented as the key variables which could indicate whether transformational, rather than incremental, change has occurred. The focus of this analysis is at local board level.
This article concludes that earlier analyses of the limited success of administrative reform are no longer the case. Our analysis of the key variables suggests that what is occurring at least at local board level goes beyond incremental change and may represent the beginnings of an 'organizational transformation'. This contains unintended as well as intended elements as an unanticipated 'hybrid' form of management may be emerging.     

Authorizing processes changing team autonomy during new product development

One basic feature of recent collaborative team arrangements for organizing new product development is a high degree of autonomy for cross-functional teams. The literature, however, has not provided a very precise analysis of team autonomy in the context of new product development. The theoretical framework advanced here, based on the literature and the authors' case studies, assumes that developing a large and technologically sophisticated new product requires a hierarchy of collaborating teams. In this complex organizational context, managers do not completely predetermine any one team's autonomy. During the course of a new product development program, certain authorizing (deauthorizing) processes produce ad hoc changes in autonomy. This paper identifies specific authorizing processes and hypothesizes about variables that should affect them. The propositions also lead to some managerial implications for preserving team autonomy.     

Understanding platform business models: A mixed methods study of marketplaces

Recent technological advances have enabled the emergence of novel business models based on digital platforms. Marketplace like Airbnb or Uber offer such digital platforms to connect previously unmatched demand-side and supply-side participants through innovative forms of value creation, delivery and capture. While countless firms claim to offer the next ‘Airbnb for X’ or ‘Uber for Y’, we lack knowledge about the defining business model characteristics of these marketplaces. To close the gap, this paper provides a conceptually and empirically grounded taxonomy of their business models. Applying a mixed methods approach, it first develops an integrative framework of marketplace business models. Guided by the framework, the research systematically analyzes 100 randomly selected marketplaces with content analysis and binary coding. The gathered data is analyzed with cluster analysis techniques to develop a taxonomy for marketplace business models. The clustering process reveals six clearly distinguishable types of marketplace business models and thus shows that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating, delivering, and capturing value with marketplaces and platforms in general. We characterize these distinctive types on basis of the qualitative and quantitative findings. Among others, we find that two of these types are highly aligned with business model characteristics associated with the so-called sharing economy. The findings are discussed against platform, marketplace, and sharing economy literature to contribute to a higher integration of different literature streams that are concerned with similar organizational types and phenomena.     

基于一致性的动态组合评价方法研究

为了解决多种动态评价方法和动态组合评价方法评价结论非一致性问题,提出基于一致性的动态组合评价方法。确定相容动态评价方法集,应用几种动态组合评价方法对相容动态评价方法集中的单一动态评价结论进行组合评价,如果评价结论非一致,再利用这几种动态组合评价方法对动态组合评价结论进行组合或再组合,直到得到一致性的动态组合排序值为止。应用基于一致性的动态组合评价方法对东部地区区域自主创新能力进行动态组合评价,得到一致性的评价结论,通过实例说明本研究实际应用上的有效性。基于一致性的动态组合评价方法对解决多种动态评价方法评价结论非一致性问题提供了思路,是综合评价方法研究的有益补充,可以利用该方法进行应用研究。     

On the need for reform of the Portuguese judicial system – Does Data Envelopment Analysis assessment support it?

The Portuguese judicial system has attracted considerable criticism in recent years and demands for reforms have gained prominence. By using the Data Envelopment Analysis technique and focusing on the performance of 223 Portuguese first instance courts during the period of 2007–2011, this research has found evidence that supports some of this criticism and justifies the calls for reforms, better performance and accountability of the judicial system. In particular, our results found a sector with considerable scope for improvement with less than 16% of the 223 courts analysed making an efficient use of their resources in each year and with only one third of the courts being considered efficient in at least one of the five years assessed. Whilst the results suggest that improvement can be achieved with better case management, scale factors also seem to play an important role in explaining inefficiency, with most of the inefficient courts being smaller than optimal and with smaller courts being, on average, less efficient than larger ones. The existence of a statistically significant relationship between courts׳ efficiency and size was confirmed by the Mann–Whitney test. These results indicate considerable scope for improvement and that some of the planned reforms are timely and seem well targeted. However, the results also suggest that efficiency increases matching peers׳ best practices are not enough to sustainably reduce the prevailing judicial backlog and length of court proceedings in a considerable number of courts. Major changes in the capacity and/or functioning of the Portuguese judicial system might also be required.     

Reforming Public Administration in Southeast Asia: Trends and Impacts

In Southeast Asia, the recent two decades have witnessed major theoretical, structural, functional, and ethical reforms in the administrative system. In the region, the state-centric mode of public administration that emerged during the colonial and postcolonial periods, has recently been transformed into a businesslike public management in line with the current global movement for such a transition. This article examines the trends of administrative changes in countries such as Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It also briefly evaluates the critical impacts of these recent changes on the systems of public administration the conditions of citizens and societies in the region.     

APPOINTMENT POLICIES IN SERVICE OPERATIONS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK

In this paper we review the literature on appointment policies, specifically in terms of the objective function commonly used and the assumptions made about the behavior of demand. First, we provide an economic framework to analyze the problem. Based on this framework we make a critical analysis of the objective functions used in the literature. We also question the validity of the assumption made throughout the literature that demand is exogenous and independent of customers' waiting times. We conclude that the objective functions used in the literature are appropriate only in the case of a central planner facing a demand that is unresponsive to waiting time. For other scenarios, such as a private server facing a demand that does react to waiting time, these objective functions are only shortcuts for the real objective functions that must be used. A more general model is then proposed that fits these scenarios well. Finally, we determine the impact of using the literature's objective functions on optimal appointment policies.     

Seeing is not believing: Leader humility,hypocrisy, and their impact on followers' behaviors

Challenging the prevailing consensus that leader humility is uniformly beneficial we investigate circumstances where leader humility behaviors are positively perceived and yet negatively received due to attributions of impression management. Arising from potential inconsistencies in perceptions and attributions, we argue that followers may evaluate leader humility behavioral displays as either genuine or hypocritical. We conducted two studies, in different contexts, to test followers' reactions to leader humility displays. In Study 1 (Confucian Asian cluster), we used a survey methodology to test our theoretical model. Due to the validity problems with our instrumental variables, we were unable to draw conclusions from the results of study 1. In Study 2 (Anglo cluster), we used a scenario-based experimental design. While the hypothesized mediating effect via perceptions of leader hypocrisy was not supported by the results, we found support for the hypothesis that the interaction of leader humility and impression management positively influenced hypocrisy.     

保险需求悖论的解释——来自中国汽车险市场的实证研究

经典的保险需求模型认为绝对风险规避系数递减时保险是一个劣质品,也就是说保险需求会随着财富水平的上升而下降,但这一结论与许多现实的保险行为不符。本文从损失和财富的关系角度出发对经典模型进行了扩展,讨论了在损失随财富变化时的保险需求变化,对保险需求的悖论进行了解释。论文还采用国内汽车险市场的微观数据对拓展模型进行了实证研究,结果显示车险投保人的个人财富与其所选择的保险金额、投保比率以及索赔金额之间存在着显著的正相关关系,检验表明模型的假设和结论具有很好的解释现实的能力。     

Privatization and National Development: A Case Study of Ghana

Proponents of privatization claim that privatization can enhance efficiency, reduce public sector debt and consequently improve overall economic performance. However, in many developing countries, and Africa in particular, the evidence is mixed. An exploratory study is done from the perspective of citizens’ about the impact of privatization on the Ghanaian national economy. The findings of the study suggest that: 1) the privatization program is pro rich; it benefits the economic and political elites more than it benefits the nation as a whole; 2) there is a high level of corruption associated with the privatization process; and 3) Privatization is not considered as one of the most important tools needed for national development, though the survey finds that many respondents believe that there is the need for some reforms in the public sector to promote national development. The results of the study indicate that administrative and political problems cannot be overcome simply by reducing the size of the state bureaucracy, but rather making government more accountable in meeting the needs of its people.