An integrated model of perceived unfairness in organizations

Attitudes and behaviors of employees in organizations are influenced by fairness judgments employees make about organizations. A model is presented that proposes (i) when fairness becomes an issue to employees, (ii) how certain rules are chosen to evaluate a situation as fair or unfair, and (iii) the psychological and behavioral reactions that may result from judging something as unfair. The managerial implications of the model are discussed.     

非协调约束与组织运作——一个研究中国慈善组织与政府关系的理论框架

本文在组织研究中的新制度主义和种群生态理论的基础上 ,以“非协调约束下的组织运作”为理论框架 ,对中国 90年代后期慈善组织的生成机制和运作逻辑进行了理论上的阐述。文章认为 ,中国慈善组织的集中出现以及组织形式与运作的明显不一致 ,是非协调的制度环境对组织行动实施约束的结果 ,是组织面对制度环境的压力采用的理性的生存策略。政府的资源获得需求与社会控制需求之间的持久张力 ,是慈善组织的形式与运作脱离的制度根源。组织的形式与运作的不一致 ,是组织领域中非常普遍的现象 ,该理论框架可以拓展到类似现象的分析。     

从断裂到整合:对乡村振兴的政治社会学考察——基于冀西北地区X村的个案研究

在政治社会学的理论视域内,新时代实施乡村振兴战略的关键在于寻求国家与乡村社会的均衡互动。参照社会整合的分析框架以及X村的调研材料可以发现,在现代化的驱动下,历经深层次的社会改造和全方位的市场洗礼之后,当前的乡村社会同时出现了由传统宗族萎缩和村级组织涣散诱发的组织断裂问题、由伦理原则变迁和公共文化式微诱发的文化断裂问题以及由乡绅消亡和精英虚化诱发的精英断裂问题。面对缺乏有机统一性的断裂社会,落实乡村振兴战略必须从有效重整村庄社会入手,依循重建组织资源、复兴公共文化、强化精英供给的实践路径,筑牢与国家正向互动的社会基础,从而使国家与乡村社会的关系达成新的平衡。     

Distributive and procedural justice in the workplace

The interrelatedness of procedural and distributive justice has implications for organizational practice, especially in the area of performance appraisal. I explore these implications by first describing how procedures can influence perceptions of distributive justice: Procedural improprieties can bring to mind the possibility that a more just outcome might have been obtained if only more acceptable practices had been followed. Next I discuss a second form of interrelatedness — how distributive consequences can influence perceptions of procedural justice — by suggesting that the fairness of a procedure can be assessed in terms of its expected-value (typical or most probable) outcome. These points are illustrated by a discussion of howvoice, or the opportunity for employees to contribute information during the performance appraisal process, can affect both appraisal accuracy and perception of fairness.     

Organizational ignorance: an ethnographic study of high-frequency trading

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of strategic uses of ignorance or not-knowing in one of the most secretive industries within the financial sector. The focus of the paper is on the relation between imitation and ignorance within the organizational structure of high-frequency trading (HFT) firms. In social studies of finance (SSF) literature imitation is considered a strategic act, i.e. imitation is a term applied when traders copy the strategies of other traders. I wish to turn this relation between ignorance and imitation on its head and consider ignorance itself as a strategic unknown and investigate the kinds of imitations that might be produced from structures of not-knowing (i.e. structures intended to divide, obscure and protect knowledge). This point is illustrated through ethnographic studies and interviews within five HFT firms. The data show how a black-box structure of ignorance is replicated within the organizational setting of these firms and re-enacted by the traders. Towards the end of the paper the politics of the relationship between imitation and ignorance is discussed.     

Hybrid security governance in Africa: rethinking the foundations of security,justice and legitimate public authority

This article asks whether the concept of ‘hybridity’ offers a more convincing account of security governance in Africa than the standard state-focused models. It seeks to clarify the complex intersections between formal and informal, state and non-state security actors, and the varied terrains on which hybridity is constructed, instrumentalised and recalibrated over time. Rather than romanticising informal or ‘traditional’ institutions, it suggests that they too embed their own power hierarchies, become sites of contestation, and do not work equally well for everyone, least of all for the weak, vulnerable and excluded. Thus the focus is placed upon the real governance of security in hybrid systems, and the patterns of inclusion and exclusion (including gender biases) they reinforce. Finally the paper considers how policy-makers and shapers can work with the grain of hybrid security arrangements to create more legitimate, broadly-based and effective African security governance.     

Information and Environmental Policy: A Tale of Two Agencies

In recent years, scholars and practitioners have focused increasing attention on the role of information in achieving environmental policy goals. This article develops a framework for understanding how information is used in making environmental policy, and compares the kinds of information development and communication efforts undertaken by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Environment Agency (EEA). The analysis suggests that institutional factors such as organizational structure and the mix of policy instruments used by the agency affect the kinds of information efforts undertaken. It also suggests possible areas of focus for environmental information efforts within the EPA and the EEA. These suggestions and the framework provided may also be of use to other environmental agencies.     

Making good on donors’ desire to Do Development Differently

Foreign aid donors are increasingly focused on changing the way their development agencies function. This discourse has focused on desired qualities, including greater knowledge of local contextual realities, appropriate adaptation to context and greater flexibility to respond to changing circumstances. We argue that more attention needs to be devoted to the achievement of these qualities and turn to contingency theory to identify some under-exploited ways to ‘do development differently’. The qualities sought by donors are emergent properties of complex organisational systems and will only be achieved through a micro-level and interlinked focus on the fundamentals of organisation.     

Citizenship as Targeted Behavior: Responses to Organizational Justice and the Role of Culture

The study aimed at reviewing citizenship as targeted behavior in response to justice perceptions and investigating the role of within-culture differences on citizenship responses to organizational fairness perceptions. Data were solicited from 150 employees and their supervisors representing various public sector entities of Pakistan. Results showed that distributive and interactional fairness predict interpersonal organizational citizenship behavior. Organizational fairness did not predict citizenship behavior targeted at organizations. Organizational justice had negative values of citizenship behavior for higher values of collectivism. Findings and implications for human resource management practitioners and suggestions for future research are discussed.