No abstract

No abstract

In the current economic context where the behaviour of firms is carefully examined by the markets, the corporate reputation which is generated by organisations among their stakeholders may facilitate their success. Since employees are actively involved in its shaping and influence the overall perception of the firm's corporate reputation, the aim of this research is to improve the management of the employee views of reputation in order to increase its global evaluation. To do this, we analyse whether the existence of a characteristic management style influences the employee views of reputation, studying the effect of control variables such as employee age, gender, level of education or job position. Using a sample of 148 employees of Spanish accounting audit firms, we develop a specific tool for measuring the reputation from the employee perspective of service SMEs, as well as confirming that a strong participative management style promotes a better perception of reputation by employees than a competitive style. Hence, this study reflects that men prefer a competitive management style. Also, a high level of education along with job position has a positive impact on the preference of a participative style with the job position being the main moderating variable of the proposed model.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of work-life balance (WLB) practices on the financial results of Spanish accounting audit SMEs. Design/methodology/approach Using survey data from 148 Spanish accounting audit SMEs, a regression analysis was developed to estimate the direct effects of WLB practices on firms’ financial results (return on capital employed and return on assets). Firm age and size are considered as control variables. Findings Senior managers should foster some WLB practices (time-reduction and flexible-work practices) so as to enhance SME audit firms’ financial results. Work-leave practices should be analyzed so as to promote some positive outcomes for firms, through internal reorganization or by reorienting employees to resorting to the most beneficial practices. Practical implications Not all WLB practices have positive effects on the business results of SMEs. Therefore, managers may try to reduce these negative effects or redirect employees to WLB practices that have more positive effects on their firms’ financial results. Strategic information is also provided to employees and public institutions about fostering WLB in SMEs. Social implications The availability of WLB practices has been deemed fundamental not only for policy makers and society, but also for the organizational culture and for human resource management practices. Originality/value This study is the first to investigate the association between the availability of WLB initiatives in SMEs and firms’ financial results.

El emprendimiento es fundamental para conseguir una mayor inclusión social y laboral del colectivo de discapacitados. Este estudio tiene como principal objetivo profundizar en los aspectos socioeconómicos que influyen en el emprendimiento del individuo discapacitado. Tras un estudio cualitativo por medio de 15 entrevistas semiestructuradas, individualizadas y orales, los resultados muestran que este colectivo presenta una situación socioeconómica concreta que dificulta su emprendimiento y les diferencia del resto de individuos. Básicamente, emprenden por la necesidad de supervivencia, pues tienen menos ingresos y mayores gastos derivados de sus minusvalías, y por su necesidad de autorrealización. La disponibilidad de recursos financieros es normalmente inferior al resto de los individuos, consiguiéndolos esencialmente de su reducido entorno social, recomendándose una especial fiscalidad a medio plazo. El estatus social de reconocimiento por ser autosuficientes y generadores de riqueza es otro importante elemento socioeconómico. Finalmente, se proponen varias medidas orientadas al emprendimiento eficiente de este colectivo.

The growing global need for social cohesion and sustainable development gives visibility to cooperatives because their principles help to achieve these objectives and the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Among them, gender equality policies are in the forefront. This paper explains how cooperatives contribute to women’s professional opportunities and to balancing the presence of women in management positions. It analyzes the predominant leadership styles and gender differences in cooperatives with a sample of 114 cooperative firms. The results show that: (a) Both transformational and transactional leadership styles are widely used; (b) no significant differences in leadership styles between men and women exist; and (c) the composition of management teams results in significant leadership style differences. The transformational style is less often used in mixed teams with a male majority and a woman president, and most often used in homogeneous teams (made up of only men or only women). Transactional leadership is more frequently implemented in teams made up only of women than in mixed masculine teams with a female president. These findings identify women’s leadership styles in cooperatives, pointing out their difficulties and introducing innovative proposals for contributing to their success and the achievement of SDGs in cooperatives.

Purpose This paper aims to identify a typology of corporate misconduct affecting trust; to test the relative ability of individual misconducts to reduce trust and; to explain differences in how individuals respond to corporate crises. Design/methodology/approach The main research design uses conjoint analysis. Respondents (n = 404) rated eight combinations of six types of misconduct, identified from prior work on trust as likely to reduce trust. Initial levels of trust were established by varying both country of origin and product type. Findings The importance ranking for the six types was consistent across most conditions, with “bending the law” and “not telling the truth” as the most salient and “acting unfairly” and “acting irresponsibly” as the least salient in damaging trust. The characteristics of the respondent influenced the effect size. Practical implications As loss of trust represents loss of reputation, understanding how and when the framing of misconduct damages trust is important in managing reputation risk. The impact of any report of misconduct can be moderated if attributed by a company, the media or the individual, to a type that is less damaging to trust. Originality/value This study adds to our understanding as to why individuals respond differently to corporate misconduct, and contributes to prior work on reputation damage. The typology of corporate misconduct developed and tested here offers a different framework for researchers and practitioners with which to explore loss of trust and to develop existing crisis communication theory.

No abstract