Initial sociological interest in network forms of organization was motivated in part by a critique of economic views of organization. Sociologists sought to highlight the prevalence and functionality of organizational forms that could not be classified as markets or hierarchies. As a result of this work, we now know that network forms of organization foster learning, represent a mechanism for the attainment of status or legitimacy, provide a variety of economic benefits, facilitate the management of resource dependencies, and provide considerable autonomy for employees. However, as sociologists move away from critiquing what are now somewhat outdated economic views, they need to balance the exclusive focus on prevalence and functionality with attention to constraint and dysfunctionality. The authors review work that has laid a foundation for this broader focus and suggest analytical concerns that should guide this literature as it moves forward.

Consumer-brand relationships can be formed based on individual-or group-level connections. For example, a consumer's relationship with a Mercedes may be based on the desire to express individual-level unique identity (e.g., self-concept connection), whereas a relationship with a local brand (e.g., Ford) may be based on a group-level patriotic national identity (e.g., country-of-origin connection). We suggest that the effects of self-concept connection and brand country-of-origin connection vary based on self-construal. Results across two studies reveal that, under independent self-construal, self-concept connection is more important. Under interdependent self-construal, brand country-of-origin connection is more important. R ecently, the relationship perspective has become increasingly popular as a theoretical lens for understanding consumer-brand interactions (Aaker, Fournier, and Brasel 2004; Escalas and Bettman 2005; Fournier 1998). Consumers are known to form strong relationships with those brands that have values and personality associations that are congruent with their self-concept (Sirgy 1982). In this way, brand relationships can be viewed as expressions of consumers' identities (Escalas and Bettman 2005; Reed 2004). Self-concept connection, a dimension of the consumerbrand relationship, indicates the amount that the brand contributes to one's identity, values, and goals (Fournier 1998). For instance, the Harley Davidson brand, with its free-spirited and rebellious image, is likely to appeal more to those

In this study, we examine the effects of illegal/unethical acts on interfirm networks. We hypothesize that the quality of network partners will decline and overall network structure will change after a firm commits an unethical act. More specifically, we posit that the decline in partner quality is primarily driven by higher quality firms leaving the network, and the focal firm being forced to replace them with lower quality ones. We also propose that partner prominence and network cohesion will be affected after these acts, and that the changes in partner quality and network structure will be greater for those acts perceived as more illegitimate. We test these hypotheses using a sample of 200 large firms in the United States and data on unethical acts by these firms. Our results show that the quality of a firm’s network partners declines after the firm’s commission of an unethical act, and that the deterioration in partner quality tends to be greater for acts of greater illegitimacy. Our results also show declines in network prominence and cohesion for firms involved in these activities. We discuss the implications of our results for the literatures on interfirm networks and unethical corporate activities.

corporate ethical values, career satisfaction, altruism, citizenship,

Previous work suggests that gender attitudes are associated with different individual and organizational factors. At the same time, ethics research suggests that many of these same variables can influence ethical reasoning in companies. In this study, we sought to combine these streams of research to investigate whether individual skepticism of women's employment is related to ethical reasoning in a gender-based ethical situation. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis indicated that skepticism of women's employment was negatively related to the recognition that the gender-based dilemma involved an ethical problem, and that skepticism was also negatively related to judgments that the situation was unethical. These findings imply that companies should advance policies that increase tolerance for women's employment, such as diversity training codes of conduct, and ethics training.

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PurposePrevious research indicates that women often perform more ethically on the job than do men. However, the results have been mixed, suggesting that further inquiry is needed. The purpose of this paper is to explore this important topic in a large healthcare organization. A field study sought to identify gender differences in ethical judgment, ethical intention, and organization‐based altruism in a healthcare organization, thereby providing some insight into the individual differences that influence ethical reasoning in the healthcare industry.Design/methodology/approachThe investigation was based on survey data returned from a large sample of faculty and staff employed by a multiple‐campus health science center. Multivariate and univariate statistical modeling was used to evaluate the relationship between gender and ethical reasoning/conduct.FindingsThe findings suggest that women are generally more ethical than men. Being a woman was related to increased ethical judgment, being a woman and older was associated with increased ethical intention, and being a woman and a supervisor was related to higher altruism.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that women should play a key role in the ethical role modeling of newly hired employees, as well as the development and management of organizational ethical values and codes of conduct. Healthcare organizations might also consider encouraging women to accept supervisory roles and become opinion leaders to foster organizational ethicality.Originality/valueThe findings add weight to the evidence that women are indeed more ethical than men in a variety of work roles, but greater insight into the complexities of these gender differences is also provided.

This paper tests three competing hypotheses regarding the effect of a ''buy it now'' option in silent auctions: that the option has a positive, negative, or neutral effect on the seller's revenues. These hypotheses were tested on 4 years of data from a university art museum's silent auctions. The results indicate that the ''buy it now'' option has a significant negative effect on the seller's revenues. Possible explanation, implications, and limitations are discussed.