Looking up to regulations, out at peers or down at the bottom line: How institutional logics affect the prevalence of age-related HR practices

Ollier‐Malaterre, Ariane; McNamara, Tay; Matz-Costa, Christina; Pitt‐Catsouphes, Marcie; Valcour, Monique

doi:10.1177/0018726713478244

Cited by 35 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…For example, Lindner et al (2014) show that many individuals have ageist preferences in hiring situations, even when primed with equity norms that prescribe that it is forbidden to discriminate, and even when they perceive themselves to be objective in their decisions. On the other hand, Roscigno et al (2007) show that many employers may be aware of their ageist preconceptions, but legitimise and rationalise their ageist behaviour, for example by invoking arguments based on increasing business costs (Conen et al, 2012;Ollier-Malaterre et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employers’ age-related norms, stereotypes and ageist preferences in employment

Mulders

2019

IJM

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Purpose Social norms about the timing of retirement and stereotypes about qualities of younger and older workers are pervasive, but it is unclear how they relate to employers’ ageist preferences. The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of employers’ retirement age norms and age-related stereotypes on their preferences for younger or older workers in three types of employment practices: hiring a new employee; offering training; and offering a permanent contract. Design/methodology/approach Survey data from 960 Dutch employers from 2017 are analysed to study employers’ preferences for younger or older workers. Effects of organisations’ and managers’ characteristics, retirement age norms and stereotypes are estimated with multinomial logistic regression analyses. Findings Many employers have a strong preference for younger workers, especially when hiring a new employee, while preferences for older workers are highly uncommon. Higher retirement age norms of employers are related to a lower preference for younger workers in all employment decisions. When employers are more positive about older workers’ soft qualities (such as reliability and social skills), but not about their hard qualities (such as their physical capacity and willingness to learn), they rate older workers relatively more favourable for hiring and offering training, but not for providing a permanent contract. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to estimate the effects of retirement age norms and age-related stereotypes on ageist preferences for a diverse set of employment practices.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employers’ age-related norms, stereotypes and ageist preferences in employment

Mulders

2019

IJM

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“…Blomgren and Waks (2015) criticize this as a limitation, arguing that the degree of organisational complexity may be underestimated, while Greenwood et al, (2011) observe that particular responses may not have been fully understood. While the coexistence of several logics within organisations has been reported from other disciplines' perspectives (Ollier-Malaterre, McNamara, Matz-Costa, Pitt-Catsouphes and Valcour (2013) refer to the coexistence of strategic, benchmarking, and compliance logics in human resource practices), logic multiplicity within the audit environment has not previously been considered. This study introduces accountability logic which manifests in a compliance mindset.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Participants conceded that regulatory inspections (legally and regulatory-derived coercive pressures (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983;Ollier-Malaterre et al, 2013)) have impacted positively on audit quality (Malsch et al, 2018) (underscoring accountability logic), but equally recognized that compliance behaviour is escalating (much criticized by some non-auditor participants). Regulatory agencies require detailed documentation to verify accountability and Big 4 firms use standardized tools to demonstrate their compliance.…”

Section: Demarcating Connected Logicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Special Issue: A Southern African Dialogue on the Professions and Professional Work

Smeby¹

2019

P&P

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This special issue showcases some of the papers presented at the 2017 Colloquium titled "A Southern African Dialogue on the Professions and Professional Work" held at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. While the special issue contributes to the conversation on professions and professionalism within southern Africa (see also Bonnin & Ruggunan, 2013; Bonnin & Ruggunan, 2016; Erasmus & Breier, 2009; Young & Muller, 2014), it also opens up a conversation between southern Africa and the economic/political North. Writing in 1972 Johnson (p. 281) noted that "the sociology of professions, as a specialist field, today stands almost alone in ignoring the third world". Forty-seven years later, it feels as if not much has changed. Annisette (2007, p.245) points to the repeated calls for "greater spatial and temporal diversity in historical research in accounting", while her focus here was on accounting, this call resonates with most research fields in the professions. However, we would argue that not only is there a need for "spatial and temporal diversity" but also a need to recognise that the professions in both the global south and the economic north are shaped firstly by colonialism and imperialism, and later, through globalisation and neo-imperialism. Just as Johnson (1982, cited in Annisette, 2000) argued that professionalisation in Britain and its former colonies are linked through the project of imperialism, so the globalisation of professions through the global reach of professional service firms (Faulconbridge & Muzio, 2007), transnational companies and multilateral organisations continues this mutual shaping albeit in a different form (Hopper et al., 2017; Lassou, Hopper, Tsamenyi, & Murinde, 2019). Recognising that the professional project "is grounded in history and unfolds through continuous negotiations set in a broader political and economic order … which over time mobilises different claims, methods, and systems …" (Faulconbridge & Muzio, 2007, p. 10), the articles in this special issue are situated within the specific historical, political and economic context of southern Africa. As they demonstrate colonialism, apartheid, and post-apartheid as well as globalisation and neo-imperialism are all political and economic contexts that are deeply significant when analysing the professions and professionalisation in southern Africa. Southern Africa was first colonised in 1652 when the Dutch occupied land at the Cape of Good Hope. In the decades and centuries that followed, the colonising powers in this region included the Dutch, the French (very briefly) and the British (with Portugal colonising areas slightly north of southern Africa on the west and east coast of the continent). However, by the nineteenth century, Britain was the major colonial power in much of southern Africa. The professions that developed in the region bore the hallmarks of similar professions back in the colonial motherland. The recognition of qualifications; the way in which particular professions developed and organised; and very cen...

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“…Cross-national studies of the provision of work-life arrangements consistently show that it is more common for organizations in some countries to offer work-life arrangements than it is for those in others Lewis, 2003;Lewis & Haas, 2005;Lyness & Kropf, 2005;Ollier-Malaterre et al, 2013). These national differences have been explained using the main theories used in the literature explaining the adoption of work-life arrangements by organizations in general: (neo)institutional theory, business case argumentation and the managerial interpretation approach.…”

Section: Literature Review and Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An important type of work-life arrangements constitutes those that allow for flexibility in time and space, such as flextime, telecommuting, and reduced working hours. Other examples are extending leave periods beyond the statutory requirement and providing on-site child care (Ollier-Malaterre, McNamara, Matz-Costa, Pitt-Catsouphes, & Valcour, 2013). Providing flexibility in time and space is found to be most common in countries characterized by a social democratic welfare regime, while extending leave periods is found more often in countries with a conservative or liberal welfare regime (Den Dulk et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A business case or social responsibility? How top managers’ support for work-life arrangements relates to the national context

Been

Dulk

Lippe

2017

Community, Work & Family

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The extent to which organizations supplement statutory work-life arrangements varies systematically between countries. Empirical evidence on how organizations' approaches to work-life arrangements relate to the national context is, however, mixed. This study aims to elucidate this complex relationship by focusing on how top managers' considerations about whether or not to provide work-life arrangements are related to the national context. Semi-structured interviews were held with 78 top managers in Finland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and the UK. This study finds that top managers' relate their considerations whether to provide work-life arrangements to the extensiveness of national legislation: only in the context of few state work-life policies top managers saw it as a business issue. Top managers also take into consideration what they believe is expected of them by employees and society at large, which can work either in favor or against the provision of work-life arrangements. Perceiving the provision of work-life arrangements as a social responsibility seems more apparent for top managers in Slovenia and Finland. By leaving the social responsibility argument out of the central framework of most studies, the existing literature appears to tell the story mainly from an Anglo-Saxon perspective placing business oriented arguments central. RESUMENEl grado de provisiones legales sobre la conciliación laboral-familiar varía sistemáticamente entre países. La evidencia empírica sobre la relación entre los enfoques de las organizaciones hacia la conciliación laboral-familiar y el contexto nacional no son claras. Este trabajo se centra en elucidar esta compleja relación, centrando la atención en como las reflexiones de altos directivos sobre proveer medidas de conciliación laboral-familiar, o no hacerlo, están relacionadas con el contexto nacional. Se celebraron entrevistas semiestructuradas con 78 altos directivos de Finlandia, Países Bajos, Portugal, Eslovenia y el Reino Unido. Este estudio encuentra que los altos directivos relacionan sus consideraciones sobre proveer, o no, medidas de conciliación laboral-familiar con el nivel de extensión de la legislación nacional al respecto: solo en el contexto de bajo nivel de políticas nacionales de conciliación laboral-familiar los altos directivos ven estas como una cuestión empresarial. Los altos directivos también toman en consideración lo que creen que sus empleados y la sociedad en general espera de ellos, lo cual puede trabajar tanto a favor como en contra de la provisión de medidas de conciliación laboral-familiar. La percepción de las medidas de conciliación laboral-familiar como una responsabilidad social parece más evidente para los altos directivos de Eslovenia y Finlandia, La mayoría de estudios la literatura actual, al dejar fuera de su marco central el argumento sobre la responsabilidad social, parecen contar la historia desde un enfoque prominentemente Anglosajón, poniendo en el centro de atención los argumentos de orientación empresarial.

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Looking up to regulations, out at peers or down at the bottom line: How institutional logics affect the prevalence of age-related HR practices

Cited by 35 publications

References 55 publications

Employers’ age-related norms, stereotypes and ageist preferences in employment

Employers’ age-related norms, stereotypes and ageist preferences in employment

Special Issue: A Southern African Dialogue on the Professions and Professional Work

A business case or social responsibility? How top managers’ support for work-life arrangements relates to the national context

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