Category Archives: Business and Law

Just look the other way: Job seekers’ reactions to the irresponsibility of market-dominant employers

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Birkbeck’s Responsible Business Centre seminar series returned with a thought-provoking discussion on how jobseekers respond to Corporate Social Irresponsibility in prospective employers.

When it comes to attracting new talent, research shows that there are two factors affecting a company’s attractiveness:

  1. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which signals to jobseekers that a company might be a good employer and treat its employees fairly.
  2. The company’s dominance in its industry, which implies a good level of resources to pay employees well and to offer opportunities for career development.

What happens when jobseekers’ positive impression of a dominant company comes into conflict with Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSI)?

In the first of this term’s Responsible Business Centre seminars, Dr Benedetta Crisafulli, Deputy Director of the Centre, presented research published with Professor Paolo Antonetti, NEOMA Business School, and Dr Aybars Tuncdogan, King’s College London, on jobseekers’ reactions to CSI. Their research explores how job seekers react to situations where potential employers behave irresponsibly, with a particular focus on unravelling the circumstances under which job seekers overlook the wrongdoing altogether.

Benedetta explained: “When we analyse the effects, we are interested in the tension: CSI tells me that the company lacks integrity, but market dominance might tell me that a company is treating its employees very well. CSI might give me a signal of incompetence, but dominance tells me the exact opposite. That’s where the tension comes and that’s why it’s relevant to look at them together.”

The study asked jobseekers in retail to evaluate market dominant employers involved in CSI. The results show that CSI has a negative effect on perceived competence, ethicality and thus attractiveness. However, as hypothesised, this effect is not as pronounced for dominant employers, where people who are interested in a particular industry seem to be happy to turn a blind eye to CSI.

Benedetta explained what is happening from the perspective of the jobseekers: “When a dominant employer is involved in CSI, we try and elaborate in our mind what might justify the negative event, to be able to say that the company didn’t mean to do it. This is even more so if we are genuinely interested in building a career in the industry where the dominant employer operates.

“The more we are certain of our initial positive impression of an employer, the more likely we are to engage in defensive thinking. The opposite happens if we are not certain of our impression of the company. In such a case, we are even more critical of the company.”

Concluding the presentation, Benedetta warned that CSI remains detrimental for companies, yet not so much for dominant ones. Non-dominant employers are likely to suffer more from CSI in terms of talent recruitment. Non-dominant employers might ponder ways to signal dominance, while media and policymakers should raise their bar when it comes to scrutinising dominant brands, who might think that irresponsibility won’t hurt them.

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“Learning doesn’t stop in the classroom when you go to university in London”

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Alin Dinçman joined Birkbeck through Clearing and coming from Turkey she found studying in London really broadened her horizons. This week she graduates with a BSc in Computing.

Alin Dinçman watching a show at the Royal Albert Hall

London is full of surprises: there’s always something that can excite and amaze you in every corner. There’s beauty to be found in every part of the city, with each season eliciting a different feeling. Birkbeck’s lectures are in the evening, so I had my daytimes free to take advantage of everything London has to offer. I made friends quickly with other people my age on my course, and we ended up spending most days together; taking long walks through London, going to operas and plays, visiting free museums and travelling to different cities in the UK, like Oxford. Going to shows in the Royal Albert Hall was one of my favourite things to do – I felt like I was travelling back in time.

Alin Dinçman visiting Wales

It was amazing to study and have my lectures in Bloomsbury; a place that has shaped literature and culture. I loved spotting the blue plaques of notable men and women – when I saw that Charles Dickens, my favourite author, once lived in the area I was so excited. Learning doesn’t stop in the classroom when you go to university in London – the culture and history is so rich, you really broaden your horizons.

Before joining Birkbeck, I’d already been living in London for a couple of years. Coming to London felt like a dream at first – I’d always wanted to study in the UK because of its renowned education system. My family and I moved to the UK from Turkey, and I studied fast track A-Levels, having to adapt quickly to a very different education system. I applied to Birkbeck through Clearing, which was a very smooth, friendly process. Birkbeck really cares about potential students, and I felt like I was entering a big family. The primary reasons I chose Birkbeck were its location, its University of London membership and its fascinating history – Birkbeck is celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2023.

I didn’t actually have much of a culture shock when we arrived in London, except for noticing more bicycles! Because I grew up living in different cities in Turkey, and I also experienced living in Naples, Italy, for two years in secondary school, I was quite used to adapting to different cities and cultures. I don’t think London is difficult to adapt to though as an international student: it’s a very cosmopolitan city and you see people from all over the world at every turn. I wasn’t fazed when my family moved back to Turkey in my second year of university, and I moved into a homestay.

Alin Dinçman in front of Tower Bridge, London

I had to return to Turkey halfway through my studies because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I didn’t face any challenges when I studied abroad virtually during the pandemic, and I never felt I was receiving less support – the international office and lecturers were amazing and incredibly supportive. I really felt that Birkbeck always put the safety of its students first during the pandemic which I’m grateful for.

I feel very happy to have graduated from my BSc Computing degree with a First-Class Honours. I achieved what I aimed for – it’s an amazing feeling. My advice to other students would be to socialise with people on your course, and to ask lecturers questions. I would also encourage international students to use Studiosity for their assignments – it’s an amazing service Birkbeck offers, especially if your first language isn’t English.

I am now working as a software engineer in a fintech company in Istanbul. I aim to pursue a career full of creativity, that enables me to work in global companies and travel as much as I can. I hope to live in London again in the future!

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Department of Management Meets the Editor with Professor Geoffrey Wood

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The Editor of Academy of Management Perspectives and Human Resource Management Journal shared advice with researchers looking to publish in highly-ranked journals.

The Department of Management’s popular ‘Meet the Editor’ series has returned for the 2021/22 academic year, welcoming Professor Geoffrey Wood as its first guest.

Professor Wood is Editor in Chief of Academy of Management Perspectives (ABS 4*) and Human Resource Management Journal (ABS 4*, World Elite), Professor and DanCap Private Equity Chair of Innovation and Department Chair and DAN Management at Western University in Canada.

Opening the session, Chair Dr Muthu De Silva, Assistant Dean for Research in Birkbeck’s School of Business, Economics and Informatics said: “We are really grateful to Professor Geoff Wood for offering to speak to us. As you all know, our key aim is to bring all of you together to meet eminent editors which will help us to together thrive in our research journey. Geoff has published over 220 articles in peer-reviewed journals, so we are very much looking forward to hearing his advice today.”

Advice for researchers aspiring to publish in highly ranked journals

Professor Wood began his presentation with some key advice for researchers:

Editors love novelty, provided that it is within the scope of the journal.

For example, the Journal of Finance is more conservative in terms of theory and methods, but open in terms of choice of topic, while the Academy of Management Journal prefers novelty in terms of theorizing.

Highly ranked journals care about how you calibrate your data.

This includes the scale of the study, for example how in-depth a survey goes, the number of interviews conducted and the quality of data sets.

It pays to do your homework: a journal’s purpose may not be obvious from its title.

In a message echoed from previous Meet the Editor events, Professor Wood gave the example of the Journal of Human Resources, which takes economics papers, to illustrate that it is worth doing some research to ensure your study is right for a particular journal.

The chance of publishing in a four-star journal may be higher than you think.

It is often assumed that a highly ranked journal receives thousands of submissions each year, but the Academy of Management Review receives just 400. The chances of publishing a high-quality paper in this journal are therefore higher than you might expect, but at the same time, leading journals expect papers with scholarly depth, inttrenal rigour, and, when appropriate, a sufficient weight of empirical evidence.

First impressions matter

Professor Wood explained “Referees are like anybody – they’re trying to make sense of a complicated world, so they will look for shortcuts and for the initial impression a paper gives.” He advised making a good first impression by ensuring a strong introduction, conclusion and abstract, and ensuring that any formula and tables in the paper are easy to understand.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Out of date references

Professor Wood explained that this mistake is commonly made by PhD students, who begin gathering data well before writing up their findings. The out of date references make it look as though the paper has already been rejected elsewhere, and, potentially ‘zombie’ papers.

Ignoring referee comments

While it is accepted that researchers may wish to submit a rejected paper elsewhere, Professor Wood cautions against ignoring comments from previous reviewers. The comments are likely to give your paper a better chance of success, but even more so, you may come across the same reviewer at another journal who will be unimpressed if you have ignored their advice!

Failing to cite the target journal

Conduct a careful keyword search in your target journal to ensure you are citing the most relevant references. Not only is it insulting not to cite your target journal; the chances are that your reviewer will be somebody who has recently published in that journal too.

Academy of Management Perspectives Journal: Insight from the Editor

AMP’s Associate Editors have a lot of past editorial experience – typically 8-10,000 citations each – which represents “a lot of knowledge and wisdom coming into your paper.” Professor Wood noted the “career-transforming effect” for scholars whose work has been published in AMP.

He reassured attendees that the chances of getting published in AMP are fairly good, as the journal receives comparatively few high-quality submissions. From the end of the year, AMP will scrap the current system of submitting a proposal before the paper to ensure a more streamlined process for researchers.

It is also worth noting that the journal offers special issues, and would normally expect at least one person within a special issue team to be a very senior and well-established scholar.

Human Resource Management Journal

As a journal of political economy, HRMJ tends to take work that provides some reflections in the broader context of research. It also takes a lot of international work. The journal accepts empirical and conceptual papers, however it does not take organisational psychology papers that do not engage with HR issues. Researchers are not expected to be HR specialists, but they do need to engage with HR literature.

Professor Wood’s presentation was followed by a question and answer session, where researchers had an opportunity to ask more specific questions about the publication process, AMP and HRMJ. One researcher commented: “I think this kind of insight is very important – I don’t usually see editors to share these insights!”

Join us for our next Meet the Editor sessions:

Meet the Editor Series Welcomes Professor Ben Martin

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The Editor of Research Policy shared advice on how to pitch to leading journals in this virtual event hosted by our Department of Management.

Professor Ben Martin outdoors, looking into the camera.Having been an Editor of Research Policy (RP) for fifteen years, Professor Ben Martin (SPRU and University of Sussex Business School) is well versed in the pitfalls that hopeful contributors should avoid and, more importantly, the steps they can take to give papers the best chance of being published.

In our fourth Meet the Editor session, Professor Geoff Walters, Executive Dean of Birkbeck’s School of Business, Economics and Informatics welcomed Professor Ben Martin and the international audience comprising more than 45 scholars from around the world. Chaired by Dr Muthu De Silva, Professor Martin shared insight into Research Policy and best practice in paper development with colleagues in our Department of Management.

What is the positioning of Research Policy?

Professor Martin began the presentation by giving an overview of RP, its scope and structure. RP is widely regarded as the leading journal in innovation studies and its focus is on innovation, technology, knowledge, learning and entrepreneurship. The journal is unique in that authors choose which of the twelve editors to pitch their paper to based on their area of expertise.

RP is oriented towards policy and practice and is less theory driven than many other leading journals. It is also interdisciplinary in scope, drawing on economics, management, organisational studies, sociology and political science. Among the most highly cited papers from RP are those which involve conceptual exploratory analysis, as opposed to purely empirical analysis.

In terms of coverage, RP is a global journal, with an even number of contributions from North America and Western Europe and a growing number of papers from Asia.

Advice for academics thinking of submitting to Research Policy

Professor Martin shared insight into how to provide a good submission, stressing that much of the advice could apply to submissions to other journals as well:

  • Read similar papers in the journal to get a flavour of the content, style and theoretical or conceptual approach.
  • Check the website for the scope of the journal and instructions to authors.
  • Seek advice from experienced authors.
  • Present the preliminary version of your paper at conferences and seminars, get feedback and improve the quality before submitting.

Aside from ensuring authors have ‘done their homework’, RP editors ask three key questions when examining papers:

  • Is the topic within the scope of our journal?

An author might demonstrate this by referring to literature that is familiar to RP readers, ensuring the topic has broad appeal for RP readership and arriving at a conclusion of interest to RP readers. This can be further justified in the covering letter if required.

  • Is the paper high quality?

Quality is understood both in terms of topic, which should be embedded in relevant literature and offer an original contribution, and in structure, which must feature systematic analysis, logical argument and a clear, interesting conclusion with specific policy or management implications. Papers should also be written in good English.

  • Who to referee?

Professor Martin highlighted that reliable, conscientious referees have been particularly hard to find during the COVID-19 pandemic. Authors should consider who the editor might ask to referee and may influence the editor’s choice of reviewer through the references they cite.

Revise and Resubmit

Professor Martin offered advice for academics who are invited to revise and resubmit their work to RP:

  • Read referees’ comments very carefully.
  • Decide which points you can respond to.
  • Revise your paper and prepare a detailed accompanying note explaining to each referee how and where you have responded to the points that they made.
  • Be prepared to revise and resubmit more than once.

What to do if your Paper is Rejected

The sheer volume of submissions that RP receives means that inevitably some papers will be rejected. Professor Martin advises authors in this situation to learn from critical comments and to revise and improve their paper for submission in another journal.

We would like to thank Professor Martin for the opportunity to learn from this thought-provoking presentation and for taking the time to answer our audience questions.

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