This study seeks to determine the effect of nepotism and favouritism on organisational climate. Using the method of random sampling, 269 persons working in Lithuanian organisations were surveyed. The received data was analysed via the application of the methods of correlation and linear regression. It was determined that organisational climate is influenced significantly by variables such as the manager’s behaviour, safety and relationships with employees, values and traditions, communication, sharing of information, behaviour of employees, and interrelationships and tolerance of one (...) another. Meanwhile, nepotism and favouritism are influenced by the lower number of climate variables. This work fills the void in the knowledge of connections that nepotism and favouritism have with organisational climate, drawing attention to the mutual interaction between these phenomena. The article presents a discussion and the research limitations, and provides guidelines for further research. (shrink)

This paper explores expatriates’ ethical evaluations of and responses to guanxi in China through the lens of integrative social contracts theory. We conducted in-depth interviews with 14 expatriate managers who had spent, on average, 6.5 years working and living in China. Based on the content analysis of these interviews, we identified two different uses of guanxi: defensive and competitive. In general, the respondents found defensive guanxi moral in the Chinese context, while they considered competitive guanxi immoral. Based on our findings, (...) we identified fair competition as the substantive hypernorm that governed most respondents’ ethical evaluations of guanxi. The study has implications for all scholars who seek to utilize integrative social contracts theory to study the relationship between informal networks and corruption in developing countries. (shrink)

The role of affective ties and informal social networks in management practices is recognised across many parts of the world; guanxi in China, yongo in Korea, blat in Russia and wasta in the Arab World are some manifestations. This paper explores the role of such informal networks in Pakistan by studying the role of sifarish—the act of achieving ends on the basis of network connections—in hiring in Pakistan using thematic analysis of inductively collected qualitative data from 104 individuals from four (...) large organisations. Using social network and social capital theory, the paper highlights the key characteristics of affective networks in Pakistan, comparing them to social networks in other cultural settings. Further, the concept of ethical relativism is used to create a distinction between ethical and unethical sifarish. Thus, the paper enhances understanding of HRM in Pakistan, and contributes towards the literature on cross-cultural HRM, social networks and ethical relativism. (shrink)

We examine how recruiting managers cope with communal norms and expectations of favoritism during recruitment and selection processes. Combining insights from institutional theory and network research, we develop a communal perspective on favoritism that presents favoritism as a social expectation to be managed. We subsequently hypothesize that the communal ties between job applicants and managers affect the strategies that managers employ to cope with this expectation. We test these ideas using a factorial survey of the effects of clan ties on (...) recruitment and selection processes in Kazakhstan. The results confirm communal ties as antecedents to the strategies managers use to cope with communal favoritism. Surprisingly, the results also show that these coping strategies are relatively decoupled from managers’ recruitment decisions. The findings contribute to favoritism research by drawing attention to the mitigating work of managers in societies in which favoritism is common. (shrink)

Drawing on interviews with decision makers in multinational corporations (MNCs) in South Korea, we examine the role of informal networks in the social exclusion of women in the workforce. Although legislation in the country is in favor of gender equality, we found that informal barriers in the workplace remain difficult to overcome. Informal networks in Korea, yongo, present an ethical issue in the workplace, as they tend to socially exclude women, limiting possibilities for their participation and career progression. We found (...) that informal networks are pervasive and strong because of the informal institutions in which they are embedded and that there is a complex interplay between informal networks and informal institutions that socially excludes women. Due to difficulties accessing yongo, women appear to build inmaek, a network type that is more open and accessible. We also found that MNCs in Korea can compensate for the lack of local informal networks for their female employees. However, despite providing a more supportive environment for women at work, gender equality policies in MNCs are not yet as effective as they could be due to the dynamics of the workplace and the fact that the policies are not tailored to the local context. We have seen evidence in recent years that MNCs can serve as role models for implementing gender equality policies by creating a more inclusive work environment and demonstrating leadership commitment and support. (shrink)