Progressive Organizational Movements

Flexible Downsizing and Sexism: Should we be worried?

March 10, 2009

Tweet There is a movement afoot to link organizations’ responses to the economic crisis to larger social goals, like sustainability and work family balance. Anytime we can get two valuable outcomes for one business decision, "that’s a good thing." Often, however, business decisions made for one reason have unintended repercussions. Take the movement towards alternatives […]

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Are Apologists for Layoffs Actually Just Bad Economists?

February 26, 2009

Tweet Here’s a post in honor of my friend Ian Ayres, a law & economics scholar who celebrates a big birthday today. Ian is constantly challenging academics of all stripes to stretch their thinking by asking themselves hypothetical questions. His favorite rhetorical tactic always seems to include two words: Why Not? Ian eschews any line […]

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Are Layoffs Unpatriotic?

February 25, 2009

Tweet A few weeks ago, Steven H. Korman published a provocative Open Letter to CEOs in the NYTimes and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Asking other CEOs to avoid layoffs, Korman urged corporate executives to focus less on protecting stock price, profits, and the short term, and focus more on protecting the people who are working hard […]

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Authentic Organizations Turn Green from The Inside Out

February 4, 2009

Tweet How does an Authentic Organization create green products? In her advice to organizations that want to reposition their corporate brands as “eco-friendly”, Susan Gunelius of Corporate Eye argues that organizations need to start being green before they claim to be green. As Gunelius explains: Your customers aren’t going to believe messages claiming your (corporate) […]

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Reputation, Beyond Authenticity

February 1, 2009

Tweet We’re delighted to feature a guest post from Mignon van Halderen, an expert on Organizational Reputation Management. Mignon is Assistant Professor at the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University. At RSM, Mignon works in the Corporate Communication Centre where she combines teaching and applied research projects within the fields of Reputation Management and […]

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A Psychological Benefit of a “Black” Organization?

January 14, 2009

Tweet Here’s a nifty psychological tidbit for you, from the social research site ContextsDiscoveries , that triggers an interesting organizational question …. It’s not just life experiences that affect mental health, but also how they are resolved. While African Americans tend to have more negative events, they also tend to have more resolutions, thus giving […]

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Authentic Conversation — An opportuntity for Obama?

January 8, 2009

Tweet Maren and Jamie Showkeir, co-authors of "Authentic Conversations: Moving from Manipulation to Truth and Commitment" last month applied some of their ideas about the power of conversation to establish truth and create change, in an Op-Ed piece in the Chicago Tribune. The piece "Obama to the world: Let’s talk" , the Showkeirs write: In […]

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“What if you could buy social justice?” or Does ‘values shopping’ really make a difference?

December 15, 2008

Tweet Can for-profit, for-purpose organizations make a difference, if we patronize them? Thinking about an organization’s authenticity invites us to examine simultaneously what the organization does and how it does it. When we think about organizations being authentic, we assume that organizations have their business purpose — the thing that they’re out there to "do", […]

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The Case Against A Marriott Boycott (part 2): Marriott is not Anti-Gay

December 4, 2008

Tweet Another reason not to boycott Marriott? Marriott is not an anti-gay organization. Marriage equality activists who advocate boycotting Marriott hotels are encouraging consumers to punish the Marriott Corporation for its connection to the Mormon Church. Boycott activists argue that the Marriott Corporation’s profits ultimately  subsidize the anti-gay activities of the Church of the Latter-Day […]

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The Case Against a Marriott Boycott: Marriott is not a Mormon organization

November 25, 2008

Tweet Many GLBT-rights and marriage equality rights activists are up in arms in protest against individuals, business and institutions that supported California’s Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriage. Letters to prominent individual contributors, protests in front of churches, and calls for boycotts figure prominently in these activists’ efforts both to punish the individual, businesses and […]

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