Heroes and Victims:Fund Manager Sense-making, Self-legitimation and Storytelling

This paper explores how fund managers continue to do their job when on one level they know they cannot all be exceptional. They do this by telling stories, constructing satisfying narratives to explain to themselves, as well as others, why their investments work out and providing equally plausible reasons for when they underperform. Using the story typology of Gabriel (2000. Storytelling in Organizations: Facts, Fictions, and Fantasies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.) – epic, tragic, comic and romantic, we explore two sets of fund manager narratives. First, we analyse the transcripts of interviews with 50 equity fund managers in some of the world's largest investment houses. Second, we examine a similar number of published fund manager reports to their investors. In both cases, we show how storytelling is used by asset managers to make sense of what they do and justify their value to themselves as well their clients and employers. Similar processes are employed in both sets of narratives, one verbal and informal, the other written and formal. Our study serves to highlight how storytelling is an integral part of the work of the professional investor

Novartis and the United Nations Global Compact Initiative

The spirit of the Global Compact found fertile ground and has become an integral part of Novartis corporate strategy since the enterprise was formed by the merger of the two large Swiss pharmaceutical companies, Sandoz and Ciba, in 1996. Following a four-year concentration on economic consolidation and performance, Daniel Vasella (Chairman and CEO) signed the Global Compact. Together, productivity-based economic performance and a proactive approach to the expectations of society are envisioned as the key to long-term corporate success in the rapidly integrating global economic, political, and social environment of today’s large multinational corporation. This paper outlines the Novartis strategy and its implementation including the coalescing role of the Global Compact in the drive for sustainable corporate development. Following a review of extending corporate strategy to incorporate social concerns into the economic business model, the process of implementing the strategy will be assessed. In part three, specific examples of this strategic positioning will be outlined.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39911/3/wp526.pd

Job Search Behavior of Employed Managers

Job search typically has been thought of as an antecedent to voluntary turnover or job choice behavior. This study extends the existing literature by proposing a model of the job search process and examining the job search behavior of employed managers. Managers were initially surveyed about their job search activity over the past year. Approximately one year later, the same managers were surveyed to assess whether they had changed jobs since the initial survey, and the circumstances surrounding the job change. This survey data was matched with job, organizational, and personal information contained in the data base of a large executive search firm. Results suggest that dissatisfaction with different aspects of the organization and job were more strongly related to job search than were perceptions of greener pastures. Moreover, although some job search activity does facilitate turnover, a considerable amount of search does not lead to turnover. Thus, it appears that search serves many purposes. Implications of managerial job search on organizations are discussed

Treading the lines between self-interest, cultural relativism and universal principles: ethics in the global marketplace

Purpose: This paper introduces this special issue of Management Decision by exploring the themes of the issue and the contribution of each of the articles in the collection. Approach: The paper reviews notions of ethics, justice and responsibility. It then uses the framework developed through this review as the basis for an appreciation of the articles that constitute the issue. Value: This article provides an introduction to, and suggests an overarching framework for, this special issue on questions we ask about ethics in a global marketplace. It is also an important reminder to managers and employees who constitute the entities to which “responsibility” is generally attached, that responsibility, ultimately, is irreducible beyond the individual, who cannot simply “follow orders”