Laddered motivations of external whistleblowers: The truth about attributes, consequences, and values

The purpose of this study was to explore the motivational structures of external whistleblowers involved in the decision to blow the whistle by applying MEC theory and the laddering technique. Using both soft and hard laddering methods, data were collected from 37 Korean external whistleblowers. Results revealed that the means-end chain of external whistleblow-ers was the hierarchical linkage among two concrete attributes (the power of external whistleblowing to make changes and its warning about the seriousness of wrongdoing to the public), two functional consequences (correcting a wrongdoing and making those who violated laws admit their offenses), and one terminal value (the truth). The extant whistleblowing literature has either made assumptions about whistleblowers’ motivations when developing models or has drawn indirect inferences from measures of other variables. Our study is the first with an explicit and empirical focus on whistleblowers’ motivations. The findings provide evidence of the motivational structures of external whistleblowers that consist of a set of complex paths linked by multi-layered motivators. This research will be helpful in designing and reviewing whistleblowing programs for organizations, regulatory agencies, and journalists

The Door Swings In and Out: The Impact of Family Support and Country Stability on Women Entrepreneurs’ Success in the Arab World

Women-owned businesses represent a significant segment of the contemporary economy upon a global basis. However, women entrepreneurs still experience more obstacles than men depending on cultural context; for example, research on the Arab world concerning the interaction between women entrepreneurs and their families remains under-developed. Consequently, we ground our study upon an enhanced framework of agency theory, which includes family altruism. We examined the relationships between business-family interface (BFI) enrichment components and the performance of firms headed by female entrepreneurs women in Jordan and Sudan. Specifically, we investigated if and how the country level of political and social stability moderates these relationships. The findings suggest that the relationship between the family-related objective factor (family financial support) and the performance of firms headed by female entrepreneurs is not affected by the country’s political and social stability context. Conversely, the family-related subjective factor (family moral support) is affected by this context. Our study bridges the gap in contextual studies on the Arab world concerning the success of women-owned businesses and confirms how institutional elements affect business in addition to family-related matters. Implications for future research and public policy are discussed

Análise das contribuições das competências individuais para a gestão da inovação com base na triangulação de métodos de pesquisa

Resumo Este artigo analisa as contribuições das competências individuais para a gestão de inovação, em duas empresas com foco estratégico de inovação e com sistemas de gestão de competências em implantação. A análise de dados conta com a triangulação de métodos que combina a definição de conceitos teóricos com o uso de métodos qualitativos e quantitativos. Para tanto, faz-se uma revisão bibliográfica sobre os elementos de competência individual e de gestão de inovação para guiar a definição de variáveis de pesquisa e a construção da proposta de uma análise comparativa das duas empresas. Conforme evidências principais da revisão bibliográfica, dos estudos de casos e das surveys, ressalta-se a importância das práticas que estimulem o desenvolvimento e o gerenciamento de competências individuais a fim de melhorar as atividades empresariais para a gestão da inovação. Os resultados do estudo permitem propor uma taxonomia para a integração entre as competências individuais e a gestão de inovação está embasada em 3 estágios: Integração Básica, Integração Intermediária e Integração Plena