From knowledge dependence to knowledge creation: Industrial growth and the technological advance of the Japanese electronics industry

The thrust of the argument put forward in this paper is that the postwar technological advance of the Japanese electronics industry was in essence a product not a primary cause of industrial growth. We demonstrate that the industry's surge forward resulted from the interaction of a unique combination of political, economic and cultural forces. Business leaders took full advantage by investing on a massive scale in physical, organizational, human and technological resources. It was success in the marketplace and strong cash flows that allowed Japanese firms to import technology on a large scale, invest in scientists and engineers, and progressively develop world class technological capabilities. In establishing themselves as global players, Japanese electronics firms moved over the years from a position of knowledge dependence to one of knowledge creation. We explore how this transformation was achieved and how they learned to control and exploit knowledge creating systems and processes. In particular, we establish the multi-faceted context and complex set of relationships that have conditioned strategic decision making and the creation of technological capabilities

Andrew Carnegie, World Making and the Logic of Contemporary Entrepreneurial Philanthropy

This paper focuses on the relationship between the business and philanthropic endeavours of world-making entrepreneurs; asking why, how and to what ends these individuals seek to extend their reach in society beyond business. We present an original model of entrepreneurial philanthropy which demonstrates how investment in philanthropic projects can yield positive returns in cultural, social and symbolic capital, which in turn may lead to growth in economic capital. The interpretive power of the model is demonstrated through analysis of the career of Andrew Carnegie, whose story, far from reducing to one of earning a fortune then giving it away, is revealed as more complex and more unified. His philanthropy raised his stock within the field of power, extending his influence and helping convert surplus funds into social networks, high social standing and intellectual currency, enabling him to engage in world making on a grand scale

Service nepotism in the multi-ethnic marketplace: Mentalities and motivations

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the multi-ethnic marketplace as the site of the emergence of service nepotism: the practice where employees bestow relational benefits and/or gifts on customers on the basis that they share a perceived common socio-collective identity. The authors draw on the contemporary turn to practice in social theory to explore why ethnic employees may engage in service nepotism even when they are aware that it contravenes organizational policy.Design/methodology/approach– Given the paucity of empirical research which investigates the multi-ethnic marketplace as a locus for the emergence of service nepotism, the authors adopted an exploratory qualitative research approach to advance insight into service nepotism. The study benefits from its empirical focus on West African migrants in the UK who represent a distinct minority group living in urban areas of the developed world. Data for the study were collected over a six-month period, utilizing semi-structured interviews as the primary method of data collection.Findings– The research highlights the occurrence and complexities of service nepotism in the multi-ethnic marketplace, and identifies four distinct activities (marginal revolution, reciprocal altruism, pandering for recognition, and horizontal comradeship), that motivate ethnic employees to engage in service nepotism, despite their awareness that this conflicts with organizational policy.Research limitations/implications– By virtue of the chosen theoretical lens, the authors were unable to demonstrate how service nepotism could be observed outside spoken language. Also, care should be taken in generalizing the findings from this study given the particularities of the sub-group involved. For example, since the study is based on a small sample of first generation migrants, the findings may not hold true for their offspring, whose socialization and marketplace experiences may be qualitatively different from those of their parents.Practical implications– Service nepotism challenges fundamental western egalitarian ideals in the multi-ethnic marketplace. Organizations may wish to develop strategies to placate observers’ concerns of creeping favouritism in a supposedly equitable marketplace. The research could also serve as a starting point for managers objectively to assess the likely impact of service nepotism on the organizing value systems and competitiveness. In particular, the authors suggest that international marketing managers would do well to look beneath the surface to see what is really going on in international marketplaces, since ostensible experiences of marketplace consumption may not always reflect underlying reality.Originality/value– By using service nepotism as an analytical category to explore the marketplace experiences of ethnic service employees living and working in industrialized societies, the research shows that the practice of service nepotism, whilst taken for granted, can have far-reaching impact on individuals, observers, and service organizations in an increasingly highly differentiated multi-ethnic society

Pierre Bourdieu and elites:Making the hidden visible

One of Pierre Bourdieu’s great skills and gifts to organizational researchers is his ability to reveal and make manifest the hidden mechanisms of social stratification that often remain invisible in organizational and social life. In this chapter, we explore Bourdieu’s contribution to the study of elites, power and domination. We apply his ideas and concepts illustratively to four specific areas of research: class domination and cultural reproduction in big business; the importance of reflexivity for social mobility; the transactional nature and legitimizing function of entrepreneurial philanthropy and the discerning processes of taste formation, indicative of underlying status distinctions, serving as another means of exercising power. The conceptual arsenal provided by Bourdieu is far from exhausted by management and organization studies. We need it most of all to continue exploring the activities of elites in the global field of power as, largely unobserved, they tighten their stranglehold on global wealth and resources

Capital theory and the dynamics of elite business networks in Britain and France

Post-print version. Final version published by Wiley; available online at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/The paper explores capital theory, examining the typology of forms of capital possessed by elite directors, and drawing in particular on the writings of Pierre Bourdieu. We are particularly interested in questions relating to the reproduction and regeneration of business elites. How do business elites reproduce and regenerate themselves, despite the fact that their membership is constantly changing? What qualifies someone for membership of an elite business group, and how do newcomers gain acceptance? We focus here on some of the ‘newcomers’ who participated in our study of French and British business elites (1998-2003), interviews with whom allow us to interpret the experience of those who have gained admission to elite business groups. We find that culture plays a critical role, imposing discipline and compliance to the rules of the organisational game, as individuals act along pre-ordained lines laid down by ‘habitus’. Our research points overwhelmingly to the power of cultural reproduction among business elites, despite the admission of newcomers to the boards of the leading companies of Britain and France, or of nouveaux riches into ‘old guard’ elite communities

Service nepotism in cosmopolitan transient social spaces

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. This article examines service nepotism, the practice of bestowing gifts or benefits on customers by frontline service staff based on a perceived shared socio-collective identity. Adopting a micro-sociological approach, it explores the practice as played out in multi-cultural transient service encounters. Given the dearth of existing research and low visibility of service nepotism operating ‘under the radar’, the article assumes an exploratory qualitative research approach to capture it through ‘microstoria’: the sharing of stories by marginal actors, as recounted by West African migrants working in the UK. These stories reveal similarity-to-self cueing, non-verbal communication and the availability of discretionary authority as three salient logics in play. In a highly differentiated multi-ethnic society, service nepotism challenges a very specific customer-oriented bureaucratic ethos that demands impartiality. It also provides contexts for relatively powerless employees to rebalance their relationship with their organizations, thereby addressing a more pressing dysfunction within the market and society more generally

Crafting philanthropic identities

A salient if under-researched feature of the new age of global inequalities is the rise to prominence of entrepreneurial philanthropy, the pursuit of social goals through philanthropic investment in projects animated by entrepreneurial principles. This chapter proposes a typology of the philanthropic identities that wealthy individuals craft during their philanthropic journeys. The scale of philanthropic ambition is closely linked to the type of identity assumed, allied to the dominant philanthropic orientation adopted, whether institutional or transformational. Some philanthropists, who assume a localized perspective, seek to re-embed disadvantaged communities to which they feel allegiance. Others, desiring social transformation, aspire to re-set current systems through the scale of their endeavours. Four generic philanthropic identities are explored, labelled ‘local hero’, ‘pillar of society’, ‘social crusader’ and ‘game changer’ respectively. In making sense of philanthropic identities, this chapter extends theoretical approaches to the study of contemporary entrepreneurial philanthropy, still at a pre-paradigmatic, embryonic stage

Moving on up? Exploring the career journeys of skilled migrants in the professions

Drawing on the discursive practice turn in social theory, we examine the career journeys of skilled West African migrants based in Britain. While many, especially those from developing countries, may end up in elementary occupations, accounts of their progression into professional occupations remain elusive. Here, we unpack specific transient moments of their career journeys through the lens of ‘microstoria’: the creation and sharing of contemporaneous storylines. These reveal that the ‘way-finding’ practices of skilled migrants into the professions are characterized by four distinct but durationally indivisible transitional phases – which we call ‘Johnny just come’, toe-holding, enrichment-in-practice, and the puissance-lap. Our study provides insights into the career experiences of skilled migrants, elucidating how they make sense of their careers in narrative terms in accessing professional occupations and progressing within these. We conclude with a discussion of our findings and their implications for the theory and practice of international human resource management

Pathways to power: class, hyper-agency and the French corporate elite

publication-status: Acceptedtypes: ArticleAuthor's post-print draft. Definitive version published by Sage; available online at http://online.sagepub.com/This paper explores pathways to power from the perspective of the French corporate elite. It compares those who enter the ‘field of power’ with those who fail to reach this final tier. Adopting an innovative econometric approach, we develop and test three hypotheses. These underline the pivotal role of external networks and the strategic advantage of hyper-agency in maintaining power; and indicate that social origin remains a powerful driver in determining success. Birthright and meritocracy emerge as two competing institutional logics which influence life chances. Higher-status agents benefit from mutual recognition which enhances their likelihood of co-option to the extra-corporate networks that facilitate hyper-agency. The objectification of class-based differences conceals their arbitrary nature while institutionalizing the principles informing stratification. We re-connect class analysis with organizational theory; arguing that social origin exerts an enduring influence on selection dynamics which inform processes of hierarchical reproduction in the corporate elite and society-at-large