From the Leader’s Values to Organizational Values: Toward a Dynamic and Experimental View on Value Work in SMEs

Ludivine   Adla; Marie   Eyquem-Renault; Virginie  Gallego-Roquelaure

doi:10.37725/mgmt.v23.4418

Ludivine Adla Grenoble IAE, Grenoble INP, CERAG, Grenoble Alpes University, France
Marie Eyquem-Renault IAE Lyon School of Management, Magellan Research Center, University of Lyon, France
Virginie Gallego-Roquelaure IAE Lyon School of Management, Magellan Research Center, University of Lyon, France

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37725/mgmt.v23.4418

Keywords: Value-based organizations, Value-based leadership, Organizational value, SME

Abstract

In this article, we contribute to empirically account for Selznick’s argument about the moral competence of organizations by showing the ways an organization collectively thinks, acts, feels and expresses needs (Callon, 2006) related to its desirable ends. These are related to the socio-technical arrangements processing the values work. Made up of devices, actors, and social groups, the socio-technical arrangements are brought into existence by means of material embodiments of values in artifacts. Considering the case of a leader who has founded a firm in the social and solidarity sector in order to implement his personal values, we contribute to better understanding value-based leadership. We trace how this leader’s values are progressively and collectively materialized into artifacts that create new relationships in which the organization’s desirable ends are to be met. Adopting a relational and processual view on values work, we trace the evolution of this socio-technical arrangement to maintain or restore the implementation of organizational values in an evolving context, contributing to a dynamic view on organizational values.

Manuscript accepted by Jeremy Morales

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Ludivine Adla, Grenoble IAE, Grenoble INP, CERAG, Grenoble Alpes University, France

Ludivine Adla is Assistant Professor in Human Resource Management and Entrepreneurship at Grenoble Alpes University, France. She receives a PhD in Management Science from Lyon University, France, in 2018. Her thesis has been rewarded twice. Her research interests include Human Resource Management and Innovation in SMEs. Her work has been published through book, research articles, conferences at the national and international level.

Marie Eyquem-Renault, IAE Lyon School of Management, Magellan Research Center, University of Lyon, France

Marie Eyquem-Renault is Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship at Lyon University, France. Her research focuses on the pragmatist analysis of devices and sociotechnical arrangements in innovation and entrepreneurship. She holds a PhD in Socioeconomics of Innovation from Mines ParisTech, France, in 2011. She is the director of the Entrepreneurship Center of Lyon University. Her work has been published through book, research articles in Research Policy and international conferences.

Virginie Gallego-Roquelaure, IAE Lyon School of Management, Magellan Research Center, University of Lyon, France

Virginie Gallego-Roquelaure is Professor in Human Resource Management and Entrepreneurship at Lyon University, France. Her research interests include Human Resource Management, Innovation and Internationalisation in SMEs. She holds a PhD in Management Science from Montpellier University, France, in 2009. She is the author of three books, book chapters and has published in the Employee Relations, Personnel Review, Journal of International Entrepreneurship and International Management.

References

Albert, S. & Whetten, D. (1985). Organizational identity. In L. L. Cummings & M. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behaviour (Vol. 7, pp. 263–295). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. doi: 10.1177/1059601112473815

Anteby, M. (2013). Manufacturing morals: The values of silence in business school education. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, ISBN: 9780226092478.

Barnard, C. I. (1938). The functions of the executive. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN: 0-674-32803-5.

Barth, F. (1993). Are values real? The enigma of naturalism in the anthropological imputation of values. In M. Hechter, L. Nadel & R. Michod (Eds.), The origin of values (pp. 31–46). Hawthorn, NY: Aldine de Gruyter. ISBN: 1993-97526-000.

Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York, NY: Collier Macmillan. ISBN-10: 9780029018101.

Bass, B. M. & Avolio, B. J. (1993). Transformational Leadership and Organizational Culture. Public Administration Quarterly, 17(1), 112–121.

Bass, B. M. & Steidlmeier, P. (1999). Ethics, character, and authentic transformational leadership behavior. The Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 181–217. doi: 10.1016/S1048-9843(99)00016-8

Becker, H. (1963). Outsiders. Studies in the sociology of deviance. New York, NY: Free Press of Clencoe, Collier-Macmillan. ISBN: 1965-08393-000.

Besharov, M. L. (2014). The relational ecology of identification: How organizational identification emerges when individuals hold divergent values. Academy of Management Journal, 57(5), 1485–1512. doi: 10.5465/amj.2011.0761

Branco, M. C. & Rodrigues, L. L. (2007). Issues in corporate social and environmental reporting research: An overview. Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting, 1(1), 72–90. doi: 10.22164/isea.v1i1.9

Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York, NY: Harper and Row. ISBN: 0061319759.

Calabretta, G., Gemser, G. & Wijnberg, N. M. (2017). The interplay between intuition and rationality in strategic decision making: A paradox perspective. Organization Studies, 38(3–4), 365–401. doi: 10.1177/0170840616655483

Callon, M. (1998). The laws of the markets. Maiden, MA: Blackwell. ISBN-10: 0631206086

Callon, L. (2006). Sociologie de l’acteur réseau, In M. Akrich, M. Callon & B. Latour (Eds.), Sociologie de la traduction. Textes fondateurs (pp. 267–276), Paris: Presses des Mines. doi: 10.4000/books.pressesmines.1181

Capelli, P. & Sherer, P. D. (1991). The missing role of context in OB: The need for a meso-level approach. In L. L. Cummings & B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (pp. 55–110). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press Inc.

Clark, B. R. (1956). Organizational adaptation and precarious values: A case study. American Sociological Review, 21(3), 327–336. doi: 10.2307/2089288

Daskalaki, M., Fotaki, M. & Sotiropoulou, I. (2018). Performing values practices and grassroots organizing: The case of solidarity economy initiatives in Greece. Organization Studies, 40(1), 1741–1765. doi: 10.1177/0170840618800102

Dobbin, F. (2009). Inventing equal opportunity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN: 9780691149950.

Dowling, J. & Pfeffer, J. (1975). Organizational legitimacy: Social values and organizational behavior. Pacific Sociological Review, 18(1), 122–136. doi: 10.2307/1388226

Ford, D., Ford, L. W. & D’amelio, A. (2008). Resistance to change: The rest of the story. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 362–377. doi: 10.5465/amr.2008.31193235

Fourcade, M. (2012). The moral sociology of Viviana Zelizer. Sociological Forum, 27(4), 1055–1061. doi: 10.1111/j.1573-7861.2012.01371.x

Freeman, R. E. & Phillips, R. A. (2002). Stakeholder theory: A libertarian defense. Business Ethics Quarterly, 12(3), 331–349. doi: 10.2307/3858020

Gardner, W. L., Avolio, B. J., Luthans, F., May, D. R. et al. (2005). “Can you see the real me?” A self-based model of authentic leader and follower development. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 343–372. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.003

Gecas, V. (2000). Value identities, self-motives, and social movements. In S. Stryker, T. J. Owens & R. W. White (Eds.), Self identity and social movements (pp. 93–109), Minneapolis, MN: University of Minneapolis Press.

Gehman, J., Glaser, V. L., Eisenhardt, K. M., Gioia, D. et al. (2018). Finding theory–method fit: A comparison of three qualitative approaches to theory building. Journal of Management Inquiry, 27(3), 284–300. doi: 10.1177/1056492617706029

Gehman, J., Trevino, L. K. & Garud, R. (2013). Values work: A process study of the emergence and performance of organizational values practices. Academy of Management Journal, 56(1), 84–112. doi: 10.5465/amj.2010.0628

Germain, O. & Chabaud, D. (2006). Re-using qualitative data in management science: A second choice? M@n@gement, 9(3), 191–213. ISSN: 1286-4892.

Hancock, P. (2008). Embodied generosity and the ethics of organization. Organization Studies, 29(10), 1357–1373. doi: 10.1177/0170840608093545

Heaton, J. (2004). Reworking qualitative data. London: Sage. ISBN-10: 0761971432.

Heclo, H. (2008). The mixed legacies of Ronald Reagan. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 38(4), 555–574. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-5705.2008.02664.x

Hitlin, S. (2008). Moral selves, evil selves: The social psychology of conscience. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN-10: 134937198X.

Hitlin, S. & Piliavin, J. A. (2004). Values: Reviving a dormant concept, Annual Review of Sociology, 30, 359–393. doi: 10.1146/annurev.soc.30.012703.110640

House, R. J., Hanges, P. J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. W. et al. (2004). Culture, leadership, and organizations: The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/jacl/vol1/iss1/6

Howell, J. M. & Avolio, B. J. (1992). The ethics of charismatic leadership: Submission or liberation? Academy of Management Perspectives, 6(2), 43–54. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/4165064

Iacobucci, D. & Rosa, P. (2010). The growth of business groups by habitual entrepreneurs: The role of entrepreneurial teams. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 34(2), 351–377. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00378.x

Jensen, M. C. (2002). Value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function. Business Ethics Quarterly, 12(2), 235–256. doi: 10.2307/3857812.

Joas, H. (2000). The genesis of values. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. ISBN-10: 0226400409.

Karim, L. (2008). Demystifying micro-credit: The Grameen Bank, NGOs, and neoliberalism in Bangladesh. Cultural Dynamics, 20(1), 5–29. doi: 10.1177/0921374007088053.

Kolk, A. & van Tulder, R. (2002). The effectiveness of self-regulation: Corporate codes of conduct and child labour. European Management Journal, 20(3), 260–271. doi: 10.1016/S0263-2373(02)00043-9

Kluckhohn, C. (1951). Values and value-orientations in the theory of action: An exploration in definition and classification. In T. Parsons & E. Shils (Eds.), Toward a general theory of action (pp. 388–433). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. doi: 10.4159/harvard.9780674863507.c8

Kraatz, M. S. & Flores, R. (2015). Institutions and ideals: Philip Selznick’s legacy for organizational studies. Howard House: Emerald Group Publishing. ISBN-13: 978-1784417260.

Kraatz, M. S., Ventresca, M. J. & Deng, L. (2010). Precarious values and mundane innovations: Enrollment management in American liberal arts colleges. Academy of Management Journal, 53(6), 1521–1545. doi: 10.5465/amj.2010.57319260

Langley, A. (1999). Strategies for theorizing from process data. Academy of Management Review, 24(4), 691–710. doi: 10.2307/259349

Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network-theory. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 0-19-925604-7; 978-0-19-925604-4.

Laufer, W. S. (2003). Social accountability and corporate greenwashing. Journal of Business Ethics, 43(3), 253–261. doi: 10.1023/A:1022962719299

MacIntyre, A. (1957). What morality is not. Philosophy, 32, 325–335. doi: 10.1017/S0031819100051950

MacKenzie, D., Muniesa F. & Siu, L. (eds.) (2007). Do economists make markets? On the performativity of economics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN-13: 978-0691138497.

Martin, J. (2005). Organisational behavior and management (3rd ed.). London: Thompson Learning. ISBN-13: 978-1408018125.

Maxham III, J. G. & Netemeyer, R. G. (2003). Firms reap what they sow: The effects of shared values and perceived organizational justice on customers’ evaluations of complaint handling. Journal of Marketing, 67(1), 46–62. doi: 10.1509/jmkg.67.1.46.18591

McLean, B. & Elkind, P. (2003). The smartest guys in the room: The amazing rise and scandalous fall of Enron. New York, NY: Portofolio. ISBN-10: 9781591840534.

Mills, C. W. (1940). Situated actions and vocabularies of motive. American Sociological Review, 5(6), 904–913. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2084524

Mizruchi, M. S. (2013). The fracturing of the American corporate elite. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN: 9780674072992.

Patterson, O. (2014). Making sense of culture. Annual Review of Sociology, 40, 1–30. doi: 10.1146/annurev-soc-071913-043123

Phillips, N., Lawrence, T. B. & Hardy, C. (2004). Discourse and institutions. Academy of Management Review, 29(4), 635–652. doi: 10.2307/20159075

Rokeach, M. (1973). The nature of human values. New York, NY: Free Press. ISBN-13: 978-0029267509.

Rothschild, J. & Whitt, J. A. (1989). The cooperative workplace: Potentials and dilemmas of organisational democracy and participation. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. ASIN: B01K3IXFD2.

Satow, R. L. (1975). Value-rational authority and professional organizations: Weber’s missing type. Administrative Science Quarterly, 20(4), 526–531. doi: 10.2307/2392020

Schein, E. H. (1985). Organizational culture and leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 0875896391; 9780875896397.

Schwartz, S. H. (1994). Are there universal aspects in the structure and contents of human values? Journal of Social Issues, 50(4), 19–45. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1994.tb01196.x

Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advance and empirical tests in 20 countries. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 25, pp. 1–65). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. ISBN-13: 978-0123992987.

Scott, W. R. (2014). Institutions and organizations: Ideas, interests and identities (4th edn.). San Francisco, CA: Sage. ISBN: 978-142242224.

Scott, E. D. (2002). Organizational moral values. Business Ethics Quarterly, 12(1), 33–55. doi: 10.2307/3857647

Selznick, P. (1994). The moral commonwealth: Social theory and the promise of community. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN-13: 978-0520089341.

Selznick, P. (1968). Leadership in administration: A sociological interpretation. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN: 9780520049949.

Selznick, P. (1949). TVA and the grass roots: A study in the sociology of formal organization (Vol. 3). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. doi: 10.2307/1950244

Smelser, N. J. (1972). Structural change associated with development in organizational issues. In J. Sheperd (Ed.), Organization issues in industrial society (p. 57). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Smith, R. (2003). Focusing on public value: Something old and something new. Victoria, Australia: Monash University. ISBN: 0958127549.

Stark, D. (2009). The sense of dissonance: Accounts of worth in economic life. Princenton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN: 9780691152486.

Suchman, M. C. (1995). Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 571–610 doi: 10.5465/amr.1995.9508080331

Suddaby, R., Elsbach, K. D., Greenwood, R., Meyer, J. W. & Zilber, T. B. (2010). Organizations and their institutional environments: Bringing meaning, values, and culture back in. Academy of Management Journal, 53(6), 1234–1240. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2266086

Thorne, S. (2004). Qualitative secondary analysis. In M. S. Lewis-Beck, A. E. Bryman & T. F. Liao (Eds.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of social science research methods (Vol. III, p. 1006). London: Sage. doi: 10.4135/9781412950589

Torres, O. & Julien, P. A. (2005). Specificity and denaturing of small business. International Small Business Journal, 23(4), 355–377. doi: 10.1177/0266242605054049

Tsirogianni, S. & Gaskell, G. (2011). The role of plurality and context in social values. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 41(4), 441–465. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-5914.2011.00470.x

Vaisey, S. (2014). Is interviewing compatible with the dual-process model of culture. American Journal of Cultural Sociology, 2(1), 150–158. doi: 10.1057/ajcs.2013.8

Van de Ven, A. H. & Poole, M. S. (1995). Explaining development and change in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 510–540. doi: 10.2307/258786

Ueno, N., Sawyer, R. & Moro, Y. (2017). Reconstitution of sociotechnical arrangements: Agency and the design of artifacts. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 24(2), 95–109. doi: 10.1080/10749039.2017.1296467

Weaver, G. R., Trevino, L. K. & Cochran, P. L. (1999). Integrated and decoupled corporate social performance: Management commitments, external pressures, and corporate ethics practices. Academy of Management Journal, 42(5), 539–552. doi: 10.2307/256975

Williams, R. M., Jr. (1979). Change and stability in values and value systems: A sociological perspective. In M. Rokeach (Ed.) Understanding human values: Individual and societal (pp. 15–46). New York, NY: Free Press. ISBN-13: 978-0743214568.

Zald, M. N. & Denton, P. (1963). From evangelism to general service: The transformation of the YMCA. Administrative Science Quarterly, 8(2), 214–234. doi: 10.2307/2390900

Footnote

^1. We draw upon Dewey’s Later Works to get a broader picture of his writings. Later Works, 1925–1953, 17 volumes, Boydston Jo Ann (Ed.), Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Press, 1981–1990.