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Walking on the dark side of the moon. A day in the life of DEI manager
No full textIn recent years (especially after the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020), companies have stepped up their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) awareness and practices. We see more and more job openings for DEI managers. When we talk to DEI professionals, we see that the DEI team has often moved from a voluntary entity to an integral part of the organigram – with KPIs, strategy, budget and paid workload for its members. At the same time, in the wake of new economic crises, we read more and more in the news of DEI functions being reduced or axed altogether. Earlier in 2023, Ellen McGirt reported on the findings from Revelio Labs that “a 33% churn rate for DEI-related roles at more than 600 companies engaged in layoffs, compared to 21% for non-DEI roles”. No wonder then that on 15 May 2023, when we met 22 members of the Diversity Managers Association of Belgium (DMAB), from 20 companies across over 12 different sectors (from public transport and finance to distribution and pharma, including DEI managers for non-profits) on our Brussels campus, to talk about the wellbeing and career sustainability of the DEI manager, naming the workshop “the dark side of the moon” turned out to be very appropriate. Most DEI professionals are doing what they do because there is a personal story fuelling the passion. Often enough, they have the experience of ‘difference’ and ‘otherness’ - either relating to themselves or their family. Which means that what we do is not a job; it has real stakes. On the bright side, this brings passion and resilience. On the dark side, it brings disappointment when change is slow, pain when you can’t make the difference you set out to make, and guilt when you are too tired to carry on. Social justice is not an empty noun. It is personal. With this white paper we invite you to take a walk on the ‘dark side’ of DEI implementation challenges, and explore together with us the challenges of such projects, and identify specific actions that DEI managers and organisations can take to address the complexities of DEI strategy execution
Web 3.0 and the metaverse. Making business sense of transformative digital technologies
No full textArtificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, blockchain, virtual reality, augmented reality and other forms of spatial computing … We are entering a new digital era – one that is more immersive, more contextual, and more integrated with the real world than ever before: welcome to the world of Web 3.0 and the metaverse. Here are two exciting phenomena that could transform how we interact with digital technology and the internet, with digital content, and with the world around us. To fully appreciate the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead, you need to look beyond the technological aspects and focus instead on the applications and the value they can bring. This is why we have developed the Vlerick 4E framework. It provides a lens through which to view what is happening in the world of Web 3.0 and the metaverse, adding an extra layer of knowledge and insight that will inspire you and help you better navigate this emerging world, enabling you to unlock business value from its transformative technologies. What are the opportunities for your business? This paper will put you on the right track to finding out. You will learn the key concepts that are essential to grasp the potential of Web 3.0 and the metaverse. Explore our framework for identifying and evaluating the business opportunities they offer. And discover real-world examples of how this framework can be applied in different domains and industries. Get ready to be inspired
Friendly Phantoms: How do individuals use their feared selves to construct a positive work identity?
No full textResearch goals How individuals think about their potential and themselves in the future has been the focus of research on “possible selves” in management and social psychology (Ibarra, 1999; Markus & Nurius, 1986). A person’s possible selves include who they would like to become, i.e., desired or wanted selves and who they want to avoid becoming, i.e., feared or unwanted selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Research shows that people strive towards their desired selves and avoid their feared selves (Carver et al., 1999). We aim to extend prior research and explore the role of the feared selves in achieving positive identity outcomes. Specifically, we ask the following research question: How do individuals use their feared selves to construct a positive work identity? This is important because the contents of people’s feared selves contain internalized unwanted emotions, hence, have stronger influence on motivation and goal-directed behavior (Carver et al., 1999). As such, these selfrepresentations may constitute clearer self-guides for individuals to work on their identities. Theoretical background Research on possible selves has predominantly focused on how people continuously strive for their desired possible selves (e.g., Ashforth et al., 2014). For example, Ibarra (1999) described how newcomers experimented with their provisional selves by imitating their role models based on how they saw & desired to see themselves. It is surprising that the implicit assumption underlying most of the research is that individuals shape their work identities solely via their attraction to a desired self. Social psychology research, however, explored the self-regulatory role of both desired & feared selves. A very limited number of organizational studies examined the role of unwanted selves in the development of a work identity (i.e., Petriglieri & Stein, 2012; Vince & Mazen, 2014). These studies highlight the negative impact of leaders’ unwanted selves. A question that still remains is whether people’s feared selves may have benefits as well. Methods We draw on qualitative data from 68 independent workers in the UK to build a grounded model that addresses our research question. Independent work is a relevant context to study our research question because individuals need to exhibit agency & take the lead in crafting their possible selves in the absence of the holding environment of an organization. Findings Our findings show that workers’ lack of having clear sense of self at work have stimulated the activation of workers’ “feared selves” – what they dread and do not want to be. We theorize that workers deposit these images in what we call a repertoire of “Feared Selves”. This repertoire is a mental container in which workers accumulate all the work identities (or aspects of them) they enacted that are incongruent with their work self-concept. Workers proactively use the images to revise their work identity. Specifically, they engage in three identity work tactics: they embrace and integrate some of their feared selves (i.e., holism); rebuff some of these feared selves by developing 497 boundaries and using these images in defining who and what they are not (i.e., identity deflection); or selectively separate their work self from the enactment of their unwanted selves (i.e., identity decoupling). By engaging in these identity work tactics workers develop a sense of identity growth that helps them to sooth their sense of identity precariousness. Limitations It is important to note that we purposefully selected our sample. Through creating theoretical criteria, we selected workers who asserted having a degree of freedom in doing their work. We acknowledge that this might not be the experience of all individuals working in the gig economy. Conclusion Our study makes two main contributions. First, by tracing the role that feared and unwanted selves play in achieving positive identity outcomes, this study advances our understanding of positive identity construction. Second, our study advances our understanding of the different ways independent workers shape their work identities. This enhances our understanding of independent work, suggesting that workers could benefit from defining what they fear and do not want to be to grow and feel free. Relevance to the Congress This study complements the theme The 21 st EAWOP Congress. For many, based on the events of the past 3 years (e.g., the pandemic, wars…), the future could be associated with a lot of fear. Our study aims at helping people understand how to use their feared future selves to cultivate positive and resilient work identity, which is a fundamental personal resource that people can rely on in facing change and turbulence. Relevance to the UN SDGs Harnessing the benefits of the feared selves and understanding how it could help people cultivate positive work identity contributes to empowering individuals develop decent work opportunities for themselves and to their overall wellbeing at work
Performance management effectiveness in SME’s – Evidence from Belgium
No full textBoth academic research and practice have been highlighting the challenge to design and implement effective Performance Management (PM) in organisations, making it potentially one of the bigger zchallenges in Human Resources. In the present study the goal is to get a view on those factors that impact the effectiveness of performance management systems. We aimed at getting a better view on how organisations, more specifically Belgian SME’s (Small and medium-sized enterprises), currently shape performance management and we investigated how these characteristics explain the effectiveness of performance management.Existing research is not clear about the effect of frequency of an ppraisal talk. Recurring feedback can be helpful, but this doesn’t always need to take the form of a formal talk (Casas-Arce, Lourenco & Martinez-Jerez, 2017; Wood, Pichler & Beenen, 2017). In our study, we investigate if the frequency of an appraisal talk is linked to PM effectiveness. Furthermore, research suggests that the content of an appraisal is a determining factor for performance management. Researchers indicate that it should focus on skills and competencies, training needs and personal development in the company (Armstrong, 2006; Lawler & McDermott, 2003). Our research takes a closer look at topics that are discussed during an appraisal talk and their effect on performance management. These topics include skills, attitudes, company values, individual and team goals, salary, … Additionally, scholars argue that the supervisor plays a vital role in performance management and therefore they should get training and support in the performance management of their team members (Armstrong, 2006; Botha, Blom & Modipane, 2019; CIPD, 2022; Kondrasuk, 2011). We investigate if training and supporting supervisors in performance management is correlated with PM effectiveness. Other variables were included in our study as well: automatization, appraisal scoring, … (Armstrong, 2006). Data collection was done in the beginning of 2021 through an online survey directed towards Belgian SMEs. 156 organisations from different industries filled out the survey. Our regression analysis shows that supervisor training and content of performance conversation are important drivers of PM effectiveness than conversation frequency. More specifically, organisations that report to train their supervisors more heavily and that focus on skills development and training and development needs during the conversations report higher PM effectiveness. Together these variables explain 39% of performance effectiveness, as measured in our survey.Contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goal ‘Decent work and economic growth’, our findings shed new and interesting light on how to make performance management effective in organizations where the main onclusion is that quality of performance nagement is more important than quantity. There are however a few limitations to our study. First, our survey includes cross-sectional data at an organisational level. Second, PM effectiveness is a self-reported measurement and gives an idea of how effective the performance management system is considered by the participants. Further research could use multi-source and longitudinal data on an employee level. Furthermore, it could look into the effect of performance management practices on the actual performance of mployees. During the EAWOP conference we want to present the findings from our study and give insights into how practitioners can improve the effectiveness of their performance management approach. We also want to inspire academics for future researc
Liquidity or profitability: How retail investors can shape liquidity risk models in times of high interest rates
No full textThe great success of the one-year “Staatsbon” or government bond was caused by the low deposit rates at Belgian banks and the reduction in withholding tax (from 30% to 15%). This forced banks to revise their deposit rates and give up profitability, or to retain the low rates and lose liquidity. Investor demand for high-interest, fixed-income instruments means that banks need to readjust their risk models and compete with sovereign and private sector alternatives
Companion Proceedings of the 16th IFIP WG 8.1 Working Conference on the Practice of Enterprise Modeling and the 13th Enterprise Design and Engineering Working Conference
No full textIncreasing turbulence of business environments provides entities with opportunities for innovation and transformation. A frequently used concept to organize for such environments and to make resource-driven decisions for innovation and transformation is an operating model (OM). Recent research has contributed to a better understanding of OM, but overall, we lack a comprehensive picture of the OM concept and more specifically, how entities can use the OM concept to configure digital resources (DR) and position the OM as an EA artifact in organizing for digital transformation and to support strategic decision making. In this PhD study, we aim to answer the research question how the fit between strategy and OM can lead to competitive move(s). We plan to answer our research question by undertaking three studies with each a unique methodology, both qualitative and quantitative, and therefore enforcing rigor in the design of the studies. We have combined the concept of an OM with the resource-based view (RBV) theory and will show its potential to become a powerful explanatory framework for decisions on orchestrating and leveraging resources in organizations. Especially when extending the boundaries of the OM to an ecosystem and focusing on digital resources, there is yet a lot left unexplored. This research should result in a research agenda to position the OM in academic research as an EA artifact to study decisions related to digital resources. For managers, this PhD should result in a framework to describe and discuss digital resource related decisions and guidelines for discussing governance and value of configuring digital resources
Risk management in the era of digitalisation: The role of strategic integration and advanced analytics
No full textIn today's fast-paced business environment, companies constantly deal with risks and uncertainty. To stay competitive, businesses must adopt a more agile and integrated approach to risk management. Finance leaders now play a crucial role in providing analytical insights for decision-making while managing associated risks. Despite the development of COSO's Enterprise Risk Management framework in early 2000s, the perception of risk management has largely been associated with the financial sector since the 2008 global banking crisis. Yet, recent pandemic and emergence of climate change have highlighted the need for risk management across all industries. To explore modern risk management practices, we conducted a study among chief risk officers in non-financial organizations. Our research focused on the impact of digitalization and top management on the future of risk management. We gathered responses from more than hundred large and medium-sized Austrian companies in collaboration with the Controller Institute
Trust and formalization for success in family firms with a private equity minority shareholder
No full textAcademy of Management Proceedings
No full textResearch on feedback seeking has focused on its benefits for the seeker, the team and even the organization, but far less research has explored how feedback seeking impacts the target of feedback seeking. In this study we explore how feedback seeking impacts one important target of feedback seeking, i.e., the supervisor. Drawing upon emotional labor theory model, we examine how subordinate feedback seeking impacts the supervisor deep and surface acting, and how this consequently impacts the supervisor innovative behavior. We further explore the impact of the supervisor liking of the subordinate on this relationship. We theorize that when the supervisor liking of the subordinate is high, the subordinate feedback seeking will be positively related to the supervisor deep acting, further benefiting supervisor innovative work behavior. In contrast, when the supervisor liking of the subordinate is low, subordinate feedback seeking will be positively related to supervisor surface acting, in turn hindering supervisor innovative work behavior. We found support for our hypotheses across 339 supervisor-subordinate dyads. Our findings demonstrate the impacts of subordinate feedback seeking on supervisor innovative work behavior from the emotional labor theory and the importance of supervisor liking of the subordinate in the process