Journal of Managerial Issues

Journal of Management, Ahead of Print. <br/>In recent years, entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has emerged as a key concept in the management literature, with various studies demonstrating its positive effects on important firm-level outcomes. However, our understanding of whether and how EO shapes dynamics within organizations is still underdeveloped. Thus, by integrating EO and social information–processing theories, this study develops and tests a cross-level contingency model that describes how and when EO cascades through an organization—bridging firm, supervisor, and employee levels. We conducted a three-source, three-wave study involving 280 supervisors and 1,214 employees from 94 organizations to test our model. The results show that firm-level EO is positively related to employees’ creative performance and that supervisors’ and employees’ passion for inventing serves as the central serial mediators for these links. The results also reveal that these cascading effects of EO do not occur unconditionally but depend on an important boundary condition—that is, the extent to which supervisors identify with their organizations. A follow-up study of 238 supervisors from various firms provides further support for the social information–processing perspective of our model. It shows that the link between firm EO and supervisors’ passion for inventing is mediated by perceived normative expectations for creativity. Taken together, these findings offer a new perspective on the internal dynamics of EO, uncover a crucial boundary condition, and provide insights for the effective implementation of EO.

Journal of Management, Ahead of Print. <br/>Researchers and gatekeepers lack clarity about the circumstances under which using old data to test hypotheses is appropriate or inappropriate. In response to this complex issue, we first define what makes data “old.” We then suggest that using old data is justifiable (a) when examining a past event, (b) when recent data are not available, or (c) when the data were collected painstakingly. Scholars should avoid using old data if none of these conditions exist. Further, authors should be forthcoming about the age of their data and, in the case of a rejected journal submission, update the data whenever possible.

Journal of Management, Ahead of Print. <br/>In this commentary, we argue that the work experiences of vulnerable workers merit scholarly attention. We elaborate on the concept of vulnerability in light of the person and context interaction. Additionally, we offer compelling reasons to highlight the significance of research on vulnerable workers in the realm of management research. Finally, we outline some of the challenges researchers face when studying this special population and suggest practical solutions to overcome methodological and logistical challenges towards developing and conducting research on the vulnerable workforce.

Journal of Management, Ahead of Print. <br/>Despite increasing attention to gender diversity on corporate boards, we have only limited understanding of what occurs within the boardroom when women are present. Prior empirical research has used various theories to infer how board gender diversity may influence firm outcomes, but without identifying the theoretical mechanisms underlying women directors’ influence on the board. To address this gap, we conducted interviews with women and men who have collectively served as directors with over 200 publicly listed companies in the United States and Europe. While prior research has suggested that the diverse cognitive perspectives women directors bring influence board decision-making, our study reveals novel insights as to the underlying mechanisms. Specifically, we contribute to the board gender diversity literature with the finding that women behave in ways contrary to existing board norms. By coming to board meetings highly prepared, being willing to acknowledge that they do not know something, asking questions, and getting things on the table, women impact the dialogue and interactions in the boardroom. Thus, our study sheds light on how the presence of women influences board dynamics, which has implications for corporate governance. Our findings also challenge prevailing gender theories as to how women are likely to behave, in that we do not find that women conform to gender stereotypes. Yet, we also find impediments to women directors’ ability to gain influence, in that men directors may not always acknowledge them or afford them respect as equal board members.

Journal of Management, Ahead of Print. <br/>Historical and contemporary accounts suggest that natural elements can facilitate creativity in one's work. Despite this potential connection, researchers have largely overlooked how nature may enhance employees’ creativity, an oversight that takes on additional meaningfulness in light of increasing investments by organizations in work designs that bring employees in contact with nature. In this paper, we draw from attention restoration theory (ART) to develop a model explaining how contact with nature at work may affect employee creativity—via broader cognitive processing. In addition, we follow the guidance of ART to deepen our understanding of for whom the creativity-generating effects of nature will be most impactful. Specifically, we describe how employees with high levels of openness to experience are particularly primed to experience expanded cognitive processing due to contact with nature at work. We test this model using a mixed-method research approach: two online experiments in the United States (Studies 1 and 2); two multiwave, multisource field studies in Taiwan and Indonesia (Studies 3 and 4), and an experience-sampling field study in Canada (Study 5).