Magic muzzles? The silencing of teachers through HRM, performance appraisal and reputation concern

PurposeIn the deregulated public sector upper secondary school field in Oslo, Norway, teachers’ voice is found to be restricted. The purpose of the present paper is to examine human resource management (HRM) approach, satisfaction with the performance appraisal (PA) system and concern for reputation as possible antecedents to voice restrictions.Design/methodology/approachThe present study is based on a survey (N = 1,055) carried out among upper secondary school teachers in one urban, one suburban and one rural area of Norway. Data were analyzed with path analysis, including analyses of mediation, moderation and moderated mediation.FindingsAnalyses reveal that there is a positive relationship between voice restrictions and control-oriented HRM, PA dissatisfaction and reputation concern, respectively. Low-quality leader–member exchange (LMX) mediates the relationships between voice restrictions and control-oriented HRM, and voice restrictions and PA dissatisfaction, but not between voice restrictions and reputation concerns. No moderation or moderated mediation effects were found.Originality/valueWhile there is a broad literature on deregulation and marketization of public sector schools, research on its consequences is limited, and scholarship on the consequences for teachers’ voice is in its infancy. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is among the first to explore these issues, and, in addition, makes a rare contribution by unveiling that both PA satisfaction and reputation concern is related to voice restrictions.

What’s in a Name? Eponymous Private Firms and Financial Reporting Quality

This study examines the relation between financial reporting quality (FRQ) and eponymy, that is, naming a firm after the founder. We hypothesize that compared with noneponymous firms, eponymous firms have higher FRQ because of reputation concerns. Using a sample of 2,271 large Italian private firms, we document that eponymy is positively associated with accrual-based FRQ measures, a Benford’s law–based FRQ measure, and a tax-related misstatement–based FRQ measure. Consistent with the reputation concern rationale, we find that the positive association between eponymy and FRQ is attributable to eponymous firms that have rarer names or receive more press coverage. Furthermore, the positive association between FRQ and eponymy is similar whether the top executives/board members belong to the founding family’s first or later generations. We also find that eponymous firms are more conditionally conservative. Collectively, the results suggest that reputation concerns act as a disciplining mechanism for FRQ in private firms. This paper was accepted by Suraj Srinivasan, accounting.

Shifting Our Lenses to Behavioral Finance Paradigm

Recent crisis periods have shown how corporate communication could contribute to organizational performance regarding financial outcomes, reputation concern, etc. The efforts to reduce information asymmetry, deal with agency problems, improve stakeholder engagement have brought it to the fore. Past research on reporting mechanisms has overly focused on its normative structure and manifested ethical or problematic issues. Some research has argued credibility of both reporters and assurance providers of this information. Although some limited research on management control over reporting mechanisms and on some weaknesses of assurance providers' verification statements, this research doesn't explain enough why this manipulative control occurs. Shifting our lenses to behavioral finance paradigm, it's understood that judgmental decision making seems to be exposed to diverse systematical biases and fallacies. Amidst them, inopportune optimism, alias overconfidence, stands for one of the most serious biases.

Honor and Seeking Mental Health Services: The Roles of Stigma and Reputation Concerns

Prior research has indicated the extent to which living in a culture of honor can elicit aggressive behaviors in response to insult. Recent work has extended this research to the realm of mental health, with research demonstrating that honor endorsement is linked with decreased utilization of mental health resources due to social concerns that the stigma of psychological help-seeking will reflect poorly on one’s reputation. However, measurements of both the mechanism proposed by the extant literature (reputation concern) and individual-level psychological help seeking intentions were not addressed by previous researchers. In order to address this gap in the literature, the current study of 156 participants located in a Southern U.S. state utilized measures of both reputation concern and psychological help-seeking intentions to clarify the relationship between honor endorsement and the stigma of mental health care utilization. Results from path analysis provided further support to the propositions formulated by prior researchers, in that honor endorser’s reputation concerns appear to fuel stigmatization, which ultimately leads to lower intention to seek psychological services. These findings, in conjunction with prior work, demonstrate the importance of considering individual differences in honor endorsement as an influential factor in understanding the utilization of psychological health resources.

The ‘Stock Market of Diplomatic Reputation’: Reputation on Diplomacy’s Frontline

Summary Diplomacy was in the midst of a transformation from ‘old diplomacy’ to ‘new diplomacy’ one century ago, yet the changes were not welcomed by everyone. The renowned diplomat Harold Nicolson lamented the loss of the ‘stock market of diplomatic reputation’, meaning the corporate estimate of character built up during a lifetime of frontline diplomatic service. As we progress through another period of remarkable transformation in diplomacy, what has become of the stock market of diplomatic reputation? This article undertakes a case study of diplomatic alumni from a public policy training institute. It investigates understandings of the construct of reputation, concern for reputation and use of reputation. It finds that reputation remains very important to practising diplomats. Reputation is indeed a timeless feature that is intrinsic to frontline diplomacy. Furthermore, Nicolson’s conceptualization of ideal diplomacy as a building block of reputation remains relevant and presents an appealing topic for future research.