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This article explores the adaptive functions of storytelling in the workplace from an evolutionary perspective. Based on the analysis of ethnographic studies on hunter-gatherer and modern work organizations, this article claims that storytelling, as an adapted cognitive device, was selectively retained by natural and sexual selection, because of its survival and reproductive payoff. The narrative production through storytelling is a natural coping mechanism and has been functional in both old and new ways of working life under different ecological conditions. This article also highlights underlying adapted psychological mechanisms of storytelling and discusses some evolutionarily informed practical implications and pedagogical applications. © 2013 by the Association for Business Communication.

Strong social ties embedded in ethnic communities of immigrant populations have been considered key assets for immigrant entrepreneurs. However, little research has been done on how biological kinship and the biological theories of altruism influence the behavior of ethnic entrepreneurs. In this study, we have applied a neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory of kinship to examine adaptive functions of kin and ethnic altruism in business start-up and hiring practices of Korean immigrant entrepreneurs in the United States. We confirmed that the patterns of help received by Korean entrepreneurs for business start-ups were congruent with an evolutionary perspective on altruism. However, the results for hiring patterns suggested that customer ethnicity trumped kin and co-ethic interests. We close by offering suggestions for future research. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Surprisingly scant research has adequately examined directional influences between different perceptions of managerial leadership behaviors and different types of work motivation, and even fewer studies have examined contextual moderators of these influences. The present study investigated longitudinal and multilevel autoregressive cross-lagged relations between perceptions of transformational, transactional, and passive-avoidant leadership with autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation. Multilevel longitudinal models were estimated on data from 788 employees, nested under 108 distinct supervisors, from six Canadian organizations. Results revealed that perceptions of leadership behaviors predicted changes in motivation mostly at the collective level and that some of these relations changed as a function of whether organizations had recently faced a crisis. Collective perceptions of transformational leadership were related to increased collective autonomous and controlled motivation, while individual controlled motivation was related to increased individual perceptions of transactional leadership. In organizations facing a crisis, individual perceptions of transactional leadership were related to decreased individual controlled motivation, while collective perceptions of transactional leadership were related to increased collective autonomous motivation and decreased collective amotivation. In organizations not facing a crisis, collective perceptions of transactional leadership were related to decreased collective autonomous motivation. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Instances of employees being `dooced' because of a social media post are becoming commonplace. Three research questions are presented to better understand workplace firings due to social media posts using justice theory and social convergence to fit within the nomological net. The first question examines employees' awareness of their employer's social media policy. The second question examines the role of offensiveness in the perceived fairness of the termination. The third question asks whether work-related posts (social convergence) and the presence of a social media policy (social media governance) influence the perception of termination fairness. Two data collection efforts are presented to test the research questions. The research findings extend the social media marketing governance literature by incorporating role theory and script theory. Managerial implications include the importance of developing and communicating to employees the organization's social media policies.

For courses in family law for students in paralegal studies programs, broader legal studies programs, and those majoring in criminal justice, social work, and education. Connecting theory, history, and practice in family law Family Law and Practice prepares students to enter the workplace with a firm grasp of family law and procedural components of family law practice. To meet this challenge, the authors have divided the 5th edition into two parts: the first introducing the principles of family law and the second translating theory into practice. The new edition also addresses changing views on marriage, spousal roles, children’s status in the family, and even what constitutes a family. It also adds cases, statutes, and legal forms from a variety of US states to engage students across the country.

Free, online language translation services are being used by people around to the world to facilitate communication. However, it takes time and effort for a person to load the Web page in a browser, copy and paste text into the site, and translate words. The process quickly becomes tiresome. Instead, some computer programs are providing automated translation. However, no studies have been conducted to determine the efficiency or effectiveness of such an approach. In this study, we compare how students used an English-based chatbot with and without German automatic translation. Results show that students took nearly 1.5 times longer than their stated upper time limit to manually translate. In contrast, the automated translation was at least 30 times faster. In addition, the students were significantly more satisfied with the automated than the manual system.

Household hazardous waste (HHW) is a topic that affects every individual and community given the nearly universal use, storage, and disposal of chemical consumer products. Yet many communities lack the basic information, guidance, and planning support for HHW collection and management so that struggles (e.g., to gain politicians’ and residents’ support, host a collection, build a facility, affect behavior change, and encourage extended producer responsibility) continue on a regular basis. This book is for professionals, students, government officials and others interested in HHW and accommodating the increasing societal demand for this disposal option. In the evolving field of HHW collection and management, this book: provides an unparalleled, comprehensive look at household hazardous wasteis a must-have for anyone interested in the solid waste management field, whether novice or experienced, because of the valuable overview and specifics it provides for addressing the ubiquitous issue of HHWoffers perspectives based on many collective years of experts’ accrued insightthe chapters are written by leading practitioners and visionariesis packed with useful information on many aspects of HHW including its definition, mechanisms for collection and creative collection options, tools for behavior change, and product stewardshipoffers an extensive resource list for more information. Much has changed in 10 years since the first edition appeared, and each chapter in the Handbook on Household Hazardous Waste, Second Edition, is updated to reflect changes and advances in the field of HHW collection and management. This includes updated appendices and the extensive resource list.

Family business research typically views family firms using the frameworks developed for non-family businesses (e.g., agency theory, institutional theory). Thus, using an evolutionary perspective on family may help address gaps in the family business literature, particularly regarding deviance. In the current study, we use kin selection theory to predict that family members receive preferential treatment and this history of privileges can create entitlement and lead genetically-related employees to misuse company resources. Using an experimental vignette methodology and data from 161 people recruited from an online panel, we found that the participants' purported genetic relatedness to the owner of a business increased their theft intentions and decreased their expected severity of sanctions and likelihood of being reported. Biological sex moderated the relationships between genetic relatedness and theft intentions, as well as between expectations of punishment and theft intentions. Specifically, when females expected higher severity of sanctions or likelihood of whistleblowing, they were less likely to report theft intentions, compared to males. The results of this study suggest that family business owners should protect against theft by all employees, including genetic relatives. Future research using field samples would help provide context for these findings. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Organizations are currently moving toward increased pay openness in the workplace; thus, it is important to determine the influence pay communication practices (pay secrecy and pay openness) have on employee outcomes and whether the increase in pay openness is merited and more beneficial for organizations. The purpose of this article is to analyze pay communication’s influence on workplace deviance and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Specifically, pay secrecy practices are hypothesized to influence employees to engage in less OCBs and more workplace deviance. Informational justice and distributive justice perceptions are included as mediators. Pay secrecy leads to greater workplace deviance as well as less OCBs and justice perceptions and thus, inferring the pay openness movement is merited. A Pay Communication scale was developed and validated for this study. Practical implications, limitations, and future research directions are provided. © 2018 Eastern Academy of Management.

A growing number of organizations have difficulty scaling-up their IT infrastructure to handle their growing needs and increased resource demands. Digital Technology Platforms (DTPs) have been identified by Gartner, Inc. as one of the top 10 strategic technology trends of 2017. While DTPs may be mainstream and easily adopted by large enterprise-sized organizations, there is an opportunity for such platforms within Small and Mid-Size Businesses (SMBs). The bottom line is that computing and server hardware is expensive for SMBs. Furthermore, it may be difficult for SMBs to assess and price the labor and resources needed for a company to have acceptable performance while controlling costs. The purpose of this paper is to examine how cloud computing technologies are adopted by SMBs and the respective drivers associated with costs and capability that may reduce costs for an organization. This paper explores how four variables – Robust Capability, Limited Capability, Cost Constraint, and Resource Abundance interact to impact the adoption of DTPs within SMBs. Adopters of DTPs are classified as Efficient, Proactive, Resistive, and Reactive. With respect to adoption efficacy, a model is proposed for assessing the capability and resource readiness as correlated to SMB adoption of DTPs. A study of 12 SMBs and the implementations of DTPs is presented and posited with the proposed adoption model. Due to the extensive investments required in procuring infrastructure services –adoption enablement is imperative for SMB-sized organizations to realize a return on investment. Implications are discussed.

Bullying in the workplace is considered a growing epidemic and organizations are struggling to ensure appropriate responses and protocol as there is currently no individual statutory remedy. This paper provides a synthesis of current research regarding workplace bullying, legal policies, efforts to promote remedial legislation and organizational responsibility and outcomes. Workplace bullying is addressed from several perspectives including organizational consequences, characteristics of both victims and perpetrators, the current state of legislation and best practices for organizational policy. The paper also provides a discussion of developing issues related to increased technology and social media usage.