Key Concepts and Articles Flashcards
(41 cards)
Tomkins & Bristow (2023)
What matters vs what works
- Explores the tensions between EBM and the ethics of care in professional fields, particularly healthcare
- This article questions EBM
- EBM tends to emphasise effectiveness, generalisability and measurable outcomes over complexities of human relationships and individual needs
- Challenges the idea that what works should always outweigh personal, emotional and contextual aspects of care
Pfeffer & Sutton (2006)
Hard, Facts, Management Half Truths and Total Nonsense: Profiting from EBM
- Emphasises the importance of EBM in replacing and supplementing trends, management fads etc.
- Links to Henry Mintzberg The Nature of Managerial Work, as challenges mainstream, unreliable perspectives on management and decision-making
- Argues for more scientific approaches to management- focus on hard data, research etc.
- Contradicts Tomkins & Bristow (2023)
Fallacy of Centrality
- Cognitive bias, so links to Kahneman (2011) system 1. Links to practitioner evidence, as expertise and judgements can be influenced by biases such as this.
- The bias where decision-makers believe that if something were important, they would already know about it
- Leads managers and leaderships to dismiss evidence or information that could be extremely important
Links to:
- Lucy Letby Case- dismissed evidence, tried to sweep it all under the rug
- Also links to the Victoria Climbié Child Abuse case- many authoratitive systems could have intervened i.e. social workers went to her house but because they did not see what was already going on, they did not identify it
The Whistleblower Dilemma
Ethical and practical conflict faced by individuals who possess valid, critical evidence that often indicates misconduct.
Links to:
- Cynthia Cooper- Worldcom
She whistleblew, as she discovered a massive fraud case. Although she lost her job, the business went bankrupt and many lost their jobs, she felt she had a duty to bring this to light.
- David Lochridge- OceanGate. An example of where blatant disregard of whistleblowing organisational evidence led to disastrous outcome.
- Jefferey Wigand- Brown and Williamson Tobacco- Tobacco companies were manipulating nicotine levels to increase addiction. He whistleblew and this led to more public health reform, more regulations etc. A demonstration of the power of whistleblowing as organisational evidence.
Internal Whistleblowing
Whistleblowing to managers rather than to authorities.
Organisational Silence
Employees withholding evidence, feedback or concerns even when they believe it could be beneficial for the organisation.
Links to Theranos:
- Fostered a fearful culture where those who recognised there was something seriously wrong felt they could not voice their concerns
Links to Lucy Letby:
- Those who raised concerns were told to not bring it up again and were encouraged to remain silent
Valentine & Godkin (2019)
- Frequency of whistleblowing has been increasing in organisations- driven by corporate scandals
- Controversial topic- some view whistleblowers as a problem, whilst some view them as beneficial contributors
- legislation has been passed to encourage and protect whistleblowing in the US
- Whistleblowing represents a form of moral protest
Whistleblowing motivations
- Moral responsibility
- Ethical responsibility
- Certain organisational cultures may encourage whistleblowing
- Moral compass
- May be directly affecting them
- Anticipation of detrimental outcomes
Hamori & Koyuncu (2014)
-Explores the impact of prior CEO experience on firm performance
- Reveals that prior CEO roles and experiences positively influenced decision-making
- But, context matters
Could link to Miracle on the Hudson River Case Study.
Demonstrates that practitioner evidence and judgements are strengthened by experience, making it more reliable during EBM.
Measures to Avoid or Reduce Practitioner Biases
- Kahneman (2011)- awareness of biases
- Acquire evidence before forming an opinion
-Falsify judgements-actively look for evidence that contradicts own beliefs - Play Devil’s Advocate
- Install a Red Team- US Army in Cold war
Google Project Oxygen demonstrates an example of decision makers trying to reduce bias. They assumed that technical expertise was the key to good management, but made sure to acquire evidence before making claims.
Lucy Letby case demonstrates how practitioner evidence can be influenced by biases. Managers dismissed evidence, due to Halo Effect, Fallacy of Centrality and confirmation bias.
Theranos also was biased by confirmation bias.
Cognitive Dissonance
Another cognitive bias that influences decision making.
Too much data leads to greater confusion.
Links to whistleblowing.
Discomfort between what you believe and what is actually happening.
Escalation of Commitment
- Originated in US foreign policy in Vietnam early 1960s
- Tendency to throw good money after bad
- Persistent allocation of resources and faith towards a failing course of action
Links to Scottish Parliament Case Study
- Sunk cost fallacy
- Cognitive Dissonance
- reputation
- don’t want to take accountability for such drastic errors
Acciarini et al. (2020)
Decision making processes are influenced by cognitive biases, which can lead to irrational or suboptimal decisions.
Some heuristics and biases:
- Confirmation bias
-Anchoring bias- reliance on first piece of information when making decisions, even if that info is irrelevant or arbitrary
- Loss Aversion
- Overconfidence
- Availability heuristic
- Status Quo bias- preference for things to remain the same
Barend & Rousseau- ‘Humans are inherently flawed’
Human nature is not perfect and subjected to weaknesses such as bias, self-interest and inability to make fully rational decisions.
Links to Acciarini and Kahneman and Mcraney
Bounded rationality- humans have cognitive limitations that prevent them from processing all available information and making fully rational decisions.
Barends et al., 2017
Managerial attitudes and perceived barriers regarding EBM.
Demonstrates that most managers have positive attitudes towards EBP. However, lack of time and a limited understanding of scientific research are perceived as major barriers to uptake and implementation of EBP in management.
Substantial amount of research suggests that managers do not read academic articles or consult scientific evidence. As a result, managers are often not aware of the accumulated scientific evidence available on key issues in their practice. EXAMPLE: A survey of American HR professionals showed large discrepancies between what managers think is effective and what the body of scientific research shows.
Why might practitioners across many areas not consult scientific evidence:
- Unfavourable attitudes and social norms that discourage practitioners from adopting practices based on scientific evidence
- Practitioner constraints limit EBP, as perceived barriers in work settings hinder their ability
- Links to Theory of Planned Behaviour- intended future behaviour is a function of an individual’s attitudes towards that behaviour.
Suggests that practitioners are more likely to incorporate research/scientific evidence into their practice when they form positive attitudes towards it.
Managers tend to follow patterns common among practitioners in other fields.
Need to cultivate a climate that promotes awareness of scientific research and use of scientific evidence as part of decision-making process.
Briner and Barends (2016)
Role of scientific findings in evidence-based HR.
Basic purpose of science: gather reliable and trustworthy information that helps us answer questions about what things are like and how they work.
State that Wikipedia lists over 100 different cognitive biases.
Science involves thinking carefullt about how we can collect the most trustworthy, relevant information and how we can judge the trustworthiness of the information we already have.
How to better use scientific evidence in HR practice:
- Work as a team
- Start small
- Be prepared for preconceptions to be challenged
- Include information from other sources
- Do not aim for perfection
- Continue doing it over and over
P-Hacking- HBO (2016)
Collecting lots of variables and playing with data until you find something that is statistically significant but is probably meaningless. E.G. FiveThirtyEight.
Replication can be used to overcome this. Example: Andrew Wakefield Autism and MMR Vaccine.
The Wide Angle Project
Adopted by Roberto Martinez, manager of the Belgian National Football Team. Involved recording every match at every level from a tactical, wide-angle perspective. Allows coaches and analysts to observe player positioning, team formations and movements across the entire pitch. Leads to more informed decisions.
The Trouble With Aid
Explores how aid, though intended to alleviate the suffering has been shaped by political agendas of donor countries. Aid sometimes has exacerbated conflicts and negative outcomes. Served strategic interests rather than actually helping those who are suffering.
Stakeholder Theory- Professor Ed Freeman (1984)
For any business to be successful, it has to create value for customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, banks etc.
Cannot look at stakeholders in isolation.
Look at how they interact and how they can be benefitted as a whole.
Figuring out how their interests go in the same direction is what the managerial task is all about.
Holisitic viewpoint.
Bridoux & Stoelhorst (2022)
Stakeholder Theory, Strategy, and Organisation: Past, present, and future
Instrumental Stakeholder Theory- integrates ethical concerns into economic theorising. Strategic use of stakeholder management. Treat stakeholders well to perform better
Behavioural Stakeholder Theory- how stakeholders actually behave and how stakeholder cooperation can be fostered under realworld conditions of uncertainty, inequality and limited trust. Understand and shape stakeholder behaviour through fairness and trust.
Howitt & McManus (2012)
Builds on Freeman (1984) conceptualisation of stakeholders by arguing that stakeholder theory extends beyond conventional participatory management by addressing structural conflicts and power imbalances among stakeholders, which traditional methods often overlook.
Dynamic participation matrix: tool to identify and manage potential disagreements among stakeholders, considering their varying degrees of power, resources and awareness.
Empowerment and monitoring of stakeholder management.
Scott (2013)
Institutional Pillars
Regulative- operating in accordance with relevant legal requirements. Emphasies conformity to rules.
Normative- stresses a deeper moral bases for assessing legitimacy. Internalised controls for conformity. Professional norms.
Cultural-Cognitive- legitimacy that comes from a common frame of reference or mindset. Legitimacy comes from cognitive consistency. Deepest level mode as it rests on preconscious, taken for granted understandings.
Institutional Theory Perspective on Decision-Making
Institutional theory suggests that organisations conform to established norms and practices, not because they are strategically superior, but because they are socially accepted and taken for granted.
Institutional Theory contrasts with strategic management views that see managers as proactive and rational. Instead, it proposes that managers often act out of conformity, not competitive calculation.
Managers do not choose whether to conform, they simply do because alternatives are not recognised. In institutional environments, actions are habitual and unreflective. Managers often adopt established norms without questioning them because they lack awareness of alternatives.
Taken-for-grantedness- our norms and practices become institutionalised, they are perceived as the only natural or proper way to operate. Leads to cognitive lock-in, where deviations are not considered.
Regulatory processes, standards and laws embed certain behaviours into formal systems. Organisations conform to these to maintain legitimacy, not just efficiency.
Isomorphic tendencies- isomorphism is the process where organisations in similar environments tend to become alike over time. Coercive isomorphism- laws, regulations, pressures from stakeholders
Mimetic isomorphism- copying successful peers during uncertainty
Normative isomorphism- driven by professional norms and education
Decision making is not always a rational, market driven process. Instead, it is shaped by social norms, regulatory environments, and organisational culture. Managers act in ways that ensure legitimacy and acceptance within their institutional context. Even if this means following routines.
Managers do not choose whether to conform, they simply do because no alternatives are recognised.
Taken for grantedness.
Regulatory processes code prescriptions of behaviour and decision-making.
Isomorphic tendencies and mimetic practices.
