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2020 DEPARTMENTAL RESEARCHER OF THE YEAR AWARD RECIPIENTS
DIRK DE CLERCQ
Professor of Management Departmental Researcher of the Year Award Winner for Organizational Behaviour, Human Resources, Entrepreneurship and Ethics Primary research focus: The antecedents, nature and outcomes of people's entrepreneurial activities, at the individual, firm and country levels. What are some of the most significant antecedents impacting the outcomes of entrepreneurial activities? “Doing Good, Feeling Good? Entrepreneurs’ Social Value Creation Beliefs and Workrelated Well-being" is a recent study I did with colleagues that was published in the Journal of Business Ethics. It’s based on secondary data collected from German and Swiss entrepreneurs and shows that entrepreneurs report higher job satisfaction and work engagement, and lower work burnout, to the extent that they believe their organization creates social value. A key explanation for that is their sense of work meaningfulness, which in turn is activated by their social concerns with respect to the common good. Were there any surprises in your findings? Social and commercial entrepreneurial activities may differ, but the choice between them is not binary. Social and commercial objectives, in fact, may complement and reinforce each other. What can companies and governments do to better support and encourage the success of entrepreneurs? Entrepreneurs are happier with their work when they believe they create social value with their businesses — particularly if they have concerns about the common good and well-being of society. Entrepreneurship educators might highlight the importance of social value creation and teach various pathways to reach this outcome, which would benefit not only society but also the entrepreneurs themselves. Entrepreneurs also might actively launch social value programs within their companies to encourage stronger commitments to and opportunities for pursuing social value creation goals among employees. For example, they might ask employees to come up with their own ideas for how the organization can make positive societal contributions. Finally, entrepreneurs with strong social concerns likely thrive most to the extent that they can adjust their businesses’ social orientation to match their own personal priorities.
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GOODMAN: THE MAGAZINE
MICHELLE LAU
Assistant Professor Departmental Researcher of the Year Award Winner for Accounting Primary research focus: Using economics, psychology, and sociology theories to examine the use of accounting for judgment and decision making by managers. What are some of the ways accounting information can affect trust levels between people? Many assume accounting is objective, value-free, and representative of external realism, providing an “as is” view of economic reality. Though accounting aims to provide a clear picture of reality, economic reality is socially constructed by accounting. Accounting is also the language of business, and often the starting point for business decision making. Relying on a socially constructed version of reality requires trust, and comes with the expectation it is grounded in integrity and competence. Yet, the socially constructed reality accounting aims to present does not exist independently of people’s beliefs and attitudes, which subjectively influence situations in limited and one-sided ways. In turn, accounting can affect all stages of trust among stakeholders; for example, sharing proprietary accounting information can help to establish and maintain trust across economic partners in negotiations. Likewise, proprietary information can be used opportunistically, impairing trust. Accounting can also violate expectations of economic reality, exacerbating trust as illustrated by corporate scandals such as Enron and Lehman Brothers. Still, accounting can be used to repair trust with mandatory regulations, including Canada’s recently enacted Extractive Sector Transparency Act used to increase transparency and reduce corruption within the global extractive industry. Do more regulations create greater trust between stakeholders? Much research remains to be done. Whether accounting regulations affect trust symbolically, based on traditional assumptions of accounting as an objective representation of external realism, or can substantively change human behaviour towards honesty and integrity may hold the answer for managing stakeholder trust. How do you hope your findings will be used in the world of accounting? My research underscores accounting as a social construction of reality rather than an objective presentation of reality, which is key for improving the use of accounting for making decisions.
