IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-03232774.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Perceptions of Demotion Decisions: A Social Capital Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Sophie Hennekam

    (Audencia Recherche - Audencia Business School)

  • Steve Mckenna

    (CBS - Curtin Business School - Curtin University)

  • Julia Richardson

    (CBS - Curtin Business School - Curtin University)

  • Subramaniam Ananthram

    (CBS - Curtin Business School - Curtin University)

Abstract

This article examines how demotees and co-workers understand involuntary demotion decisions, using a social capital lens. Drawing on data based on semi-structured in-depth interviews from 23 demotees and 46 co-workers (two co-workers of each demoted worker), we find that the likelihood of being demoted is determined by several factors. The personal characteristics of the demotee influence three aspects of social capital: 1) the quality of the employee-management relationship, 2) the ability to socialise with other organizational members and 3) visibility in the organization. Our findings contribute to the relational embeddedness perspective of social capital as well the growing body of literature on the dark side of social capital in organizations by showing how a lack of social capital impacts on demotion decisions. Relevant implications for organizations and HR practitioners for utilizing demotion as a HR tool are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Sophie Hennekam & Steve Mckenna & Julia Richardson & Subramaniam Ananthram, 2019. "Perceptions of Demotion Decisions: A Social Capital Perspective," Post-Print hal-03232774, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03232774
    DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2019.03.007
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03232774v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-03232774v1/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.emj.2019.03.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas J. Dohmen & Ben Kriechel & Gerard A. Pfann, 2004. "Monkey bars and ladders: The importance of lateral and vertical job mobility in internal labor market careers," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 17(2), pages 193-228, June.
    2. Dan Ariely & Anat Bracha & Stephan Meier, 2009. "Doing Good or Doing Well? Image Motivation and Monetary Incentives in Behaving Prosocially," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(1), pages 544-555, March.
    3. Peter Moran, 2005. "Structural vs. relational embeddedness: social capital and managerial performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(12), pages 1129-1151, December.
    4. Wang, Zhan & McNally, Regina & Lenihan, Helena, 2019. "The role of social capital and culture on social decision-making constraints: A multilevel investigation," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 222-232.
    5. MacLeod, W Bentley & Malcomson, James M, 1988. "Reputation and Hierarchy in Dynamic Models of Employment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(4), pages 832-854, August.
    6. van Dalen, H.P. & Henkens, K., 2015. "Why Demotion of Older Workers is a No-Go Area for Managers," Discussion Paper 2015-025, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    7. Meuleman, Miguel & Jääskeläinen, Mikko & Maula, Markku V.J. & Wright, Mike, 2017. "Venturing into the unknown with strangers: Substitutes of relational embeddedness in cross-border partner selection in venture capital syndicates," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 131-144.
    8. Longenecker, Clinton O. & Neubert, Mitchell J. & Fink, Laurence S., 2007. "Causes and consequences of managerial failure in rapidly changing organizations," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 145-155.
    9. Daniel W. Elfenbein & Todd R. Zenger, 2014. "What Is a Relationship Worth? Repeated Exchange and the Development and Deployment of Relational Capital," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 222-244, February.
    10. Steinmo, Marianne & Rasmussen, Einar, 2018. "The interplay of cognitive and relational social capital dimensions in university-industry collaboration: Overcoming the experience barrier," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10), pages 1964-1974.
    11. van Dalen, H.P. & Henkens, K., 2014. "Demotie: Panacee in een vergrijzende arbeidsmarkt?," Other publications TiSEM f68d9748-2831-4f30-a612-e, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    12. Carson, Paula Phillips & Carson, Kerry David, 2007. "Demystifying demotion: A look at the psychological and economic consequences on the demotee," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 50(6), pages 455-466.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sophie Hennekam & Subramaniam Ananthram, 2020. "Involuntary and voluntary demotion: employee reactions and outcomes," Post-Print hal-03232764, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hennekam, Sophie & McKenna, Steve & Richardson, Julia & Ananthram, Subramaniam, 2019. "Perceptions of demotion decisions: A social capital perspective," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 730-741.
    2. van Dalen, H.P. & Henkens, K., 2015. "Why Demotion of Older Workers is a No-Go Area for Managers," Other publications TiSEM cef69d5e-bcc2-4082-b9fa-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Isabell Stamm & Fabian Bernhard & Jan-Philipp Ahrens & Baris Istipliler, 2024. "Marriage: an institution you cannot disparage? Evidence on the marriage norms of entrepreneurs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 501-521, June.
    4. Lô, Amadou & Geiger, Martha, 2022. "Managing internal embeddedness in multinational corporations’ R&D subsidiaries: An evolutionary perspective on the automotive industry in Silicon Valley," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    5. B. Kriechel & G. A. Pfann, 2013. "Workforce reorganization and the worker," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(13), pages 1719-1729, May.
    6. George Chondrakis & Mari Sako, 2020. "When suppliers shift my boundaries: Supplier employee mobility and its impact on buyer firms' sourcing strategy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(9), pages 1682-1711, September.
    7. Xin Jin, 2014. "The Signaling Role of Not Being Promoted: Theory and Evidence," Working Papers 0314, University of South Florida, Department of Economics.
    8. Jed DeVaro & Antti Kauhanen & Nelli Valmari, 2019. "Internal and External Hiring," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(4), pages 981-1008, August.
    9. Jin, Xin, 2014. "The Signaling Role of Note Being Promoted: Theory and Evidence," MPRA Paper 58484, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Dwenger, Nadja & Kleven, Henrik & Rasul, Imran & Rincke, Johannes, 2014. "Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Motivations for Tax Compliance. Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment in Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100389, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    11. Carattini, Stefano & Gillingham, Kenneth & Meng, Xiangyu & Yoeli, Erez, 2024. "Peer-to-peer solar and social rewards: Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 340-370.
    12. Sseruyange, J. & Bulte, E., 2018. "Do Incentives matter for Knowledge Diffusion? Experimental Evidence from Uganda," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275896, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Lacetera, Nicola & Macis, Mario, 2008. "Motivating Altruism: A Field Study," IZA Discussion Papers 3770, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Aseem Kaul & Jiao Luo, 2018. "An economic case for CSR: The comparative efficiency of for‐profit firms in meeting consumer demand for social goods," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(6), pages 1650-1677, June.
    15. Alpízar, Francisco & Martinsson, Peter, 2010. "Don’t Tell Me What to Do, Tell Me Who to Follow! - Field Experiment Evidence on Voluntary Donations," Working Papers in Economics 452, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    16. John M. de Figueiredo & Brian S. Silverman, 2017. "On the Genesis of Interfirm Relational Contracts," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(4), pages 234-245, December.
    17. Jing Wang & Gen Li & Kai-Lung Hui, 2022. "Monetary Incentives and Knowledge Spillover: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(5), pages 3549-3572, May.
    18. Linardi, Sera & McConnell, Margaret A., 2011. "No excuses for good behavior: Volunteering and the social environment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(5), pages 445-454.
    19. Mortimer, Duncan & Harris, Anthony & Wijnands, Jasper S. & Stevenson, Mark, 2021. "Persistence or reversal? The micro-effects of time-varying financial penalties," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 72-86.
    20. Eric Braune & Jean-Sebastien Lantz & Jean-Michel Sahut & Frédéric Teulon, 2019. "Corporate venture capital in the IT sector and relationships in VC syndication networks," Post-Print hal-02467749, HAL.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03232774. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.