The intersection of culture, religion, and work ethic presents a unique challenge in the global business environment, especially in contexts like France where laïcité (secularism) plays a significant role. A report by the Randstad Institute and Observatory for Religion in the Workplace (2018) highlights that issues related to religious symbolism in French workplaces are on the rise. Instances of wearing religious symbols or visibly praying during breaks have become more prominent, with managers increasingly reporting these activities. This rise in religious visibility at work raises critical questions about how such religious stimuli might influence employee attitudes and performances, particularly in secular versus religious cultural settings. Understanding these dynamics is crucial as it impacts not only individual work ethic but also organizational harmony and effectiveness.Key findings:Implicit religious beliefs can shape how individuals perceive and approach their professional responsibilities, potentially influencing their sense of diligence and ethical commitment—though these effects vary across different cultural contexts.Cultural context shapes work ethic: The cultural environment can shape attitudes toward work, including values such as diligence, discipline, and frugality.Spirituality and professional life are integrated: In certain cultural contexts, work is not merely a means to an end but is intertwined with spiritual fulfillment.The perception of work as an act of worship varies across different religious and cultural settings.Impact on management: Organizations can foster a work environment that aligns with the intrinsic motivations of their employees, potentially leading to increased job satisfaction and productivity.
By Michael Segalla
Ratings and rankings are frequently used to motivate companies to become good corporate citizens. The late Wooseok Jung, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resources, and his co-authors, Amanda Sharkey from the University of Notre Dame and David Tan from Johns Hopkins University in the US, studied the response of firms that barely make it into a CSR ranking, such as Tesla. They showed that in a specific context, companies can take significant action in the area of CSR but that these efforts are mostly window dressing.
These days, workers at management consulting, investment banking, accounting, and law firms tend to be as interested in their career paths as they are in their salaries—which often means jumping from one firm to another in pursuit of better opportunities. But their career paths and motivation can be powerfully influenced by what sort of tasks an employer assigns to them. A study by Raphaël Lévy, Associate Professor of Economics and Decision Sciences at HEC Paris, and his colleague Heski Bar-Isaac, Professor in the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, explores how these firms’ task allocation strikes a balance between producing value for the business and offering workers opportunities to prove their talent. Three key findings: • “Lose it to use it”: To attract and motivate employees, employers sometimes sell their jobs as springboards to a great career even outside the firm. • Employees are motivated to perform when granted exposure on the labor market and when assigned to tasks allowing them to showcase their skills. • Different human resources policies coexist: some firms consent to high exposure to their employees to boost their professional advancement, others, more concerned with employee retention, offer flatter career paths.
By Raphaël Levy
The world of employment is undergoing a period of rapid change, with major technological developments, economic turbulence, and shareholder activism all contributing to a fast-moving and unpredictable context. To adapt to this new employment landscape, what kind of career strategies do (and should) professionals adopt, specialization or generalization? Professor Roxana Barbulescu of HEC Paris and Rocio Bonet of IE Business School offer insights for jobseekers and employers.
By Roxana Barbulescu
Despite legislative transformation, the issue of data handling is far from resolved. Since GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation) came into effect in 2018, the EU has collected over €3 billion in fines from companies who have broken the rules. And with the AI industry ramping up, the question of ethical data handling is more pressing than ever, say Dominique Rouziès, Professor of Marketing, and Michael Segalla, Professor of Management, both at HEC Paris.
By Michael Segalla , Dominique Rouziès
For many of us, it is a given that if we work hard, make valuable contributions, and cultivate the right professional connections, our careers will progress. After all, nepotism aside, work is basically a meritocracy, isn’t it? Well, perhaps not fully, say Roxana Barbulescu, professor of Management and Human Resources at HEC Paris, and her co-authors Claudia Jonczyk of the University of Neuchâtel, and Charles Galunic and Ben Bensaou of INSEAD. Three key findings: Even in up-or-out career environments like professional services firms, and evaluations and promotions, chance events play a substantial role in shaping individuals' careers. Employees tend to interpret chance events differently, leading to varied career attitudes and plans. By identifying and addressing disparities in resource allocation, client visibility, and mentorship opportunities, leaders can enhance employees' sense of recognition and hopefulness about their career advancement within the organization.
Sometimes workers “go the extra mile,” doing charity fundraisers, taking part in team socials, or mentoring new recruits, but does it bring value or is it counter-productive? A new study from Ekaterina Netchaeva (HEC Paris), Remus Ilies and Massimo Magni (Bocconi University), and Jingxian Yao (Tongji University), shows that although this extra work can energize employees, the pressure to engage it in, on the contrary, drains them.
By Ekaterina Netchaeva
Leading academic organizations officially promote multidisciplinarity as favoring a richer, more innovative research environment. Yet Julien Jourdan, Associate Professor of Management and Human Resources and his colleagues, actually found that scientists specialized in one domain tended to protect their discipline against their peers with diverse experience, especially those with strong track records, and potentially stifled innovation in the process. He explains the mechanisms behind these territorial attitudes – and suggests ways of countering them.
By Julien Jourdan
Artificial intelligence has only recently been taken on board by human resources, and only after being introduced into other fields. Where do we stand in concrete terms? Although there has been a whole host of ingenious innovations (driven on by start-ups in particular), and although everything virtual is all the rage, the technology seems to run up against serious limits when it comes to HR. Based on a survey carried out among HR managers and digitalization project managers working in major companies, I recall three potential pitfalls regarding the data used, the risk of turning AI into a gimmick, and algorithmic governance.
By Françoise Chevalier
On prosocial crowdfunding platforms such as Kiva, which benefit low-income entrepreneurs, women-led campaigns tend to be significantly more successful than men's. To find out which specific gender dynamics explained this difference, HEC Paris professor Santosh B. Srinivas sought to sort out gender differences in the justifications for funding requests entrepreneurs made on the site.
By Santosh Srinivas
