Nancy Kurland, Ph.D. (University of Pittsburgh) is a member of the Business, Organization, and Society department at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. Previously, she taught at California State University Northridge, where she helped found the university’s Institute for Sustainability and Core Green Team. She’s also taught on the management faculties of the University of Southern California and Pepperdine University, and spent five years writing fiction full-time. She’s published over 25 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on topics ranging from corporate sustainability to ethics in the financial services industry. In her current research, she's applying evolutionary theory to better understand organizational actions toward sustainability. Phone: O: 717-358-4734
This article introduces the eight articles and three invited essays that comprise the special iss... more This article introduces the eight articles and three invited essays that comprise the special issue: Business and Society in the Age of COVID‐19. In doing so, it also surveys COVID‐19‐related research in the Business & Society field, revealing five themes.
Can the benefit corporation structure reintegrate capitalism? Is the integration process akin to ... more Can the benefit corporation structure reintegrate capitalism? Is the integration process akin to hybridizing? And, if so, are there multiple types of hybridizing? What does integration mean at the ...
This exploratory study contributes to research on socioemotional wealth (SEW) and succession in f... more This exploratory study contributes to research on socioemotional wealth (SEW) and succession in family firms. We argue that a desire to preserve SEW motivates owners of Lancaster County family farms to legally preserve them, but that this SEW moves beyond the nonfinancial aspects of family owners. Rather, we show that this select group of owners of family farms exhibit motivation and commitment to the preservation of the cultural tradition of farming in the region and, thereby, the preservation strategy acts as a proxy to ensure the emotional attachment of successors to the agricultural land. Moreover, this study contributes to the SEW and family firm literature by theorizing that an owner’s SEW should be studied in the cultural (systemic) context in which the family firm is embedded.
This study builds theory on socioemotional wealth (SEW) in family firms and, specifically, propos... more This study builds theory on socioemotional wealth (SEW) in family firms and, specifically, proposes a new concept, community SEW, that moves SEW beyond the organizational level of analysis to include the community level of analysis. We find that owner-managers of family farms prioritize preservation of farming on fertile land and protection of the farming community in their region over economic and, in some instances, family interests. That is, owner-managers’ SEW includes the community in which the family is embedded. We discuss implications for SEW research.
In light of numerous scandals in the defense industry, the federal government responded in severa... more In light of numerous scandals in the defense industry, the federal government responded in several ways: passing the amended False Claims Act of 1986 (which was further amended in the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009), proposing mandatory ethics programs, and creating a blue ribbon commission to investigate the scandals. Keywords: defense industry initiative; business ethics; whistle blowing; Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; conflict of interest; False Claims Act of 2986; blue ribbon commission; Packard Commission; industry self-regulation
This study builds theory on socioemotional wealth (SEW) in family firms and, specifically, propos... more This study builds theory on socioemotional wealth (SEW) in family firms and, specifically, proposes a new concept, community SEW, that moves SEW beyond the organizational level of analysis to include the community level of analysis. We find that owner-managers of family farms prioritize preservation of farming on fertile land and protection of the farming community in their region over economic and, in some instances, family interests. That is, owner-managers’ SEW includes the community in which the family is embedded. We discuss implications for SEW research.
“Buy Local” campaigns argue that consumers who patronize local firms instead of national chains r... more “Buy Local” campaigns argue that consumers who patronize local firms instead of national chains reap broad economic, social, and ecological benefits for their home communities. These campaigns, which seek to create social change through market forces, imply that “local” means ethical. What ethical claims do localism advocates make for the benefits of local consumption, and how do they verify those claims? And how does the buy-local case inform broader debates on ethical markets? We find that U.S. buy-local organizations routinely focused on marketing concerns and failed to police members’ socially responsible bona fides. We also find that prolocal organizations promoted community cohesion and served an important role in disseminating sustainability information through new networks. We suggest that small- and medium-sized enterprises, which face particular challenges in authenticating claims for their economic and ecological impact, should consider restricting claims to their more specific and more easily verified social impact.
:This paper describes how anticipated age discrimination in the form of disparate treatment induc... more :This paper describes how anticipated age discrimination in the form of disparate treatment induces behavior that in effect constitutes gender discrimination. Potential employers often exhibit a common pattern of behavior that acts to discriminate against older workers entering a specific workplace. Women, at a decision-making point early in their lives, are aware of this pattern of discrimination. They perceive that it is important for them to establish their careers before they have a family because it will be more difficult for them to enter the work force at a later age and excel at their careers. This anticipated age discrimination disparately impacts women, resulting in gender discrimination.
This article introduces the eight articles and three invited essays that comprise the special iss... more This article introduces the eight articles and three invited essays that comprise the special issue: Business and Society in the Age of COVID‐19. In doing so, it also surveys COVID‐19‐related research in the Business & Society field, revealing five themes.
Can the benefit corporation structure reintegrate capitalism? Is the integration process akin to ... more Can the benefit corporation structure reintegrate capitalism? Is the integration process akin to hybridizing? And, if so, are there multiple types of hybridizing? What does integration mean at the ...
This exploratory study contributes to research on socioemotional wealth (SEW) and succession in f... more This exploratory study contributes to research on socioemotional wealth (SEW) and succession in family firms. We argue that a desire to preserve SEW motivates owners of Lancaster County family farms to legally preserve them, but that this SEW moves beyond the nonfinancial aspects of family owners. Rather, we show that this select group of owners of family farms exhibit motivation and commitment to the preservation of the cultural tradition of farming in the region and, thereby, the preservation strategy acts as a proxy to ensure the emotional attachment of successors to the agricultural land. Moreover, this study contributes to the SEW and family firm literature by theorizing that an owner’s SEW should be studied in the cultural (systemic) context in which the family firm is embedded.
This study builds theory on socioemotional wealth (SEW) in family firms and, specifically, propos... more This study builds theory on socioemotional wealth (SEW) in family firms and, specifically, proposes a new concept, community SEW, that moves SEW beyond the organizational level of analysis to include the community level of analysis. We find that owner-managers of family farms prioritize preservation of farming on fertile land and protection of the farming community in their region over economic and, in some instances, family interests. That is, owner-managers’ SEW includes the community in which the family is embedded. We discuss implications for SEW research.
In light of numerous scandals in the defense industry, the federal government responded in severa... more In light of numerous scandals in the defense industry, the federal government responded in several ways: passing the amended False Claims Act of 1986 (which was further amended in the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009), proposing mandatory ethics programs, and creating a blue ribbon commission to investigate the scandals. Keywords: defense industry initiative; business ethics; whistle blowing; Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; conflict of interest; False Claims Act of 2986; blue ribbon commission; Packard Commission; industry self-regulation
This study builds theory on socioemotional wealth (SEW) in family firms and, specifically, propos... more This study builds theory on socioemotional wealth (SEW) in family firms and, specifically, proposes a new concept, community SEW, that moves SEW beyond the organizational level of analysis to include the community level of analysis. We find that owner-managers of family farms prioritize preservation of farming on fertile land and protection of the farming community in their region over economic and, in some instances, family interests. That is, owner-managers’ SEW includes the community in which the family is embedded. We discuss implications for SEW research.
“Buy Local” campaigns argue that consumers who patronize local firms instead of national chains r... more “Buy Local” campaigns argue that consumers who patronize local firms instead of national chains reap broad economic, social, and ecological benefits for their home communities. These campaigns, which seek to create social change through market forces, imply that “local” means ethical. What ethical claims do localism advocates make for the benefits of local consumption, and how do they verify those claims? And how does the buy-local case inform broader debates on ethical markets? We find that U.S. buy-local organizations routinely focused on marketing concerns and failed to police members’ socially responsible bona fides. We also find that prolocal organizations promoted community cohesion and served an important role in disseminating sustainability information through new networks. We suggest that small- and medium-sized enterprises, which face particular challenges in authenticating claims for their economic and ecological impact, should consider restricting claims to their more specific and more easily verified social impact.
:This paper describes how anticipated age discrimination in the form of disparate treatment induc... more :This paper describes how anticipated age discrimination in the form of disparate treatment induces behavior that in effect constitutes gender discrimination. Potential employers often exhibit a common pattern of behavior that acts to discriminate against older workers entering a specific workplace. Women, at a decision-making point early in their lives, are aware of this pattern of discrimination. They perceive that it is important for them to establish their careers before they have a family because it will be more difficult for them to enter the work force at a later age and excel at their careers. This anticipated age discrimination disparately impacts women, resulting in gender discrimination.
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