On June 5-7, more than 80 of the world’s leading business school researchers, policymakers and practitioners of corporate sustainability convened at the Kenan Center for the 11th annual conference for the Alliance for Research on Corporate Responsibility (ARCS). The event attracted attendees from North and South America, Asia and Europe, from management, law, public policy, operations and economics.
Greater focus on social justice has brought systemic inequities in the corporate sector to light, leading companies to step up their efforts in attracting and retaining a diverse workforce – but many challenges remain in implementing those goals. Following a joint report between the Kenan Institute and EY, this week’s Kenan Insight breaks down some challenges companies may face while trying to reach their diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
In recent months, mechanisms that have allowed for high-skilled foreign nationals to study and work in the U.S. have been put on the policy chopping block. In this Kenan Insight, we discuss why high-skilled foreign workers are critical to America's economic health, and why policies must continue to support their entry into the U.S.
Prior work on supervisor bottom-line mentality (SBLM) has suggested it represents a static, unbending focus, with supervisors so focused on the bottom line that they discount ethical considerations. We propose that SBLM varies, within-person, given various factors in a supervisor's work life that pull and push their attention to and away from the bottom line across their workweeks. We theorize that the varying nature of SBLM elicits anxiety in employees that is exhausting because, on the days supervisors give greater emphasis to the bottom line, employees must abandon the comfort of their routines to produce bottom-line results. Ultimately, this experience motivates employee unethical behavior (i.e., coworker undermining). We also predict that, by providing employees support and guidance, supervisors’ steadfast commitment to ethics (i.e., between-person ethical leadership perceptions) influences the degree to which exhausted employees undermine their coworkers.
A recent meta-analysis from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Professor Elad Sherf and co-authors examines the literature on "seeking behavior" at work – such as asking for information, feedback or help. Why does it matter and how can it be harnessed to the benefit of both employers and employees?
What do we mean when we talk about “inequality”? There are numerous ways to measure it, each method with its relative strengths and weaknesses, and we must be clear what we mean when assessing inequality for policymaking.
UNC Kenan-Flagler Assistant Professor Tim Kundro fields questions concerning how managers and firms can best foster a healthy working environment.
This study examines the importance of social perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and irresponsibility (CSI). Drawing from social psychology literature on stereotypes, we argue that two fundamental dimensions of social perception—warmth and competence—help explain the underlying processes and conditions under which CSR leads to specific outcomes.
...seek employment in traditional labor markets. This research project will conduct field experiments to explore how an individual’s entrepreneurship experience impacts his or her subsequent success in the labor market,...
The Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and Duke University have announced the selection of the 2020 Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professorship recipients.
Volodymyr Babich, Professor of Operations and Information Management at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, will present his co-authored paper with McDonough School Houston Professor Gilles Hilary “Linking the chains: can supply chain challenges become blockchain opportunities?” during a lunchtime seminar in Kenan Center 204.
Workplace humor is ubiquitous, yet scholars know little about how it affects employees' behaviors in organizations. We draw on an emerging psychological theory of humor—benign violation theory—to suggest that a leader's sense of humor often conveys counter-normative social information in organizations.
The argument that ESG investing generates more stable and higher long-term returns has come under scrutiny, including recent data showing long-run underperformance of ESG funds over the past five years. In this Kenan Insight, we provide some clarification based on recent research that revisits fundamental questions: why and how some investors take ESG factors into account in the first place.
UNC’s Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and the Duke University Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E) initiative have embarked on a joint initiative to build a data repository to facilitate empirical research in entrepreneurship.
Research Economist, Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise; Assistant Research Professor, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School
Theory building from multiple cases has generated some of the most cited and intriguing research over the last 80 years. Yet there remains confusion regarding how to judge its rigor.
As live streaming of events (e.g., video games, political commentary, and makeup tutorials, among others) gains traction, pay-what-you-want (PWYW) pricing strategies are emerging as critical monetization tools. In this research, we assess the viability and efficacy of PWYW by examining the relationship between popularity (i.e., audience size) of a live streaming event and the revenue it generates under a PWYW scheme.
To encourage year-long engagement and invite more people into the conversation, the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and the Entrepreneurship Center at UNC have produced the first-ever Trends in Entrepreneurship Report. Combining data with expert analysis, the report gives timely insights into the topics that significantly affect entrepreneurs, funders, ecosystem partners, policymakers and others in the innovation economy.
This paper examines private equity (both buyout and venture funds) performance around the globe using four data sets from leading commercial sources. For North American funds, our results echo recent research findings: buyout funds have outperformed public equities over long periods of time; in contrast, venture funds saw performance fall after spectacular results for vintages in the 1990s. For funds outside North America, buyout funds show performance similar to those in North America while venture fund performance is weaker than in North America. Venture samples outside North America are, however, relatively small and strong conclusions await further research. The similarity of performance estimates across the data sets strengthens confidence in conclusions about the results of private equity investing.