W3 - Avery & McKay Organizational impression management

Question 1

Organizational impression management

Answer 1

Vehicle for a firm to communicate fairness and inclusiveness to job seekers

Question 2

Research on targeted recruitment

Answer 2

Women place more importance on diversity
Minorities place more weight on the demographics of recruiters

Question 3

Cues in recruitment ads

Answer 3

• Pictorial diversity: portraying racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in photographs depicted in recruitment advertising
• Equal employment opportunity statements: promoting policies of equal opportunity enhances female and minority applicants’ perceptions of organizations

Question 4

Recruiter demographics

Answer 4

• Recruiter gender was unrelated to job acceptance intentions
• Gender similarity between recruiter and applicant positively influences organizational attraction among male but not female job seekers
• Black recruiters were more attracted to an organization when a black recruiter was used

Question 5

Organizatioal impression management tactics

Answer 5

• Direct tactics: information about the firm’s characteristics, competencies and accomplishments
• Indirect tactics: gathering information about the groups or individuals connected to the organization.

Question 6

Mohammed (1999) types of assertive tactics

Answer 6

1. Ingratiation: strategic attempt to enhance a firm’s attractiveness
2. Intimidation: conveyance of power and assertiveness
3. Organizational promotion: seek to present organizational attributes that demonstrate competency and/or effectiveness
4. Exemplification: efforts to present the firm as prototypical of some desirable characteristics
5. Supplication: communicate dependence and vulnerability

Question 7

6 defensive tactics

Answer 7

1. Accounts: attempt to minimize the perceived implications of some potentially negative event
   - A teacher explains a bad test result by saying the students had less time to prepare.
2. Disclaimers: attempt to counter potentially embarassing occurrences before they occur
   - A friend says, “I’m not good at singing, but I’ll try,” before performing at karaoke.
3. Organizational handicapping: efforts to minimize expectations or organizational success
   - A school soccer coach says, “Our team is young and inexperienced,” before a tough match to lower expectations.
4. Apologies
   - A restaurant says, “We’re sorry your food was late,” when delivering an order.
5. Restitution: offering compensation to victims of a negative event
   - A café gives a free drink voucher to a customer after serving the wrong order.
6. Prosocial behavior: engaging in acts of atonement in light of some negative events in organization’s history
   -A company starts donating to local charities after being criticized for harming the community.

Question 8

The OIM approach to targeted recruitment

Answer 8

1. Ingratiating female and minority job seekers - designed to attract minorities
2. Promoting effective diversity management
3. Exemplification - show off CSR
4. Supplication - the only way for a company to become diverse is if women and minorities apply
5. Defensive impression management

Question 9

Why targeted recruitment may fail to attract

Answer 9

1. Diversity reputation - it acts as a moderator and it depends on how the firm handles diversity
2. Attributions - the reason behind the interest also matters
3. Identity salience - when minority/female job seekers’ distinctive identities are salient taregeted recruitment attempts should be received more favorably