Delegating Morality:An examination of the effects of employment regulation on the HR profession

A research proposal submitted to the SHRM Foundation August 16, 2010

Total amount of funding requested: $99,788

Topic keywords: Social movements, HR identities, ethics compliance, employee rights

Principal Investigator: Co-Investigator:Stephen R. Barley Kurt W. SandholtzRichard Weiland Professor Ph.D. CandidatePhone: 650-723-9477 Phone: 801-318-7398Fax: 650-723-2826 Fax: 650-723-1614Email: sbarley@stanford.edu Email: kws@stanford.edu

Center for Work, Technology and Organization Department of Management Science & Engineering Stanford University Stanford, CA  94305

Institutional Authorized Official:Catherine Boxwell Sponsored Project AdministratorOffice of Sponsored Research340 Panama Street Stanford, California 94305-4100Phone: (650) 725-6864; Fax: (650) 724-2290Email: boxwell@stanford.edu

ABSTRACT: This proposal outlines a research project to examine how employment regulation – an inheritance from the Civil Rights movement – has affected the status of HR and the work identities of HR practitioners. Our findings will address a gap in the social movements literature by empirically testing the identity implications of instrumental social movements. We also will offer HR practitioners insights into how best to organize required compliance activities, including implications for sub-departmentalization and outsourcing. Our mixed methods approach blends hypothesis-testing econometric analysis with an inductive multi-case comparative study. Anticipated findings will inform the current movement toward increasing HR’s responsibility for corporate ethics.

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To the Review Committee:

I am submitting a substantially revised research proposal to the SHRM foundation. We took seriously the feedback from the review committee, and have made the following changes:

1. We have repositioned the study to address an issue of current relevance to the HR profession, namely, the call to have HR increase its responsibility for corporate ethics in the wake of the financial meltdown.

2. We have increased the methodological rigor by completely revamping the methodology. The current proposal features econometric analysis of archival data, followed by a multi-case comparative qualitative study.

We remain convinced that our research topic is of vital interest to both scholars and practitioners. At the recent Academy of Management meetings in Montreal, I sponsored a caucus session on the topic of "Tensions in the HR profession." It attracted a core group of highly interested academics, many of whom formerly worked as HR practitioners. In addition, at the 2010 SHRM Annual Conference, I had the opportunity to discuss our research with numerous attendees, all of whom expressed great interest in the findings.

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SHRM Foundation Grant Proposal Submission Checklist

If this grant is approved, would you prefer the SHRM Foundation to contract directly with you, the researcher, or with your university or organization for the grant funding? _____ Researcher ___X___ University or Organization

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Cover Page__X___ All requested information is provided on the preceding cover page.__X___ The abstract includes all of the information outlined in the proposal format guidelines.

Contributions to the HR academic literature__X___ The proposal makes the case that the research will advance the HR academic literature such that the review

committee would agree that the expected findings would likely result in a top-tier HR academic journal publication.

__X___ In articulating that contribution, the relevant literature is reviewed, a theoretical basis or conceptual framework is provided, and specific research questions or hypotheses are proposed.

Implications for HR Practice__X___ The proposal makes the case that the research will be of practical value to HR practitioners and will have

direct, actionable implications such that the expected findings would be of interest to outlets such as HRMagazine, BusinessWeek, Financial Times, or Wall Street Journal.

__X___ In doing so, specific practical implications are provided for how the expected findings would enhance the effectiveness of (a) HR professionals, (b) specific HR practices, functions, or systems, and/or (c) the effectiveness of organizations through HR.

Statement of Methodology__X___ The methodology is described in sufficient detail for the committee to assess the viability and rigor of the

proposed study.__X___ The proposed sample has been secured and described and the rationale for the proposed sample and

sampling procedures are provided.__X___ The proposed data collection method(s) are described including details on the measures to be used. __X___ The analytical techniques to be used are described.

Project Schedule __X___ A project timeline is provided.

Budget __X___ A breakdown and brief explanation of the requested funds are provided along with an explanation of any

other funding sources.__X___ The requested funding amount does not exceed $200,000 and the amount is appropriate to the scope and

nature of the project.

Appendices__X___ References __X___ If relevant, evidence of IRB approval or exemption is provided, or plans to obtain this approval/exemption

are included in the project timeline. [NOTE: sent as a separate attachment. ]__X___ If relevant, copies of data collection instruments are provided.__X___ A vita or resume for all principal investigators are provided.

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Delegating Morality:An examination of the effects of employment regulation on the HR profession

A lot of what many HR people end up doing is what we might call prophylactic. “You can’t do this!” We end up being the moral police: “You can’t sleep with your assistant, you can’t grab someone inappropriately, you can’t fire someone for that reason.” We keep people from getting sued, or from getting their names in the news. . . . We’re the “no” people, in terms of the data we collect and how we have to safeguard it, the government regulations about privacy, tons of legislation we’re forced to enforce. Somewhere in that role is the heart of why HR has a bad rap, you know, the Dilbert cartoons – it all traces back to the protective role. – SVP of HR, Fortune 50 financial services firm

Social movements have had profound effects on the landscape of corporate America.

Wal-Mart’s environmental initiatives, Nike’s efforts to eliminate child labor in its manufacturers

worldwide, and Starbucks’ insistence on “Fair Trade” coffee are but three examples of the power

of social movements to alter corporate behavior. When activists harness societal energies to

encourage organizations to “do the right thing,” lasting change can result. But what happens

when the task of defining and enforcing “the right thing” falls to a single corporate function?

What are the implications for the function’s status and the identity of its practitioners?

These questions are of vital importance to contemporary HR. In a post-Enron world now

staggering through the aftermath of a historic financial meltdown, a growing chorus of voices are

recommending that HR “raise its game” to become the “corporate conscience” or “arbiter of

ethics” (Stern, 2009; Rothwell et al., 2008:4). The current “ethics” movement bears a

resemblance to a previous social movement that has profoundly shaped HR: Civil Rights. Over

the past 40 years, the HR function has been tasked with being the “moral police” in matters

relating to discrimination and fair treatment. Our proposed study will examine what happens

when organizations attempt to compartmentalize managerial morality within a single corporate

function. By tracking the impact of the “rights revolution” on the identity and status of HR, we

seek to build a conceptual foundation for assessing the potential impact of HR assuming greater

responsibility for corporate ethics.

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That the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s has dramatically affected HR is beyond

question. The list of federally mandated employment regulations is imposing and constantly

changing as laws are challenged and interpreted in court (see Table 1, Appendix). This

“legalization” of HR work has fueled an expansion of the profession in two ways. First, in

companies with existing personnel or HR departments, regulatory compliance provided a

bedrock rationale for HR’s existence: an expanding set of socially meaningful and non-optional

tasks. Second, because the new laws were enforceable in companies with as few as 15

employees, regulatory compliance prompted the diffusion of HR practices and practitioners into

ever smaller companies. Indeed, recent research shows that from the creation of the Equal

Employment Opportunity Commission to the end of the 20th century (roughly 25 years), the HR

occupation grew tenfold while the workforce only doubled (Dobbin, 2009:5).

Economic sociologists portray this growth as evidence of plucky institutional

entrepreneurship, noting how HR outflanked the legal profession and guaranteed its own job

security (Dobbin et al., 1993; Dobbin and Sutton, 1998; Edelman et al., 1999, 2001; Dobbin and

Kelly, 2007). Analysts closer to the practitioner world, however, offer a more ambivalent

assessment of HR’s compliance role. In 2005, for example, HR Magazine commemorated its 50th

year in print with a feature entitled “10 Changes that Rocked HR.” Topping the list was an article

celebrating HR’s pivotal role in the implementation of U.S. Civil Rights legislation. The article’s

title (“With Justice for All”) is suggestive of HR’s allegiance to the state, a pledge that blends

uneasily with another of the changes that “rocked” HR – the evolution of the “strategic partner”

role:

While serving as compliance champion captured the CEO’s attention, it also placed HR in the position of surrogate cop, a role that too often played as ‘the people who say no.’. . . As HR moves into its highest strategic role, then, it will need to wean itself from

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strict compliance responsibilities that increased its prominence but can limit it to a tactical, rather than strategic, role (Mirza, 2005a, 2005b).

This tension between the “strategic” and “prophylactic” aspects of HR work is noted not

only in the colorful quote that opens our proposal, but also in much of the recent practitioner-

oriented literature. Rothwell, Prescott, and Taylor (2008:6-7) describe five common line-

manager complaints about HR, the first being “HR practitioners who push a presumably social

agenda without taking time to show how such efforts will help their organizations meet business

needs and achieve strategic objectives.” Libby Sartain (2003:xvii), former head of HR at

Southwest Airlines and Yahoo, laments the widespread view of HR as “a single-minded

administrator with a big, red, rubber stamp that reads: ‘No! Against Policy and Procedures!’”

These sentiments were echoed by many of the HR practitioners we interviewed in preparation for

our study (see Table 2 in the Appendix for a list of our preliminary interviews). In almost as

many cases, however, HR practitioners told us that handling legal compliance was central to

their value as contributors and had a positive influence on the profession. Clearly, employment

regulation continues to be a powerful force within HR, but its valence is a matter of debate.

Thus, our general research question is: What has been the effect of regulatory compliance

responsibilities on the relative status of the HR function, as well as on the nature and

organization of HR work?

As our research question implies, we propose a two-stage study that will examine this

phenomenon at both macro and micro levels of analysis. In the first stage, we will statistically

analyze archival data on salary trends and EEOC discrimination filings by industry, to test the

hypothesis that HR is less highly valued (in comparison to other corporate functions) in

industries where its work is closely associated with regulatory compliance than in industries

where regulatory compliance figures less prominently in its work. The second stage of the study

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will entail a qualitative, multi-case comparison of HR work in two different panels of companies

that vary on the compliance-intensity of their respective industries (as measured by the statistical

analysis from the first stage of the study). The remainder of this proposal will review the

theoretical literature that is foundational for our inquiry, outline our mixed-methods approach,

and identify our study’s anticipated contributions to both the academic and practitioner

literatures.

Macro-foundations: Social movement theory. A unique aspect of our proposed study is its

integration of two important theoretical perspectives: social movement theory, and work-related

identity theory. Our research extends social movement theory by examining the unintended

impact that a social movement can have on the status and identity of an occupation. Social

movements are generally defined as collective efforts to effect change in the political and

cultural domains of the social world (Snow, Soule, and Kriesi, 2004). Established theory

differentiates instrumental movements (aimed at influencing political institutions in order to

address perceived injustices) from identity movements (targeted toward enhancing the autonomy,

mutual identification, and cultural standing of a group of participants). Prior research has linked

instrumental movements to the creation of new institutions such as consumer watchdog

organizations (Rao, 1998), alternate dispute resolution systems (Morrill, 2008), and – most

germane to our proposal – equal opportunity, affirmative action, and diversity offices within HR

(Dobbin, 2009). In contrast, an oft-cited study in the identity movements tradition is Rao et al.’s

(2003) analysis of the reinvention of the French chef and the birth of nouvelle cuisine.

Missing from both perspectives is the recognition that instrumental movements can have

profound, lasting, and unforeseeable effects on the identities of the groups and individuals

involved. Dobbin (2009) carefully documents how an instrumental movement – Civil Rights –

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culminated in the passage of landmark legislation in 1964, then triggered a subsequent

movement within organizations as personnel professionals championed a series of measures to

operationalize ambiguous Title VII mandates and create more humane workplaces. By focusing

on the instrumental outcomes of the movement, however, this line of research fails to illuminate

its identity implications. The “macro” part of our proposed study will directly address this gap by

examining the unintended identity consequences of instrumental social movements.

This theoretical contribution may have practical implications at the level of SHRM

policy. As the preeminent HR professional association, SHRM’s mission is provide advocacy,

thought leadership, and a community for HR professionals and others involved in solving people

management challenges (SHRM website, 30 July 2010). Among the formal mechanisms for

fulfilling this mission are SHRM-sponsored publications and conferences. Regarding

publications, article counts from The Personnel Administrator/HR Magazine from 1961 through

2008 indicate that regulatory compliance became the most frequent topic in the early 1970s and has

continued to be featured in more articles than any other topic area, including a broad category that

includes such HR basics as compensation, performance appraisal, and recruitment techniques (see

Figure 1, Appendix). Tracking session topics and speakers for eight of the 10 most recent SHRM

Annual Conferences shows a similar trend, with a juris doctorate now the most common credential

among speakers at the annual meetings (see Figure 2, Appendix). Clearly, SHRM members find

great practical value in such information. We submit, however, that it may be worthwhile to

carefully examine the effects of the “legalization” of HR on the identities of its practitioners.

Micro-foundations: The construction of work-related identities. In order to examine these

identity effects, our study draws upon recent research in the construction of on-the-job identities.

Much prior research on identities at work as focused on stigmatized occupations (Kreiner, Ashforth

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and Sluss, 2006), or overall career development (Ibarra, 2003). A growing body of research,

however, provides evidence that positive work-related identities – defined as an individual’s

favorable self-construal at work – are associated with such desirable individual and organizational

outcomes as greater resiliency, creativity, resourcefulness, and pro-social behaviors (Dutton,

Roberts and Bednar, 2010).

The issue of work-related identity for HR professionals has a long research history, dating

back to Ritzer and Trice’s 1969 treatise, An Occupation in Conflict: A study of the personnel

manager. Recent papers have focused on role conflict resulting from the many hats that HR

practitioners wear (Ulrich and Beatty, 2001; Truss et al., 2002; Caldwell, 2003; Rynes, 2004).

Research has been silent, however, on the identity implications of HR’s social movement

inheritances. What is unquestionably a boon to society – the creation, diffusion, and enforcement of

employment policies that promote the fair treatment of everyone – may have, paradoxically,

become a ball-and-chain for HR generalists as they attempt to construct a positive identity at work

(Pritchard, 2010). Thus, the second phase of our study will use qualitative methods to provide a

rich, nuanced and comparative account of the complexities involved in forging a professional

identity in HR, in “compliance-intensive” vs. “compliance neutral” industries.

Data and Methods

Phase 1: Quantitative analysis.

In order to test our hypothesis regarding the impact of compliance-related work on the

relative value of HR, we have identified the following variables and measures.

Our dependent variable is the average wage in HR-related occupations relative to the

average wage in other corporate functional occupations. Relative wages are a reasonable proxy for

the status of an occupation. The fundamental definition of status hinges on deference, or the degree

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to which others defer to the focal entity (Podolny, 1993). Wage differentials within a common

occupational category, then, are a reflection of budgetary deference, and thus constitute a measure

of relative status. Data on relative wages will be extracted from the March supplement of the

Current Population Survey (CPS) from survey years 1962 – 2009. The CPS is a monthly survey of

approximately 50,000 U.S. households conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The March

supplement (also known as the Annual Social and Economic Study) contains detailed demographic

and income data which can be aggregated by occupation (using Standard Occupational

Classifications) and industry (using SIC codes). Various CPS utilities include weightings for

occupational and industry classifications, allowing the creation of a statistically representative

national sample. For each year in the sample, we will derive a ratio of average pay in HR

occupations vs. other functional occupations, and aggregate these by three-digit SIC code.1 The use

of a wage ratio offers a number of advantages. First, it is a direct test of the relative value of HR

work in the broader labor market. By comparing the ratio of HR pay to other corporate functions by

industry, we avoid having to correct for a variety of secular trends that may affect all wages in an

industry (Philippon and Reshef, 2009).

Our primary independent variable is the extent of HR’s involvement in regulatory

compliance activities. In our exploratory interviews with HR professionals, we have asked , “Is

there an industry or company in which you would be reluctant to take an HR job?” The most

common response has been, “Companies that have recently been through an employment-related

investigation or lawsuit, because your work will dictated almost entirely by compliance.” Thus, we

believe it is reasonable to assume that in industries where the rate of EEOC discrimination filings is

significantly higher, HR work will be more compliance-intensive.

1 All wage data will be selected from four SOC categories: 11-3000 (Operations Specialties Managers), 11-2000 (Advertising, Marketing, Promotions, Public Relations, and Sales Managers), 13-1000 (Business Operations Specialists), and 15-1000 (Computer and Mathematical Specialists). For details on the subcategories included in the wage ratios, see Figure 3 in the Appendix.

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We will operationalize “compliance intensity” as the rate of Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission (EEOC) discrimination filings by industry. The EEOC maintains a data base of all

discrimination filings received in any of its offices each year. This data base, known as the Charge

Data System (CDS), is not publicly accessible but can be obtained by filing a Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA) request. Indeed, past research on discrimination rates by industry used a

FOIA request to obtain all EEOC filings for the years 1990 – 1998 (Gersen, 2007), and we have

been granted access to these data. In addition, we have submitted a FOIA request to obtain all

available EEOC data from the CDS for the years before 1990 and after 1998. Once we receive these

data, we will aggregate and standardize them by year and three-digit SIC code, thus computing a

“compliance intensity” measure for each applicable industry-year in our data set.2

Our regression analysis will include a vector of control variables for each year, based on

factors that prior research has shown to be influential. For example, numerous scholars have

commented on the feminization of HR (Dobbin, 2009; Legge, 2005; Simpson and Lenoir, 2003).

Thus, our study will control for gender ratio within HR by industry. In addition, Jacoby (2005)

posits that HR’s fortunes are closely tied to such labor market factors as overall unemployment

and union activity. Our model will therefore include controls for unemployment rate by industry

and a variety of measures of union activity. To control for exogenous economic forces not

already mitigated by our use of a wage ratio, we will include dummy variables for each year.

Finally, because compliance intensity and various controls may be expected to have a delayed

effect on HR’s relative wages, we will lag the independent and appropriate control variables by

three to five years in order to specify a model that provides the best fit.

2 Comparing “compliance intensity” across industries requires a careful method of standardizing the rate of EEOC filings. Gersen (2007) offers a thorough discussion of various options, including our preferred technique of standardizing by total employment in the industry, with controls for percentage of women and minority employees. Also, prior to the EEO Act of 1972, the EEOC had no authority to litigate discrimination cases. We expect to find little systematic data on EEOC filings prior to this date, and spotty information for the years immediately following 1972.

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The resulting time-series regression model can be summarized as follows:

wageratio(HR/other functions), t = α + β1(compintenst-3) + β2(controls) + β3(year) + εt

“Wageratio” is the relative wage in HR vs. other corporate functions within each three-digit SIC

code, “compintens” is the rate of EEOC filings by three-digit SIC code, “controls” is a vector of

control variables as indicated above, and “year” is the year dummy.3

Phase 2: Qualitative analysis

Informed by the results of our quantitative analysis, we will select and arrange access to

two contrasting panels of company sites for qualitative study. Our criteria for selection will be

both empirically and theoretically guided. Our first panel of companies will be selected from

industries that have consistently scored well above the mean on the compliance-intensity

measure; our second panel will be selected from industries that have tended to score below the

mean. Thus the research sites are likely to exhibit variance on the crucial independent variable in

our study: relative intensity of compliance-related activities in HR. This will offer a unique

vantage point on the dynamics of work-related identity construction in two contrasting settings.

We envision selecting three to four companies for each panel. Our research design

precludes us from selecting these companies prior to obtaining the results of our Phase 1

analysis.4 Data gathered at each of the six to eight research sites will include:

3 It is worth noting that our working hypothesis – that β1 will be significant and negative, net of other factors – may or may not be supported. We would expect a negative beta if enforcement is perceived as low status work. Alternatively, we might get a positive beta if enforcement is seen as an important role, even if it carries low status. In this case, rewards would be negatively related to perceived status of the work. Finally, the relationship could prove to be curvilinear, suggesting a positive effect early on and a negative effect in later years. Any of these outcomes would be theoretically interesting and allow us to advance or

modify our argument regarding the effect of regulatory compliance on the status of HR. 4 Gersen’s (2007) analysis identified the following industries as having higher than average rates of EEOC filings over the nine years in his study: Miscellaneous Manufacturers (SIC code 3390), Miscellaneous Food Stores (5490), Automotive Dealers (5590), Hotels and Motels (7010), Hospitals (8060), and Elementary and Secondary Schools (8210); industries with lower than average rates were Textile Mills (2200), Accounting, Auditing, and Bookkeeping (8720), and Research, Development, and Testing Services (8730).

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A census of all HR practitioners within each organization (or division) studied, including

demographics, educational background, performance data, and career history. Such data are

typically available from corporate HR information systems.

Semi-structured interviews with a representative sample of HR practitioners in different roles

and different hierarchical levels. These interviews will focus on career backgrounds, reasons

for choosing HR as a career, and individuals’ views of what it means to be an HR

professional. In addition, we will conduct interviews with a representative sample of non-HR

employees, focusing on their perceptions of HR. All interviews will be recorded and

transcribed.

Observation of HR practitioners in the course of their day-to-day work. It will be vitally

important to document the activities occupy HR people’s time, the issues they discuss and

with whom, the frequency and nature of their interactions with others in the organization, and

(most importantly) the meaning they attach to all of these aspects of their work.

Coding of interview and observational data. Coding of these data will follow established

“grounded theory” practices (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). We envision an iterative process

using NVivo software to catalog and analyze relationships among data points. Ongoing

thematic analysis will help clarify relationships between broad categories of findings.

Project Schedule

The timeline below identifies key milestones in the two-phase project. The chief task in

Phase 1 will be to construct the data base for regression analysis. Phase 2 will be more labor-

intensive, as it requires extensive field work among HR practitioners in a minimum of six

companies. The fieldwork schedule includes time for mid-stream data coding and analysis. An

advantage of our two-phase design is that each phase will result in a draft of a scholarly paper. In

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the first phase, the paper will be a traditional hypothesis-testing econometric study. The second

phase will produce an inductive, theory-generating paper based on grounded research (Charmaz,

2006). Additional scholarly and practitioner-oriented papers will flow from the synthesis of the

two phases of the study.

Research ActivityTarget Completion

Date

Phase 1: Regression Analysis of HR Wage Ratio by Compliance Intensity

1. Extract relevant data on wages by occupation and industry from Current Population Survey, 1962-2009.

(completed)

2. Obtain EEOC claims data for 1972 – 1989 and 1999 – present. (Currently in possession of 1990-1998 data; FOIA request submitted for remaining data.)

(pending)

3. Construct final data base combining CPS and EEOC data by industry Oct 20104. Perform regression analyses to test hypothesized relationship between HR wage

ratio and compliance intensityNov 2010

5. Prepare working paper based on findings from Phase 1 Dec 2010 – Jan 2011

Phase 2: Field Study of HR Identity within Industries with varying Compliance Intensity

1. Initiate IRB approval (completed)2. Complete institutionally-mandated Human Subjects training (completed)3. Site selection and approvals (minimum of three sites each from compliance-intense

and compliance non-intense industries, based on analysis in Phase 1)Jan – Feb 2011

4. Fieldwork at first group of companies (“Panel A”) Mar – Apr 20115. Reflection, initial coding, and data analysis from Panel A companies May 20116. Follow-up fieldwork, Panel A companies Jun 20117. Write case summaries of HR within Panel A companies Jul – Aug 20118. Fieldwork at second group of companies (“Panel B”) Sep – Oct 20119. Reflection, initial coding, and data analysis from Panel B companies Nov 201110. Follow-up fieldwork, Panel B companies Dec 201111. Write case summaries of HR within Panel B companies Jan – Feb 201212. Comparative analysis of HR identity in Panel A vs. Panel B companies Mar – Apr 201213. Draft working paper on HR identity construction in compliance-intense vs. compliance

non-intense industriesMay – Jun 2012

Proposed Budget and Justification

Considering the magnitude of the research proposed – a two-phase study including

fieldwork within six different companies – we feel that the proposed budget represents a highly

efficient allocation of research funds. In effect, the first phase of the project will be self-funded;

SHRM Foundation resources would be invested primarily in the unique (and labor-intensive)

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second phase. The SHRM Foundation, however, would be acknowledged as the sponsor on all

research output resulting from both phases of the project.5

For ease in relating our budget justification to the spreadsheet below, each item in the

following numbered list corresponds to a similarly numbered line on the spreadsheet.

(1) Dr. Barley is the principal investigator, requiring our institution’s minimum of 1% support

for the duration of the project, although his supervision of the project will consume far more

than 1% of his time.

(2) Kurt Sandholtz will perform the majority of the data gathering. The budget indicates a 50%

research assistantship during the academic year and 90% summer funding at standard

institutional rates, as well as the reduced TGR tuition allowance. (Note: All personnel costs

include institutionally-specified benefits rates.)

(3) Travel costs include one trip during the first year and three trips during the second year to

present findings at research seminars, academic meetings, and professional conferences.

Each trip is estimated for one person at $500 airfare, $200 lodging, and $175 for ground

transportation, parking, and meals.

(4) A transcriptionist for field interviews will allow quick conversion of taped interviews into

text, which is required for the coding of qualitative data. We estimate a total of 100

interviews (15 to 20 per site) at transcription costs of $62 per interview.

(5) The total project budget is subject to institutional overhead of 15%, to defray facilities and

other indirect costs.

5 We currently have neither applied for nor received funding for this project from any other source.

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Publications targeted

The researchers bring a unique combination of skills to the project. Steve Barley, the

Principal Investigator, is a former editor of Administrative Science Quarterly and was the scholar

whose work received the greatest number of “most interesting paper” nominations from the

Academy of Management Journal review board (Barley, 2006). He has considerable experience

in the design, execution, and supervision of robust qualitative research, having conducted or

supervised field studies of such diverse professions as radiologists and radiological technicians,

morticians, computer programmers, automotive engineers, and recruiters (Barley, 1983; Barley,

1986; Barley, 1996; Evans, Kunda and Barley, 2004). Kurt Sandholtz is a seasoned researcher

with a unique background, having spent more than 17 years consulting with HR departments

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prior to entering a doctoral program in 2007. His understanding of the HR practitioner world is

reflected not only in his work experience, but in his co-authorship (with Dave Ulrich and Wayne

Brockbank) of HR Competencies: Mastery at the intersection of people and business (2008). He

spent the early years of his career as a staff writer and editor for Dow Jones & Co.

Specific publications targeted. Our research stands to make fundamental contributions to

three streams of literature. First, we offer a deductive test of the impact of government-spawned

regulatory duties on the identity of a profession rather than its spread. Our hypothesis is that the

state indeed has power to extend a profession’s reach, but may at the same time unintentionally

alter its identity. Such a finding would constitute a bridge between the instrumental and identity

aspects of social movements. Articles emphasizing this aspect of our research would be

contribute to an on-going scholarly conversation on this topic in such journals as Administrative

Science Quarterly, American Journal of Sociology, Organization Science, and Academy of

Management Journal.

Second, our findings will contribute to important current work on the social construction

of identity, especially in HR. Articles summarizing our findings in this area would fit well in

publications such as the theory oriented journals mentioned above, as well as Human Resource

Management, and Human Resource Planning Journal.

Finally, our research will have direct implications for the way the legal aspect of HR

work is organized, and for the way the training of HR professionals affects their future identities

on the job. Articles and press releases on “the true nature of HR work” will be targeted toward a

broad range of practitioner-oriented and popular publications such as HR Magazine, Human

Resource Development Quarterly, People & Strategy, Fortune, Business Week, The Wall Street

Journal, and Financial Times.

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Implications for Practice

Our study will offer an important supplement to the current corpus of research on HR

competencies and effectiveness. Important insights have been gleaned from various analyses of

survey data, correlating the knowledge and behavior of HR professionals with their perceived

competence (Ulrich et al., 2008; Lawler, Boudreau, and Morhman, 2006). In contrast, our

approach will use econometric analysis to identify industries in which HR work is more heavily

influenced by regulatory responsibilities, followed by an in-depth qualitative study of the

organization, activities, and work-related identities of HR practitioners within companies at

different ends of the “compliance intensity” spectrum.

As such, our research will provide the following potential benefits to HR practitioners

and those whom they serve in organizations. First, we will offer insights into more effective and

less effective ways of organizing (structurally) the legal compliance aspect of HR work. Second,

we will identify concrete individual strategies for coping (psychologically) with the challenges of

regulatory compliance when no structural solution has been implemented (based on detailed

observation of the tradeoffs made by effective individual practitioners). Finally, our results will

offer concrete strategies for HR practitioners when faced with requests to be the “moral police”

within their respective organizations.

In summary, our study is designed to test whether the noble aims of a past movement

(Civil Rights) have had unintended side-effects for HR. Our research will help illuminate an

important paradox that has received little scholarly attention. When organizations attempt to

compartmentalize managerial morality within a single corporate function, the resulting identity

dynamics may instead marginalize the function and hinder the achievement of the higher goal.

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APPENDIX

Contents Page

1. Figures and Tables 19

2. References 23

3. CVs of Principal Investigator and Graduate Student Researcher 26

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FIGURES AND TABLES

Table 1: Legislative Actions with Implications for HR

Federal Legislation

Applies to Co.s with x employees

Implications for HR

1963: Equal Pay Act (EPA) 1 Amendment to FLSA forbidding discrimination in pay on the basis of gender.

1964: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 15 Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and

national origin. 1965: Affirmative Action 50 Requires the development of Affirmative Action Plans for employers with

$50,000 or more in federal contracts. 1967: Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)

20 Forbids the discrimination on the basis of age (40 and over).

1970: Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1 Employers must furnish a workplace that is free from recognized hazards.

1974: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

1 Regulates benefits through a complex series of rules covering pensions, profit-sharing, stock bonus, and most insurance and other benefit plans.

1978: Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) 15 Forbids discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related

medical conditions. 1985: Consolidated Omnibus Benefits Reconciliation Act (COBRA)

20 Requires that employees who lose coverage under group health plans be given a continuation option.

1986: Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) 1 Employers must verify that workers are legally entitled to work in the United

States by filing I-9 forms for all employees.1988: Employee Polygraph Protection Act 1 Forbids most employers to use lie detectors.

1990: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 15 Forbids discrimination against the disabled.

1993: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) 50 Mandates up to 12 weeks of leave in any 12-month period for certain

circumstances. 1994: Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)

1 Prohibits discrimination against those who serve in the military; mandates military leave of absence.

1996: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

1 Limits the duration of preexisting condition exclusion in group health plans and gives new enrollees credit for prior coverage.

1998: Veterans Employment Opportunities Act

1 Requires that federal government contractors and subcontractors make special efforts to employ and promote specific types of veterans.

1998: Drug-Free Workplace Act 1 Requires organizations with Federal contracts of $100,000 or more to

develop and enforce policies to maintain a drug-free workplace.

Table 2: Analysis of Informants (Preliminary Interviews)

21

Industry Informants Gender Informants

Manufacturing 8 Women 22HR consulting 6 Men 20 Software/e-commerce 6 Total 42Pharma/biotech/med devices 5Consumer products/retail 5Financial services 4 Executive recruiter 3 Co. size (# employees) Informants Hospital/assisted living 2 >10,000 14Real Estate 1 1,000 – 9,999 5Construction 1 100-999 10Employment law 1 <100 13 Total 42 Total 42

Figure 1: Percentages of articles from Personnel Administrator/HR Magazine dedicated to legal compliance versus other popular topics, by 5-year increments

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1961-65 1966-70 1970-75 1976-80 1980-85 1986-90 1990-95 1996-00 2001-05 2006-08

Basics Business Compliance Unions

22

Figure 2: Credentials of Speakers at SHRM Annual Conferences, 2001-2010

2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 20100

5

10

15

20

25

30

JDSPHRPhDCSP

Year of SHRM Annual Conference (data missing for 2004 and 2009)

% o

f Spe

aker

s

23

Figure 3: Aggregation of SOC Codes Used to Compute Wage Ratios

For a given industry, wage ratios will be computed at two levels:

HR & Related Managers’ Wages / Other Functional Managers’ Wages

aggregate of SOC codes: aggregate of SOC codes:11-3111 (Comp. & Ben. managers) 11-2021 (Marketing managers)11-3121 (HR managers) 11-3021 (Computer and I.S. managers)11-3131 (Training & Dev. managers) 11-3031 (Finance managers)

11-3061 (Purchasing managers)

AND

HR & Related Specialists’ Wages / Other Functional Specialists’ Wages

aggregate of SOC codes: aggregate of SOC codes:13-1141 (Comp. & Ben. specialists) 13-1161 (Marketing specialists)13-1071 (HR specialists) 15-1120 (Computer systems analysts)13-1151 (Training & Dev. specialists) 13-2051 (Financial analysts)

11-3061 (Purchasing agents except wholesale, retail, and farm)

Note: Manager and specialist data will be analyzed both separately and combined.

24

REFERENCES

Barley, S. R. 1983. “Semiotics and the study of occupational and organizational cultures.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 28:393-413.

Barley, S. R. 1986. “Technology as an Occasion for Structuring: Evidence from Observations of CT Scanners and the Social Order of Radiology Departments.” Administrative Science Quarterly 31:78-108.  

Barley, S. R. 1996. “Technicians in the workplace: Ethnographic evidence for bringing work into organization studies.” Administrative Science Quarterly 41:404-41.

Barley, Stephen R. 2006. “When I Write My Masterpiece: Thoughts on what makes a paper interesting.” Academy of Management Journal 49:16-20.  

Caldwell, Raymond. 2003. “The Changing Roles of Personnel Managers: Old Ambiguities, New Uncertainties.” Journal of Management Studies 40:983-1004.  

Charmaz, K. 2006. Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Cherrington, David and Laura Zaugg. 1993. “The Top Ten Topics in Human Resource Management.” Unpublished manuscript in possession of the authors.

Dobbin, Frank. 2009. Inventing Equal Opportunity. Princeton University Press.

Dobbin, Frank, and Erin L. Kelly. 2007. “How to Stop Harassment: Professional Construction of Legal Compliance in Organizations.” American Journal of Sociology 112:1203-1243.  

Dobbin, Frank and John R. Sutton. 1998. “The Strength of a Weak State: The Rights Revolution and the Rise of Human Resources Management Divisions.” AJS 104 (2): 441-76.

Dobbin, Frank, John R. Sutton, John W. Meyer, and Richard Scott. 1993. “Equal Opportunity Law and the Construction of Internal Labor Markets.” The American Journal of Sociology 99:396-427.

Dutton, Jane E., Laura Morgan Roberts, and Jeffrey Bednar. 2010. “Pathways for Positive Identity Construction at Work: Four types of positive identity and the building of social resources.” Academy of Management Review 35: 265-293.  

Edelman, Lauren, Christopher Uggen and Howard Erlanger. 1999. “The Endogeneity of Legal Regulation: Grievance Procedures as Rational Myth.” AJS, 105 (2): 406-54.

Edelman, Lauren B., Sally Riggs Fuller, and Iona Mara-Drita. 2001. “Diversity Rhetoric and the Managerialization of Law.” The American Journal of Sociology 106:1589-1641.  

25

Evans, J.A., G. Kunda and S.R. Barley. 2004. “Beach Time, Bridge Time, and Billable Hours: The Temporal Structure of Technical Contracting.” Administrative Science Quarterly 49(1):1-38.

Gersen, Jacob E. 2007. “Markets and Discrimination.” New York University Law Review 82:689. Ibarra, Herminia. 2003. Working identity: unconventional strategies for reinventing your career. Harvard Business Press.  

Jacoby, Sanford M. 2004. Employing Bureaucracy: Managers, Unions, and the Transformation of Work in the 20th Century. Rev. ed. Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum.  

Kreiner, Glen E., Blake E. Ashforth, and David M. Sluss. 2006. “Identity Dynamics in Occupational Dirty Work: Integrating Social Identity and System Justification Perspectives.” ORGANIZATION SCIENCE 17:619-636.  

Lawler, Edward E. et al. 2006. Achieving strategic excellence: an assessment of human resource organizations. Stanford University Press.  

Legge, Karen. 2005. Human Resource Management: Rhetorics and Realities; Anniversary Edition. Palgrave Macmillan.  

Mirza, Patrick. 2005a. “With Justice for All.” HRMagazine 50:36.  

____________. 2005b. “The Evolution To Being a Strategic Partner.” HRMagazine 50:44.  

Morrill, Calvin. 2008. “Institutional Change and Interstitial Emergence: The Growth of Alternative Dispute Resolution in American Law, 1965-95.” In W.W. Powell and D.L. Jones, eds., How Institutions Change. University Of Chicago Press.

Philippon, Thomas, and Ariell Reshef. 2009. “Wages and Human Capital in the U.S. Financial Industry: 1909-2006.” SSRN eLibrary. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1433859 (Accessed June 19, 2010).  

Podolny, Joel M. 1993. “A Status-Based Model of Market Competition.” American Journal of Sociology 98:829.  

Pritchard, Katrina. 2010. “Becoming an HR strategic partner: tales of transition..” Human Resource Management Journal 20:175-188.  

Rao, Hayagreeva. 1998. “Caveat Emptor: The Construction of Nonprofit Consumer Watchdog Organizations.” American Journal of Sociology 103:912-961.  

Rao, Hayagreeva, P. Monin, and R. Durand. 2003. “Institutional Change in the Toque Ville.” AJS, 108: 795-843.

Ritzer, G. and H. Trice. 1969. An occupation in conflict: a study of the personnel manager. Ithaca, NY: New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

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Rothwell, William J., Robert K. Prescott, and Maria W. Taylor. 2008. Human Resource Transformation: Demonstrating Strategic Leadership in the Face of Future Trends. Davies-Black Publishing.  

Rynes, Sara L. 2004. “Where Do We Go From Here?: Imagining New Roles for Human Resources.” Journal of Management Inquiry 13:203-213.  

Sartain, Libby. 2003. HR from the Heart: Inspiring Stories and Strategies for Building the People Side of Great Business. New York: AMACOM.  

Simpson P., and Lenoir D. 2003. “Win some, lose some: womens status in the field of human resources in the 1990s.” Women in Management Review 18:191-198.  

Snow, David A., Sarah Anne Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi. 2004. “Mapping the Terrain.” Pp. 3-16 in The Blackwell companion to social movements. Wiley-Blackwell.  

Stern, Stefan. 2009. “HR Must Raise its Game.” Financial Times. February 16. (Obtained from http://blogs.ft.com/management/category/managing-others/).

Strauss, A. L., and J. Corbin. 1990. Basics of qualitative research. Sage Publ.  

Truss, C., Gratton, L., Hope-Hailey, V., Stiles, P. and Zaleska, J. 2002. “Paying the Piper: Choice and constraint in changing HR functional roles.” Human Resource Management Journal, 12 (2):39–63.

Ulrich, D., and R. Beatty. 2001. “From Partners to Players: Extending the HR Playing Field.” Human Resource Management 40:293-307.  

Ulrich, David, Wayne Brockbank, Dani Johnson, Kurt Sandholtz, and Jon Younger. 2008. HR Competencies: Mastery at the intersection of people and business. Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management.

 

27

VITA

Stephen R. Barley

School of Engineering 787 Mayfield AvenueManagement Science and Engineering Stanford, CA 94305Huang Engineering Center – 475 Via Ortega (650) 493-1044Stanford UniversityStanford, CA 94305-4121(650) 723-9477Sbarley@stanford.edu

EDUCATION

1984 Ph.D. in Organization Studies.  Alfred P. Sloan School of Management. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

1977 M.A. in Student Personnel Administration.  Ohio State University.1975 A.B. in English.  The College of William and Mary in Virginia.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1996-on Professor. The Richard Weiland Professor of Management Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, Stanford University

1994-96 Associate Professor. Management Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, Stanford University

1990-94 Associate Professor. New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Cornell University.

1984-90 Assistant Professor.  New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Cornell University.

1983 Instructor. Radcliffe Seminars Program, Radcliffe College.1982 Instructor.  Northeastern University.1977-79 Residential Coordinator.  Department of Residence Life, Cornell University

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ROLES

2007-on Professor by Courtesy Appointment. School of Education, Stanford University1996-on Co-Director and Founder. Center for Work, Technology, and Organization.

Management Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, Stanford University2004-10 Co-Director. General Motors/Stanford University Collaborative Research Laboratory on

Work Systems.2007-08 Visiting Professor Department of Management Science and Innovation, University

College London2007-08 Visiting Professor Said Business School, Oxford University, Oxford, England2006-07 Deputy Department Chair. Management Science and Engineering. Stanford University.2002-04 Editor. Stanford Social Innovation Review.

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1994-2009 Series Editor. Series on Technology and Work. Cornell University Press1993-97 Editor. Administrative Science Quarterly.1990-94 Director. Program on Technology and Work. Center for Labor Market Policy. School of

Industrial and Labor Relations Cornell University.1989-94 Adjunct Professor. Program in Science, Technology and Society. Cornell University.1987-94 Instructor. Stonier Graduate School of Banking. Summer Program Sponsored by the

American Banking Association.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Technology's role in occupational and organizational change. Science and innovation in industrial settings.  Organizational and occupational culture.  Corporate power. Social network theory. Macro-organizational behavior.

TEACHING INTERESTS

Organization theory.  Technological change.  Sociology and anthropology of work and occupations.  Research Methods.  Network Theory.

PAPERS IN JOURNALS AND RESEARCH ANNUALS

Barley, S. (forthcoming). Signifying Institutions. Management Communication Quarterly.Barley, S. R., D. E. Meyerson and S. Godal. (Forthcoming) “Communication Technologies and Stress in

Everyday Life.” Organization Science.Bailey, D. and S. R. Barley. (Forthcoming) “Teaching-learning ecologies: Mapping the environment to

structure through action.” Organization Science. Leonardi, P. M. and S. R. Barley. 2010. “What’s under construction here? Social action, materiality,

and power in constructivist studies of technology and organizing.” The Academy of Management Annals, 4:1-55.

Barley, S. R. 2010 Corralling the Government: An Agenda for Organization Studies. Organization Studies. 31:777-805

Leonardi, P. M. and S. R. Barley (2008) “Materiality and change: challenges to building better theory about technology and organizing.” Information and Organization. 18: 159-176.

Barley, S. R. (2008) “Rejoinder.” Journal of Management Inquiry. 17:168-171.Barley, S. R. (2007) “Corporations, democracy and the public good.” Journal of Management Inquiry.

16:201-215Barley, S. R. (2006) “When I write my masterpiece: Thoughts on what makes a paper interesting?”

Academy of Management Journal. 49: 16-20.Barley, S. R. and G. Kunda (2006) “Contracting: A new form of professional practice.” Academy of

Management Perspective. 19:1-19.Bailey, D. and S. R. Barley. (2005) “Return to work: Toward a post-industrial engineering.” IIE

Transactions. 37: 737-752.Evans, J., G. Kunda and S. R. Barley. (2004) “Beach Time, Bridge Time, and Billable Hours: The

Temporal Structure of Technical Contracting.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 49: 1-38.Reprinted in Amy S. Wharton (ed.) (2007) The Sociology of Organizations. Oxford, Eng.: Oxford University Press.

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G. Kunda, S. R. Barley, and J. Evans. (2002) “Why do contractors contract? The experience of highly skilled technical professionals in a contingent labor market.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 55:234-261

Orlikowski, W. and S. R. Barley. (2001) “Technology and institutions: What information systems research and organization studies can learn from each other.” MIS Quarterly 25:145-165.

Barley, S. R. and G. Kunda. (2001) “Bringing work back in.” Organization Science 12:76-95.Barr, D., P. Vergun and S. R. Barley. (2000) “Problems in using patient satisfaction data to assess the

quality of care of primary care physicians.” Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management. 7:19-24.

Barley, S. R. (1999) “Computer-based distance education: why and why not.” The Education Digest. 65:55-9.

O’Mahony, S. and S. R. Barley. (1999) “Do telecommunications technologies affect work and organizations? The state of our knowledge” Pp. 125-161 in B. Staw and R. Sutton, (Eds) Research in Organizational Behavior, Volume 21, Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

W. Kaghan, A. Strauss, S. R. Barley, M. Y. Brannan, R. Thomas. (1999) "The practice and uses of field research in the 21st century organization." Journal of Management Inquiry.

Barley, S. R. (1998) "Military Downsizing and the Career Prospects of Youth" Annals of the American Academy of Social and Political Sciences. 559: 141-157.

Barley, S. R. (1998) “What can we learn from the history of technology?” The Journal of Engineering and Technology Management. 15:237-255.

Nelsen, B. J. and S. R. Barley. (1997) "For love or money: Commodification and the construction of an occupational mandate." Administrative Science Quarterly, 42:619-653

Barley, S. R. and P. S. Tolbert. (1997) "Institutionalization and structuration: Studying the links between institutions and actions." Organization Studies, 18: 93-117.

Zabusky, S. E. and S. R. Barley. (1997) "You can't be a stone if you're cement: Re-evaluating the emic identities of scientists in organizations." Research in Organizational Behavior, 19: 361-404.

Barley, S. R. (1996) "Technicians in the workplace: Ethnographic evidence for bringing work into organization studies." Administrative Science Quarterly, 41:404-441.

Stern, R. N. and S. R. Barley. (1996) "Organizations and social systems: The neglected mandate." Administrative Science Quarterly, 41:146-162.

Barley, S. R. (1996) "Commentary on Pentland." Technology Studies. 2:89-92.Barley, S. R. and B. Bechky. (1994) "In the backrooms of science: Notes on the work of science

technicians." Work and Occupations. 21:85-126.Barley, S. R. and G. Kunda. (1992) "Design and devotion: The ebb and flow of rational and normative

ideologies of control in managerial discourse." Administrative Science Quarterly, 37:1-30. Reprinted in Keith Grint (Ed.) (2000) Work and Society: A Reader. Blackwell: Oxford, UK. Reprinted in Timothy Clark and Stephanos Avakian (Eds.) (2009) Management Consulting. Edward Elgar Publishing: Camberly, UK.

Barley, S. R. and D. K. Knight. (1991) "Toward a cultural theory of stress complaints." Pp. 1-48 in B. Staw and L. L. Cummings, (Eds) Research in Organizational Behavior. Volume 14. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Barley, S. R. (1990) "Images of imaging: Notes on doing longitudinal field work." Organization Science, 1:220-247.

Reprinted in G. Huber and A. Van De Ven (eds). (1995) Longitudinal Field Methods, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Barley, S. R. (1990) "The alignment of technology and structure through roles and networks." Administrative Science Quarterly, 35: 61-103.

Barley, S. R., G. Meyer and D. Gash. (1988) "Cultures of culture: Academics, practitioners, and the pragmatics of normative control." Administrative Science Quarterly. 33:24-60.

30

Reprinted in Frederico Butera Ed. (2008) Studi Organizativi: Nuova SerieReprinted in P. Frost and R. Stablein (eds) (1991) Exemplary Organizational Research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage

Barley, S. R.  (1988) "Technology, power, and the social organization of work: towards a pragmatic theory of skilling and deskilling."  Pp 33-80 in N. DiTomaso and S. Bacharach (Eds.) Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Volume 6. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Reprinted in Frank Ackerman, et al. (1998) The Changing Nature of Work. Island Press. .Barley, S. R.  (1986) "Technology as an occasion for structuring: observations on CT scanners and the

social order of radiology departments."  Administrative Science Quarterly,  31:78-108. Reprinted in Gerry Johnson et al. (eds.) (2007) Strategy as Practice. Cambridge Eng: Cambridge University Press.

Barley, S. R.  (1986) "Changing roles in radiology."  Administrative Radiology, 5:32-41. Barley, S. R. and L. K. Williams (1985) "Could a funny thing happen on the way to the office of the

future?"  I.L.R. Report,  23:11-21.Van Maanen, J. and S. R. Barley (1984) "Occupational communities: Culture and control in

organizations."  In B. M. Staw and L. L. Cummings (Eds.) Research in Organizational Behavior, pp. 287-365.  Volume 6.  Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Reprinted in B. Czarniawska (eds.) (2005) Organization Theory. Cheltenham, Eng: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Barley, S. R. (1983) "Semiotics and the study of occupational and organizational cultures."  Administrative Science Quarterly,  28:393-413.

Reprinted in P. Frost, L. Moore, M. L. Louis, C. Lundberg, and J. Martin (eds.) (1991) Framing Organizational Cultures. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Reprinted in C. L. Cooper (ed.) (1999) Classics in Management Thought. Cheltenham, Glos, U.K.: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. Reprinted in A. Beck, P, Bennett, P. Wall (eds) (2004) Communication Studies: The Essential Resource. London: Routledge.

Barley, S. R. (1983) "Codes of the dead: the semiotics of funeral work."  Urban Life, 12: 3-31. 

PAPERS IN BOOKS

Barley, S. R. (Forthcoming) “I Save a Technician’s Butt and Another Saves Mine” Pp. xxx in Jane Dutton and Arne Carlson (eds) Copenhagen Business School Press: Copenhagen, DK.

Barley, S. R. (2008) “Letter to editors.” Opening the Black Box of Editorship. Y Baruch, Aguinis, A. Konrad & W. Starbuck, eds. Palgrave: New York.

Barley, S. R. (2008) “Coalface institutionalism.” Pp. 490-515 in R Greenwood, C. Oliver, R. Suddaby and K. Sahlin-Anderson eds. Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Barley, S. R. and G. Kunda. (2006) “Itinerant professionals: Technical contractors in a knowledge economy.” Pp 173-193 in J. O’Toole and E. E. Lawler, Eds. America at Work: Choices and Challenges, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Barley, S. R. (2005) “What we know (and mostly don’t know) about technical work.” In Stephen Ackroyd, Rosemary Batt, Paul Thompson and Pamela Tolbert eds. The Oxford Handbook of Work and Organization. Oxford University Press: Oxford, Eng.

Barley S.R. (2004) “Puddle jumping as a career strategy.” In R. Stablien and P. Frost. Eds. Renewing Research Practice: Lessons from Scholar’s Journeys. Stanford University Press: Stanford, CA.

Barley, S. R. (2002) “Foreword.” Pp. ix-xii in Peter Meiksins and Peter Whalley, Putting Work in Its Place: A Quiet Revolution. Cornell University Press: Ithaca, New York.

31

Barley, S. R. (1999) “Competence without Credentials: The Promise and Potential Problems of Computer-Based Distance Learning.” Pp. 5-13 in Nevzer Stacey (ed) Competence without Credentials. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, D. C.

Barley, S. R.. (1997) “Forward.” Pp. ix-xv in Leslie Perlow, Finding Time. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press. Barley, S. R. and Julian Orr. (1997) "The neglected workforce: An introduction." Pp. 1-19 in S. Barley

and J. Orr (ed.) Between Craft and Science: Technical Work in U.S. Settings. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.

Whalley, P. and S. R. Barley (1996) "Technical work and the division of labor: Stalking the wily anomaly." Pp. 20-52 in S. Barley and J. Orr (ed.) Between Craft and Science: Technical Work in U.S. Settings. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.

Barley, S. R. (1996) “Preface.” In J. Orr, Talking about Machines: An Ethnography of a Modern Job. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.

Zabusky, S. E. and S. R. Barley. (1996) "Redefining success: Ethnographic observations on the careers of technicians." Pp. 185-214 in Paul Osterman (ed.) Broken Ladders: Managerial Careers in Transition. Oxford, Eng: Oxford University Press.

Barley, S. R. (1996) Sections on "Culture," "Structuration," and "Ethnography" in Nigel Nicholson, (ed.), Dictionary of Organizational Behavior. London: Basil Blackwell.

Barley, S. R., J. Freeman, and R. Hybels (1992) "Strategic alliances in commercial biotechnology." Pp 311-345 in N. Norhia and R. G. Eccles (Eds), Networks and Organizations: Structure, Form and Action. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Meyer, G., S. R. Barley, and D. Gash (1991) "Obsession and naivete in upstate New York: A Tale of research." Pp. 22-35 in P. Frost and R. Stablein (eds) Exemplary Organizational Research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Barley, S. R. and P. S. Tolbert. (1991) "At the intersection of organizations and occupations." Pp 1-15 in P. Tolbert and S. R. Barley (eds), Research in the Sociology of Organizations: Organizations and Professions, Volume 7. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Barley, S. R. (1991) "Contextualizing conflict: Notes on the anthropology of disputes and negotiations." Pp 165-199 in M. Bazerman, B. Sheppard, and R. Lewicki, (eds) Research on Negotiations in Organizations. Volume 3. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Freeman, J. and S. R. Barley. (1990) "The strategic analysis of inter-organizational relations in biotechnology." Pp 127-155 in R. Loveridge and M. Pitt (eds.) The Strategic Management of Technological Innovation. New York: Wiley.

Hybels, R. and S. R. Barley. (1990) "Co-optation and the legitimation of professional identities: human resource policies in high technology firms." Pp. 199-213 in L. R. Gomez-Mejia and M. Lawless (eds.) Organizational Issues in High Technology Management. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Barley, S. R.  (1989) "Careers, identities, and institutions: the legacy of the Chicago School of Sociology."  Pp 41-65 in M. Arthur, T. Hall and B. Lawrence (Eds.) The Handbook of Career Theory.  Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press.

Reprinted in D. T. Hall (editor) (1994) Career Development. International Library of Management, Dartmouth Publishing Co: Hampshire, Eng.

Barley, S. R.  (1988) "The social construction of a machine: Ritual, superstition, magical thinking and other pragmatic responses to running a CT scanner."  Pp 497-539 in M. Lock and D. Gordon (eds.)  Biomedicine Examined. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Barley, S. R.  (1988) "On technology, time, and social order: Technically induced change in the temporal organization of radiological work."  Pp 123-169 in F. A. Dubinskas (ed.)  Making Time: Ethnographies of High Technology Organizations. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

Van Maanen, J. and S. R. Barley.  (1985) "Cultural organization: Fragments of a theory."  In P. Frost et al. (Eds)  Organizational Culture, pp. 31-54.  Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publishing Co.

32

BOOKS and MONOGRAPHS

Barley, S. R. and Kunda, G. (2004) Gurus, Hired Guns and Warm Bodies: Itinerant Experts in a Knowledge Economy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Chapter 1 reprinted in: Robert Perrucci and Carolyn Perrucci (eds.) (2007) The Transformation of Work in the New Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kochan, T. A., Barley, S. R. et al. (1999) The Changing Nature of Work and Its Implications for Occupational Analysis. National Research Council: Washington, D.C.

Barley, S. R. and J. Orr. (Eds) (1997). Between Craft and Science: Technical Work in the United States. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.

Barley, S. R. (1996). The New World of Work. Washington, D.C.: National Planning Association.Tolbert, P. S. and S. R. Barley (Eds). (1991) Professions and Organizations. Special edition of

Research in the Sociology of Organizations: Organizations and Professions. Volume 8. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

TECHNICAL REPORTS

Barley S. R. et al. (2000) Mobility Among Sun Employees. Report on research conducted for the Workplace Effectiveness Group, Sun Microsystems.

Barley, S. R. (1998) “The Professional and Technical Labor Force.” Committee on Techniques for the Enhancement of Human Performance-Occupational Analysis. National Research Council. Washington, D.C.

Barley, S. R., Hofstader, R. and Chapman, K. (1997) "Skill Standards in Context: Models of Technician's Work." Pp. 13-25 in R. Hofstader and K. Chapman, Foundations for Excellence in the Chemical Process Industries: Voluntary Industry Standards for Chemical Process Industries Technical Workers. American Chemical Society: Washington, D.C.

Barley, S. R. and B. J. Nelsen. (1995) The Nature and Implications of Infrastructural Technological Change for the Social Organization of Work. Office of Technology Assessment, Congress of the United States, Washington D.C.

WORKING PAPERS and MANUSCRIPTS UNDER REVIEW

Bailey, D. E, P. M. Leonardi, S. Barley. Icons, Symbols and Digitization: The Persistence of Physical Artifacts in and Increasingly Virtual Workplace. (Under review, Organization Science)

Barley, S. R. and B. Bechky. “Is Stress Talk Contagious? Investigating the Cultural Dynamics of Stress.”Nelsen, B. J. and S. R. Barley. "Toward an Emic Understanding of Professionalism among Technical

Workers." Working Paper. National Center for the Education of the Workforce. University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, PA.

GRANTS

National Science Foundation. (Diane Bailey, Co-PI) Transformation of Engineering Design: Digitization and Global Distribution of Engineering Work. $1.2 million (2004-2009)

National Science Foundation. Communication Technology and the Social Construction of Availability. $100,000. 2003-2004.

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National Center for the Education of the Workforce. $450,000 to conduct a series of ethnographies on a variety of technical occupations 1990-95.

Sloan Foundation. $27,484 to hold a conference on the Technical workforce. March 1993U.S. Department of Labor. $10,000 to hold a workshop on the Technical Workforce. October 1992.National Science Foundation. (with John Freeman) $90,000 to study "Niche and Network: The Evolution

of Organizational Fields in the Biotechnology Industry." 1988-89.R. Brinkley Smithers Institute for the Study of Alcoholism and Workplace Problems. $25,000 to study

"Stress as a Vocabulary of Organizing." 1986-89.National Center for Health Services Research Doctoral Dissertation Grant. (HSO5004) $32,000 to study

"New Imaging Modalities and Social Change in Radiology."  1983-84.

AWARDS & HONORS

Distinguished Scholar, Critical Management Studies Division, Academy of Management. 2010Distinguished Scholar, Organizational Communication and Information Systems Division, Academy of

Management. 2010.Derber Lecture. School of Labor Relations. University of Illinois. 2010.Best Published Article Award. International Conference on Information Systems. 2009.Listed on ISIHighlycited.com 2009.Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Palo Alto, CA. 2008-2009Best Article Award. Journal of Management Inquiry. 2008.Joan Woodward Distinguished Lecturer, Imperial College, London 2008Fellow, Academy of Management. 2007Outstanding Mentor Award: The American Indian, Alaska Native and native Hawaiian Program, Stanford

University, Stanford. 2006Author of the largest number of interesting papers. 2006. Academy of Management Journal.Distinguished Scholar, Organization and Management Theory Division, Academy of Management. 2006IBM Fellow, 2005-2006.Senior Research Fellow. Center for Work, Interaction and Technology, Kings College, London, 2004.Distinguished Visiting Scholar. INSEAD. Fountainbleu, France June, 2004.Charles M. Pigott, Chaired Professorship, School of Engineering, Stanford University, 2003-2009.Distinguished Speaker Award. Technology Management Section. INFORMS. November, 2002.Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies in Leadership, Stockholm School of Economics 2001-onBreaking the Frame Award. Journal of Management Inquiry. 2000.Distinguished Lecturer. School of Management, Uppsala University, Sweden. 1999.Morgenthaler Chaired Professor, School of Engineering, Stanford University, 1994-1997New Concept Award.  Organizational Behavior Division, Academy of Management.  For "Occupational

Communities: Culture and Control in Organizations." August, 1985.Outstanding Paper Award. Presented by the National Industrial and Organizational Psychology and

Organizational Behavior Doctoral Student Convention.  April, 1982.

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PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Member National Academy of Science, Committee on Impacts of Changes in the Information Technology Research and Development Ecosystem. 2006-2008

Member Organizing Committee. Nobel Symposium on the Foundations of Organizations. Staltsjobaden, Sweden, 2007-08

Co-Organizer Workplace and Employment Relations Conference 2004-2006Co-Chair National Research Council, Committee on Techniques for the Enhancement

of Human Performance: Occupational Analysis. 1996-99Board of Senior Scholars Center for Educational Quality of the Workforce. University of

Pennsylvania. 1990-1997Book Review Editor Administrative Science Quarterly. 1988-93Advisory Board Economia e Politica Industrial (Journal of Industrial and Business

Economics). 2009-onEditorial Board  Academy of Management Journal.  1985-87, 2004-onEditorial Board Research in the Sociology of Organizations. 2005-onEditorial Board Academy of Management Annuals. 2005-onEditorial Board Engineering Studie. 2008-onEditorial Board Information and Organization 2006-onEditorial Board Journal of Management Studies. 1996-06Editorial Board Organization Science. 1987-93.Editorial Board Administrative Science Quarterly. 1986-92.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Academy of ManagementAmerican Sociological AssociationInternational Network for Engineering StudiesMacro-Organizational Behavior Society

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Born: Feb 16, 1953Married, with two children (ages 22 and 26).

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VITA

Kurt W. Sandholtz

Center for Work, Technology, and Organization 397 Mulqueeney StreetManagement Science & Engineering Livermore, CA 94550 475 Via Ortega, Suite 212 (925) 292-4675Stanford UniversityStanford, CA 94305kws@stanford.edu EDUCATION

2012 Ph.D. in Organization Studies, Dept. of Management Science & Engineering, (expected) Stanford University

1988 M.Sc. in Organizational Behavior, Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University

1983 B.A., English cum laude, Brigham Young University

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2006-07 Senior Consultant, The RBL Group, Provo, UTDesigned and delivered customized seminars for HR managers

2004-06 Visiting Instructor, Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University Redesigned and taught introductory and graduate-level OB courses

2003-04 Managing Director, Zenger Folkman Co., Orem, UTDelivered leadership development seminars and one-on-one executive coaching

2002-03 Principal, Sandholtz Consulting LLC, Provo, UTIndependent consultant specializing in career development and work-life balance

1990-02 Consultant and Partner, Novations Group, Inc., Provo, UTConsulted with organizations on business and human resource issues

1986-90 Staff Writer and Senior Editor, Dow Jones & Co., Princeton, NJResearched and wrote weekly articles on employment and career development

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Institutional theory and occupational sociology. The origins, evolution, and work practices of HR. The genesis of novel organizational forms. The standardization of professional work.

BOOKS

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Ulrich, D., W. Brockbank, D. Johnson, K. Sandholtz, and J. Younger. 2008. HR Competencies: Mastery at the intersection of people and business. Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management.

Sandholtz, K., B. Derr, K. Buckner, and D. Carlson. 2002. Beyond Juggling: Rebalancing Your Busy Life. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

SCHOLARLY PAPERS

Powell, W.W., and K. Sandholtz. (forthcoming). “Chance, Necessite, et Naivete: Ingredients to create a new organizational form,” in J. Padgett and W.W. Powell, eds., The Emergence of Organizations and Markets, chap. 12. Princeton University Press.

Terry, R. and K. Sandholtz. 2001. “Development Tools for Both Pre- and Post-Tenure Review.” Proceedings of 2001 Frontiers in Education Conference, Reno, NV.

Terry, R. and K. Sandholtz. 1999. “Empowering Graduates to Manage Professional Careers for Greater Satisfaction and Contribution.” Proceedings of 1999 ASEE Annual Conference, Charlotte, NC.

Terry, R. and K. Sandholtz. 1999. “A Non-traditional Faculty Development Program.” Proceedings of 1999 Frontiers in Education Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Perry, L. and K. Sandholtz. 1988. “A ‘Liberating Form’ for Radical Product Innovation.” In Urs E. Gattiker and Laurie Larwood, eds., Managing Technological Development: Strategic and Human Resources Issues, pp. 9 – 31. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.

PRACTITIONER-ORIENTED ARTICLES

Ulrich, D., N. Smallwood, and K. Sandholtz. 2006. “Making Intangibles Tangible.” Strategic Finance (December).

Sandholtz, K., B. Derr, and K. Buckner. 2004. “Beyond Juggling: Finding a Work-Life Balance.” Marriott Alumni Magazine (Winter).

Sandholtz, K. 2003. “How to Take Control of a Lopsided Life.” CareerJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal Executive Career Site.

Sandholtz, K. 2002. “Are You In Danger of Plateauing?” CareerJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal Executive Career Site.

Sandholtz, K. 2000. “How to Find Your Career Best.” CareerJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal Executive Career Site.

Sandholtz, K. 1998. “A Career Management Model.” Dr. Dobbs Journal (Fall).

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Younger, J. and K. Sandholtz. 1997. “Helping R&D Professionals Build Successful Careers.” Research Technology Management 40(6): 23 – 28.

CONFERENCE SESSIONS

Brandl, J. and K. Sandholtz. 2010. “Dare or Duty? The ‘caring’ role and other tensionsin contemporary HR.” Proposed and led caucus session at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, August 9, Montreal.

Sandholtz, K. 2010. “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The persistence of contested legitimacy in contemporary HR.” Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, August 10, Montreal.

PAPERS UNDER REVIEW

Sandholtz, K. “The transformation of social regulation: Standards as catalysts of coupled vs. decoupled compliance .” Under review at Organization Studies.