Contracts and trust are two of the most important concepts impacting exchange relationships. Although there is a substantial amount of organizational literature scrutinizing contracts and trust as mechanisms of cooperation, very little of this scholarship has been empirical and, thus, our understanding is very limited. The two constructs have been cast as substitutes by some scholars and complements by others, but this body of research has largely ignored the potential for an interactive effect. One such effect has been postulated by select organizational scholars, entitled the “contract contrarian perspective” by this research, who tout that the introduction of written contracts has a negative effect on trust between the parties. The apex objective of this study was to examine how contracts affect the existence and development of trust between bargaining partners. This inquiry tested the contract contrarian perspective to determine if the introduction of a written contract into a negotiation damages trust or retards trust-building. In addition, this research offered an alternative explanation for the contract contrarian perspective and posited that any negative effect on trust that may occur during the contracting process might not be the result the introduction of a written contract but, rather, of the disparity in the parties’ relative bargaining power or the asymmetry of their legal sophistication. As trust is a complex construct, the present disquisition separated trust into two dependent variables: goodwill trust and competence trust. This allowed us to examine how the introduction of a contract affects different aspects of trust, thus, allowing for more precise indication of the effects. Consistent with the contract contrarian perspective, it was hypothesized that the introduction of a written contract into a negotiation would produce a negative effect on trust levels. It was also hypothesized that both bargaining power and legal sophistication would moderate the potential negative effect of introducing a contract into a negotiation. The study employed a vignette experimental design methodology and utilized a sample of 220 participants from a contracted data collection service and the data were analyzed with ANOVA and MANOVA. The results did not support the contract contrarian perspective’s claim and did not support the hypotheses regarding moderation; however, this study did find that both bargaining power and of legal sophistication had significant impacts on goodwill trust and competence trust.

Esta dissertação abordará alguns dos conceitos necessários para uma pré-compreensão sobre o contrato no direito brasileiro após a recepção da função social do contrato na cláusula geral do art. 421 do Código Civil. Serão confrontadas as idéias de tipicidade e individualidade no contrato, a partir do que se questionará a teoria empregada como base para a redação do artigo referido e a idéia de unidade do direito contratual brasileiro. / This paper aims at presenting some of the concepts necessary for a pre-comprehension regarding the contract in Brazilian law after the reception of the social function of the contract in general clause of 421 Article from the civil code. Vagueness doctrine and individuality will be confronted, from what will be questioned in the theory employed as basis for the writing of the 421 article from the civil code as well as the unity in Contract Law.

Esta dissertação abordará alguns dos conceitos necessários para uma pré-compreensão sobre o contrato no direito brasileiro após a recepção da função social do contrato na cláusula geral do art. 421 do Código Civil. Serão confrontadas as idéias de tipicidade e individualidade no contrato, a partir do que se questionará a teoria empregada como base para a redação do artigo referido e a idéia de unidade do direito contratual brasileiro. / This paper aims at presenting some of the concepts necessary for a pre-comprehension regarding the contract in Brazilian law after the reception of the social function of the contract in general clause of 421 Article from the civil code. Vagueness doctrine and individuality will be confronted, from what will be questioned in the theory employed as basis for the writing of the 421 article from the civil code as well as the unity in Contract Law.

Esta pesquisa tem, por hipótese, a morte da culpa na responsabilidade contratual e, por objeto, aferir se o aludido elemento subjetivo pode (ou não) ser suprimido da arquitetura jurídica da responsabilidade contratual. Vale resgatar que, se é certo não sem vozes em sentido oposto que, em muitos momentos, o direito contratual não reservou papel algum à culpa, em outros tantos instantes, na visão da doutrina majoritária, ela continua a brilhar como em seus momentos de maior esplendor. A tese estrutura-se em quatro capítulos, metodologicamente alinhados às correntes pós-positivistas do Direito e projetados a partir de uma matriz teórica-crítica em busca da compreensão do fenômeno jurídico recortado para fins de investigação. Em um primeiro momento, explora-se a travessia da responsabilidade civil para o direito de danos. Nesse percurso, (a) analisa-se o contexto em que exsurgem as primeiras codificações; (b) identificam-se as balizas utilizadas pelo Estado Liberal na configuração do dever de reparar; e (c) demonstra-se que os mitos erigidos no Liberalismo perderam sua utilidade no processo de conformação da responsabilidade contratual contemporânea. O caminho conduziu também (d) à compreensão sobre o papel dos princípios constitucionais na intelecção do fenômeno obrigacional; (e) à percepção das razões pelas quais a Modernidade fora deixada para trás; (f) à identificação das principais características da contemporaneidade; e (g) à percepção das consequências mais visíveis da ruptura do paradigma Moderno na conformação da responsabilidade contratual. No capítulo subsequente, identifica-se que a existência de um contrato, a presença de uma conduta antijurídica e de um dano a ela atado por uma relação de causa e efeito são os pressupostos do dever de reparar. Nesse mesmo capítulo, a relação obrigacional é explorada tanto em perspectiva estática, como em perspectiva dinâmica. Em um terceiro momento, promove-se a análise da ascensão e declínio da culpa na conformação do dever de reparar. Demonstra-se ainda que a noção de culpa é uma só e que não há razão que justifique classificar as obrigações como de meio ou de resultado. No último capítulo, restando provado que a culpa perdeu sua razão de ser, demonstra-se por que seu lugar há de ser ocupado pela confiança. Demonstra-se, enfim, por que o contrato que hoje obriga é o contrato justo. A conclusão da morte da culpa na responsabilidade contratual encerra mesmo que provisoriamente esta tese de doutoramento. / This research considers the hypothesis of guilt death within the contract responsibility and it aims at assessing if the mentioned subjective element may (or may not) be abolished from the legal architecture of the contract responsibility. It is worth rescuing that, if it is right not without opposite voices that, in many moments, the contract law did not reserve any role to guilt, upon several other moments, under the view of the majority doctrine, it continues to glow like in its moments of highest splendor. The thesis structure comprises four chapters. Grounded on a post-positivist theoretical matrix, at the first moment, one exploits the transition from civil responsibility onto the right to claim damages. Along this course, (a) one analyzes the context where the first code applications ex-surge; (b) one identifies the markers utilized by the Liberal State in the configuration of the repair duty; and (c) one demonstrates that the myths raised in the Liberalism have lost their utility within the conformation process of the contemporaneous contract responsibility. The path also led (d) to the understanding about the role of the constitution principles in the intellectual seizure of the duty phenomenon; (e) to the perception of the roots whereby Modernity has been left behind; (f) to the identification of the main features of contemporaneousness; and (g) to the perception of the most visible consequences deriving from the rupture of the Modern paradigm upon the conformation of the contract responsibility. In the subsequent chapter, one identifies that the existence of a contract as well as the presence of an anti-juridical conduct and of a damage attached to it by a causeeffect relation are the presuppositions of the repair duty. In this same chapter, the duty relation is exploited both under the static perspective and the dynamic one. At a third moment, one promotes the analysis of the guilt rise and decline upon the conformation of the repair duty. One evidences, yet, that the notion of guilt is just one. Thus, there is no reason that justifies classifying the duties into those of care and of outcome. Having proved that guilt has lost its rationale, in the last chapter, one demonstrates why its place ought to be taken by confidence. Finally, one demonstrates why the contract that nowadays obliges is the fair one. The conclusion drawn as to the guilt death in the contract responsibility closes although provisionally this PhD thesis.

La notion de contrat préparatoire est étudiée en tant que telle dans cette étude, plus que les contrats préparatoires individuellement. L’objectif était de découvrir la légitimité de la notion de contrat préparatoire. La notion de contrat préparatoire est une notion née de la doctrine, enrichie par la pratique, délaissée par la jurisprudence et inexistante dans le cadre de la loi. Ceci étant, la notion existe. Son identification n’est pas aisée. Elle est parfois assimilée à d’autres notions existantes telles que celle d’avant-contrat, parfois opposée à ces mêmes notions. Les contours de la notion de contrat préparatoire sont flous pour la doctrine, très partagée. Définir des critères d’identification négatifs et positifs est une tâche complexe tant les contrats préparatoires diffèrent selon la conception que l’on en a. Des critères ont été dégagés. La notion de contrat préparatoire recouvre l’ensemble des contrats ayant pour objet la préparation de la conclusion du contrat définitif. Prise ainsi, la définition semble large et permet d’inclure un grand nombre de contrats. L’étude de la pertinence de la notion de contrat préparatoire aboutit toutefois à une réduction drastique de ce qu’est la notion. L’absence de régime commun propre à la catégorie que pourrait être la notion de contrat préparatoire nous conduit à réduire sa pertinence à un usage pratique et pédagogique, la notion n’étant point pertinente en tant que telle. Tel est le cas tout au moins jusqu’à la prochaine réforme du droit des contrats qui pourrait créer un régime commun de sanction des contrats préparatoires propre à dégager des critères effectifs de la notion. / The concept of preparatory contract is considered as itself in this work, more than preparatory contracts separately. The objective was to discover the legitimacy of the concept of preparatory contract. The concept of preparatory contract is a concept born to the doctrine, enriched by practice, neglected by the courts and non-existent under the law. Whereas, the concept exists. His identification is not easy. It is sometimes equated with other existing concepts such as pre-contract, sometimes opposed to those concepts. The determination of the concept of preparatory contract is unclear for very divided doctrine. Define negative and positive identification criteria is a complex task when the preparatory contracts differ so much depending on the conception that we have. Criteria have been cleared, the notion of preparatory contract covers all contracts relating to the preparation of the conclusion of the final contract. Taken like that, the definition seems wide and is used to include a large number of contracts. Only the study of the relevance of the concept of preparatory contract eventually leads to a drastic reduction of what the concept is. The lack of clean common system to the category could be the notion of preparatory contract leads us reduce its relevance to practical and educational purposes, the notion being legally relevant points ; until the next implementation of the reform of contract law which could create a common system of punishment of preparatory own contracts to generate effective criteria of the concept .

Thesis advisor: Michael Grubb / The contract renewal incentive effect is an economic topic that has been controversial in the National Basketball Association (NBA). This study investigates whether or not the performance and effort of NBA players tend to increase in contract years and decrease afterward. With the most recent data set, this paper evaluates performance and effort variables, conducts multiple linear regressions, and presents discussions related to the real world. The results conclude that based on the reality-based metric, performance decreases by approximately 1.3 points and 0.7 points in contract years and post-contract years, respectively, while effort persists at the same level. From the perspective of basketball fans, this surprising finding provides a reference when understanding the world of basketball. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Economics.

The purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth examination of the terms and conditions found in the employment contracts of Florida Appointed School District Superintendents, with a secondary focus on salary and termination without cause. Employment contracts were obtained from each of the 26 school districts with appointed school superintendents, and then carefully analyzed for similarities and differences. The results of this study will provide Florida school districts with information to construct the best possible employment contracts to both attract top talent and protect the interests of the school district.

Using one question of Donald Kettl's smart-buyer problem as the basis of investigation, this study empirically examines the relationship between five selected services contract characteristics related to requirements and evaluation ratings of 120 federal information technology investments. The five contract characteristics selected for investigation were: Contract Type, Extent Competed, Performance-Based Acquisition, Integrated Process Team, and Program Manager Qualification. Analysis of these characteristics is relevant because current federal acquisition policy advocates particular contract characteristics as the preferred methods of procurement and others as widely accepted best practices. The five selected contract characteristics were analyzed for over 200 information technology services contracts using two separate statistical tests and four variants of information technology investment ratings as the dependent variable. Empirical evidence failed to reject the null hypothesis that there is no statistically significant correlation between selected service contract characteristics related to contract requirements and investment ratings. This failure of rejection through multiple tests led to the conclusion that service contract requirements are not better defined in cases when they should be based on selected contract characteristics. In order to better inform and understand the quantitative findings, interviews were conducted with over 20 senior acquisition and information technology executives representing 11 different federal departments and industry. None of the senior executives interviewed disputed the null finding and nearly 70 percent of subject matter experts interviewed were unsurprised that the selected service contract characteristics did not correlate with investment ratings. The lack of correlation between selected contract characteristics related to requirements and investment ratings indicates that service contract requirements definition is a significant problem for federal agencies. That conclusion was confirmed by interviews with senior subject matter experts who consistently stated that accurately defining and managing information technology service contract requirements is a genuine challenge facing the federal government today. Although empirical evidence failed to reject the null hypothesis, subsequent interviews revealed other factors that may have greater bearing on requirements and acquisition program outcomes than the five selected service contract characteristics. They present promising topics that merit further research. / Ph. D.

The main aim of this thesis is to investigate the processes of the psychological contract during organisational socialisation. Research on psychological contract tends to focus more on the content and breach of the contract. Very little is known about the formative stages of the contract. Very little attention has also been given to investigating the psychological contract together with organisational socialisation. Linking the two research areas would further our understanding of both the dynamic nature of the psychological contract. This is achieved by investigating the temporal changes of the psychological contract of new employees, pre-entry up to six months post entry into employment. The research also investigates the psychological contract from the employer`s perspective. It utilises Weick`s (1995) sensemaking properties as a methodological framework to better understand these processes. Consistent with the research aim and objectives and social constructionism, a qualitative methodology was adopted. The research used in-depth semi structured interviews to collect data supplemented with sitting in during recruitment interviews in one of the organisations, and data were analysed using template analysis. Periodic interviews were carried out every four to six months post entry. The research consists of two organisations, where each provided two groups for analysis. The findings show that after entry into the organisation, the psychological contract changes in a variety of ways influenced by socialisation into the organisation. A model based on the findings is presented and discussed in the discussion chapter. The research also makes a contribution (methodology) by adopting the sensemaking framework.

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