In this study, I address the general research question, "What are the conditions under which stakeholders will take action against an organization?" I respond to this question by acknowledging that a stakeholder is likely to act when it is motivated to do so: accordingly I adopt two of the most well-established motivation theories, equity theory and expectancy theory, based on which I develop a framework for understanding when a stakeholder is likely to take action against the focal organization (FO). I assert that stakeholders are likely to take action against the FO when they perceive underreward inequity in their relationship with the FO, and when they have high expectancies that they can successfully take action in order to remedy that inequity. To test hypotheses derived from this framework I develop an experiment wherein subjects peruse two vignettes, each concerning a specific stakeholder-FO relationship, and respond to various questions concerning the likelihood that they would engage in various actions. Results provide support for the idea that both stakeholder perceptions of the degree of equity (or inequity) in their relationship with the FO and their expectancies that they can successfully engage in action that will result in valued outcomes affect stakeholders' propensities to take action against the FO. Other results indicate that overrewarded stakeholders may be more likely than others to engage in behaviors that help the FO. Results concerning the impact of equity sensitivity on stakeholder propensities to engage in action either detrimental to or supportive of the FO were mixed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-01022006-155354 |
| Date | 10 January 2006 |
| Creators | Hayibor, Sefa |
| Contributors | Bradley Agle, Mark Wexler, Donna Wood, John Camillus, Colleen Collins-Dodd |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-01022006-155354/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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