Not in the Same Boat: How Status Inconsistency Affects Research Performance in Business Schools
r Academy of Management Journal 2018, Vol. 61, No. 3, 1021–1049. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2015.0969 NOT IN THE SAME BOAT: HOW STATUS INCONSISTENCY AFFECTS RESEARCH PERFORMANCE IN BUSINESS SCHOOLS MICHAEL JENSEN University of Michigan PENGFEI WANG BI Norwegian Business School This study examines the consequences of status inconsistency for the performance of multi-unit organizations. Status inconsistency refers to the extent to which social actors occupy status positions accorded different amounts of social esteem and prestige in different social systems. Status inconsistency affects the performance of multi-unit or- ganizations by weakening the well-established positive effects of status on performance because it creates status ambiguity that makes external evaluations of the organization and its individual units more difficult. Distinguishing between high-status and low- status multi-unit organizations, we argue further that status inconsistency is par- ticularly problematic for high-status multi-unit organizations, whereas low-status multi-unit organizations may actually benefit from status inconsistency. We test our ar- guments using a longitudinal sample comprised of 109 international business schools and their finance, accounting, marketing, management, and operations departments from 2002 to 2013. Our study concludes with a discussion of the contributions our research makes to status theory and research, and the managerial relevance of our findings. Status is often defined by the hierarchical position them and how to evaluate them (Smith, 2013; Zhang, social actors occupy in a particular social system 2008). Despite the importance of status for organiza- (Gould, 2002; Jensen, Kim, & Kim, 2011), but most tions (Jensen et al., 2011), status inconsistency in social actors participate in multiple social systems organizations remains, with a few exceptions (Kang, simultaneously.
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