MORSe Seminar: Giada DiStefano (Bocconi University)

Institute of Management and Organisation

Date: 29 January 2020 / 12:30 - 14:00

PC04 Blue Building

The Institute of Management and Organization is glad to invite you to the next MORSe seminar given by Giada DiStefano from Bocconi University on January 29 from 12:30 to 14:00 in PC04 in the Blue Building.

She will be presenting a paper titled: UNTIL LIONS BECOME LAMBS: MOTIVATIONAL CLIMATE, ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION, AND THE DISCLOSURE OF A FIRM'S PROPRIETARY KNOWLEDGE

Abstract: How can firms prevent the disclosure of proprietary knowledge through their employees? In this paper, we examine the role of organizational climate as a powerful tool firms can act upon. To this end, we engage in an extensive field study of the two largest CERN experiments. Despite sharing institutional linkages, key resources, and the location of their headquarters, the two experiments are (and were indeed created to be) in competition with each other, so to ensure the validity of scientific discoveries through replicability. Our empirical strategy consists of a mixed-method approach, in which we sequentially engage in inductive theory-development followed by a field experiment aimed at testing our theory. Our findings suggest that
employees are less likely to disclose proprietary knowledge when they feel an integral part of the organization, but more likely to disclose when the motivational climate is oriented towards performance, with the organization encouraging them to outperform coworkers. We further argue that, even in the presence of an unfavorable organizational climate, the threat of knowledge disclosure can be mitigated by acting upon the individual employee through job design and socialization regime.