The stigmatization and devaluation of elites associated with corporate failures: A process model

Batia M. Wiesenfeld, Kurt A. Wurthmann, Donald C. Hambrick

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

320 Scopus citations

Abstract

We develop a model to explain the process by which corporate failure leads to professional devaluation of individual elites. We envision that corporate failure evokes a stigmatization process, in which society's arbiters engage in constituentminded sensemaking to interpret the conditions surrounding the failure, including the characteristics of the individual elite, and arrive at judgments about the person's blameworthiness. We discuss implications of this research for the study of stigma and stigmatization, as well as "settling-up" in managerial labor markets. Copyright of the Academy of Management, all rights reserved.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)231-251
Number of pages21
JournalAcademy of Management Review
Volume33
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2008

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Business, Management and Accounting
  • Strategy and Management
  • Management of Technology and Innovation

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