Project NCN OPUS 53

Understanding managerial job candidates’ perceptions of union-busting practices in US corporations committed to CSR
 

Project funded by National Science Center, Poland

NCN OPUS 53

Project Leader: Dr. hab Piotr Zientara, prof. UG
Contractor: Dr. Joanna Adamska

Project funded by the National Science Centre (NCN) under the SONATA 17 competition

Project Number: UMO- 2024/53/B/HS4/02088
Project Duration: since 2025

The research project focuses on the perception of anti-union practices (so-called union-busting) among candidates applying for managerial positions in U.S. corporations that declare a commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR). The starting point is the assumption that mid-level managers play a key role in organizations: they implement company policies and directly shape employees’ workplace experiences. At the same time, contemporary job candidates increasingly pay attention to the ethical dimension of an employer’s activities; therefore, actions that contradict declared values, such as efforts to suppress labor unions, may discourage them from seeking employment in a given organization.

The aim of the project is to examine which factors influence candidates’ attitudes toward working for companies that engage in anti-union practices and how these attitudes translate into their application intentions. The study will analyze, among other aspects, beliefs about labor unions, attitudes toward corporate social responsibility and corporate social irresponsibility (CSR and CSI), altruistic values, and so-called cognitive frames, understood as ways of interpreting employer–employee relations. The project also compares participants’ reactions to union-busting with their reactions to other controversial employment practices, such as employee discrimination.

The study will be conducted using multi-stage online surveys and controlled experiments involving several thousand respondents. This approach will make it possible not only to better understand candidates’ attitudes but also to assess how information about a company’s practices affects its perceived attractiveness as an employer. The project offers a new perspective on CSR and employment relations research, as it focuses not on current employees but on the potential loss of talent resulting from discrepancies between organizations’ declarations of social responsibility and their actual practices.

Project dissemination

Conference Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics SABE 2025 Annual Conference, University of Trento, Italy, 5-7.06.2025, presentation: „CSR Contradictions and Organizational Reputation: The Role of Social Media Sentiment in Managerial Job Intentions”.

Work, Employment and Society Conference 2025, University of Manchester, Great Britain, 8-10.09.2025, presentation: „Managerial Candidates’ Reactions to CSR Contradictions in Hiring Contexts – A Vignette-Based Study”.