Nepotism is favoritism that’s granted to relatives in various fields, including business, politics, entertainment, sports, religion and other activities. The term originated with the assignment of nephews to special positions by Catholic popes and bishops. Nepotism has been criticized since the traditional times by several philosophers, including Aristotle, Valluvar, and Confucius. For example, the traditional Indian philosopher Valluvar condemned nepotism as both evil and unwise. In the business world, nepotism is the practice of showing favoritism toward one’s relations or friends in economic or employment terms. For instance, granting favors or jobs to friends and relatives, without relevance merit, could be a sort of nepotism. These practices can have damaging effects on businesses—such as eroding the support of non-favored employees or reducing the standard and creativity of management. In response, some larger companies have instituted “anti-nepotism” policies, which prevent relatives (by blood or marriage) from working within the same department or firm. But in many smaller, family-owned businesses, nepotism is viewed in additional positive terms. Members of the family are trained in various aspects of management to make sure the continuity of the corporate when members of the sooner generation retire or die. In fact, in many small businesses nepotism is taken into account a synonym for “succession.”
Introduction
one of the foremost common arguments against nepotism is that the emotional ties between those who are related may negatively affect their deciding abilities and professional growth. Within the past, many businesses sought to avoid even the looks of nepotism by forbidding relatives from working closely together. This began to alter as women entered the hands in ever greater numbers and commenced to rise to positions of prominence. Often, both the person and therefore the woman in a very marriage were too valuable for a corporation to lose. Rather than instituting strict anti-nepotism rules, many businesses decided that relations may well be accommodated within a system of rules, especially if there was no direct supervisory link between the positions of related employees.
Nepotism in Small Business
Even within small businesses where relations often work together concerns about how these nepotistic relationships could also be viewed by others must be considered. Business owners have often feared that non-family employees would resent or maybe treat unkindly relations brought into the business. Newly hired relations may even be seen as roadblocks to advancement in an exceeding company by some non-family employees. A recent Inc.com poll revealed the reach which this attitude prevails. In fact, nearly half those polled (48 percent) believed that being the boss’s son is that the secret to getting ahead, while only 1 / 4 agreed that success comes from doing good work.
This attitude suggests that family-owned businesses must make serious efforts to ascertain an environment within which it’s clear that employees are rewarded supported merit. This doesn’t necessarily mean that hiring a relative could be a bad idea. What’s necessary, however, are policies and actions that show clearly that every one employee is rewarded fairly and equally for company success. The emotional bonds between members of the family can even have a positive effect on individual performance and company results. Additionally, hiring relations can fill staffing requirements with dedicated employees. And it shouldn’t be forgotten that preparing a friend to hold on a business may be a perfectly legitimate enterprise for the owner of a closed corporation.
But so as to avoid potential pitfalls and make sure that relatives work together effectively, the corporate should establish formal guidelines regarding hiring, responsibilities, reporting structure, training, and succession. These guidelines are different betting on the family’s size, culture, history, and line of business, additionally to other factors.
How Strict or Liberal the Principles are?
Smaller amount important than clear communication of the principles before they’re needed. Ward wrote in Nation’s Business. After all, most non-family employees recognize the legitimacy of preparing younger relations to assume the company’s reins down the road. But experts agree that a widespread workforce perception that members of the family aren’t being held liable for their performance can grow to be a significant morale problem.
Regarding hiring, Aronoff and Ward recommend in close corporation Succession that relations meet three qualifications before they’re allowed to hitch the privately held corporation on a permanent basis: an appropriate educational background; three to 5 years’ outside work experience; and an open, existing position within the firm that matches their background. of those qualifications, Aronoff and Ward stress that outside work experience is that the most significant for both the business and also the individual. They claim that it gives future managers a wider experience base that creates them better equipped to cope with challenges, lets them learn and make mistakes before coming under the watchful eye of the family, makes them realize what other options exist and thus appreciate the family firm, and provides them with a concept of their market price.
Is There any Field in India where no Nepotism Exists?
Nepotism is practically non-existent in the selection of government services. Even if you are the Prime Minister of the country, you can’t make your son or daughter an IAS officer. The selection in government jobs in India is done on the basis of competitive examination and it is practically free from nepotism.
As a result, you will find that not even 10% of the officers selected in the Civil Services Examination for the prestigious services in IAS, IPS, IFS, and IRS etc. are anyway related to top civil servants.
Even the children of civil servants are selected purely on merit and their parent’s position plays hardly any role in their selection. It is for this reason that every year we see a large number of poor and middle-class young men and women becoming IAS/IPS officers in India. You can find people from all classes, castes, regions and educational backgrounds joining the civil services in India every year purely on the basis of merit. Indian business and industries too suffer from nepotism to some degree, but still, you can find many meritorious people there since a business headed by an incompetent relative can’t survive for long. Mr. Anil Ambani is perhaps the best example of how without competencies business can be wiped out totally.
Do Big Companies also Feed Nepotism?
We blame nepotism when we are at the receiving end but never lose an opportunity to use our connections whenever an opportunity arises.
The relations begin their association with the business by working part-time during their school years or participating in internships. Additionally, they stress that companies who hire relations should make it clear to the individuals that they’re going to be fired for illegal or unethical behavior, irrespective of their family ties. Finally, they recommend that family businesses encourage their employees to keep up outside associations so as to avoid problems related to an absence of creativity or accountability in management. For instance, future managers could participate in industry or civic groups, enroll in school classes or attend seminars, take responsibility for a division or profit center, and have their job performance reviewed by outside consultants or directors. Such steps can improve the employee’s self-confidence and preparation for an eventual leadership role within the business.
How to Control it?
Dealing with nepotism within the workplace is tough, especially if you’re the one on the short end of the stick. Nepotism, or the act of providing or receiving opportunities thanks to kinship or friendship, incorporates a history that runs long and worldwide.
“Nepotism may be a natural a part of the human endowment,” says Robert Jones, a professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Missouri State University. How it’s perceived is tied to culture, consistent with Jones. “In China and India, nepotism could be a way of life and regarded positively.”
Nepotism generally contains a negative association in western, individualistic countries like us, particularly if the favored recipient isn’t qualified. Nepotism can damage a business by affecting employee morale, causing friction and resentment.
However, it isn’t necessarily a completely negative practice. Hiring or promoting a relative can provide certain advantages. As an example, if the candidate has been groomed within the privately held corporation, then the person may bring valuable social and intellectual capital to the position. Jones points to a recent nepotism study on NCAA teams that shows that teams with nepotism (two or more relations as players or coaching on the identical team) tend to perform better and win more games than those without it.
Conclusion
The key to the successful use of nepotism is obvious communication of the foundations before they’re needed and fair application of the principles PRN. They believe holding relatives to a minimum of three standards in hiring: An appropriate education for the job three to 5 years of out of doors work experience; and entry into an already existing and vital position with determining pay and performance expectations. Many experts believe that outside experience is important to the potential family-member hire. They feel the friend should establish their own competence and professional sense of worth before assuming work responsibilities within the family’s firm. Testing and honing their skills and talents allow them to bring expertise to the enterprise. In the first sixteen years of business, CAM Specialty Products practiced a strict policy of not hiring members of the family. However, in 1997 a chance to take a position in Deckare appeared and co-owner Gordon Hammett hired his son as work crew chief to handle on-site fieldwork. Hammett interviewed his son like all other candidates and honestly felt his son was an ideal appropriate the job; he was accustomed to his son’s work ethic and knew his son enjoyed the kind of labor. As a result, the choice met with great success. The key was to possess clear criteria for the task and to use them consistently for all candidates, neither favoring nor discriminating against relations
Nepotism isn’t a replacement phenomenon in business, but it’s of particular interest because the world of business shrinks because of rapid travel and convenient and fast technological communication. As business becomes increasingly globalized, it’s crucial to know how cultural attitudes toward nepotism vary between the various countries during which a business operates. Furthermore, as more families depend upon multiple incomes for his or her standard of living, the moral and pragmatic considerations regarding nepotism must be carefully negotiated to make sure the foremost effective overall business strategy. While certain guidelines are known to affect the smooth incorporation of nepotism into a successful business, there aren’t any definitive strategies. Clearly, however, nepotism can result in success if applied appropriately, or to disaster if applied without careful consideration of all variables involved.
References
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Questions
Q1. Nepotism in Small Business?
Even within small businesses where relations often work together concerns about how these nepotistic relationships could also be viewed by others must be considered. Business owners have often feared that non-family employees would resent or maybe treat unkindly relations brought into the business. Newly hired relations may even be seen as roadblocks to advancement in an exceeding company by some non-family employees.
Q2. “How strict or liberal the principles ’are?
Smaller amount important than clear communication of the principles before they’re needed. Ward wrote in Nation’s Business. After all, most non-family employees recognize the legitimacy of preparing younger relations to assume the company’s reins down the road. But experts agree that a widespread workforce perception that members of the family aren’t being held liable for their performance.
Q3. Do big companies also feed Nepotism?
It is no wonder that today most top companies of Tata Groups, Wipro, and Infosys are headed by professionals rather than relatives of their founders. The root of nepotism lies in the Indian family system where it is considered to be the duty of the parents and close relatives to take care of the children as long as they can. If you don’t support your relatives, you are considered to be arrogant and often outcast by your own family members. It is not easy to change the values of society and hence nepotism continues as a tradition in India.
Q4. How to control it?
Dealing with nepotism within the workplace is tough, especially if you’re the one on the short end of the stick. Nepotism, or the act of providing or receiving opportunities thanks to kinship or friendship, incorporates a history that runs long and worldwide.
“Nepotism may be a natural a part of the human endowment,” says Robert Jones, a professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Missouri State University.
