What About the Rest of Us? The Importance of Organizational Culture in Nepotistic Environments

To date, empirical investigations into whether nepotism, specifically, or social connection preference (SCP), generally, is positive or negative within the realm of organizational scholarship has been limited. Indeed, most of the early discussions in this field on the subject have focused on previous work done outside the organizational area (i.e., Bellow, 2003). A recent Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Organizational Frontier Series book on the subject has brought some initial attention to the subject by approaching it from multiple domains within the organizational literature (Jones, 2012). Jones and Stout (2015) have highlighted the possible advantages and disadvantages of SCPs and have taken the stand that SCPs might in fact provide more benefits than drawbacks, particularly given that formalized policies may lead to unfair discrimination.