The DOI matches its Crossref record; 49 of the 50 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Certifications and Reputation: Determining the Standard of Desirability Amidst Uncertainty
Abstract
We develop a theory that examines how a particular type of third-party quality signal, certifications, influences an actor's long-term reputation by addressing two different types of uncertainty. The first type deals with the degree to which the capabilities of an actor can be inferred over time based on known performance dimensions. We label this technical uncertainty. The second type deals with assessing whether the perceived capabilities of the actor meet the standard of desirability, which we call performance standard uncertainty. We propose and test that certifications will positively influence the long-term reputation of actors in situations that involve minimal technical uncertainty, and that, across levels of technical performance, certifications will have an inverted U-shaped relationship with assessments of actors such that certifications will have the greatest impact on assessments of actors who are close to the uncertain standard of desirability. We test our hypotheses in the context of the voting for Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame, an environment where comprehensive technical performance measures leave little technical uncertainty. Our results support our hypotheses and suggest that certifications can influence an actor's reputation by reducing performance standard uncertainty rather than just technical uncertainty, as previously presumed.
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“The fact that firms are ranked according to their final scores does not preclude the DJSI from being considered a certification.”
From Strategic Silence: Withholding Certification Status as a Hypocrisy Avoidance Tactic (2018) · cites this paper as Graffin and Ward (2010: 332)
Citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Wijen, F. (2014) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.2012.0218 · Cited by 459
Strategic Silence: Withholding Certification Status as a Hypocrisy Avoidance Tactic
Carlos, W. C., & Lewis, B. W. (2018) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0001839217695089 · Cited by 393
CEO Dismissal: The role of investment analysts
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Studying Choice and Change: The Intersection of Institutional Theory and Entrepreneurship Research
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Signaling by early stage startups: US government research grants and venture capital funding
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Metadata
- Authors
- Graffin, S. D., & Ward, A. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Georgia (US)
- Lehigh University (US)
- Venue
- Organization Science
- Published
- 2010-04
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 331-346
- ISSN
- 1047-7039 (ISSN-L)
- 1526-5455
- OpenAlex
- W2151148962
- Cited by
- 158
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 10.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Organization Science (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Corporate Identity and Reputation
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management and Organizational Studies
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
- Keywords
- certification, reputation, technological uncertainty, inverted U-shaped relationship, performance evaluation, organizational reputation
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