Brandon Prettyman

Committee Members: Olga Hawn (advisor), Sekou Bermiss, Isin Guler, Atul Nerkar, Forrest Brisco

This study examines how a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) gap—the misalignment between internal and external CSR activities—moderates the insurance-like protection CSR provides during episodes of firm controversy. Using a multi-stakeholder approach with 8,766 firm-day observations across 242 firms (2015-2018), I analyze consumer sentiment, public attention, public sentiment, and investor responses following environmental, social, governance (ESG)-related incidents. Results show that while higher overall CSR buffers negative stakeholder reactions for consumer sentiment and public attention, this protective effect is significantly attenuated when firms exhibit larger CSR gaps. The findings extend boundary conditions of CSR’s insurance-like properties by demonstrating that stakeholders respond not only to the magnitude of CSR engagement but also to its structural coherence, highlighting the strategic importance of balanced CSR portfolios.

Prior research shows that misalignment between a firm’s internally-facing and externally-facing corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity can negatively impact firm market value. However, less is known about what drives this misalignment. This study begins to fill this void in the literature by exploring how CEO political ideology predicts not only the level of firm external and internal CSR activity but also the extent of misalignment. Drawing on an unbalanced panel dataset of 1,148 U.S. firms from 1995-2018, the study finds that while both liberal and conservative CEO-led firms favor internal over external CSR, CSR misalignment is significantly larger under liberal leadership. This pronounced imbalance suggests that politically liberal CEOs may inadvertently expose their firms to greater performance risks associated with CSR misalignment than their conservative counterparts.

CEO political ideology is a well-established predictor of corporate social responsibility (CSR), with liberal CEO led firms generally pursuing more proactive and expansive CSR agendas than their conservative counterparts. However, it remains unclear whether this relationship extends consistently across different CSR domains. This study investigates whether CEO ideology predicts firm engagement with corporate carbon reduction initiatives—a context characterized by discretionary, resource-intensive, and politically salient commitments. Drawing on a novel dataset of 4,099 climate-related initiatives reported by 300 U.S. firms in CDP (formerly carbon disclosure project) between 2013 and 2019, I analyze variation in investment cost, initiative breadth, CO2e savings, and financial returns. Contrary to theoretical expectations derived from previous CSR literature, results reveal only limited evidence that CEO ideology significantly shapes firm behavior in this domain. While liberal-led firms undertake a modestly larger number and broader range of initiative types, they do not differ meaningfully from conservative-led firms in total investment allocation, environmental impact, or return on investment. Surprisingly, conservative-led firms appear more likely to implement initiatives yielding greater projected carbon savings. These findings identify important boundary conditions for upper echelons theory and CSR-related research, suggesting that once firms commit to climate disclosure frameworks, the influence of CEO ideology may be attenuated by other factors that transcend political ideology.

Using a custom-collected dataset of 142 data breaches, we empirically test propositions by Bundy & Pfarrer (2015) regarding the nature of a crisis, firm reaction to the situation, and resulting stakeholder response. Building hypotheses around these propositions, we hypothesize that the loss of social approval and firm reputation will be reduced when a firm’s response, accommodative/defensive, aligns with the attribution of responsibility for the crisis to the firm low/high; that for organizations with higher or lower social approval pre-crisis a more defensive firm response will reduce social approval loss relative to a firm with an average pre-crisis social approval; and that managers of higher or lower approval organizations will be more likely to take more defensive firm responses to a crisis. We hope to contribute to crisis management literature.

This paper investigates how overlapping institutional pressures can reduce corporate greenwashing by shifting firms from symbolic to substantive CSR. Drawing on institutional theory, we conceptualize coercive (regulatory), normative (cultural and professional), and mimetic (peer imitation) pressures as distinct but potentially complementary forces. We theorize that while each pressure independently encourages firms to curtail greenwashing, their combined configurations are more effective, and their impact may be shaped by industry visibility and stakeholder activism. Using longitudinal data and regulatory shocks, and firm-level CSR practices we propose a multi-method approach—including a growth model with shock discontinuity design and potentially fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis—to test these dynamics. Our framework contributes to institutional theory by shifting focus from the emergence to the mitigation of decoupling, introduces the concept of institutional recombination as a pathway to substantive change, and advances CSR and nonmarket strategy research by showing when multi-pressure governance regimes are most effective in curbing greenwashing.

How do the political ideologies of corporate leaders shape firm responses to wrongdoing? Building on upper echelons and institutional theory, this paper examines how the ideological orientation of CEOs and boards influences organizational reactions to allegations of misconduct. We theorize that conservative leaders, emphasizing loyalty, hierarchy, and order, are more likely to adopt decisive, legitimacy-preserving responses such as CEO dismissal, denial, or scapegoating. In contrast, liberal leaders, emphasizing fairness, harm avoidance, and systemic reform, are more inclined toward accommodative strategies such as apology, corrective action, or procedural reforms. We extend prior research on CEO dismissal to argue that ideological logics also differentiate responses within accommodative and defensive categories, rather than merely across them. We further theorize that ideological alignment or misalignment within top management teams and boards moderates these dynamics, as do the severity of misconduct and stakeholder pressure. Empirically, we propose to analyze firm responses across financial misconduct. By integrating leadership ideology with organizational crisis response, this paper contributes to research on corporate misconduct, nonmarket strategy, and political ideology in firms, offering new insights into how leaders’ values shape the boundary between symbolic and substantive accountability.

• Research Assistant for Jeffrey Kuhn Ph.D., assistant professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel
  Hill during this time at the university
• Conducted data extraction, cleaning, merging, and statistical analysis of large-scale U.S. Patent Office
  datasets using R, supporting empirical research on innovation and intellectual property
• Reviewed, edited, and provided feedback on working paper drafts and journal submissions, contributing
  to the clarity, structure, and academic rigor of published research

• Research Assistant for Jeff Larson at Brigham Young University
• Supported individual research projects, reviewing draft journal articles and identifying ways to
  strengthen experimental design to build on initial findings

• Research Assistant for Ryan Elder at Brigham Young University
• Researched and summarized existing literature to support new project development, identified gaps in
  existing research and proposed new topic ideas, and collected real-world examples from news and
  academic sources to illustrate key concepts

• Course Evaluations:
  • Section 001: Course (4.4/5.0), Instructor (4.3/5.0)
  • Section 002: Course (4.5/5.0), Instructor (4.7/5.0)

“He did a great job, I usually rarely participate in class but I felt comfortable sharing my opinions and always felt supported. One of the best I’ve experienced at [Kenan-Flagler].”

“Professor Prettyman did an excellent job this semester making the class feel very engaging and welcoming every day. He went out of his way to try to connect with us, check in with us, and offer support during office hours if necessary.”

“The course was very, very well structured. I really appreciated how everything was laid out in person and on the Canvas platform. The assignments were the same format just with different articles, and they were due on a routine weekly basis.”

“Prof. Prettyman is super caring and really wants to give every student a chance to speak during class. He was very mindful of how diverse our section was, and ensured everyone’s opinions were heard and discussed. He never shot down a student’s answer, but always based his response off of it to show how the student could have improved the way they thought about the situation. Thank you Professor, I couldn’t have asked for a better MOD class!!!”

“I really like how a lot of real world examples were used so we can see how the techniques are and have been applied. Also following up with those companies later down the road to see how they have done. I like evaluating real companies.”

• Senior executive role leading the development and execution of comprehensive business strategy and marketing strategies to drive client growth, market expansion, and revenue generation
• Increased internal department revenue by 300% over 2 ½ years through strategic planning and service innovation, and umber of recurring clients by 200% over same time-period
• Monitored and maintained profit margins of the department, and reviewed monthly profit and loss statements for the whole company
• Built and mentored marketing team, aligning talent development with evolving strategic priorities
• Led dozens of cross-channel campaigns across diverse industries, integrating market analysis, brand strategy, and customer acquisition to support client business objectives.

• Provided comprehensive business strategy, marketing, and accounting consulting services to diverse clients across multiple industries
• Achieved exceptional client results by developing and implementing strategic growth initiatives that increased clients’ monthly revenue by over 400% within a 6-month period
• Successfully managed and coordinated freelance contractor teams to execute client projects, ensuring quality deliverables were completed on time and within budget.
• Analyzed client business operations and market positioning to identify growth opportunities, develop competitive strategies, and optimize financial performance across various business functions.

• Managed marketing strategy and execution for over 100 clients, aligning campaigns with broader business objectives and revenue goals
• Directed efforts tied to a $4.0M annual marketing budget, resulting in 15% year-over-year revenue growth for assigned clients
• Led cross-functional teams and developed scalable processes to improve team coordination, project delivery, and performance oversight
• Oversaw strategic initiatives including market analysis, content strategy, and user experience planning to support long-term client growth
• Consistently recognized for strong performance with annual merit-based salary increases

• Promoted from intern to engineer to manager based on consistent performance, leadership, and strategic contributions
• Led strategic initiatives that drove a 70% increase in customer traffic for a national brand over nine months
• Managed a $45,000 monthly budget, overseeing campaign planning, resource allocation, and performance tracking to support growth goals
• Directed large-scale marketing operations across 243 client accounts, improving workflow efficiency
  and client satisfaction
• Developed and implemented business strategies aligned with broader business objectives, contributing to sustained revenue growth and market expansion