Employee involvement and the middle manager: saboteur or scapegoat?

This article reports on the results of a study of managers' attitudes to employee involvement. Contrary to a number of existing studies, this research found middle managers' attitudes to be no more negative than those of senior managers. As hypothesised, managers' intentions to support employee involvement were found to be inversely related to recent managerial job loss and positively related to managers' experience of employee involvement. Contrary to expectations, the study revealed a positive relationship between recent delayering and intentions to support the involvement of employees. The study also reveals a complex curvilinear relationship between managers' perceptions of their own empowerment and their attitudes to employee involvement. The article draws out a number of implications for practice.     

Corporate Contributions As Managerial Masques: Reframing Corporate Contributions As Strategies to Influence Society*

Researchers have argued that corporate contributions serve as necessitated investments, social currency, or social responsibility efforts. This article integrates and extends these perspectives to develop a view of corporate contributions as managerial masques. It argues that managers use corporate contributions to influence various stakeholders including stockholders, consumers, employees, investors, publics and societal institutions. A strategic framework is used to explore how managers promote managerial and corporate interests through corporate contributions. the societal implications of managers' discretionary uses of corporate contributions are also discussed.     

Human resource managers' role consistency and HR performance indicators: the moderating effect of interpersonal trust in Taiwan

This study explores the consistency between human resource (HR) managers' roles and HR performance indicators. In particular it considers the moderating effects of interpersonal trust on the relationship between HR managers' roles and HR performance indicators. We selected 116 HR managers from the top 500 manufacturing companies in Taiwan as our sample, and hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to test our hypotheses. The results showed that the HR managers' roles were consistent with HR performance indicators. Also, a high level of affective trust weakened the positive relationship between HR manager roles and HR performance indicators. Thus we suggested that Chinese companies should design HR performance indicators according to the roles HR managers play. Additionally, when HR managers are playing the role of a strategic partner or change agent, top executives should avoid high affective trust with HR managers.     

Relationships Between Cultural Orientations,Shared Ethical Values,Job Characteristics,and Organizational Commitment for Turkish Industrial Sales and Retail Managers

This study examines the relationship between cultural orientations, shared corporate ethical values, job characteristics, and organizational commitment for Turkish industrial sales managers and retail managers, replicating and extending the study done by Hunt, Wood, and Chonko (1989). This comparative study found that organizational commitment is a positive function of both Turkish industrial sales and retail managers' personal attributes/characteristics, shared corporate ethical values within companies, and task identity, autonomy, variety, and feedback as main components of job characteristics. The perceived level of cultural orientations of managers, on the other hand, differs significantly between two groups: companies with bureaucatic orientations affect organizational of commitment of their employees negatively whereas innovative and supportive ones affect positively.     

When do threats mobilize managers for organizational change toward sustainability? An environmental belief model

In pursuit of counteracting today's environmental problems, corporate management will have to implement organizational changes factoring in sustainability, which is why it is important to understand exactly what leads managers to initiate these changes. It has been established that managers' personal values are critical for their behavior and that threats to these values can mobilize managers to change their actions. However, when confronted with environment-related threats, managers may face value conflicts and various tensions between their aim to implement sustainable changes and their desire to fulfill business requirements of their job positions. Only recently have researchers begun to investigate the underlying beliefs that may lead managers to initiate organizational change toward sustainability. Borrowing theoretical assumptions from the domain of health psychology (from the well-established health belief model), the present conceptual article develops an environmental belief model that specifies when exactly threats lead managers to initiate organizational change. The environmental belief model proposes that environment-related threats trigger change (i) when managers believe that their firms are susceptible to these threats, (ii) the threats are considered as serious for the company, (iii) the perceived benefits of the change outperform (iv) the perceived barriers, and when there is (v) an external cue (e.g., an information campaign). All these propositions are supported with empirical findings from business contexts. Besides theoretical advancement on the role of environmental threats as precipitators of organizational change, the model provides guidance on how to frame environment-related threats that will mobilize managers for organizational change toward sustainability.     

Incentives,Capital Budgeting,and Organizational Structure

Divisional managers compete for financial resources in what is often referred to as an internal capital market. They also have a common interest in maximizing corporate profits, as this determines the resources available to the firm as a whole. Both goals are powerful motivators but can at times conflict: while the amount of resources available to the firm depends on corporate performance, divisional funding depends upon the division's performance relative to the rest. We propose a model in which organizational form is endogenous, divisions compete for corporate resources, and managers have implicit incentives. We show that organizational design can help companies influence their divisional managers' potentially conflicting goals. Our analysis relates the firm's organizational structure to the source of incentives (external vs. internal), the nature of the incentives (competition vs. cooperation), the level of corporate diversification, the development of the capital market, and to industry and firm characteristics.     

Chinese managers' career success networks: the impact of key tie characteristics on structure and interaction practices

Structured personal interviews were conducted with 105 senior and mid-level Chinese male and female managers, in which each respondent provided information about their career success network (CSN) ties. Using this data, we tested hypotheses on: (1) the age composition of Chinese managers' CSNs; (2) the face-to-face interaction practices within Chinese managers' CSNs; and (3) the roles of tie sex composition and tie content (position-centred versus person-centred ties) in influencing the age composition of and interaction practices within Chinese managers' CSNs. The results demonstrated that both Chinese male and female managers, while generally preferring to form CSN ties with individuals who are older than themselves, are relatively more reluctant to include middle-aged or elder women in their CSN. The age of those included in the respondents' CSN was also influenced by tie content and whether the tie spans the organizational boundary. With respect to interaction practices within the CSN, tie content moderated the relationship between tie sex composition and interaction practice. Female managers' person-centred ties with men had significantly lower levels of interaction outside the workplace than person-centred ties composed of members of the same-sex. However, this difference was not exhibited in the case of position-centred ties. Interestingly, the reluctance to socialize with the opposite-sex exhibited by female managers did not appear to be shared by their male counterparts. The implications of these results for career success in China are discussed.     

Relative performance as a strategic commitment mechanism

Can managers' personality traits be of use to profit maximizing firm owners? We investigate the case where managers have a variety of attitudes toward relative performance that are indexed by their type. We consider two stage games where profit maximizing owners select managers in the first stage, and these managers, knowing each other's types, compete in a duopoly game in the second stage. The equilibria of various types of competition are derived and comparisons are made to the standard case where managers are profit maximizers. We show that managers' types can be used as a strategic commitment device that can increase firm profits in certain environments. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Indian perspective of strategic HR roles and organizational learning capability

This study focuses on the empirical analysis of strategic HR roles and organizational learning capability. Line and HR firm performance is further analysed. The sample size consisted of 640 managers in India. Standardized questionnaires were used as tools for the managers' perception of the two variables and their link to data collection. Statistical results indicate that correlation coefficients were mostly significant and positive for the variables and sub-variables of strategic HR roles and organizational learning capability. Discriminant functional analysis reflected that line and HR managers differed significantly in their perception of both variables. Stepwise regression analysis indicated that both the variables of strategic HR roles and organizational learning capability predict firm performance.     

Middle Managers and the Employee Psychological Contract: Agency,Protection and Advancement

This paper investigates the construction and enactment of the employee psychological contract by a sample of middle-level line and personnel managers responsible for introducing job change in the air traffic control sector. We show how middle managers' concerns with fulfilling their own contractual commitments to senior management are perceived to conflict with meeting obligations to subordinates under the employment agreement. Thus, we illustrate our main argument that middle managers who are exposed to more exacting performance demands and controls do not simply subordinate employee concerns to their own interests. They seek to disguise the presence and outcomes of employee disaffection and to manipulate the impressions of senior management. We conclude that far from increasing individual accountability at middle levels such stringent controls may yield interpersonal rivalry, lower standards of employee treatment and the subversion of corporate aims.     

Workplace values and beliefs: an empirical study of ideology,high commitment management and unionisation

This study is unique in that it examines both managers' and workers' values and beliefs about employment relationships. It found that managers consider the employment relationship in their own workplaces unitarist rather than pluralist, but have mixed ideologies when considering society as a whole. Workers are strongly pluralist when considering society as a whole, but their workplace ideology is somewhat unitarist. A modest union impact on workers' perspectives is found, but little evidence to suggest union's effect commitment to the employing organization. Workers' commitment is to personal careers first and the organization second, while managers put the organization ahead of personal careers. Correlations exist between unitary views of the employment relationship, increased High Commitment Management (HCM) practices, and high levels of commitment. The purpose and contribution of this study is that it reports an assessment of the relation between workplace attitudes and beliefs and the efficacy and influence of management and union initiatives designed to impact them.     

Leading by Example: A Model of Organizational Citizenship Behavior for the Environment

Organizational citizenship behaviors for the environment (OCBEs), which are based on individual, voluntary and informal initiatives, are increasingly considered as an essential ingredient of corporate greening. Drawing on the emerging literature on this issue, this paper explores the determinants and consequences of managers' OCBEs. A study of 304 managers from the manufacturing sector allowed us to validate a new model of managers' OCBEs based on structural equation modeling. The model shows the role of environmental values and perceived behavioral control (PBC) in the adoption of OCBEs. As expected, the model also shows positive and significant relationships between OCBEs, environmental management practices and performance in this area. The study sheds new light on the impacts of OCBEs and explores the reasons why they can be used to lead by example and to improve environmental performance. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Shared values make a difference: An empirical test of corporate culture

Is the recent popular management literature on corporate culture and cultural values just a passing fad or is it highlighting some fundamental organizational realities? The results from a recent nationwide survey of American managers shows, we are convinced, that clearly articulated organizational values do make a significant difference in the lives of employees, as well as in their organization's performance. This article is an effort to integrate this broad-based data on individual managers' values with the reported experience of successful organizations that pay careful attention to their culture. It also offers ideas on how human resource managers can facilitate the alignment of personal and organizational values.     

Mentoring as an antidote to stress during corporate trauma

This article examines mentoring as a potentially useful resource in an organization's adaptation to global competition and the need for improved learning capabilities. We were surprised to find that mentoring relationships were perceived as more desirable under conditions of corporate stress, low job challenge, and low job involvement. We were further surprised to find that individuals in early and later career stages were as likely, or more likely than, their midcareer colleagues to embrace the mentoring role. Thus, it appears that mentoring may be more readily available as an antidote to stress than previously considered, and that it may be an important form of coping with the stressful, nonrewarding conditions that typically characterize corporate downsizing. Not only is mentoring an important form of promoting development (for self and for others), but it also may represent a valuable vehicle for social support and learning during times of major corporate change.     

Tactics of speaking up: The roles of issue importance,perceived managerial openness,and managers' positive mood

Extant voice research has focused mainly on the conditions under which employees speak up, but we have limited knowledge about how employees speak up. This study examines voice tactics or the various ways in which employees express concerns to or share suggestions with their managers. Based on the notion that voice is a deliberative behavior, we draw upon a cost–benefit framework and propose that voice tactics are influenced by messages' characteristics and managers' stable and temporal characteristics. Specifically, we examine the joint effects of issue importance, perceived managerial openness, and managers' positive mood on employees' public (vs. private) and formal (vs. informal) voice tactics. Across two independent studies, our findings demonstrate that employees tend to use public channels and formal procedures only when three conditions are met simultaneously: (a) the issue is important, (b) managers are perceived as being open to employees' voice, and (c) managers are in a positive mood at the time of voicing. In addition, we found that speaking up via public channels or formal procedures is positively related to the success of voice.     

The devolution of HR to the line: Implications for perceptions of people management effectiveness

The devolution of human resource responsibilities from human resource managers to line managers is both a growing and global trend. A number of authors has suggested that there are positive as well as negative consequences of devolution. The current study conducted a survey of US human resource managers to explore the effect of devolution on human resource managers' perceptions of people management effectiveness in their organizations. Results revealed a positive effect of devolution on perceived people management effectiveness. However, this effect was qualified by an interaction between devolution and line support. Contrary to expectation, this interaction revealed that providing line managers with training and support for their human resource responsibilities had a greater positive impact on perceived effectiveness in organizations that had not devolved (non devolvers) compared to those that had (devolvers).     

ANALYZING CULTURAL STEREOTYPES IN MULTINATIONAL BUSINESS: UNITED STATES AND AUSTRALIA

As U.S. business becomes more international, so does U.S. management education. Executive development programmes offer courses in the U.S. and abroad to managers from many nations. As part of the transfer of U.S. management methods, the concepts, techniques and beliefs taught in these programmes may not be easily accepted, especially by foreign managers. Careful examination of cultural differences in attitudes and opinions is a necessary step in the successful transfer of management technology. This paper compares U.S. and Australian managers' values, attitudes, beliefs and opinions on a wide range of topics using a modified version of Schein's Public Opinion Questionnaire. Our findings suggest that there are common business management views as well as national differences among managers in the U.S. and Australia.     

Differences in Perceptions of Human Resource Development Across Countries

Abstract

This study sought to determine whether managers within a multinational enterprise (MNE) differed in their perceptions of selected human resource development practices in their organization. The study also sought to identify whether the managers' perceptions could be clustered by the countries in which they reside. The study was based on cluster research studies that have been conducted in the field of cross-cultural management. Cluster research has suggested that systematic differences in an individual's perceptions of organizational variables can be expected to occur, which are based on culture and national identity. The results of this study showed that differences in perceptions about human resource development existed among managers and that the managers' responses could be clustered into five relatively distinct country clusters.     

The performance effects of coaching: a multilevel analysis using hierarchical linear modeling

Drawing on the conceptual foundations of feedback and behavior modeling we investigate the effects of managers' coaching intensity on the performance of those they supervise, at multiple levels of an organizational hierarchy. Data from 328 sales associates reporting to 114 middle managers, and 93 middle managers reporting to 32 executive managers are used to test the research hypotheses. Using hierarchical linear modeling we find that managers' coaching intensity influences the performance of their subordinates after controlling for job satisfaction, and this effect weakens at greater hierarchical levels. Surprisingly, we do not observe any cross-level moderating effects of coaching intensity on the satisfaction–performance relationship. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research and practice.     

DESIGNING SIMULATORS FOR STRATEGIC MANAGERS

The activity of strategic management is important because it is the activity through which the structure of an organization is developed and adapted in relation to its environment. The activities within an organization are systematized within structures because they enable the organization to ensure the effectiveness of those activities, and there already exist teaching methods appropriate for training managers in the operation of such structures. Few teaching methods exist however for teaching managers about structure itself. This paper initially discusses what structure is, and then goes on to describe an approach to the support of managers' learning about structure: how structure can be related to the activities of managers, and how managers can explore the implications of adopting alternative structures within their organization. The paper puts forward symbols for describing structure. It is then shown how the symbols can be combined by a manager to describe a particular organizational context in the form of a simulator, and how the resulting design can be transformed into the form of a computer program. This enables the resulting simulator to be used by the manager to explore the implications of adopting particular structural choices as he has defined them within the organization. Finally, the nature of the teacher's role is considered when supporting the learning of managers using this approach.