Organizational flexibility in Australia

This paper presents a typology that distinguishes two types of flexible organizations based on the clarity of purpose and the extensiveness of formal rules. The analysis shows that these forms of flexibility are related to whether organizations engage with their environments reactively or strategically. One form (strategic flexibility) is evident in a 'goal-directed' type of organization (having clear goals but low levels of formal rules), and the other can be observed in an informally-organized type (lacking clear goals, and with limited formal rules). These are compared with two other types: formally-organized (clear goals and extensive formal rules); and rule-governed (lacking clear goals, extensive formal rules). An analysis of a sample of fifty organizations shows clear differences between the four types with respect to contextual factors; environmental conditions; strategy and structure; and integrative mechanisms.     

How Ethical are U.S. Business Executives? A Study of Perceptions

Not much has been written about how the ethics of U.S. business executives are perceived by the American public, yet the perception of integrity is important to both businesses and their investors. This study examines the U.S. public’s perceptions of the ethics of American business executives using Gallup Poll data for the past thirty years. Organizations with unethical executives have trouble attracting investors, customers, and new managerial talent. They suffer lawsuits, market share deterioration, and often prison time for the once-revered leaders. This study also looked at the U.S.’s relative standing on the Corruption Perceptions Index and the Edelman Trust Barometer. Confidence in the ethics of the U.S. business executive remains fairly low on the Gallup Poll surveys and the U.S. has declined on the CPI and Edelman Trust Barometer.     

Marketing retirement—or staying on the job

Financial packages provide the most common incentive to meet the legal requirement that retirement be voluntary. However, managers have other tools to encourage retirement or encourage staying on the job—within legal constraints and consistent with current health insurance changes that may make pre-65 retirement more desirable. In using these tools, managers must consider demographic realities that offer a large cohort available to replace retirees. To assist managers, a qualitative study among human resource experts probed how companies decide between encouraging retirement and encouraging staying on the job and also how each is accomplished to maintain a workforce best matched to job requirements. Suggestions for marketing retirement include starting early to encourage saving so that employees can afford to retire and improving the retirement ‘product’ by flexible alternatives to full-time work, including self-employment. Suggestions for keeping employees on the job include tailoring schedules and rewards to the preferences and needs of individuals who might otherwise retire.     

Adam Smith on colonies: An analytical and historical interpretation

It is our conclusion that Adam Smith advocated and justified policies of anticolonialism and antiprotectionism. Smith was opposed to the theory and policy of mercantilism, which involved an emphasis on the imperialistic exploitation of colonies as a method of accumulating the precious metals within the boundaries of mercantilistic nations. Smith led British public opinion into a period when little-Englandism replaced colonialism and free trade replaced protection. This period continued as long as the Industrial Revolution enabled England to dominate world trade. After 1875, however, the industrialization of the United States, Germany and Japan intensified the competitiveness of international trade and threatened to destroy British domination of world markets. These developments caused a resurgence of the new imperialism and motivated the British government to participate in the partition of Africa and to impose British hegomony over Asia. This new imperialism ran its bloody course of military aggression before it self-destructed at the end of the Second World War.     

Bridging the gender gap in confidence

Underconfidence among women can reduce their career aspirations and thwart advancement in whatever career they choose. For managers seeking to retain and promote capable women, we recommend addressing the gender gap in confidence to increase the effectiveness of women in the current workforce as employees and leaders and thereby attract the best new hires among women seeking opportunity. Based on a wide range of research and the broad experience of the authors, we discuss useful approaches—include helping women learn how to be more self-confident through classes and webinars—but also discouraging practices such as equating low confidence with low competence. The entire organization can benefit when its practices recognize the need for and payoff from reducing the confidence gap between women and men.     

An analysis of corporate ethical code studies: “Where do we go from here?”

The dramatic increase in the number of corporate ethical codes over the past 20 years has been attributed to the Watergate scandal and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Ethical codes differ somewhat from profesional codes and mission statements; yet the terms are frequently interchanged and often confused in the literature. Ethical code studies are reviewed in terms of how codes are communicated to employees and whether implications for violating codes are discussed. Most studies use content analysis to determine subjects in codes. Little information is available about how codes are communicated, whether they are accepted and used by employees, and whether they affect employee/corporate behavior. More research on ethical codes is needed to answer some of these questions.Betsy Stevens is a lecturer at the University of Michigan School of Business Administration. She received her Ph.D. in 1992 in organizational communication. Her research interests are corporate ethical codes and human resource issues such as employment-at-will.