Ingratiation in the Workplace: The Role of Subordinate and Supervisor Political Skill

Over two decades, social influence researchers have called for a study that would examine how, why, and when influence tactics are effective. Informed by balance theory, the present study proposes that subordinate and supervisor political skill impacts the effectiveness of ingratiation attempts. The results from a survey of 228 supervisor–subordinate dyads in Chinese firms indicated that subordinates with high political skill are less likely to have their exhibited ingratiation behaviour perceived by their supervisors; however, supervisors with high political skill are likely to perceive ingratiation behaviour demonstrated by their subordinates. Moreover, the most successful condition for enabling subordinates to hide ingratiation from their supervisors is when the subordinates are politically astute and the supervisors are not. Furthermore, when supervisors perceive ingratiation behaviour, they rate low on the job performance and promotability of their subordinates; these low ratings are explained by the undermined personal reputation of the subordinates due to their ingratiation detected.     

Guanxi Management in Lean Production System—An Empirical Study of Taiwan‐Japanese Firms

While the emphasis in the West is on “what you know” refers to technological expertise, including the price and quality of tendered product or service, the emphasis in Confucian societies is on “who you know,” which refers to personal connections with the appropriate authorities or individuals. These connections are known in Chinese as guanxi, on which as the basis Chinese exchange a lifetime of favors, resources, and business leverage. This study seeks to study guanxi mechanism, the unique Chinese social‐cultural element and its impact on the managerial effectiveness of Taiwanese firms with lean implementation in practice, and an empirical study is constructed to verify our proposal. Results suggest that guanxi and its networks function as the lubrication that eases interpersonal conflicts and as the buffer in solving problems, which in turn upgrades the cooperative efficiency both inter‐ and intragroups. This article provides an inner view of cultural value, which offers insights that should prove helpful to academics in management and related disciplines as well as to practitioners engaged in Chinese production management.     

Subordinate‐Superior Upward Communication: Power,Politics, and Political Skill

A multiphase study involving 1,285 respondents was conducted to answer an important yet overlooked question: for a job requiring frequent informal communication with superiors, should an organization focus more on selecting employees with higher trait‐like willingness to communicate or on providing an environment where the flow of communication is easy and aided? We found support for the latter. Further, we observed that subordinates alter their communication behaviors based on the perception of superior's power, politics in the organization, and their own political skills. The study contributes to a better understanding of how situational variables affect subordinate‐superior upward communication. Implications of the study are also discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Product Market Competition,Skill Shortages and Productivity: Evidence from Canadian Manufacturing Firms

In this paper, we estimate the impacts of product market competition and skill shortages on the productivity level performance of Canadian manufacturing firms. We use firms perceptions of their competitive environment from the Statistics Canada 1999 Survey of Innovation to measure product market competition and skill shortages. We argue in the paper that such perceptions are important for productivity level performance. After controlling for other factors, we find that product market competition has a positive impact on the performance of medium-sized and large-sized firms, and that skill shortages have a negative impact on the performance of small-sized and medium-sized firms.Jel Classification: L0, O0     

政治联系与盈余信息含量——基于中国民营上市公司的经验证据

以2004-2010年中国民营上市公司为样本,研究了政治联系与民营上市公司盈余信息含量之间的关系。研究发现,政治联系增强了民营上市公司会计盈余与超额累计收益之间的正向关系,表明政治联系提高了盈余信息质量。进一步研究发现,上市公司所在地的市场化进程程度调节了政治联系对盈余信息含量的正向影响,即对地处市场化程度较高地区的民营上市公司而言,政治联系与盈余信息含量的正相关关系相对较弱。研究发现对于外部投资者判断民营上市公司盈余质量及其投资决策具有借鉴意义。     

Political Leadership,Conflict and the Prospects for Constitutional Peace

The emphasis in constitutional political economy has been that new rules and institutions can be devised that improve the welfare of a society. Given the number of societies that are infected with political conflict and as a result lower levels of welfare, this paper attempts to analyse why we do not see more constitutional conventions aimed at eliminating conflict. The key idea is that expressively motivated group members may create incentives for instrumentally motivated group leaders such that it leads them to choose conflict rather than compromise. Nonetheless, it is not argued that such a peace is impossible to obtain. This leads to a further question, that if such a constitutional agreement could be found, would the expressive perspective alter the conventional instrumental perspective on the sort of constitutional reform that should be undertaken?     

Environmental Business–NGO Partnerships in Nigeria: Issues and Prospects

A number of insightful efforts have explored the nature of business–NGO partnerships and their associated outcomes for sustainable development. While some of these works have helped to clarify the benefits of such partnerships, and the different strategies NGOs can adopt in their interaction with business, others have identified the conditions necessary for a successful partnership. However, the question of how the different strategies adopted by NGOs in their engagement with business interact has remained relatively unexamined. Drawing on an environmental business–NGO partnership for sustainable development in Nigeria, this paper confirms the existence of a creative tension between the different NGOs’ strategies. This creative tension affects the nature of the environmental partnership and performs three main functions. These are an enabling function, a discipline function and a critical distance function. The article concludes by considering the theoretical and practical implications for business–NGO partnerships as a vehicle for sustainable development in developing countries. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Real Estate,Public Works,and Political Organization in Winnipeg, 1870–1885

The second half of the 19^th century represented an era of great territorial expansion in almost all the countries of “recent settlement.” In Canada, Winnipeg, the capital of the Province of Manitoba, went from a small hamlet located at the confluence of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers to become the third largest Canadian city at the turn of the century. I argue that the development of a real estate market and the organization of the local political institutions in Winnipeg were interconnected mechanisms that the emerging business elite used to obtain political and economic power during the years of city organization (1870–1885). The disputes over land ownership and the uncertain distribution of land titles among parties related by business and family ties showed how individuals exploited the weakness of the state to secure personal benefits. In this era, old settlers, newcomers, speculators, and business representatives of central Canada and British firms, acting alone or in partnership, attempted to obtain political control of a city in its making and to acquire power and economic benefits through the commodification of urban land. After a period of corruption and mismanagement, a new group organized within the Board of Trade obtained political control of the city and initiated a new cycle of political stability.     

政治联系、隐性激励与企业价值——以民营企业在职消费为例

以民营企业在职消费为例,考察政治关联如何影响隐性激励及企业价值。研究发现,相对于无政治联系的民营企业,有政治联系的民营企业在职消费更低;民营企业的在职消费对企业价值具有负面影响,而政治联系削弱了在职消费对民营企业价值的负面影响。总体来看,民营企业的政治联系有助于节约企业的交易成本与减少政府的利益侵占,从而提升了企业价值。     

Effects of Mentoring on the Development of Leadership Self‐Efficacy and Political Skill

This study of 260 business graduate students considered the relationship between mentoring and leadership self‐efficacy, and mentoring and political skill. Comparisons between nonmentored and mentored individuals showed that having a mentor was associated with increased political skill but not with increased leadership self‐efficacy. Among mentees, higher quality mentoring relationships were associated with significantly higher leadership self‐efficacy but not with significantly higher political skill. Results suggest that the presence of a mentor affects protégé development of political skill, but the quality of the relationship is important for protégé development of leadership self‐efficacy.     

Multirater and Gender Differences in the Measurement of Political Skill in Organizations

Organizational political skill is an essential component of a leader's success. The purpose of the current study was to ascertain whether differences existed in how individuals rated themselves and were rated by others on 13 political skills using the Brandon Partners and Seldman Learning Organizational Savvy Multi‐Rater Assessment. Over 4,500 individuals completed an online self‐rater assessment to test the reliability and validity of the instrument. A sample of 131 individuals with 1,056 observer ratings completed an online multirater assessment to address the research questions. The dependent variables were the 13 political skill set average scores and the independent variables included gender and rater group. Significant rater group differences in multirater assessment of political acumen were found in all skill sets. The greatest difference was between the self‐ratings, always the lowest, and the ratings of the four rater groups. No significant gender differences in self‐assessment of organizational political skill were found in the 13 skill sets. Significant gender differences in ratings by others were found with females scoring higher than males in two areas. The findings contribute to our understanding of gender differences regarding the perception of political skill. Organizations can use this knowledge in educational programs to elevate leader performance.     

中国现代金融体系的结构、影响及前景

在经济快速增长的背景下,中国已逐步形成一个以中央银行为核心、商业银行为主体,各种银行和非银行金融机构分工协作的现代国家金融体系。运用计量分析方法和典型相关分析,研究中国现代金融体系的社会融资结构、证券市场结构以及影子银行结构,测度国家现代金融体系对实体经济各行业的影响程度。研究表明:金融机构贷款与债券市场对相关行业的促进具有一定协同作用,股票市场对第一、二产业的发展影响较小,金融业对第三产业的促进作用最大。根据目前金融体系的结构、影响,可以预见未来中国现代金融体系的发展前景将主要体现在市场化、网络化以及国际化三个方面。     

民营企业政治关系:影响因素与经济后果——基于制度弹性的分析框架

度量方法、经济后果和影响因素是民营企业政治关系研究的三个重要方面,基于制度弹性的分析框架能够整合这三个方面并阐释政治关系对于制度质量和制度变迁的意义。在度量方法方面,已有文献对于政治关系的度量存在较大差异,并且多采用静态的、虚拟变量度量,动态的、连续变量度量有待充实和完善。在经济后果方面,已有文献对于政治关系积极影响和消极影响的分析主要以公司为评价对象,相对缺乏对政治关系影响实现路径的辨析。在影响因素方面,基于制度弹性的分析框架,建立和维持政治关系是企业寻求和利用制度弹性的一种方式,并且可能改变整体制度质量,甚至推动制度变迁。     

Firm Experience and Market Entry by Venture Capital Firms (1962–2004)

In this paper, we examine a firm's decision to enter new markets as related to the depth and breadth of its experience and the relative distance of those markets. We situate our discussion and analysis in the context of the venture capital (VC) industry, and examine whether and when US VC firms enter five high‐technology investment markets through first‐ or later‐round investments. This setting allows us to observe both the firms that chose to enter a new market and those that did not, and analyse the antecedents of these decisions. We find that VC firms overall are less likely to enter distant markets; those with broader experience are more likely to make first‐round entries. In addition, VC firms with deeper investment experience are more likely to make first‐round entries in proximate markets and less likely to enter distant markets and make later‐round entries. These results offer interesting implications for the literature on organizational learning and entrepreneurship.     

Whistle‐Blowing and Incentives in Firms

Whistle‐blowing is an important mechanism of corporate governance. We show that whistle‐blowing has negative effects on productive efficiency by undermining the incentives within a corporate hierarchy. In our model, a top manager intends to overreport earnings; a division manager may have evidence about the intended overreporting. We show that the division manager is more likely to have such evidence when the performance of his own division is low. Top management may offer a bribe to prevent the manager from blowing the whistle. This provides the division manager with an additional payoff when his division’s output is low. Therefore, potential whistle‐blowing undermines the division manager’s incentives to exert effort, which results in a less efficient outcome.