A psychometric assessment of the Lennox and Wolfe self-monitoring scale in the sales force

In today's turbulent business environment, salespeople and sales managers must constantly adapt to changes. Self-monitoring, i.e., the cognitive ability to adapt one's own behavior in response to the behavior of others, may be a meta-KSA (knowledge, skill, or ability) that influences adaptive selling behavior. To assist researchers and practitioners seeking to identify and improve the self-monitoring skills of salespeople, this study investigates Lennox and Wolfe's (1984) self-monitoring scale with a sample of salespeople and one with sales managers. Although a hypothesized relationship between self-monitoring and job performance was supported partially, our results highlight potential problems with the measure. Further investigations are needed to determine whether or not the problems lie with the scale or the concept of self-monitoring in a selling context.     

A risk management model for research on expatriates in hostile work environments

Abstract

Although much has been written about the causes of expatriate adjustment, more research is needed on managing the fear and anxiety experienced when expatriates work in hostile environments. The perceived risks of terrorism, kidnapping, crime, and civil unrest can have negative effects on the performance of expatriates and the organizations that employ them. While research has begun to examine expatriates’ stress in hostile environments, there is comparatively little research on the effectiveness of management practices that can reduce such stress. We integrate the expatriate adjustment, psychological contract, and risk management literature to develop a model that can guide efforts to reduce environmental stress and its negative effect on expatriate adjustment. Specifically, we build on recent work by Bader and colleagues to develop propositions to guide future research with the aim of improving the conditions of expatriates working in hostile environments.     

When nursing takes ownership of financial outcomes: achieving exceptional financial performance through leadership, strategy, and execution

With nurses and unlicensed supportive personnel composing the greatest percentage of the workforce at any hospital, it is not surprising nursing leadership plays an increasing role in the attainment of financial goals. The nursing leadership team at one academic medical center reduced costs by more than $10 million over 4 years while outperforming national benchmarks on nurse-sensitive quality indicators. The most critical success factor in attaining exceptional financial performance is a personal and collective accountability to achieving outcomes. Whether it is financial improvement, advancing patient safety, or ensuring a highly engaged workforce, success will not be attained without thoughtful, focused leadership. The accountability model ensures there is a culture built around financial performance where nurses and leaders think and act, on a daily basis, in a manner necessary to understand opportunities, find answers, and overcome obstacles. While structures, processes, and tools may serve as the means to achieve a target, it is leadership's responsibility to set the right goal and motivate others.     

Controlling agricultural nonpoint water pollution: costs of implementing the Maryland Water Quality Improvement Act of 1998⋆

The Maryland Water Quality Improvement Act of 1998 (WQIA) seeks to create environmental and other benefits to the Chesapeake Bay through reductions in nonpoint source nutrient pollution. This paper analyzes the economic impacts of the WQIA on agricultural users of nutrients (commercial fertilizers or animal manures) and on poultry growers in the state of Maryland. The net economic impacts to each of these groups are estimated along with some discussion of the distribution of the impacts. Recognition of the distribution of the impacts allows for the assessment of potential policies to address negative impacts. Additional sections of the WQIA are discussed in terms of their ability to shift the distribution of the impacts or to provide partial compensation to those most affected. The WQIA is the most restrictive agricultural nonpoint pollution control law in the US. While the WQIA only regulates nutrient use in the state of Maryland, other states, as well as the federal government, are watching how this law is implemented. Many states are considering similar laws. At the national level, the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Environmental Protection Agency have issued draft guidelines that will control nutrients from animal operations in much the same way as the WQIA. Therefore, analyses of the economic impacts of the WQIA may be important in shaping policies in other states and at the national level.     

Automating Linguistics-Based Cues for Detecting Deception in Text-Based Asynchronous Computer-Mediated Communications

The detection of deception is a promising but challenging task. A systematic discussion of automated Linguistics Based Cues (LBC) to deception has rarely been touched before. The experiment studied the effectiveness of automated LBC in the context of text-based asynchronous computer mediated communication (TA-CMC). Twenty-seven cues either extracted from the prior research or created for this study were clustered into nine linguistics constructs: quantity, diversity, complexity, specificity, expressivity, informality, affect, uncertainty, and nonimmediacy. A test of the selected LBC in a simulated TA-CMC experiment showed that: (1) a systematic analysis of linguistic information could be useful in the detection of deception; (2) some existing LBC were effective as expected, while some others turned out in the opposite direction to the prediction of the prior research; and (3) some newly discovered linguistic constructs and their component LBC were helpful in differentiating deception from truth.     

Beyond traditional paternalistic and developmental approaches to organizational change and human resource strategies

This paper assumes that a critical determinant of success in the repositioning of an organization's corporate and business strategies is the internal capability of the organization to implement change through an effective management process. To overcome entrenched interest groups, tender-minded, incremental approaches may be contrasted with the tough-minded strategic orientation of those who advocate radical change. The argument of this paper is that contingent rather than universalistic approaches are required. ‘Soft’ and ‘hard’ approaches are not irreconcilable but are rather parts of a broad set of contingent choices available to decision makers.     

Owner-managers,clusters and local embeddedness: small firms in the Sheffield (UK) metal-working cluster

The primary objective of this paper is to explore the ways in which the characteristics of owner-managers influence the extent to which their firms are embedded within local clusters of economic activity. Data are drawn from an interview survey of a random sample of small metal-working firms in Sheffield, UK. The data are analysed using non-parametric statistical methods to test bivariate relationships. Owner-manager attributes are found to have no influence on the extent of the use of local material supply networks but they do influence the extent of dependence on local markets. Owner-managers born and bred in the local region with limited formal education, working as an operative (rather than executive) prior to start up and with many years experience are more likely to rely on local markets. Owner-manager characteristics are also linked to participation in business networks. Those with most experience and those previously working for large firms are more likely to participate. It is concluded that owner-manager attributes can be important in explaining the level of embeddedness of small firms in a cluster of economic activity and that such attributes need to be built into theories of cluster behaviour.