Inside the black box of the corporate staff: Social networks and the implementation of corporate strategy

In multidivisional firms, the corporate staff is central to the implementation of corporate‐level strategy, but empirical evidence on its function is limited. We examine one corporate staff through e‐mail analysis. We find sharp cross‐sectional differences in communication patterns: staff members have networks that are larger, more integrative, and richer in structural holes. However, much of this difference is attributed to sorting processes, rather than being caused by employment in the corporate staff per se. Further, once people receive the ‘corporate imprimatur,’ they retain aspects of it even when they move back to the line organization. These results imply that the literature's emphasis on structure as a means to achieve coordination undervalues a selection process in which individuals with broad networks match to coordination‐focused jobs in the corporate staff. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Austrian Business Cycle Theory in Light of Rational Expectations: The Role of Heterogeneity, the Monetary Footprint, and Adverse Selection in Monetary Expansion

We contribute to the debate over the contemporary relevance of the Austrian Business Cycle theory (ABC) by making three theoretical developments. First, we claim that the heterogeneous nature of entrepreneurship is the best means to respond to a Rational Expectations (RE) critique. If entrepreneurs are different then the “cluster of errors” are not made by everyone, just those on the margin. And if the marginal entrepreneurs are systematically different from the population as a whole, we avoid the implication of widespread irrationality, even though credit expansion will affect real variables. Second, we argue that the size of the monetary footprint is a more telling signal than the market rate of interest, and will not necessarily be revealed by measured inflation. Therefore attention to the official interest rate or Consumer Price Index is misleading, and an inappropriate way to assess applicability. And third, the main harm from loose monetary policy is not that it encourages entrepreneurs to behave more recklessly with capital, but that it encourages precisely the people who can’t afford capital at the market rate to borrow, and makes them the marginal trader. This suggests that adverse selection is a more important issue than moral hazard. We acknowledge that empirical work is required to verify these claims, and suggest how this might be undertaken.

Actuarial Science Summer Program for Women and Minorities

Drake University offered a 5‐day program focusing on the recruitment of women and minorities into actuarial science studies. A few universities offer actuarial science summer camps targeting high school students. Participants in this camp, however, came exclusively from community colleges. In this article, we provide an overview of the camp's activities, structure, and outcomes. We present a longitudinal analysis of student feedback, reflecting results from one survey administered before the camp began and another distributed very near the camp's end. Our results indicate the camp succeeded on many counts.     

Does our literature support sectors newer to project management? The search for quality publications relevant to nontraditional industries

Despite the broadening use of systematic approaches to project management, the majority of related literature is focused on a handful of industries—construction, engineering, government, information technology, and utilities—that have, until recently, been the traditional areas for project management. Currently, the nontraditional project management areas include banking, pharmaceuticals, consulting, advertising, legal, health care, safety, and nontraditional manufacturing and industrial sectors (Kerzner, 2001). In recognition of growth, scholars and practitioners have begun to include viewpoints generalized across the field as well as perspectives from specific industries. We report on the findings from a systematic review of project management literature.     

New development: Running elections during a pandemic

ABSTRACT

The Covid-19 pandemic posed a profound challenge for the delivery of elections worldwide. Elections are indispensable for democracy, but the high volume of human interactions within the electoral process risked spreading the virus. Electoral officials therefore found themselves planning or managing an election during an emergency situation, often for the first time. This article argues that there are several major organizational ‘elephant traps’ that polities will need to side-step during pandemics in order to safely protect the healthy running of elections.     

Which of these people is your future CEO?

Americans have long believed that U.S. military officers--trained for high-stakes positions, resilience, and mental agility--make excellent CEOs. That belief is sound, but the authors' analysis of the performance of 45 companies led by CEOs with military experience revealed differences in how the branches (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps) prepare leaders for business. Those differences reflect the trade-off between flexibility and process that each branch of the armed services must make. Army and Marine Corps officers operate in an inherently uncertain environment. They define the mission but then give subordinates the flexibility to adjust to realities on the ground. This leadership experience tends to turn out business executives who excel in small firms, where they can set a goal and then empower others to work toward it. Navy and Air Force officers, who operate expensive, complex systems such as submarines and aircraft carriers, are trained to follow processes to the letter, because even small deviations can have large consequences. In corporations, these leaders excel in regulated industries and in firms that take a process approach to innovation. The larger lesson that the military can offer the business world is that fit matters. Different circumstances demand different leadership skills. Hire the person who fits the job.