MANAGERS' OCCUPATIONAL HISTORIES, ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS, AND CLIMATES FOR MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT

Abstract Seventeen intact collegiate groups of managers from eight companies and two publicly owned organizations described the organizational climates in which they worked. Their perceptions ranged from highly favourable to highly unfavourable. Did the occupational histories of the 134 managers influence their perceptions? Could the differences in their evaluations have arisen from other features of the environment, for which unobtrusive measures were available? Or was the level of each group in the hierarchy the prime determinant? All of these explanations have some plausibility in relation to the data presented. It is probably impossible to create‘the right climate’for management development by piecemeal strategies which ignore the significance of market success and deal only with the immediate experience of managers. On the other hand, a global strategy which concentrates on external factors and minimizes the importance of the individual's contribution in his particular location is likely to be equally defective. The major moderating variable in this study between the perceived developmental climate of the organization and the manager's occupational history was the salary he was paid.     

Central Bank Independence,Speed of Disinflation and the Sacrifice Ratio

Using a theoretical model in which the degree of central bank independence affects the degree of inflation persistence and therefore the speed of disinflation, this paper suggests that sacrifice ratios are lower when central bank independence is higher. Empirical tests, using estimates of sacrifice ratios based on disinflation episodes for 18 OECD countries during the 1960–90 period, show that this result also holds empirically. This finding seems to be consistent with the credibility hypothesis by pointing out that an independent central bank may produce a credibility bonus.     

Expressions of corporate social responsibility in U.K. firms

This study examines corporate publications of U.K. firms to investigate the nature of corporate social responsibility disclosure. Using a stakeholder approach to corporate social responsibility, our results suggest a hierarchical model of disclosure: from general rhetoric to specific endeavors to implementation and monitoring. Industry differences in attention to specific stakeholder groups are noted. These differences suggest the need to understand the effects on social responsibility disclosure of factors in a firm's immediate operating environment, such as the extent of government regulation and level of competitiveness in the industry. Diana C. Robertson is an Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Business Ethics at the London Business School. She was previously Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. In 1990, she was awarded the University of Pennsylvania Provost's Award for Distinguished Teaching, and in 1992 she received a Wharton School Undergraduate Teaching Award. Her research interests include the impact of corporate policy, particularly codes of ethics, and compensation and control systems on employees' ethical behaviour, and the diffusion of ethical practices among corporations. She has published articles in the Sloan Management Review, Journal of Business Ethics, Organization Science, and Business Ethics Quarterly.Professional Nigel Nicholson is Chairman of the Organisational Behaviour Group and Director of the Centre for Organisation Research at London Business School. Previously, he led investigations into Individual and Organisational Change at Sheffield University's Social & Applied Psychology Unit, and has also held visiting appointments at American, Canadian and German universities. He has published eight books and over 65 articles on a wide range of topics, and been honoured with an award from the Academy of Management for his contribution to theory.     

Internationalisation by australian franchisors

In this article the process of international entry by Australian franchisors is explored. A small number of Australian franchisors was examined — composed of those planning to internationalise as well as those which had already started international operations. A range of influences, both internal and external to the firm, was found to be important in encouraging or pushing the franchisor along the road to international entry — most important being the approach by an interested foreign party. The research revealed a general preference for low commitment foreign entry methods. As with U.S. franchisors the master licensing method was the most preferred approach. The overwhelming bulk of the international franchising by Australian companies has occurred in just three countries: New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom.     

Bondholder losses in leveraged buyouts

Announcements of successful leveraged buyouts (LBOs) duringJanuary 1985 to April 1989 caused a significantly negative returnon outstanding publicly traded nonconvertible bonds. Yet theaverage risk-adjusted debt holder losses are less than 7 percentof the average risk-adjusted equity bolder gains. Bond lossesare related to the pre-LBO rating, but only weakly to equityholder gains. We demonstrate that trader-quoted data from amajor investment bank offers conclusions about the effects ofLBOs on debt holders different from those drawn from commonlyused matrix and exchange-based data (such as Standard & Poor-'sBond Guide data). This has important implications for eventstudies involving debt instruments.     

Selection versus development assessment centers: an international survey of design,execution, and evaluation

No recent survey documents differences in assessment center (AC) practices for selection and development in organizations in diverse countries. We analyze the design, execution, and evaluation of AC selection programs compared to development programs in a sample of 144 organizations in 18 countries. Our comparison identifies similarities and differences in job analysis techniques, dimensions (job requirements), observer pools, methods of assessor training, exercises and psychometric testing procedures, information provided to participants, and areas of evaluation of the program by participants. Results show important differences between selection and developmental programs which may be explained by economical, legal, and social factors. We also point out features of ACs that should be designed differently to optimize objectives.     

Linear and nonlinear regression with stable errors

In this paper we describe methods and evaluate programs for linear regression by maximum likelihood when the errors have a heavy tailed stable distribution. The asymptotic Fisher information matrix for both the regression coefficients and the error distribution parameters are derived, giving large sample confidence intervals for all parameters. Simulated examples are shown where the errors are stably distributed and also where the errors are heavy tailed but are not stable, as well as a real example using financial data. The results are then extended to nonlinear models and to non-homogeneous error terms.