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.     

Formal Analysis of Segregation of Duties (SoD) in Accounting: A Computational Approach

This study examines a computational framework for segregation of duties (SoD) in the design as well as implementation of accounting systems. The framework consists of a model of workflows in accounting systems based on workflow graphs, a partial order model of roles performed by the actors in the accounting system, and a specification of SoD rules. We develop a set of algorithms for four SoD rules that can be used in the enforcement of SoD. For the SoD rule that precludes task type conflicts, our results show that while compliance verification can be carried out efficiently, finding an SoD compliant assignment of tasks is computationally intractable. For those situations, we present an integer linear programming (ILP) formulation for finding compliant assignments using public domain ILP solvers. For the remaining three SoD rules, we demonstrate efficient ways of testing compliance for a given assignment as well as finding compliant assignments.     

Management accounting and control practices in a lean manufacturing environment

A lean strategy is rapidly becoming the dominant paradigm in manufacturing. Kennedy and Widener (2008) use a case study to develop a theoretical framework of management accounting and control practices for firms following a lean manufacturing strategy. We build on Kennedy and Widener (2008) by examining a structural equation model that provides evidence on the extent to which a lean manufacturing implementation is related to five management accounting and control practices. Using survey data from 244 US companies with an interest in lean manufacturing, we find a direct positive relation between the extent of a lean manufacturing implementation and a simplified strategic reporting system, value stream costing, visual performance measurement information, and employee empowerment. We find a direct negative relation with inventory tracking; however, we find it is conditional on the extent of top management support for change in production strategies such that firms decrease reliance on inventory tracking in the presence of strong management support. We also conclude that the management accounting and control practices work together as a package in a lean manufacturing environment as evidenced by the many direct associations among the five management accounting and control practices.     

Managing Global Virtual Teams Across Classrooms,Students and Faculty

Virtual teams are becoming commonplace in business today so our business school students should have experience in effectively working in virtual teams. Based on a month-long virtual team project conducted by the authors between classes in South Africa and the United States, this paper discusses the opportunities and challenges of using global virtual teams as part of a business school curriculum. The authors describe the use of a virtual team life cycle to assess the month long project to identify key elements to retain and to change for the next time the virtual project is implemented.     

How well do advertising images of health and beauty travel across cultures? A self‐concept perspective

This study is a cross‐cultural examination of the ideal self‐image of women in terms of health and beauty. The match‐up between two advertising beauty types (possible advertising presenters) and female consumers' ideal health and beauty images in terms of wanting to look like a specific model were tested with 750 female respondents from five European cities. The respondents also identified the ideal eye and hair colors for health and beauty. This quantitative study revealed cross‐cultural variation in ideal self‐image in terms of healthy and beautiful beauty types. International advertisers need to understand the important, contemporary, cultural characteristics of an ideal beauty type in terms of healthy or beautiful before developing standardized advertising communicating such appeals. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

HRM practice in emerging economies: a long way to go in the Slovak hotel industry?

Using empirical data from interviews among leading hotels in Slovakia, this paper sets out to explore recent developments in human resource management (HRM) policies and practices and labour relations in an emerging Central European economy. The main areas explored are the HRM function, employee resourcing, employee development, employee relations and emerging HRM issues. The paper establishes that there has been a move away from the traditional rigid socialist type of personnel management, but it has not been fully replaced by HRM practices. The emergent 'model' is a hybrid of the traditional Western personnel management and basic HRM activities, alongside which some legacies of the socialist personnel function still exist.     

Measures and measurement: Process and practise

Even although case studies remain one of the most widely utilised approaches in the study of industrial markets, debate continues about the apparent lack of any consistency in the way the case study method is applied. While acknowledging the shortcomings, this paper highlights the strengths and celebrates the diversity of the case study approach in developing and testing theory. Seven outstanding cases, selected from the Fourth Meeting of the IMP Group in Asia are presented.     

Measures of cost containment, impact of the economical crisis, and the effects perceived in nursing daily practice: an Italian crossover study

A qualitative/quantitative study in two phases was undertaken to describe the economical crisis intensity, cost-containment interventions adopted locally, and their effects perceived in daily practice by Italian nurses. The main economic crisis effects reported by nurses were (a) the staff stress level has increased, (b) patients with social problems have increased, and (c) the workload has increased. Overall, nurses perceived moderate disadvantages due to the economical crisis; several cost-containment measures have been adopted at different levels of the National Health Service. atients in general seem frailer and nurses working in the community centers also seem frailer compared with nurses working at the hospital level. Changes in daily nursing practice both at the hospital and community levels are warning signs that should be monitored carefully for both their short and long-term negative impacts on patients, nurses, and the National Health Service.     

Mobility and the middle classes: a case study of Manchester and the North West

While much is known about the mobility patterns of the middle classes in London and the South East, far less is certain about middle‐class migration patterns in other regions of the country. Nor has the importance of other regional centres in providing opportunities in the professions and management been acknowledged. This article rectifies these omissions by drawing on research with young professionals employed in Manchester in the North West. It explores the migratory patterns of the ‘migrant’ interviewees. The article will show that the majority of young professionals were ‘migrants’ in having been geographically mobile at some point in their lives. Different types of migrants are identified: (1) those with family affiliations; (2) those with university roots; and (3) those with (seemingly) no connections to the city or the region. These migratory practices are shaped by different factors: namely, the close proximity of family and friends, attractive job opportunities in Manchester, the role of universities in establishing roots and a sense of belonging and, finally, an identification with the North — widely defined and straddling the Pennines. These factors also shaped the residential patterns of the sample. Si l'on connaît l'essentiel des schémas de mobilité des classes moyennes à Londres et dans le Sud‐Est, on a bien moins de certitudes quant aux modèles migratoires de ces populations dans d'autres régions britanniques. Pas plus que n'a été reconnue l'importance d'autres centres régionaux concernant l'offre d'opportunités pour les professions libérales et les cadres. Cet article corrige ces omissions à partir d'une étude réalisée auprès de jeunes diplômés travaillant à Manchester dans le Nord‐Ouest. Il étudie les schémas migratoires des ‘migrants’ interrogés. En majorité, ces jeunes sont des ‘migrants’, car ils ont été mobiles géographiquement à un moment de leur vie. Parmi eux, différents types sont identifiés: ceux qui ont des attaches familiales, ceux qui ont des racines universitaires, et ceux qui n'ont (en apparence) aucun lien avec la ville ou la région. Plusieurs facteurs façonnent ces pratiques migratoires, à savoir: proximité de famille ou d'amis, propositions d'emploi attirantes à Manchester, fonction d'enracinement et de sentiment d'appartenance des universités et, enfin, identification au Nord — selon une définition large s'étendant de part et d'autre des Pennines. D'après l'échantillon, ces facteurs structurent également les schémas résidentiels.