Examining product managers’ job satisfaction and performance using selected organizational behavior variables

The product management form of organization has been around for quite a while; yet little empirical research has been done on product managers. This article reports a study of product managers and some organizational behavior factors which contribute to their job satisfaction and job performance. These factors include centralization of decision making, job structure, job scope, role ambiguity, and role conflict. Finally, several suggestions are made for creating an environment more conductive to having product managers who are satisfied with their jobs.     

The measurement and decomposition of nonuse values: A critical review

We critically review the literature that claims that existence values, or nonuse values in general, are a large and measurable component of total value for certain environmental resources. Our concern is not with the question “do nonuse values exist?” For some individuals they surely do. Rather, our concern is with two interrelated questions: are there operationally meaningful theorems which might lead to the specific measurement of nonuse values, and do we in fact have a body of credible evidence which shows that nonuse values, particularly components of any nonuse value, are “large”? We find nothing in the way of operationally meaningful hypotheses which would permit the estimation of values attributable to specific motives of individuals. We find no credible basis for claims related to either the measurement of existence and other motive-related values or claims for the “large” relative size of such values. In short, we question the conventional wisdom that such values are measurable and that they are significant as a component of total value.     

Engaging stakeholders in corporate accountability programmes: A cross‐sectoral analysis of UK and transnational experience

This paper explores the type of stakeholder engagement currently being undertaken by many organisations as part of social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting (SEAAR) processes. Specifically, the paper seeks to determine the extent to which current corporate practice iteratively promotes stakeholder participation in collaboratively designing accountability programmes, or whether it merely is a new term for canvassing stakeholder opinions. Arnstein's Ladder of Citizen Participation is used as a conceptual model for positioning contemporary methods of stakeholder dialogue. The findings from interviews with representatives from twenty‐nine UK and transnational organisations actively engaged in stakeholder dialogue are presented. This paper concludes that contemporary organisations seem to be seeking to engage with stakeholders in partnerships, yet their attempts still fall short of what Arnstein called Citizen Control, the level of achievement that non‐governmental organisations would like stakeholder engagement to attain.     

Examining relationships between director leadership practices and manager worklife and burnout

Managers are subject to high stress and burnout in their demanding roles, so addressing their worklife and level of burnout is important to retain leadership in healthcare organizations. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the observed leadership style of directors and the worklife and burnout of healthcare managers. A secondary analysis of data from 176 leaders in five different managerial cohorts within a provincial cancer agency was conducted using multiple regression and MANCOVA analysis. The study used data collected from the Worklife Improvement and Leadership Development study in 2006, the Kouzes and Posner Leadership Practices Inventory, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Areas of Worklife Survey. Findings indicate the importance of transformational leadership styles to empower managers. Directors may improve the worklife of managers by using transformational leadership practices to address the amount of control and appropriateness of rewards to positively influence the job satisfaction of managers.     

Equity and asset growth among Subchapter S banks

Since 2004, commercial banks in the United States have been allowed to elect Subchapter S (hence Sub-S) status with up to 100 shareholders. That limitation may promote more effective monitoring of bank managers by shareholders which can, in turn, explain previous findings of superior performance among Sub-S banks. The present research focuses on the possibility that the shareholder limitation also constrains opportunities for bank growth, or a slow growth hypothesis for Sub-S banks. Using a differences-in-differences regression approach for a sample of community banks (i.e., less than $1b in assets) from 2004 to 2014, and controlling for initial assets and urban location, it is found that annual growth in real assets and equity was significantly higher among banks that never held Sub-S status than for banks that always held Sub-S status, and that banks switching to Sub-S later grew significantly faster than those that always held Sub-S status. Fixed effects regressions show that switching to Sub-S status significantly reduced equity growth, with asset growth significantly reduced after 2008. In conjunction with earlier findings, the results suggest that the availability of Sub-S status helped to protect and strengthen community banks across a time period including substantial financial turmoil.     

The Financial Performance of Ethical Investment Trusts: An Australian Perspective

This study examines whether differences in financial performance exist for investment trusts which base their portfolio selection primarily on an ethical screen, compared to indexes which incorporate a broader spectrum of investments. Results indicate that on a risk-adjusted basis there is an insignificant difference in the financial performance of these trusts against three common market benchmarks. However as to the extent of the directional effect, there does exist slightly superior financial performance by ethical trusts against their respective industry average indexes, but an underperformance against a smaller company's index and the market as a whole. The lack of a distinct advantage in the short to medium term for applying an ethical screen, may in part be due to the recent development of ethical investments in Australia. Stronger performances by older ethical investment trusts may indicate superior returns are more likely to occur over a longer term.     

Stratography: The art of conceptualizing and communicating strategy

Representations of strategy tend to either be so generalized as to have little real meaning for employees, or go into such detail that people struggle to understand what is really required. The problem is this: a strategy not understood by those charged with implementing it is as bad as, or even worse than, not having a strategy at all. In 1983, a classic Business Horizons article by Karl Weick highlighted the importance of using graphical approaches to overcome strategy relation challenges; however, since then, little has been written regarding how managers might accomplish this successfully. Our article argues that individualized drawings of strategy, or what we term ‘stratography,’ could enable more effective conceptualization and communication of the strategic complexity that organizations face and the paths they are seeking to follow. Herein, we employ the latest thinking in cartography, educational philosophy, optics, graphic design, and military protocol to outline seven good practices of effective stratography.