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Jane's Decision: Her Experience As A Plebe, Andra Gumbus, Jill Woodilla, Christopher C. York

Organization Management Journal

Jane (a pseudonym) describes her experience as a first year student at one of the military service academies sometime during the period 2000-2005. She portrays the rigors of training to be an officer in the US military service and the special burdens of being a good-looking, high-achieving woman in this environment. She provides an insider's perspective on the academy culture, including the importance of the honor code, and spoken and unspoken rules against fraternization and for protecting ―one's own. At the end of the case Jane must make a decision that could change the course of her life. The case …

Measurement Equivalence In The Conduct Of A Global Organizational Survey Across Countries In Six Cultural Regions, Alain De Beuckelaer, Filip Lievens, Gilbert Swinnen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study examined the measurement equivalence of a global organizational survey measuring six work climate factors as administered across 25 countries (N = 31.315) in all regions of the world (West Europe, East Europe, North America, Latin America, South America, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific). Across all countries, the survey instrument exhibited 'form equivalence' and 'metric equivalence', suggesting that respondents completed the survey using the same frame-of-reference and interpreted the rating scale intervals similarly. Schwartz's (1994, 1999, 2004) cultural value theory was then used for grouping the countries in cultural regions, and to anticipate measurement equivalence of the data from …

The Effects Of Entrepreneurial Growth Orientation On Organizational Change And Firm Growth, Wee Liang Tan, Thomas Menkhoff, Yue Wah Chay

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Managing growth in an enterprise as it grows beyond the startup phase is a challenge for many entrepreneurs. One key element that can help or hinder growth is the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial growth has been linked to micro variables (motivations and psychological attributes of the entrepreneur) and macro variables. However, few studies have examined the role of the growth aspirations of the entrepreneur on the necessary elements of organization change related to growth.

This paper reports a study employing a typology of entrepreneurs based on their growth aspirations using an established dichotomous scale devised by Smith to differentiate between what he …

The Validity Of Assessment Centres For The Prediction Of Supervisory Performance Ratings: A Meta-Analysis, Eran Hermelin, Filip Lievens, Ivan T. Robertson

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The current meta-analysis of the selection validity of assessment centres aims to update an earlier meta-analysis of assessment centre validity. To this end, we retrieved 26 studies and 27 validity coefficients (N=5850) relating the Overall Assessment Rating (OAR) to supervisory performance ratings. The current study obtained a corrected correlation of .28 between the OAR and supervisory job performance ratings (95% confidence interval .24 < =rho < =.32). It is further suggested that this validity estimate is likely to be conservative given that assessment centre validities tend to be affected by indirect range restriction.

The Promise Of A Managerial Values Approach To Corporate Philanthropy, Jaepil Choi, Heli Wang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This article presents an alternative rationale for corporate philanthropy based on managerial values of benevolence and integrity. On the one hand, top managers with benevolence and integrity values are more likely to spread their intrinsic concern for others into the wider society in the form of corporate philanthropy. On the other hand, top managers high in benevolence and integrity are likely to contribute to improved managerial credibility and trusting firm-stakeholder relationships, thereby improving corporate financial performance. Therefore, the article makes the argument that both corporate philanthropy and corporate financial performance can better be interpreted as resulting from managers’ benevolence and …

Book Review Leading With Values: Positivity, Virtue And High Performance, Leslie E. Sekerka

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

A Self-Motives Perspective On Feedback-Seeking Behavior: Linking Organizational Behavior And Social Psychology Research, Frederick Anseel, Filip Lievens, Paul E. Levy

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Both the feedback-seeking literature in management and the self-motives domain in social psychology have focused on how motives affect the way in which people acquire information for self-evaluation purposes. Despite apparent conceptual similarities, the implications of research in these domains have not been fully integrated. This paper aims to link research on feedback-seeking behavior to recent theoretical developments in social psychology. First, the current perspective in management on feedback-seeking motives is depicted. Second, a well-established framework of self-motives in social psychology is introduced. Third, similarities and differences between these two motivational perspectives are discussed and a first step towards integration …

Unpacking Unintended Consequences In Planned Organizationalchanges: A Process Model, Guowei Jian

Communication Faculty Publications

The author develops a process model of the unintended consequences in planned organizational change that draws on the structuration, organizational change, and organizational tension literatures. The model depicts the communicative actions of both senior management and employees and reveals the dynamic through which unintended consequences unfold. The model extends theoretical understandings of planned organizational change and discusses how future research can build a dialectic and dialogic model of planned change focused on employee participation. The author illustrates the model with a case study of organizational change and its unintended consequences. The article concludes with insights on change management for practitioners …

Lessons In Leadership: Robert Oppenheimer And The Los Alamos Laboratory, Richard C. Ringer

Organization Management Journal

The leadership of Robert Oppenheimer, Director of the Los Alamos Laboratory during WWII, serves as a vivid lesson in leadership. The recollections of those who worked with Oppenheimer at Los Alamos clearly attribute much of the success of the laboratory to Oppenheimer’s leadership. Of specific interest are: Oppenheimer's efforts in recruiting, his ability to create a sense of meaning and purpose at the laboratory, his technical competence, and his ability to generate commitment and involvement among members of the laboratory.

Individual Incentives Versus Team Performance: Lessons From A Game Of Charades, Shawn E. Peacock, Patricia Denise Lopez, Marlon F. Sukal

Organization Management Journal

In this article, we describe a modified game of Charades that was developed to facilitate a discussion on the basic principles of effective reward system design. Students are organized into small groups. Incentive schemes are then manipulated so that one player within the group strives for an individual incentive, while the rest of the team play for a group reward. Through this simple and “fun” activity, students learn firsthand what happens when individual and team interests and incentives are not aligned. This experiential learning activity also offers excellent opportunities to discuss group dynamics, communication and coordination, and the importance of …

Lessons In Leadership: Robert Oppenheimer And The Los Alamos Laboratory, Richard C. Ringer

Organization Management Journal

The leadership of Robert Oppenheimer, Director of the Los Alamos Laboratory during WWII, serves as a vivid lesson in leadership. The recollections of those who worked with Oppenheimer at Los Alamos clearly attribute much of the success of the laboratory to Oppenheimer’s leadership. Of specific interest are: Oppenheimer's efforts in recruiting, his ability to create a sense of meaning and purpose at the laboratory, his technical competence, and his ability to generate commitment and involvement among members of the laboratory.

Individual Incentives Versus Team Performance: Lessons From A Game Of Charades, Shawn E. Peacock, Patricia Denise Lopez, Marlon F. Sukal

Organization Management Journal

In this article, we describe a modified game of Charades that was developed to facilitate a discussion on the basic principles of effective reward system design. Students are organized into small groups. Incentive schemes are then manipulated so that one player within the group strives for an individual incentive, while the rest of the team play for a group reward. Through this simple and “fun” activity, students learn firsthand what happens when individual and team interests and incentives are not aligned. This experiential learning activity also offers excellent opportunities to discuss group dynamics, communication and coordination, and the importance of …

The Long-Term Impact Of The Feedback Environment On Job Satisfaction: A Field Study In A Belgian Context, Filip Anseel, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study examines (1) the relationship between the feedback environment and job satisfaction and (2) the mediating role of leader-member exchange in a Belgian context. Results from a sample of 155 employees of a governmental service for employment and vocational training supported our hypotheses. A favorable supervisor feedback environment was related to higher levels of job satisfaction 5 months later, and this relationship was fully mediated by the quality of leader-member exchange. These findings highlight the usefulness of diagnosing and assessing the feedback environment for a better understanding of feedback processes and for enhancing feedback interventions in organisations.

The Relationship Between Leadership Styles And Organizational Culture Withinschools Of Nursing, Debra K. Vankovich Mullins

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between leadership styles and organizational culture within schools of nursing. A non-probability convenience sample (N=149) of subjects was obtained from BSN schools of nursing within the Southern Regional Education Board geographical area. Three data collection tools were utilized including a demographic questionnaire; the Multi-factor Leadership Questionnaire (Bass & Avolio) which measures transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles; and the Organizational Culture Assessment Inventory (Cameron & Quinn) which measures four culture types including clan, market, adhocracy and hierarchy cultures. A descriptive – correlational design was used. Inferential statistics utilized included multiple …

Exploring The Effects Of Corporate Venturing On New Business Creation, Salvatore Sciascia, Fernando G. Alberti, Riccardo De Vita, Alberto Poli

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

One of the main problems of large firms is that they tend to lose their entrepreneurial orientation (EO) once they have grown. The launch of corporate ventures (CV) has been adopted by managers, and studied by scholars, as the means to create new businesses within large companies with a low level of EO. Extensive research on CV has been carried out to understand how these projects can effectively lead to new business creation. However, there are no studies on the effect of CV projects on new business creation after the project has ended. More specifically, scholars have overlooked the prospect …

Relationship Among Supervisors' Transformational And Transactional Leadership Styles, And Teachers' Job Satisfaction In Taiwan Higher Education, Chi-Ling Sung

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

This study examined the influence of supervisors' transformational and transactional leadership styles on job satisfaction of college and university in Taiwan. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between supervisors' transformational and transactional leadership styles, and the satisfaction of Taiwan's higher education instructors. The number of teachers at the university level in Taiwan rose 36.8% from 1951 to 2004; therefore faculty job satisfaction is an important issue. Schools want to keep their faculty and reputation to maintain a competitive edge. This non-experimental, quantitative, explanatory correlation and explanatory comparative survey research explores the relationship between supervisors' transformational and …

Organizational Alignment And Performance: Past, Present And Future, Ravi Kathuria, Maheshkumar P. Joshi, Stephen J. Porth

Business Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to identify and define the types of organizational alignment – vertical and horizontal; to examine the evidence for the alignment‐performance relationship, and propose research questions and practical implications to advance the theory and practice of managing alignment.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study is a conceptual examination based on a thorough review of both theoretical and empirical research.

Findings

– The paper finds that vertical alignment has received considerably more attention in the literature. Studies of horizontal alignment within organizations are less common. When horizontal alignment is studied, the focus tends to be dyadic …

The International Protean Career: Four Women’S Narratives, Marian Crowley-Henry, David Weir

Articles

In this paper, we share individual narratives outlining the experiences of four well-educated western women following a permanent international career in the South of France. By virtue of detailed interview transcripts and contextual information regarding the specificity of the location in question, a comprehensive picture of the experiences and choices of individual women in leadership business positions on an international level is painted. Our aim is not to generalise the findings to a wider population, but to gain an insight into the depth and complexity of career issues for women in general, and particularly for women working in a foreign …

Managing Change In Asian Business: A Comparison Between Chinese Educated And English Educated Chinese Entrepreneurs In Singapore, Thomas Menkhoff, Ulrike Badibanga, Yue Wah Chay

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Against the background of the current rapidly changing business environment, the article examines the organizational change management behaviour of the owner-managers of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore. The analysis of survey data is aimed at ascertaining whether there are any differences between Chinese and English educated small (ethnic Chinese) businessmen in terms of Change Management (CM), a dichotomy that is of great historical and politico-cultural significance in Singapore. The survey data show that there are indeed differences between the subgroups (eg with regard to the initiation of a more participatory people management style) but these variations turned …

Towards A Holistic Framework In Fostering Spirituality At Work, Gilbert Tan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Management theories are shaped by the assumptions of man. The Scientific and Administrative School of Thoughts adopt a mechanistic view of human. The Human Relations School views humans as social beings. Spirituality at work looks at the spiritual side of the organization and views an as a spiritual being. This paper proposes a holistic framework to spirituality at work. Taking a systems approach the framework discusses how training, cultural and structural interventions directed the four sub-systems of the organization, namely, culture, leadership, structure and people, help to promote spirituality at work. The framework also discusses the organizational and individual outcomes …

Editor's Introduction, Eric H. Kessler

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

“Nuts!” An Experiential Exercise In Ethics And Decision Making, D. Jeffrey Lenn

Organization Management Journal

The current debate about how to address managerial misconduct in American business has renewed an interest in the role of ethics in business school curricula. The search for pedagogical tools by which to ensure effective teaching of ethics has led to experiential learning as an important method. This exercise introduces business ethics through a focus on a purchasing decision in a local grocery. It lays a foundation for understanding the interplay between ethics and everyday decision making in order to clarify the ethical dimension of decision making in business. The process of setting up the exercise as well as facilitating …

“Nuts!” An Experiential Exercise In Ethics And Decision Making, D. Jeffrey Lenn

Organization Management Journal

The current debate about how to address managerial misconduct in American business has renewed an interest in the role of ethics in business school curricula. The search for pedagogical tools by which to ensure effective teaching of ethics has led to experiential learning as an important method. This exercise introduces business ethics through a focus on a purchasing decision in a local grocery. It lays a foundation for understanding the interplay between ethics and everyday decision making in order to clarify the ethical dimension of decision making in business. The process of setting up the exercise as well as facilitating …

Effective Empowerment In Organizations, Gary A. Yukl, Wendy S. Baker

Organization Management Journal

Psychological empowerment is the perception that workers can help determine their own work roles, accomplish meaningful work, and influence important decisions. Empowerment has been studied from different perspectives, including employee perceptions, leadership behaviors, and management programs. Despite positive rhetoric, programs designed to increase empowerment seldom achieve the benefits promised. Inconclusive and seemingly contradictory outcomes stem from the fact that few companies give employees significant control and access to management information. A half century of research suggests that empowerment strategies can offer real benefits. We outline facilitating conditions for effective empowerment, including characteristics of organizations, leaders, employees, and the work itself.

Effective Empowerment In Organizations, Gary A. Yukl, Wendy S. Baker

Organization Management Journal

Psychological empowerment is the perception that workers can help determine their own work roles, accomplish meaningful work, and influence important decisions. Empowerment has been studied from different perspectives, including employee perceptions, leadership behaviors, and management programs. Despite positive rhetoric, programs designed to increase empowerment seldom achieve the benefits promised. Inconclusive and seemingly contradictory outcomes stem from the fact that few companies give employees significant control and access to management information. A half century of research suggests that empowerment strategies can offer real benefits. We outline facilitating conditions for effective empowerment, including characteristics of organizations, leaders, employees, and the work itself.

Editor's Introduction, Eric H. Kessler

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Mindsets And Internationalization Success: An Exploratory Study Of The British Retail Grocery Industry, Sucheta Nadkarni, Pedro David Perez, Benjamin Morganstein

Organization Management Journal

Despite the growing pressures of internationalization, failures in international efforts are becoming increasingly widespread. Previous literature has developed external environmental and internal firm-specific explanations of international success, but has ignored the role of mindsets in understanding international failures. This gap is especially important because recent studies contend that the mindsets or the way top managers make sense of their global environment is central to international decision making and outcomes. We propose that mindsets are important in explaining international success. We compare the mindsets of two matched firms in the British retail grocery industry—one successful (Tesco) and another unsuccessful (Sainsbury)—from 1988 …

Knowledge Entrepreneurship: A New Paradigm For Organizational Performance, S.M Taha

Business Review

Last decade of the twentieth century experienced cataclysmic changes in organizations’ structure and their performance. Organizations are now considered as sentient being. They think through their systems; they plan through their functionaries; they perform through their resources (human and capital assets). Now they have become a basic building bloc of our today’s corporate world. We can list several themes that brought changes in culture, design and environment of contemporary organizations all over the world. These include: globalization, interdependence and free markets economy. These trends forced countries and organizations to reshape their economic and business strategies. One factor, however that can …

A Construct-Driven Investigation Of Gender Differences In A Leadership-Role Assessment Center, Neil Anderson, Filip Lievens, Karen Van Dam, Marise Born

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study examined gender differences in a large-scale assessment center for officer entry in the British Army. Subgroup differences were investigated for a sample of 1,857 candidates: 1,594 men and 263 women. A construct-driven approach was chosen (a) by examining gender differences at the construct level, (b) by formulating a priori hypotheses about which constructs would be susceptible to gender effects, and (c) by using both effect size statistics and latent mean analyses to investigate gender differences in assessment center ratings. Results showed that female candidates were rated notably higher on constructs reflecting an interpersonally oriented leadership style (i.e., oral …

Large-Scale Investigation Of The Role Of Trait Activation Theory For Understanding Assessment Center Convergent And Discriminant Validity, Filip Lievens, Christopher S. Chasteen, Eric A. Day, Neil D. Christiansen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study used trait activation theory as a theoretical framework to conduct a large-scale test of the interactionist explanation of the convergent and discriminant validity findings obtained in assessment centers. Trait activation theory specifies the conditions in which cross-situationally consistent and inconsistent candidate performances are likely to occur. Results obtained by aggregating correlations across 30 multitrait-multimethod matrices supported the propositions of trait activation theory, shedding a more positive light on the construct validity puzzle in assessment centers. Overall, convergence among assessment center ratings was better between exercises that provided an opportunity to observe behavior related to the same trait, and …