Business Commons^™

Effective Organisations And Social Values By Henry S-R Kao, Durganand Sinha And Ng Sek-Hong Sage Publications, 1995., Kalyani Gandhi

IIMB Management Review

The book is a collection of research studies, nineteen to be precise, which examines social values and their impact on the functioning of organisations in the developing and newly industrialised countries. The first of the three sections deals with Chinese culture and its influence on management styles and societal values. The second part highlights the ways in which social values and cultural characteristics ave influenced work  values and affected the functioning of organisations in India, Thailand and Venezuela. The last section brings together issues on the unrelated aspects of leadership, management style and organisational change in countries like Japan, China, …

Developing Methods To Measure And Project Levels Of Combat Readiness In A Naval Aviation Squadron At The Unit Level, Michael Lawrence White

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Among the various missions and levels in a military organization, the term "Combat Readiness" is defined in many ways. To a unit-level command, such as an aircraft squadron, it simply refers to the unit's capability to perform its assigned mission when called upon. The proof of that capability is evident in the aftermath of combat, however, it is too late at that point to address any shortcomings that may exist. The problem is, how can the unit effectively define, continuously measure, and confidently forecast its ability to perform in combat? A quantitative model based upon historical data that encompasses all …

No. 127 1996 April

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

Trading Networks Of Chinese Entrepreneurs In Singapore, Thomas Menkhoff, Chalmers E. Labig

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The entrenchment of entrepreneurs in local, regional, or global business networks based on kinship, clanship, territorial, or ethnic ties has often been cited as characteristic of Chinese business communities in Southeast Asia. Qualitative interviews with Singaporean Chinese merchant-exporters were conducted in order to examine this thesis. The findings reveal that there is a strong tendency among Chinese entrepreneurs in Singapore to rely on external commercial relationships with ‘outsiders’ and ‘friends’ rather with those related by blood or marriage. It is suggested that kinship reciprocity may under some circumstances curb the autonomy and freedom of the transacting actors, thus limiting their …

Delayering Organisation Structure, Nina Jacob, V S Mahesh, N M Agrawal

IIMB Management Review

Delayering as a tool for organisational re-structuring has been a concern of both theorists and practitioners for some years now, but analyses of the literature have been inconclusive with respect to its impact on actual performance. Delayering has been conceptualised as the process of removing specific levels from the existing hierarchy of an organisation. The result is a flattening of the organisation’s vertical boundaries, affecting such traditional structural manifestations of hierarchy as span of control, chain of command, and limits of authority.

"Managing” Stress: Emotion And Power At Work By Tim Newton With Jocelyn Handy And Stephen Fineman Sage Publication, 1995., R Ravi Kumar

IIMB Management Review

The book under review makes a concerted effort to explain the genesis and growth of interest in stress and also to provide direction in managing new sources of stress.

Are You Being Served? Organisational Survival May Depend On The Response, Anand Kasturi

IIMB Management Review

No abstract provided.

The Management Guru As Organizational Witchdoctor, Timothy Adrian Robert Clark, Graeme Salaman

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper suggests that the work of management gurus resembles the performance of a witchdoctor. Central to the work of management gurus is the achievement of transformations of consciousness among their audiences of managers. The view of management gurus offered in this paper has three elements: (1) the key to understanding the power and impact of gurus is to see what they do as a performance; (2) that this performance is of a particular kind-that of a witchdoctor; (3) that management gurus act as the functional equivalents to witchdoctors in modern organizations. The paper argues that at the heart of …

Organization Structure And Structural Change In European Manufacturing Organisations, Derek Pugh, Timothy Adrian Robert Clark, Geoff Mallory

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The paper considers two approaches to thestudy of the impact of national cultures on thestructure of organizations; viz: culture free andculture bound approaches. Af ter a discussionof the problems of obtaining comparable datain cross-cultural research, the preliminary results of a comparative study of large manufacturing organizations in six countries in Europeare presented. The results suggest that whileformal organizational authority structures appear to be culture free reflecting the impact ofstrategic contingencies, use of coordinationtechniques, such as regular top managementmeetings and task forces, is more affected bycultural factors.

The Effects Of Environment Dynamism And Heterogeneity On Salespeople's Role Perceptions, Performance And Job Satisfaction, Ravipreet S. Sohi

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

This article develops a structural equations model which examines the effects of environmental dynamism and heterogeneity on salespeople’s role conflict, role ambiguity, performance and job satisfaction. The model is tested with EQS, using data collected from 230 salespeople in multiple companies and industries. Indicates that environmental dynamism reduces satisfaction and performance, and increases role conflict and ambiguity. Notes that environmental heterogeneity also reduces performance and increases role conflict, but does not have a significant effect on role ambiguity.

Fund-Raising Systems In Children's Museums: An Analysis Of Fund-Raising Behavior And Philanthropic Income Trends, Elizabeth A. Potter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem under investigation. This dissertation analyzed philanthropic donations and fund-raising behavior in children's museums. The research embodies a descriptive, inductive, and deductive study which infers that philanthropic donations increase gradually and are influenced by an organization's fund-raising behavior.

The subjects. A stratified random sample of 15 small, 47 medium, and 20 large U.S. children's museums were surveyed; operating budgets determined museum size.

The methodology. Time-series statistical techniques and economic data measures calculated the change in children's museum philanthropic donations from 1990-1994. Correlation coefficients determined the relationships between the income variables. The fund-raising behavior variables, nominal data, were calculated in …

The Tacit Dimension Of Organizational Learning, Thomas Reeder Robinson

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This research was conducted to observe the self-reflections of an organizational participant group to further understand the organizational learning phenomenon. The participant group consisted of the 15 managers, spanning three levels of management, of a large engineering group in the southeastern United States.

The intent of the research was to generate theory, rather than to test theory. To accomplish this objective, a qualitative research methodology in a participatory action framework was modeled from Keating's (1993) Organizational Learning Process (OLP) to co-construct participants' organizational reflections. The methodology included individual interviews designed to elicit spontaneity that co-generated organizational perspectives. These perspectives were …

The Effects Of Training On Women's And Men's Perceptions Of Sexual Harassment, Isabel M. Rivera Ledoux

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sexual harassment is a continual problem in the workplace; however, most sexual harassment research focuses on problems associated with sexual harassment rather than evaluating the potential for training programs to resolve such problems. This study examined two training programs to evaluate the potential effects of training on the differences between the perspectives of women and men on sexually harassing behaviors. The first training program served as a control group, and the second emphasized the discrepancies between female and male experiences of sexually harassing behaviors. It was predicted that women and men who become aware of the psychological pain experienced by …

The Relationship Between Environmental Attitudes And Environmental Behaviors Among Air Force Members, Daniel T. Holt

Theses and Dissertations

A questionnaire was distributed to nearly 2,000 randomly selected active duty Air Force members assigned to locations throughout the continental United States. The survey was designed to determine the extent to which Air Force members expressed support for environmental issues. In addition, the survey measured how frequently Air Force members engaged in specific behaviors that were deemed environmentally protective. Although the Air Force members expressed relatively strong support for environmental issues, they only occasionally engaged in activities that contribute to the preservation or protection of the environment. Correlation analysis revealed that the pro-environmental attitudes were positively linked to the environmentally …

The Effects Of Risk Management Program Implementation On Worker Safety Knowledge, John C. Donnelly

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the effect of the implementation of a risk management program tool on worker safety knowledge in a composite building material fabrication facility whose workers suffered from an increasingly high injury (incidence) rate in recent years. Risk assessment codes (RACs) and job safety analyses (JSAs) were the primary tools used to introduce workers to the concept of risk. Because employee involvement is a crucial element in JSA development. employee input was frequently solicited throughout JSA development.

The study instrument consisted of a pre-test and post-test survey, to which an experimental and control group were subjected. The instrument was …

A Study Of How Women Are Perceived In The Workforce, Christopher Roberts

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Women are defined as a minority in the United States. This is not because there are fewer women than men in our country but because they have traditionally held less power and earned salaries 39% lower than the average male's income (Conrad, 1994). although the gap in pay is decreasing, it illustrates the different expectations our culture places on men and women. Whether we embrace the idea or reject it, men and women also behave differently. Researchers argue that these differing behavioral patterns are either genetic or learned. This paper explores communication differences in an organizational setting. More specifically, it …

No. 126 1995 November

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

Identifying Situational Factors Contributing To Combat Performance During Desert Shield And Desert Storm, Gary E. Jandzinski

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research into morale, cohesion, and motivation as determinants of performance during combat concentrates primarily on front-line ground troops. This research focuses on determinants of high performance involving United States Air Force (USAF) aircraft maintenance personnel in rear-echelon contingency bases during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The significant amount of combat force projected from USAF contingency bases and the likely continued use of such force justifies analysis of determinants of performance for this environment. Basic situational factors (information, food, living conditions, Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) activities, mail and phone service, and entertainment) are potentially influential in motivating maintenance personnel …

An Air Force Guide To Team Building, Roy M. Gozum

Theses and Dissertations

Team structures are used extensively in civilian, government, and military organizations to accomplish modem task demands that almost always exceed the capabilities of single individuals. As team structures became larger and more complex, managers realized the need for formal team building education. Team building programs serve to facilitate an environment for productive teamwork. However, despite the apparent importance of teams, most organizations overlook the implementation of formal team building programs. Therefore, the purpose of this research is two-fold. First, this thesis examines the evolution and importance of teams, and the subsequent need for the development of formal team building programs. …

A Preliminary Analysis Of The Theoretical Parameters Of Organizational Learning, Jeffery D. Loyd

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research was to develop an instrument capable of measuring the theoretical parameters of organizational learning that could be used as a diagnostic tool to measure an organization's learning potential. This goal was accomplished by developing a pilot questionnaire based on 27 potential learning parameters. The potential parameters of learning were extracted from the literature. A scale of behavioral statements was developed for each potential parameter. The pilot questionnaire was completed by 108 Air Force personnel in Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) graduate education programs. The results confirmed 85% of the original scales. Ten refined scales …

Externalism, Proper Inferentiality And Sensible Evidentialism, Stephen J. Wykstra

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

No. 125 1995 April

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

Capital Structure And Product-Market Rivalry: How Do We Reconcile Theory And Evidence?, Dan Kovenock, Gordon Phillips

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

This paper presents empirical evidence on the interaction of capital structure decisions and product market behavior. We examine when firms recapitalize and increase the proportion of debt in their capital structure. The evidence in this paper shows that firms with low productivity plants in highly concentrated industries are more likely to recapitalize and increase debt financing. This finding suggests that debt plays a role in highly concentrated industries where agency costs are not significantly reduced by product market competition. Following the empirical evidence we introduce the "strategic investment" effects of debt and argue that this effect, in conjunction with agency …

An Immigrant's Gift: The Life Of Quality Pioneer, Joseph M. Juran - Transcript, Dr. Joseph M. Juran Collection

'An Immigrant's Gift': Interviews about the Life and Impact of Dr. Joseph M. Juran

In the latter decades of the 20th Century, there occurred a silent revolution that swept across nations and effected all the peoples of the earth. This quality revolution began in the mind of a humble immigrant to the United States, Joseph M. Juran. His contributions to industry are heralded around the world, and yet his life story has remained unknown until now. An Immigrant's Gift is a compelling and inspirational portrait of a brilliant mind and a great humanist, who, in an unassuming way, had a profound impact on the international business community and our everyday lives.

Performance Appraisal In Organizational Cultural Context, Unoda C. Moyo

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the relationship between an organization's culture and its performance appraisal (PA) system and process. The initial phase of this study involved examining an organization's culture and the properties of its performance appraisal system from organizational archival information. Information derived from this phase of the study was later utilized to formulate interview questions, guide the search for the organizational culture survey instrument, and to construct the performance appraisal perceptions measuring instrument. This latter instrument is a quantitative measure that was later employed in testing the primary hypothesis that stated the performance appraisal process had a positive effect on …

Vertrauen Und Chinesisches Wirtschaftshandeln In Singapur: Zur Kulturellen Und Sozialstrukturellen Bedingtheit Von Vertrauensbildung Und Kooperation In Chinesischen Geschäftsbeziehungen, Thomas Menkhoff

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Based on in-depth interviews with Chinese merchant exporters in Singapore, the article explores why personal forms of trust (the Chinese translation is xinyong) are key elements in the complex web of business and associated social relationships.

Towards An Understanding Of Chinese Business Networks In Asia-Pacific: The Singapore Case, Thomas Menkhoff, Chalmers Labig

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The embeddedness of entrepreneurs in local, regional or global business networks based on kinship, clanship, territorial or ethnic ties and solidarities has often been cited as characteristic of the Chinese business community in Southeast Asia. Qualitative interviews with Singaporean Chinese merchant-exporters were conducted in order to examine this thesis and shed light on the various "guanxi bases" of their international trading networks. The findings suggest that there is a strong tendency among these Singaporean entrepreneurs towards external commercial transactions with "outsiders" and "friends" rather than with "kin" whether by blood, marriage, or ascription. Kinship reciprocity may curb the autonomy and …

No. 124 1994 November

International Journal for Business Education

SIEC Historical Documents

Hindsight, Organizational Routines And Media Risk Coverage, Robert A. Stallings

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Professor Stallings describes how journalists explain catastrophes by coupling them with flaws in human organizations.

The Feminine Ethos And Higher Education Administration, Mary Anne Nolan Hanner

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if women administrators in higher education possess leadership characteristics consistent with those described in the feminist literature. The study identified seventeen characteristics in three categories: leadership style characteristics, decision making strategies, and conflict resolution strategies which were incorporated into a iii research survey. The degree to which women administrators in higher education possessed these characteristics was compared to their years of experience (five or less years or more than five years) and the administrative structure of their unit (heterarchical or hierarchical). The population was women administrators in higher education who held the …