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Jehn (1992, 1994) developed the Intragroup Conflict Scale (ICS) to measure two theoretically distinct dimensions of conflict: relationship and task conflict. In the years since, the ICS has been widely adopted by researchers as a measurement tool for group conflict. However, limited evidence of the scale's psychometric properties has been published. Following guidelines provided by Schwab (1980) and Hinkin (1995), we assess the construct validity of the scale, using both individual level and group level techniques, and test proposed nomological relationships, using six diverse samples. We conclude that a 6‐item version of the original 9‐item scale best captures relationship and task conflict.

The role of M in the Bond films has altered radically in the modern Bond franchise – due in part to the casting of Dame Judi Dench as M. This chapter argues that M as portrayed by Dench asserts a monarch-like power and authority in her role as Bond’s commander, an authority that can be compared to that of the current monarch Queen Elizabeth II in both her real and imagined performances. It will examine how M as depicted by Dench fits into the legacy of the male M’s that came before her. It then compares the problematic relationship for both women with motherhood; their common refusal to employ emotive feminine manipulation to maintain their authority and how this authority utilises language and address. In doing so it will assert that both Dench’s M and Queen Elizabeth II put duty and their professional lives first – devoting themselves to the service of others.

This study of hospital nurses (n = 154) examined the influence of dimensions of work satisfaction on types of organizational commitment. Significant results were found for the two affective commitment types tested but not for the instrumental type evaluated. The results indicate that satisfaction with professional status was a significant predictor of moral commitment. Dissatisfaction with organizational policies, autonomy, and professional status were significant predictors of alienative commitment. None of the dimensions of work satisfaction were predictors of calculative commitment. The results of this study suggest that understanding how various factors impact the nature and the form of an individual’s organizational commitment is worth the effort. If managers do not know what causes an attitude to take on a particular form, they cannot accurately predict what behavior might follow.

IN 1846, Charlotte Brontë was attempting to find a publisher for the sisters' first book—a selection of their poems. It was a bad time for poetry. In the earlier years of the century it had flourished remarkably with the rise of Scott and Byron, whose popularity brought record sales, but by the 1840s the demand had declined, and while prose fiction had a reasonable market, poetry was unwanted. Even the arch‐publisher of Victorian poets, Edward Moxon, was not keen to undertake the Poems (1844) of the established Elizabeth Barrett, and showed some reluctance even in the publication of Wordsworth. By 1848 Charlotte had come to appreciate ‘that “the Trade” are not very fond of hearing about poetry, and that it is but too often a profitless encumbrance on the shelves of the bookseller's shop’. It is little wonder, therefore, that of 1846 she later wrote: ‘As was to be expected, neither we nor our poems were at all wanted…. The great puzzle lay in the difficulty of getting answers of any kind from the publishers to whom we applied.’

The purpose of this study is to propose a taxonomy of meeting purpose. Meetings are a workplace activity that deserves increased attention from researchers and practitioners. Previous researchers attempted to develop typologies of meeting purpose with limited success. Through a comparison of classification methodologies, the authors consider a taxonomy as the appropriate classification scheme for meeting purpose. The authors then utilize the developed taxonomy to investigate the frequency with which a representative sample of working adults engaged in meetings of these varying purposes. Their proposed taxonomy provides relevant classifications for future research on meetings as well and serves as a useful tool for managers seeking to use and evaluate the effectiveness of meetings within their organizations.

This study employs an inductive methodology using discourse analysis of qualitative meeting descriptions to develop a taxonomy of meeting purpose. The authors discourse analysis utilizes open-ended survey responses from a sample of working adults (n = 491).

The authors categorical analysis of open-ended questions resulted in a 16-category taxonomy of meeting purpose. The two most prevalent meeting purpose categories in this sample were “to discuss ongoing projects” at 11.6 per cent and “to routinely discuss the state of the business” at 10.8 per cent. The two least common meeting purpose categories in this sample were “to brainstorm for ideas or solutions” at 3.3 per cent and “to discuss productivity and efficiencies” at 3.7 per cent. The taxonomy was analyzed across organizational type and employee job level to identify differences between those important organizational and employee characteristics.

The data suggested that meetings were institutionalized in organizations, making them useful at identifying differences between organizations as well as differences in employees in terms of scope of responsibility. Researchers and managers should consider the purposes for which they call meetings and how that manifests their overarching organizational focus, structure and goals.

This is the first study to overtly attempt to categorize the various purposes for which meetings are held. Further, this study develops a taxonomy of meeting purposes that will prove useful for investigating the different types of meeting purposes in a broad range of organizational types and structures.

This paper aims to revise an earlier version of a measure used to assess parent–child consumer-based communication to better capture how parents talk with their children about consumer matters.

Three separate studies were used to revise the measure. The first tested the original measure with parents and children in a supermarket to determine its predictive validity. The second utilized focus groups with parents to refine the measure. The final study sampled 503 parents via MTurk to test the performance of the revised measure regarding reliability and validity.

The first study found that the original scale did not perform well as it relates to predicting child consumer behavior. The second study used parents to describe in their own words how they talk to their own children about consumer issues. Using these insights, the final study used the redesigned scale and identified four dimensions to the consumer-related family communication patterns instrument: collaborative communication, control communication, product value and commercial truth. These four dimensions had good reliability, convergent validity and predictive validity.

With an updated measure of parent–child consumer-based communication that more closely matches how parents talk to their children about consumer issues, this measure can help researchers understand how children are socialized as consumers.

This study offers researchers a reliable and valid measure of parent–child consumer-based communication that can help inform future studies on this important topic.

The purpose of this paper is to identify how employees feel about having more meetings and what can be done to improve employees' feelings about their work meetings.

Data were obtained from three samples of working adults. The first was a convenience sample recruited by undergraduate students (n=120), the second was a stratified random sample from a metropolitan area in the southern USA (n=126), and the third was an internet‐based panel sample (n=402). Constant comparative analysis of responses to open‐ended questions was used to investigate the overarching research questions.

It is found that employees enjoy meetings when they have a clear objective, and when important relevant information is shared. Consistent with conservation of resources theory, most employees are unhappy with meetings when they reduce their work‐related resources (e.g. meetings constrain their time, lack structure and are unproductive).

The data suggest that meetings appear to be both resource‐draining and resource‐supplying activities in the workplace. Researchers and managers should consider overtly asking about how people feel about meetings, as a means of identifying areas for future research inquiry and targets for improvement in the workplace generally.

The paper describes one of the few studies on meetings that ask the participants overtly what their feelings are regarding their workplace meetings. Additionally, the paper illustrates the usefulness of qualitative data analysis as a means for further understanding workplace activities viewing respondents as informants.