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This study was undertaken to discover working public thoughts about roles of United States women in leadership positions and to test the relationship between managerial leadership styles and organizational effectiveness. A survey of perceptions of leadership roles and effectiveness distributed 700 randomly selected entities from industries in the United States. Findings suggest approximately 50% of women leaders perceive barriers that prevent women for entering management positions and lower advancement rates for women. This study shows that aspiration in women exists whether or not they take action and motivate themselves to advance for top management positions. However, barriers like discrimination, family-life demands, prejudice, and stereotyping result in fruitlessness in many cases. The majority of women and men felt education and training could increase the preparedness of women for leadership roles. Respondents expressed overwhelming support for a participative leadership style. A positive association existed between participative leadership style and organizational effectiveness.

Addresses the issue of cultural diversity in the workplace. Covers the subjects of gender, multiculturalism and age‐related issues, providing a number of statistics for examples. Looks at the impact of technology in areas such as intranets, e‐mail and Web marketing, customer relationship management, virtual offices, automation and virtual teams. Examines the implications of these relationships for corporate America today and in the future.

Outsourcing is the strategic use of outside resources to perform activities that are usually handled by internal staff and resources. By using a well‐managed outsourcing agreement, companies can gain in markets that would otherwise be uneconomical. This study was designed to explore why companies are undertaking outsourcing projects and identifies factors that may facilitate or impede outsourcing projects. In addition, this article examines the relationships between outsourcing strategies and organizational performance. The results show that organizations generally considered themselves successful at outsourcing. However, while they achieved significant improvement in organizational performance, they have not reached the magnitude of improvements ascribed to outsourcing.

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/01437729610154136. When citing the article, please cite: Dean Elmuti, (1996), “The perceived impact of team-based management systems on organizational effectiveness”, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 17 Iss: 8, pp. 4 - 17.

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/02610150310787351. When citing the article, please cite: Dean Elmuti, Judith Lehman, Brandon Harmon, Xiaoyan Lu, Andrea Pape, Ren Zhang, Terad Zimmerle, (2003), “Inequality between genders in the executive suite in corporate America: moral and ethical issues”, Equal Opportunities International, Vol. 22 Iss: 2, pp. 40 - 58.

The impact of participation in a self‐managed teams program on employee quality of work life attitudes, and on productivity and quality was studied among employees in a manufacturing firm located in the mid‐western United States. Employee productivity and quality changes were measured by collecting and analyzing actual organizational data, for a thirty‐six month period. The attitudinal results indicate that self‐managed teams improved participants’ quality of work life. The performance results document a positive and substantial impact of self‐managed teams program on employee productivity, efficiency and quality. However, implementation of self‐managing teams is a complex task that requires time and commitment of resources to reap potential rewards.

According to John Naisbitt, author of Megatrends, the United States is moving from an industrial to an information society. This is evident in the rapidly growing service industry. From 1969 to 1976, ninety percent of the newly created jobs were white collar or service oriented positions. In 1981, almost seventy percent of all jobs were in the service industry. This percentage is expected to increase to near ninety percent by 1990. The Coalition of Service Industries, Inc. estimates that service industries generate two‐thirds of the United States Gross National Product, and service industries employ three out of four working Americans. Another reason for the increase in concern for service quality is the rise of the “get my money's worth” consumer, a value‐seeking shopper who thinks in terms of total use cost rather than just initial acquisition cost.

Focuses on computer‐integrated manufacturing′s macro aspects and its strategic implications. Defines CIM at the macro and micro level and the various factors that strongly call for the implementation of CIM. After going into the advantages, concludes with implications for the future.

Compares the traditional performance appraisal systems with Deming′s philosophy of operating a production system focused on quality for the consumer. W. Edwards Deming has long challenged the effectiveness of traditional performance appraisal systems used by American managers. He criticizes the traditional performance appraisal system of rewarding “win‐lose” results rather than supporting “win‐win” aims, thereby placing so much emphasis on judging and ranking people and using extrinsic motivational means. He recommends replacing the traditional performance systems that encourage win‐lose behaviour with systems that promote co‐operative and supportive behaviour. The Deming approach to performance appraisal involves a complete change of the traditional system to one that concentrates on managers being highly focused on quality and long‐term improvement. The successful implementations of Deming′s management approach in several American organizations were examined as available means of integrating performance appraisals into their quality system. The more successful companies have found remarkable improvement in consumer recognition, sales, market share, operating costs, customer satisfaction, employee morale, and of course quality. Such actions will not only help to strengthen these companies′ market position, but will help to improve the overall global competitiveness of American industry.

Presents a longitudinal field study which compares changes in perceptions of productivity and attendance behaviours for participants in a drug‐testing programme in a manufacturing firm in the mid‐western USA. Employee efficiency, productivity and absenteeism changes related to the implementation of the drug‐testing programme were measured by collecting and analysing actual organizational data. Data for each of the measures were collected for a 42‐month period, ranging from 18‐months prior to the implementation of the programme to 24‐months after the programme began. The attitudinal results provide, at best, circumspect support for the claims of drug‐testing proponents that the programme reduces drug abuse in the workplace and improves overall productivity. The performance results, however, document a positive and substantial impact of drug testing initiative on employee productivity and absenteeism rates.