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The purpose of this article was to outline some of the potential benefits of engaging primary stakeholders in the process of developing or revising an organization's vision.

Plausible benefits associated with involving primary stakeholders in the visioning process were discussed within the framework of the current global economic crises.

Involving key primary stakeholders such as employees, customers, and owners/investors in the visioning process can elicit benefits including an accelerated rate of change, enhanced organizational recovery, and renewed stakeholder loyalty.

This article emphasizes the importance of engaging primary stakeholders, comprised of employees, customers, and owners/investors in the process of visioning. Potential benefits of involving these primary stakeholders in the process are also summarized within the context of our current, global, economic crises.

“Unlearning” is discussed as an additional perspective or supplemental strategy for managers/leaders to consider when addressing cynicism in organizations. The article is not intended to be definitive. The aim of this paper is to generate ideas and encourage further exploration amongst practitioners and scholars regarding the feasibility of this perspective. There are a number of plausible explanations for the origin of cynicism, including the notion that cynicism is learned. As anything that is learned can also be unlearned, “unlearning” seemed to be a compelling perspective worthy of further exploration.

A targeted literature review of cynicism (with a specific focus on some of the more salient and well-respected research) was utilized to develop a conceptual overview of cynicism, a discussion of key causes/antecedents of cynicism, and common symptoms of cynicism. Select literature was also reviewed relative to the concept of “unlearning”. These varied sources were then synthesized into a framework that outlined the premise of “unlearning” applied to cynicism in organizations.

This article focuses on the attitudinal dimension of cynicism, discussing “unlearning” as a possible method for addressing cynicism that can be used to supplement, but not necessarily replace, other methods that have proven effective.

Cynicism in organizations has received notable research attention. This article contributes to this important topic by exploring “unlearning” as a supplemental approach or perspective for addressing cynicism with the intent of generating ideas and encouraging further exploration of the feasibility of this approach.

The article argues for increased use of knowledge management as a possible method for improving the alignment of organizations with the external environment.

It is readily acknowledged that the external environment for organizations is characterized as fast-paced. As such, to remain successful, organizations must endeavor to remain aware of changes in the external environment and make timely adjustments to internal operations that will keep the organization properly aligned with the environment.

Strategic thinking, bolstered by effective knowledge management, is one approach organizational leaders can consider in their quest to remain properly aligned with perpetual changes in the external environment.

Employees represent a significant source of information and knowledge within organizations. Leveraging this information through knowledge management may enhance the strategic thinking within organizations, translating into practices that will help the organization remain properly aligned with the external environment.

The topic of knowledge management is certainly not new. However, emphasizing knowledge management in the context of organizational alignment provides organizational leaders with an additional strategy that has considerable practical value.

A sample of 339 employees embroiled in a major organizational change completed a survey that was designed to explore how specific change messages (e.g. appropriateness, valence, and management support) and change facilitation strategies (participation and training) relate to the perceptions of the change benefits and quality of information conveyed. Results indicated that appropriateness and extrinsic valence were strong predictors of perceptions of change benefits while supervisor support and extrinsic valence most influenced perceptions of information quality. Results further indicated that participation and training were related to perceptions of information quality. However, contrary to our expectations, participation was inversely related to the benefits of the change. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for practitioners and researchers.

The purpose of this article is to encourage organizations to recognize the potential risks of retaining counterproductive employees on their payrolls and the steps they should take to prevent and/or correct the situation should it exist within their organizations.

Literature examining a broader definition of the negligent retention doctrine, which includes employees who lack the qualifications for the positions they hold, those who are nonperformers, and/or those who exhibit toxic behaviours, and the consequences for retaining these counterproductive employees on the payroll. By using a multilayered approach, the article discusses the efforts organizations can use to identify potentially counterproductive employee behaviour and the steps the organizations should take to provide appropriate developmental strategies/programs to assist counterproductive employees, as well as, provide appropriate disciplinary action, as the situation dictates.

The review highlights the potential financial drain and performance threats counterproductive employees create for organizations; offers explanations as to why counterproductive employees are often allowed to stay on the payroll; and provides suggestions for preventing the selection of counterproductive employees, for providing appropriate developmental.

The article offers practical insights and suggestions to organizations that are interested in upholding their fiduciary responsibility to their stakeholders, while providing counterproductive employees opportunity to improve their performance/behaviours or to exit the organization.

The article expands the definition of the negligent retention doctrine to include the often-ignored financial and emotional dangers of retaining unfit or counterproductive employees on the payroll.

The purpose of this paper is to argue for the importance of allowing operational or ground level employees to participate in the process of organizational innovation.

The paper looks at various examples of employee innovation. It suggests five ways of enacting active empowerment of employees.

Participation of operational or ground level employees in the innovation process can be facilitated through active empowerment. Active empowerment can be fostered through sharing accurate information, active listening, encouraging employees to take risks, using failure as a learning tool, and fostering mutual trust.

Organizations can enhance the overall innovation process by empowering employees to participate in the process. This approach leverages creative resources that may, otherwise, remain untapped.

Leveraging employee innovation through active empowerment will not only enhance the overall organization, but will also encourage employee learning, thus collectively contributing to the workforce within society.

A discussion on the importance of allowing employees to participate in the process of innovation lead to the identification of five suggestions for enacting active empowerment.

Despite a significant amount of academic research showing that failure to create and manage readiness for change, nonetheless, far too many organizational managers have failed to learn both from their past mistakes and from the research. This paper aims to provide a brief review of five important elements necessary to build readiness in an organization when it is faced with change. By successful application of the five elements, readiness for the change may be created and managed leading to a prevention or minimization of resistance to the change.

The paper presents a general review of one approach to managing change.

The paper finds that by addressing each of the five elements, there will be a greater likelihood of successful change introduction and management.

The paper provides overview of the five elements of readiness for managing change as created by Armenakis et al.

The purpose of the paper is to provide insight into some of the realities associated with mentoring in a business environment that is becoming increasingly global, with specific emphasis on challenges associated with communication.

The paper takes an applied approach to covering some of the realities and major challenges related to communication when mentoring within the global environment.

Mentoring continues to have value as a tool in enhancing organizational effectiveness. However, mentoring becomes more challenging in a global marketplace. Some of the most salient realities associated with global mentoring are examined.

The insight and topics covered in the article should enhance organizations' efforts to mentor employees dispersed in a multinational structure.

The purpose of this article is to provide insight into how organizations and managers can use technology, including the internet, to enhance development and planning efforts.

Suggestions for leveraging technology are outlined using the traditional components of the planning process as a template. Specific recommendations are offered for integrating technology into each of the stages of the planning process (i.e. formulation, implementation and evaluation).

A majority of business and technology executives agree that extensive use of information technology can enhance strategic planning, however, only about one‐third of surveyed CEOs actually champion the use of technology in strategic planning, with only 19 percent considering their organization's strategic planning process highly effective (PR Newswire). Yet, by leveraging technology more effectively during planning and development initiatives, companies are likely to improve their overall competitive position, enhance buy‐in, and reduce conflict.

While not scientific, guidance provided in this article should improve managers' and leaders' planning efforts.

The use of technology in development efforts and throughout the planning process should improve the efficacy of the concomitant plans developed by organizations.

The primary purpose of this article is to examine two alternative approaches for the use of performance appraisals in selecting individuals out of the organization (i.e. to be laid off). A rank‐order approach and a banding approach are compared to provide insight regarding issues associated with each approach.

Literature examining the status of downsizing as an organizational strategy, as well as some of the legal and practical considerations associated with the use of performance appraisals in downsizing decisions is reviewed as a precursor to an illustrated comparison of a rank‐order approach and banding approach to select individuals to be downsized. Actual performance appraisal scores for 106 individuals working in an organization were analyzed for the purposed of the comparative illustration.

The illustrative comparison highlights specific issues associated with using two different approaches for selecting individuals for an organizational downsizing.

To provide a more comprehensive examination of rank‐order and banding approaches for selecting individuals for an organizational downsizing, larger samples from a variety of organizations in different industries would be insightful. Further, organizations considering either approach for the purpose of making downsizing decisions should more closely examine existing case law and legal precedents to insure compliance with appropriate laws.

The article highlights the potential dilemmas faced by organizations using a banding or rank‐order approach in making downsizing decisions.

The paper contributes to a growing body of literature emphasizing the importance of performance appraisals in organizations.