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Although many studies contend that there are few advantages to using participation among organisation members, consideration should be given to the contingency approach to participation. The management practitioner should address such issues as value attributed to participation by employees, skill level, the practitioner's willingness to relinquish some power, time required for a decision to be reached, and nature of the task being performed. The manager can thus discriminate between situations in which participation has a motivating potential, and those in which it would be detrimental.

This paper introduces and reviews current understanding of the empowerment construct, recognizing Mary Parker Follett’s contribution to this area. Common themes between the empowerment literature and Follett’s writing are identified with special emphasis placed on the “Empowerment Paradox.” The paradox is described and suggestions for how Follett’s writing can help inform us are included. The paper concludes with directions for future research.

Much research on information technology (IT) emphasizes the rational aspects of IT use. However, cultural analyses have considered IT as a symbolic artifact open to social interpretation. This article presents findings from ethnographic studies of two large insurance organizations to illustrate how cultural assumptions about IT are implicated in IT management. We employ the metaphor of magic as an interpretive lens to generate five archetypes of IT culture: the revered, controlled, demystified, integrated, and fearful IT cultures. Each of these archetypal cultural patterns reflects different assumptions about the “magic” of IT and the “wizards” who control its powers. These patterns are similar to social responses to the unknown that have been found in human cultures for hundreds of years. The metaphor itself was drawn from the language of the two organizations. All five archetypes were manifest in both of the companies studied, suggesting that organizations do not necessarily develop unified symbolic meanings of IT. Although separately each archetype invites novel insights into the management of IT in organizations, together they reveal even deeper interpretations consistent with contemporary theories of cultural differentiation and fragmentation.

Today’s dynamic markets are forcing firms to design increasingly complex channel strategies involving multiple channels of distribution. As the complexity of these systems increases, so too does the opportunity for conflict between individual channel coalitions within the firm. Whereas this hybrid channel conflict can reduce channel performance, it can also serve as a mechanism forcing internal channel coalitions to work harder and smarter to serve their markets. In this paper, we develop and test six hypotheses related to hybrid channel conflict. The findings indicate that hybrid channel conflict is an important determinant of both channel performance and satisfaction. The results suggest further that the relationship between hybrid channel conflict and channel performance is moderated by the lifecycle stage. Moreover, our data support the view that the frequency of conflict, but not its intensity, has a negative effect on channel system performance. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of this study.

The purpose of this article is to present a biographical sketch of Lee C. Nehrt, who, in 1962, became the first person to obtain a PhD in International Business.

This study is mainly based on an in‐depth interview of Lee Nehrt followed up by several telephone and e‐mail interviews as well as e‐mail interviews of a number of Nehrt's former colleagues and students. In addition, Nehrt's published works were extensively reviewed and utilized.

The findings are reported in the form of a biography. In particular, the paper documents Nehrt's contribution to the emergence of international business as an important field of study, his role in internationalizing business curricula within the USA and in popularizing the American model of business education across the world. The paper also reflects on Nehrt's contribution to the Academy of International Business and his efforts in forging closer ties between international business academics and practitioners.

The dearth of biographical research in the international business discipline points to a need that has yet to be fulfilled. This is the first published article on Nehrt's life and career as a pioneering international business scholar.

A light‐hearted “dictionary” of management styles is presented which encapsulates a modern, new, expanded, tell‐it‐like‐it‐is summary of management philosophies for the 1980s.