Search results

Until recently most managers were wary of using humour as a communication technique in the business setting, believing that the two did not mix. Now comic techniques are gaining acceptance as tools of business communication. Humour and laughter are coping skills. One of the most important tasks of a manager is to implement these skills throughout all levels of the firm to preserve the individual health of the employees and the entire firm. Humour can promote “good feelings” on the job and enhance oral presentations. Managers may not adopt a humorous approach themselves but should accept it in others and try to see the humour in situations. Those who do not want to employ humorous techniques should match it to the situation and/or audience, and never use it at the expense of an individual.

Outlines the benefits of humour in the workplace. Briefly looks at the place of humour in advertising and the effect of it in areas such as attention, comprehension, persuasion and likeability. Discusses humour in the workplace and provides some suggestions for employers. Covers humour in training and concludes that modest investment in all these areas can bring benefits to the workplace.

In most businesses effective leadership is still considered to be tough, competitive, rational, impersonal, strategic, etc.— in short, the traditional male model. Recently, however, sociologists and business writers have begun to challenge this model. Recognition increases that we need leaders who are participatory and supportive. Furthermore, increased world competition, new technologies, shifting markets, and other economic pressures are forcing corporations to change the way they do business. Even the old rules of management and leadership do not always hold true anymore. Fortunately, this period of change happens to coincide with the entry of more and more women into managerial positions, which works to their advantage. And it does because it puts them on the same footing as their male peers, who must learn the new rules, too.

Mentoring programs are enjoying a renewed interest as corporations grapple with how to collect and disseminate their collective knowledge across functions and regions in an effort to rapidly innovate and maintain competitive advantage. Global mentoring programs can help support training and development programs by matching mentors and protégés from different cultures, encouraging information exchange and connection with employees from other regions. Issues discussed here include time dimensions, languages, cultural biases, program perceptions, training costs and administration.

By examining the behaviours of cynical consumers and the factors that give rise to them, the paper's aim is to highlight the potential impact of consumer cynicism on firms and to investigate the possibility of influencing the evolution of those behaviours over time.

A multi‐method approach uses five focus groups, a survey, and a longitudinal experiment to explore the behaviour of cynical consumers experiencing different patterns of goal/value (in)congruence with the actions of a firm.

Progressive development in the frequency and severity of cynical behaviours results from repeated incongruence between consumers' goals or values and firm actions. Value incongruence has a greater effect on the severity of cynical behaviours. Recency effects remove cynical behaviours when the underlying drivers of cynicism are reversed.

The results are based on consumers' behavioural intentions, requiring a degree of subjective interpretation to quantify the severity of consumer behaviours.

Because of the potentially severe nature of cynical consumer behaviours, the study helps managers to gain a better understanding of these behaviours, their source, and how to monitor their frequency, severity, and development over time.

Several facets of consumer cynicism are examined that have not been explored together previously, including drivers, cognitive/affective mechanisms, and the pattern of resulting behaviours. This approach provides managers with a tool to predict how consumers will react to a given situation and suggests actions to mitigate these reactions.