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1 – 10 of 12Roni Laslo Roth and Joseph Schwarzwald
The purpose of this paper is to examine Koslowsky and Schwarzwald’s (2009) recent conceptualization of the interpersonal power interaction model which assumed that the choice of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine Koslowsky and Schwarzwald’s (2009) recent conceptualization of the interpersonal power interaction model which assumed that the choice of power tactics in conflict situations is a sequential process including antecedents, mediators, and the choice of influence tactics. The mediation process is the new component of the model, thus the authors tested two potential mediators – perceived damage and negative emotions – in the choice process.
Design/methodology/approach
Managers (n=240) were presented with conflict scenarios involving one of their subordinates (low/high performing) and differed by conflict type (relations/task and principle/expediency). They indicated the influence tactics they would utilize in the given situation for gaining compliance and completed a series of questionnaires: perceived damage engendered by disobedience, resultant emotion, cognitive closure, and demographics.
Findings
Results indicated that perceived damage, directly and through the mediation of resultant negative emotions, influenced the tendency to opt for harsh tactics. This trend was further affected by the managers’ gender and cognitive closure.
Research limitations/implications
The discussion addresses the empirical validity of the model, the role of rationality and emotion in the process of choosing influence tactics. Practical implications concerning the usage of harsh and soft tactics and the limitation of the self-report method were also discussed.
Originality/value
The contribution of the study is twofolded: proving the empirical validity of the new conceptualization of the model and explaining the dynamic involved in the choice of influence tactics.
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Meni Koslowsky, Hadar Baharav and Joseph Schwarzwald
The paper aims to examine whether power distance and management style predict social power choice and whether management style also acts as a mediator in a model linking all three…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to examine whether power distance and management style predict social power choice and whether management style also acts as a mediator in a model linking all three variables.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted within the Israeli Police Force using regular patrol and special patrol units. A total of 40 captains or officers and 151 policemen/women completed scales assessing power distance, captain's managerial style, and influence tactics chosen by them in conflict situations. The data were analyzed from two different perspectives: captains and policemen.
Findings
Harsh tactics were found to differ significantly by power distance whereas the parallel comparison for soft tactics was not significant. The mediation hypothesis tested separately on both samples was supported only for the subordinate group. Management style added significant variance for explaining the dependent variable and also mediated the relationship between power distance and harsh tactic choice.
Research limitations/implications
Using alternative methods for the research design such as observational data or manipulating the independent variables with different scenarios would provide support for the robustness of the findings.
Practical implications
As power distance is increasing, the need to gain compliance in a task oriented situation increases the usage of harsh influence tactics. Conversely, for a similar power distance but in an interpersonal oriented situation, the supervisor may well decide to apply more soft tactics which are more likely to foster a free exchange of ideas and encourage compliance on the part of the patrolman.
Originality/value
Theoretically, the findings of a mediator effect aids in understanding power strategy choice. Specifically, managerial style is not independent of power distance but rather helps maintain the existing organizational culture. Methodologically, the use of two data sets, supervisors and subordinates, reduces bias attributed to common method variance.
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Achinoam Tal, Joseph Schwarzwald and Meni Koslowsky
This study aims to examine supervisors’ power preference (harsh/soft) for gaining compliance from subordinates in conflict situations using the updated Power Interaction Model…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine supervisors’ power preference (harsh/soft) for gaining compliance from subordinates in conflict situations using the updated Power Interaction Model (Koslowsky and Schwarzwald, 2009. The model assumes that the relationship between antecedents and power preference is mediated by cost/benefit considerations.
Design/methodology/approach
Four considerations were examined as mediators: acquiescence, relations, worker growth and conformity. A sample of 120 bank managers was given one of several conflict scenarios differing on severity (low/high) and subordinate worker’s performance ability (low/average/high). In addition, mangers’ leadership style and organizational commitment were assessed.
Findings
For the two manipulated variables, conflict (high significance, low significance) and worker performance (high, average, low), an interaction effect was tested with follow-up univariate analysis yielding significance only for harsh tactics. Structural equations modeling, used for comparing the fit generated for different mediators, indicated that acquiescence was the most salient mediator and provided adequate fit for the model predicting power tactics preference.
Research limitations/implications
Although it is difficult to exclude cultural effects when applying the Interpersonal Power Interaction Model (IPIM) in a specific country, it should be noted that, as far as factor structure is concerned, a similar pattern was obtained for Israeli and American participants in previous research (Raven et al., 1998). Additionally, in the present study, the outcome measure was not observed but rather elicited through scenarios. The participant responses were derived from self-report questionnaires and are prone to percept–percept bias and common method variance.
Originality/value
For the first time, in a study where antecedent variables were manipulated, findings supported the revised IPIM. Power choice was demonstrated as a result of a sequential process with mediators serving as links between various organizational, situational and personal antecedents and outcomes.
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Joseph Schwarzwald, Meni Koslowsky and Jessica Bernstein
Research has indicated that gender stereotypes, especially as they relate to women, are changing due to their growing numbers in the labor force. This research on power usage for…
Abstract
Purpose
Research has indicated that gender stereotypes, especially as they relate to women, are changing due to their growing numbers in the labor force. This research on power usage for gaining compliance in conflict situations examines whether a similar tendency exists for social power tactics, another aspect of the gender stereotype.
Design/methodology/approach
In two studies, one focusing on manager‐subordinates interactions (n=141) and the other on husband‐wife relationships (n=149), participants were presented with scenarios describing conflict situations relevant for each setting occurring in three time periods ‐ past, present, and future – and then estimated the frequency of power category (harsh/intermediate/soft) usage by men and women in each of these periods.
Findings
Findings indicated that gender stereotypical attributions eroded over time with a greater ascription of feminine tactics to males in the present and future. It was also found that harsh tactics usage was attributed to a greater extent in the work rather than the home setting.
Research limitations/implications:
In general, stereotype research assesses perceptions rather than reality. The perceptions measured here regarding past and future, though intrinsically informative, may reflect selective perception or social desirability.
Originality/value
This work indicated that the increasing involvement of women in the work force seems to have affected perceptions of the manner in which individuals exercise power in conflict situations. In particular, gender differences in power usage are viewed as diminishing over time; a tendency more discernible in the work world than at home.
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Hayo Siemsen and Carl Henning Reschke
The purpose of this paper is to lay the foundations for new ways of management and personality development by using the same way Peter Drucker developed his ideas. What was this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to lay the foundations for new ways of management and personality development by using the same way Peter Drucker developed his ideas. What was this “teaching philosophy”? Where else can it be found? Which learning phenomena are typical for this way of teaching? Can this “teaching philosophy” be replicated? Can it be applied to management in general?
Design/methodology/approach
The historical genetic method developed by Ernst Mach from the historical‐critical method. Using this approach the paper traces the origin of Drucker's central ideas for management in his early learning experiences. It then asks the question, in how far can these central ideas be generalized and used to develop the central ideas of Drucker (including the intuitive ones) further? The question is genetically left open, i.e. it is continually transformative.
Findings
Drucker was heavily influenced in his way of thinking by his education at a special school in Vienna. The school was organized by Eugenie Schwarzwald. Many of Drucker's ideas on personality development and his intuitive theories on psychology and learning can be traced back to that time. What was especially important for Drucker's later works was the “teaching philosophy” taught by Schwarzwald's teachers.
Practical implications
There is a direct link between the science teaching results for Finland in the OECD PISA study and Drucker's way of thinking. Drucker acquired an exponential way of learning, instead of a learning based on a linear model. This is what made his thoughts so challenging and ahead of his contemporaries. As the example of Finland shows, this is not a light‐tower method (i.e. a singular phenomenon without empirical evidence of its reproducibility). One can use these ideas in general for all of education and it has been used in over a dozen cases at different around the world times. It is especially valuable in management education of knowledge workers. In such a way, one can create a much more efficient and effective way of education, an “education 2.0”.
Originality/value
This is the first time that Drucker's ideas can be linked to the ideas of Ernst Mach and to similar types of education based on ideas of Mach, such as used in Finland. The empirical results of such methods can therefore not only be found in Drucker's autobiography as a single case, but they can be compared in much more general contexts, for instance in the large‐scale field study OECD PISA study or in Hattie's educational meta‐meta analysis.
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Howard J. Klein and Aden E. Heuser
This chapter briefly reviews findings from recent socialization research to provide an updated view of the socialization literature. To help advance the literature, this chapter…
Abstract
This chapter briefly reviews findings from recent socialization research to provide an updated view of the socialization literature. To help advance the literature, this chapter then takes an instructional system approach, viewing socialization fundamentally as a process of learning about a new or changed role and the environment surrounding that role. As such, attention will first be given to further understanding exactly what needs to be learned during socialization. In doing so, an expanded socialization content typology is presented. In addition, two other components are added to this typology to reflect the fact that (a) each of those content dimensions needs to be learned relative to different organizational levels (e.g., job, work group, unit, organization) and (b) socialization occurs over several months and there are temporal considerations relating to the different socialization content dimensions. This chapter then examines how to best facilitate the learning of that expanded socialization content. The Gagné-Briggs theory of instruction is used in connecting socialization content with the means of learning that content. The socialization and orienting activities commonly used by organizations to help new employees in the adjustment process are also identified and then mapped onto the learning outcomes they could best help facilitate. Finally, the conceptual, measurement, and research needs suggested by these extensions to the socialization literature are identified.
The Impact of Events Scale (IES)/Impact of Events Scale – Revised (IES‐R) is arguably one of the most well known tools used to assess post‐traumatic symptomatology. The background…
Abstract
Purpose
The Impact of Events Scale (IES)/Impact of Events Scale – Revised (IES‐R) is arguably one of the most well known tools used to assess post‐traumatic symptomatology. The background literature reveals a significant gap with respect to the structural properties of the IES/IES‐R when used with emergency service populations. In response to these identified gaps, this paper aims to provide an evaluation of the structural properties of the three‐factor IES‐R when used specifically with a firefighting sample.
Design/methodology/approach
Responses to IES‐R for a sample of paid‐professional firefighters (n=94) and a sample of similar comparison participants (n=91) were evaluated for support of the suggested IES‐R subscales – i.e. hyperarousal, avoidance and intrusions. Responses for both groups were entered into a three‐factor maximum likelihood factor analysis with direct oblimin rotation.
Findings
The results provide further support for the use of these subscales when the IES‐R is employed with a community sample. However, the factor structure for the three suggested subscales was not supported for the firefighters' responses. With the firefighting sample, some items for the intrusion subscale loaded as expected, but no discernible pattern was evident for the hyperarousal or avoidance subscales. Given the lack of support for a three‐factor structure with the firefighting sample, scree plot analysis was used to suggest that a two‐factor solution may provide the best fit solution. The two‐factor solution revealed a construct described as general “post‐traumatic symptomatology” and a potential second factor described as “sleep”.
Originality/value
The author suggests a conservative approach to using the IES‐R with first responder samples, in particular firefighters, and recommends the use of an overall score in place of subscale scores. This recommendation is suggested as a temporary approach until additional research can be completed to further evaluate the present lack of support for the three IES‐R subscales when used with a firefighting sample.
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Anjali Pathania and Gowhar Rasool
The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of power tactics by hospital administrators in order to gain employee compliance. It attempts to understand the influence of power…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of power tactics by hospital administrators in order to gain employee compliance. It attempts to understand the influence of power bases of hospital administrators on the employee compliance using an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) technique.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a mixed method technique and was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, qualitative analysis was carried out through content analysis of the anecdotes collected from the employees working in tertiary hospitals. Content analysis of responses aided in obtaining a list of criteria and sub-criteria affecting employee behavioural compliance. In the second phase, quantitative analysis was carried out using the AHP technique. While applying AHP, the issue pertaining to employee behavioural compliance with hospital’s policies, procedures and related instructions was formulated in form of a hierarchy of one objective, two criteria, six sub-criteria and five alternatives established through literature review and content analysis. Furthermore, the subject matter experts were asked to conduct pairwise comparison wherein priority rankings were achieved.
Findings
The results indicated that reward power (25 per cent) is the most significant power style exercised by effective hospital administrators in achieving employee behavioural compliance followed by expert (24 per cent), referent (22 per cent) and legitimate powers (17 per cent). As coercive (12 per cent) came out to be the least preferred power style, it should be cautiously exercised by hospital administrators in the present day scenario.
Research limitations/implications
The major limitation of this study is that the sample was drawn only from three tertiary hospitals in Jammu district that limits the generalizability of the findings in all the hospital settings across different regions. No attempt is made in this study to understand the variations with regard to demographics of the respondents that can be taken as a future research study. This study is cross-sectional in nature and provides the perspective of specific time. A longitudinal study could further provide insights into different time variations and the comparison and henceforth can be more comprehensive, thus supporting the generalizability of this study.
Practical implications
The study empirically identifies the relative importance of exercising power styles in order to gain employee behavioural compliance. The study helps in understanding the complex problem of behavioural compliance in hospital setting by examining the intensity of each factor affecting employee behavioural compliance. This knowledge is very critical in effective hospital management and getting the work done. The priority rankings obtained for power styles can be used for developing selection batteries and performance records of hospital administrators. As the behaviour of the employees is not static, there may exist the inherent limitations of adopted cross-sectional design for the present study. Furthermore, longitudinal study can be conducted at different time periods, to understand the variations in the patterns of employee’s compliance behaviour and associated practiced power styles by hospital administrators.
Originality/value
This is perhaps the first study that has scientifically attempted to integrate the power styles and analyzed their effective use in hospital administration. This research study has attempted to develop an elementary base for academicians, scholars as well as management practitioners on the effective use of power styles for achieving employee behavioural compliance in hospitals.
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Examines the economy of Southeast Asia during the period 1997 to 1999 against a background of socio‐economic theory and a transition from disequilibrium to general stable and…
Abstract
Examines the economy of Southeast Asia during the period 1997 to 1999 against a background of socio‐economic theory and a transition from disequilibrium to general stable and equilibrium conditions. Discusses solutions towards establishing self‐regulating mechanisms needed for a free, just and stable economy and society: reform of officially organized securities commodities and foreign exchange makets; reform of the public budget and budgetary policies; and reform of the foreign exchange system and internaitonal commercial and financial relations.
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