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It is recommended that the OD Community develop a taxonomical diagnostic guide concerning organisational pathologies similar to APA′s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Part of such an effort would be the classification of the subset of organisational maladies that derive from the subconscious dimensions of organisational behaviour. As an example of how such a schemata can be created, a non‐directive psychological depth approach was applied to a decade‐long conflict between the engineering and operating divisions of a Fortune 500 company. It was found that the source of the difficulty was subconscious paradigmatic differences between the two groups; engineers exhibiting a scientific, positivistic world view; operating managers an entrepreneurial one. Symptoms of such a conflict are long term (years) normative, moral rigid disagreements over how the affairs of the company should be conducted. Thus paradigmatic conflict would constitute one type of organisational disorder that could be incorporated into a potential OD diagnostic guide.

Chester Barnard's insistence that authority rests on the consent of the subordinate is difficult to reconcile with the opposing reality that superiors do have the last word. Resolution of this dilemma is unlikely to bo found by prolonging discussions of the legitimation of authority, which may have reached a point of diminishing returns. Co‐existence of coercion and consent may be more satisfactorily explained in terms of Simon's concept of the subordinate's zone of acceptance of authority and the resulting distinction between two different sets of decisional premises, one at the boundary of this zone and the other inside the zone. An addition to Simon's theory of the concept and analysis of compliance proposed by Etzioni gives further insight into the interdependency of superior and subordinate in the authority situation.

This paper reconsiders the criticisms of the most influential theory of the rise of the large corporations, and to see how these criticisms can be met without entirely abandoning the basic elements of the theory.

This problem is approached by first analyzing the weaknesses inherent in Chandler's theory as presented in The Visible Hand, and then by reworking elements of the theory by relying on data generated by other historical accounts.

The author found that the theory could be salvaged by reordering the evolution of managerial practices based on a variety of historical studies, many not considered by Chandler, but even some of his own earlier work. Given these changes in historical order, vital managerial reforms can be placed sufficiently early that organizational techniques existed to solve the problems and exploit the opportunities that Chandler identifies as creating the pressures necessary to generate the large industrial corporation, thus responding to one class of criticism. My approach can also incorporate other factors that critics see as missing in Chandler's account.

What is new in this paper is that it reconciles Chandler's analysis with those of his critics by re‐examining and correcting some of his assumptions. The result is a theory of corporate evolution that is less global but more realistic. Economic and business historians as well as sociologists of organizations will find this reassessment valuable.

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, and Hackett 1994, 1996) proposes that career interests, goals, and choices are related to self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations. It suggests that peopleʼs self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations with regard to self-employment would predict their goals to become selfemployed. This study explores the ability of SCCT to predict goals for self-employment in a sample of 115 undergraduate business students. Results indicated that students with higher entrepreneurial self-efficacy and higher self-employment outcome expectations had higher intentions to become self-employed. These findings imply that educators and policy-makers may boost student entrepreneurial intentions by (1) enhancing studentsʼ confidence to succeed in an entrepreneurial career and (2) enhancing studentsʼ expectations of strong positive outcomes resulting from an entrepreneurial career

Two studies were conducted examining the effects of power, distribution norms, and the scope of future interaction on small group negotiation. Subjects participated in a three‐person negotiation exercise in which they had to reach agreements between two or three players to receive resources. In study one the effects of power position (high, medium, low), dominant distribution norm (contribution, need), and the expectation of future interaction (expected, not expected) on the distribution of resources were examined. Power interacted with both dominant distribution norm and the expectation of future interaction. The ability of high power, less needy players to achieve resources was reduced under a dominant need‐based distribution norm, and when future interaction was expected. In addition, groups expecting future interaction were more likely to form exclusive coalitions than those not anticipating future interaction. In study two the effects of power position (high, medium, low), type of need (pure‐need need + future potential), and the scope of future interaction (full group, coalition‐only) on the distribution of resources were examined. Power interacted with both the type of need and the scope of future interaction. Low power, more needy players achieved greater resources when need was linked to future potential and when future interaction with the entire group was anticipated. In addition, groups anticipating future interaction with only those included in the final agreement were more likely to form exclusive coalitions than those anticipating future interaction with all group members.

The purpose of this article is to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Evolution of Management Thought (EMT), a critically acclaimed text in management and organizational studies for its value in historicizing the practice of management.

The authors asked Daniel Wren and Arthur Bedeian in their own words to their contribution. In addition, the authors offer commentary and critique of 16 leading management historians who share their reflections on the intellectual significance of Wren and Bedeian, and the punctuation of EMT as a canonical text in the field of management history.

The legacy of Wren and Bedeian can be felt across the academy of historical research on business and organizations. Their work has separately made significant contributions to management studies but together they have forged a fruitful partnership that has given rise to multiple generations of scholars and scholarship that continue to shape the field to this day.

The contribution of the authors in this article is to mark the significant milestone of EMT’s five-decade success by hearing from the authors themselves about their longstanding success as well as giving space to critique about the past, present and future of our collective historical scholarship shaped by Wren and Bedeian’s legacy.

Scholars have identified several predictors of learner satisfaction, but little research addresses the impact of intragroup conflict in a virtual learning context. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potentially deleterious effects of perceived intragroup relationship conflict on virtual learners’ intention to re-enroll.

Data were systematically collected from virtual learners using an online questionnaire and then analyzed by multiple regression models.

The results show that emotional expressiveness is an antecedent to perceived intragroup relationship conflict, and the relationship is moderated by individuals’ perceived enjoyment of computer-mediated communication. Virtual learners with a higher emotional expressiveness (i.e. extraverts) experience higher perceived relationship conflict, which in turn, lowers their intention to re-enroll.

The study confirms the antecedent and consequence of perceived intragroup relationship conflict in a virtual learning context.

Educational institutions and businesses may use three proposed strategies to deal with intragroup relationship conflict.

The study contributes to the limited knowledge on how to effectively manage virtual learning interactions by educational institutions and businesses.