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Article
Publication date: 7 March 2016

Roni 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…

1480

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.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 37 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 July 2011

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…

3410

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.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 April 2015

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…

1168

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.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 26 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 June 2013

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.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2013

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.

Details

Management Research Review, vol. 36 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8269

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 4 May 2010

David Lamond

1410

Abstract

Details

Management Decision, vol. 48 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Article
Publication date: 8 November 2011

Shannon L. Wagner

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…

682

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.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 20 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 July 2019

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.

Details

International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0952-6862

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2001

Anghel N. Rugina

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…

1313

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.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 28 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2005

Heinz J. Kersting

To focus on the topic of ethics and responsibility, specifically on the ethical action of the social worker.

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Abstract

Purpose

To focus on the topic of ethics and responsibility, specifically on the ethical action of the social worker.

Design/methodology/approach

Considers that while ethical questions are discussed in social discourse everywhere, social work in Germany seems to avoid a reformulation of deeply ethical premises. This is perhaps so, because ethics already are implicit in the actions of social work.

Findings

The author believes that the implicit dealing with ethics on the part of the social worker is similar to the “implicit ethics” of Heinz von Foester, which “cannot be articulated”, but are immanent in every action.

Originality/value

A consideration of the ethical responsibilities of the social worker.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 34 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

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