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The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate concerning the compatibility of variable pay schemes (VPS) and trade unions, by investigating the effects of the managerial function (to increase management control over employees) and market function (to attract and retain suitably qualified employees) of VPS for trade unions.

A critical case study approach was used to verify how the two varying functions of VPS affect the trade union of a large multi-establishment Irish financial institution. Data are based on a total of 60 in-depth interviews with key informants (trade unions, managers and non-managerial employees) at various levels in the organisational hierarchy and a representative survey of employees.

While the findings confirmed the a priori expectation that the managerial function of VPS is more likely to damage unions than the market function, this study revealed that the interplay between the two functions varied over time and across outlets, and was primarily contingent on the disposition of line management towards the use of VPS and the market context.

The consequences of the shift to a managerial function of VPS following the 2008 economic crisis could only be assessed in a preliminary manner due to the time frame of the study.

Trade unions, managers and employees need to consider the potential gaps between the intended purposes of VPS and their actual implementation to assess whether they are of potential benefit.

This paper contributes to the existing literature in two main ways. First, it adds that the market function of VPS serves managers’ aims not only in aiding them attract, retain and motivate suitably qualified employees as indicated by Flanders (1970), but also in helping them gain great control over labour costs, which in turn, has mixed effects for trade unions. Second, in addition to the pragmatic reasons identified by previous studies, the findings show that a key determinant in unions’ acceptance of VPS involves earlier experiences of unions fighting unsuccessfully against the adoption of VPS.

During the twentieth century, much of the discussion about managerial behaviour centred on the difference between management functions and manager roles, with much of the debate centring on “Who is right, Mintzberg or Fayol?” Reports on a study, involving 523 Australian managers, which suggests both are right – Fayol gave us management as we would like it to be and Mintzberg gave us management as it is. In doing so, promulgates a set of new constructions of managerial behaviour – preferred managerial style (management as we would like it to be) and enacted managerial style (management as it is). Taken together, we now have available to us a more integrated theoretical base for research on management and managerial behaviour, and a measure that can be used to progress the required research.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the role of managerial performance in the success of men‐owned businesses (MOB) and women‐owned businesses (WOB) for Canadian and Israeli entrepreneurs.

A process‐oriented approach, a relatively overlooked perspective in this field, was used for this assessment. The methodology used was based on two national samples from Canada and Israel (n=235) which included mostly members of a private business networking organization. Questionnaires were distributed to the respondents; only entrepreneurs with at least one employee were included.

Multilevel analyses revealed that gender is significantly associated with some managerial functions, but except for the business longevity – it is not directly associated with measures of business success; nationality is associated with two measures of business success: turnover and growth. Women entrepreneurs, both Canadian and Israeli, ranked significantly higher in some functions of their managerial performance compared to their male counterparts.

This study's main implications are in deciphering the major role of managerial performance and nationality and the relatively marginal effect of gender in business success measures, implying that the gender gap in successful entrepreneurial businesses is decreasing. These findings can become foundations for better understanding broader entrepreneurship questions and practice‐based researched endeavors.

This paper's main contribution is in the identified need for developing training and education programs for entrepreneurs in the areas of managerial skills and practices; as well as in opening future avenues for cross‐national assessments of a process‐oriented perspective in these areas.

The purpose of the chapter is to distinguish the process of formation of algorithm of making of managerial decisions in the age of constant changes. The methodology of the chapter includes the method of theoretical foundations, the method of theoretical differentiations of categorical tools, the method of algorithmization, and the method adaptive perception. The research results include the following theses: the problems of the research are current and important; categorical structure of definition “making of managerial decisions” is reflected within functions of management, the process of managerial activities, and decision making on the basis of the risk; actions on solving problems; the aspect of making of managerial decision is limited; authors' algorithm of making of managerial decision reflects rationality and irrationality of the formed situation. This article could be supplemented with practical recommendations in the sphere of making of managerial decisions.

Aims to demonstrate how conceptual frameworks can guide managerial training in education. Such purpose should apply to various countries because the concepts, by their nature, have universal characteristics. Uses three managerial functions: the rationale for their selection; the methods of teaching them; and the results of teaching as benchmarks of the use of the guidelines. Also provides an argument that other managerial functions can be taught in the same way. This work, which focuses on communication, style and problem solving, is considered experimental in nature. More research is needed to understand better the relations between conceptual frameworks and administration training.

This paper aims to locate managerial feedback‐seeking in a self‐regulation model in which self‐motivational considerations are uppermost. It seeks to use a qualitative psychological approach to address the question of when, what, how, from whom and why is feedback sought in a performance contingent managerial setting.

Using Kelly's Repertory Grid technique, ten managers reflected systematically on their feedback seeking in an organizational context. A grounded theory framework was used to identify higher‐order cross‐case constructs.

Managers sought performance feedback when they perceived uncertainty and difficulty in the pursuit of their managerial functions and were minded of their need to develop their management skills. Consistent with the instrumental model, feedback seeking was highly goal‐oriented and self‐affirmative in pursuit of increased managerial competence. However, the finding that adds most to the understanding on both an empirical and theoretical level is in showing how managers sought their feedback remotely, and from largely external sources, to reconcile development needs with self‐protective considerations (i.e. image and ego‐costs) in relation to subordinates and peers. These findings have implications for understanding feedback seeking as a multi‐dimensional highly self‐motivated process.

Qualitative research uses small samples and this limits their empirical generalizability; however, the paper's findings link with previous work indicating potential for hypothesis generation and theoretical development.

Questions are raised about whether managers feel able to seek performance feedback for learning and development purposes, without feeling threatened in their capability and worth as managers. The paper argues that the environment most conducive to feedback seeking is one in which managers feel “psychologically safe” rather than defensive about their capability.

Budgeting is central in public organizations. From a research viewpoint, it is an extremely multifaceted and potentially rich field to investigate and develop. The changing institutional and socio-economic landscape, moreover, requires a profound reassessment of its roles and features in accounting studies. The purpose of this paper is to review the existing European literature on public budgeting, looking at how public administration, public management, and accounting contribute to current budgeting theories and practices and to advance a proposal on how they can individually and jointly contribute in the future.

The authors collect and analyze all the papers on public budgeting in the European context that were published in all the issues of 15 major accounting and public-management journals since 1980.

Budgeting has so far played a rather marginal role in European public management and accounting research. Among the existing papers, most focus on the Anglo-Saxon context, look at the intra-organizational aspects of budgeting, emphasize its managerial and allocative functions, either adopt an interpretive theoretical framework or make no explicit reference to theory, and rely on qualitative analyses. Public budgeting lies at the intersections between different disciplines and professions, but this multifacetedness has been largely neglected by the existing literature. These intersections thus offer significant opportunities for future research. Building on the distinction between the intra- and inter-organizational foci of budgeting, between its different functions (i.e. allocative, managerial, external accountability), and between the accounting and the public administration and management perspectives, the authors propose possible future research topics.

Budgeting plays a central role in public organizations and is used to allocate a large share of national incomes. This paper explores the existing literature and puts forward some potentially fruitful avenues for future research.

This study focuses on a particular type of public organization characterized by weak boundaries and strong informal relationships, elements that have assisted in driving the reform of an entire national public management system. The case is the Public Healthcare System of the Southern Italy in the period beginning in the early 1990s through the beginning of the new millennium, with particular emphasis on the Sicilian region, selected since it represents an extreme case of informal networks that affect organizational boundaries and governance functions.

The 15‐year study of excellence in public relations and communication management in the USA, the UK and Canada produced an explanation of the value of PR to an organisation and a set of theoretical principles describing how the communication function should be organised, structured and practised in an organisation. These principles provide a theoretical benchmark for auditing the quality of a PR unit. This paper identifies the implications of these principles for PR education at the undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education levels and for management education in MBA programmes. The excellence study suggests, first, that all PR education must instil in students the view that PR is a strategic managerial function rather than a technical support function for other managerial functions. Undergraduate programmes should continue to develop superior communication skills in their students, but they must frame these technical skills in principles of strategic management, research and ethics and social responsibility. Postgraduate and continuing education programmes should focus on strategic management and research skills and educate future managers to be ethics officers in the organisation. MBA programmes should include a unit on PR in a subject area such as strategic management, public affairs or corporate social responsibility to prepare them to work with PR professionals when they become senior executives. PR education at all of these levels and in both communication and MBA programmes should educate students to practise PR globally.

In the past two decades, the way enterprises in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) manage their human resources has changed dramatically. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) have entered into the “strategic investor” phase, where now the integration of PRC operations into the MNE network receives growing attention. For these companies HRM is often of high strategic importance. This article seeks to explore how differences in HRM practices in such businesses vary with their ownership forms. The study is based on in‐depth interviews with HRM managers – on the PRC country‐level – in 12 MNEs. The large majority of the participating companies clearly stated that today the HRM function is of high strategic importance for their operations in the PRC and is predominantly controlled by the MNE partner. Although equity ownership stake is an important variable influencing HRM policies and practices, it is shown that it needs to be seen in conjunction with other possibly non‐equity control‐mechanisms.