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Examines the hypotheses that high instrumentality, adaptive coping, and low work/family pressure are predictive components of women’s managerial advancement. A profile analysis demonstrated that the managerial profile was characterized by high instrumentality and low relationality accompanied by high adaptive work coping. On the other hand, the non‐managerial profile was characterized by low instrumentality and high relationality accompanied by low adaptive work coping and high maladaptive work coping. A LISREL path analysis was tentatively used to test the causal influence of internal (instrumental and relational) traits, work/family pressure, and coping on women’s managerial advancement. The results showed that the strongest predictor of managerial emergence was the instrumental factor, while work/family pressure and coping style had no impact.

Investigates the underlying principles of W. Edwards Deming’s management theory, the “System of profound knowledge”, to determine whether the managerial leadership properties of this theory reveal distinct profile patterns for Deming and traditional managers. Individuals selected for this study were a random sample of managers from the American Society for Quality Control and the Academy of Management. Statistical analysis revealed distinct profile patterns for Deming managers and traditional (i.e. non‐Deming) managers. The inventory can be used as a management hiring or management development tool with further validation.

In this chapter we explore the nature of leadership in Mainland China in two studies using personality and personal values data of Mainland Chinese managers and executives. This perspective provides insight into the leadership prototypes that exist in Chinese culture and the behaviors that signal leadership to other members of the culture. In the first study, we compare the personality and values profiles of Mainland Chinese managers to those of managers in the United States, Germany, and Australia, representing some of China's largest economic trading partners. These comparisons suggest a distinctive leadership prototype for Mainland Chinese managers characterized by more cooperative behaviors, a high concern for managing one's own image and an emphasis on execution and task focus. Certain characteristics in the leadership prototypes were linked to the Chinese concepts of “face” and “guanxi.” The second study examined differences in leadership prototypes within Mainland China by comparing the profiles of Chinese managers working for multinational corporations (MNCs) with those working for State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). The findings in this study revealed a pattern of SOE managers conforming more closely to the Mainland Chinese leadership prototype found in Study 1. The profile for MNC managers, where different, often differed in the direction of closer resemblance to more “Western” leadership profiles. The implications of the findings from each study and future research directions are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to examine Chinese managers' perceptions of work ethic (work‐related values and attitudes) and to provide insights on how managers interact with their workers.

This is a qualitative study using a series of in‐depth interviews to draw state‐owned enterprises (SOE) managers' perceptions of work ethic. The inquiry process led to a single‐case level of analysis where data are aggregated to incorporate a thematic approach. Underlining theoretical frameworks that guide the study are a combination of Western and Eastern work ethic frameworks and cross‐culture management understanding of the concept of guanxi.

Five themes that emerged from data analysis became the five dimensions of Chinese managers' work ethic profile. In addition, the study revealed four overarching themes that influence managerial behavior in Chinese SOEs: the absolute power of the boss; work is the center of life; social network ties to the workplace; and place hope in the hands of the boss.

The paper provides comprehensive understanding of the Chinese management work ethic profile. Future studies should expand to include managers from different generations and industry sectors.

The paper highlighted the importance of matching cultural values with management practices. It identified differences between the west and east of their work‐related values and attitudes, which have practical implications for developing effective management strategies and practices when working with Chinese SOEs.

The paper provides an indigenous description of Chinese managers' work ethic profile and provides suggestions for future research.

This study aims to explore how the amount and the nature of learning accrued during an MBA – measured in terms of competency development – impact on career advancement and compensation.

Applying nonparametric statistical analysis on data from behavioral event interviews and survey questionnaires to a sample of 44 Italian MBA graduates, the study investigates: the type and extent of competency development during the MBA programme and the relationship between this competency development and post‐MBA career and compensation.

The findings support the hypothesis that the degree of competency development during the MBA programme enhances career advancement, and that some competencies, like planning, result orientation, networking, organizational awareness, system thinking and use of technology, do so particularly, which is consistent with literature on career competencies. No relationship is found, instead, between competency development during the MBA and compensation.

Most of the outstanding research supports the hypothesis that the MBA enhances career advancement, but the evidence about how the skills and competencies associated with an MBA study impact on career outcomes is polarized and remains somewhat sketchy. Several scholars have examined the career outcomes for MBA graduates, but no specific study has addressed the issue of assessing whether and to what extent the competencies developed during the MBA programme impact on career outcomes. The study investigates this issue and tries to explore the relationship between competencies development and career advancement.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether sheltered employment centers (CEEs) which have a higher rate of professionalization of their managers have better economic returns than those that have a lower one.

A questionnaire has been drawn up for their managers. After collecting the answers, an index of professionalization classifies the CEEs with managers of high, medium and low levels of professionalism. This index is then correlated with the main financial ratios of companies.

The results show that companies with the highest level of managers’ professionalization, on average, have higher economic returns than companies with medium and low rates, although the difference is not very high. This study is an important contribution to academic literature, as it is the first to examine the professionalization of CEE managers.

Finally, this paper is not short of limitations. The number of responses is small but there are similar studies with similar response rates. Additionally, the scarcity of responses may suggest that there is a lack of interest about the utility of professionalization by some CEEs managers because, perhaps, they do not have the necessary competences to understand its importance in management.

This study has some main implications for stakeholders: first, CEEs must pay more attention to the professionalization of their management team, because professionalization can lead to meeting its goals and guaranteeing the firm’s growth. Second, training programs in skills and attitudes should be designed to strengthen these competencies. Moreover, managers of social firms should know that the establishment of strategic plans will be useful to identify new opportunities in the market.

Given the important role of these social firms for the employment of people with disabilities, training programs should be promoted by government in order to ensure the professionalization of these companies.

This research is an important contribution to the literature on this subject because there are no studies about the level of professionalization of CEEs, companies that represent an important value for the economy of a country.

The purpose of this study is to examine linkages of gender and gender-related variables to aspirations to top management over a period spanning five decades.

During each of the past five decades, samples from two early-career populations (n = 2131), undergraduate business students and part-time (evening) MBAs, completed an aspirations to top management measure and described themselves on an instrument that assessed self-ascribed masculinity and femininity.

Aspirations to top management were predicted by respondent gender for undergraduates, with women’s aspirations lower than those of men, and by masculinity for both populations. Suggesting a shifting role of gender, undergraduate women’s aspirations to top management declined during the 21st century, whereas undergraduate men’s aspirations did not.

Any decline in early-career women’s aspirations to top management over a sustained period may contribute in the long run to perpetuating the under-representation of women in top management.

The finding of a striking decline in women’s aspirations to top management during the 21st century in an early-career population is an original contribution to the gender in management literature.

This work aims to shed light on the cognitive biases that may have an influence on the strategic decision-making process, with a particular focus on those impacting both human resources (HR) standard activities within organizations and new innovative change management initiatives critical for them to survive.

This is a conceptual paper based on a literature review on cognitive biases and managerial decision-making. The conceptual approach is employed to outline how subjective cognitive barriers can undermine managerial decisions and, in particular, the objectivity of HR practices and change management initiatives.

The discussion emphasizes that cognitive biases are ever-present elements in the decision-making process of professionals, and they influence several areas of management including HR and change management.

Limitations of the study concern the method adopted, as it is conceptual. The implications of the paper are relevant for supervisors and employees working in the HR and innovation/R&D departments in order to create awareness within the organizational contexts and limit the negative influence of these cognitive barriers during their daily activities.

The research contributes to the knowledge on HR management and decision-making process by combining literature findings with practical examples and tips suggesting how to avoid biases in the decision-making process regarding HR and change management.

This paper aims to examine the Self-Other Agreement between leaders and employees in the sector of Libraries and Information Services (LIS) to construct a sustainable and strategic communicational process among library directors and staff.

A sample of 135 leaders-employees of 17 organisations of LIS in more than five countries answered on a quantitative methodological research instrument in a multiplicity of variables. Statistical analysis of independent samples t-test was used to testify our research hypotheses.

Results indicated that there is a difference in means between the two independent samples (leaders-employees). There are library leaders who rate themselves quite high, and there are employees who rate their leaders with lower evaluations.

This research extends and improves the matter of Self-Other Agreement in the sector of LIS through the collection of data that indicated a possible gap of communication and trustworthiness between leaders and employees.

Regardless of the difference or the consensus of ratings among leaders and employees, the results of this research could be served as a stimulus plus as a starting point for library leaders by correcting or developing relations of communication and trustworthiness between them and their followers.

Self-Other Agreement is one of the major factors that positively or negatively affect the overall operation of the organization in the way a leader could perceive the additional feedback. In the sector of LIS, the study of Self-Other Agreement is a rich and unexplored research area which deserves further analysis.

In his last major works, Deming provided an overarching framework for the implementation of quality management within an organisation – “the system of profound knowledge”. This approach summarises a lifetime of dedication to the field of quality management. Presented as a simple framework, it is in reality a complex set of interactions that requires a precise fit to an organisation, and the individuals that constitute that organisation. After its initial implementation within a particular organisation a process of constant development is also essential. Gapp provides two models, which were used to assist in the establishment of the system of profound knowledge within an existing successful TQM organisation. During the implementation of the system of profound knowledge, leadership and management variables were measured. As clearly stated by Deming and supported by Kohn, McNary, Gapp and McGregor, the leadership required for the establishment of the system of profound knowledge must encompass intrinsic motivation, co‐operation and collaboration. This research investigated the proposed uptake of the above characteristics within the existing leadership of the organisation.