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This study examines the effects of transformational and transactional leadership behaviors on cycle time, customer orientation, and relationship commitment in the purchasing process of a multinational services organization. The focus is on the activities and relationships between the international strategic business units (SBUs) and the corporate buying center leadership of the organization. Based on a sample of 346 SBUs and a series of 11 case studies, the results suggest that frequent and infrequent SBU users differ somewhat in the leadership behaviors preferred as determined by the effects on the three purchasing outcomes. The paper concludes with a discussion of the results and the implications for future research endeavors on global leadership in purchasing.

This study empirically explores one of the important channel issues – the relationship between various channel support given to channel partners and the perceived (by managers) goal‐orientation of a firm. Results from an emerging market, India, indicate that perceived orientation towards both profitability and market share is not associated with any of the channel support considered. Growth orientation however is strongly associated with most of the channel support activities – both business (e.g., business advice, pricing and ordering assistance, and personnel training) as well as marketing (advertising support, sales promotional material, and inventory management assistance) oriented activities. In contrast, perceived sales volume orientation is only associated with advertising support and business advice, however, the relationship is negative. These findings have interesting implications for channel management and channel motivation.

For the past several decades women have been moving into the United States workforce in greater numbers and they have been gaining access to the types of jobs that were, traditionally, performed exclusively by men. Despite this progress, they are still having difficulty penetrating the so‐called “glass ceiling” into upper management positions (Alimo‐Metcalfe 1993; Tavakolian 1993). Many reasons have been advanced, but the most compelling of these concerns the “glass walls” that support the “glass ceiling”. The “glass walls” refer to those invisible barriers that limit the ability of women and minorities to gain access to the type of job that would place them in a position to break through the “glass ceiling” (Townsend 1996). If women are to gain parity with men in the workforce, they need to succeed in the positions that lie inside the “glass walls” that will enable them to rise through the “glass ceiling” to upper management.

There has been a steady increase in the amount of research and theorising in the area of interorganisational research, especially with regard to buyer‐seller arrangements in marketing channels (Andersen and Narus 1990, Bergen et.al., 1992, Boyle et.al., 1992). Alternative interorganisational governance models, such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, and sole‐sourcing are the reality of modern business management (Borys and Jemison 1989, Buckley and Casson 1988), and so interfirm governance has become a strategic management issue. The much‐cited work of Porter (1985, 1991) has focused on the optimal linkage of interfirm activities, and regards the planning and governance of interfirm relations as an important competitive strategic issue, a point reiterated by Heide (1994). The issue of channel relationships has been one of concern for both practitioners and academics, and theories such as those of transaction cost analysis (TCA), agency theory, and relational norms have on the one hand shed much light on the problems, and on the other provided a fruitful backdrop to much empirical research. Less attention has been given to the effects of time on these notions, both in the literature and in empirical research. In this article we provide an overview of the theories, and attempt an integration. The purpose of this article is to focus on transaction cost economics (TCE) and relational exchange theory to provide an overview of the areas of interorganisational research where relationships play a role. A number of areas where the theories diverge and converge are outlined. More importantly, we endeavour to bring the effects of time into consideration, and to develop propositions for further research.

The boom in online products and services is radically changing many aspects of both the economy and everyday life, and will increasingly affect individuals’ learning needs. This article examines how education systems see their role in the “new economy”, and the means by which they can prepare students for the new tasks, challenges and opportunities they will encounter, while still having to cope with the constraints and contradictions affecting how they operate today.

Followership is the free will recognition of leadership in the commitment toward realization of the collectively adopted organization vision and culture. The purpose of this paper is to identify the relationship between project managers’ leadership and their followership. Most project managers are both leaders and followers at the same time, but research typically investigates only their leadership. This ignores followership as an important aspect in understanding and predicting behavior, and further in the selection of project managers.

The method used for this paper is the explanatory in nature and a deductive approach, within which the above research hypothesis is tested through quantitative techniques. Data are collected through a nation-wide survey in China. Data analysis was done through factor analysis, canonical correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis.

The results show that transformational leadership is positively correlated with transformational followership and transactional followership, and that transactional leadership is negatively correlated with transactional followership.

The paper supports a deeper investigation into leadership and followership theories. A model for both leadership and followership is developed. The findings from this paper will guide organizations to choose the project managers.

The originality lies in the new way to examine the relationship between leadership and followership. It is the first study on the relationship of project managers. Its value is new insights, which introduced a new perspective to understand leadership and followership.

This article argues that some of the most profound costs of unemployment are social in nature, rather than solely economic. Consequently, the aim of the paper is to argue that the design and evaluation of active labour market policies (ALMPs) should incorporate a better and more sophisticated understanding of how such interventions affect the health, well‐being and social exclusion of the unemployed, as opposed to more typically economic outcomes like re‐employment and wage levels.

To achieve this, a range of theoretical and empirical evidence is reviewed that shows how unemployment is consistently associated with a range of health and social problems. Evidence is also presented that demonstrates the capacity that ALMPs have to intervene and mediate such problems.

The evidence presented demonstrates that not only is unemployment associated with a range of health and social problems but it appears to have a causal function. Further, the evidence also demonstrates how the causal pathway that leads from unemployment to poor health, low well‐being and social exclusion is often psychosocial in nature. It is argued that such findings reinforce the potential that activation policies have to improve the qualitative, psychosocial environment of unemployment for the better.

This article argues that politicians, policy‐makers and academics should take a more holistic approach vis‐à‐vis ALMPs, beyond the more typical economic‐centric way in which such programmes are often conceptualised. Further, it offers a framework for future research; suggesting that further work should focus on analysing the impacts of qualitatively different types of active interventions. To achieve this, a framework – based upon Bonoli's typology – is outlined.