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1 – 10 of over 62000Rajib N. Sanyal and Turgut Guvenli
A survey of managers in Israel, Slovenia, and the USA finds a marked similarity with respect to the characteristics and abilities managers need to contribute to organizational…
Abstract
A survey of managers in Israel, Slovenia, and the USA finds a marked similarity with respect to the characteristics and abilities managers need to contribute to organizational success. Factors such as decision making ability, communication skills, commitment to organizational goals, ability to choose the right persons in key persons and ability to delegate are considered to be very important although there are differences with respect to the degree of their importance. Several managerial characteristics are also found to be significantly correlated with the firm’s financial success and employee morale. The findings are framed in the context of convergence‐divergence hypothesis as it applies to the internationalization of management practices.
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Elaine Berkery and Nuala F. Ryan
Using Schein’s Descriptive Index (SDI), this paper aims to first examine gender role stereotypes and requisite managerial characteristics among Irish business students over a…
Abstract
Purpose
Using Schein’s Descriptive Index (SDI), this paper aims to first examine gender role stereotypes and requisite managerial characteristics among Irish business students over a 10-year period. Then, the paper investigates whether there have been changes in gender role stereotypes during this period and subsequently unpack the reasons behind any changes recorded.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 1,124 students from the same business student population rated men, women and managers in general, using SDI. Data was collected first during the academic year 2008–2009 and again in 2018–2019 to determine stability or change in gender role stereotypes and requisite managerial characteristics. Intraclass correlation coefficients scores were computed to determine the relationship between gender and requisite managerial characteristics and identify differences and similarities between the two samples. To explore the content of gender stereotypes, an examination of the specific descriptive items was conducted by performing a factorial analysis using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. Finally, the authors adapted the scales developed by Duehr and Bono (2006) to determine whether broad gender stereotypic characteristics with respect to communal and agentic, attributed to men, women and managers, differ by sample.
Findings
The overall findings indicate changes in the extent of gender role stereotyping of the managerial role among the male cohorts studied. The subsequent analysis of the descriptive items identified that the change among the male cohort is due to the levels of agency they perceive women to now possess.
Research limitations/implications
The authors contribute to the literature on both gendered and managerial stereotypes by showing changes in the pro-male stereotype of the managerial role and contribute to the existing debate on a shift towards a more androgynous view of leadership.
Practical implications
These findings help understand the content of gender role stereotypes that recent graduates bring with them to their first job post-graduation. The observed changes in the level of agency ascribed to women by their male counterparts could prove to be an important step forward for women’s advancement to managerial positions.
Originality/value
The findings indicate that both male and female cohorts in Sample 2 perceived men and women in general to possess the same levels of communal and agentic traits as their managerial counterparts.
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Lize A.E. Booysen and Stella M. Nkomo
Although Schein's gender role management stereotype hypothesis has been examined in many countries around the world, no studies specifically examine the combined effects of race…
Abstract
Purpose
Although Schein's gender role management stereotype hypothesis has been examined in many countries around the world, no studies specifically examine the combined effects of race and gender on this phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to use an intersectional analysis to test the hypothesis among different race and gender groups in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The 92‐item Schein descriptive index was randomly administered to 592 black men, white men, black women, and white women managers. The degree of resemblance between the descriptions of men and successful managers and between women and successful managers was determined by computing intra‐class correlation coefficients.
Findings
Results confirm the think manager, think male hypothesis for black and white men but not for black and white women. Black and white men are less likely to attribute successful managerial characteristics to women. The hypothesis is more robust among black men than among white men. For black women, the resemblance between the characteristics of women in general and successful managers is significantly higher than the resemblance of men in general and successful managers. This represents only the second study globally to report a reversal of the usual pattern. White women perceived men and women to equally possess the requisite management characteristics.
Practical implications
Intersectionality is capable of revealing the ways in which race and gender simultaneously influence perceptions of managerial characteristics.
Originality/value
The paper provides a race and gender intersectional analysis that compares the perceptions of the think manager – think male hypothesis in contrast to the dominant gender only analysis that may mask important differences in the stereotyping of managerial characteristics. It is also the first study of its kind in South Africa.
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Elaine Berkery, Michael Morley and Siobhan Tiernan
The aims of this study are threefold: to examine the relationship between gender role stereotypes and requisite managerial characteristics, to test Lord and Maher's…
Abstract
Purpose
The aims of this study are threefold: to examine the relationship between gender role stereotypes and requisite managerial characteristics, to test Lord and Maher's recognition‐based processes to determine whether familiarity with women in leadership positions decreases the “think manager‐think male” stereotype and to examine the nature of the attributes used to describe men, women and managers.
Design/methodology/approach
Schein's Descriptive Index was used in this study. A total of 1,236 surveys were included in the study. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC, r1) were computed to determine the relationship between the different moderators and requisite managerial characteristics. Factorial analysis and agglomerative hierarchal cluster analysis were used to identify the traits attributed to men, women and managers.
Findings
Male respondents continue to gender type the managerial role in favour of men. Both males and managers continue to be viewed as agentic in nature while women are viewed in more androgynous terms by both male and female respondents.
Practical implications
This study expands our understanding of how males and females view women, men and managers. Based on the results of this study, the authors would argue that women are better equipped to adopt an androgynous leadership style and to practise transformational leadership.
Originality/value
This study looks beyond ICC scores and looks at how each of the traits is linked to men, women and managers. The findings are discussed in terms of how organisations need to look beyond the misfit between women and requisite managerial characteristics and focus on what females can contribute at board level and to management in general.
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Gradually, more and more women are being introduced to top managerial positions, providing a new challenge for educators, employers and organisational psychologists who are…
Abstract
Gradually, more and more women are being introduced to top managerial positions, providing a new challenge for educators, employers and organisational psychologists who are interested in the special characteristics of women that might be of relevance to their performance and success in a supervisory role.
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Silvia Gherardi and Annalisa Murgia
The purpose of this paper is to address the relationships between gender and management in the narratives of students. More specifically, the authors discuss how the discourse on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the relationships between gender and management in the narratives of students. More specifically, the authors discuss how the discourse on management is mobilized as a discursive practice able to make some form of that activity thinkable and practicable: who can be a CEO? What kind of managerial competencies are attributed to men/women CEOs? What kind of moral order is expressed in the stories told?
Design/methodology/approach
Stimulus texts have been used to elicit narratives. Students were asked to complete a short story regarding a fictive managerial character, either female or male, whose performance and attitude they were asked to evaluate.
Findings
The paper discusses how the collected stories as a whole expressed a conception of what counts as a “good manager” and how management is gendered. In the analysis, the authors discuss whether and how the relationships between gender and management are changing, or the basic assumptions about “think manager-think male” are still valid. The paper illustrates a traditional positioning of gendered management along the lines of rationality vs care, and a third positioning in which the ideal of the “good manager” has both competencies.
Originality/value
The authors designed an alternative research strategy focused on how gender and management are discursively constructed within a context of economic crisis that affects management reputation. Particularly, the authors discuss the surprising results concerning how the written stories evaluating male CEOs distrusted the masculine way of managing and positioned the female managing style within a trustworthy context.
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Susan J. Linz, Linda K. Good and Patricia Huddleston
Despite unanimous agreement in the existing literature that morale influences employee performance, no well‐defined measure of morale exists. In Russia, identifying the factors…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite unanimous agreement in the existing literature that morale influences employee performance, no well‐defined measure of morale exists. In Russia, identifying the factors that contribute to employee morale is particularly important since firms face difficult financial challenges imposed by the decade‐long economic and political transition that began in January 1992. The study aims to develop a robust measure of morale and focuses on the factors that influence morale among Russian workers.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data were collected from Russian employees at two different points in time, 1995 and 2002, in five Russian cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Taganrog, Rostov and Azov). The study used regression analysis to assess the influence of expected rewards on employee morale.
Findings
The paper finds that among the workers participating in the study, expectation of receiving a desired reward contributes to high morale, with expected monetary rewards having a higher influence that expected non‐monetary rewards, but praise for a job well done and a feeling of accomplishment also contribute positively to employee morale. There is a significant correlation between positive attitudes toward work and morale, and a positive correlation between performance assessment and morale. Demographic characteristics (age and gender) have no discernable influence on morale when controls are included for work experience.
Research limitations/implications
Data are cross‐sectional rather than longitudinal and sampling is purposive rather than random.
Practical implications
The research suggests that if companies are not financially able to provide monetary rewards, managers can focus on developing a work environment that is friendly and fosters mutual respect. Managers have control over praise and it costs nothing to praise employees for a “job well done.”
Originality/value
No study to date has examined Russian worker morale nor tested morale measures developed in developed market economies on Russian workers. The study develops three reliable measures of morale.
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The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive…
Abstract
The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive advantage provided by BI capability is not well researched. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for successful BI deployment and empirically examines the association between BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage. Taking the telecommunications industry in Malaysia as a case example, the research particularly focuses on the influencing perceptions held by telecommunications decision makers and executives on factors that impact successful BI deployment. The research further investigates the relationship between successful BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage of the telecommunications organizations. Another important aim of this study is to determine the effect of moderating factors such as organization culture, business strategy, and use of BI tools on BI deployment and the sustainability of firm’s competitive advantage.
This research uses combination of resource-based theory and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory to examine BI success and its relationship with firm’s sustainability. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and a two-phase sequential mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. The chapter presents a qualitative field study to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. The study includes a survey study with sample of business analysts and decision makers in telecommunications firms and is analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling.
The findings reveal that some internal resources of the organizations such as BI governance and the perceptions of BI’s characteristics influence the successful deployment of BI. Organizations that practice good BI governance with strong moral and financial support from upper management have an opportunity to realize the dream of having successful BI initiatives in place. The scope of BI governance includes providing sufficient support and commitment in BI funding and implementation, laying out proper BI infrastructure and staffing and establishing a corporate-wide policy and procedures regarding BI. The perceptions about the characteristics of BI such as its relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and observability are also significant in ensuring BI success. The most important results of this study indicated that with BI successfully deployed, executives would use the knowledge provided for their necessary actions in sustaining the organizations’ competitive advantage in terms of economics, social, and environmental issues.
This study contributes significantly to the existing literature that will assist future BI researchers especially in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In particular, the model will help practitioners to consider the resources that they are likely to consider when deploying BI. Finally, the applications of this study can be extended through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.
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In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of…
Abstract
In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.
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Bennett J. Tepper and Lauren S. Simon
For work organizations and their members, establishing and maintaining mutually satisfying employment relationships is a fundamental concern. The importance that scholars attach…
Abstract
For work organizations and their members, establishing and maintaining mutually satisfying employment relationships is a fundamental concern. The importance that scholars attach to employment relationships is reflected in research streams that explore the optimal design of strategic human resource management systems, the nature of psychological contract fulfillment and violation, and the factors associated with achieving person-environment fit, among others. Generally missing from theory and research pertaining to employment relationships is the perspective of individuals who reside at the employee-employer interface – managerial leaders. We argue that, for managerial leaders, a pervasive concern involves the tangible and intangible resource requirements of specific employees. We then provide the groundwork for study of the leader’s perspective on employment relationships by proposing a model that identifies how employees come to be perceived as low versus high maintenance and how these perceptions, in turn, influence leader cognition, affect, and behavior.
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