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Evaluates the applicability of self‐concept and product image congruity theory within the new motor vehicle market. By utilising competitive product offerings, and by employing the perceptions of actual owners, the paper provides a true market assessment of the applicability of the theory. Respondents were examined using self‐concept and product value constructs and their responses were used to test a number of hypotheses. Among others, the results of analysis of variance indicated that when different brands of motor vehicles were physically similar, owners perceived no difference between their own self‐concepts and the self‐concepts they attributed to owners of competing product brands. This finding differs from previous research conducted on other products and suggests a different orientation by owners of similar motor vehicles to that suggested by self‐concept theory.

Creative processes halt when those who generate creative ideas self‐censor them. Self‐censorship may become a greater concern in performance management as organizations of the future are likely to face growing pressures to be creative, innovative, and adaptive. Self‐censorship was addressed in early research on managing the performance of brainstorming groups, and may have broad implications for creative performance in many facets of today’s organizations. This paper re‐examines the research on self‐censorship in view of recent management and social psychology research in an effort to better understand how the self‐esteem motive and a lack of self‐concept clarity cause self‐censorship. Person‐focused and feedback‐focused strategies to reduce self‐censorship are described, and directions for future research are suggested.

Academic self-concept refers to an individual's view of themselves in relation to school and their academic performance. For several years, researchers have examined the structure and components of academic self-concept (K. Cokley, 2002a; Guay, Larose, & Boivin, 2004; Marsh, Byrne, & Shavelson, 1988; McCoach, 2002). A considerable segment of this research has shown that academic self-concept is related to students' educational outcomes (Byrne, 1984; House, 2000). For example, House (2000) reported correlation coefficients demonstrating the relationship between academic self-concept and college students' participation in academic activities. Also, Komarraju, Musulkin, and Bhattacharya (2010) examined the influence of student–faculty experiences on students' academic self-concepts and found a positive relationship indicating that meaningful interactions with faculty may encourage the development of academic self-concept.

Based on two quality management self‐assessment survey projects conducted in Europe and Australia, the authors compare practices in these parts of the world. The main questions addressed are: why do organisations use self‐assessment?, how do they implement self‐assessment?, and what are the benefits which they obtain from it? Findings suggest companies in both regions differ slightly in how they implement self‐assessment. Both internal and external factors driving self‐assessment are identified, although in the case of Australia there are two different internal factors. One is related to rejuvenating flagging interest in TQM. Several approaches to self‐assessment are also identified including: assessor driven, management driven, employee driven and tools and techniques driven. Some variations between the two samples were identified here. Analysis of the links between success with self‐assessment and methods used suggested that a management driven approach which may be combined with a quality maturity matrix tended to work best.

Although technology still dominates, human resources and how they are managed is receiving increased attention in the analysis of gaining competitive advantage. Yet, many complex questions remain. This study first examines the theoretical understanding of employee engagement. Then an empirical investigation is made of the role that a wide variety of managers’ (n = 170) psychological state of self‐efficacy plays in the relationship between their employees’ (average of about 16 per manager) measured engagement and a multiple measure (self, subordinates and peers) of the managers’ effectiveness. Results of the statistical analysis indicate that the manager’s self‐efficacy is a partial mediator of the relationship between his or her employees’ engagement and the manager’s rated effectiveness. Overall, these findings suggest that both employee engagement and manager self‐efficacy are important antecedents that together may more positively influence manager effectiveness than either predictor by itself. Implications for effective management development and practice are discussed.

My first written work on Self Development was published in 1971, and I have written about various aspects of its meaning, objectives, and processes since then. I recently had the opportunity to review what I perceive as relatively unattended issues of strategy and principle. In this article I look at these and show where at least some of the answers may be found to be available.

The purpose of this paper was to examine the impact of superleader behaviors in self‐managed work teams, on organization commitment, job satisfaction and organization self‐esteem.

Data were collected on‐site over a period of three days from employees working in a non‐union paper mill located in a small rural community in the northwestern region of the USA. The survey was completed by 141 employees, representing a 9 per cent response rate. Self‐leadership, organization commitment, job satisfaction and organization self‐esteem were all measured using different instruments.

The results indicated that teams groups that were led by a supervisor who exhibited the characteristics of a superleader had higher levels of organization commitment, job satisfaction, and organization self‐esteem.

The study is based on a small sample and relied on self‐report data, thereby allowing for the possibility of same source bias. However, this is a common problem with cross‐sectional designs.

Leading in a self‐managed work team environment requires a unique approach to leadership. The results of this study illustrated that superleader behaviors result in some beneficial outcomes for organizations including enhanced levels of organization commitment, job satisfaction and organization self‐esteem. It behoves organizations to encourage, through training programs, the development of these behaviors.

Self‐service has wide‐ranging implications for the management and delivery of library services. It affects staff and users, system development and integration, library planning and design. This article outlines the essential points to consider before installing self‐issue and/or self‐return services, user reaction and successes (for both staff and user) experienced so far at Information Services, University of Sunderland.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of the predicted earnings differential between self‐employment and wage‐employment on self‐employment propensities in Sweden using a large data set from the year 2003.

The analysis in the paper is based on the presumption that the individual chooses to work in either the self‐employed or the wage‐employed sector. The separate earnings functions for the self‐employed and the wage‐employed are estimated in order to predict an individual's earnings in each sector. In order to overcome selectivity problems a Heckman approach is used at this stage. Finally, a structural probit model, where the difference in predicted earnings from the two sectors is included as an independent variable, is estimated.

The main result is that the predicted differential between self‐employment and wage‐employment earnings plays an important role for the self‐employment decision and that an increase in this earnings differential will lead to a higher self‐employment rate and to an increase in total employment in Sweden.

The policy relevance of this question is evident since previous research has shown that self‐employed individuals do not only create jobs for themselves but also for others. Thus, an increase in the earnings from self‐employment relative to the earnings from wage‐employment will increase the self‐employment rate as well as total employment.

Wine marketers realise that to increase the overall size of the wine consuming population they must make wine more approachable and easier to understand. As it now stands, many consumers lack confidence in their ability to select a wine for either their own consumption or to share with others. Therefore, understanding the role played by consumer self‐confidence is especially relevant to marketers of wine, and the need to accurately measure the construct is important to scholarly research. Recently, the development of a scale to measure consumer self‐confidence has appeared in the consumer behaviour literature (Bearden, Hardesty and Rose, 2001). This study first adapts this consumer self‐confidence scale for use in wine‐related research. Next, the impact of six distinct dimensions of consumer self‐confidence on three different wine purchase situations is demonstrated. Results show the scale has the potential to inform both researchers and marketers about consumers' self‐confidence related to wine purchases.