Managerial and leadership effectiveness as perceived by managers and non-managerial employees in Mexico

Using the critical incident (CI) technique, concrete examples of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour (CIs) were collected from managers and non-managerial employees within private and public sector organizations situated in the north and southeast regions of Mexico. The CIs were content analysed using open, axial and selective coding to identify a smaller number of thematic categories. A total of 38 ‘manager’ and 35 ‘non-managerial employee’ behavioural categories were identified respectively, of which 82.19% (n = 60) were found to be either convergent or polar opposite in meaning. The findings suggest that what behaviourally differentiates effective managers from ineffective managers is perceived, described and defined by Mexican managers and non-managerial employees in much the same way. The study provides new insights on the issue of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness in Mexico and is a rare example of indigenous managerial behaviour research in a non-Anglo country.     

Deducing a taxonomy of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness: a comparative study of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour across three EU countries

This qualitative multiple case derived etic study focuses on perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness. It explores what employees in various organizations, organizational sectors and culturally diverse nations perceive as effective and ineffective managerial behaviour. Empirical findings from six emic replication studies carried out previously within three European Union countries were subjected to cross-case, cross-sector, and cross-nation comparative analysis. High degrees of sameness and similarity were found. Further analysis led to the emergence of a behavioural taxonomy comprised of 10 positive (effective) and 9 negative (ineffective) behavioural criteria. We find that managers and non-managerial staff in British and Romanian public-sector hospitals, and in British and German private-sector companies, perceive effective and ineffective managerial behaviour in much the same way. Our findings challenge past literature which argues that managers need to adopt different managerial behaviours to be effective in different organizational sectors and countries.     

Perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness in a non-profit organization: an exploratory and cross-sector comparative study

This paper presents the results of an ‘HRD professional partnership’ study of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness carried out within a UK third sector (non-profit) organization. Using the critical incident technique, concrete examples [critical incidents (CIs) ] of observed effective and least effective/ineffective managerial behaviour were collected from a purposive sample of senior and middle-level managers of the collaborating registered charity. The CIs were content analysed to identify themes and analytical categories. Behavioural statements were then devised to reflect the constituent CIs of each category. The paper also reports the results of a subsequent cross-sector comparative analysis that explored the similarities and differences between the identified behavioural statements and the results of equivalent studies in the UK public and private sector organizations. The findings challenge the widely held image that managers need to adopt different managerial behaviours to be effective in non-profit organizations because of inherent differences between the sectors. How the resultshave been used by the collaborating organization is outlined. Finally, thelimitations, implications for practice and research recommendations are discussed.     

Behavioural determinants of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness in Argentina

The purpose of this empirical study was to explore the perceptions of Argentinean managers and non-managerial employees about managerial and leadership effectiveness, and the extent to which the findings are generalized to other countries. The central research question addressed was as follows: How do people employed in Argentinean companies behaviourally distinguish effective managers from ineffective managers, and to what extent are the findings culture-specific or context-general? A total of 42 employees from private and public sector organizations in Cordoba, Argentina, were interviewed using critical incident technique. The interviews generated 302 critical incidents of which 155 were examples of positive (effective) managerial behaviour, and 147 of negative (ineffective) managerial behaviour. The findings suggest that Argentineans perceive as effective those managers who are supportive, considerate, motivating, caring, good decision makers, approachable, participative, fair-minded, communicative, actively involved, and who act as role models. This challenges the widely held belief that Argentineans prefer authoritarian managers over democratic ones.     

Toward an emergent Asian behavioural model of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness: a cross-nation comparative analysis of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour of private sector managers in India and South Korea

ABSTRACT

This Type 4 (emic-and-etic) indigenous cross-case/cross-nation comparative study compares the results of two Type 3 (emic-as-emic) indigenous replication studies of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour carried out within private companies in India and South Korea respectively. The method used was ‘realist qualitative content analysis’ involving inductive open and axial coding. Of the Indian findings 100% were found to be convergent in meaning with 94.43% of the equivalent South Korean findings. This has led to the identification of a two-factor emergent Asian behavioural model of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness comprised of 16 positive (effective) and 6 negative (ineffective) generic behavioural criteria. These criteria could be used in both countries to critically review and improve extant, or develop new, competency-based management/leadership development programmes. The research findings lend no support to claims that national culture has a major impact on managerial and leadership practices, styles, and effectiveness.     

Disengagement in Open Innovation: A Cognitive Perspective

The central tenet of open innovation (OI) is that useful knowledge is widely distributed. By purposively engaging in knowledge sourcing and sharing (KSS) activities, organisations can create and capture value through collaborative exchange with others. Organising for OI relies on the assumption that individual managers tasked to bring it to fruition will enact behavioural responses conducive to external KSS. However, understanding what characterises and informs managers’ disengagement in OI remains an unresolved challenge. The interactions between managers’ in-role demands in OI and their self-concept, which guide behavioural responses, are under-investigated. Drawing on cognitive dissonance theory (CDT), this article conceptualises the sources of managerial dissonance and situates discussions on underlying influencing mechanisms, culminating towards a cognitive model of disengagement in OI. Bridging OI, psychology and management literature, hypotheses are developed to stimulate investigations into what characterises and influences managers’ disengagement in OI. Managerial implications are discussed to curate approaches that can help manage managerial dissonance in order to attain the desired organisational OI goals.     

Anxiety, Politics and Critical Management Education

The focus of this paper is a discussion of anxiety and politics as they relate to business school pedagogy. Using ideas from critical management education (CME), the paper explores why and how to engage with the anxiety mobilized through attempts to learn. The aim is to discuss emotional and political dynamics that are generated, and too often avoided, in management education. Making these dynamics overt in the classroom can help managers to comprehend the political context within which management takes place. Examples informed by CME are presented, as well as reflections from the author on the anxiety and politics that emerge for the critical management educator in a business school context. The contribution in the paper is to show the way that anxieties and politics within the business school classroom offer opportunities to change how business schools approach the teaching of managers. CME adds value to management education because it challenges what and how individuals and groups expect to learn, and consequently it challenges assumptions about how learning takes place within business schools. Such challenges are seen as an important and integral part of 'making the business school more critical'.     

Using evidence-based practices to enhance transfer of training: assessing the effectiveness of goal setting and behavioural observation scales

Using evidence-based practices we designed goal setting interventions, used in conjunction with behavioural observation scales (BOS), to facilitate transfer from a 2-day performance coaching programme. A total of 210 managers from public sector organisations took part in the study. Transfer was assessed using self-administered surveys and subordinate feedback (in the form of BOS). Transfer was high across all measures; however, our experimental design did not detect any positive effects for learning or behavioural outcome goals relative to being urged to Do Your Best (DYB). Results suggest that providing managers with BOS that outline the key skills covered in the training programme, having them set goals or urging them to do their best to use these skills back at work, and having workplace colleagues assess their performance at work using these BOS, may be sufficient to bring about transfer.     

Marginal Trust in Risk Managers: Building and Losing Trust Following Decisions Under Uncertainty

Although a considerable amount of research has examined correlates of baseline public trust in risk managers, much less research has looked at marginal changes in public trust following specific events. Such research is important for identifying what kinds of events will lead to increases and decreases in public trust and thus for understanding how trust is built and lost. Using a taxonomy based upon signal detection theory (SDT), the current article presents two experimental studies examining marginal trust change following eight different types of events. Supporting predictions, cautious decisionmakers who accepted signs of danger (Hits and False Alarms) were more likely to be trusted than those who rejected them (All Clears and Misses). Moreover, transparency about an event was associated with higher levels of marginal trust than a lack of transparency in line with earlier findings. Contrary to predictions, however, trust was less affected by whether the decisions were correct (i.e., Hits and All Clears) or incorrect (i.e., False Alarms and Misses). This finding was primarily due to a "False Alarm Effect" whereby Open False Alarms led to positive increases in trust despite being incorrect assessments of risk. Results are explained in terms of a cue diagnosticity account of impression formation and suggest that a taxonomy of event types based on SDT may be useful in furthering our understanding of how public trust in risk managers is gained and lost.     

Employees' perceptions of organizational restructuring: the role of social support

Organizational change and restructuring is often perceived as leading to increased occupational stress, impacting negatively on the psychological well-being of employees. This pragmatic study investigates the role of social support and dispositional affect as moderators of role stress post-restructuring for employees in a public utility company. A total of 176 employees, including 37 managers, 60 graded staff and 78 industrial staff completed a self-report questionnaire, approximately 1 year postrestructuring, retrospectively assessing role conflict, ambiguity, overload and positive and negative feedback pre- and post-restructuring. Results suggested that overall role stress increased for managers/ senior officers and graded staff, but not for industrial staff. Social support was linked with lower role stress, more positive feedback and less negative feedback at post-restructuring. For certain role stressors this impact was moderated by dispositional affect, but the effect was not consistent across occupational groups. Positive affect enhanced the effect of manager support in reducing role conflict for graded staff, and the effect of co-worker support in increasing positive feedback and reducing negative feedback for industrial staff. Findings suggest that managers should pay particular attention to support and feedback for employees during periods of chronic occupational stress following organizational restructuring.     

Employees' perceptions of organizational restructuring: The role of social support

Organizational change and restructuring is often perceived as leading to increased occupational stress, impacting negatively on the psychological well-being of employees. This pragmatic study investigates the role of social support and dispositional affect as moderators of role stress post-restructuring for employees in a public utility company. A total of 176 employees, including 37 managers, 60 graded staff and 78 industrial staff completed a self-report questionnaire, approximately 1 year postrestructuring, retrospectively assessing role conflict, ambiguity, overload and positive and negative feedback pre- and post-restructuring. Results suggested that overall role stress increased for managers/ senior officers and graded staff, but not for industrial staff. Social support was linked with lower role stress, more positive feedback and less negative feedback at post-restructuring. For certain role stressors this impact was moderated by dispositional affect, but the effect was not consistent across occupational groups. Positive affect enhanced the effect of manager support in reducing role conflict for graded staff, and the effect of co-worker support in increasing positive feedback and reducing negative feedback for industrial staff. Findings suggest that managers should pay particular attention to support and feedback for employees during periods of chronic occupational stress following organizational restructuring.     

Replacing Expatriates with Local Managers: An Exploratory Investigation into Obstacles to Localization in a Developing Country

This paper examines the issue of localization or the replacement of expatriates with host country staff following a period of staff development in a developing country, namely Papua New Guinea (PNG). Whilst the use of expatriates appears to be increasing in the PNG private sector, ineffective employer localization programmes remain in PNG. This situation demands operational interventions. The aim of this study was to determine obstacles to localization in private sector organizations in PNG. A total of 114 PNG senior managers responded to a survey designed to determine the factors that were perceived to hinder localization practices. Results suggest that a significant number of managers identify the prevalence of said obstacles, which were categorised into (i) socio-economic circumstances; (ii) recruitment and selection; (iii) local staff performance; (iv) lack of training and development; and (v) compensation. A diagnostic model of localization has also been proposed. The model provides a detailed process for redesigning a localization programme for a developing country. Policy recommendations are also offered for implementation of a more strategic localization programme.     

DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR ILL-STRUCTURED PROBLEMS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Decision support systems (DSSs) are more complex than most other traditional decision-aid systems. For what types of problems are they more effective, and what design characteristics make them more effective? The laboratory experiment reported here examined the effect of three design characteristics of these systems in the context of decision makers faced with ill-structured problems. The characteristics were presence or absence of decision-aid heuristics, degree of interaction between the user and the system, and whether or not the system was computerized. The dependent variables were (1) quality of user performance, (2) user productivity of ideas, (3) user confidence in the quality of his/her performance, (4) user satisfaction with the decision aid or support system, (5) changes in user attitude toward the problem addressed, and (6) changes in user attitude toward computers. Use of heuristics and increased interaction had positive effects on decision quality, user productivity, and attitude toward computers; they had negative effects on user confidence, satisfaction, and attitude toward the problem addressed. Whether or not the system was computerized did not have a significant effect on any dependent variable. The findings concerning negative effects, in particular, suggest the need for research on the design of heuristics for addressing ill-structured problems—heuristics that will deliver the positive but not the negative effects observed in this study. The findings also suggest the need for research on how to benefit from computers in the context of solving ill-structured problems.     

Uncertainty Reduction Approaches,Uncertainty Coping Approaches,and Process Performance in Financial Services

Developing a better understanding of the impact of uncertainty on process performance has been recognized as an important research opportunity in service design ( Hill, et al., 2002 ). Within this general research stream, our study focuses on the question of what managers can do to most effectively address operational uncertainty and mitigate its negative effects. To begin to address this question, we report on an exploratory study using a sample of professionals in the financial‐services industry who acted as informants on 108 financial‐services processes. These professionals were sampled from a population of graduates of a university in the northeastern region of the United States who were employed in the financial‐services industry. Based on these processes, we empirically examine the relationship between responses to operational uncertainty and process performance after controlling for customer mix, other uncertainty sources, and process type characteristics. Our findings suggest that process improvement—an uncertainty reduction approach related to the internal functioning of the process—as well as several uncertainty coping approaches are associated with better performing processes. However, uncertainty reduction approaches related to customer involvement with, and demands on, the process are not associated with better performing processes. We discuss the implications of our findings for determining what actions managers can take to reduce the negative performance effects of operational uncertainty and how managers can decide which of these actions to take. We conclude with a discussion of the limitations of our study.     

Minority and majority private equity investments: firm performance and governance

This paper adds to the literature on the determinants of the effects of private equity (PE) investments. Using an original dataset of 191 target firms in Italy, we study the effects on performance and governance of the stakes acquired by the PE investor. We employ a difference-in-differences approach and compare target and control firms sharing similar characteristics and performance in the years preceding the deal. We find that PE investment has a positive effect on profitability, sales, and employment; these effects are larger for minority investments. We argue that this signals effective governance that follows from complementing rather than substituting incumbent managers in minority investments.     

The relationship between safety–production conflict and employee safety outcomes: Testing the impact of multiple organizational climates

Safety research is understandably dominated by studies examining the impact of organizational safety climate. Yet, other climates (e.g. service climate; productivity climate) that may also influence safety-related outcomes are rarely concurrently studied. Consequently, questions regarding how different organizational climates simultaneously affect employee safety attitudes and behaviours largely remain unanswered. Multilevel data collected from public transit employees indicated that safety–production conflict (SPC) was negatively related to accident-reporting attitudes and behavioural safety compliance. As expected, among employees in workgroups exhibiting a positive safety climate, the negative effect of SPC on behavioural safety compliance was attenuated. Moreover, a positive customer service climate reduced the negative effects of SPC on reporting attitudes; on the other hand, this relationship was exacerbated among workgroups with a high-productivity climate (i.e. those emphasizing on-time performance). The need for considering multiple aspects of an organizational climate is discussed in light of these results.     

Positive and Negative Spillover from Work to Home: The Role of Organizational Culture and Supportive Arrangements

For today's managers, striking a sound work?home balance is an important matter. In this paper we investigate the relationship between organizational culture and work‐to‐home spillover. Two types of organizational culture, supportive and innovative, were compared with regard to work‐to‐home spillover. We measured work‐to‐home spillover with the help of positive and negative work?home interference measures: negative work?home interference was divided into strain‐based negative work?home interference and time‐based negative work?home interference. A total of 418 alumni of two Dutch business schools completed a questionnaire. The data were analysed by means of confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Findings showed that a supportive culture explained most of the variance in positive work?home interference and strain‐based negative work?home interference. The relationships between a supportive culture and positive and strain‐based negative work?home interference were fully mediated by flexible work?home arrangements. Flexible work?home arrangements explained the variance in time‐based negative work?home interference, while no relationship was found between supportive culture and time‐based negative work?home interference. Innovative culture was positively related to positive work?home interference and time‐based negative work?home interference. The outcomes suggest that a supportive culture, expressed in flexible work?home arrangements, can enhance positive spillover from the work domain to the home domain and diminish negative spillover. We suggest that improving the work?home interface may attract and retain valued managers.     

Scandinavian Managers on Scandinavian Management

This study explores how Scandinavian managers perceive themselves as managers.In particular the focus is on how and to what degree they perceive themselvesas Scandinavian managers, i.e. managers working within a cultural(and political) context to which they have to adapt their management style.Scandinavian management as a concept is discussed. It is furthermore proposedthat management in the three Scandinavian countries does not differsignificantly from one another, but differ from that in non-Scandinaviancountries. In oder to obtain a deeper understanding of the conceptScandinavian management, a constructivistic approach was chosen. Based onFocus-group interviews the motives behind the preferred managementstyle were revealed. Two types of motives were identified: an ideological andan instrumental, meaning that one group of managers had a more calculativeapproach, whilst the other had a more voluntaristic one.     

经营者模糊需求在激励设计中的精确化研究

经营者报酬设计是一个非常复杂的系统性问题,复杂性表现为:委托人和经营者的需求是多方面的,各种需求与社会制度、文化环境、法律法规、政策、市场、价值观、道德、人格等因素之间存在非线性关系,而且有很多需求,尤其是心理情感方面的需求,是模糊不清的,任何一方要获得完全信息的成本非常高.因此,在现实生活中,委托人和经营者无一不是在人力资本价值无法估计、需求模糊、信息不对称的前提下,根据他们所掌握的有限信息进行协商或讨价还价的.本文从委托人、经营者都有模糊需求出发,利用模糊数刻画他们所有可能的需求,确定各自模糊需求的顺序,根据经营者、委托人模糊集的交集和需求顺序的比较,最终回答模糊环境下经营者激励设计中的解模糊思路和措施.     

The international nature of HRD scholarship

In the UK, human resource practitioners and academics alike are becoming more aware of the emergence of managing diversity. But what does managing diversity actually mean, how does it translate into practice, and what does it matter? The following paper briefly debates the rhetoric of managing diversity and considers whether managing diversity is a distinct approach to managing people or a means of diluting equal opportunities in UK organizations. With respect to the realities of the concepts in UK organizations, empirical data from a survey of sixty UK human resource professionals and general line managers is presented. We pose a number of cautionary questions, including what does it matter and to whom? By doing so we intend to encourage further critique and challenges in respect to the concept of managing diversity in organizations.