Emerging trends in US retailing

This article examines the trends shaping the retail environment as we enter the next century. A modified delphi approach was used to access managerial perceptions of the changing retail landscape. Changes in consumer markets, price and branding strategy, store formats, retail institutions and applications of technology were derived from the analysis. From this, a series of managerial considerations are proposed to focus retail managers on developing new strategies to position themselves effectively in the new global marketplace.     

Studying the Accuracy of Managers' Perceptions: A Research Odyssey

Much organizational activity and academic research relies on the accuracy of managers' perceptions. However, few studies have assessed the accuracy of managerial perceptions, and these studies indicate that managers' perceptions are often very inaccurate. This article discusses an odyssey into the study of managerial perceptions spanning two decades and two empirical studies. It depicts the evolution of research questions, samples, study designs, problems with such research and inferences drawn. It also identifies some errors that tend to be especially large and suggests some corrective actions. These corrective actions include using education and training to inform managers about organizational and environmental properties, exploiting improved technology, helping organizations to identify and correct misperceptions and designing robust organizations that can tolerate misperceptions.     

A Comparison of Ethical Practices of Russian and American Managers

This study examines perception of various business practices of Russian and American managers. Using data collected from 136 Russian managers and 252 American managers we found that cross-national differences account for many differences between perceptions of business practices. Implications for managerial practice are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

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.     

Acquired middle managers’ strategy roles and value creation in cross-border acquisitions

Middle managers (MMs) are important organisational players. In intra-organisational settings, their enactment of strategy roles has been linked to value creation. In this paper, we study this question in the context of acquisitions. An acquisition removes the acquired MMs' upward links towards top management and introduces new players (i.e., acquiring MMs) who influence their work. This paper explores whether acquired MMs are able to enact their strategy roles in the post-acquisition era, and if so, how this contributes to acquired-unit value creation. Adopting an actor-based, mixed-methods research design studying cross-border acquisitions, our findings contribute to the debate on managerial roles and acquisition value creation. We found that value-creating transactions are represented by acquired MMs' enactment of the strategy roles of implementing and championing, while value-declining transactions are represented by acquired MMs' enactment of the synthesising role. Notwithstanding, the relationship between acquired-firm value creation and acquired MMs' strategy role enactment is contingent upon acquired and acquiring MMs' relationships. Going forward, we call for more research on managers’ effects on acquisition value creation.     

HR perceptions and the provision of workforce training in an AMT environment: An empirical study

Research literature indicates the importance of workforce development in the successful implementation of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs). However, the relationship between advanced technologies and workforce training is assumed to be a direct one with limited consideration provided to factors that may influence it. This study examines the impacts of environment and human resource (HR) manager perceptions on the provision of workforce development activities. A human-centered technology philosophy is proposed as a conceptual framework for examining the role of HR manager perceptions to mediate the relationship between AMTs and workforce development. Results from hierarchical regressions indicate that the perceptions of HR managers regarding technology-driven workforce need to explain a large portion of the variance for both individual and process development activities. Findings support that the managerial role of assessing workforce developmental needs from basic AMTs places HR managerial perceptions at the focal point of social–technical systems. The role of environmental uncertainty is also examined as a moderator of managerial perceptions of technology-driven needs in an AMT environment. The results suggest that environmental uncertainty did not moderate the relationship between HR perceptions as a predictor of workforce development activities. This could imply that HR managers may not consider critical external environment issues when making decisions of workforce development activities. The implications of these findings for HR perceptions in an AMT environment are discussed, and suggestions for future research are provided.     

Re-appraising Managers' Perceptual Errors: A Behavioural Decision-Making Perspective

Findings reported by Mezias and Starbuck (2003), indicating that managers have inaccurate perceptions of their organization and its environment, are appraised in the context of work from the field of behavioural decision-making (BDM) on heuristics and biases. Drawing on theory, research and criticisms concerning calibration of human judgement, continuous versus discrete judgements and the adequacy of the normative solutions used, we identify issues that require further clarification and suggest lines of research to address them.     

The Translational Role of Hybrid Nurse Middle Managers in Implementing Clinical Guidelines: Effect of,and upon,Professional and Managerial Hierarchies

Our study uses qualitative and interpretative design to analyse what hybrid nurse middle managers do in their managerial practice, what affects this, and to what effect, focusing upon implementing policy‐driven guidelines on the clinical frontline. Examining two comparative hospital cases and drawing upon Scandinavian institutionalism, we conceive their role as one of ‘translation’. On the one hand, they exhibit strategic agency. On the other hand, their managerial role not only influences, but is influenced by, professional and managerial hierarchies. In both hospitals, in the short term we see how hybrid nurse middle managers are able to mediate professional and managerial hierarchies and implement clinical guidelines through translational work. However, in one case, they less effectively accommodate policy‐driven, managerial pressure towards compliance with government regulations and financial parsimony. In this case, the outcome of their translational work is not sustained in the longer term, as professional and managerial hierarchies reassert themselves. Drawing upon the example of their managerial role in healthcare, we highlight that hybrid middle managers enact a strategic translational role and outline situational constraints that impact this more strategic role.     

Decision Making,Risk and Gender: Are Managers Different?

This paper explores differences in the nature of decisions taken by males and females. Women are playing an increasingly important role in business management and managers are ultimately tested and evaluated in terms of their success in making decisions. Consequently any difference in the character and quality of decisions taken by male and female managers will have important implications for organizations. This paper reviews the literature, and reports two pieces of empirical work which investigate the connections between gender and decision making. The decision-making characteristics of males and females in a ‘non-managerial’ population in which the majority of individuals have not undergone formal management education are contrasted with a ‘managerial’ population of potential and actual managers who have undertaken such education. It is argued that women are often excluded from managerial positions of authority and leadership due to stereotypes, which have been constructed by observing ‘non-managerial’ populations at large. The paper concludes, however, that these stereotypes may not apply to managers as in the ‘managerial’ sub-population males and females display similar risk propensity and make decisions of equal quality.     

Managerial Involvement and Perceptions of Strategy Process

Prior academic research attests to both positive and negative effects of involvement on the process of developing strategy. On the one hand, it has been argued that involvement strengthens shared vision, increases rationality and improves adaptiveness in strategy-making. On the other hand, involvement is said to lead to intense political behaviour, increased cultural inertia and more constraints in the strategy process. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relative importance of these effects. In a survey of over 6,000 managers, we find that their reported levels of involvement are positively associated with perceptions of strategy development processes that are more rational, more focused by a shared vision, and more adaptive. In addition, involvement is negatively associated with statements describing the process as top-down, influenced by politics and slowed by internal culture. Moreover, those who are more involved tend to see business and non-business constraints as less important in determining strategy. We argue that these associations between involvement and desirable features of strategy process are important because perceptions are the basis of managerial behaviour. Thus, managers who are more involved in strategy not only see the process in a more favourable light but also act in ways that make the process more effective. The main implication of these findings is that for most organisations increasing involvement improves the strategy process.     

Bank management and strategic planning for the 1980s

This paper examines a number of important issues facing banking in the 1980s. The authors maintain that banking has been managing primarily by crisis, and this 'simply cannot be the operating norm'. The paper analyses a number of selected issues facing bank management in 1978 and the perceptions of bank managers about those issues vs their probable importance in 1985; furthermore, the paper examines likely operating strategies which will be required as effective responses to emerging environmental realities. Through examining the competitive realities for 1985 this paper, as have many others recently, broadens the context within which planning in banking will perhaps take place in the future.     

Internationalization of Emerging Economy SMEs: A Tripod Approach

Research suggests that internationalizing SMEs in the West enjoy far greater institutional support. There is, however, little understanding of the internationalization processes of emerging economies' SMEs (EESMEs) and yet they are notable contenders in international trade. Accordingly, this research draws from an integrated strategy tripod framework to develop new perspectives accounting for how Iranian-based EESMEs internationalize and compete in international markets. A comprehensive analysis of Iranian EESMEs' survey data revealed that, other than their owner's managerial perceptions of their industry, firm, and institutional constraints, international market knowledge (IMK) significantly moderated their internationalization strategies. Such understanding advances research on firm internationalization by pinpointing the central role of IMK in forming internationalization strategies by EESMEs in hard-to-reach contexts, which has implications for academic research and policy-making, leading to needed reform based on theory and practice.     

Managerial Perceptions and the Essence of the Managerial World: What is an Interloper Business Executive to Make of the Academic‐Researcher Perceptions of Managers?

I argue that the Mezias and Starbuck (2003) research programme misses being managerially relevant by investigating the extent of perceptual inaccuracies among managers rather than the more valuable question of from where these inaccuracies arise and what their consequences are in practice. As a sometime business executive, it seems to me that the closer one gets to an actual managerial position, the less significant some of the explanations and recommendations in the academic research literature appear as regards managerial concerns. To ensure relevance in the managerial research enterprise, I suggest that academics should make concrete efforts to become reasonably conversant with the managerial world before undertaking any empirical research. I also make the point that the discussion of the Mode 2 approach to knowledge production in the management field needs to move away from the current focus on straightforwardly 'bridging the relevance gap' and toward finding ways to improve the competence of Mode 2 researchers by insisting on a minimum understanding of the managerial world before embarking on management research.     

Government and family Guanxi in Chinese private firms: perceptions and preference

This paper examines the role of family ties in private firms in China. Drawing on social capital theory, we argue that family ties can be valuable assets for running businesses, and should be studied as a separate type of managerial ties. Government ties are then used as a benchmark to demonstrate the difference between family and government ties in four dimensions: face, affection, reciprocity and trust. Taking the resource-based view, we argue that Guanxi network is a dynamic capability that evolves in response to the changing operating environment and a firm’s lifecycle. A survey of 296 private firms in China is utilized to explore antecedents of managers’ perceptions and their preference between government and family ties. We find that a volatile operating environment is the most important factor that is linked to the perceived importance of government and family ties. In addition, we find younger firms are more likely to value family ties highly, while perceived importance of government ties increases with the size of the firm. This study contributes to the literature by adding an extra domain, family ties, to managerial ties and highlights the importance of family ties for fledgling firms. It provides further evidence on the role of managerial ties in mitigating operational uncertainties, and sheds light on the different roles that family and government ties play.     

Greenfield Investment versus Akquisition

Based on neo-institutionalism, the present paper examines the moderating impact of perceived institutional uncertainty on the foreign establishment mode choice (i.e. the decision between greenfield versus acquisition) of German SMEs. The empirical findings demonstrate that the extent of perceived institutional uncertainty moderates the relationship between the investment volume, market growth and the decision between greenfield and acquisition. Focusing on the perceived institutional uncertainty, the paper adheres to the fact that due to limited resources of SMEs, SME managers often cannot make their managerial decisions based on profound knowledge from prior market analysis, but they have to follow their own intuition and perception. The key contribution of this paper is hence on the link between frequently studied establishment mode choice predictors and perceived institutional uncertainty of SME managers. This focus contributes to resolving some of the inconsistencies in previous research and to emphasize SMEs which have been largely neglected in prior literature.     

Action Learning - A Paradigm in Emergence: the Problems Facing a Challenge to Traditional Management Education and Development

This paper examines the proposition that action learning is a new paradigm in management education. Action learning is becoming widely accepted methodology for the development of managers and managerial competence. This is in both public and private sector organizations and within the context of certificated and organisationally based programmes. The paper seeks to use Kuhn's work on the nature of paradigms and change as a way of explaining the increase of interest in his approach. Importantly, although this approach promises to answer some of the problems of traditional management education, it is not without its own critics. Kuhn's criteria for a paradigm change are explained with reference to action learning literature and knowledge of practice. From this a framework is developed that compares a traditional approach to management education with an action learning approach on three levels. Our conclusion is that action learning is a new paradigm, but for the maximum benefit to be gained from the approach its application needs to be more carefully considered, particularly in relation to the provision of some wider external frameworks for the manager to use as‘tools for thinking’     

Stuck in the Middle with You?

This paper examines similarities between the worlds of managers and critical management researchers. It attempts to illustrate the practices of division in which both sets of actors are engaged. Through a comparison of the contexts of managerial and critical managerial action, coupled with the use of Burke's (1969) notion of the scapegoat, the paper suggests that battles between academic disciplines and across the academy/practice divide may be more productively recognized as essential resources for identity work and self care. The paper concludes with a brief consideration of the value of the approach suggested.     

A Trojan Horse? The implications of managerial coaching for leadership theory

This article examines the behaviours associated with managerial coaching and assesses the implications for leadership theory. Survey data from 521 line managers are analysed to: (i) identify the behaviours associated with managerial coaching, (ii) examine factors that affect the propensity of managers to undertake coaching and (iii) discuss the implications of the manager as coach role for leadership theory and practice. First, the analysis indicates that workplace coaching is distinct from specialized coaching practices. Second, demographic characteristics of individual managers, such as their age, experience or level of management qualification are unlikely to affect their propensity to undertake managerial coaching. However, leader-team member relationships (leader-member exchange) and occupational self-efficacy (OSE) are predictive of managerial coaching behaviours. Third, managerial coaching challenges traditional leader-centric models of leadership and requires an acknowledgement of reciprocity, collaborative ‘meaning-making’ and a diminished ‘distance’ between leaders and team members.     

Supply risk mitigation: a multi-theoretical perspective

Due to the increasing level of supply risk, it is imperative to obtain a better understanding of the nature of risk which is a premise to developing well-grounded risk mitigation strategies. This paper examines how to mitigate supply risk enlightened by discussing the concept of risk in association of three closely related concepts which are uncertainty, variability and trust. The proposed three perspectives are supported and explained using four case studies comprising of two manufacturers based in Australia and four suppliers based in China. The study provides evidence that supply risk can be mitigated by high level of information and knowledge sharing as well as building trust, commitment and goal congruence in a buyer–supplier relationship. It offers theoretical and managerial implications.     

Job Insecurity and Employee Commitment: Managers' Reactions to the Threat and Outcomes of Redundancy Selection1

Increases in managerial redundancies have followed in the wake of recession and fiercer competition. Although popular accounts have warned of a growing disaffection among managers, few studies have examined the effects of abandoning their traditional job security. This article examines changes in the work attachments of long-service managers under the threat of redundancy. Over a 12-month period, interviews were conducted with 42 middle managers who, at the beginning of the research, had been warned of possible redundancy. Initially, most of the managers experienced significant threats to their established views about themselves and their employers. The development of these early perceptions into altered work attachments depended largely on outcomes of the redundancy process. For reprieved managers organizational commitment was quickly re-established. In contrast, those demoted to engineering roles or re-employed by other companies became less trusting and developed new explanations of their past employment experiences. These findings illustrate the tension between the need of managers to be assured of their place within the organizational structure and recent threats to their traditional careers and employment security. Also we may expect difficulties in the development of organizational commitment to emerge as the personal risks to managers increase.