Toward working hypotheses of effective management: Conditions,thought processes,and behaviors

The purpose of this article is to develop a set of working hypotheses about the conditions, thought processes, and behaviors that define managerial effectiveness. The Deacon and Firebaugh model of managerial behavior is extended to form the basis for the hypotheses developed. The overall hypothesis is that differences in managerial effectiveness are specifically linked to the timing, completion, frequency, and duration of particular thoughts and actions performed by the manager that are focused on the allocation of resources to meet value-based goals and events. If it is assumed that meeting demands is an appropriate measure of managerial effectiveness, then validation of the hypotheses, the next logical step, can occur by correlating the conditions, processes, and behaviors thought to represent managerial effectiveness with objective and subjective measures of demand responses.An earlier version of this paper was discussed at the annual meeting of North Central Region Project 116, Family Resource Management, April 20–21, 1982, Columbus, OH.Deanna L. Sharpe is Assistant Professor, Department of Consumer Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. Her research interests are focused on the effective allocation and use of time and money through the family life cycle. She received her Ph.D. from Iowa State University in 1988.Mary Winter is Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011. Her research interests include family resource management in the U. S. and Mexico. She received her Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University in 1970.