Knowledge that Transforms

This article examines the impact of computer technology on the workforce and workplace. It summarizes research and examines in practice the implementation and adoption of new technology in companies. Two cases are presented: a metal fabrication factory and a professional publishing company. Results of a pre‐implementation survey given to personnel in the factory highlight how a top‐down change strategy and worker's sense of mistrust and inequity, led to problems with the introduction of computerized machinery and control systems. Surveys taken one and three years after the introduction of word processing and data‐based management tools in the publishing company, by comparison, show how a more participatory change strategy coupled with extensive user training and support, contribute to success with technological change and alter perceptions of the company culture.

Though the marketing concept is the cornerstone of the marketing discipline, businesses typically describe only limited success in implementing it. An examination of the core pillars of the marketing concept points to limitations in the first pillar, the customer focus. This pillar is directed at the external customer, the person purchasing the firm's products and services with no attention to the internal customer, the employee. Whereas much attention has been directed to human resource practices in total quality management, marketers have overlooked its importance. This article describes an exploratory study based on in‐depth interviews with corporate executives from a broad range of American organizations, which phenomenologically assesses the characteristics of the marketing concept and the employee activities that foster its implementation.

This article examines the life and work attitudes of a national sample of the US workforce surveyed in 1990. It presents a model of work‐ and nonwork‐related factors impinging on attitudes and the impact of these factors on high levels of cynicism found in the workforce today. The survey results show a strong correspondence between people's general perceptions of society, leadership, and the motives of other people and more specific views of their own organization, managers, and co‐workers. Analyses detail the spread of cynicism among demographic segments of the workforce, considering age, race, social class, gender, occupation, and organization type. Concluding sections highlight strategies that companies such as Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Caterpillar Tractor, and others have followed to counter cynicism in their workforce.

This article explores the concept of a careerist orientation to work, which is defined as the propensity to pursue career advancement through non‐performance‐based means. A scale is developed to measure this concept using a sample of 227 business school alumni. Exploratory empirical data suggest that careerism is associated with consistently more negative job attitudes, a greater desire to advance and to change jobs, and more frequent promotions. Implications of a careerist orientation to work for both individual career management and organizational career development are discussed.

This study empirically examines organizational barriers to delivering high‐quality service performance as measured by customer perceptions and expectations. Using the extended service‐quality model developed by Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman ( Journal of Marketing , 52, 35–48) as a conceptual framework, five specific propositions implied by the model and by earlier studies contributing to its development were tested. Such testing required a complex research design involving five service companies as well as samples of customers, contact employees, and managers from each company. The results have practical implications and suggest an agenda for future organizational research.

Using an exploratory model of the evolution of computers systems in organizations, the authors interviewed HR computer systems people in ten Fortune 500 firms considered leaders in HR computer use. Generalizable measures of growth in computer use and related changes in HR department structure, strategy, and personnel were found. These measures were used to identify three stages of growth in computer use: threshold, growth, and consolidation/strategic expansion. In the latter two stages, differences were found among firms in the way computer use evolved. These differences appeared closely related to the company's choice of technology and the centralization of the firm's key HR decision makers. The implications of the exploratory model and findings for practice and future research are discussed.

Bolman and Deal (1984, 1991) have developed four perspectives, or frames, for understanding organizations and leadership: structural, human resource, political, and symbolic. This paper reports two studies that operationalize that model. The first study uses critical incidents written by managers to assess how many and which frames they use. Most incidents show the use of one or two frames; very few contain all four. In every population, the structural frame was used frequently while the symbolic frame was rarely evident. Across different populations, the use of the human resource and political frames varied substantially. The second study used survey instruments to assess managers' frame orientations. Regression analyses show that their orientations, as perceived by colleagues, are differentially related to perceived effectiveness as manager and leader. Managerial effectiveness is related to an emphasis on rationality and organizational structure. Leadership effectiveness is linked to symbols and culture. For men and women in comparable positions, gender is unrelated to leadership orientations or to their effectiveness as managers or leaders.