Knowledge that Transforms

Little theoretical attention has been given to divestiture; that is, to the question of why two firms that face similar environments make different selling decisions and reap different performance outcomes from a sale. This article proposes a framework of divestiture built around the core concept of seller responsiveness, which is defined as the readiness of the management at the selling firm to respond to the need to divest. The data show how divestiture context, management characteristics, and governance attributes influence seller responsiveness and, in turn, the price the divesting firm receives. Finally, the framework’s implications for research and practice are discussed.

Although the resource allocation literature has frequently examined the decision rules used to distribute monetary resources, many other types of resources have not been systematically studied. In addition, very little is known about the allocation rules that might be used when resources are recovered (i.e., taken away) as opposed to distributed. As managers frequently face decisions regarding the distribution or recovery of different resources, developing a greater understanding of the rules they might use to give or take away resources is important. This study examined the difficulty of resource allocation decisions and allocation rule choices. Our results suggest need rules are generally preferred by allocators, although rule preferences were affected by both the type of resource and whether the resource was being distributed rather than recovered. In particular, the preference for equality rules was stronger when resources were recovered. Our findings also suggest that managers may find recovery decisions more difficult than distribution decisions, and that monetary and affiliative resources are among the most difficult to allocate.

Recent efforts to more fully understand the mechanisms through which work and family experiences and their cross-over effects influence well-being have stimulated the development of integrative models of the work-family interface. This line of research is represented by the model which Frone, Russell, and Cooper (1992) tested with a sample of U.S. employees. In the current study, we examine the cross-cultural generalizability of this model among married Hong Kong employees. Results of the analyses suggest that many of the relationships among work and family constructs are similar across the two cultures, but that the nature and effects of the cross-over between family and work domains on overall employee well-being may differ. That is, life satisfaction of Hong Kong employees is influenced primarily by work-family conflict, while that of American employees is influenced primarily by family-work conflict. Limitations of the study and implications of the findings for assisting employees integrate their work and family responsibilities as a source of competitive advantage are discussed.

We conducted a survey across a two-year period to examine the attitudinal effects of skill-based pay (SBP) plans in a consumer products company in the Northeast region of the United States. We examined the relationship between SBP plan characteristics and employees’ evaluation of (and reactions to) the pay system; fairness perceptions were considered as the explanatory mediating variable. The results demonstrate that SBP plans, which provide training and are better understood and communicated, will lead to an increased general perception of fairness which, in turn, will lead to more positive evaluations of the plans a year later. Implications for the relationships between fairness perception and pay system design are discussed.

We conducted a survey across a two-year period to examine the attitudinal effects of skill-based pay (SBP) plans in a consumer products company in the Northeast region of the United States. We examined the relationship between SBP plan characteristics and employees’ evaluation of (and reactions to) the pay system; fairness perceptions were considered as the explanatory mediating variable. The results demonstrate that SBP plans, which provide training and are better understood and communicated, will lead to an increased general perception of fairness which, in turn, will lead to more positive evaluations of the plans a year later. Implications for the relationships between fairness perception and pay system design are discussed.

This study examines the relationship of two dispositional factors, positive and negative affect (PA and NA), with multi-dimensional pay satisfaction. Among a sample of 194 full- and part-time employees in two southern states, PA explained significant variance in pay satisfaction after controlling for actual salary levels, overall job satisfaction, and other individual characteristics. More importantly the data show that PA interacts with actual salary level in explaining certain dimensions of pay satisfaction. By contrast, results confirm the hypothesis that NA is unrelated to pay satisfaction. Implications of these results are discussed and directions for future research identified.

This study proposes and tests a model that applies the concept of restorative justice to the enactment of revenge and forgiveness in organizations. The model draws from theories of cognitive attribution and consistency, as well as more recent theories of revenge in organizations, to describe the process by which a personal offense triggers revenge and forgiveness cognitions and behavior. Attributions of blame were predicted to directly influence the contemplation of revenge and forgiveness strategies. In turn, these cognitions were hypothesized to be the immediate precursors of behavior. It was also predicted that the likableness of the offender would be positively associated with both revenge and forgiveness cognitions. Finally, blame attribution was expected to be influenced by offense severity. To test these predictions, a survey was administered to one hundred and eighty employees of a government agency. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the significance of the pathways in the model and compare its fit to theoretically plausible rivals. Although the theoretical model fit the data well, a less constrained alternative showed a superior fit. In both the theoretical model and less constrained alternative, all but two of the predicted pathways in the model were upheld. The implications of the findings for organizations are discussed and future research directions are offered.

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to create a measure of managerial efficiency in an attempt to reassess the conflicting theories concerning the impact of organizational performance on managerial firings, and the counter-theories concerning the impact of manager hirings on organizational performance. The analysis uses data for 147 college basketball teams from 1984–1991. The results indicate that winning, not efficiency, is the key criterion used in determining managerial retention. Yet, when managers of losing teams are dismissed, the teams tend to do even worse. However, if the efficiency of the new manager is greater than that of the former, the disruptive effect of succession is minimized. Because administrators appear to focus on winning not efficiency, they will often select new managers that are less efficient than departed managers. These results are unique to this literature and indicate promise for the use of DEA in analyses of the internal efficiencies of organizations.

This article contrasts the composite view of the relationship between multidimensional constructs and their facets/dimensions with the factor view. The composite view assumes that facets are components of the composite constructs, while the factor view assumes that facets are manifestations of latent constructs. An empirical study is used to illustrate the fact that these two views will lead to different conclusions about the relationship of constructs in covariance structure analyses. It is suggested that researchers must examine the theoretical basis of their topic in order to determine whether the factor or composite view is more suitable for the multidimensional construct of interest.

Many cross-cultural researchers are concerned with factorial invariance; that is, with whether or not members of different cultures associate survey items, or similar measures, with similar constructs. Researchers usually test items for factorial invariance using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). CFA, however, poses certain problems that must be dealt with. Primary among them is standardization, the process that assigns units of measurement to the constructs (latent variables). Two standardization procedures and several minor variants have been reported in the literature, but using these procedures when testing for factorial invariance can lead to inaccurate results. In this paper we review basic theory, and propose an extension of Byrne, Shavelson, and Muthgn’s (1989) procedure for identifying non-invariant items. The extended procedure solves the standardization problem by performing a systematic comparison of all pairs of factor loadings across groups. A numerical example based upon a large published data set is presented to illustrate the utility of the new procedure, particularly with regard to partial factorial invariance.