In an organization having several years' experience with an MBO system, 135 managers' attitudes and perceptions were collected via questionnaire. Job attitudes, perceptions of the superior, attitudes toward the objective system, and perceived organizational support were analyzed with respect to perceived influence in goal-setting and relationships to perceived influence in routine decision making. Different relationships were found for the different types of influence (participation). It was concluded that participation must be viewed as multifaceted.
Forty-five organizational units of a complex organization were utilized in a longitudinal evaluation of an MBO program. The organization units were categorized into MBO-supportive, achievement-oriented and nonsupportive, power-oriented sub-climates. It was noted that 62 percent of subunits in the latter category improved while 33 percent of subunits in the former category deteriorated in their climate. Implications of the findings which are contrary to practitioner expectations regarding MBO success are discussed with a tentative identification of causal factors that may be responsible for the observed changes.
Before management can utilize unsatisfied worker needs to modify worker behavior, a practical technique is required for the measurement of the various dimensions of job satisfaction and the transformation of that data into a cost-effective behavioral modification program. This report describes such a technique developed by the authors and successfully applied to four separate studies of job satisfaction involving four diverse work groups.
In our society it is a strongly held norm that advancement in business organizations should be a consequence of personal achievement; hence, there is respect accorded to individuals who arrive on their own merit. At the same time, it is recognized that many competent subordinate managers receive help in advancement from higher level executives acting in the role of sponsors. The purpose of this article is to draw together some research evidence concerning the occurrence of sponsorship in transfer and promotion decisions as experienced by middle level managers in large manufacturing firms. Previous studies [5; 17; 8] have considered the extent to which managerial promotion decisions are based on alleged favoritism, shared values, or informal factors rather than achievement-related criteria. This study is intended to redefine the concept of sponsorship, to develop some appropriate research questions, and to report some new findings concerning these questions.
By use of a semantic differential scale changes in perceptions of union leaders were examined. While no significant changes occurred in the comparison group, significant changes occurred with the experimental group on six of the descriptive adjectives, two favorable, three unfavorable, and one neither favorable nor unfavorable.
Prior research of situational effects on leadership and managerial behavior have been primarily concerned with three situational variables-task structure, position power and leader member relations-and two dimensions of behavior-task oriented and relationship oriented. This study attempts to establish a more comprehensive analysis of the relationship between situational variables and managerial behavior by expanding the scope of study for both elements. Six managerial behavior dimensions and 23 situational variables were assessed for managers within six organizations. The results show a substantial proportion of the variance of each managerial behavior dimension is accounted for by the situational variables.
The idea that employees should, by statute, sit on the Board of Directors, i.e., engage in management policy making, is a concept alien to the American culture. The concept is popular in Europe and, therefore, some knowledgeable persons believe it will soon be part of the U.S. scene. This paper recognizes the European success but identifies reasons why acceptance in the U.S. is not likely in the foreseeable future. Some reasons are: lack of class struggle in the U.S., emphasis on individualism in America, and little support by union leaders.
No less than twenty doctoral programs in Business Strategy-Policy are needed immediately to meet the academic market needs of the coming decade, created by the recent AACSB requirement of the "core" course at both the undergraduate and MBA levels. The objectives of the course have been universally defined and confirmed by the Gordon and Howell and the Pierson reports, and by the AACSB. Recent studies of the field have identified four major trends: emphasis on strategy as well as policy formulation and administration, fusion of strategy-policy with business-society and business environmental problems, comparative analysis of business firms with their economic-industrial environments, and the inclusion and emphasis of the role and functions of the board of directors. Professional education for business defined by the AACSB has for the past twenty years focused on the practitioner application of the administrative process to business problems (Business Administration), thereby suggesting at least a 50-50% point of departure in a curriculum emphasis on theory and practice. This point of departure is applied to a suggested doctoral program content in bibliographical essay form including the following: I. Policy Environment (A) Social, Political-Legal and Ethical Philosophy, II. Policy Environment (B) Economic Growth and Industry Competition, III. Business Strategy and Policy Theory and Practice, and IV. General Management Decision-Making Systems and Methodologies.
The applicability of Lawrence and Lorsch's Contingency Theory of Organization to an industry other than one characterized by process manufacturing was investigated, with Contingency Theory methodology being replicated in a study based on the banking industry. Measures of performance, differentiation, integration, and conflict resolution modes were obtained in a field study of three major banks competing in the same geographical region. High-performer and low-performer data typically fell into patterns predicted by the Contingency Theory, although differences (notably in differentiation measures) were noted. The general replication of patterns and findings in a service industry lends support to the Contingency Theory as an important conceptual and analytical tool.
An instrument was designed to measure the ethical aspect of social responsibility. It was administered to 359 respondents, factor analyzed to ascertain major dimensions and then subjected to discriminant analysis. Four dimensions emerged in the factor analysis but only two were found to be useful in predicting a respondent's work experience. This is taken to indicate that although differences do exist, there is an underlying dimension on some of the ethical issues. It is suggested that researchers attempting to develop a workable definition of social responsibility take this ethical dimension into consideration.