Knowledge that Transforms

Several studies have shown that supervisors' influence over subordinates is derived from upward influence in the organization. However, little is known about subordinate attributions connected with perceptions of supervisory influence. Data about 398 first- and second-level supervisors from a nationwide insurance organization revealed that perceived supervisory influence was significantly related to perceptions of supervisory effectiveness, influence over valued rewards and the task, and one's feelings of personal influence.

Beyond doubt realistic projections of MBA enrollment are needed, but the available estimates are unreliable. This study provides an alternative methodology for projecting MBA's to 1990. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) projects MBA's by compounding a series of five past ratios. The NCES methodology projects a decline in MBA's beginning in 1984-85. Our methodology examines variables reflecting costs, benefits, institutional factors and changes in the age-eligible population. The model that best explains MBA output of the past 12 years and interrelates future conditions, projects MBA enrollments to increase at a decreasing rate through 1990-91. Also, there will be a continuation of the enrollment shift from the traditional full-time MBA program to part-time evening MBA programs on urban campuses.

Although incremental algorithms are widely used in a variety of decision contexts, they have rarely been extended to models of human work behavior. In an experiment, predictions of intended effort and performance were compared using an incremental (return on effort) version of expectancy theory and the conventional model. Incremental predictions were consistently superior.

This paper critically examines and compares the ROQ inventory model, which is based upon a criterion of maximizing return on investment in inventory, with the familiar EOQ inventory model, which results from the criterion of maximizing residual income from investment in inventory. The EOQ model generally encourages a larger investment in inventory than the investment suggested by the ROQ model. It is shown that this additional investment always earns at a rate that is never less than the opportunity cost of capital, and therefore, maximizes shareholder wealth. It is also demonstrated that the ROQ may lead to unrealistically high order frequencies.

Role clarity was examined in terms of its relationships with personal outcomes and organizational effectiveness. Organizational level as a moderator of such relationships was also investigated. Using 490 underwriting personnel from 4 levels in 20 insurance offices, hypotheses based on prior research were generally confirmed. Role clarity was positively related to perceptions of job satisfaction, personal influence, organizational effectiveness, and task-oriented leadership. Role clarity was higher at higher organizational levels, where relationships with perceived organizational effectiveness were not significant. An independent measure of effectiveness showed members in high-performing offices had greater role clarity than members in low-performing offices. Role clarity and organizational level are important variables in organizational behavior research and warrant continued study.

Over the past nine years, an enormous amount of research has been conducted on the communication apprehension construct; however, neither this research nor its implications have been discussed in the management or organizational behavior literature. The intention of this paper is to make management and organizational behavior researchers aware of the nature of the construct, research conducted to date, and some of the implications for on-going organizations. It is argued that an understanding of the workings of this variable offers rich potential for improving our understanding of behavior in work organizations. Eleven hypotheses for further research are suggested.

The study tests the contention that variations in the focal organization's context, reflecting strategies of coopting, competing, capitalizing, and corpulating, constrain the periodicity of succession in the office of chief executive within the setting of 58 petrochemical companies. Contextual variation is identified through a coefficient of volatility which accounts for economic trends in corporate growth (or decline) through least squares deviations. Results suggest that high presidential succession rates are influenced by both a low degree of variation over time in board membership and a high degree of variation in debt to equity structure. The relationship between board size variation and succession rate is somewhat unexpected, and it is even more predominant when surveyed companies are classified according to the degree of successfulness (profitability and return on investment). Further analysis reveals a prediction model for successor tenure based on volatility variables and moderator effects.

Managers and students have frequently criticized management professors, accusing them of having little practical experience outside their academic "ivory towers." This research challenges these assertions. The typical management professor has 12 years of managerial experience and 7 years of nonmanagerial experience. However, most of this experience was obtained prior to 1970. This research also investigates other factors pertaining to the managerial experience of management professors.

A sample of scientists and engineers from 15 R&D organizations participated in a study designed to assess the moderating influences of facets of perceived cohesiveness and collaborative problem solving on the task characteristics-individual performance relationship. It was found that two facets of collaborative problem solving moderated the relationship between task difficulty and individual performance. Two facets of group cohesiveness also moderated the task difficulty-individual performance relationship. None of the dimensions of collaborative problem solving or cohesiveness dependably moderated the relationship between task variability and performance. These findings are discussed relative to the group dynamics literature and the management of task groups.

Research has found technology to play a key role in the explanation of organizational behavior. Although important, the literature lacks comparative studies of the effects of the subunit and job technology on behavior within organizations. One of the reasons for this research deficit is the lack of a multipurpose measure of the technology variable. This research reports on the development and three studies to test the reliability and validity of an instrument to measure the technology level of jobs and subunits. The revised instrument was found to discriminate among jobs in three subunits employing different technologies (a long-linked, a mediating, and an intensive). The instrument was also found useful in differentiating jobs and units by technology within a large complex organization. A third study found the instrument to be reliable as determined by the test-retest method. Overall, the results show the instrument to have promise for comparative research.