This cross-level study tested the relationship between organizational turbulence as reported by 49 strategic business unit managers from 17 Fortune 500 companies and the attitudes of 679 midlevel managers in these companies. The results indicated that turbulence clustered into four dimensions that were differentially related to managers' attitudes. Incremental negative turbulence was negatively associated with satisfaction with job security. Financial restructuring was positively associated with career loyalty. Growth was positively associated with career loyalty and with job involvement. Organizational breakup was positively associated with career loyalty. The long-term implications for companies of the career-loyallcompany-loyal, job-involved but job-insecure management cadre produced by the corporate turbulence of the 1980s are discussed.

This study used a sample of middle-level managers to investigate the effects of organization-level agency-theory-based variables on the proportion of variable compensation that managers receive. Level of task programmability was associated with an increased use of variable pay, and long-term relationships between an agent and principal were associated with decreased use. Results supported the classical organization-theory prediction that under higher risk, organizations use higher proportions of variable pay; hut results question agency theory's ability to predict compensation strategy for middle-level managers in the high-risk situation.