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Grounded in Strategic Leadership Theory (SLT), the exploratory study examined the effects of appraisal frequency on various work-related factors (job satisfaction, perceived board support, and organizational commitment) on executive director's current appraisal experiences. One hundred and sixty-two executive-level professionals in local park and recreation agencies completed an online survey that was used to measure the variables of interest. Results indicated differences in executive directors' job satisfaction, perceived board support, and organizational commitment based on the frequency in which the formal appraisal was administered. Complete and implications for organizations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a globalizing world, cross-national differences in values and business culture and understanding these differences become increasingly central to a range of organizational issues and ethical questions. However, various concerns have been raised about extant empirical research on cross-national dissimilarities in the cultural values of managers (what we refer to as managerial values) and the development of a unified business culture. This paper seeks to address three such concerns with the literature on convergence versus divergence of cultural values. It develops an empirical approach to the study of changing business cultures that revolves around birth cohorts and intergenerational values shifts and aims to advance empirical knowledge of the dynamics of cross-national differences in the cultural values of managers. We use time-series data covering 68,708 managers and are able to consider a sample of 32 countries that represent more than half of the cultural clusters recognized in the literature. Results reveal diverse shifts in managerial values across birth cohorts with cross-national dissimilarities waning for some basic cultural dimensions ("convergence"), remaining stable for other dimensions ("cultural stability"), and becoming more pronounced for other dimensions still ("divarication"). Moving beyond the standard convergence/divergence taxonomy, we conclude that a full-fledged convergence-stability-divarication perspective provides the best basis for thinking about the subtle ways in which business cultures are changing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst growing claims very recently by several distinguished scholars that business management should be considered as a true profession, we evaluate its professional status from a sociological analysis of the profession. We argue that whether it is a profession or not, the managers need to demonstrate professionalism. We understand the notion and meaning of professionalism and its importance for professions and non-professional occupations. In course of evaluating and discussing professionalism by Evetts, as embodiment of elements of both occupational value and ideology, as controlling the organization of work of business managers, we argue that professionalism of business managers is best understood when the 'notion of control' is embedded in the very idea of 'character'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined gender differences in self-confidence among working managers in two situations (work and social/family) as well as relationships between self-confidence, personal adjustment, and gender identity. Respondents were 437 women and men managers (208 men and 229 women) in southeast Florida. Although the sample was predominantly non-Hispanic white, an effort was made to include as many as possible Hispanic and black managers of both genders. Meaningful subgroup analysis was not possible, however, due to the small number of minority managers. Results showed that contrary to commonly held beliefs, the women and men managers were not significantly different in self-confidence in either situation, but both were higher in self-confidence at work than the same gender was in the social/family environment. Strong gender identity—either masculine or feminine—was associated with self-confidence at work for both genders, as was high personal adjustment. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section presents an abstract of the study, The Relationships between Cultural Values, Work Beliefs, and Attitudes towards Socioeconomic Issues: A Cross-Cultural Study, conducted by Joel Dean Nicholson. A questionnaire was used to measure cultural values of individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, paternalism, work beliefs including the work ethic, humanism, Marxist beliefs, organizational beliefs and the leisure ethic and attitudes toward selected national and international business issues. The questionnaire was administered to approximately 1,000 students and managers/professionals in each of the three countries in their native languages. Significant differences in cultural values and work beliefs were revealed through multiple analyses of variance. Multiple regressions revealed several cultural values to be significant predictors of work beliefs. Finally, regression analyses revealed that different combinations of cultural values and work beliefs combined to explain a great deal of variance in attitudes toward socioeconomic issues of importance to international business. Implications for current theory and practice were discussed and directions for future research were given.