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A new instrument for measuring the beliefs, attitudes, or values held by the management of a firm with respect to its various publics is used in a field study of managers in 19 firms. This instrument is effective in differentiating between the management teams in different kinds of business organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive review of the literature on control theory, this paper examines the state of the art and provides a basis for rejecting the view that the executive can find very little knowledge to assist him in performing the control function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five samples, ranging from business executives to students, and two measures of cognitive complexity were used to replicate Mitchell's finding of a positive relationship between Fiedier's LPC and an individual's cognitive complexity and to test two related hypotheses. The results did not support Mitchell's findings or the two additional hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals, with business philosophy and the perception of executives of their responsibility towards owners, employees, customers and the public. The study indicates a changing trend in belief patterns in that more executives believe that business should be responsible to customers, employees, and the public, in addition to stockholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selected variables related to a Management by Objectives system were examined to determine their relationship to manager attitudes toward the system. Two variables, ability of MBO to contribute positively to intraorganizational communication and the perceived attitude of one's superior toward MBO, were found to be strong predictors of manager attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a viewpoint for analyzing human performance problems. It provides managers with a framework for examining performance problems, a framework that cuts through the level of generalities and does specific, workable solution to problems. The general problems faced by manages can be that they bring their biases while dealing with people. All the training courses and programs available often lead managers to separate human-performance problem from the job and from the complex environment in which they occur. The framework can be used to analyze these problems and to predict problems that might occur if changes in procedures or changes in emphasis on some performance variable are being considered. The value of this framework or template for viewing people-related performance problems is that it makes possible a closer look at the problem. It forces managers to get off the "communication" and "doesn't care" level of abstraction and to get down to specifying what exactly is desired. Moreover, it examines systematically the variables that influence performance including the consequences, the feedback and the barriers to performance.

The article reports on national economic planning in France--which critics refer to as a form of central planning and advocates refer to as a market survey that provides information for making business decisions. Characteristics of the French plan include: a statement of social and economic objectives in a framework of business activities; planning commissions which offer information and advice and review target goals; and methods for implementing action and enforcing compliance. Data shows executives' perception of how much the national plan influences their decision making. Statistics show the occupational groupings of commission members. Positive effects such as dynamism and harmonization are mentioned, as well as the negative impact on competition.

The article discusses research pertaining to U.S. managers' thoughts on electronic data processing (EDP). The study showed wide differences among the firms with regard to management's computer objectives, acquisition practices, employment impact, system design, programming methods, and other factors associated with data processing. Analysts say management misconceptions about EDP may be due to the use of factory automation as the basis for comparison and predictions about computerized office automation. They say management must abandon their oversimplified view of EDP and meticulously analyze the data processing needs of their firm.

The article focuses on the concept of excellence in business and management. It states that utilizing traditional quantitative measures such as net profits and per cent of participation in work markets results in questions about the level of excellence in U.S. businesses. It suggests that excellence of performance is more important than quantity in the global marketplace. It comments on expectations of management in the workplace. It states that the behavior of employees and executives is largely determined by the expectations of people around them, which is a basic tenet of role theory.

The article focuses on corporate image in public relations and advertising. It states that even if a company doesn't try to project an image of itself or its products, the public will still perceive an image of the company because of its products and actions. It mentions that several images may appear depending on each group that perceives the company. It mentions that perceptions of shareholders will be different depending on how large a block of shares the shareholder possesses. It comments on the development of corporate image, which depends on its policies and practices as well as public relations techniques.

Is science producing a revolution in the functions of the business executive? No, but evolutionary changes are taking place at a rapid rate to keep pace with automated technology--changes which are bound to upgrade marketing and research and development at the probable expense of those traditional masters of the organization chart, production and finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here is first aid for that paramount problem of the average executive, how to manage time so that he is no longer clobbered by too-imminent deadlines, senseless interruptions, and homework. It presents a way to analyze job activities, delegate secondary tasks, and get first things done first so that there can actually be time left over in which to think and plan. Included also are hints on how to lock the door against the biggest business time thieves of all, an overactive telephone and that unscheduled caller who drops in just to "renew contacts." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents advice on how aspiring managers can promote their own careers. Findings related to the career progress of a sample of businessmen interviewed in a study conducted by the authors are presented. The study sought to determine why some businessmen advance rapidly in management careers while others possessing similar skill sets and experience do not. Research results are described, and the authors note several common characteristics present in businessmen that advanced rapidly, as well as those that did not.

Questionnaire data from eighty-seven middle-management personnel in a bank planning a merger with a larger bank were analyzed. Attitudes toward the merger tended to be unfavorable, although they ranged from very favorable to very unfavorable. Favorable attitudes were related to older age, lack of previous success in the organization, high morale, and high F-scale scores (authoritarianism). Unfavorable attitudes toward the merger seemed to be principally associated with: younger age, a pattern of success in the organization, low current morale, and low authoritarianism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The administrator frequently bases decisions and actions on his perception of other people. Behavioral scientists have been systematically studying the process of perception, focusing in recent years on interpersonal perception. Although their work has been done largely in laboratory settings, their conclusions have relevance for the administrator. This paper examines some of the recent work on interpersonal perception and suggests some implications for administrative practice. No easy means is proposed to make objective what is essentially a subjective process; nevertheless it is possible to indicate some guidelines and precautions to use in this complex aspect of interpersonal relations. Understanding the process of interpersonal perception is one means of trying to avoid gross errors in interpersonal judgments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seventy-seven administrators were asked to describe typical on-the-job role conflicts. In addition, common structured conflicts were formulated by the researchers and presented to the administrators. Two groups of business managers, one group of training directors, and one group of labor leaders composed the sample. The central hypothesis states: The decisions of administrators confronted with role conflicts can be predicted with a high degree of accuracy if their perceptions of legitimacy and sanctions are given. In each conflict situation, where two opposing claimants were urging him to do their bidding, the administrator was asked whether he considered each request or order from the claimants as "right and reasonable" (legitimate). He was also asked what he thought would happen to him if he complied with either claim and failed to produce a successful result (sanction). Four possible actions were set forth: comply with A's request, comply with B's request, compromise, or avoid. An over-all predictive accuracy of 71 per cent was discovered for the type of action taken by the administrators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four measures have been developed from the Tomkins-Horn Picture Arrangement Test which can provide reliable information regarding the level of conformity in various groups. The present paper deals with the upper strata of the business and academic worlds. Evidence is presented which bears directly on assertions that top executives have remained relatively uninfluenced by pressures to conformity, while university professors have succumbed to these pressures. The author finds that conformity and deviance occur in both occupational groups, and that both are on the average less conforming than the typical college graduate. This relative nonconformity appears, however, to be an artifact associated with age differences. Professors and executives are, in general, no less conforming than others when age is held constant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a report of a study of management behavior in three comparable companies. The quantitative and qualitative importance of horizontal relationships (i.e. between manager and manager at roughly the same level) is established through interaction process analysis. Further data illustrating that managers in equivalent positions but in different companies take the same stands on various controversial issues are interpreted as indicating that reality problems and dilemmas facing the organization, not only "politics" and information channels, determine management behavior. The nature of these dilemmas and their effect on the intraorganizational balance of power is examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study of foremen's attitudes is based on the hypothesis that union and nonunion plants represent essentially different social contexts with different sets of constraints, communications patterns, decision-making processes, and authority structures, and that these differences will be reflected in foremen's attitudes. It was found that foremen in unionized plants experienced a greater sense of deprivation and less job satisfaction than foremen in nonunion plants. Differences, however, were found to be related to foremen's subjective status or degree of identification with management. The less a foreman identified with management, or the closer he felt his position to be to the rank and file, the greater his feeling of deprivation and the lower his job satisfaction. Among foremen who identified least with management, the differences in these respects between those in union and nonunion plants were especially pronounced. As identification with management increased, however, the differences between attitudes of foremen in union and nonunion plants decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the findings of a research study conducted among American corporate leaders to find out how they perceive the European Economic Community (E.E.C.) and its effect on their firms. The executives favor the E.E.C. regardless of the length of time their firm has been a member, the type of industry they represent, or their sales in that area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of low tariffs brought about by the 1962 Trade Expansion Act and the 1967 "Kennedy Round" of trade talks, this study shows that top executives in multinational business firms generally favor freer trade and would like to see an orderly reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers both at home and abroad. The sample used represents 100 firms which responded to mail questionnaires followed by personal interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of participative management has held the spotlight of debate in management literature. This article examines the purposes of participative management and, using different systems and models, discusses its advantages and disadvantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the relationship between the success of industrial managers and their attitudes toward certain management policies. The eight policy areas examined are primarily related to personnel and general management. The manager's choice of policies in several of these areas is related to success, both across the entire sample and within the firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relative roles of cultural background and degree of industrialization in the managerial beliefs of a sample of Greek managers? Findings are compared with the previous results reported by Haire, Ghiselli, and Porter (1966) and Clark and McCabe (1970). The Greeks were as inconsistent as those in these two previous studies in displaying little belief in their subordinates' capacities for leadership and initiative while advocating the practice of participative management. On two beliefs (capacity for leadership and initiative and belief in internal control) the Greeks tended to cluster with a Latin-European cluster, thereby suggesting a cultural explanation. On the other hand, regarding beliefs in sharing information with subordinates and participative management the Greeks clustered with a developing countries cluster, thereby suggesting an industrialization explanation. Exclusive focus on either explanation of managerial attitudes and beliefs does not seem warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper throws doubt on the direct relationship between the difficulty of a decision problem and decision time. A formal theory is proposed, hypothesizing that decision makers take longer to choose from four alternatives when two of the alternatives are easily rejected than when all four alternatives are equal. The results of laboratory experiments support this hypothesis, and suggest that decision behavior is related to personality factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A greater variety of economic and noneconomic indicators makes it possible to test the validity of explanations provided by cross-national research, and to come up with additional or alternative explanations. In this study, four sets of data and the corresponding conclusions found in Haire et al. (1966) were correlated with 8 indicators obtained for 14 countries, through a multiple regression. This analysis generally supports their emphasis on cultural and economic explanations even though the best indicators used here--level of education, life expectancy, and percentage of Roman Catholics--are rather different from theirs--language, religion, and level of industrialization. Besides pointing to the usefulness of using indicators in cross-national research, this analysis also draws attention to the danger of hastily labeling various factors as economic, political, social, and cultural since most available indicators are hard to classify as being of one type or the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Role diversity-operationalized by the number of relevant role senders-job level, subunit size, and company size are examined in this paper as determinants of perceived managerial satisfaction. Perceived need satisfaction, need fulfillment deficiency, need importance, and possibility of need fulfillment serve as the dependent variables. Role diversity and job level are found to be more significantly related to need satisfaction and possibility of need fulfillment than subunit or company size. Results are interpreted in the context of role theory and previous research by Porter. Administrative implications are suggested in the areas of reward system design and managerial motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem considered is whether good relations with one's superior tend to enhance one's relations with others. It is hypothesized that under conditions of slow change, the enhancement model is upheld, but that where more rapid changes occur, relationships are polarized, i.e., good relations with one's superior are associated with poor relations with others. Data are presented based on interviews with 90 British managers. Under stow change conditions, enhancement was indeed found, while under more rapid change, relationships were significantly more polarized. The findings indicate the possible shortcomings of closed-system research designs, which focus on a single element in the manager's relationships. The implications for Likert's model are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with some of the often neglected behavioral problems associated with the practice of management by objectives. These include problems relating to managerial style, adapting to change, interpersonal skills, setting objectives, measurement, and management by objectives quality control. The paper concludes with some criticisms of the current state of management by objectives research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the relationship between company orientation toward managers' wives and conformity behavior of managers and wives. The findings indicate that managers and their wives are relatively more conforming than the general population. The significantly higher conformity scores of managers may well be due to organizational pressures for conformity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mach V Machiavellianism scale was administered to 73 MBA students, 36 managers, and 13 faculty colleagues. In addition the MBA and Management groups completed a "Theory x--Theory y" leadership scale. Managers were less, and MBA students more Machiavellian than the norms; faculty were most Machiavellian of all. Managers were more participative than MBA students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A search of the literature led to the formulation of some hypotheses that Japanese-American managers in Hawaii may be influenced in their attitudes by their ancestral culture. Empirical research produced findings which suggested that there were some differences in the managerial sample studied that could be attributed to culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article outlines the role of the native enterprise manager in Alaska. Twenty seven village businesses were created in remote Alaskan villages with the help of the Community Enterprise Development Corp. Native villagers own and manage the enterprises in their areas. The author says that the biggest challenge for these businesses is the managers' lack of expertise, while attempting to expand the customer-base among minority groups. The author believes the best strategy for successfully managing these enterprises is to develop a participative, non-direct, relationship with customers.

This study is concerned with manager's behavior within the international personnel selection decision process. Managers play an active role in the process, and their behavior is influenced by their perception of the job environment, the candidate's qualifications, and the availability of persons qualified to fill the job. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ninety days after a human relations training program, little change in attitudes and behavior of managers was observed. Eighteen months later, significant positive changes in attitudes existed in the experimental group; negative changes were observed in the control group. The manager's perception of the organization's climate moderated these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project management in functional organizations provides a fertile field for much-needed reexamination of the presumption of dysfunctional conflict when managers and employed professionals interact in organizations. Systematic analysis must indentify the foundations of human conflict and determine the extent to which the implications of such conflict for organizational behavior are functional or dysfunctional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seven levels of management from five electric utility companies rated eight cases involving infraction of rules by hourly workers on a disciplinary action scale. Higher level managers rated the cases more severely and cases involving safety violations were judged most severely by all managers. Among several demographic and structural variables examined, only number of managerial levels was associated with company differences in ratings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managerial behavior in organizations probably is affected by influences from external organizations in the environment. It is hypothesized that the extent of external influence from specific organizations is related to the degree to which the focal organization is interdependent with the external organization. Data from 141 Israeli managers tend to support the principal hypothesis. Firms that sell relatively more to the government perceive themselves as influenced more by governmental demands; firms that are in relatively poorer financial conditions are influenced more by both the government and banks. Managers tend to report spending more time with external organizations to the extent that the firm is interdependent with them. Also, managers who tend to rank external, government-controlled factors as being more important to organizational success are more likely to rank the importance of having political connections as being more important for a manager. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the attitudes of managerial students and managers toward the four introductory management course basics of planning, organization, motivation, and control. A semantic differential containing 49 bipolar scales was administered to business school juniors, seniors, graduate students, supermarket store managers, and government administrators. The students and managers shared the similar attitudes toward the different functions individually, but the managers express a more positive sentiment than the students. Several other aspects of the study are discussed.

A case study designed to examine the degree of congruence in management attitudes and socioeconomic background factors between executive superiors and executive subordinates, tested the hypothesis that the greater the correlation the greater the probability of promotion. Those subordinates being promoted did not necessarily share common background and attitudes with superiors but, perceptually, were significantly more aware of their superiors' views than were those not considered for promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to determine whether differences exist in the perception of the first-level manager's authority as seen by the first-level manager and his immediate superior. It also attempts to relate the differences that are observed to some general factors which might suggest variables or obstacles that inhibit the communication process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on communication channel use has shown that interpersonal channels are generally more efficient than written channels. However, using interpersonal channels involves a psychological cost, particularly for individuals who believe that free and open sharing of information is not the norm. This study explores channel use among a group of scientists and engineers. It suggests that channel use, both within and outside the organization, is influenced by the individuals' perceptions of organizational information-sharing norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the results of a study of the attitudes of international chief executives toward supervisory values and practices. As such, this paper is part of a larger study of the attitudes of international chief executives toward education and management education, business responsibility, and labor-management relations and supervision. Questionnaires were set to 571 top executives throughout the world to test the role of culture in explaining the attitudinal responses of the responding population. Usable replies were received from 177 top executives (or 31 percent of the sample chosen). Statistically significant differences were found for the five cultural groupings in five of the eight questions dealing with supervisory values and practices. Furthermore, the confidence level was greater than 0.001 in four of the five significant questions. The results were also tested with other demographic characteristics. Only in the cases of (a) ownership of firm by chief executive, and (b) size of company were there significant differences in at least one-half of the questions. The results of the analysis of variance tests supported the hypothesis that culture plays an important role in explaining the differences in attitudinal responses by the chief executives. The value of the findings rests with the need of international firms to recognize the limitations of any universal managerial philosophy at the present time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationship between Machiavellian orientation and several job-related correlates among 150 managers in a large manufacturing firm. The findings indicate that Machiavellian orientation is positively associated with job strain and perceived opportunity for formal control, and negatively associated with job satisfaction. Machiavellian orientation was not significantly associated with upward mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, data are reported comparing the beliefs of managers from five regional clusters (Greece, Spain, Central Europe, Scandinavia, and U.S.A.) on four basic attitudes (risk, self-determination, conciliation, and trust). The relative standings of the clusters are attitude specific, and the findings are compared to those of an earlier study by Haire, Ghiselli, and Porter. Only about 5 percent (which is significantly different from zero) of the total attitudinal variance is accounted for by regional grouping. Three additional factors are, therefore. examined in relation to attitudinal differences: (1) functional identification within a firm, (2) location within a single region, and (3) employment sector (private vs public) within a single country. The findings are interpreted within the context of a broad framework of possible causes of attitudinal differences across national groupings. Suggested implications for organizational practice are explicated with caution throughout the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often stated that changing values have produced a severe "generation gap." In this empirical study, differences in the values of businessmen and college students are compared. It is found that the two groups share some types of values and differ markedly on others. At the same time, student perceptions of managerial values are found to be rather inaccurate. Possible implications of these value differences and perceptive inaccuracies are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports the authors' opinions regarding a criticism of their article "Some Personal and Situational Correlates of Reactions to Management Development Training." The authors' focus on comments made about the purpose and content of management development programs. Possible reasons that executives might have for supporting or opposing management training programs are also discussed.