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This study investigates the relationship of strategic leadership behaviors with executive innovation influence and the moderating effects of top management team (TMT)'s tenure heterogeneity and social culture on that relationship. Using survey data from six countries comprising three social cultures, strategic leadership behaviors were found to have a strong positive relationship with executive influence on both product-market and administrative innovations. In addition, TMT tenure heterogeneity moderated the relationship of strategic leadership behaviors with executive innovation influence for both types of innovation, while social culture moderated that relationship only in the case of administrative innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managers' perceptions of their involvement in strategic planning were hypothesized to be positively related with their feelings of organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and job involvement. Further, it was also hypothesized that the relationship between strategic involvement and these work-related attitudes would be enhanced to the extent that the managers' felt that a salient strategic vision was guiding the company. We tested these two hypotheses using a sample of upper level managers in a large corporation undergoing a major strategic transformation. With the exception of finding no evidence that vision salience moderated the positive relationship between strategic involvement and job involvement, both hypotheses were supported. With regard to managers' psychological attachment to the organization, the results suggest that there are advantages afforded by involving them in the strategy making process, and that these advantages are magnified to the extent that the involvement occurs within the context of a salient strategic vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience is increasingly highlighted as a necessary organizational property in national security bureaucracies. This article explores the resulting management dilemmas via interviews with Danish executives, who attempt to balance resilience, fiscal austerity and democratic accountability. It concludes that the resilience agenda inspires relevant organizational adjustments, including more external networking and internal resource variety. But austerity limits resilience to budget-neutral forms, and fear of blame games limits the space for innovation to stay abreast with evolving risks. The article calls for a critical reappraisal of how much resilience to expect from public sector organizations and for more research into the boundary conditions of organizational resilience in the public sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a response to the article "Budget-Induced Pressure and Its Relationship to Supervisory Behavior," by Don DeCoster and John P. Fertakis that was published in Autumn 1968 issue of the "Journal of Accounting Research." The authors suggest that the results of DeCoster and Fertakis' study are in line with the findings of previous studies. DeCoster and Fertakis looked at the relationship between budget pressure and supervisor behavior, finding a correlation between budget pressure and the initiating structure and consideration aspects of leadership behavior.

Leadership remains an elusive concept despite decades of research. In this paper, we attempt to deconstruct the concept by exploring the possibility of developing new measures of leadership, focusing on the attributes of 'good' and 'bad' leaders. Using a sample of 312 managers, we conducted factor analyses to reduce 13 'good' leadership attributes to two factors, the 'visionary' and the 'good,' and 13 'bad' attributes to two factors, the 'inept' and the 'evil.' Second, we assessed how male and female followers perceive the leadership styles of their best and worst bosses. We found that women viewed their best bosses differently from their male counterparts on several dimensions; however, there is little contrast in how bad bosses are perceived by men and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although works councils have, by and large, equally extensive legal rights in Germany and the Netherlands, this is the first econometric analysis that investigates the influence of Dutch works councils on firm performance. We use a nationwide Dutch dataset with information on management's perceptions of the works council's impact on their establishments' efficiency and innovation. Inspired by the German study of Jirjahn and Smith (2006, Industrial Relations 45:650-80), we analyze which determinants influence management's attitude toward employee participation in the Netherlands. Owing to the specifics of our data, we are able to additionally include variables that measure the interaction between management and worker representatives. We establish a preponderant influence emanating from the works council's role attitude and management's leadership style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A company's social responsibility grounded in appropriate ethical values. Accountability for this foundation lies with the corporate leadership, which is responsible for establishing organizational values and culture. When a breach occurs in this leadership process, or when a transition-economy organization is entering the global arena, an ethical turnaround is generally needed. We created this term to describe the leadership process needed to regain, or initially establish, corporate credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of stakeholders. These leadership requirements go beyond those needed in a strategic turnaround since they must help resuscitate an organization's cusses transformational leadership during ethical turnarounds in developed economies (focusing on Tyco) and in transition economies (focusing on Troika Dialog in Russia). We conclude with implications for business leaders in both economic settings. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is crucial from an employee's point of view to perceive some degree of stability even in times of major organizational change. This paper examines the role of a sense of continuity for organizational identification after an organizational merger. We argue that mergers and acquisitions so often end in failures partly because the change is designed in discontinuous ways and employees do not feel they are doing the same job after the merger as before. Such discontinuous change engenders a critical tension between positive and negative effects of identification that has not yet been fully understood. To deepen the understanding of this tension, in-depth interviews were conducted in a recently merged German industrial company. Based on these qualitative data we demonstrate how features of the post-merger company structure and the way it was implemented may have eroded organizational identification. Finally, we propose a parsimonious model to be tested by future research, in which the sense of continuity is consisting of both observable as well as projected continuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growth and decentralization have brought increasing conflict to many international NGOs, particularly between field and headquarters. This case study, written by the executive responsible for the activities portrayed, examines an attempt to define a clear new role for a headquarters department in a large, decentralized INGO focused on building unity of purpose. By ensuring that decentralized units of the organization took the leaders hip in related corporate initiatives whenever possible, with headquarters coordinating an inclusive process rather than implementing, unity was increased and tension reduced. Senior managers at the headquarters of growing, decentralized INGOs should find this case study relevant as they strive to maintain unity in the face of institutional fragmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managers' perceptions of subordinates' performance, causes (attributions) of subordinates' performance, and the leader behaviors they employed toward subordinates were examined from the standpoint of cross-situational consistency versus cross-situational specificity. Cross-situational consistency would be indicated if managers' perceptions of performance, attributions, and leader behaviors were stable over different situations, whereas crosssituational specificity would be indicated if these same perceptions indicated reliable variation, as a function of situation. Empirical results for 377 Navy managers provided strong support for crosssituational specificity. Results are discussed in relation to prior research, generated by interactional theory on consistency versus specificity of responses across situations, and in relation to research and developmental needs in leadership, attribution theory, and performance evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research validating the Vroom-Yetton leadership model has provided support for all the prescriptions of the model except the Conflict Rule. This rule prescribes group decision-making methods when conflict among subordinates is anticipated and acceptance of the decision is critical, on the grounds that a group process provides a more effective vehicle for conflict resolution than other less participative methods. The present experiment tests the Conflict Rule against an alternative hypothesis that predicts conflict intensification and polarization in group settings. Forty groups of five members each considered a decision task chosen for its likelihood of generating task-based conflict. The 2 x 2 design (decision-making process by leader reward structure) created conditions in which a particular decision-making process either conformed to or violated the normative prescriptions of Vroom and Yetton's model. Both attitudinal and behavioural measures of decision acceptance revealed that the interactive group process was significantly more effective than one-to-one consultation in generating support for a leader's solution. A secondary analysis treating the quality of the leader's decision as a covariate revealed no significant variation in the pattern of sub-ordinate acceptance explained by this factor. Overall, the results support Vroom and Yetton's Conflict Rule and suggest that subordinates are far more likely to accept a leader's decision following an interactive group process regardless of either the leader's desire to reach consensus or the technical quality of the decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper was to review the research literature on the relationship between "Consideration," "Initiating Structure," and organizational criteria. The results show a predominance of low to moderate correlations, but almost all of a concurrent validity nature. There is as yet almost no evidence on the predictive validity of "Consideration" and "Initiating Structure" nor on the kinds of situational moderators which might affect such validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews selected studies concerned with managerial reaction to leader-centered and to student-centered methods of instruction. It also presents a report of a study that compares managerial reaction to these two methods immediately after completion of a management training program. Based on an exhaustive review of educational research, Anderson (1959) reported that 49 experimental studies concerning authoritarian and democratic leadership, when viewed collectively, yielded inconclusive results concerning knowledge and attitudinal effects. Bennett (1956) conducted an experiment concerned with supervisory enthusiasm for lectures that were based exclusively on authoritative sources. Filley and Reighard (1962) asked manufacturing managers of 300 companies to choose between a method which is centered around authoritative discussion by a lecturer or conference leader or a method which is centered around discussion by the group attending the conference, led by a qualified discussion leader. Mann and Mann (1959) found that attempts to produce personality and behavior changes were more successful for a task-directed study group than for a free-discussion group. Also, in 1959, Page and McGinnis studied an adult discussion group and found members of the group to prefer a directive approach. House (1962) found the use of leader-centered techniques to be useful for gaining acceptance of management training efforts. Based on above mentioned studies which, if summarized, were concerned with the effects of various teaching methods on attitudes and knowledge change, the present study, again by House (1963), advanced the proposition that the ideal method of instruction is a combination of leader-centered and student-centered methods, involving initial leader-centered presentation of main points, followed by discussion for purposes of clarification and elaboration.

The article discusses a study on the interrelationships between value dimensions, leadership effectiveness, and leader behavior and attitudes. The study was conducted in four plants of an Eastern Division of a detergent and soap manufacturer, wherein 39 managers were involved in the research. It states that managers have differences rating from 20 to 97 and were compared on a single continuous scale of over-all effectiveness. The study found that managers with higher score on the "Conformity" value scale were rated less effective by top management. It also found no correlation between the manager's leadership attitudes toward "Consideration" and "Structure" and top management's ratings of their effectiveness.

The article discusses aspects of leader behavior and work patterns, which were components of a paradigm outlined from a sequence of research made by an Ohio State group in educational, governmental, and business organizations. It mentions studies about work patterns of various labor personnel including staff members, administrators, and executives. It cites the difference in the relationship between group effectiveness and leader behavior dimensions. It highlights the importance on the flexibility in leader behavior. It concludes that supervisors, executives and administrators have work patterns based on organizational behavior research.

The article focuses on the study which identifies predictors of managerial effectiveness to be used in variety of managerial staffing situations. The study uses cross-validation sample to measure the personal characteristics and managerial effectiveness of 468 managers in Minnesota through psychological tests and biographical experiences questionnaire. Results show that the prediction method can be a useful tool in predicting managerial effectiveness and valid for various selection process. Moreover, personal characteristics are associated with the general effectiveness of managers.

The article presents a study which aims to describe an approach to managerial leadership that offers practical and effective ways for fulfillment of individual personal value in the organization and business work objectives. It provides assumptions regarding managerial leadership including values as the main factors in employees' motivation for work, being dynamic of the said value, and then following their own decision that the recommendations of others. It mentions that with the said type of mind frame, people have good chance to be motivated by self-discipline, creativity, and high productivity.

Investigates the relationship between management leadership attitudes and retention of a Scanlon Plan. Decision-making process in the Scanlon Plan; Measurement of managerial attitudes; Significant differences in confidence in employees between managers in continuing and discontinued Scanlon Plan firms; Attitudes toward participation.

The article investigates the similarities and differences in the attitude of managers from various countries. In order to identify viewpoints of managers, a questionnaire, asking identical questions, was administered to a sample of managers in each of a number of countries. The study focused on three phases of management thinking. They are views on leadership and how one gets work done well and efficiently, the way in which the role and practices of the manager are seen by managers themselves and the satisfactions a manager wants and gets from his job. Before dealing with the results of the study, the article discusses the two problems in this kind of research.

The relationship between personal values and job success was investigated in a sample of 92 South African managers. The correlation between scores on a specially developed key of the Personal Values Questionnaire and relative salary per age (index of success) was significantly positive (r = 0.36, P < 0.001). More successful managers had dynamic and pragmatic values while less successful managers had more passive and static values. The results offer further cross-cultural support for the close relationship between personal values and managerial success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how new managers can improve their leadership skills, and emphasizes the development of managers' attitudes, beliefs, and skills to make them great managers and leaders.