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The rising cost of higher education has driven researchers and practitioners alike to identify areas of waste and search for practices associated with increasing efficiency. One area commonly targeted is human resources, where the dominant narrative focuses on the role of downsizing as a way to decrease cost. In contrast to workforce reduction, institutions could reduce inefficiencies by finding effective ways to avoid premature departure and strengthen the current workforce in higher education. In this study, we analyze employees' perception of their work conditions and sense of empowerment, in relation to job satisfaction, which has been found to increase productivity and reduce turnover. To illustrate and model key variables, we utilize structural equation modeling to analyze the relationship between our key latent constructs. We find empowerment is positively related to job satisfaction, while working conditions are not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El artículo discurre sobre la importancia de una buena actitud y filosofía empresarial de los ejecutivos y otros empleados. El autor comenta sobre el énfasis en el respeto, la autoridad y la ingenuidad en el entorno organizacional. También se consideran otras características importantes para una empresa, incluyendo la humildad y el deseo de aprender.

This article discusses the importance of environments for managers’ successful introduction of a new management technique. Two empirical examples illustrate the interrelatedness of external and internal environments and its consequences for the propensity of organizations to accept and implement managerial propositions. It is suggested that an intrusive external environment, which clearly relates to generally accepted facts, facilitates managerial action and makes organizations change prone. Mangers, who seek to forestall future environmental problems, in contrast, seem likely to meet with a hostile and conservative internal environment. In both instances managers depend on the social construction of the external environment of their organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intention of the paper was to determine how certain selected factors influence preventive attitude of managers towards health and safety in the workplace. The paper is based on a survey which included 351 CEOs in larger Slovenian companies. The evaluation of data was made using the SPSS program. We found the strongest correlation between variables of preventive attitude towards health and safety between education and investments, and education and safety at work. Analysis showed that the correlation between leadership and preventive safety of this sample is positive and influences the health and safety results (the correlation is relatively high, ß coefficient 0,473). Study findings are current and may be useful to those involved in changing the legislation related to health and safety in the workplace. We recommend that preventive safety and incentives be built into the legislation, as it is evident that the CEOs are inclined to honour legal obligations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. This study tested a repeated-measures application of the Leading by Example (LBE) questionnaire, a self-report instrument measuring organizational leadership support for health promotion. Design. The efficacy of the LBE was tested, in a quasi-experimental health promotion, intervention trial. Twelve worksites were assigned to three intervention conditions (i.e., control, moderate, high intensity). Setting. The worksites were selected from a large U.S.-based chemical company. Subjects. Baseline data were collected from employees in various job roles in 2005 (N = 125). Follow-up data were collected in 2006 (N = 114) and 2007 (N = 106). Response rates ranged from 54% to nearly three-fourths of potential respondents. Intervention. Worksites assigned to both treatment conditions received changes in the built, environment via supports for weight management. Worksites assigned to the intense condition received additional elements designed to impact leadership's support for a positive health promotion climate. Measures. Four LBE factors measuring management support for health were assessed over time. Analysis. The Kruskal-Wallis H-test and analyses of variance/covariance were used to compare LBE scores. Results. Significant changes from baseline to 2006 were identified for the four factors (p = .000) of the LBE. No significant changes were found from 2006 to 2007. Conclusions. The LBE effectively captured perceptions of management support for health. Researchers and practitioners alike should consider using the LBE to track and evaluate perceptions of management support for health promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: In March 2005, Armenia enacted legislation protecting employees from secondhand smoke. This research was the first attempt to understand the attitudes, beliefs and practices of managers of public and private enterprises regarding smoke-free worksite policies. METHODS: Mixed methods were used. The study team conducted focus group discussions with worksite administrators to explore their beliefs, attitudes and practices related to worksite smoking. These findings guided development of a quantitative instrument to collect more representative data on the same issues. Using stratified random sampling, 243 worksites were interviewed from June-July 2005, representing state/municipal, health, educational, culture and business institutions in three of Armenia's largest cities. RESULTS/DISCUSSION: Smoking-related practices differed significantly across institutions. More than half of the managers (55.6%) reported having smoking restrictions at worksites, including 37.0% who reported smoke-free workplaces; however, smoking or the presence of ashtrays was observed in 27.8% of workplaces reported to be smoke-free. A substantial proportion of the administrators favored both banning indoor smoking and allowing smoking in special areas. Only 38.0% of managers were aware of employees' existing legal protections from exposure to secondhand smoke. Knowledge of these regulations was not related to adherence to smoke-free worksite policies. The research also revealed widespread confusion between the concepts of worksite smoking restrictions and smoke-free workplaces. Public awareness campaigns that promote promulgation and enforcement of worksite smoking regulations could increase employee demand for smoke-free worksites. CONCLUSION: As one of the first studies to investigate smoking-related worksite practices, attitudes and beliefs in former Soviet countries, these findings provide insight into law enforcement processes in economies in transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managerial practice uses a number of prevention tools (for example, the most effective methods, comparative evaluations, evaluation models, etc.) which continually improve conditions of workplace health and safety. Considering that communication is one of the key influence factors with regard to safety and efficiency of preventive action, we wanted to establish how Slovenian top-level managers communicated and how their communication level affected their management with regard to workplace health and safety. For that purpose we used a quantitative method of data collection - the questionnaire - and analyzed the obtained data using the SPSS data analysis software. The questionnaire was sent to all 351 top-level managers of large Slovenian companies. We found that the manner of communication used by top-level managers in large Slovenian companies positively and significantly influenced workplace health and safety (the correlation between influence and communication was fairly strong; beta coefficient was 0.774). A higher communication level achieved by top-level managers in large Slovenian companies also enabled them to promote more successfully their management ideas among co-workers. We proposed the most efficient activities to be taken up by Slovenian top-level managers in large companies in order to improve workplace health and safety, with communication being the primary tool to achieve this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El artículo discurre sobre el impacto negativo de un jefe tóxico en el ambiente laboral. El autor comenta sobre algunas características de este tipo de jefe, incluyendo dificultades de reunir con él, desestimación de las ideas de los empleados y sesgadas evaluaciones del trabajo. También se consideran diferentes tipos de jefes tóxicos, tales como el líder narcisista, maníaco-depresivo y desconectado emocionalmente.

Managerial derailment can harm the manager, the morale of coworkers, and can be costly to the organization. Using the logic of social exchange theory and “trickle-down” studies, managers who work effectively with upper management may also work effectively with others. In a field study using a sample of 1,978 practicing managers, the effectiveness of a manager's relationships with upper management positively related to the manager's ability to put people at ease, relating to lessened boss, direct-report, and self-ratings of the extent to which the manager displays the behaviors and characteristics that may lead to potential derailment. Effectively working with upper management may thus have positive implications for the treatment of others, and the potential to derail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assumption that organizational culture should correspond to business strategy in order to ensure success is valid within limits. Sometimes a culture can be so “strong” as to stamp out dissent, which is essential for spurring innovation and organizational learning. To explore the strong culture trap, it helps bearing in mind that culture is, first of all, a system of shared meanings. A manager’s temptation is to run a puppet show, align the staff, and impose a “right” way of perceiving and understanding the organization and its setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human values are desirable goals that vary in importance and serve to guide people's lives. This study addresses the following issue: what personal value dimensions emerge from a group of Brazilian executives and which one is the most important? This is a descriptive and quantitative study, employing an exploratory factor analysis of personal values. The most prominent personal values were identified in a group of Brazilian executives, in this study, the personal value dimensions found were Civility, Self-direction, and Conformity. The dimension that received the highest scores was Civility, whereas the least important values were those related to conformity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lies and deception occur regularly in the workplace during the application and interview process, as excuses for failures and missed deadlines, or as excuses for absenteeism. Undoubtedly, this workplace deception results in tremendous financial losses for companies. Generally, people believe that they can use behavioral cues to detect when others are lying to them. This study examined the behavioral cues that managers use to detect when others are lying. Managers (N = 120) completed a survey in which they indicated the degree to which ten separate behavioral cues increase, decrease, or stay the same when people lie to them. For the most part, managers held incorrect beliefs about the behavioral changes that typically accompany lying. The managers' beliefs about lying behavior were compared to the beliefs held by non-managerial employees. The results of this comparison indicated that managers and non-managers hold similar incorrect beliefs about the behavioral changes that occur when people lie, although managers are more confident in their ability to detect lies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the authors report on the results of the second phase of a three-part study of early managerial behavior in short-term, U.S. hospitals. The authors' objective in this phase was to identify important variables in the socialization process. Their analysis of these results was used as the basis for the development of a preliminary model of managerial socialization in short-term hospitals. The model incorporates individualized socialization factors and tactics and will be subject to empirical testing in Phase III of the study. An understanding of the strategic, tactical, political, and cultural approaches that short-term hospital CEOs have used should help lead to more successful transition outcomes and organizational change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY An examination of the style of managers (N = 155) in a simulated work environment shows that they tended to model the style of their boss. Females evidenced this tendency to a greater degree than males. Furthermore, when the boss was a female, male subordinate managers became somewhat more participative than the boss, while female subordinate managers became more authoritarian. A compensatory or balancing hypothesis is proposed as a possible explanation for this sex difference. These results should not be generalized beyond an American population. Possible cultural differences were not explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El artículo discurre sobre el rol de los gerentes empresariales de escuchar a los empleados. El autor comenta sobre la importancia de los ejecutivos agradables y abiertos a las sugestiones y opiniones. También se consideran las características de la buena escucha, incluyendo la postura, el contexto y la emocionalidad.

El artículo discurre sobre la historia de la figura bíblica de Judas. El autor comenta sobre la influencia del egoísmo de Judas en su traición de Jesucristo y examina la relación entre este historia y el egoísmo en el entorno empresarial. También se considera el impacto de las actitudes de los ejecutivos en la productividad.

Focuses on the Liberty Mutual Group's Executive Survey of Workplace Safety on business executives in the United States. Impact of workplace safety on a company's financial performance; Relationship between direct accident costs to injured employees and medical care and indirect costs; Reason behind the suggestion for executives to realign their workplace safety priorities.