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In Canada, a national consultation has mentioned the possibility of introducing a new right whereby workers will be entitled to request flexibility in their schedule or workplace, in the model of ‘‘RTR flexible working’’ seen in Anglo-Saxon countries. Our article focuses on the impact of this right in three Commonwealth countries where it was established in the 2000s. We analyze the effectiveness of RTR as a public policy instrument to change managerial attitudes towards accommodating employees with complex family responsibilities, such as caregivers. Our review of the literature suggests that RTR has had a limited impact in workplaces, but that it has led certain employers to provide employees with greater flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Questions on the use of current theories of governance for co-operative businesses are prevalent within the literature. This paper seeks to determine if the theory of cyclical board behavior can provide insight into the evolution of co-operative boards within food co-operatives in Ontario, Canada. To answer these questions managers from food co-operatives participated in a one-hour long, semi-structured interview providing their understanding of the governance within their co-operatives. Managers identified board member engagement, the changing role of the board and succession planning as issues of concern. Engagement level of board members varied from a lack of participation to overbearing participation, which caused tensions within the co-operative. Current governance theories do not appear to adequately explain governance within a co-operative structure. A single, universal governance framework does not address the complexities of a member owned firm. The cyclical board behavior, however, does provide insight into co-operative board evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small business managers rely on judgment and heuristics when making critical strategic decisions. We explore this phenomenon, expanding the theory on cognition and strategy to explain the cognitive determinants of strategic decisions leading to small firm business model change. We integrate existing theories (entrepreneurial opportunity exploitation, cognitive resilience, prospect theory, behavioral theory of the firm, threat-rigidity) into a framework explaining strategic intentions, based on managers' perception of business opportunity interacting with assessment of the external environment, current performance, and prior experience. The framework is empirically tested in the context of Canadian real estate brokerage industry, facing potentially major disruptive change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use a cross-country survey of attitudes toward work and unions, which includes a sample of managers in both the US and Canada, to explore whether there is greater attitudinal hostility to unions in the U.S. Our estimates indicate that American manager's attitudes towards unions are, perhaps surprisingly, less hostile than those of Canadian managers. We explain this first finding by the differential effect of perceived union power, which is greater in Canada than the US and which is correlated negatively with union approval. We also find that US managers are less likely to use extreme methods to oppose union organizing drives, implying that the lower union rates in the US as compared to Canada are not likely the result of greater negativity towards unions themselves but rather some other factor or combination of factors. The implication is that if Canadian managers faced the same labor relations playing field as their US counterparts, they would likely find it easier to thwart union certification drives as well. Alternatively stated, Canadian-style labor relations reforms (such as card-check systems or quicker certification votes) could perhaps tip the balance in favor of unions when organizing in the US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article extends communication and technology use theories about factors that predict e-mail use by explaining the reasons for cultural contingencies in the effects of managers' personal values and the social structures (roles, rules and norms) that are most used in their work context. Results from a survey of 576 managers from Canada, the English-speaking Caribbean, Nigeria, and the United States indicate that e-mail use may support participative and lateral decision making, as it is positively associated with work contexts that show high reliance on staff specialists especially in the US., subordinates, and unwritten rules especially in Nigeria and Canada. The personal value of self-direction is positively related to e-mail use in Canada, while security is negatively related to e-mail use in the United Stales. The results have implications forfurther development of TAM and media characteristic theories as well as for training about media use in different cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Industrial Relations / Relations Industrielles is the property of Universite Laval, Department of Industrial Relations and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

An insolvent time in a corporation's life may compel directors to engage in reckless behaviour and wrongful conduct to hide the state of financial distress from creditors as the directors attempt to trade out of insolvency. Currently, Canadian legislation does little to protect from this type of situation. In this article, the author examines the different schemes in the United Kingdom, specifically directors' personal liability and the director disqualification scheme, and argues that the disqualification scheme has been successful for protecting creditors. The author then considers the Canadian provisions currently in place that allow for the removal of directors and concludes that the adoption of a disqualification scheme, especially under the federal insolvency power, should be seriously considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an edited transcript of an invited panel discussion that was presented at the 28th annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis in Toronto, Ontario. The speakers in this discussion addressed how behavior managers might contribute to understanding the impact of terrorism on the economy, and business, behavioral drivers in the new business context, and how we might manage our efforts to renew communities, economies, organizations and businesses. Each presenter provided a unique vantage point from which to view current events, considered powerful drivers of behavior change post-September 11, and evaluated how those affect our personal and professional lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Very few small firms in Quebec are considering the challenge of exporting, even in a context where competition has increased as a result of new open markets. Research has shown that the decision of an owner-manager to move into a foreign market is conditioned basically by his or her personal attitude to exporting. A number of organizations currently offer export information and training services to small firms, but these services do not seem to meet the needs of small business, since they are not widely used. The aim of this study was to identify the export training and development needs of small business owner-managers. It took the form of exploratory research using a sample of 15 small business owner-managers in Quebec. It highlights their representations of their own strengths and weaknesses as regards exporting, the areas of competence in which training was thought to offer possibilities for improvement, and the type of training and teaching that these firms preferred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panel data fail to support a subjective expected utility model of corporate deterrence. There is partial confirmation, however, that chief executives of small organizations who perceive the certainty of detection as high have better regulatory compliance in their organizations. Perceived sanction threats do not work significantly more effectively for chief executives (a) of for-profit versus nonprofit organizations; (b) who are owners as well as managers; (c) who say they think about sanctions more (sanction salience); and (d) who have a weaker belief in the law. Nor does the effectiveness of corporate deterrents depend on compliance costs. There is, however, a significant deterrent effect for managers who are low on emotionality, but an opposite counter-deterrent effect for actors high on emotionality. This supports the critique of those who condemn rational actor models from a sociology of the emotions perspective. Emotions of guilt among managers predict the subsequent compliance of their organizations. The results are consistent with perceptual deterrent studies of individuals that find little effect of formal sanctions and social disapproval as deterrents, but stronger support for an effect of self-disapproval (guilt or shame) on law observance. Qualitative data are used to show why it would be folly to interpret these results as showing that business regulation can work without sanction threats and social disapproval. Rather, the data evince the need for a complete reconceptionalization of the way policy analysts think about the deterrence of law breaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the relationship between proactive environmental strategies, organizational capabilities and competitive benefits of the oil and gas industry in Canada. Data from a survey of the Canadian oil and gas industry has found that investments by the industry in proactive environmental initiatives should pay off in increased competitiveness. Interviews of 27 managers in the Canadian oil and gas industry found that the managers of the more environmentally proactive firms felt their environmental practices led to several competitive benefits. These included reduced costs, increased innovations, and improved relations with stakeholders.