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Copyright of Contemporary Accounting Research is the property of Canadian Academic Accounting Association 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.)

Supplier perspective taking, whereby an internal customer adopts the perspective of an internal supplier, was investigated. Two dimensions were assessed: positive attributions and empathy. Supplier perspective taking was associated with team leader ratings of employees' contextual performance. Production ownership and integrated understanding predicted supplier perspective and were in turn predicted by job autonomy. Interaction with suppliers contributed to supplier perspective taking directly and indirectly. These findings suggest two ways to enhance supplier perspective taking hence contextual performance: increase employee interaction with suppliers and enrich job content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing competition resulting from the global and technological nature of markets has heightened the need for businesses to rely on cross-functional new product teams to produce innovations in a timely manner; yet functionally diverse teams' inevitable disagreements often appear to prevent this. In a study of 43 such teams, the authors found that the effect of task disagreement on team outcomes depended on how free members felt to express task-related doubts and how collaboratively or contentiously these doubts were expressed. Implications for managing the journey from disagreement to agreement in cross-functional new product teams are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how organizational learning in subunits affects outflows of knowledge to other subunits. Three learning processes are explored: Collecting new knowledge, codifying knowledge, and combining old knowledge. The results suggest that collecting new knowledge intensifies vertical flows, of knowledge, that codifying knowledge facilitates horizontal and vertical flows, and that combining old knowledge mainly affects horizontal flows. More generally, the study suggests that uncertainties about the relevance of new knowledge are resolved via vertical flows, which (compared to horizontal flows) expose new knowledge faster to a wider range of remote and different knowledge and thereby facilitate faster, more comprehensive discovery of its relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of research deals with congruence and incongruence between supervisors' and subordinates' perception and subsequent effects on outcome variables for organizations and individuals. The results of these studies have indicated positive relationships between congruence and (1) supervisors' evaluations of subordinates (Green, 1972; Miles, 1964; Wexley, Alexander, Greenwalt, & Couch, 1980); (2) subordinates' satisfaction and morale (Brown & Neitzel, 1952; Greene, 1972; Wexley et al., 1980); (3) subordinates' liking for supervisors (Triandis, 1959); (4) quality of relationships between supervisors and subordinates (Green & Schieman, 1978); and (5) subordinates' satisfaction with communication (Hatfield & Huseman, 1982). When computing congruence scores, researchers have used several techniques. The most commonly used technique, the D statistic, derives from simple differences in raw scores for supervisors' and subordinates' perceptions of scale items (e.g., Cronbach & Gleser, 1953). But the question raised by Johns (1981) about the parsimony of such difference scores is an important issue for such research. To state the problem more specifically, when a congruence relationship appears with variables of interest, has that relationship been created by one of the components of the congruence score, or is it actually due to congruence? There is some evidence that component scores contain enough information to render difference scores redundant and unparsimonious (cf. Hatfield & Huseman, 1982; Wexley et al., 1980). The purpose of this study is to examine a relationship between congruence and communication satisfaction to determine if it is primarily a function of congruence, or of one or the other of the components of congruence. This study does not seek to replicate earlier perceptual congruence research, but rather to investigate the parsimony of D statistics in the context of a perceptual congruence study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This field study investigates the characteristics of internal communication stars, the characteristics of boundary spanning individuals, and the extent to which boundary spanning individuals span multiple communication boundaries. The characteristics of boundary spanning individuals were found to be contingent on their subunit's work and on the information boundary they span. There is substantial boundary role overlap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on rhetorical theory and structuration, this article proposes genres of organizational communication as a concept useful for studying communication as embedded in social process rather than as the result of isolated rational actions. Genres (e.g.. the memo, the proposal, and the meeting) are typified communicative actions characterized by similar substance and form and taken in response to recurrent situations. These genres evolve over time in reciprocal interaction between institutionalized practices and individual human actions. They are distinct from communication media, though media may play a role in genre form, and the introduction of new media may occasion genre evolution. After the genre concept is developed, the article shows how it addresses existing limitations in research on media, demonstrates its usefulness in an extended historical example, and draws implications for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the hypothesis that network interaction patterns affect employee perceptions through two conceptually and empirically distinguishable mechanisms: localized social influence based on network proximity and systemic power based on network centrality. The study explores the relative contributions of individual attributes, formal organizational positions, network centrality, and network proximity in explaining individual variation in perceptions of work-related conditions in an advertising firm. Results suggest that network factors shape job-related perceptions, over and above the effects of individual attributes and formal positions. Both advice network centrality and friendship network proximity evidenced significant effects, although they were stronger for centrality than for proximity? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, retailers have placed greater emphasis on developing long-term relationships to obtain sustainable benefits on issues such as product quality, price, and markdown allowances. The author examines the impact of situational factors such as the time orientation of a relationship and the importance of the issues to be resolved on the use of various negotiation strategies (problem solving, compromise, and aggressive) in channel relationships. He also investigates the impact of different strategies on channel member outcomes and satisfaction. The data used to test the model were obtained in a mail survey of 124 retail buyers in six regional department store chains. The study results indicate that when retailers ore long-term oriented, problem-solving and passive aggressive strategies are used for resolving conflicts on major issues. The use of problem-solving strategy to resolve major conflicts resulted in higher outcomes and greater satisfaction than either compromise or aggressive strategies. The findings also provide insights on the use of various negotiation strategies by retailers to resolve conflicts on important and relatively unimportant issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication by way of the audio-visual channels in the general field of industrial and labor relations has been attempted by union, management, and other groups. Many of the materials produced and distributed by the union and management groups have represented efforts to describe their particular points of view toward problems with which they were concerned at a given time; thus, there are audio-visual items in the field of economics and sociology, for instance, which present the points of view of various union and management groups. Inasmuch as no union in this country is in a position to speak for all unions, and no management is similarly in a position to speak for all managements, the audio-visual materials that have been produced so far by these groups set forth the thinking of only those particular organizations that were directly responsible for their production. The chief value of most items in this category, therefore, lies in the understanding and insight which they provide into the aims and the objectives of the producers, and not of the union or management group as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication dilemmas cited by people are not communication problems at all: they are symptoms of difficulties at more basic and fundamental levels of corporate life. After describing various interpersonal styles, the author analyses them and makes appropriate suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses aspects of corporate decision making styles. The success of group decision making appears dependent on the combined capacities of those engaged in decision making to work together with satisfaction and creativity. Experts say too often decisions are made on the basis of rules of thumb and gut-level intuition rather than on the basis of any sound systematic procedures. The fact that decisions reached in the traditional manner frequently fail to accomplish the desired goal is a reflection of continuing conflict between labor and management. Groups tend to produce more adequate decisions than individuals working alone.

Conflict between business organizations may have constructive consequences. This article reports on conflict within the automobile distribution system based on a two-year exploratory study, with the relationship between General Motors and its dealers as the primary example. It distinguishes between constructive and destructive conflict by drawing on five premises about intergroup conflict from sociology and applying them to manufacturer-dealer relations. The economic, organizational, and political conditions that encourage a systematic and equitable resolution of conflict are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing magnitude and complexity pose major difficulties for the administration of scientific and technological endeavors. Traditional methods of administration frequently are inappropriate when applied to a scientific enterprise. The authors suggest that three areas in particular deserve more emphasis: (a) investigation of research organization, particularly with regard to the individual engaged in research; (b) training in research administration, from the bench scientist through project leader to the top administrator, and (c) effective communication, not across artificial disciplinary language barriers alone, but throughout the hierarchical form which is most conducive to research creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retail dealers whose major business is in the products of a single manufacturer form an organizational system with that manufacturer. For this system to operate effectively as an integrated whole and to compete with similar manufacturer-dealer systems, certain administrative functions must be performed for the system, over and above the administration of the formally separate manufacturer and dealer organizations. This paper examines the interdependent roles of manufacturer and dealer and the administrative attempts to control quasiindependent units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of virtual teams has enabled working relationships to take place at a distance: the spatial and temporal boundaries of enterprises are thus eliminated. The introduction of distance and appropriate technology inevitably change the communication and the relationships both among and within these teams. The fact that virtual teams have fewer opportunities to communicate seems to make them lack social presence, which tends to impede communication and create conflicts. Several conflicting risk factors are associated with virtual teams: limited modes of communication, social and cultural divergences, and difficulty in identifying conflicts. Faced with this new situation, the management of communication conflicts becomes a strategic activity to ensure the sustainability of the virtual team. The purposefulness of this research is to explore the management of communicative conflicts in virtual teams. In order to do this, this research will attempt to present briefly the different types of communication conflicts in the virtual teams, as well as the solutions to overcome them. It will also expose the study's methodology, analyze and discuss the main results. Finally, the research concludes with a reminder of the main results and contributions and indication some possible avenues for future research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author presents his assessment of industrial advertising budgets. He describes weaknesses in budgeting methods including a lack of a sound base of marketing facts, little distinction made between marketing and communications objectives, and the use of a narrow advertising approach. The author predicts a more effective approach due to a closer working relationship between marketing executives and advertising professionals.

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

This study explicated Post80s workers’ communicative constructions of work meanings guided by the dialogical self theory. Analyzing 33 in-depth interviews, we found Post80s workers constructed their work meanings regarding choice, development, and impact as they invoked individual and collective voices amid the discursive and material discontinuities and continuities of the emerging Chinese socio-economic landscape. Foregrounding meanings of work as dialogical co-constructions of different voices, the study unpacked the complex interplays of self–other, individual–collective processes, and past–present–future work values and experiences in the communicative constitutions of the Chinese paradigm shift of work. Theoretical contributions to meanings of work as tensional, dialogical constructions answer calls to more nuanced scholarly engagement with individual–organization–society problematics and generational cohorts locally and globally in organizational communication research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the interplay between open and closed innovation at Crossrail, Europe's largest civil engineering project�aiming to build a suburban railway system in London. Our findings suggest that open and closed innovation can be combined by creating an appropriate communication and exchange environment, whose elements include organizational arrangements (e.g., team organization and task assignment) and methods and rules of communication. We also found that innovation in megaprojects can be successfully driven when the contractors are encouraged to search for and implement incremental solutions to minor problems, not just radical and strategically relevant innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a context-sensitive approach to analyse how and why voice operates in small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), an area that remains under-theorised and under-researched. By building on a priori frameworks with proven ability to unpack complexity and take account of the wider context of SMEs, this article explores how resources (human and social capital) and constraints (product market, labour market and strategic orientation) interact to shape voice practices. The article finds significant differences between 'reported' compared with 'actual' practices in situ, and identifies different types of firms ('strategic market regulation', 'strategic market-led' and 'non-strategic market-led') along with the factors that influence the form and practice of voice. Overall, the article argues that researchers should further pursue research that appreciates the layered nature of ontology and the role played by firm context to explain complex organisational phenomena, if we are to advance our understanding of voice practices in SMEs and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media are becoming widely adopted by organisations to encourage collaboration and communication. We seek to understand how social media can enhance employee voice and employees' willingness to engage in constructive dialogue with both colleagues and managers. By drawing on literature on employee voice, signalling theory and personal control to analyse qualitative data from research into three strategic business units in a major global telecommunications corporation, we find that (a) employee perceptions of personal control and autonomy influence whether and how employees' exercise voice through social media, and (b) these perceptions vary according to different organisational/field-level contexts evident in the corporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Management & Economics Research is the property of Journal of Management & Economics Research 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.)

Analysis of incident and event sharing data from sources such as the American Fuels and Petrochemical Manufacturers process safety portal indicate that a large number of process safety incidents have control of energy causes. The most fundamental responsibility of the process plant operator is to control the energy between any two points in the process. Failure to control this energy due to improper line-up can lead to inadvertent mixing, challenges to safe operating limits, and loss of primary containment (LOPC). This article discusses a variety of practical conduct of operations topics that help the process operator bring consistency to operation in order to minimize line-up errors and the process safety incidents that result from them. The concepts are: setting and reinforcing the expectation for energy control and establishing operational discipline (OD) and operational readiness. The OD topics discussed are: improved communication through shift notes, shift instructions, and operator evaluation, returning equipment to operation from maintenance, line labeling, and commissioning and process safety start-up review activities. A brief case study is presented that discusses results from these activities-collectively called Walk the Line. Walk the line represents a culture change for operations where understanding of energy control each time a change is made in the process eliminates LOPC incidents. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 34: 126-129, 2015 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]