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Prior research has shown that events that employees believe will impact them negatively lead to employees feeling that their psychological contract with the organization has been breached. This subsequently reduces affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction, while increasing intentions to leave. This model, however, does not sufficiently consider the role and latitude of a direct manager (i.e., supervisor) as the employee's proximal organizational agent. By modeling the effects from varying levels of a direct manager's discretion, as perceived by the employee, knowledge concerning psychological contract breach and its associated outcomes is advanced. To accomplish this, an existing scale was adapted to measure managerial discretion of middle level managers, which was validated using responses from 210 employees across many organizations. Using the new scale, analyses showed that as perceived discretion of their direct manager increases, employees' feelings of psychological contract breach from negative events increase and lead to greater reductions of affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction, as well as increased intentions to leave. The findings suggest that employees look to direct managers perceived to have greater discretion, holding them accountable for negative events, regardless of whether their managers were involved in decisions or operations associated with the event. Keywords: Managerial discretion; psychological contracts; affective organizational commitment; job satisfaction; intentions to leave, Despite more than 50 years of research on the nature of psychological contracts and their inherent social exchanges, there are still many unanswered questions about how they influence individuals' attitudes [...]

The authors examined the effects of the type of mentoring relationship and the gender composition of the relationship on mentoring functions and career outcomes reported by 352 female and 257 male proteges. Proteges of informal mentors viewed their mentors as more effective and received greater compensation than proteges of formal mentors. Proteges with informal mentors also received more career outcomes than nonmentored individuals, but no significant differences were found between nonmentored and formally mentored individuals. The gender composition of the relationship affected mentoring functions and outcomes, and protege gender interacted with the type of relationship to affect mentoring functions.

In the race to the top, mentors can make the difference between getting on the inside track and trailing the field (Dreher and Ash, 1990; Fagenson, 1989; Scandura, 1992; Whitely [...]

A study was conducted among three manufacturing facilities from different countries to determine how managers from each one dealt with employee participation. Philosophical orientations and attitude towards the individual influenced managers' methods of dealing with employee participation. Furthermore, Americans tend to use a more formal, long-term and programmatic approach in their self-directed programs than the British or Dutch. Explanations for these differences and their implications for American managersare discussed.

Nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome is a genetic disorder that involves several organ systems and is associated a variety of symptoms that can develop at any age. Common features of this disorder are abnormalities of the rib and vertebrae; intracranial falx calcification (the deposition of calcium in a sickle-shaped structure of the brain called the intracranial falx); multiple basal cell carcinomas (skin tumors); the formation of horny, sac-like structures in the jaw, originating from the teeth; and pits, or tiny, hollow pockets in the palms of the hand or soles of the feet. Nevoid basal cell carcinoma has also been associated with the development of heart tumors. A case is described of a two-year-old boy who developed a cardiac fibroma, a fiber-like, encapsulated, connective tissue tumor in the heart. The child had symptoms of cardiomegaly (enlarged heart), cough, rapid breathing, and abnormalities in the conduction of impulses in the heart. A cardiac fibroma was discovered in the left ventricle and was surgically removed. The child was treated with the drug digoxin, but continued to have impaired function of the mitral valve, which directs blood flow from the left atrium to the left ventricle. The patient was later found to have bone cysts in the jaw; several pigmented nevi (moles) on the back and trunk areas; pits in the left hand palm; and a bifid (cleft or split) rib. He was diagnosed with nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome. This case demonstrates the signs an symptoms of nevoid basal cell carcinoma and emphasizes the association between cardiac tumors and this disorder. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

The effect of employees' locus of control on the relationship between procedural justice and perceived influence was studied. The subjects were 172 workers in a consumer products manufacturing company. The results indicated that employees with an internal locus of control, or those who believed that events were controllable, rated procedural justice more highly than employees with an external locus of control, or those who felt that events could not be controlled. Internally oriented employees who experienced high perceived influence rated procedural justice more highly than externally oriented employees. The results indicated that the locus of control had an effect on the perceived relationship between influence and procedural justice.

The high choice manipulation yielded greater attitude change than the low-choice manipulation. Low-choice subjects who received the attitude questionnaire before the information measures wanted information more than if offered the information first, implying a sensitizing effect produced by the attitude questionnaire for the low-choice subjects. (Author)

While theoretical analogs of misattribution therapy appeared promising, attempts with clinically relevant behaviors have not been successful. This study attempted to increase plausibility by manipulating familarity with the setting and psychological arousal in a clinically relevent situation. Authors conclude misattribution effect is not effective with clinically relevant behavior. (Author)

This article examines an American multinational company to uncover any cross-national differences in managerial attitudes toward employee participation in decision-making. Human resource practices of the parent company toward its European subsidiaries were also examined, especially those relevant to employee participation issues. Data were collected from the company's manufacturing facilities in Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States. Managers were interviewed and then surveyed regarding their attitudes toward participation. The interviews revealed resistance to the parent company's efforts to "export" an American vision of employee participation to its European subsidiaries. The survey data revealed attitudinal differences among European managers as well as among their American counterparts. Possible explanations, implications for human resource executives and research directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Letters to the editor regarding topics relating to management science are presented.

With the growth of technology and greater use of virtual teams, organizations have increasingly begun to use ementoring for socializing, training, and developing individual employees via technology. Despite the growing importance of e-mentoring, relatively little research has examined its process or effectiveness. Therefore, we: 1) provide a framework for understanding the e-mentoring process, 2) review the e-mentoring literature, and 3) present hypotheses to generate additional research on e-mentoring. As technology develops, the use of e-mentoring and, thus, the need to better understand it will grow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the hypothesis that Whiteness is used as a normative standard when comparing a variety of first names. Design/methodology/approach – Respondents (full- and part-time business students) evaluated names that sounded common, African-American, Russian, and unusual. Findings – Results from two studies suggest that “common” or “neutral” names are perceived to be white, and to be more American than African-American, Russian or unusual-sounding names. Results also demonstrate that the common names have more positive attributes, including socio-economic class. Research limitations/implications – The study found that the basic comparison of American respondents will be to a white person. Second, the authors applied Critical Race Theory (CRT) to the research on names. Finally, the authors demonstrate that unless they are totally anonymous, virtual teams will still have the type of social categorization and stereotyping of team members found in ordinary teams. Practical implications – Organizations and managers need to recognize that a “colorblind” approach simply reinforces the expectation that any differences in American organizations will be compared against the Whiteness standard. This can be a problem in any organizational setting, especially given the proliferation of virtual teams. This may be addressed with attempts to increase common in-group identity and strategies for identifying bias. Originality/value – In this research the authors integrate concepts and theory from Virtual Teams, CRT and the Psychology of Names, providing both theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]