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This study assessed potential resistance to a proposed merger by examining how individual perceptions of organizational success, job security, and communication related to organizational commitment in the context of a [...]

Negative feelings build up when managers avoid discussing problems with others on an executive team. Chronic avoidance is a type of procrastination due to dislike of conflict and fear of an unpleasant reaction. However, confrontation can prevent some of the toxic effects of avoidance., If you're like most managers, more often than you'd like you find yourself having a tough time with someone on your executive team - whether it's a boss, a colleague [...]

An undeniable fact about today's work place: Elevated stress is a reality for any whose jobs are to interact with people outside their organizations. Like the company labour relations person [...]

A joke bandied about a few years ago, quoted a supervisor as saying gruffly, 'Ulcers? I don't get them, I give them!' In today's work place, especially in those companies [...]

The disclosure of information by management to employees varies significantly between workplaces. The effects of this variance on organizational performance are analysed using WERS98 data. The results show that the impact of information disclosure on organizational performance is more complex than is often assumed in the literature. Overall, there is a significant impact, both direct and indirect, and this varies depending on the level of employee organizational commitment, the type of information disclosed and the performance outcome involved. On the whole, the positive effects are less in union settings and in situations where unions are strong.

STAMFORD, CT: Though morale is at an all-time low at IT companies, very few see employee communications as a solution, according to a new study from IT research firm Meta [...]

Interactive channels, rather than remote ones, are most often chosen by customers with a redress seeking goal. However, remote channels such as e-mail or written letters were favored by customers wanting to communicate frustration.

The concept of trust in supply chain management relationships is examined, focusing on how the term is used, its effects on customer and supplier behavior, and what factors in a relationship foster trust. Implications for supply chain managers are discussed.

One of the most powerful tools successful business and professional people around the country use today to market their products, services and themselves is networking. As time-consuming as it may [...]

Enough of this thing we call networking. That doesn't mean I want you to stick your head in the sand and think you never have to talk to anyone again. [...]

The concept can be described as a 'brain dump,' using pictorial connections from a central image, like branches of a tree. For years, psychologists have played with the theory that [...]

Communication styles are shown to have a direct impact on the success of sales interactions with customers. The communication styles of both sales personnel and customers are categorized for the study as task oriented, self oriented, and interaction oriented. Scales are then developed to measure styles and see how sales outcomes are affected by the style of the communicators involved. The most successful salespeople are those who recognize communication styles in their customers and adjust their communications accordingly.

Office politics exist in every organization. Research indicates, however, that there are five elements pertaining to a firm's history, physical makeup, and philosophy that seem to have an affect on the amount of politics that will be seen in a firm. The elements are: objectives or goals; management style; organization size; organization level; and an organization's life cycle stage. Research on office politics also shows that people with unrewarding jobs tend to subscribe to office politics more than those individuals with satisfying work. Additional findings indicate that poor communication is often at the core of untrusting and unclear relationships., THE ELUSIVE MENACE OF OFFICE POLITICS A lot of what passes for Machiavellian scheming in an organization may really be misunderstanding. The prevailing concept of office politics contains all the [...]

Business communications can be marred if the communicator is defensive. Business communicators who 'feel understood' are likely to be effective communicators. Self-confident communicators want to reach out; defensive communicators want to strike out. Confident communicators want to do something for an audience; defensive communicators want to do something to an audience. Defensive communicators feel tense, discomforted, hurried, gripped by the situation, vengeful, estranged, and confused. Confident communicators feel awakened, empowered, understood, comforted, and trusting.

A writing apprehension test (WAT) was developed to help diagnose writing anxiety in employees who are in writing-intensive environments. The WAT was applied in two midwestern firms to 500 random employees employed in clerical, technical, secretarial, professional, supervisory, or administrative positions. Employees in writing-intensive positions suffered more writing anxiety than those in positions with lower-intensity writing environments. It is recommended that the sufferers take courses, classes, seminars, or workshops to reduce anxiety. It is also recommended that the WAT be used to screen out writing-anxious job applicants for writing-intensive jobs.

The brain is divided into two hemispheres: the logical left and the creative right. A person dominated by left-mode thinking tries to solve problems systematically by using logic, facts and words, on the other hand, a person dominated by right-mode thinking solves problems creatively by using sensitivity, intuition and nonverbal reactions. When people with these two contrasting thinking patterns interact in a group, a clash is likely to occur, unless they learn to understand and compromise. The group's productivity benefits when the group considers both left-mode and right-mode differences before solving problems.

IT'S ONE OF THE SWEETEST IRONIES OF THE HIGHTECH age, but cold, heartless computers are doing for corporations what all the honchos and human-resources staff could not: They're making people [...]

In the jewelry industry, much has been said about the importance of relationships. On the corporate side of the business world, much continues to be said about the importance of [...]

In the 1970s, Marshall McLuhan became famous for his insights into electronic communications media and their impact on culture. McLuhan, gave us the enduring concept that 'The medium is the [...]

ENDANGERED SPECIES: NEW IDEAS IN MANAGING Innovation, new ideas and new ways of looking at problems must be encouraged--and rewarded. Where innovation is dominant, this sensibility permeates every aspect of [...]