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This study aims at identifying the effect of human resource management practices in achieving strategic objectives of Jordan Electric Power Company. To achieve the purposes of the study, a questionnaire was developed which consisting of (52) items. The population of the study included all managers of departments and sections heads who perform their duties in Jordan Electric Power Company, where a comprehensive survey was adopted to distribute (111) questionnaires. Ninety nine questionnaires were retrieved, and the valid questionnaires for analysis were (96) representing a response rate of (86.5%) of the study population. The results of the study showed that there is an effect of human resource management practices in achieving the strategic objectives of Jordan Electricity Company. The results also showed an effect of human resource management practices on the efficiency of internal processes, quality of service, conduct work performance at the lowest time, and standards that exceed the industry specifications. The study recommended that Jordan Electricity Company should pay more attention to human resource management practices, which is reflected positively in achieving the company's strategic objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to the literature on the impact of managerial structure on firms' productivity, considering the trade-off between local managers and expatriate managers. It employs data on Korean-origin foreign direct investment and first finds that the local manager ratio is associated with productivity improvements in uncertain business environments (developing countries) but not in stable and predictable business environments (developed countries). Second, this study finds that the local manager ratio is associated with raised firm productivity only in less research and developmentintensive industries. Policy implications are drawn from these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Montes is the property of Colegio y Asociación de Ingenieros de Montes 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.)

The role of the CEO in an enterprise's management decisions renders their individual characteristics influential in decisions about mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Personal characteristics are based on many aspects, therefore, we provide a multi-angle insight into the personal characteristics of managers. Drawing on the upper echelons theory, we examine whether CEOs' proactive personality affects merger and acquisition decisions. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is performed using a sample of 64 listed firms in China for the period 2010–2019. There are three solutions for cross-industry mergers, and five for intra-industry mergers. The results suggest that: (a) proactive and overconfident CEOs are inclined toward cross-industry mergers; (b) non-proactive and low-educated CEOs are inclined toward intra-industry mergers; (c) emerging industry enterprises tend to choose intra-industry mergers; (d) overconfident CEOs are more likely to undertake cross-industry mergers in traditional industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In pursuit of counteracting today's environmental problems, corporate management will have to implement organizational changes factoring in sustainability, which is why it is important to understand exactly what leads managers to initiate these changes. It has been established that managers' personal values are critical for their behavior and that threats to these values can mobilize managers to change their actions. However, when confronted with environment‐related threats, managers may face value conflicts and various tensions between their aim to implement sustainable changes and their desire to fulfill business requirements of their job positions. Only recently have researchers begun to investigate the underlying beliefs that may lead managers to initiate organizational change toward sustainability. Borrowing theoretical assumptions from the domain of health psychology (from the well‐established health belief model), the present conceptual article develops an environmental belief model that specifies when exactly threats lead managers to initiate organizational change. The environmental belief model proposes that environment‐related threats trigger change (i) when managers believe that their firms are susceptible to these threats, (ii) the threats are considered as serious for the company, (iii) the perceived benefits of the change outperform (iv) the perceived barriers, and when there is (v) an external cue (e.g., an information campaign). All these propositions are supported with empirical findings from business contexts. Besides theoretical advancement on the role of environmental threats as precipitators of organizational change, the model provides guidance on how to frame environment‐related threats that will mobilize managers for organizational change toward sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities rely heavily on co-operation between staff to function effectively. They are complex, interdependent and highly relational organisations which often appear to run on goodwill. Organisational structures, systems and processes play an important role in the delivery of professional support services, but working relationships between university staff members are equally vital. Interpersonal relationships between colleagues at all levels – academic and professional services alike – can significantly enhance or constrain the quality of professional support provided on campus. By exploring how relationship dynamics can affect service quality in higher education settings, this article identifies the interpersonal and organisational factors which influence how professional services staff interact with the colleagues they support. This paper shares the results of recent research which evidences the benefits of high-quality relationships and the costs of poor quality ones, helping professional services staff and university managers to better appreciate the experiences and perceptions of internal customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global firms often attempt to utilize modular product architectures to ease the distribution of project work among subsidiaries. However, empirical findings on the effectiveness of this approach are mixed. Seeking to clarify this matter, we investigate the conditions under which modular product platform use is associated with cross‐subsidiary distribution of project work. Through an in‐depth case study of a global corporation, we find that a firm's ability to leverage modular product platforms for distributing project work is positively associated with project interface match (i.e., the extent to which meeting the requirements of a derivative project does not entail modifications of the interfaces embedded in the firm's modular product platforms). However, this association is attenuated, and eventually muted, by the project technical manager's related technical experience (i.e., the manager's personal experience with the technical solution addressing a focal project's customer requirements). Such attenuation effect originates because lower levels of project interface match do not necessarily imply greater expected project coordination effort. Such expectation is reduced to the extent that the technical project manager has related technical experience. Triangulation of qualitative insights from four embedded cases with a proprietary database of 97 projects supports our contention. These findings contribute to the literatures on product and organizational modularity, distributed work, and project management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars in both the humanities and management remain attached to the idea that literature will set us free. Whether this is because literary text seems unconstrained by our epistemes or reading literature offers a practice through which we will be able to shape ourselves into the people we want to be, many of us understand literature as something that offers us a chance to emancipate ourselves from the regime of knowledge we have now. Nevertheless, as the history of literature as colonial governmentality suggests, literature and literary study have been crucial forms of knowledge-power for creating and maintaining organizational structures as well as producing the willing subjects that make those structures work. This being so, how is it that are we still interested in using literature to make "better" people, whether the people in question are "better" managers or their subordinates, rather than reorganizing literary study in the contemporary university? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Supply chain (SC) managers influence firms in incorporating green behavior throughout the value chain in functions such as purchasing, production, distribution and transportation. In this study, we aim to understand the antecedents of pro-environmental behavior (PEB) in SC managers. Design/methodology/approach: We develop a research model hypothesizing a direct role of SC managers' private green behaviors, subjective norms, personal and organizational barriers as factors influencing the manager's pro-environmental intentions. We also analyze the impact of these intentions on actual behavior. We surveyed managers working in the SC of manufacturing firms in a developing country and tested the research model using structural equation modeling. Findings: Our results indicate that SC managers' personal barriers significantly influence intentions to act pro-environmentally and these intentions then predict their actual behavior. However, SC managers' private green behaviors do not spill over to their workplace. Furthermore, the study shows that organizational-level barriers and subjective norms may reverse green intentions. Originality/value: This study contributes to the research literature by identifying the role of organizational, personal and social factors in modifying the SC managers' intentions. It provides useful insights into how these factors affect the behavior of SC managers. Thus, we extend prior work in the area of PEB to the SC environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how corporate insiders pledging their equity stakes to collateralise personal loans influences firm cost of debt. Pledging enables managers to diversify personal holdings, potentially increasing risk‐taking incentives. However, exposure to contingent risks creates potentially stronger risk‐reducing incentives. Using hand‐collected data with OLS, difference‐in‐differences, and instrumental variables models, we find significant decreases in yield spreads associated with executive share‐pledging. Reductions in spreads surrounding share‐pledge disclosures suggest investors update their risk assessment to reflect pledging managers' risk‐taking incentives. Consistent with risk‐reducing incentives, firms with share‐pledging executives subsequently reduce leverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media (SM) has become indispensable for individuals and workplaces/organizations in Africa and beyond. Therein, ethical concerns are posed due to the inability to create virtual boundaries (VM), the intractability of guidelines for managers and other unintended risks/consequences. Operations research was used for modeling ethical concerns but have been defeated due to reasons of several ethical values and various assessment criteria for stakeholders. Consequently, this review paper initially x-rays the import of ethical dilemmas in older studies so as to conceive a strategy characterized by engaging stakeholders that utilize SM via Agent-Based Modeling (ABM), in such a manner that ethics can be evaluated. Additionally, it presented the rudiments of social media ABM explorations and the peculiarities of Africa. Finally, the review provided a suitable methodology and sheds light on the possible challenges of ABM implementation. Besides the benefit of increased patronage, the agent technology may also constitute a pedagogical tool for learning ethical behavior. Moreover, it is our hope that with the involvement of experts of related disciplines in Africa, attendant theories are formalized and used for building agent models that allows ethical decision making, weighing of pros and cons, analyzing differences and dimensions inherent in VM creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Iraqi Journal For Economic Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) 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.)

Managerial risk preferences have considerable impacts on a firm's costmanagement through committed resource adjustment decisions.We investigate whether a firm's cost behaviour is influenced bymanagers' risk appetite and find that cost stickiness increases with managers' risk-seeking. The positive relationship between riskseeking and cost stickiness is weaker for firms with higher levels of manager capacity.We further find that the moderating effect of managerial capacity ismore pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, in less competitive industries, and in areas with lower degrees of marketisation. These results suggest that managers' personal characteristics are key factors that affect sticky cost behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes and investigates the argument that social capital–performance link is mediated by entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and that this mediated relationship is dependent upon the level of managerial capability (MC) present in a firm. The study uses a sample of 206 SMEs based in the sub-Saharan African economy. Mainly supporting conjectural predictions, the study indicates that EO intervenes the social capital (SC) effect on performance, with same effects uniquely strengthened according to the dimension of EO in question at higher levels of MC. The study expands our understanding of how the umpiring role of EO in the SC–performance link is contingent upon levels of MC present. Managers are, therefore, encouraged to strategically develop both EO and MC to enable them to effectively utilize and profit from the benefits SC has to offer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annual Set the Environment Protection / Rocznik Ochrona Środowiska is the property of Koszalin University of Technology 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.)

Franchising is an important context in studying entrepreneurship and a growing area of business activity worldwide. To date, various studies have considered the strategic implications of decisions to retain firm ownership of particular units or to franchise them. Little attention, however, has focused on the differences between employee or franchisee managers of those units. We address this gap in the literature by offering a perspective on human resource management (HRM) and franchising that considers those differences, thus providing a bridge between the HRM and franchising fields of inquiry. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the transition of the chief executive officer (CEO) of Music Teachers National Association and reflects on the past while contemplating the future of the association. Topics include the CEO's tenure, the association's rich history and traditions since 1876, and the importance of reconciling tradition with new ideas and opportunities to ensure the association's continued relevance and success.

The article examines the story telling prowess of poet Fouad Laroui. Topics discussed include narrative points of view chosen by Laroui being egocentric or mono-cultural as well as mixed and multiple, the reality and the relativity of things, his vision of the riad and the neighborhood being conventional and his style of a scenic map postal, and the club of engineers frequented by Moroccan managers at the mine and by Polish expatriates.

Background: Ambient air quality monitoring is a governmental duty that is widely carried out in order to detect non‐biological ("chemical") components in ambient air, such as particles of < 10 µm (PM10, PM2.5), ozone, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. These monitoring networks are publicly funded and air quality data are open to the public. The situation for biological particles that have detrimental effects on health, as is the case of pollen and fungal spores, is however very different. Most pollen and spore monitoring networks are not publicly funded and data are not freely available. The information regarding which biological particle is being monitored, where and by whom, is consequently often not known, even by aerobiologists themselves. This is a considerable problem, as local pollen data are an important tool for the prevention of allergic symptoms. Objective: The aim of this study was to review pollen monitoring stations throughout the world and to create an interactive visualization of their distribution. Methods: The method employed to collect information was based on: (a) a review of the recent and historical bibliography related to pollen and fungal spore monitoring, and (b) personal surveys of the managers of national and regional monitoring networks. The interactive application was developed using the R programming language. Results: We have created an inventory of the active pollen and spore monitoring stations in the world. There are at least 879 active pollen monitoring stations in the world, most of which are in Europe (> 500). The prevalent monitoring method is based on the Hirst principle (> 600 stations). The inventory is visualised as an interactive and on‐line map. It can be searched, its appearance can be adjusted to the users' needs and it is updated regularly, as new stations or changes to those that already exist can be submitted online. Conclusions: The map shows the current situation of pollen and spore monitoring and facilitates collaboration among those individuals who are interested in pollen and spore counts. It might also help to improve the monitoring of biological particles up to the current level employed for non‐biological components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are firms with female owners or managers less corrupt than other firms? We test this question using firm-level data on corruption, ownership, and management. We find that women in positions of influence are associated with less corruption: female owners are associated with a lower incidence of bribery and report smaller levels of bribery. Moreover, corruption is seen as less of an obstacle in companies where women are represented in top management. By providing evidence that women are associated with lower levels of corruption in business our research contributes to the literature on development, gender equality, and corruption. [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.)

This study examines whether reputation mechanism works for celebrity independent directors in China. We find that firms with celebrity independent directors experience higher multiple agency costs and worse performance, indicating that managers and/or large shareholders take celebrityindependent directors as a shield for facilitating grabbing private benefits. In addition, this effect varies between state-owned enterprises and non-state-owned enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the following research question: how can information systems (ISs) be the real sources of uncertainty for supply chain management (SCM), despite their positive roles in the effectiveness of modern supply chain (SC) organization?Design/methodology/approach A typology of the uncertainties linked to ISs and their usage is developed. Then, five explanatory case studies conducted in diverse industries allow to characterize this typology.Findings The case studies allow to identify the most frequently recurring uncertainties, namely, “limited IS capacity” and “data unreliability.” In addition, “company size” does not seem to be a relevant dimension for assessing the vulnerability of a SC to uncertainties linked to ISs. On the other hand, the “business sector,” with its implied power influences, was found to be a relevant dimension.Research limitations/implications This research does not allow to rank uncertainties according to their level of criticality.Practical implications This paper enables SC and information systems managers, as well as ISs/SC project managers to be aware of the need to consider ISs not only as the vectors for performance, but also as the factors for uncertainty in SCs.Originality/value ISs are generally considered to be a vector of performance. Nevertheless, their use remains problematic in many companies. This paper falls within both the ISs and SCM research areas. In the latter field, typologies of the uncertainties are common, but often ignore the uncertainties linked to ISs and their usage. The authors suggest envisaging ISs as the potential factors for uncertainty in the context of SCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to present the results from a survey concerning first-line managers' assuredness about the effects of Lean after two years of Lean application in a Swedish healthcare organization. The purpose is also to reflect about assuredness as a driving force for sustainable change. Questionnaires were sent to all first-line managers in a healthcare organization in order to investigate how these managers consider their role, ability and conditions to create change according to Lean. One of the questions included 17 statements about how assured these managers were about the effects of Lean. The results from this question will be presented in this paper. The study showed that the majority of the first-line managers in this particular healthcare organization were assured that developmental work supported by Lean contributes to a higher patient focus, supports first-line managers with useful tools and methods, contributes to the development of an improvement culture and that the Lean concept in general is a support in improvement work. The question can either be used separately or as a part of an entire questionnaire in healthcare organizations. Asking first-line managers about their assuredness about the effects of Lean on a regular basis is one way to follow the Lean process from their perspective. The survey question might encourage discussions about the process of Lean and hopefully contribute to a greater understanding about the importance of assuredness and about the desired effects when applying Lean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the HRD practices of multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in Australia to understand the value that MNEs place on investment in their human capital, particularly managerial talent.Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a representative sample of 211 MNEs operating in Australia, this paper investigates the extent (using frequencies) and determinants (using logistic regression analysis) of training and development expenditure, management development strategies, talent management and succession planning policies.Findings The findings suggest that less than 20 per cent of MNEs operating in Australia are investing over 4 per cent of their annual pay bill on training and development. Furthermore, almost a quarter of firms invest less than 1 per cent in training and development. However, most MNEs invest in their managers and those with high potential through the use of management development programmes, talent management strategies and succession planning. Interestingly, in comparison to US MNEs, Australian MNEs were less likely to use management development or talent management programmes for senior management or high performing staff.Research limitations/implications The current study is cross-sectional and represents a snapshot of MNEs’ HRD practices at one point in time. The study measured the perceptions of the most senior HR manager and did not include the views of other organisational participants. The authors suggest the need for future research studies that incorporate longitudinal research designs and the views of different organisational actors.Practical implications HR managers or HRD specialists need to develop a strong understanding of the Australian institutional context, as well as demonstrate the importance/business case for an integrative approach to HRD.Originality/value This paper fulfils an identified need to study the HRD practices of MNEs operating in Australia, particularly focusing on the value that MNEs place on their human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal for East European Management Studies is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG 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.)

While it is generally believed that insulating cost allocations help managers focus their attention on their own actions and shield them from the actions of others, non-insulating schemes can have appeal by encouraging teamwork and/or mutual monitoring among divisions. In this paper, we demonstrate that non-insulating allocations can induce fruitful cooperation among parties even when teamwork and mutual monitoring are nonissues. In particular, we show that in the case of intra-firm trade governed by transfer pricing, non-insulating allocations can permit one division to internalize benefits of private information borne by another and thereby alleviate informationinduced trade barriers. Unlike in the traditional case of fostering teamwork, however, the cooperative nature of noninsulating allocation introduced by information differences is distinctly more circumstance-specific. In line with this view, the paper also identifies conditions under which the use of non-insulating allocation shifts divisional incentives in a manner that only adds further tension to trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the centrality of managing diversity effectively in contemporary organizations, existing literature gives disparate and incomplete accounts of how managers actually manage diversity in practice. The prevailing managerial literature focuses on what diversity activities should be involved in managing diversity but does not identify how managers actually undertake these activities in practice. The growing interpretive/critical literature focuses on how people's understandings define managing diversity, but is silent on how managers translate their understandings into specific diversity activities in practice. We applied a practice perspective in conjunction with phenomenography as a methodological approach to investigate how managers actually manage diversity in practice in the empirical context of professional services firms. The results show that managers' practice of managing diversity is constituted by four understandings of managing diversity that distinguish and organize diversity activities into four different and progressively more comprehensive ways of managing diversity. This practice-theoretical account transcends the existing literature's partial accounts in significant ways by offering a new and considerably broader and more precise conceptualization of managers' practice of managing diversity, including which ways of managing diversity may be more effective than others. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leadership behaviour has been identified as an important antecedent of workplace bullying since managers may prevent, permit, or engage in the mistreatment of others. However, the issue of how managers respond when bullying occurs has received limited attention. With this in mind, the aim of this study was to explore how managers behave when bullying occurs in their work group and to elucidate the contextual issues that underlie this behaviour. This was achieved through analysis of in-depth interviews with individuals involved in cases of bullying. The findings revealed a typology of four types of management behaviour in cases of bullying, each underpinned by contextual factors at the individual, group, and organizational levels. The study shows that the role of leadership in workplace bullying is more complex than previously thought and suggests several ways in which managers and organizations could deal with bullying behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Performance appraisal is an essential component of health care organizations for the improvement in quality of patients' care. Awareness of managers' and employees' perception of performance appraisal can lead to improved performance appraisal quality. The purpose of this study was to compare the perception of performance appraisal among managers and nursing staff of hospitals affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted among 75 managers and 313 nurses in 2014. The participants were selected through a two-stage quota-random sampling. Data were collected using two researcher-made questionnaires (nursing managers and nurses' questionnaires). Data were analyzed using descriptive and statistical tests using the Software Package for the Social Sciences software. Results: The mean score of managers' and nurses' perception of the current performance appraisal was 56.8 (14.2) and 51.4 (14.5), respectively. A significant difference was observed between managers' and nurses' perception of performance appraisal (P = 0.004). The participants' perception was examined in terms of performance appraisal method, the consequences of performance appraisal, and the necessity of performance appraisal. In general, perception of managers was more positive than employees. Conclusions: The evaluation of the perception of nurses revealed deficiencies in the process of performance appraisal. Moreover, managers had a more positive perception than employees toward the current pattern of performance appraisal. The results of this study can be effective on the decisions of authorities in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the problem of forming education manager's professional competency in the context of European integration educational processes. The peculiarities of education manager's competences as well as directions of their professional training in motivational, cognitive and metacognitive spheres have been theoretically justified. The performed analysis of curricula in higher education institutions of Central European countries has proved their use of the complex approach to forming professional competences of education managers. The author has revealed the peculiarities of education manager's professional training while mastering accredited specialized courses in School Management in the Centre for Lifelong Education at Faculty of Education at Palacky University in Olomouc, the Czech Republic; a Bachelor's degree in Education Specialization (School Management) at Charles University in Prague, the Czech Republic; in the context of the project launched by the European Social Fund (EFS) called "The Development of Education Manager's Competences in Schools and Educational Institutions in the Hradec Kralove Region - the Model of Professional Education", the Czech Republic. It has been concluded that higher education institutions of Central European countries focus on the development of pedagogical and managerial competencies. It has been highlighted that the complication of training content and the modernization of disciplines will allow to form thinking and actions of education managers as comprehensively educated specialists able to successfully deal with professional tasks using their educational and intellectual potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent attempts by policy makers to rein in high power financial incentives are predicated on the belief that such incentives cause managers to engage in excessive risk taking that is not in the best interest of the firm. This potential agency cost, however, has received little attention in the management accounting literature. We examine the effect of incentive power on excessive risk-taking behavior in a controlled experimental setting where managers make incentivized risk choices that affect the pay of the manager and another participant representing the firm. Our main results are, first, that the high power incentive generates more excessive risk taking than the low power incentive, despite both incentives being equivalent in expected value at the optimal level of risk for the firm. Second, changing from the low power to the high power incentive significantly increases excessive risk taking, but changing from the high power to the low power incentive does not significantly decrease excessive risk taking, indicating a stickiness effect that may hinder attempts to decrease this behavior. These results provide useful insights for agency theory and public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to advance the theory relating to the determinants of target costing (TC) system adoption by firms. Although the existing literature identifies several factors, it mainly clarifies the circumstances under which TC adoption will add firm value, which refers to a benefit orientation. This paper uses Miles and Snow's (1978) strategy typology to examine the cost orientation of TC adoption, which answers the question as to why firms do not adopt TC even when the existing literature alludes to the benefits of adoption. The paper argues that prospector managers possess the scope to take advantage of the high information asymmetry to avoid TC adoption, because their stock-based compensation increases with volatility in earnings and stock returns. In contrast, defender managers gain increased cash-based compensation with the adoption of TC, which helps achieve greater firm profits. The paper concludes with specific sources of agency problems and several avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many engineering design contexts models are indispensable. They offer decision support and help tackle complex and interconnected design projects, capturing the underlying structure of development processes or resulting products. Because managers and engineers base many decisions on models, it is crucial to understand their properties and how these might influence their behaviour. The level of detail, or granularity, of a model is a key attribute that results from how reality is abstracted in the modelling process. Despite the direct impact granularity has on the use of a model, the general topic has so far only received limited attention and is therefore not well understood or documented. This article provides background on model theory, explores relevant terminology from a range of fields and discusses the implications for engineering design. Based on this, a classification framework is synthesised, which outlines the main manifestations of model granularity. This research contributes to theory by scrutinising the nature of model granularity. It also illustrates how this may manifest in engineering design models, using Design Structure Matrices as an example, and discusses associated challenges to provide a resource for modellers navigating decisions regarding granularity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is a manager's likability important from an employee's perspective? Research results in this field are scant and inconsistent. The current study explored employees' response to managers' likability and the moderating effect of power distance at both the cultural and individual levels. In study 1, following the countercultural priming experimental paradigm proposed by Van den Bos et al. (2013), 121 college students from China (a high power distance culture) and 99 college students from Denmark (a low power distance culture) were randomly assigned to either a countercultural (experimental) condition or a control condition. All participants were required to complete a manager selection task using the zero-acquaintance paradigm to measure their preference for likable managers. The results confirmed the moderating role of power distance at the cultural level. Study 2 further explored the moderating effect of power distance orientation at the individual level, as well as the boundary condition of the degree of resource dependence from the employee's perspective. One hundred and three Chinese participants with work experience were randomly assigned to either the subordinate perspective (high resource dependence) or the HR department perspective (low resource dependence) condition and completed the same task as in study 1. The results suggested that high power distance-oriented participants demonstrate stronger preference for likable manager candidates than do low power distance-oriented participants. In addition, these findings hold only when employees expect a high resource dependence relation with the manager. Theoretical and practical implications of the research findings and future research directions were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The personality (dispositional) characteristics, attitudes, beliefs, and orientation of 498 managers and military officers toward performance appraisal and organization were collected in order to examine their structural relationships to raters' behavior, in terms of (a) mean appraisal ratings, (b) measures of performance dimensions discrimination, and (c) rate discrimination. A mapping sentence comprising a modality, a reference group, and an aspect (content) facet were used. The empirical results largely confirmed this definitional system. Moreover, a polarizing partition of the space into three regions-Self (rater), Ratee, and Organization/System-was found, possibly implying that these three considerations are equally proximal in determining rater behavior. Future directions for research are advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Which is right? Corporate managers should promote the interest of stakeholders or they should do this for shareholders? I argue the latter because corporate managers get hired with the clear understanding that that is their job, the purpose of their office. Arguing against this assumes a perverse conception of property rights and should not be sanctioned by the legal system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of Performance Measurement Systems (PMS) on people's behaviour are relevant for an organization performance and success. Yet motivational and behavioural consequences of PMS are far from being understood. This study aims to go further regarding the consequences on people's behaviour of using PMS in organizations. In order to collect data researchers conducted a case study in a Portuguese multi-national company. Evidence shows that the way in which managers understand a PMS influences in a significant way how they behave. The data also lends support to the claim that PMS influence motivation, perceptions, participation and job-related stress of managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature shows that the success and competence of future managers depend on the quality of their academic teachers. Moreover high quality study requires high quality lecturing/teaching that creates an environment in which deep learning outcomes are made possible for students. The aim was to identify the characteristics of the academic teacher working at business schools, according to the expectations of Polish students from a 21st century perspective. A qualitative survey design was used in the form of a letter questionnaire. 144 second-year bachelor students of Gdańsk University from the Faculty of Management were asked to list a maximum of five, most preferred characteristics and to comment their answers. Finally, 109 students participated in the study and 471 characteristics were proposed, analysed and put into five categories: tangibles (T), reliability (Rel), responsiveness (Res), assurance (A) and empathy (E). Content analysis and Pareto-Lorenzo analysis was used and the most preferable characteristics were identified. Conclusions, proposals and recommendations were presented. The academic teacher has to be well prepared and teach in an interesting, innovative way with a use of modern techniques and methods. Very important is to apply not only the lecture-style methods, but also on-the job teaching, project-based teaching, team work-based teaching, action teaching, experiential teaching, small groups teaching, case studies, simulations, e-teaching, and even volunteering teaching. Not without the significance are coaching and mentoring and the features referring to the style of teaching, like charisma, creativity, passion and engagement, which characterise good managers and business leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work aims to examine the influence of sociocultural characteristics of managers on the performance of Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) in Cameroon. It relies on the survey "Determinants of Enterprise Performance in Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa: Case of Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal" conducted in 2014 in cooperation with International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Using a design methodology applicable to African countries environment such as Cameroon, this exploratory study aims to fill some gaps identified in the literature. The econometric analysis shows that sociocultural characteristics such as age, matrimonial status, level of instruction, property structure, social capital and religious practices of the manager significantly influence firm performance. However, application of religious norms influences staff behavior and therefore affects labor yields and firm performance. Thus, sociocultural attitudes associated with the intellectual and professional skills significantly improve business performance. Thus, the behavior of managers characterized by cardinal virtues (listening, tolerance, participation, sharing) and their religious beliefs, significantly influence their decision making and their good results target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]