bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Learning Organization: Adult Learning and Organizational Transformation
Authors: Jones Alan M. , Hendry Chris
Published: March 2005

The concept of the ‘learning organization’, with its roots in self‐development and action‐learning, has recently caught the imagination of many organizations and researchers. However, emerging definitions are creating ambiguity. There is, therefore, a need to add substance to them, and widen our understanding of what the concept means, by concentrating on what is meant by ‘learning’, and focusing on exactly how adults learn. Understanding and facilitating adult learning in organizations is, by and large, a confused activity that fails to connect with an individual's other experiences and needs, and with what modern psychology and research have to teach us. In particular, learning and skills need to be linked to the questioning of purpose and value in an organization.
An Examination of the Impact of Career‐Oriented Mentoring on Work Commitment Attitudes and Career Satisfaction Among Professional and Managerial Employees1
Authors: Aryee Samuel , Chay Yue Wah
Published: March 2005

Data obtained from 164 proteges in managerial and professional positions in public and private sector organizations in Singapore were used to examine the impact of career‐oriented mentoring on three work commitment attitudes (career, organization and job) and career satisfaction. Factor analysis of the 15‐item career‐oriented mentoring scale (Ragins and McFarlin, 1990) revealed a five‐factor solution – coach, sponsor, protection, challenging assignments and exposure. These career‐oriented mentoring roles were differentially related to job involvement, organizational commitment and career satisfaction, and explained modest amounts of the variance in these outcome variables. T‐test results indicated that mentored respondents (N = 164) reported significantly higher levels of the outcome variables than non‐mentored respondents (N = 225). Limitations of the study, directions for further research and implications of the findings are discussed.
The Emergence of Flexible Networks in the UK Television Industry
Authors: Barnatt Christopher , Starkey Ken
Published: March 2005

‘Flexibility’ became a management buzz word in the mid‐to‐late 1980s. Environmental pressures drove firms in many industries towards more flexible structures – away from internal, classical hierarchies towards agent networks brought together on individual project‐task grounds. The goal of many organizations, according to proponents of this trend, became that of seeking ‘flexible specialization’– integrating specialist resources in a dynamic, flexible fashion. Critics of the drive towards flexibility argue that the phenomenon has been overemphasized, and that large‐scale bureaucracies geared for mass production are still the dominant structural form. This paper overviews the arguments concerning flexibility and related arguments concerning the emergence of networked forms of organization. Flexibility trends within the UK television industry are then explored to illustrate the emergence of ‘flexible specialization’ and a ‘dynamic network’ form of organization. Television thus serves as an important counter‐factual to the dismissive claims of the critics of flexibility.
Measuring Research Performance in Business and Management Studies in the United Kingdom: The 1992 Research Assessment Exercise*
Authors: Taylor Jim
Published: March 2005

This paper presents the results of a statistical analysis of the 1992 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE92) for the 85 business and management departments in UK institutions of higher education. The aims of the paper are, first, to construct a set of quantitative indicators of research outputs and inputs which can be used by individual departments for comparative purposes and second, to investigate the extent to which variations between departments in the research rating obtained in the RAE92 can be explained by these indicators of research outputs and inputs. One of the main findings is that around 80 per cent of the variation in the research rating obtained by business and management departments are accurately predicted by a regression model that contains only a small number of regressors. These include: size of department, articles in refereed academic journals, research students and research income.
The Economic Circumstances Surrounding the Decision to Capitalize Brands—A Comment
Authors: Cleaver K. C. , Ormrod P.
Published: March 2005

The paper offers a reappraisal of the empirical study by Mather and Peasnell (1991) of 13 UK brand‐capitalizing companies. It argues that the findings of this study can be questioned on a variety of grounds including: method appropriateness, indirectness, timing and data issues. Specifically, it is suggested that their use of market reaction testing on this topic fails to capture the wide variety of economic consequences that may flow from brand capitalization.
Consumer Initiators: Adaptors and Innovators
Authors: Foxall Gordon R.
Published: March 2005

Theoretical and practical studies of ‘consumer innovativeness’ are currently beset by two problems. First is the proliferation of terms referring to ‘innovators’, ‘use‐innovators’, ‘innovative personality traits’ and so on which are both confusing and conceptually inexact. Second is the failure to account for the mass of weak evidence on which the notion of an innovation‐prone personality is based. The paper proposes a more coherent set of terms to designate the behavioural and psychological dimensions of innovative consumer behaviour, after which five empirical studies are presented of the cognitive style/personality profiles related to new brand/product purchasing and the use of computers for novel purposes. Contrary to the literature on adoption and diffusion, while many of the consumers with a propensity for these behaviours showed the cognitive/ personality styles widely attributed to ‘consumer innovators’, a substantial proportion, sometimes a majority, had the obverse profile. In terms of Kirton's adaption‐innovation theory, so‐called consumer innovators might exhibit either adaptive or innovative cognitive styles. Personal involvement with the product field also emerged as a powerful explicator of ‘innovative’ consumer behaviour. Hence purchasers of the highest level of food innovations were adaptors who were also highly involved in the product field; and while the heaviest users of software applications were those who were highly involved, both adaptors and innovators figured strongly among them. The findings suggest a more complicated psychographic composition of consumer innovators than is generally appreciated in managerial prescriptions for new product development and marketing, and in theoretical explanations of consumer behaviour which rely on conceptual abstractions such as ‘innate’ or ‘inherent’ innovativeness.
Exploring the Symbolic Meaning of Brands
Authors: Elliott Richard
Published: March 2005

The symbolic meaning of brands of trainers is explored using a free‐response stimulus‐bound methodology. Gender differences in the meaning of brands are related to thresholds of elaborative processing of advertising messages. Age differences are related to transformational aspects of advertising for fashion products. The implications for meaning research and strategic brand concept‐image management are discussed.
Differences in Managerial Cognitions of Competition1
Authors: Daniels Kevin , Johnson Gerry , de Chernatony Leslie
Published: March 2005

It has been assumed that strategic decision making and implementation are both achieved through managers' sharing homogeneous cognitions of competition (e.g. Porac and Thomas, 1990). This paper tested the assumption of homogeneity of cognitions of competition, using a sample of 24 managers from the off‐shore pumps industry. A variety of cognitive mapping techniques were used and maps were compared using a self‐rating methodology. The results indicated that managers' mental models of competition are diverse, rather than homogeneous, but that this diversity increases as company boundaries are crossed and as functional boundaries are crossed. Therefore, it is concluded that future cognitive studies of competitive industry structures should assume diversity of cognitions rather than homogeneity. Specific propositions with regard to such research are drawn from the findings.
Strategic Planning and Financial Performance in UK SMEs: Does Formality Matter?
Authors: McKiernan Peter , Morris Clare
Published: March 2005

The majority of the literature on corporate performance in SMEs has indicated that the absence of formal strategic planning (or inadequacies in its process) can be directly linked with failure, while its presence can be linked to success (Bracker and Pearson, 1986; Stoner, 1983). However, other empirical evidence fails to find a relationship (Robinson and Pearce, 1983). These differences are due to methodological and theoretical problems facing research in this domain. This paper attempts to improve on both issues. The hypothesis that ‘formal planning is not associated with better‐than‐average performance’ is tested on a sample of SMEs, controlled by sector, using a 5‐year operating period. Five measures of financial performance are utilized, including both the arithmetic and geometric measurements of central tendency as appropriate. Moreover, perceptions of CEOs, rather than the aggregation of scale‐based measurements of organizational variables, are used to prescribe the measure of formality used in the analysis.
Crafting Evaluation Research in the Public Sector: Reconciling Rigour and Relevance
Authors: Gregory David , Martin Steve
Published: March 2005

This paper examines some of the complexities involved in crafting evaluation research. In particular, it focuses upon the major methodological issues which confront researchers seeking to evaluate area‐based economic initiatives. It starts by examining the implications for the design of evaluation research of the political context within which it takes place and the multiplicity of stakeholders who have an interest in its findings. It then examines a number of key methodological issues which need to be addressed by evaluators in order to derive reliable assessments of the success of programmes and discusses the ways in which evaluators can communicate findings in order to secure greater influence both upon the academic and the policy‐making communities. We conclude that the need to reconcile applied policy research with the development of theories and concepts has important implications for the conduct and resourcing of evaluations undertaken by management researchers.
Market Orientation and Company Performance: Empirical Evidence From UK Companies
Authors: Greenley Gordon E.
Published: March 2005

There has been little empirical investigation of a relationship between market orientation and performance, which is assumed to exist in the strategic management and marketing literatures. This limited empirical evidence is equivocal, and is dominated by only two US studies. The overall aim of the study reported in this article was to build on this limited empirical evidence about a relationship, by achieving new insights from another national business culture, namely the UK. Unlike the US evidence, the results from this study suggest that the influence of market orientation on performance is moderated by environmental variables. They suggest that market orientation may not be advantageous in highly turbulent markets, and in conditions of low customer power and high technological change.
Privatization and Agency Status: Identifying the Critical Factors for Performance Improvement
Authors: Parker David
Published: March 2005

Earlier research into the impact of public and private ownership on economic and financial performance concluded that performance may be affected but that the relationship is more complicated than policy makers have often assumed. This paper is concerned with explaining these earlier results in terms of changes in the internal environment of organizations. Six key internal characteristics are identified from the management literature and the history of ten UK organizations is summarized in terms of these characteristics. The model appears to be robust. Performance changes and lack of change are explained by the internal environment. The results are congruent with organizational theory which suggests that the internal environment has to adapt to changes in the external environment.
Accounting for Strategic Positioning: Responding to the Crisis in Management Accounting1
Authors: Roslender Robin
Published: March 2005

Recent diagnoses of a debilitating crisis within management accounting have quickly given way to the development and dissemination of many new techniques intended to restore the lost relevance of the discipline. Some of these techniques promise to have significant consequences for the future nature not only of management accounting but accounting in general. This paper identifies three generic approaches to relevant management accounting which are collectively termed accounting for strategic positioning, discusses the range of techniques which presently exist within these approaches and considers some of the difficulties involved in ensuring their widespread adoption. The paper concludes with some brief thoughts on how best to realize the full potential of accounting for strategic positioning.
Extending the Cognitive Approach to Strategic Change in Organizations: Some Theory
Authors: Sillince J. A. A.
Published: March 2005

This paper claims that organizational cognitions are manifested as argumentation. Such argumentation can be represented as organizational construct systems (systems of constructs shared by important organization members). Such organizational construct systems enable us to detect structural features of an organization's cognition which indicate its chances of survival or failure.
Organizational Risk Perception and Reduction: A Literature Review
Authors: Mitchell Vincent‐Wayne
Published: March 2005

Despite there being a considerable literature concerning risk in organizational buyer behaviour, necessary reviews of the area are not easy to find. This article attempts to organize, describe and appraise the current literature with a view to gaining a critical perspective for the benefit of future researchers. The discussion begins with the way managers view risk and factors which affect that perception and then considers the role of various risk reducing strategies employed in the organizational setting. Comments are made on the state of the literature and the further research required.
Management, Competition and Professional Practice: Medicine and the Marketplace
Authors: Dawson Sandra , Mole Veronica , Winstanley Diana , Sherval Jim
Published: March 2005

Within the context of the creation of the internal market for health care, the paper examines the role of clinical directors, that is doctors who have retained their professional clinical positions whilst at the same time assumed roles as managers within increasingly well‐defined corporate organizations providing health care. This represents considerable change from previous contexts in which doctors could always contract out of difficult managerial decisions. The role of clinical director is examined in terms of its own directorate and its involvement in contracting, co‐operation and competition both within its own corporate organization and within the wider market place for health. Key issues are raised for the individuals and organization by these changes, they are discussed in terms of time, succession, managing colleagues, financial and human resources, market behaviour, support and terms of reference. These changes occasion wider discussion in terms of the challenge of coping with future demands for innovation, changes in the distribution of power within an emerging market for health care and the relationship among health care organizations, professionals and lay clients.
Effects of Changing Economic Conditions on Managerial Job Changes and Careers
Authors: Inkson Kerr
Published: March 2005

Career theories and popular beliefs support the view that careers are series of job changes which are normatively linked to common themes, are continuous, are hierarchically progressive, and are under the control of the career‐making person. This study reports an age‐controlled analysis of the job changes, from 1980 to 1992, of a sample of 832 UK managers, randomly sampled from the membership of the Institute of Management. Following the methodology developed by Alban‐Metcalfe and Nicholson (1984), sample members completed a questionnaire in which they provided details of every job change they had experienced in the relevant period, including nature of change and reasons for change. The results suggested that during the recession of 1989–92 British managers moved from a situation of predominantly proactive, career‐oriented upward moves, to one of predominantly reactive, organizationally induced sideways and downward moves, including redundancies. Implications for career theory and for the career development and orientations of managers and others are discussed. The continuing usefulness of the concept ‘career’ is questioned. This paper was first presented at the Academy of Management Annual Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, August 1993.
Analysis of Managerial Experience: Integrating Career Analysis with Labour Market Dynamics
Authors: Riley Michael
Published: March 2005

The article argues that there is a need for a greater emphasis on information relating to the quality of labour supply, particularly the nature of managerial experience. The rationale is based on the organizational and industry changes which alter patterns of experience and create new forms of human capital. At the heart of the argument is the valuation of stable labour market dynamics, that is, patterns which remain constant. This is contrasted with the ethos of change which, it is suggested, contains a dangerous element of exaggeration. An attempt is made to integrate qualitative career analysis with new forms of labour market analysis. Two models of learning by experience are introduced and examples of relevant techniques of measurement are described.
Of Mad Cows and Marmosets: From Rational Choice to Organizational Behaviour in Crisis Management
Authors: Anand Paul , Forshner Chris
Published: March 2005

The paper is motivated by discussions in decision theory about the practical relevance of a distinction between uncertainty and risk. Based on a study of the government's handling of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the study examines the importance of this distinction to risk managers. To structure the investigation, seven models from the decision theory literature are used to provide hypotheses about the way in which decisions under uncertainty might be framed. Section 3 presents a summary of events relating to BSE as reported over a 6‐year period in TheTimesand the analysis is presented in section 4. Decision making under uncertainty appears to be important but is conducted in ways that depart from standard prescriptions. The government's position is presented as being one of a search for natural science solutions combined with international and national negotiation. Decision making under risk, explicit analysis of costs and benefits, updating of beliefs based on new information and concern for social preferences are pointedly absent from the government's approach. A number of problems with the decision‐making process are identified and the paper concludes by noting the critical importance to risk managers. even in the public sector, of understanding the dynamics of media behaviour.
Strategic Groups and the Analysis of Market Structure and Industry Dynamics1
Authors: McGee John , Thomas Howard , Pruett Mark
Published: March 2005

This paper provides an overview of strategic groups research and argues that it should be linked more closely to questions central to strategic management. Particularly fruitful directions for future research include industry evolution, competitive and industry dynamics, and linkages to resource‐based theories. Specific observations and suggestions are made about the content and method of strategic groups research. These are illustrated by reference to empirical studies of the pharmaceutical industry and the food processing industry.
Incremental Models of Policy Formulation and Non‐incremental Changes: Critical Review and Synthesis1
Authors: Rajagopalan Nandini , Rasheed Abdul M. A.
Published: March 2005

This paper critically reviews two major models of incrementalism and four explanations for non‐incremental policy making. Key differences between these models are identified and a model of policy formulation which integrates incremental and non‐incremental models is developed. Theoretical and methodological implications of this model are identified and research propositions are developed.
Strategic Innovation, Corporate Entrepreneurship and Matching Outside‐in to Inside‐out Approaches to Strategy Research1
Authors: Baden‐Fuller Charles
Published: March 2005

This paper calls upon strategy researchers to employ a more holistic view of research into the firm. In the past the division between the outside‐in, or market selection and positioning perspective, and the inside‐out, or management of internal change perspective, has acted to spur advances in knowledge. Now it is acting as an impediment to further progress. One avenue through which these perspectives can fruitfully be combined is in a deeper exploration of the role of innovation and corporate entrepreneurship. Four propositions are offered upon which a useful platform can be built and it is suggested that the implied research agenda will help the field move forward, faster.
Operations management – from Taylor to Toyota – and Beyond?
Authors: Voss C. A.
Published: March 2005

This paper sets out to review past and current research in operations management, and to explore current and future issues facing the area. It reviews the history of the area, and the patterns of research content and type. It reviews the evolution of lean production connecting the work of Taylor to its development at Toyota, and uses this to propose three key elements of operations management in the 1990s, namely, the core, interfaces and convergence. Current issues relating to research in operations management are explored and it is argued that there is a need for aggressive research agendas. Finally, possible future agendas for the area are explored.
Research in Management Control: An Overview of its Development
Authors: Otley David , Broadbent Jane , Berry Anthony
Published: March 2005

This paper builds on a series of earlier reviews of the management control literature (Giglioni and Bedeian, 1974; Hofstede, 1968; Merchant and Simons, 1986; Parker, 1986) and considers the development of the management control literature in the context of organizational theories. Early themes which have provided the roots for the development of the subject area are explored as is more recent work which has evolved both as a continuation and a reaction against them, with Scott's (1981) framework being used to organize this literature. It is argued that one of the unintended consequences of the influential work of Robert Anthony (1965) has been a restriction of the subject to an accounting‐based framework and that this focus needs to be broadened. The review points to the potential of the subject as a integrating theme for the practice and research of management and some themes for future research are suggested.
A Manifesto for Information Management Research
Authors: Galliers Robert D.
Published: March 2005

This paper calls for major rethinking in information management research as we enter the second half of the 1990s and approach the 21st century. It argues that, should we not take up the challenges identified herein, it is likely that what little remains of the discipline ‘information management’ will be subsumed into the realms of computer science/engineering at one end of the spectrum, and strategic management and organizational behaviour at the other. It argues that while it is no bad thing that aspects of the topic are dealt with in these related fields, it is important that information management should be seen as a discipline in its own right. In order to achieve this recognition – indeed, in order to earn this recognition – major restoration is required. The paper seeks to begin a debate on this topic by presenting a manifesto1 for reform in the field of information management by discussing a series of concerns regarding the focus, methods and quality of research in this field; its reference disciplines, and its international and cross‐cultural considerations. This is not meant to be a comprehensive treatment of the issues by any means, but an attempt to present aspects of the topic that are of importance. By commencing the debate, it is hoped that the issues will become clearer, and action can begin to be taken. The list will doubtless be refined as the debate ensues.
Gender and Management: A Critical Review of Research
Authors: Marshall Judi
Published: March 2005

This article selectively reviews gender and management research. A flavour of what it can be like to research in this area is offered alongside a more substantive account. The article maps the many strands of work potentially relevant to exploring gender and management. It covers aspects of the field such as its diversity, emerging development, potential marginality and increasing clarity of definition, and considers implications for researchers. The appropriate integration of gender awareness into mainstream theorizing, alongside its separate development, is advocated. Major themes and issues in gender and management research are summarized and briefly addressed. Dilemmas about seeking to promote change but needing to speak within current conventions of management and academia are noted.
The Case for Managerial Ruthlessness1
Authors: Rieple Alison , Vyakarnam Shailendra
Published: March 2005

This paper summarizes relevant literature and reports on a study which has examined the behaviour and attributes of managers in British mid‐sized companies in which growth is a strategic objective. The study used a grounded, interpretive methodology, which allowed the development of theoretical propositions which have not been subject to previous empirical examination. This paper deals with one aspect of the findings, namely ruthlessness on the part of managers in dismissing or otherwise dealing with poorly performing members of staff. This aspect of management was an important factor in the subject organizations' ability to achieve their chosen strategy, and is a phenomenon which does not appear to have been developed in any previous models of effective managerial behaviour.

Managerial ruthlessness influences strategic implementation in a number of ways – it affects control of the organization, team building and the ability to respond to changes in the environment or undo mistakes in appointments. This paper also outlines attributes and characteristics of both the individual manager and the organization which allows ruthlessness to be developed and used effectively, for example self‐confidence; the ability to ensure that criticism or dismissal is not seen as personal; the separation of work and social life; and the ability to focus on objectives rather than the person. Organizational support and training in such behaviour also appeared to be helpful contributors to the development of such behaviour.
The Implications of Learning Styles for Training and Development: A Discussion of the Matching Hypothesis
Authors: Hayes John , Allinson Christopher W.
Published: March 2005

This review paper examines the effect of matching and mismatching learning style and learning activity and matching and mismatching trainer and trainee learning style on learning achievement. It also explores the possibility of creating a match by promoting learner adaptability or modifying the trainer's training style. The implications of this discussion for training and development are considered.
Action Research for Management Research
Authors: Eden Colin , Huxham Chris
Published: March 2005

Action research has become increasingly prominent among management researchers as an espoused paradigm used to justify the validity of a range of research outputs. In this paper we introduce and discuss 12 contentions which, we argue, justify an action research project as quality research. The contentions are presented through a discussion of a number of important issues: generality and theory generation, the type of theory development appropriate to action research, the pragmatic focus of action research, designing action research and validity of action research.
Cognitive Maps in the Analysis of Personal Change During Work Role Transition1
Authors: Fournier Valerie
Published: March 2005

The aim of the paper is to illustrate how personal construct psychology and repertory grids (Kelly, 1955) can be used to produce cognitive maps, and to analyse psychological adjustment during the transition from university to employment. Cognitive maps are based on the principal component analysis of repertory grid data and provide a visual representation of the way in which the subjects see themselves in relation to other people, and in relation to their constructs. The cognitive maps produced by two graduates shortly after entry in employment and 6 months later are analysed and compared in order to identify trends of personal change. The case studies show that the analysis of the cognitive maps provides some valuable insights into the way in which graduates change their construction of themselves and of their work environment during the period of transition. The trends of change highlighted by the cognitive maps are discussed in the light of personal construct psychology concepts such as individuality, invalidation, fragmentation, and the mutual relationships between one's construction of oneself and one's construction of others.
Job Insecurity and Employee Commitment: Managers' Reactions to the Threat and Outcomes of Redundancy Selection1
Authors: Hallier Jerry , Lyon Phil
Published: March 2005

Increases in managerial redundancies have followed in the wake of recession and fiercer competition. Although popular accounts have warned of a growing disaffection among managers, few studies have examined the effects of abandoning their traditional job security. This article examines changes in the work attachments of long‐service managers under the threat of redundancy. Over a 12‐month period, interviews were conducted with 42 middle managers who, at the beginning of the research, had been warned of possible redundancy. Initially, most of the managers experienced significant threats to their established views about themselves and their employers. The development of these early perceptions into altered work attachments depended largely on outcomes of the redundancy process. For reprieved managers organizational commitment was quickly re‐established. In contrast, those demoted to engineering roles or re‐employed by other companies became less trusting and developed new explanations of their past employment experiences. These findings illustrate the tension between the need of managers to be assured of their place within the organizational structure and recent threats to their traditional careers and employment security. Also we may expect difficulties in the development of organizational commitment to emerge as the personal risks to managers increase.
Organizations and Nations: from Universalism to Institutionalism?
Authors: Clark Peter , Mueller Frank
Published: March 2005

This article scrutinizes and explores recent tendencies of giving a salient role to national characteristics in the explanation and prescription of events inside and surrounding organizations, and examines the problems in re‐specifying the relations between national and firm levels of analysis. It is shown that there are significant zones of manoeuvre for organizations within the host society, which express themselves in an ‘ownership effect’, and that organization strategies must address the issue of matching international best practice to national predispositions, both directly and indirectly, through lobbying the local level and nation state. A multi‐level learning framework is proposed.
Performance Management, Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment1
Authors: Fletcher Clive , Williams Richard
Published: March 2005

A number of investigations have focused on aspects of human resource management policy and their impact on employees. The study reported here examines the extent to which the main elements of performance management systems are associated with positive employee attitudes. Questionnaire measures of performance management variables and of employee attitudes were obtained from 860 staff in nine organizations, all of which had been ascertained to be operating performance management systems. The findings indicate that most elements of performance management did contribute to positive employee attitudes, and that between them they accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in measures of organizational commitment and (especially) job satisfaction. Some differences in the data from public and private‐sector organizations were found.
The Career Attitudes and Intentions of Managers in the Finance Sector
Authors: Herriot Peter , Pemberton Carole , Hawtin Emma
Published: March 2005

A questionnaire survey of career attitudes and intentions was administered to 1646 middle managers from eight organizations in the UK finance sector. Lengths of time in the organization, in previous and in present job were shown to predict career attitudes and intentions. Longer‐serving managers were less ambitious and were unwilling to accept various career options. Those who had spent longer in their present job neither expected any change nor were willing to accept it. While decreased inter‐and intraorganizational mobility are consequences of cost‐cutting and recession, it is argued that efforts to increase mobility are likely to pay dividends. Other measures may also succeed, given the finding that organizations differed in terms of their managers' career attitudes and intentions over and above the effects of mobility.
Competence in Management Development: Rites and Wrongs
Authors: Holman David , Hall Laura
Published: March 2005

Over the past five years interest has grown in the use of competence‐based management development Although this has not been without its critics few studies have attempted to critically evaluate its use. This paper evaluates the use of a competence‐based management development programme, the Management Charter Initiative (MCI) Level 1. Initially the research was framed to reflect the debate surrounding the use and value of the MCI. However it soon became apparent that the context — the course was part of National Health Service reforms — was having an effect on how it was being experienced by the programme participants. The paper outlines the MCI and the debate surrounding its use. This is followed by a description of NHS management reform, how this has affected the role of ward managers (the programme participants) and the response of the Training and Development Department at Hospital A. The research process is summarized and the themes which emerged in terms of competence development, identity and discourse and social anthropology are discussed. Implications for management development are then drawn.
The Impact of Service Quality and Service Characteristics on Customer Retention: Small Businesses and their Banks in the UK1
Authors: Ennew Christine T. , Binks Martin R.
Published: March 2005

The recent developments in relationship marketing have increasingly focused attention on the beneficial effects of customer retention. The notion of building relationships and delivering quality service in order to encourage loyalty is perhaps of particular importance in the service sector where it is often argued that customer attraction costs are significantly higher than retention costs. Central to the idea of investment in the development of service quality and customer relationships is the belief that such investments will enhance loyalty, retention and profitability. Empirical evidence on the extent to which such links exist is still partial. This paper explores the relationship between service qualitylcustomer relationships and customer loyalty and retention using evidence from the UK banking sector and its small business customers.
Matching Managers to Strategy: Further Tests of the Miles and Snow Typology
Authors: Thomas Anisya S. , Ramaswamy Kannan
Published: March 2005

This paper integrates prior research on strategic leadership by building on the concept of alignment to explain the performance impact of top managers. Using the Miles and Snow (1978) typology as a theoretical framework, several hypotheses are tested on a sample drawn from three distinct industries. The results show that organizations that are able to achieve an alignment between managerial characteristics and strategic direction perform better than firms where such an alignment is absent. Further, it was found that the strategy‐manager match explains a greater proportion of variance in performance than industry membership, organizational age and firm size. Taken together, these findings provide persuasive evidence about the impact that an organization's leaders exert in driving performance outcomes and demonstrates the validity of the administrative dimension of the Miles and Snow typology.
Restructuring Among the World's Leading Oil Companies, 1980–92
Authors: Cibin Renato , Grant Robert M.
Published: March 2005

Restructuring among the international oil majors during 1980–92 involved simultaneous, system‐wide changes in strategies and structures dictated by the demands of a more competitive, unstable business environment, but triggered by declining profitability and motivated by the desire to increase shareholder returns. Restructuring involved transition from one strategy‐structure configuration, the ‘administrative planning model’, to another, the ‘market responsiveness model’. The multiple strategic and structural changes were linked by a unifying theme: the quest for efficiency in a turbulent environment. This quest presented the companies with a strategic dilemma ‐ reconciling economies of scale and scope with the benefits of flexibility; and a structural dilemma ‐ reconciling decentralization with coordination. This paper draws upon the experiences of the world's eight largest international oil majors.
A Metatheory of Management: Omniscience or Obfuscation? A Comment1
Authors: Willmott Hugh
Published: March 2005

‘It's not a matter of emancipating truth from every system of power (which would be a chimera, for truth is already power), but of detaching the power of truth from the forms of hegemony, social, economic and cultural, within which it operates at the present time.’ (Foucault, 1984, pp. 74–75)
Organizational Legitimacy and Stakeholder Information Provision1
Authors: Woodward David G. , Edwards Pam , Birkin Frank
Published: March 2005

One interpretation of the concept of organizational legitimacy is that it stems from the cultural values of society, and suggests that businesses operate under a mandate that may be withdrawn if organizations are seen not to be doing the ‘right’ things. This suggests there is something in the nature of a principal‐agent relationship in existence, and that some form of accountability is then owed by the agent (the organization) to the principal (society). This paper seeks to investigate the nature of this accountability, distinguishing between the accountability which exists towards those elements of society with which an organization has a contractual relationship, and those where it does not. Adopting a pluralist stance, stakeholder theory is then used to illustrate the possible nature of both the form of legitimacy relationship extant, and of the accountability that the principal might expect of the agent.
Understanding Power: Bringing about Strategic Change
Authors: Hardy Cynthia
Published: March 2005

Success in today's competitive and complex world depends upon the ability to bring about effective strategic change. Much of the business literature has been preoccupied with finding more sophisticated techniques to formulate better strategies. But business success depends not only on finding the right strategy, but also ensuring it materializes in the form of a pattern of appropriate strategic actions. We know relatively little about this part of the strategy‐making process. This article shows how a better understanding of the use of power can provide the energy to ensure strategic action by driving the organization and its members through the strategy‐making process.
Lean Production Practices: International Comparisons in the Auto Components Industry1
Authors: Oliver Nick , Delbridge Rick , Lowe James
Published: March 2005

In recent years the application of lean production principles has been forcefully expounded as the route to high‐performance manufacturing. This paper examines the relationship between lean production and performance empirically, using data from a benchmarking study of 71 plants in the international automotive components industry. The top performing plants (and their suppliers and customers) showed consistently better process control than did the lower performing plants. UK plants did not perform very well in terms of either quality or productivity, and links between economic context and manufacturing performance are discussed in relation to the UK.
The Environment as a Supply Chain Management Issue
Authors: Lamming Richard , Hampson Jon
Published: March 2005

This paper investigates the issues for purchasing and supply chain managers in the context of environmentally‐sound management.

The discussion begins with an analysis of relevant consumer attitudes, legislation and concepts in environmentally‐sound management (life‐cycle analysis, waste management, product stewardship, etc.), linking them to supply‐chain management practices such as vendor assessment, total quality management, lean supply and collaborative supply strategies. In each case, parallels are drawn between established practice and new imperatives that require innovative solutions from managers.

The paper then explores the results of fresh field research with five major UK companies, identifying the different ways in which the challenges introduced above are being faced, and adding some extra perspectives to the debate already covered. The discussion concludes with a projection of common issues and ideas for areas of supply chain management that might profit from better environmentally‐sound approaches.
Managing Through Networks: Some Issues and Implications for the NHS
Authors: Ferlie E. , Pettigrew A.
Published: March 2005

Hierarchies, markets and networks have been described as three alternative styles of organizing, each of which may call for distinctive managerial orientations and styles. The question arises as to whether there is now a deep‐seated shift underway from organizational forms based on markets and hierarchies and towards more network‐based forms of organization.

This paper assesses the significance of these broader developments with reference to changing managerial practice within a major UK organization (the NHS). It seeks to access the developing theory of network‐based organizations; to assess empirically the significance of these developments for managerial practice within public‐sector organizations such as the NHS; and to consider the organizational and managerial implications, for example, Human Resource Management (HRM) strategy. There have so far been few studies which have taken public‐sector settings for study or which have sought to connect network theory to practice, and this paper can make a useful contribution in these regards.
A Monozygotic Twin Differences Study of Nonshared Environmental Influence on Adolescent Depressive Symptoms
Authors: Liang Holan , Eley Thalia C.
Published: March 2005

The monozygotic (MZ) twin differences method was used to examine nonshared environmental aspects of the association of parenting (punitive and constructive discipline), negative life events (independent and dependent), and peers (antisocial and prosocial) with adolescent depressive symptoms in terms of sequelae, risk, and maintaining factors. Two self‐report booklets were completed by 328 MZ twin pairs aged 12–19 years, 6 months apart. Increased punitive discipline and negative life events were found to be relevant nonshared environmental factors that followed depression. Negative life events were the only factor that had a direct nonshared environmental association with concurrent depressive symptoms in adolescents independent of previous depressive symptoms, and all other study variables.
Preschoolers Mistrust Ignorant and Inaccurate Speakers
Authors: Koenig Melissa A. , Harris Paul L.
Published: March 2005

Being able to evaluate the accuracy of an informant is essential to communication. Three experiments explored preschoolers' (N=119) understanding that, in cases of conflict, information from reliable informants is preferable to information from unreliable informants. In Experiment 1, children were presented with previously accurate and inaccurate informants who presented conflicting names for novel objects. 4‐year‐olds—but not 3‐year‐olds—predicted whether an informant would be accurate in the future, sought, and endorsed information from the accurate over the inaccurate informant. In Experiment 2, both age groups displayed trust in knowledgeable over ignorant speakers. In Experiment 3, children extended selective trust when learning both verbal and nonverbal information. These experiments demonstrate that preschoolers have a key strategy for assessing the reliability of information.
Differences in the Relations Between Antisocial Behavior and Peer Acceptance Across Contexts and Across Adolescence
Authors: Kiesner Jeff , Pastore Massimiliano
Published: March 2005

This study tests the hypothesis that, during adolescence, antisocial behavior becomes positively associated with peer acceptance. This hypothesis was tested considering both classroom and out‐of‐class peer relations. Data from a previously published study, with a cross‐sectional sample of 577 Italian 11‐ to 13‐year‐olds, were used. Analyses showed that in the 6th grade antisocial behavior was negatively related to classroom peer preference, but not significantly related to out‐of‐class peer inclusion. By the 8th grade, antisocial behavior was positively related to out‐of‐class peer inclusion, but not significantly related to classroom peer preference. Similar results were found for males and females. The higher level of peer acceptance among the 8th grade antisocial individuals was primarily due to nominations received by other antisocial individuals.
Intergenerational Transmission of Warm‐Sensitive‐Stimulating Parenting: A Prospective Study of Mothers and Fathers of 3‐Year‐Olds
Authors: Belsky Jay , Jaffee Sara R. , Sligo Judith , Woodward Lianne , Silva Phil A.
Published: March 2005

More than 200 New Zealand men and women studied repeatedly since age 3 were videotaped interacting with their own 3‐year‐old children to determine (a) whether childrearing and family climate experienced in 3 distinct developmental periods while growing up (i.e., early childhood, middle childhood, early adolescence) predicted parenting and (b) whether romantic relationship quality moderated the effect of childrearing history on observed parenting. Support for the first hypothesis emerged across all 3 developmental periods for mothers (only), with no evidence of moderating effects of romantic relationship quality for mothers or fathers. Results are discussed in terms of supportive versus harsh parenting, mother–father differences, and the characteristics of the sample.