Search results

Provides an historical study of the intellectual thought of Leonard Dupee White. Contends that L.D. White is one of the major theorists and practitioners in public administration and is generally ignored. White taught, researched, studied and discovered theoretical concepts and practical methods that are still useful today. Examines the major themes found in White’s writings by chronologically progressing through his works and the major activities of his life. Brings to the forefront a portion of public administrations’ neglected intellectual heritage and makes it useful for the present.

Successful organizations recognize that employees are their most valuable resource because of employee commitment to the organization. Organizational commitment is a multi‐dimensional variable which is the degree of loyalty to one's job and organization. Employers should strive to increase organizational commitment of employees. One suggested method is employer educational assistance.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between employee perceptions of diversity within the senior management, management and non‐management levels of their organizations and their perceptions of organizational performance.

Surveys were administered to 391 managers or professionals in 130 organizations located in the southeastern United States to determine their perceptions of diversity and performance within their organizations.

Regression analysis found strong support for the hypothesis that employee perceptions of diversity at the senior management level of an organization is positively related to perceptions of organizational performance. Likewise, there was support for the hypothesis that employee perceptions of diversity at the non‐manager level were positively related to perceptions of organizational performance.

The current study was based strictly on perceptual measures. Future research could also consider the use of more objective measures of diversity to gauge any potential differences between perception and reality. Considering that the sample was drawn strictly from the southeastern US, the conclusions may not be applicable to other cultures in other parts of the world.

Organizations need to be sure that they focus on initiatives that have a positive influence on employee perceptions of diversity within the ranks of senior management and non‐management.

This research sheds new light on the importance of employee perceptions of diversity within the various levels of employees in their organizations and organizational performance.

This study aims to examine the cross‐cultural differences in equity sensitivity between the USA and Japan.

A sample of 390 Americans and 202 Japanese were surveyed to determine their equity sensitivities and how each group would likely respond to under‐payment scenarios.

The findings support the notion that the Japanese are in fact more entitled in their equity orientation than Americans. Furthermore, the Japanese were also significantly more likely to respond with overt actions to reduce their feelings of inequity.

Foremost among these limitations is the fact that the situation presented to the subjects was hypothetical rather than real. Since it would be considered unethical to manipulate subjects in real work settings a first person scenario approach was utilized consistent with other equity theory literature. While the scenario was easily identifiable by the student subjects, it is unknown if the findings from this research would apply to adults working in real world organizations.

The results may have important implications for international human resource strategies and practices. Equity sensitivity may affect perceived value of rewards (compensation), promotion (selection), and motivation (performance management) all of which are critical issues in the effective management of human resources. This study illustrates that cross‐cultural differences exist in regard to equity sensitivity and these differences may affect the efficacy of human resource strategies in global organizations.

This paper offers a significant contribution to the literature on equity sensitivity by testing the theory in a cross‐cultural setting.

The Japanese government is promoting a move towards a variety of generic business strategies based on the Porter Prize as a way to regain global competitiveness and end their long economic recession. The purpose of this paper is to report on the current state of Japanese business strategies to a practitioner audience based on the authors' previous academic‐oriented research.

A survey of 101 Japanese respondents was conducted to determine their relative use of Porter's generic business strategies. Examples of implementation are presented to illustrate use of the critical strategies.

The Japanese are using two of Porter's generic strategies, namely cost leadership and differentiation and they are using two variations of Porter's focus strategies.

As is typical with all survey research, the convenience sample of organizations used in this survey may not be representative of all Japanese organizations.

Managers, consultants and policy makers will gain insights into the impact national policy can have on corporate strategy. This understanding is important when conducting business in a global environment. More specifically, readers will gain a better understanding of how Japanese firms are presently implementing competitive strategies as a result of a Japanese national strategy to promote the use of Porter's generic strategies.

This article is a practitioner‐oriented translation of an academic research study. The value of the current article is to share findings with the practitioner community and present examples of strategic implementation to managers, consultants and policy makers in a less technical format than a typical academic journal.

WE have recently published one or two articles in which a contributor with a considerable knowledge of the Chinese economy has described some of that country's industrial activities. The articles have been scrupulously factual and impartial in revealing the ingenuity which has enabled a people desperately short of the technological resources of the industrialised nations to secure for themselves some of life's essentials.

The purpose of this paper is to identify factors influencing extremely high or low research productivity for business faculty members.

Using data originating from a random sample of 236 faculty members across a wide range of accredited business schools and a web‐based survey, main effects are hypothesized and explored. The authors examine only extreme data points of high (and low) research productivity to focus on high‐performing research “stars.”

It is found that research “stars” hold higher academic rank, possess greater time management skills, individually place a high value on research, report higher time available to conduct research, enjoy higher institutional support in the form of graduate assistants and summer research support, have fewer course preparations, and work for departments with a similar priority placed on research.

The authors found that certain person‐ and situation‐level factors differentiate high and low performing faculty members’ research output.

The paper has implications for university administrators regarding recruiting, selecting, and managing faculty members’ research performance.

Research productivity and intellectual contributions continue to dominate much of higher education as a primary measure of faculty members’ success. One area that remains under‐explored in the business literature is what “makes a research star” and, to the contrary, what factors predict extremely low faculty research productivity? Shedding light on this research question provides practical benefits for universities by enabling administrators to better recruit, select, motivate, and develop productive faculty members.

Diversity has increasingly become a “hot‐button” issue in corporate, political, and legal arenas. While many organizations have embraced diversity, others still consider it merely an issue of compliance with legal requirements. Effective diversity management has historically been used to provide a legally defensive position; that is, a firm with a diverse workforce could argue that they were not guilty of discrimination because of the prima facie case based on their workforce demographics representing the demographics of the local community. However, in more recent years, the view of diversity has dramatically changed to a more proactive concept.

Given South Africa's apartheid history, studies have primarily focused on racial discrimination in employment outcomes, with lesser attention paid to gender and context. The purpose of this paper is to fill an important gap by examining the combined effect of macro- and micro-level factors on occupational sex segregation in post-apartheid South Africa. Intersections by race are also explored.

A multilevel multinomial logistic regression is used to examine the influence of various supply and demand variables on women's placement in white- and blue-collar male-dominated occupations. Data from the 2001 Census and other published sources are used, with women nested in magisterial districts.

Demand-side results indicate that service sector specialization augments differentiation by increasing women's opportunities in both white-collar male- and female-dominated occupations. Contrary to expectations, urban residence does not influence women's, particularly African women's, placement in any male-type positions, although Whites (white-collar) and Coloureds (blue-collar) fare better. Supply side human capital models are supported in general with African women receiving higher returns from education relative to others, although theories of “maternal incompatibility” are partially disproved. Finally, among all racial groups, African women are least likely to be employed in any male-dominated occupations, highlighting their marginalization and sustained discrimination in the labour market.

An analysis of women's placement in white- and blue-collar male-dominated occupations by race provides practical information to design equitable work policies by gender and race.

Sex-typing of occupations has deleterious consequences such as lower security, wage differentials, and fewer prospects for promotion, that in turn increase labour market rigidity, reduce economic efficiency, and bar women from reaching their full potential.

Very few empirical studies have examined occupational sex segregation (using detailed three-digit data) in developing countries, including South Africa. Methodologically, the paper uses multilevel techniques to correctly estimate ways in which context influences individual outcomes. Finally, it contributes to the literature on intersectionality by examining how gender and race sustain systems of inequality.