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The purpose of this paper is to address a significant gap in the literature as it explores challenging emotions in the context of forced executive succession in a public sector board by re(conceptualizing) executive succession as a change process.

This study is empirical in nature and uses a combination of an ethnographic case study and narratives to understand emotions in the context.

The authors show that the emotional complexities emerged when executive succession was enforced from outside due to multiple interpretations of the emergent situations. It further shows how shame, guilt and embarrassment were produced when actors realized that they had failed to deliver responsibility; issues of trust and betrayal emerged when actors were not taken into confidence whilst taking certain actions; and the way actors manipulated situations and managed unwanted emotions by finding excuses and shifting blame.

Future research can explore the political nature of emotions and can take into account the emotions of other stakeholders, such as staff and general public during forced succession in public sector organizations.

The re(conceptualizing) of executive succession as an emotive change process is an important contribution, since the current literature concentrates mainly on the changes and subsequent emotions triggered by new executive in the public sector. Through the lens of emotions, multiple interpretations of the situated emotions are revealed that influences board members relationships and interactions. This will help to create a better understanding of what happens inside public boards when executive succession is enforced from outside.

State publications are sometimes regarded as under utilized resources, the neglected orphans of the library. Yet they contain essential, pertinent information. Publications from various states are often the only source of information for the following types of questions: biographical data on state officials; agency addresses; statistics covering crimes, revenue, state aid and election returns; and information about social issues, such as health, race, the aged, and women's issues.

Human resource articles published in the top human resource management (HRM) journals from 1994 through 2001 are analyzed by topic, research technique, level of analysis, and data source. The results are aggregated and summarized to address the current state of affairs in human resource management research. Moreover, these data are used to examine what is not being addressed in the field at the current time. Results point to a lack of focus on methods, diversity, and technology, and the decline of the once‐popular absenteeism and turnover streams of research. Also lacking is variance in research methodologies, with empirical analyses, specifically regression, being the most frequently employed methodology. The article concludes with suggestions for future HRM research.

This paper seeks to examine the relationships between knowledge capability, strategic change, and firm performance in the US airline industry from regulation to deregulation.

This is a longitudinal study with a cross‐sectional time series research design. A theoretical model is tested in which knowledge capability exerts a direct effect on strategic change; strategic change then influences firm performance. The environment moderates the relationship between strategic change and firm performance. The sample of the study includes the major US air carriers from 1972 to 1995. Knowledge capability is operationalized as the education level and functional diversity of top management. Strategic change is measured as change in hub concentration, a key variable for the airlines. The data for the present study come from archival sources.

Time series statistics with fixed effects are used to examine the relationships between the variables. The results support the theoretical model: knowledge capability influences change in strategy, which, in turn, influences firm performance. The results also indicate that the environment serves as a moderator in the relationship between strategic change and firm performance.

This study examines strategic change in the major US airlines during a period of profound environmental change. It integrates several streams of management research and should be useful to academics and managers who want to understand the performance implications of strategic change.

To propose new commitment construct‐policy commitment, and to examine the influence of attitude, role clarity, and role conflict on policy commitment, as well as the influence of policy commitment on citizenship behavior.

Using a self‐report questionnaire and a sample of 148 workers in a rural manufacturing plant, we use structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques to examine the effects of attitude, role clarity, and role conflict on policy commitment, as well as the effect of policy commitment on the conscientiousness and civic virtue dimensions of citizenship behavior.

SEM revealed that attitudes and role clarity positively influenced policy commitment, and that policy commitment positively influenced conscientiousness and civic virtue.

Our sample is relatively small (N=148) and largely homogeneous, which may limit its generalizability. A number of additional research opportunities are suggested in the study, including those designed to further explore the nature of the policy commitment construct and those designed to examine its relationship with other known commitment antecedents and outcomes. Implications for practitioners and researchers are suggested.

Commitment in organizations has long been conceptualized as acceptance of organizational goals and dedicated effort on behalf of the organization itself. However, we believe this conceptualization of commitment may be considerably less salient in today's highly mobile work environment. This study introduces the construct of policy commitment, a conceptualization of commitment as belief in and proactive endorsement of specific courses of action (i.e. policies) that embody the values resident within organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on top management demographic characteristics, business strategy, and firm performance in the major US airlines.

The relationships between management characteristics and business strategy are examined as well as the business strategy – firm performance relationships before and after airline deregulation. This is a longitudinal study (1972‐1995) that includes data from publicly available sources. Pooled cross‐sectional time series regression analyses were used with fixed‐effects to test specific hypotheses. The management demographics include age, tenure, education, and functional background. Business strategy was measured as low cost, differentiation, and scope. The study includes three measures of firm performance.

There were significant management demographics‐business strategy relationships in the deregulatory period. There were also significant business strategy‐firm performance relationships with deregulation.

This is a longitudinal study of management, strategy, and performance of the airlines from regulation to deregulation. It has performance implications for the major air carriers that are of interest to academics and managers.

In this final issue of RSR for the year we offer our readers the first appearances of two columns new to the journal. These are the “Landmarks of Reference” and “Government Publications” columns. “Landmarks,” edited by Dr. Kathleen Heim of the University of Illinois faculty, will present review essays of major reference tools. The scope encompasses standard works which are essential to public services work; many of these are so heavily used as to be taken for granted by reference personnel. The first contribution is an appreciation of Who's Who in America.

Gender equality plans (GEPs) are currently the preferred approach to initiate structural change towards gender equality in research organisations. In order to achieve structural change, GEPs have to be more than just a formally adopted institutional policy. Effective GEPs lead to a transformation of gendered practices and thus to structural change. This chapter presents the innovative approach developed for an H2020 structural change project and its theoretical background. We argue that due to the dual logic, which characterises academic organisations, the organisational logic and the academic logic, change is a complex endeavour. To deal with this complexity, one of the main functions of a GEP is to provide space and initiate reflexivity at an individual as well as at an institutional level. A theory of change approach supports reflexivity in all stages of a GEP as it ensures that basic assumptions of the institutional change process are questioned and reflected on by the different stakeholder groups involved in the implementation.

The NEA began its ascent as a political force slowly. In the early 1960s, NEA leaders had rejected efforts to create a political role for the Association. In fact, in 1960, NEA leaders – sensitive to members’ desire for an organization focused on professionalism – summarily rejected a suggestion to adopt a theme of “Every Teacher a Politician” (Berube, 1988).