Contemporary Managers Research Articles

Perceptions of business ethics in a multicultural community: the case of Malaysia

Leaders and managers of today's multinational corporations face a plethora of problems and issues directly attributable to the fact that they are operating in an international context. With work-sites, plants and/or customers based in another country, or even several countries, representing a vast spectrum of cultural differences, international trade and offshore operations, coupled with increased globalisation in respect to political, social and economic realities, contribute to new dilemmas that these leaders must deal with. Not the least of these being a Code of Ethics and ethical decision making.This paper examines the differences in culture between a group of managers from the United States and similar group from Croatia using Hofstede's theory of International Cultures. The study explores how these cultural dimensions may help in our understanding of the differences in reported whistleblowing. The authors then postulate four hypotheses regarding various aspects of whistleblowing. These Hypotheses were than tested using a survey administered to a sample of U.S.A. and Croatian managers. Finally, the paper discusses the findings and practical implications for contemporary managers in the international arena.

Culture and Whistleblowing An Empirical Study of Croatian and United States Managers Utilizing Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

Leaders and managers of today's multinational corporations face a plethora of problems and issues directly attributable to the fact that they are operating in an international context. With work-sites, plants and/or customers based in another country, or even several countries, representing a vast spectrum of cultural differences, international trade and offshore operations, coupled with increased globalisation in respect to political, social and economic realities, contribute to new dilemmas that these leaders must deal with. Not the least of these being a Code of Ethics and ethical decision making.This paper examines the differences in culture between a group of managers from the United States and similar group from Croatia using Hofstede's theory of International Cultures. The study explores how these cultural dimensions may help in our understanding of the differences in reported whistleblowing. The authors then postulate four hypotheses regarding various aspects of whistleblowing. These Hypotheses were than tested using a survey administered to a sample of U.S.A. and Croatian managers. Finally, the paper discusses the findings and practical implications for contemporary managers in the international arena.

Work Goals of Asian Managers

In this study, contemporary work-goal priorities of Asian managers are explored. The degree of convergence in the relative importance of work goals across six diverse national contexts undergoing substantial societal and economic changes is investigated. The 11 work-goal categories of the 1980s Meaning of Working Study (MOW) were employed. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 1252 managers. This research also incorporated focus groups in each country to revisit the results in a procedure designed to better interpret the empirical findings. Analytic procedures employed in the MOW investigation were used to establish the work-goal priorities of contemporary Asian managers. Results show that, first, there was consensus for prioritization of a number of the work goals in the area of managerial development. Second, there were divergences in the importance of organization-related work goals, both across countries as well as within the investigated demographics of gender, age and managerial level. Last, there were differences in work-goal priorities compared with the earlier MOW study. The results are discussed in terms of the relationship between managerial work goals and a range of organizational issues.

A systems view of the evolution in information systems development

AbstractThis paper proposes a three‐stage information systems development (ISD) model based on the Ackoff systems view to analyze the ISD evolution from the 1950s to the 1990s. For organization as a machine, information systems (IS) are designed by information professionals. For organization as an organism, IS are developed according to the selected methodology of ISD. For organization as a social system, IS would be dualistic, one for itself and another for its components, and IS departments would also be dual: one would be inward and another outward. The study investigates the changing roles and missions of IS for the three stages and explores the evolution of ISD strategies. The model also suggests that in the social stage ISD acquiring and utilizing both the inward and the outward resources of ISD to create more value is the greatest challenge and most important task for contemporary IS managers. The implications of the model are also discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Using Stakeholder Decision-making Simulation to Teach Integrated Coastal Management

A simulation technique to teach aspects of stakeholder participation in integrated coastal management is described and evaluated. Through student feedback, it was found that the benefits of the simulation included improved understanding of interdisciplinary coastal issues, greater insight into the challenges facing contemporary coastal managers and an expanded suite of marketable skills. It is concluded that while this type of simulation requires a re-evaluation of the relationship between the lecturer and students, it has the potential to be transplanted successfully into other areas of geographic study that require understanding of participatory governance processes.

Intergroup Conflict Management Framework for Hong Kong's Manufacturing Industry

An examination of 28 project leaders' and managers' opinions on conflict and conflict management practice in Hong Kong found that intergroup conflict is the most commonly experienced type of conflict, as more Hong Kong–based companies adopt a matrix or pseudo-matrix organizational structure. Although nearly 80% of the interviewees were not familiar with modern conflict management theory and practice as presented in contemporary literature, they tended to use what classic scholars in conflict management would call the “confrontation” mode in handling task-oriented conflict, and the “withdrawal” or “forcing” mode in handling emotion-oriented conflict. Short product development cycle time was found to have a very significant influence on the conflict management practices of contemporary project managers and project support personnel working in Hong Kong's manufacturing industry. We propose a conflict management framework based on our findings, and we discuss the concept of “cognitive-affective conflict.”

Trends in Wildlife Management and the Appropriateness of Australian University Training

Abstract: That the greatest challenges in conservation are often not technical but rather economic or sociological has been expressed for at least the last 20 years. This raises the question of whether the training offered to tomorrow's conservation practitioners prepares them sufficiently to deal with the human dimensions of conservation. We analyzed 747 papers from seven wildlife management and conservation biology journals to determine the trends in this area of conservation management between 1985 and 1995. We found that over that time the emphasis stayed on single‐species issues with a science focus, but there was a marked shift toward conservation biology issues, management‐oriented research, and discussion of economic and social factors relevant to management. We also examined the handbooks of 11 Australian universities to analyze the content of 439 compulsory subjects in 12 degrees that we judged could produce wildlife managers. More than 68% of subjects were from a basic science or technology discipline, 16% from resource management, and only 13% from economics, humanities, communications, or planning. Thus, many of the skills required by contemporary wildlife managers must be learned in postgraduate training or on the job. Much of the undergraduate training syllabus, in Australia at least, does not reflect trends in the practice of wildlife management today and will not provide tomorrow's managers with the range of disciplinary understanding required. We were able, however, to identify three types of undergraduate training—ecological system managers, environmental managers, and human system managers—and we found that the curricula in human‐system management contained increased emphasis on socioeconomic issues relevant to management.

The Role of City Managers

This study uses a survey of 1,135 city managers to evaluate the contemporary city manager role and to evaluate its consistency with principal-agent theory. The findings are mixed. It appears that city councils can control city managers as principal-agent theory suggests, but that most city councils opt for less complex solutions involving trust and role sharing with the city manager. In other words, principal-agent theory does not fully explain the council-manager relationship. In an effort to understand this relationship more thoroughly, this study develops a typology of city manager roles based on the extent of their involvement in policy and the degree of autonomy exercised.

Conceptualizing visitor satisfaction management in heritage settings: an exploratory blueprinting analysis of Leeds Castle, Kent

Historic buildings are central to the cultural identity of European nations, many are also important tourist attractions, but their internal configurations are idiosyncratic, with steep narrow stairways, many passageways and tiny windows. These conditions present contemporary heritage managers with a range of problems relating to conservation, as well as presentation and visitor management. This paper examines the relationship between service design concepts and the management of visitors' experiences and satisfaction within a heritage setting, applying a modified service blueprinting approach, based on visit diaries and interviews with management, in an exploratory study of Leeds Castle, one of Britain's oldest historic houses. The limitations of the research method are considered, and the paper discusses the need for further research into the management of visitor experiences in the heritage sector of tourism.

Drama: A Tool for Teaching Business Ethics

Abstract:The concept of business ethics has continued to remain a major item on the agenda of corporate America for the last twenty years. Regrettably, this longevity of interest has not been matched by equal attention to the pedagogical methods and techniques used to address these issues. The current mode of teaching business ethics generally involves reliance on “war stories,” case studies, and seminars. Today’s dynamic environment creates pressures for higher levels of ethical behavior by business. Many ethical challenges faced by contemporary managers are not easily resolved by existing guidelines, and require managers to expand their scope of analysis in attempting to arrive at satisfactory resolutions. Literature can be an especially alternative source of insights, as authors are able to highlight behaviors that may not be available from traditional sources. Historically, the use of literature in examining business ethics has been focused primarily on novels such as The Jungle, Babbit, and The Great Gatsby. Plays are more useful than novels in attempting to inculcate moral and ethical values since they more sharply address the interactions of characters, and the reader becomes more involved in their situations. The plays selected for analysis, Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, and David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, have intense plots and characters and allow the reader to observe a wide range motives, emotions, and traits. This untraditional approach to teaching business ethics enhances the ability to relate to the increasingly complex ethical issues facing the individual and the organization.

Management education for sustainable development

The purpose of this paper is to review some of the issues posed when designing a management programme that attempts to incorporate sustainable development as a core theme at a time of uncertainty and rapid change. The paper is written to help inform management educators and curriculum designers of the importance of such a programme, some of the dilemmas to be resolved, and the strategic choices to be made. This paper concludes by outlining the structure and process of a management programme that meets the needs of contemporary managers, yet also helps them become more aware of the centrality of sustainability to their work and the decisions they make. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Contribuição para o resgate da relevância do conhecimento para a administração

Por perda da relevância entende-se a incapacidade das teorias de organização para responder aos desafios da atualidade. Relaciona-se tal limitação ao paradigma mecanicista predominante na Ciência Moderna, que vem produzindo um conhecimento crescentemente especializado, inadequado à complexidade característica dos problemas contemporâneos. Propõe-se como via para retomar a relevância a revisão do paradigma e a valorização da subjetividade. São apresentados exemplos de esforços teóricos nesse sentido. Além da abertura à interdisciplinaridade e à transdisciplinaridade, defende se postura não dogmática e comprometimento ético dos produtores e usuários das teorias.

New Directions in Resource Recreation Management: A Response to the Educational Challenge

Managers of natural resources are faced with increasingly complex issues involving resource management concerns and the emerging importance of the socio-cultural context of resource use. The resource manager has been forced to respond and react to new social, cultural, ecological, and economic realities. Educational institutions have often been slow to respond to the changing work environment, even though a growing number of practitioners and educators believe that traditional approaches to training resource managers are inadequate and increasingly, ineffectual. This paper outlines the development of a new curriculum attempting to respond to the new challenges faced by contemporary resource managers. The concepts of interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary study are described, and the need for a new educational approach is argued. Finally, one institution's response to the changing needs and skills of resource managers is reviewed.

Rethinking the role of performance appraisal in total quality management: An argument for the use of peers as raters

Historically, total quality management theory argues against the use of traditional performance appraisal systems. However, contemporary managers need a means of gathering information for human resource decisions concerning individuals. This study examines the suitability of peer appraisals for the TQM environment, and the potential impact peer appraisals may have on enhancing employee commitment to the TQM process as viewed through a procedural justice framework.

Improving quality by reshaping work organisation: an assessment in an Australian University

Abstract A major challenge for the Australian higher education system is how to provide for a diversity of customer expectations. This paper describes how an Australian university is enhancing institutional management for a client body, the staff. The effects of instilling a job design of Total Quality Management in the personnel section of that university was assessed over 18 months. Questionnaires were administered to this experimental group, to the client schools, as well as to a control group, which continued to employ traditional bureaucratic work practices. The important payroll activity of the personnel section was also assessed. The data indicate the new work arrangements in the personnel section had a favourable impact on a number of work‐related variables. The implications for contemporary human resource managers in the service industry, and particularly in Australian universities, are discussed.

Stewardship Revisited: Secular and Sacred Views of Governance and Management

This article explores a concept central to much of the literature about trustees and managers of nonprofit organizations-stewardship. The concept's sacred origins show it to mean Jar more than just economic prudence. An exegesis of the biblical roots of stewardship shows how understanding of the tasks of contemporary trustees and managers in secular nonprofit organizations can be enriched and broadened.

The Usefulness of Computer-Based Information to Public Managers

This study uses data from 260 public managers to assess two broad images of the potential of information technology and computer-based information (CBI) to serve public managers: the knowledge executive and the CBI consumer. The data were collected as part of a longitudinal study of computer user in more than 40 U.S. cities conducted in 1976 and again in 1988. The results show that computer-based information is important for most managers, and many report they are extremely dependent upon it. Also, the managers currently find the information more valuable for control of financial resources than for management of operations. Furthermore, among four sets of factors that might account for differences in the usefulness of computer-based information to managers, quality and accessibility of the information and the manager's style of use are particularly important. Finally, managers who are most satisfied with the usefulness of computer-based information are those who use support staff to mediate their computer-based information environment, rather than those who use the computer to access information directly. Such indirect use of computing might be the most appropriate mode for many contemporary managers. Therefore, the focus of design efforts for information systems for managers should be as much on these intermediaries as on the executives themselves.

Sharpening the focus of viewpoints between higher education and employers of the expertise required for contemporary and future technical managers

Sharpening the focus between what employers require for technical managers and what universities are delivering is deemed to be an urgent strategic and policy issue. Technical managers must understand the technology that they are managing and the requirements of the customers that they serve. Technical managers have wide and varied responsibilities in any enterprise; major areas are design, production facilities, manufacturing, product reliability, managing technical personnel, managing technical resources, and determining the customer's present and future requirements. Fundamental strategic issues discussed are employer's vision for forecasting future needs, the compatibility of university curricula with required employer job classification, and availability of graduate-level job-focused short courses, symposia, and workshops to maintain currency of technical managers for contemporary and future job demands. It is suggested that in-depth forecasts of needs by employers and a sharper focus of viewpoints interpreting these and how they can be fulfilled must be achieved to erase or allay concerns. >

Knowledge acquisition for group problem solving

The tasks faced by contemporary and future managers are and will be increasingly complex and cognitive in nature. In fact, most managers are faced with the management of the knowledge bases of groups of individual possessing specialized knowledge in a variety of domains. Eliciting, representing, organizing, integrating, constraining and evaluating these collective knowledge sources are required for accurate problem solving and decision making in the manager's environment. Given the complexity of these cognitive activities, computerized systems for group problem solving (GPSS) and group decision support (GDSS) have emerged. An existing problem with these systems is the lack of facility with which knowledge can be ellicited, organized, and integrated for problem solving and decision making activities. The research presented in this paper describes an automated knowledge acquisition capability based upon a cognitive complexity analysis for generating problem representations from which decisions and problem solutions can be made. The problem solving process described is consistent with an information processing model of problem solving which can be applied to group and individual applications and serves as a core architecture for the development of an information center.

Symbiotic Evolution: The Relationship of Court Management to Judicial and Management Education

This article reviews recently collected data on how court managers see their jobs and on the scope of continuing management education opportunities for judges and the court managers. These data are assessed for implications about the future of court management and court management education. The data portray a rich array of tasks and requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with the contemporary court manager’s job. An almost equally wide array of management training topics are seen to have emerged in response. A reciprocal cause-and-effect relationship is hypothesized between how we view the court manager’s job and the substantive array of management education topics.