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Managerial Attitudes (managerial + attitude)
Selected AbstractsExperimental Research and the Managerial Attitude: a tension to be resolved?EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, Issue 3 2008MARTIN BENNINGHOFF This article analyses some typical consequences of a specific research policy on experimental research in biology. The policy is conducted by a national funding agency , the Swiss National Science Foundation , through a particular programme, the ,National Centres of Competence in Research' which is designed to promote both ,scientific excellence'and,managerial professionalism'. To study the possible tension between the two objectives, as a practical matter for researchers, the proposed analysis focuses on the interaction between two laboratory scientists and the administrators of a genomic platform. Access to the instruments of this platform is granted through a preliminary interview with those in charge of the platform. During that interview, researchers are required to explain why they want to use the platform services and what their expectations concerning their envisaged activities are. A tape-recorded interview is analysed in order to describe how turns at talking by the various parties, as well as the formulation of the problems encountered by a researcher, prove category-bound. The first part of the meeting (,problem exposition') is structured by the categorical device ,generalist researcher vs. specialist researcher', whilst the second part (,problem solving') is organised by the categorical device ,manager vs. user of the platform'. The ,scientific' problem becomes a ,technical' one and the choice of technique is partly based on financial reasons. The situation shows how managerial injunctions of research policy are not without practical consequences for research activities in situ. [source] The Institutional Context of Market Ideology: A Comparative Analysis of the Values and Perceptions of Local Government CEOs in 14 OECD CountriesPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 2 2004Morten Balle Hansen During recent decades, various versions of market practices have, in most nation states, diffused into the public sector. We analyse variations in the adoption of market ideologies and examine plausible explanations for these variations. Four managerial ideal types are constructed, based on their attitudes towards two dimensions of market ideology. Managerial attitudes and perceptions are conceived as embedded in a global process of diffusion highly affected by varying institutional preconditions. The impact of five types of institutional contexts is examined: the national context, the organizational context, the context of interaction, the context of socialization and the norms of the manager. [source] Managerial attitudes toward environmental management within Australia, the People's Republic of China and IndonesiaBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 1 2008Lorne S. Cummings Abstract This study presents a survey of the attitudes of corporate managers and managerial students across Australia, the People's Republic of China and Indonesia toward 18 key contemporary environmental management issues. The study sought to explore whether respondents from these countries, characterized by differing levels of development, also differ in their attitude toward environmental management. Results indicated that, despite age being a moderating factor, significant differences did exist between the 676 country respondents on 15 of the 18 questions. Contrary to expectations, Australian respondents were more cautious of supporting a forthright view on environmental issues, whilst Chinese respondents favoured a more centralized approach to decision making regarding the environment. The results lend marginal support to the new environmental paradigm (NEP), but also to the radicalization of environmental issues and age as a possible influence on respondent beliefs. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Managers' profile in environmental strategy: a review of the literatureCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 5 2006Esteban Fernández Abstract Environmental legislation and stakeholders are putting pressure on organizations to change. The role of management is a key factor. The aim of the present work is to determine the key characteristics required of a manager with environmental responsibilities and determine which are the critical aptitudes and attitudes for environmental success through a deep review of the literature. We include three kinds of characteristic: (a) managerial attitude and social influence, (b) individual characteristics (demographic characteristics, capability to perceive strategic opportunities, leadership, individual entrepreneurial ability and international awareness) and (c) organizational characteristics (organizational culture, capability to influence strategy, long-term orientation, organizational structure and demographic characteristics). With this purpose, we have collected and integrated the most relevant contributions of the literature. We have also suggested future research streams: for example, analysis of the interdependences among the diverse dimensions of a manager with environmental responsibilities, analysis of the characteristics typical of external stakeholders that condition the managerial behaviour and other aspects of environmental strategy on which management attitude has an influence. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Strategic Influences of Technological Innovation in GreeceBRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2001Vangelis Souitaris This exploratory paper analyses the ,importance' and ,awareness' of a set of established ,strategic' influences of technological innovation in the context of a European newly-industrialized country. The author interviewed 105 Greek manufacturing firms (mainly SMEs) and measured their perceived innovation rate as well as 17 ,strategic' factors regarding top-management practices and characteristics. Using correlation and regression analysis the initial group of factors was reduced to a subset of five ,major importance' influences of innovation, namely: incorporation of technology plans in the business strategy, managerial attitude towards risk, perceived intensity of competition and rate of change of customer needs, and finally status of the CEO (owner-CEOs were associated with higher innovation rate than appointed CEOs). The ,statistical' results are exploratory and have to be treated with caution, as they are highly dependent on the accuracy of the respondents' perception of their company's innovation rate and top-management practices and characteristics. The ,statistical' results were then compared with the managers' perception on the important factors determining innovation (also measured during the interviews). Overall the perceptual analysis confirmed the significance of the statistically important variables, with the exception of a disagreement in the direction of association between the status of the CEO and the rate of innovation. In general, top-management characteristics proved more important ,strategic' influences of innovation for the Greek SMEs than corporate practices. The study also indicated that the important influences of innovation were generally scarce in the Greek institutional context. The highly innovative companies were the ones to overcome country-specific innovation barriers such as the low supply of technology, the low level of competition and the risk-averse national culture. [source] Design conditions for learning in community service contextsJOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 4 2001Caroline A. Bartel In this study, we investigated team-based community service projects as action learning initiatives designed to facilitate two learning outcomes: community learning (knowledge of social, cultural, or economic issues) and personal learning (self-awareness of managerial attitudes and abilities). We developed hypotheses to predict critical input conditions for action learning that promote community and personal learning. We tested these hypotheses with data collected from 381 MBA students and their team leaders who participated in a variety of community service projects. Results demonstrated that design conditions (task characteristics, social interactions, and affective responses) influenced community and personal learning differently. We supplemented survey results with interview and observational data from a subset of participants and conclude with a discussion of the theoretical implications for action learning and practical recommendations for designing community service programs. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] An empirical study of the influence of departmentalization and organizational position on software maintenanceJOURNAL OF SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND EVOLUTION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE, Issue 1 2002Dowming Yeh Abstract Differences between software development and maintenance imply that software maintenance work should be measured and managed somewhat differently from software development. On the other hand, maintenance programmers frequently perform the same tasks as development programmers do. How to departmentalize maintenance and development is thus becoming an issue. Departmentalization in software development and maintenance can be classified into two categories, maintenance separated from development and maintenance jointly with development. Departmentalization has its strengths and weaknesses. In this work, quantitative empirical methods are applied to investigate the influence of departmentalization on fulfillment opportunity, time allocations of activities, problem occurrences, and management process in software maintenance. Seven hypotheses are formed and tested by statistical methods. The result shows that separate organizations demonstrate specialization in software maintenance, but managerial attitudes also aggravate the potential status difference for such organizations. Other major pitfalls for departmentalization are also identified. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR MANAGERS OVER 20 YEARS: A TEST OF THE ,CONVERGENCE THESIS'PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 4 2006MICHAEL POOLE This paper sets out to test the ,convergence thesis' in respect of managers in the public and private sectors in Britain. New Public Management (NPM) initiatives have had the objective of making managerial behaviour in public sector organizations more similar to that in the private sector. Based on unique national surveys undertaken in 1980, 1990 and 2000, using quite large random samples of fellows and members of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), comparisons are made to investigate whether ,convergence' between public and private sector managers has actually occurred. The patterns are found to be complex and, although there are some signs of convergence, the two sectors continue to exhibit similarities, persistent differences and parallel movements evident in managerial attitudes, behaviour and experiences. [source] Exploring individual and institutional drivers of proactive environmentalism in the US Wine industryBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 2 2005R. Scott Marshall Abstract Industry transformation related to environmental stewardship proceeds through multiple stages, and there is as of yet no clear understanding of the importance of certain drivers of transformation at different stages. We bring together previous environmental management research regarding individual- and institutional-level drivers of environmental stewardship to develop a model and series of questions regarding proactive environmental behavior in the US wine industry. A qualitative research method, including interviews and focus groups, is used to test the model. At the early stage of environmental transformation in the wine industry, we find that managerial attitudes and norms, existing regulations, employee welfare and competitive pressures are all strong drivers of proactive environmental behavior. However, our multi-level analysis suggests that drivers of environmentalism vary in relevance and relative importance and that future environmental management research needs to consider the relationship between drivers of environmentalism and the stage of an industry's environmental transformation. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] |