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Managers' Perceptions (managers + perception)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	90%
2 Other Domains	10%

Selected Abstracts

Decision Usefulness of Cash and Accrual Information: Public Sector Managers' Perceptions

AUSTRALIAN ACCOUNTING REVIEW, Issue 2 2010
Yeny Andriani
This study examines the usefulness of accrual accounting information for internal decision-making contexts in the Western Australian public sector. Based on questionnaire responses of public sector managers, it was found that accrual accounting is perceived to be more useful than cash accounting in 16 of the 19 decision situations. These results suggest that the perceived usefulness of the accrual accounting system has improved with the passage of time. It may well be that perceptions of the usefulness of information derived from an accounting system will change over time as users gain familiarity and experience with a system. [source]

Studying the Accuracy of Managers' Perceptions: A Research Odyssey

BRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2003
John M. Mezias
Much organizational activity and academic research relies on the accuracy of managers' perceptions. However, few studies have assessed the accuracy of managerial perceptions, and these studies indicate that managers' perceptions are often very inaccurate. This article discusses an odyssey into the study of managerial perceptions spanning two decades and two empirical studies. It depicts the evolution of research questions, samples, study designs, problems with such research and inferences drawn. It also identifies some errors that tend to be especially large and suggests some corrective actions. These corrective actions include using education and training to inform managers about organizational and environmental properties, exploiting improved technology, helping organizations to identify and correct misperceptions and designing robust organizations that can tolerate misperceptions. [source]

Asking a Straightforward Question: Managers' Perceptions and Managers' Emotions

BRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2003
Kevin Daniels
Mezias and Starbuck (2003) raise a number of issues concerning the accuracy of managers' perceptions. In this commentary, I argue that research on managers' perceptions might fruitfully explore further (1) the functional and dysfunctional effects of managers' perceptions and (2) the role of emotion in shaping managers' perceptions and their responses to the environment filtered by these perceptions. Drawing upon research in social and cognitive psychology, I argue that there exist theoretical frameworks from which to frame questions and interpret data in these areas. [source]

Fueling Innovation through Information Technology in SMEs,

JOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2008
Clay Dibrell
This paper describes a study that investigates the mediating effects of information technology (IT) on the relationships among product and process innovations and firm performance (measured in multiple profitability and growth rate metrics). Using structural equation modeling on a sample of 397 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we find evidence that (1) increases on the strategic emphasis placed on innovation, both product and process, positively impact the prominence managers place on IT; (2) the impact of innovation (both product and process) on performance (both profitability and growth) is primarily indirect, felt via the mechanism of the importance managers place on IT; and (3) an increased emphasis on IT abets managers' perception of their firms' performance, as compared with that observed among peer firms (other SMEs). [source]

Strategic Influences of Technological Innovation in Greece

BRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2001
Vangelis 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]

Factors affecting corporate environmental strategy in Spanish industrial firms

BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 8 2009
Elena Fraj-Andrés
Abstract During the last 30 years, environmental issues have become very important for governments, consumers and companies. Firms, aware of their environmental responsibilities, have started to show an important commitment to society and the natural environment, developing environmentally friendly strategies. However, the factors that determine the choice of environmental strategies are still unclear. They range from ethical motivations to social, legislative and competitive factors. This study analyses the main antecedents that influence firms' ecological behaviour, distinguishing between environmental orientation and environmental strategies. The hypotheses proposed in this study are analysed by means of a structural equation model on a sample of 235 industrial firms. The results reveal that competitive motivations and management commitment are the most important factors explaining why firms incorporate environmental issues into their strategic planning process. Moreover, management commitment is a critical factor for firms because managers' perception about customers' ecological concern directly influences firms' environmental behaviour. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source]

Factors Associated with Creative Strategic Decisions

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2008
Cameron M. Ford
The study and practice of business strategy is fundamentally based on employing creative solutions to differentiate a firm from its competitors. Theories used to describe the causes and consequences of strategic differentiation tend to focus on organization-level characteristics such as resources, capabilities and structures. However, less is known about day-to-day processes and practices whereby strategic managers develop create solutions necessary to establish strategic differentiation. This paper presents a preliminary field study of factors suggested by previous strategy process and micro-strategy research that may lead to, and result from, creative strategic decisions. Findings produced by a longitudinal field study of 52 strategic decisions reveal that creative strategic choices arise in response to managers' perceptions of uncertainty and competition. The findings also suggest that creativity may improve the ultimate effectiveness of strategic choices by 5,10 per cent. [source]

Invited reaction: Black and white women managers: Access to opportunity

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2004
Elizabeth Higginbotham
In a survey of Black and White women managers, Linda M. Hite identifies differences in the managers' perceptions of opportunities available to different race and gender groups. Her findings reveal divergent beliefs about the opportunities for people of color; there is more similarity in Black and White women's views when comparing opportunities for White women and men for getting hired, promoted, receiving salary increases, and other workplace challenges. When making comparisons with either men or women of color, White women are far more optimistic about the opportunities for people of color than are Black women. Hite uses this study to explore the lack of attention to race and racial discrimination among White women, whose views are often assumed to represent all women in management. HRD practice and research can look more closely at the perceptions and experiences of Black women to learn how better to promote their careers, since strategies that increase the number of White women might not be helpful in advancing the careers of Black and other women of color. [source]

The implications of meta-qualities for HR roles

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 4 2004
Finian Buckley
A great deal has been written about the types of competencies that HR managers need. However, there is little known about how these might be acquired and which ones prove most valuable in carrying out HR tasks. This article provides insights into this issue from a study carried out in Ireland. The study examined HR managers' perceptions of the ways in which their competencies changed over the timespan of a management education process and the ways that they utilised these competencies within their work situations. The study suggests that the acquisition and development of ,meta-qualities'(Pedler et al, 1994) can be important to HR professionals in managing the complexity and ambiguity in their roles. [source]

Personnel managers' perceptions of dishonesty in the workplace

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 3 2000
Iain Coyne
First page of article [source]

NANDA and NIC: Mediators to Describe Irish Intellectual Disability Nursing

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING TERMINOLOGIES AND CLASSIFICATION, Issue 2003
Fintan Sheerin
PURPOSE To identify the foci of interest specific to nursing interventions within residential, intellectual disability nursing through the use of the terms and meanings presented in NANDA and NIC. METHODS Data were collected using a Delphi approach involving a purposive sample of 8 individuals with relevant expertise, followed up by the conduct of three focus groups held with a total sample of 17 intellectual disability nurses working in three Irish service settings: traditional residential, community residential, and nurse education. Data were examined for contextual meaning as well as consensus of perceptions. FINDINGS Many potential interventions and diagnoses were identified for the field of residential learning disability nursing. Interventions that elicited a >50% consensus among participants across groups were examined for contextual meaning, based on the taped and noted responses, and potentially related NIC interventional labels were then applied. These led, through a reverse NIC-NANDA linkage exercise, to the identification of 8 potentially related interventions. The contextual aspect directed the analysis process to identify the nursing diagnoses associated with the interventions to be used, and 21 resultant diagnoses were identified. DISCUSSION Further analysis and study are needed to verify the relevance of these diagnoses and interventions to residential learning disability. A quick comparison of the results with those of studies carried out in other countries demonstrates that certain diagnoses have been identified by one or more authors in their studies. CONCLUSIONS This study identified a number of foci that have achieved various levels of consensus among the study participants. The ongoing study plan will further examine nurses' and managers' perceptions while also looking at these within the context of current service philosophy. [source]

A comparison of American and international prototypes of successful managers

JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP STUDIES, Issue 1 2009
Melenie J. Lankau
In the present study, similarities and differences between prototypes of successful managers were examined across four cultural groups: Americans, Europeans, Asians, and Latin Americans. Managers from the hospitality industry (N = 366) used an 84,item attribute inventory to rate a successful middle manager. In addition, Americans' stereotypes of ethnic managers were compared with prototypes held by managers from those ethnic cultures. Specifically, American managers' perceptions of Asian and Hispanic managers were compared against Asian and Hispanic/Latin American managers' prototypes. A high level of correspondence in prototype characteristics was found across the four cultural groups. In addition, American-defined ethnic manager stereotypes also contained profiles similar to cultural prototypes. However, important differences were also detected on many managerial characteristics. Implications of the findings for cross-cultural congruence and areas for future research are discussed. [source]

Information Gathering and Changes in Threat and Opportunity Perceptions*

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 3 2007
Marc H. Anderson
abstract Managers need to make sense of emerging strategic issues that could significantly impact their businesses. While models of this sensemaking process suggest that information gathering affects interpretations (which affect action and performance), researchers have argued that our understanding of the role of information in changing interpretations is underdeveloped. This paper investigates the role of the time managers spend searching for information and the diversity of the information they find in changing managers' perceptions that an equivocal, strategic issue represents a threat and opportunity for their businesses. The methodology involves a longitudinal research design in which managers recorded multiple, process-oriented measures of their information gathering activity. Results suggest that time spent searching for information leads to changes towards seeing the issue as more of a threat, while the diversity of information found leads to changes towards seeing it as less of a threat. We found no effect of information gathering on opportunity perceptions. [source]

Managerial complexity in project-based operations: A grounded model and its implications for practice

PROJECT MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue S1 2008
Harvey Maylor
Abstract This article reports an investigation into project managers' perceptions of managerial complexity. Based on a multistage empirical study, elements of "what makes a project complex to manage" were identified and classified under the dimensions of mission, organization, delivery, stakeholder, or team,the MODeST model. Further, the data showed that these elements had both structural and dynamic qualities and that the elements are interdependent. Project managers are shown to be embedded in this complexity. The practical implications of the research include the ability to describe managerial complexity in a manner consistent with the actuality of the lived project environment. This provides a framework for the description of the level of managerial challenge or difficulty, which will allow the assessment of individual and organizational responses to it in the future. Further, the opportunity exists for active management of complexity. [source]

PERCEPTIONS OF BENEFIT FRAUD STAFF IN THE UK: GIVING P.E.A.C.E.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 2 2007
A CHANCE?
This article reports a study concerning perceptions of benefit fraud staff and of management concerning their own interviewing techniques and standards, and their views pertaining to a preferred model of interviewing. Interviewing fraud suspects forms an important task performed by Fraud Investigators (FIs) within the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) in the UK. Given this significance, it is surprising that there has been little analysis of the skills used to do this task. Current training consists of a course centred on an interviewing framework called the PEACE model, which was originally developed for police use. The research outlined in this paper examined both FIs and their managers' perceptions and attitudes of the model and of their own practices. It was found that, while there was general support for the model, reservations were voiced over how effective PEACE may actually be in practice. These reservations centred on insufficient time to prepare for investigations along with a perceived inflexibility over the model's framework. In, addition, it was highlighted that the absence of any national supervisory framework for investigative interviews should give the organization cause for concern in ensuring standards. [source]

Leeway for the Loyal: A Model of Employee Discretion

BRITISH JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 1 2008
Francis Green
This article examines the factors underlying task discretion from an economist's perspective. It argues that the key axis for understanding discretion is the trade-off between the positive effects of discretion on potential output per employee and the negative effects of greater leeway on work effort. In empirical analysis using matched employer,employee data, it is shown that discretion is strongly affected by the level of employee commitment. In addition, discretion is generally greater in high-skilled jobs, although not without exceptions, and lower where employees are under-skilled. Homeworking and flexitime policies raise employee discretion. The impact of teamworking is mixed. In about half of cases team members do not jointly decide about work matters, and the net effect of teams on task discretion in these cases is negative. In other cases, where team members do decide matters jointly, the impact is found to be neutral according to employees' perceptions, or positive according to managers' perceptions. There are also significant and substantial unobserved establishment-level factors which affect task discretion. [source]

Dynamic Capabilities: An Exploration of How Firms Renew their Resource Base

BRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 2009
Véronique Ambrosini
The aim of this paper is to extend the concept of dynamic capabilities. Building on prior research, we suggest that there are three levels of dynamic capabilities which are related to managers' perceptions of environmental dynamism. At the first level we find incremental dynamic capabilities: those capabilities concerned with the continuous improvement of the firm's resource base. At the second level are renewing dynamic capabilities, those that refresh, adapt and augment the resource base. These two levels are usually conceived as one and represent what the literature refers to as dynamic capabilities. At the third level are regenerative dynamic capabilities, which impact, not on the firm's resource base, but on its current set of dynamic capabilities, i.e. these change the way the firm changes its resource base. We explore the three levels using illustrative examples and conclude that regenerative dynamic capabilities may either come from inside the firm or enter the firm from outside, via changes in leadership or the intervention of external change agents. [source]