This research project seeks to contribute to the literature on management by presenting and testing a model of leadership linking leadership styles directly to culture type and indirectly to firm effectiveness. The authors selected a four-factor theory of leadership and examined how it directly impacted organizational culture, and indirectly impacted organizational effectiveness (via an organization's culture). Using surveys designed to measure attitudinal and behavioral indicators of organizational culture, leadership, and effectiveness, we collected data from 2,662 individuals in 311 organizations. The results generally support the hypotheses that organizational effectiveness is related to type of culture and that cultural norms are related to type of leadership styles. The results have implications for management and organizational development practices and processes. The results indicate that the leadership skills of managers and supervisors are critical factors in the creation and reinforcement of cultural norms. Furthermore, cultural norms seem to positively impact organizational effectiveness.

In a time-lagged study with independent measures (N=115, paired responses), we examined the interactive effects of perceived organizational politics and overall satisfaction on job stress, interpersonal conflict, job performance, and creativity. The data were collected from a diverse sample of employees from various workplaces in Pakistan. The findings showed that perceived politics had a positive effect on job stress, while overall satisfaction had a negative effect on interpersonal conflict and a positive effect on creative performance. The results also revealed that in the face of high politics, highly satisfied individuals demonstrated higher levels of creativity and job performance. However, in this context of high politics negative effects were also observed, namely that highly satisfied individuals participated in interpersonal conflict and experienced high stress.

Few writers have examined the contextual determinants of intuitive decision-making and none has examined the differential contribution to explaining intuition made by different perspectives on context. This study seeks to supply what is absent by examining the overall impact of combinations of variables representing three different perspectives (decision, environment and firm) on the use of intuition when making strategic decisions. The results indicate that the characteristics specific to the firm and to the environment appear to be more significant to intuition than does the nature of the decision; and that the impact of the contextual variables varies from one dimension to another. The research limitations are discussed and suggestions for future research are also offered.

This study investigates how family control influences entry mode choice between joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries. Based on past studies revealing family-controlled firms’ unique concerns regarding the preservation of socioemotional wealth, the researchers posit that, firms with higher family control respond more drastically to perceived environmental uncertainty when choosing their entry mode. The researchers hypothesize that, when perceiving high environmental uncertainty, firms with higher versus lower family control are more likely to choose joint ventures. However, when perceiving low environmental uncertainty, firms with higher versus lower family control tend to choose wholly owned subsidiaries. The empirical results obtained from a sample of 1,644 investments undertaken by publicly listed companies in Taiwan support the hypotheses.

Affective organizational commitment is theorized and empirically tested as a key mediator between authentic leadership and desirable employee outcomes. The results of a two-wave survey of 830 business people in Australia support a serial mediation model of authentic leadership efficacy. Followers' perceptions of authentic leadership behavior influence their personal identification and affect-based trust in the leader, which in turn are mediated by affective organizational commitment to positively influence their work engagement and job satisfaction. These findings reinforce previous work that positions personal identification and affect-based trust as the two primary mediating mechanisms of authentic leadership. This paper extends prior research by demonstrating the important role of followers' affective bonds with their organization in the operation of authentic leadership, moving beyond the dyad in our understanding of follower outcomes.

This study examined 130 Australian companies from the ASX 500 All Ordinaries between 2011 and 2015. We performed regression analysis on the effects of age of the board (mean age and age diversity) upon financial performance (measured by ROA and Tobin's Q). Controlling for board size, firm size and industry sector, we found that the average age of board members is positively associated with firm performance as measured by ROA. Boards with an older average age of directors perform better than boards with a younger average age. There was no significant relationship between age diversity as measured by the within-board standard deviation on the two performance measures. The primary focus of our study was age. However, an interesting concomitant finding is that the focus on increasing female representation on boards will lower the average age of a board (as female directors tend to be significantly younger than their male counterparts) and this may have an adverse impact on financial performance.

This paper examines the mobility paths taken by Chinese coursework graduates who studied abroad chiefly in business (Chinese ‘foreign’ graduates) and the consequences for their careers. A model is developed that focuses on the two major interconnected paths of repatriating and remaining abroad, and looks at the influence of pull–push forces. The model suggests the career consequences for repatriates, and their reactions to re-entry to China, in contrast to the career consequences for stayers and their reactions to the host country. The career capital the business graduates acquired while studying is developed. Adverse career consequences and reactions may lead to further mobility, including re-expatriation abroad by repatriates and repatriation by stayers. Overall, Chinese foreign business graduates may be caught in a dilemma when selecting the best path for their career and lifestyle. Implications for future research and management of Chinese foreign business graduates in host countries and China are assessed.

Considering the mixed results of the relationship between job insecurity and job performance, this study investigated the interaction effect of job insecurity and job embeddedness on job performance and examined the mediating role of affective commitment from the perspectives of conservation of resources theory and social exchange theory. A survey of 725 contract employees from two Chinese private manufacturing companies revealed that when employees had high levels of job embeddedness, job insecurity was significantly and positively related to job performance. In contrast, job insecurity was significantly and negatively related to job performance when there were low levels of job embeddedness. Furthermore, the results indicated that affective commitment mediated the interaction effect. The above conclusions not only illustrate the important role of job embeddedness in the relationship between job insecurity and job performance but also provide beneficial ideas and information to organisations and employees for managing job insecurity.

This paper explores the concept of knowledge networks in order to disclose how firms are able to increase innovative performance as a result of network structure and network content, which concern how firms connect with network partners (network structure), what the essence of exchange is for firms to acquire knowledge in the network (knowledge heterogeneity), and why firms need to cooperate with others (knowledge cognition). By using a sample of 144 high-technology firms in Taiwan’s science parks to test the hypotheses, the results of this study show that, while network structures do impact on a firm’s innovative performance, access to heterogeneous knowledge and increasing a firm’s knowledge in terms of defining and recognizing novel knowledge should be considered, since both play critical roles in facilitating innovative performance. These findings suggest that knowledge flow through a firm’s relationships must be understood in terms of network structure and content.

This paper argues that individual small firms just like large firms, place differing emphasis on strategy-making and may employ different modes of strategy-making. It offers a typology of the different modes of strategy-making that seem most likely to exist in small firms, and hypothesises how this typology relates to performance. It then describes the results of an empirical study of the strategy-making processes of small firms. The structural equation analysis of the data from 477 small firms with less than 100 employees indicates among other results that the simplistic, adaptive, intrapreneurial and participative modes of strategy-making exist in these small firms. Of these modes, the simplistic mode exhibits the strongest relationship with firm performance.

The study investigates demographic diversity, cognitive diversity and internal diversity within Islam among top-level management of firms and their impacts on the financial performance of Malaysian-listed companies. In addition, Muslim and non-Muslim women and Islamic religious diversity on corporate boards are investigated. Even though numerous organisations desire to be socially diverse, the significance of diversity for organisational performance remains uncertain. Are profitable companies inclined to improve board diversity or do other characteristics of the company contribute to firm performance? Does the participation of Muslim and non-Muslim women on corporate boards affect firm performance? Does internal diversity within Islam affect firm performance? Data from 330 Malaysian-listed companies in eleven full fledged sectors were used for the period from 2009 to 2013. This study employed econometrics methodology from panel data analysis to fill the research gap in the current management literature. This study used the interaction approach to examine empirically diverse corporate boards and their impacts on firm performance. This discussion included: (1) a combination of gender diversity and ethnic diversity and (2) a combination of gender diversity and foreign participation. The findings suggest that demographic, cognitive and internal diversity within Islam are significant predictors of a firm’s financial performance. Ethnic women on boards have a significant and negative impact on firm performance. Hence, companies having high profits are more accountable for encouraging diversity among top-level management.

Individuals in organizations must frequently enact a series of ongoing decisions in real-time dynamic contexts. Despite the increasing need for individuals to manage dynamic decision-making demands, we still understand little about individual differences impacting performance in these environments. This paper proposes a new construct applicable to adaptation in such real-time dynamic environments. Cognitive agility is a formative construct measuring the individual capacity to exhibit cognitive flexibility, cognitive openness and focused attention. This study predicts that cognitive agility will impact adaptive performance in a real-time dynamic decision-making microworld computer game called the Networked Fire Chief; a simulation developed to study and train Australian fire fighters. Cognitive agility, operationalized through three distinct methods (performance measures, self-reports and external-rater reports), explained unique variance beyond measures of general intelligence on the total score of adaptive performance in the microworld.

This paper investigates the impact of leader feedback on followers’ knowledge-sharing behavior through a regulatory focus theory perspective. Data were collected through an experiment with 129 college students. Results showed that compared with leader’s prevention feedback style and negative feedback valence, promotion style and positive feedback valence inspire employee knowledge-sharing behavior better. These two positive relationships are mediated by promotion situational regulatory focus. The negative relationship between prevention leader feedback style and knowledge sharing is mediated by prevention situational regulatory focus, while negative leader feedback valence has its negative effect on knowledge sharing directly.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) represents behaviors that have increasingly strategic importance to many companies. CSR has been defined as a company's commitment to minimizing or eliminating any harmful effects on society and maximizing its long-term beneficial impact (Mohr, Webb, & Harris, 2001). The purpose of this paper is (a) to improve our understanding of how North American professional sport league executives view CSR and (b) to consider how CSR activities contribute to these leagues. Interviews with four senior league executives provide perspective as to the role and relevance of social responsibility in North American professional sport. The paper discusses the impact of leadership on CSR and relates the topics covered from institutional, strategic, and stakeholder perspectives.

This paper investigates the effects on knowledge creation of network size and partner diversity formed through alliance relationships. These effects are tested empirically in the biotech industry setting, which is representative of industries that emphasize external collaboration. Using patent count as a proxy of knowledge creation, Poisson regression was employed to test our predictions empirically. The statistical results show an inverted U-shaped relationship between network size and knowledge creation. In addition, a negative relationship was observed between partner diversity and knowledge creation. This research suggests that small biotech firms should strive to achieve a balanced network size. Knowledge creation is better promoted in these firms through alliances with firms of similar organizational type. The value of this research lies in the fact that it provides new insight into properties of alliance networks by highlighting potentially negative consequences of having an oversized alliance network and partner diversity.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become increasingly significant for a wide range of organisations and for the managers that work within them. This is particularly true in the sport industry, where CSR is now an important area of focus for sport organisations, sport events and individual athletes. This article demonstrates how CSR can inform both theoretical debates and management practice within sport organisations. It does so by focusing on stakeholder theory, which overlaps considerably with CSR. In this article, stakeholder theory is used to examine three major CSR issues: stakeholder definition and salience, firm actions and responses, and stakeholder actions and responses. These three issues are considered in the context of the UK football industry. The article draws on 15 semi-structured qualitative interviews with senior representatives from a number of different organisations. These include the director of a large professional football club; a chief executive of a medium-sized professional football club in addition to the supporter-elected director; and the vice-chairman of a small professional football club. Additional interviews were undertaken with five representatives from national supporter organisations, two board members at two large supporter associations, two representatives from the Football League, one representative from the Independent Football Commission, and a prominent sports journalist. The analysis of the interview data illustrates ways in which CSR can be implemented by sport organisations through stakeholder management strategies. The article concludes that stakeholder theory has both conceptual and empirical value and can be used to illuminate key issues in sport management.

This study focuses on to explore the impact of social power on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and the role of OCB as a mediator of the relationship between social power and personal and organizational effectiveness. Data were collected by administering self rated questionnaires to male middle-level executives (N = 250) in face to face conditions from motor cycle manufacturing organisations based in northern India. The mediator analysis (by using AMOS) showed that all the fit indexes were in the acceptable range which indicates that OCBs have mediated significantly between social power and effectiveness. Other results as analyzed through multiple regression analysis showed the significant impact of social power on the dimensions of OCB and effectiveness as it was hypothesized. The study suggests the potential benefits of using positive forms of social power by supervisors as part of their managerial style in order to enhance OCBs and in turn increase personal and organizational effectiveness. This study advances the research on the concept of OCB and social power in an Indian work context.

Using a sample of Chinese family firms during the period of 2004–2010, we examine the influence of media coverage on corporate philanthropic giving and the moderating role of family ownership. Specifically, we document that media coverage is significantly positively associated with corporate philanthropic giving, suggesting that media coverage as an informal system plays an important role in motivating Chinese family firms to establish business ethics, shape socially responsible images, and enhance corporate philanthropy. Moreover, family ownership attenuates the positive association between media coverage and corporate philanthropic giving. Our findings are robust to a variety of sensitivity tests and are still valid after controlling for the potential endogeneity between media coverage and corporate philanthropy. Our study is one of few studies to investigate the impact of media coverage on corporate philanthropic giving in an emerging market.

For some years now there has been growing enthusiasm amongst practitioners, managers and some academics about the value of promoting fun at work, resulting in a substantial body of managerial literature. As a result, the authors believe that fun at work deserves further research attention. In this paper the authors critically review the large body of practitioner and management literature promoting fun at work. We find this literature dependent on a number of untheorised, untested assumptions about the nature of fun, its desirability and usefulness to business. Utilising Schein’s organisational theory, alongside ethnographic research into fun at work, we highlight the complexity of implementing fun at work initiatives in practice. Drawing on organizational psychology we also make a short case study of the current use of fun at work as a job marketing tool by recruitment agencies in New Zealand. Our discussion does make it possible to come to some conclusions about fun at work. However, we also pose a series of research questions that emerge from our discussion that will provide a framework for ongoing research.

We explore the impact of gender, individualism–collectivism on individual’s propensity to trust. The study draws on data from three groups of individuals in the United Arab Emirates: students; (n=370); small business owners/operators (n=324), and employed individuals (n=376). Three main hypotheses are tested. We develop and explore three main hypotheses. Statistical results reveal that females are generally more collectivist and less trusting than their males counterparts. Further analysis revealed that small business/operators are generally more trusting than the other cohorts of respondents. Propensity to trust was also found to be strongly associated with collectivist (rather than individualist) aspirations. Implications for future research and management practice are discussed.