Journal of Managerial Issues; JMI

Impact of Peer Mentor Training On Creating and Sharing Organizational Knowledge

We conducted a field study to test empirically the relationship between perceptions of peer mentoring and perceptions of the creation and sharing of knowledge within the context of a peer mentor training program. Results based on 222 employees of a software firm who completed a web survey before, after and two months following the training program indicate that: a) peer mentor training increased perceived levels of peer mentoring and b) employees with higher perceived levels of peer mentoring...

Corporate Values, Workplace Decisions and Ethical Standards of Employees*

Prior research suggests that workplace decisions are jointly affected by organizational factors and person-based factors. The purpose of this experimental study -- participants being managers with work experience -- was to examine if corporate values espoused by the management influence everyday workplace decisions and what kind of corporate values allow employees' personality, or ethical values, to manifest themselves. The results show that participants' workplace decisions do indeed become ...

Accessing Knowledge Through Acquisitions and Alliances: An Empirical Examination of New Market Entry*

This article examines the relative performance of firms as they enter new markets of varying knowledge intensity dirough acquisitions and alliances. Building on the knowledge-based view of the firm and using a sample of 305 market entry events, we investigate (1) how the level of knowledge-based resources and expertise required in a new market influence market projections of firm performance and (2) the relative performance of acquisitions and alliances as means to enter markets with varying ...

The Multidimensionality of the Equity Sensitivity Construct: Integrating Separate Benevolence and Entitlement Dimensions for Enhanced Construct Measurement*

Huseman, Hatfield, and Miles' (1985) original measurement of equity sensitivity utilizes a forced-distribution format to allocate points between benevolent and entitlement statements, which forces the resulting scores on the Equity Sensitivity Instrument (ESI) to be unidimensional. We propose diat equity sensitivity may actually be a multidimensional construct, and that the forced-distribution format of the ESI may conceal this multidimensionality. An alternative, single-stimulus format of th...

Organizational Sexual Harassment Investigations: Observers' Perceptions of Fairness

Human resource practitioners have recently suggested that in order to enhance the acceptability of the results of an investigation into alleged sexual harassment, organizations should use investigators who are the same sex as the alleged victim and who are external to the organization. The validity of these prescriptions was tested in a 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 laboratory experiment. Results indicated that women viewed female investigators' treatment of victims as more fair and they were perceived to ha...

The Performance Implications of Financial Slack During Economic Recession and Recovery: Observations From the Software Industry (2001-2003)*

In this article, we examine the role financial slack plays in a particularly hostile environment: economic recession. We employ competing theoretical views on the function of financial slack to examine its relationship to firm performance in a population of firms facing extreme resource scarcity. Using econometric data from 450 software firms from 2001 to 2003, we find that higher levels of financial slack are detrimental at the onset of a recession but can accelerate recovery. Our results su...

Leadership Style and Organizational Commitment: Mediating Effect of Role Stress

In this study, we investigated the direct effects that two leadership styles, initiating structure and consideration, have on organizational commitment. In addition, we also examined a mediation model with role stress mediating the leadership style - organizational commitment relationship. The mediation model was significant, suggesting that leadership style affects organizational commitment because of the reduction in role stress. Implications for building and maintaining organizational comm...