Insufficient literature exists in the area of incremental and revolutionary change to explain and predict the convergence and reorientation phenomena happening in organizations. The process of strategic reorientation involves the internal organizational complexities of fast-paced (within two years) changes in competitive strategy as a necessary condition coupled with changes in at least two of organization structure, power distribution, and control systems. Antecedent forces believed to influence the discontinuous change process include industry sales turbulence, structural inertia/firm size, firm past financial performance, CEO turnover, top management team turnover, management team heterogeneity, management environmental awareness, and external attributions for negative financial performance. Punctuated equilibrium was the foundational theory for this study in which a strategic reorientation model published in Strategic Management Journal was reconstructed. The research question was: What seem to be the significant time-based antecedent forces or conditions that lead to strategic reorientation? The study used two hierarchical logit regression models to analyze data gathered from COMPUSTAT PC Industrial Data Base and Compact Disclosure (CD-ROM) over the years 1987-1993 from the turbulent computer software and stable furniture industries. Qualitative data were found in 10-K reports and President's Letters in Annual Reports filed with the SEC and available on Laserdisclosure. The sample, …

In Strategic International Human Resource Management (SIHRM), the human resource function is actively involved in the strategic activities of the firm. While the idea holds promise as a useful response to global competition, previous research has provided limited supporting empirical evidence. Specifically, few studies have sought to equate certain outcomes with the degree of SIHRM practiced across various types of international firms. By separating firms into categories such as multidomestic, global, and hybrid, and by classifying SIHRM according to the degree of integration with strategic planning, a clearer picture could emerge as to the relationship between firm and SIHRMtype. To that end, top strategic executives, such as CEOs, and top HRM executives from eighty four U.S. based firms were surveyed regarding their firm type, the degree of SIHRM practiced, and certain outcomes such as amount of expatriate training and expatriate failure. Additionally, financial results were obtained to determine performance of various firms. Results indicated that while many companies choose a highly integrated formof SIHRM, there is no significant relationship between firm type and SIHRMtype. Additionally, there was no association detected between SIHRMtype and expatriate training and expatriate failure. Finally, there was no significant difference infinancialperformance between firms with the most …

The purpose of this study was to determine the criteria used by foundation directors in assessing the effectiveness of contribution programs in company sponsored foundations. Quinn and Rohrbaugh's Competing Values Approach of organizational effectiveness was used as the theoretical framework for the study. The Competing Values Approach is an integrative effectiveness model which clusters eight criteria of effectiveness into four theoretical models of organizational effectiveness.

Business ethics is a much debated issue in contemporary America. As many ethical improprieties gained widespread attention, organizations tried to control the damage by institutionalizing ethics through a variety of structures, policies, and procedures. Although the institutionalization of ethics has become popular in corporate America, there is a lack of research in this area. The relationship between the cultural dimensions of individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity/femininity and the perceptions of managers regarding the institutionalization of ethics is investigated in this study. This research also examined whether managers' level of cognitive moral development and locus of control influenced their perceptions. Data collection was performed through a mail survey of managers in the U.S. and India. Out of the 174 managers of American multinationals who responded to the survey, 86 were Americans and 88 were Indians. Results revealed that managers' perceptions were influenced by the four cultural dimensions. Managerial perceptions regarding the effectiveness of codes of ethics and the influence of referent groups varied according to their nationality. But, managers from both countries found implicit forms of institutionalizing ethics, such as organizational systems, culture, and leadership to be more effective in raising the ethical climate of organizations than explicit forms …

This study is an empirical evaluation of the relationship between perceptions of the elements of the remote environment of business and the mode of transfer utilized by 90 United States companies transferring technology to Mexico. Characteristics of the technology, the company, and the industry were found, from a thorough search of the literature, to be the key aspects of technology transfer. The primary hypothesis predicted that a significant relationship would exist between perceptions of barriers and choice of transfer mode.

The research examines perceptions of top management in U. S. Multinationals (MNCs) about strategic management processes involving social responsibility, particularly issues on plant and employee safety, education and human resources, and health delivery and services. Strategic management processes consider setting objectives, environmental analyses, and evaluation of social responsibility programs emphasizing planning activities. The study focuses on firms' decision making in planning and execution of social responsibility programs and their impact on foreign country environments as perceived by company executives, at corporate headquarters and regional/subsidiary offices.

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between position-related sources of power and person-related sources of power in organizations. The subject is the power of an organizational sub-unit compared to other units. Theory on the structural sources of power is well established in the literature. The question in this study is whether the individual manager, the person, is another major source of power for the organizational unit. A major objective of the study is to fill this gap in the literature on power in organizations. A secondary objective of this study is to see if one can rank the individual position-related sources of power and person-related sources of power, identified through a literature review, within each group in terms of their relative importance. The type of this study is exploratory. It is a descriptive study explaining the "what is" about the relationship between position and person sources of power in a manufacturing company. Results indicate that there is a two-way relationship between manager power and department power, and that one can rank order the sources of power in terms of their contribution to a department's or manager's power. Power is defined in this study as the ability …

This study examined the effects of entrepreneurship level and legal regulatory environment on environmental scanning in one component of the health services industry, private practice physical therapy. Two aspects of scanning served as dependent variables: (1) extent to which firms scrutinized six environmental sectors (competitor, customer, technological, regulatory, economic, social-political) and (2) frequency of information source use (human vs. written). Availability of information was a covariate for frequency of source use. Three levels of entrepreneurship were determined by scores on the Covin and Slevin (1986) entrepreneurship scale. Firms were placed in one of three legal regulatory categories according to the state in which the firm delivered services. A structured questionnaire was sent to 450 randomly selected members of the American Physical Therapy Association's Private Practice Section. Respondents were major decision makers, e.g., owners, chief executive officers. The sample was stratified according to three types of regulatory environment. A response rate of 75% was achieved (n = 318) with equal representation from each stratum. All questionnaire subscales exhibited high internal reliability and validity. The study used a 3x3 factorial design to analyze the data. Two multivariate analyses were conducted, one for each dependent variable set. Results indicated that "high" entrepreneurial level …

The purpose of this study was to analyze the developing organizational and management paradigms in the aluminum packaging and container industry, where reverse channels of distribution offer an excellent vehicle for studying organizations which are "closing the distribution circle." Based on the analysis, several conclusions are offered. 1. The extent to which primary manufacturers have entered aluminum packaging and container recycling and subsequently developed effective reverse channels of distribution is contingent upon needs for resources. 2. The most successful recycling programs are those which have decentralized organizations. 3. Central to beverage producers' decisions to develop extensive reverse channels of distribution is the belief that recycling is (1) a deterrent to container legislation, (2) a source of favorable publicity, (3) a source of company profits, and (4) can improve supply relationships with primary aluminum suppliers. 4. Regional beverage companies in the environmentally conscious Far West have the most successful and comprehensive recycling operations. 5. Loose organizational federations such as those of the soft drink franchise do not seem amenable to the development of reverse channels of distribution. 6. Where i t serves the needs of the enterprise, firms are developing sophisticated and efficient reverse channels of distribution. The institution of reverse …