Blockchains, or "Distributed Ledger Technologies" (DLT). For the past few months, I have been exploring the world of cryptocurrencies (indirectly), in an effort to learn more and write about how "blockchains" may be used in Management. The following are some useful links in case you are interested in learning about this emerging technology:
Bitcoin's landing page: https://bitcoin.org/en/
The original application of the blockchain. You can find there the white paper by "Satoshi Nakamoto," whom some believe is a nom de plume for a group of people who wanted to suggest a solution to "the double spend problem." They did find a solution that offers exciting possibilities!
Cryptonews: https://cryptonews.com/
All you might be interested to know about cryptocurrencies!
What is a Blockchain? https://opensource.com/article/18/7/bitcoin-blockchain-and-open-source
A very understandable and concise summary about blockchains and open source (free) software!
Let me know if you find an interesting article related to how blockchains are / might be used for Management purposes!
Showing posts with label management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label management. Show all posts
Customers Help Transformational Managers Energize Employees
* I am grateful to Dr. Matt Gilley, Founder and CEO of BusinessMinded.com, who allowed me to post this summary I wrote (as a "beta test") for his company. If you enjoy it, I am positive that you will want to sign up for their week-long free trial!!
Key Points:
• Transformational or inspiring leaders that incorporate employee contact with customers improve their organization’s effectiveness.
• When followers perceive that their work has a positive impact on society, the association between contact with beneficiaries and supervisor ratings of performance strengthens.
• Giving employees information about how their work impacts its beneficiaries improves the motivational effectiveness of transformational leaders.
Overview:
Transformational leaders inspire their employees through sharing their vision, confidence, optimism, core values and ideals. When their employees have direct contact with others who ultimately benefit from their work, managers’ efforts to motivate their workforce are amplified. Employee perceptions of how their work improves society strengthen this relationship.
What the Research Shows:
Two studies published in the Academy of Management Journal by Adam Grant, a researcher from the University of Pennsylvania, show that transformational leaders’ words and actions motivate their employees more strongly when the latter have contact with customers. In a naturally occurring experiment, Grant obtained sales performance of 71 new hires at a call center selling software to nonprofit organizations. Both number of sales and revenue after seven weeks differed significantly, but only for employees exposed to both a speech by a senior director and another speech by a beneficiary of their sales; employees that heard only one speech or none showed lower sales, not different from each other.
The second study included survey data from 329 employees and their leaders in a wide range of jobs from a government organization. Grant measured several job characteristics such as employee empowerment, relationship quality, task significance, etc., using well-accepted measures. Only when employee contact with their work beneficiaries and their leaders’ transformational style were high, did managers’ performance ratings show a significant, positive difference. Perceptions of the benefit work has on society were also higher for employees who reported working for more transformational leaders, especially if they had high contact with customers.
Why this Matters:
These two studies help managers who prefer using a transformational leadership style magnify their effectiveness as motivators for their employees (transformational leaders are those who offer a vision for the future of their organization, foster team spirit, confidence and optimism, and are explicit in identifying values and ideals for their groups). Connecting employees with individuals who ultimately benefit from their actions has a powerful effect in their performance that can be detected in measurable quantities. Top managers may receive unsolicited “Thank you” letters from customers, but the urge to share those notes with the employees that earned the acknowledgement is not always there!
Organizations that actively seek customers’ feedback are in a position to profit greatly from distributing their positive findings with line and all other employees. For example, Deere & Company and Medtronic are among the companies that welcome contact between customers and employees in an effort to foster these human connections that show such a powerful influence in their managers’ efforts. The Marriott and Hilton hotel brands also have campaigns to “catch employees doing their best” by inviting guests to provide feedback that identifies star employees by name. If your organization has one such program, ensuring that all employees—not just the best ones—receive final customers’ positive comments as directly as possible might be an inexpensive way to increase productivity and make managers’ work more effective.
These initiatives amplify transformational leaders’ efforts to a higher extent than other types of leaders that were not part of the studies (for example, some leaders are highly task oriented, with no concern for individuals’ feelings or preferences). Still, some workers might be sensitive to these interactions with customers even when their managers have other leadership styles; sharing information about how the organization’s products or services impact people’s lives may increase productivity by means of higher motivation in all kinds and levels of employees.
Use this Today:
Giving employees opportunities to connect with customers, whether internal or external to the organization, can motivate them in measurable ways, particularly when their managers have a transformational style. This should be considered a motivational tool of the highest strategic level.
Related Links:
The Evolution of Employee Opinion Surveys: The Voice of Employee as a Strategic Business Management Tool :: http://www.shrm.org/Research/Articles/Pages/TheEvolutionof.aspx
How to Make the Most of Customer Feedback :: http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/07/how-to-make-most-of-customer-feedback.html
The Power of Customer Feedback :: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2011/4865/the-power-of-customer-feedback
Source: Grant, A. M. (2012). Leading with Meaning: Beneficiary Contact, Prosocial Impact, and the Performance Effects of Transformational Leadership. Academy of Management Journal, 55(2), 458-476.
Social Media and Management
The editors for Emerald's Advanced Series in Management proudly (pre-)announce the following two volumes on Social Media and Management currently in progress --when the volumes are made available for sale (expected: mid- to late-2013), you will be able to find them here! Thank you for your interest in this exciting topic!!!
Social Media in Strategic Management
Advanced Series in Management, vol. 11
Miguel R. Olivas-Luján and Tanya Bondarouk
• Social media are changing the way businesses interact in technology-mediated ways with most of their stakeholders. Strategically-minded managers, researchers and students cannot afford to ignore the new ways in which interactions with customers, employees, shareholders, and many other important constituents are taking place as a result of the widespread availability and creative use of these new technologies. Conventional wisdom is being challenged and virtual workspaces that had never been conceptualized are opening at blistering speed. This volume in the Advanced Series in Management bridges empirical and theoretical approaches to identify and demystify this set of emerging, exciting new family of user-generated content technologies.
• With contributions from and about a wide diversity of countries, from emerging to established, researchers and informed practitioners will find intriguing, diverse perspectives on how the social media revolution challenging managers and management scholars. Involving disciplines as different as management, communications, information technology, personnel, finance and others, contributions in this book will be cited in future research projects or used in classrooms and other training settings by those more likely stay in the leading edge of this family of innovative tools.
Tentative Table of Contents
Strategic Management in Social Media: The Leading Edge
Miguel R. Olivas-Luján and Tanya Bondarouk
Digital Behaviours and People Risk: Challenges for Risk Management
Prof Andy Phippen and Dr Simon Ashby
Leveraging Social Media Technology for Business Transformation: The Case of Corporate Social Communities
Richard L. Gruner, Damien Power and Paul K. Bergey
Strategic Management and Social Media: An Empirical Analysis of Electronic Social Capital and Online Fundraising
Ray Henry and Lisa Bosman
Disentangling the Strategic Use of Social Media in the Insurance Industry: A Value Co-creation Perspective
Emanuele Castriotta, Paola Barbara Floreddu, Maria Chiara Di Guardo and Francesca Cabiddu
You Might Be Admired but Are You ‘Liked’? Orchestrating Corporate Reputation Co-Production on Facebook
Anna Zarkada and Christina Polydorou
Social Media as a Strategic Tool: Going beyond the Obvious
Poonam Arora and Carolyn E. Predmore
Increasing Dynamic Capabilities of Health Organizations with Social Media
Ricky Leung
Social Media Champions – Drivers and Sophistication Process of Social Media in Strategic Management
Lukasz M. Bochenek and Sam Blili
Innovation Management, Lead Users and Social Media – A Conceptual Framework
Markus Ernst, Alexander Brem , and Kai-Ingo Voigt
Social Media as Enabler of Crowdsourcing Business Model
Ivan Župič
Social Media as Marketing Strategy: An Exploratory Study on Adoption and Use by Retailers
Carlota Lorenzo-Romero, Efthymios Constantinides and María-del-Carmen Alarcón-del-Amo
Culture and Social Media: Differences between the U.S. and Japan
Satoko Suzuki and Kosuke Takemura
Social Media in Emerging Markets: India and Mexico
Pramila Rao
Social Media in Human Resources Management
Advanced Series in Management, vol. 12
Tanya Bondarouk and Miguel R. Olivas-Luján
• Social media have radically shifted the way people relate with each other and with organizations in technology-mediated ways; few areas are being impacted more strongly than Human Resources or Personnel Management. Attraction of candidates, internal communication with employees, communication with and among people; creation, design, testing and promotion of new services, new ways of organizing are appearing and changing the landscape at record speeds. This volume in the Advanced Series in Management utilizes empirical and theoretical approaches to shed light on this exciting set of emerging, stimulating new uses of technology that stretch creativity beyond conventional limits.
• Experts from around the world have joined efforts to share their findings in this volume dedicated to students, researchers and informed practitioners. This variety of perspectives will enable a better understanding of how the social media revolution is pushing boundaries and challenging anyone involved in the management of people, the most unique of resources available to any organization. Diverse disciplinary views contribute to this book that will be cited in future projects, as well as used in classrooms and other training settings by those closer to the leading edge of adoption and use of these tools.
Tentative Table of Contents
Introduction: Social Media in Human Resources Management
Tanya Bondarouk and Miguel R. Olivas-Luján
Employer Branding and its Effects on Organizational Attractiveness
Tanya Bondarouk, Huub Ruel and Wendy Weekhout
Managing Entitativity through Social Media
David A. Askay, Anita Blanchard and Jerome Stewart
Personae of Interest - Managers’ Identities and the Online Mirror
Giulia Ranzini and Christian Fieseler
Recruiting Gen-Yers through Social Media: Insights from the Italian Labour Market
Rita Bisola and Barbara Imperatori
Social Media and Recruitment: a Delphi Study
Aurélie Girard
Social Media as a Mechanism for Engagement?
Emma Parry and Adriano Solidoro
Social Media in Internal Communications: A View from Senior Management
Tanja Sedej and Gorazd Justinek
Social Network Screening: Pitfalls, Possibilities, and Parallels in Employment Selection
Donald H. Kluemper
The Integration of Online Face-to-face Social Networking: The Need for Managerial Reconfiguration
Barbara Imperatori and Dino Ruta
The role of Social Networking Site in the Global Talent Management
Huub Ruël
Towards the Development of a Social Information System Research Model
Opal Donaldson and Evan Duggan
Using Social Media for Job Search: Evidence from Generation Y Job Seekers
Lax Manroop and Julia Richardson
CFP: Social Media and Management
Social Media and Management
Call for Chapters, Advanced Series in Management
Tanya Bondarouk (University of Twente, The Netherlands; t.bondarouk@utwente.nl)
Miguel R. Olivas-Luján (Clarion University of Pennsylvania, USA; molivas@clarion.edu)
Deadline for submission of ideas or chapters: July 31st, 2012 (see details below)
Social media is a term currently in use to describe a wide variety of Information and Telecommunication Technologies (ICTs) whose common denominator is the ability to connect users in ways that enable bridging distance, time, and other traditional barriers. Even though several “electronic facilities” have captured both general and business attention, it is clear that a high degree of environmental turbulence or high velocity exists, as both software (e.g., social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Xing, facebook, google+, Orkut, or MySpace; blogging sites such as Wordpress, blogspot or twitter; personal or organizational rich-media facilities like YouTube, Skype, Spotify, etc.) and hardware platforms (e.g., tablets, smartphones, thinbooks and other recent innovations) keep evolving at a blistering pace. Systematic, rigorous research using best-available scientific evidence methodologies that document and analyze the use of this phenomenon in business are currently lagging behind this revolution; this scholarly book is an attempt to fill this knowledge gap to facilitate knowledge acquisition and diffusion, as well as enable the higher levels of understanding that may precede both the exploitation and the exploration of newer and more advanced tools and methodologies.
For this volume of the Advanced Series in Management, we are seeking chapters that will increase our understanding of how these emerging technologies are evolving, using the most rigorous social scientific methods and tools. Topics that may best fit this volume’s editorial intentions include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Management of social media within and outside organizations (for recruitment, selection or other personnel decisions, for marketing, reputational and any other relevant business, non-profit, or work-related, governmental purposes)
- Development or evolution of new or customized products and services using social media as an information source or as a promotional vehicle in particular companies or industries
- Predictors, types and consequences of intra-organizational social media policy acceptance, rejection and diffusion gaps
- Influences of culture, legislative traditions, economic blocs, corporate descriptors, industrial characteristics, and any other aspect that may affect the development, management, and effectiveness of the use of social media
- Individual and social (from small group to national or cross-cultural levels) characteristics and factors that facilitate adoption, use and diffusion of social media for business and other work-related purposes
- Comparisons and contrasts of differential uses of social media in work contexts in emerging (e.g., Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle-East, etc.) or non-Western economic settings
- Virtual, technologically mediated markets, life, work, newly developed, gamefied (or not) products or services, crowd-sourced or personally oriented, etc.
As a volume in the Advanced Series in Management, this scholarly book will contribute to researcher’s understanding of the development, antecedents, processes and consequences of social media in management around the world. It may also be used as a reference in executive education programs or as a textbook in graduate (or advanced undergraduate) courses in accredited Colleges or Schools of Businesses, Technology Management, Information and Communication Systems, and similarly situated educational offerings. Cross-disciplinary collaborations that include fieldwork or empirically supported findings (e.g., from experimental or quasi-experimental, large-scale, generalizable, longitudinal or cross-sectional studies, to deductive, rich, ethnographic, inductive, case-based methodologies) are particularly sought, as also are rigorous, tightly developed or grounded theory-building with an applied or pragmatic (e.g., design science) purpose. Average chapter size is expected to hover around 3000 words (excluding references, figures, and tables). Only original work whose copyright is owned (or cleared) by the chapter authors and not considered for publication elsewhere can be considered for inclusion in the ASM series.
Scholars whose work is likely to fit this call for chapters are invited to contact the editors via email to discuss their ideas and in preliminary form assess whether their contribution would be included. Brief descriptions (300 words or less) of the main contents of their chapter, their methodology and about 200-word author(s)’ bio(s) highlighting their expertise in the area should be sent to both editors for initial consideration, before August 31, 2012. The editors for this series will also attend at the Academy of Management’s annual conference in Boston, MA (USA) this August (2012) and might be available for face-to-face conversations by appointment. Highly qualified chapter authors (in addition to the book series’ editorial board) are also expected to review anonymously some of the chapters submitted for this volume, as part of their contribution.
Important deadlines
- Preliminary screening of ideas for chapters: September 30th, 2012 (this is a “soft” deadline)
- Acceptance notifications or requests for revisions: about four weeks after full chapter manuscript is received
- Submission of full manuscripts: No later than December 31st, 2012
- Publication of volume: about four months after final, revised chapters have been received by the volume editors; expected in early to mid-2013.
www.emeraldinsight.com/products/books/series.htm?id=1877-6361
Hispanics and Latin Americans in the Workplace -CFP, SI JMP
Journal of Managerial Psychology
Call for Papers for the Special Issue on
Hispanics and Latin Americans in the Workplace
Submissions Deadline: November 1, 2012
Latinas and Latinos (hereinafter referred to as Latinos or Hispanics) are individuals who trace their heritage to Latin America or the Iberian Peninsula in Europe (Marin & Marin, 1991). Their economic importance in the Americas and the world is growing extensively. For instance, the Pew Hispanic Center estimated that Hispanics currently make up 15 percent of the U.S. population, and account for more than half (50.5%) of its population growth. The U.S. Census Bureau (2010) also reported that the number of Hispanic-owned businesses increased by 43.7 percent to 2.3 million –more than twice the national rate of 18.0%--between 2002 and 2007. Population forecasts suggest this group may become up to one third of the USA workforce by 2050, and their collective purchase power exceeded $1 Trillion in 2011. Internationally, after years of intense economic expansion, Portugal and Spain have been in trouble in the recent past, while most Latin American nations continue to show promising signs from a business perspective (Latin Business Chronicle, 2012).
Latinos around the world share commonalities in values, attitudes and other preferences that impact the behavior in organizations in a wide variety of ways. The Latin American countries share with the Iberian nations a common religion, the mestizaje (mixing) of a number of races, over four hundred years of a generally shared history, and other factors that are often perceived as actionable similarities for managers with an interest in or responsibilities dealing with Hispanics. But several commentators have warned us about the dangers of assuming that the commonalities apply to all individuals or even groups (Triandis, 1994; Vassolo, De Castro & Gomez-Mejia, 2011). Socio-economic status, education, geographic endowments, mobility, skin color, gender, and other factors often overpower the similarities, creating a perfect storm in which even managers with the best intentions end up facing numerous challenges associated with managing such a diverse set of employees.
Clearly, Hispanics are an important group to study, but systematic, evidence-based research on work issues about them has been lagging in the Management as well as Industrial and Organizational Psychology (Blancero, DelCampo & Marron, 2007; Vassolo et al., 2011). In particular, although empirical work on diversity has increased over the past two decades, there is a dearth of studies employing Hispanic/Latino samples (Blancero & DelCampo, 2012; Olivas-Luján, 2008). Cultural values and traditions are thought to affect the attitudes and behavior of individuals, and only by examining Latino samples can we understand how their unique culture and subcultures influence their behaviors (Knouse, Rosenfeld, & Culbertson, 1992; Olivas-Luján et al., 2009; Sanchez & Brock, 1996; Stone, Johnson, Stone-Romero & Hartman, 2006).
In this special issue we are seeking micro-oriented manuscripts that provide insight into issues related to Hispanics/Latinos/Latinas in organizations in any part of the world (e.g., Latin America, U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa). We invite contributions that are empirical or conceptual in nature. We purposely have chosen to keep this call for papers broadly stated as we are interested in a broad conceptual network that can inspire future work on Latinos and workplace topics that affect them in the most influential ways. However, it merits emphasis that the focus of the special issue is limited to individual and small group, not organizational levels of analysis. We invite authors to contact us with their ideas by May 1, 2012 so that we can discuss their suitability for this Special Issue.
The key themes and foci that we would like to explore include some of (but are not limited to) the following:
• What are the cultural value differences between Hispanic/Latino subgroups (e.g., Argentineans, Brazilians, Cubans, Colombians, Hispanic-Americans, Mexicans, Peruvians, Puerto Ricans, etc.)?
• What roles do cultural values play in behavior in organizations?
• How does the intersection of race, skin color, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and gender affect behavior or preferences in Latinos and Latinas?
• Do the current national (U.S., Canadian, British, French, etc.) human resource practices meet the needs or values of Latinos and Latinas?
• What are the changing roles of gender and other drivers of diversity among Hispanics?
• What factors affect mentoring relationships with Hispanics and in what ways?
• How do cultural values influence job choice or reward preferences?
• What organizational practices attract, motivate and retain Latinos and Latinas?
• What factors influence the effectiveness of Hispanic managers or entrepreneurs?
• What roles do language and bi- or multi-culturalism play in the behavior of Latinos?
Submission Guidelines:
The deadline for receipt of manuscripts is November 1, 2012. Please contact the Special Issue Guest Editors via email by May 1, 2012 to increase the chances that your manuscript fits their editorial intentions. Please submit your manuscript in MS Word using the ScholarOne system on the journal's Manuscript Central website (http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jomp). If you have questions about using the system please contact Kay Wilkinson, Editorial Administrator (kwilkinson@emeraldinsight.com). You should also specify that the manuscript is for the special issue on “Hispanics and Latin Americans in the Workplace.”
Manuscripts should follow the JMP submission guidelines outlined at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/jmp.htm. They should be no more than 6,000 words of text (not including tables, references or graphs). In addition, titles should be eight words or less.
In keeping with ethical standards of research, each author who submits a manuscript to JMP must ensure that the original data or results presented in the manuscript have not been published in whole or part elsewhere. The primary reason for this is that duplicate publication may distort the knowledge base in a field and may lead to erroneous inferences regarding a phenomenon. Authors for whom English is their second language are encouraged strongly to use an editing service prior to submitting their manuscripts. One example of such a service is Emerald Publishing Editing Services; information about these services can be found at the Emerald Publishing website (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/authors/index.htm). This Special Issue is open and competitive. Submitted papers will undergo the normal, double-blind, peer review process.
The Journal of Managerial Psychology obtained an impact factor of 2.15 in the 2010 report by Thomson Reuters. Its acceptance rate is 15%. The average turnaround time is 45 days, with a range of 14 to 90 days.
Guest Editors:
Donna Maria Blancero, Bentley University, Waltham, MA (DBlancero@bentley.edu)
Miguel Olivas-Lujan, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Clarion, PA (molivas@clarion.edu)
Dianna Stone, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX (DiannaStone@satx.rr.com)
References:
Blancero, D.M. and DelCampo, R.G. (2012), Hispanics at Work: A Collection of Research, Theory and Application, Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, NY.
Blancero, D.M., DelCampo, R.G. and Marron, G.F. (2007), Hired for Diversity: Rewarded for Conformity: Hispanics in Corporate America. The Business Journal of Hispanic Research, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 12-25.
Knouse, S. B., Rosenfeld, P. and Culbertson, A.L. (1992), Hispanics in the Workplace, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Latin Business Chronicle. (2012), "Latin America 2012: Economic Outlook", available at: http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=5458 (accessed 27 February 2012).
Sanchez, J.I. and Brock, P. (1996), Outcomes of Perceived Discrimination among Hispanic Employees: Is Diversity Management a Luxury or a Necessity? Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 39, pp. 704-720.
Stone, D.L., Johnson, R.D., Stone-Romero, E.F. and Hartman, M. (2006), A Comparative Study of Hispanic-American and Anglo-American Cultural Values and Job Choice Preferences. Management Research, Vol. 4, pp. 8-21.
Marin, G. and Marin, B. (1991), Research with Hispanic Populations, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Olivas-Luján, M.R. (2008), Evidence-Based Management: A Business Necessity for Hispanics. The Business Journal of Hispanic Research. Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 10-26.
Olivas-Luján, M.R., Monserrat, S.I., Ruiz, J.A., Greenwood, R.A., Madero G., S., Murphy, E.F. and Santos, N.M.B.F. (2009), Values and Attitudes towards Women in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Employee Relations: The International Journal. Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 227-244.
Triandis, H.C. (1994), Culture and Social Behavior, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
U.S. Census Bureau (2010), “Census Bureau Reports Hispanic-Owned Businesses Increase at More than Double the National Rate”, available at: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/business_ownership/cb10-145.html (accessed 15 January 2012).
Vassolo, R.S., De Castro, J.O., and Gomez-Mejia, L.R. (2011), Managing in Latin America: Common Issues and a Research Agenda. Academy of Management Perspectives. Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 22-36.
…my new “Ba-B-JHR”!
Many times I’ve heard authors talk about their latest publication as
“their baby” –in fact, I have used this metaphor several times, especially when
I show the results of my efforts with colleagues or friends, after months of
thinking, writing, analyzing, submitting manuscripts and responding to
reviewers and editors. Well, a few
days ago, I received my newest “baby,” the “ba-BJHR” or Business Journal of Hispanic Research, first issue of its fifth
volume, and I can hardly wait for opportunities to talk about it!
The funny thing is that I only wrote one page in this
issue. But I can tell you that I
spent many more hours, energy and effort as Editor-in-Chief of this issue than
I have for many other publications, even those in which I am single or first
author. Coordinating the efforts
of twenty-six highly qualified individuals who so conscientiously wrote their
manuscripts to be scrutinized by our editorial boards –another forty, highly
qualified, well known individuals from industry and academia—and several ad-hoc
reviewers is an experience in interdependence that I had never had before. I sure hope that many conscientious
managers and researchers will agree with us that this issue is full of helpful,
relevant advice, distilled through rigorous methodologies.
I believe that this is one of the clearest ways in which NSHMBA
distinguishes itself from other organizations that only have a yearly event or
two to serve their stakeholders! And this is one that creates a tangible legacy
for generations to come!
Let me share with you how this journal is different from other business
publications. First and foremost,
most of the authors are highly trained individuals: you will notice in its
index and Contributors section that all have finished graduate school and most
–over 80%--have doctorates. Secondly, there are five sections in this journal, three of
them written mainly for the thoughtful manager who wants her or his practice to
stay away from fads and “intellectual snake oil” –the Executive Articles,
Summaries, and Book Reviews—and the other two sections –the Academic or
Scholarly Articles and the Research in Progress—are written mainly for business
scientists and researchers, who report their work in a more technical
fashion. All the content is
intended to document how Hispanics in business have different sets of
circumstances than the rest of our society, and provide information that will
not just be rigorously distilled, but also highly usable. Lastly, while the BJHR, like most
journals, is distributed through libraries and electronic databases, it is also
sent directly to NSHMBA’s sponsors and partners, both academic and industrial;
to chapter presidents and to subscribers.
This increases the chances that it will be read and used actively, not
just found occasionally.
Contributions
Have you ever noticed how some blue-collar workers seem to be more
stressed than others? Dr. Carol
Howard and her co-authors from Oklahoma City University and from the U. of
Tennessee -Knoxville surveyed not just workers but also their supervisors to examine
whether ethnical matches made any difference on job stress and burnout. They found measurable differences in
stress levels, on burnout and on intent to turnover, but Hispanics appeared to
be more vulnerable to ethnic mismatches than their Anglo counterparts; for that
reason, they recommend a focus on job design for Anglo workers and on perceived
ethnic fit for Hispanic workers.
But don’t take my word for it; read the full article on pp. 54-71 so you
can draw your own conclusions!
You might also have noticed that some organizations have Diversity
Management initiatives that are readily accepted, whereas other organizations
struggle to find support for them, even among the employees that are expected
to benefit. Dr. Richard Herrera
from Texas A&M in Texarkana and his collaborators from Our Lady of the Lake
and UT-Dallas have been able to find empirical support for a number of
relationships that link cultural descriptors with leadership preferences and
ratings of diversity management.
Among their recommendations, Human Resource and other managers of people
might do well by promoting a collectivistic rather than individualistic culture
to increase the acceptability of their diversity practices. Again, I invite you to read the full
report on pp. 72-85.
Now, if you have been following the debates over illegal immigration
and how the local and state debates may impact businesses –hey, your business
might have experienced some of these concerns!—you will be interested in a case
study that Dr. Mark D’Antonio and his colleagues from Northern Virginia
Community College wrote. This
review of the legal precedents and justification for Affirmative Action
programs, not just for compliance but from a competitive advantage perspective
will put you –or your trainees—in the driver’s seat. In addition to the case printed on pp. 86-97, there is a
full set of teaching notes available from the Managing Editor of the BJHR; they
are free for qualified instructors with a current subscription to the BJHR, but
others who are not so close to NSHMBA may also purchase the teaching notes in
electronic or print form.
Our Executive sections include articles on entrepreneurs and services
offered to them, on academy-business collaborations and academic inequality, a
couple of summaries that address differences on Hispanics’ happiness and
job-related stress levels, in addition to two reviews of highly relevant books. From well-known to recently minted academics
from universities like Indiana, Tulane, UT-San Antonio, Saint Xavier, Quinnipiac,
Marymount, and Clarion are present in these articles.
And, did I mention that NSHMBA Premier and Executive members have
online access to the electronic version of the journal included as a benefit of
their membership? All you need to
do is login to the NSHMBA site and continue your professional development
through reading and internalizing the information in this multi-disciplinary
effort by businesspersons and academics.
As always, I look forward to hearing from you via email or through my
social networking pages (please remember to let me know that you’re a fellow
NSHMBA member if you send me a connection request).
¡Hasta la próxima!
…February’s “V-Days”
I have been witnessing an interesting twist to an old tradition. I remember that, as I was growing up, the month of February used to be a month to celebrate “love and friendship,” particularly in relation to Saint Valentine’s day; the elusive figure from the early years of Christianity for whom it is difficult to find historical evidence. As you know, this is a welcome occasion for many companies that sell all things imaginable that may be related to friendship and beyond… greeting cards, candy, chocolates, flowers, movies, songs, books, intimate apparel, jewelry, romantic getaways, dinners, and everything in between!
As I reviewed two years ago, this holiday generates spending in our nation to the tune of “teen billions” in sales. Last year, the National Retail Federation (NRF) expected a dip in sales from the previous year: $14.7 Bn in 2009, compared to $17.02 Bn in 2008 –in case you were wondering, no estimates for this particular festivity were publicly available for 2010 at the time of this writing, but a projected increase of 2.5% in sales for 2010 leads me to believe that we might see a slight bump.
NRF’s data also shows that only the end of the year and the return to school generate larger sales than “V-day;” not even Mother’s or Father’s day, Easter, Halloween, the Super Bowl or Saint Patrick’s day inspire our nation to open our wallets as we do in the middle of February. And, of course we are not the only ones stimulating the economic cycles; all around the world, there are variations that celebrate love and friendship, with the exception of cultures that explicitly reject Western influences as do some Hindi and Saudi Arabians.
Where is “the Twist”?
For the past decade or so, I have been observing an increase in popularity, scope, and support for a different type of “V-Day,” the movement created by Eve Ensler, the author of The Vagina Monologues. I would be surprised if you haven’t heard about it, as universities and community centers all over the US have been organizing readings of this work on or around February 14. What started as a presentation of diverse feminine experiences (including one that was highly questionable to say the least) has become a world-wide movement that demands a stop to all forms of violence and abuse against women.
I will admit that the monologues were not particularly appealing to me when their dissemination started. The reviews I read cautioned that one of the segments offered a highly appreciative portrayal of a lesbian rape of an underage, drunken girl, while most other segments categorically condemned –as they should!—any violence perpetrated by males. Critics also pointed out how harmonious relationships between men and women are not given enough “air time” within the event, compared to traumatic encounters. Others have criticized the “hijacking” of St. Valentine’s Day and in a few countries –including European ones like Monte Carlo or Monaco—the piece has been found vulgar or tasteless.
The Redemption of the Monologues?
Still, the activism that this movement has been generating is worth a close look. Among the most noticeable outcomes of the V-Day movement we find a dozen festivals prominently covered by the mainstream media thanks to the support of well-known personalities; thousands of benefit events in cities around the world; and a great deal of grass-roots events with the purpose of educating, raising funds and supporting organizations that year-round help victims of domestic and other types of violence. This year the focus is on the women of the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of many fronts that, thanks to its marginal socio-political status, has gone largely unnoticed by the media. Kudos to Ensler for using in this way the notoriety that her V-Day movement has acquired!!
Another initiative that I find laudable is the grass-roots creation of a V-Men event for 2011. Within the next few weeks, focus groups will be joining men who are willing to contribute their own experiences, thoughts and other resources to stop the violence against women. As a researcher on women’s experiences at the workplace who also happens to be the husband of an amazing woman, father of two little girls, brother of another two great women, and son of a most loving home-based activist, I can only strongly recommend this effort that surely will eliminate the criticism that V-Day is a “man hating” event.
Should We Have a “BV-Day”?
Considering all the disadvantages that women encounter in business –the gender pay gap, the glass ceiling, mommy tracks, double-duty, tokenism, glass cliffs, stereotyped treatment, difficulties in finding mentors and career advocates, to name just a few—perhaps we ought to have a “BV-Day.” At least once a year, we, in the world of Business, should stop to reflect how a very subtle type of violence is perpetrated against some of the smartest, hardest working, underappreciated individuals who just happen to have a body that is different from those of us in the majority.
What do you think? Feel free to send me an email to drolivaslujan_at_gmail.com or post your comment on my facebook or LinkedIn page.
¡Hasta la próxima!
To learn more:
This Wikipedia entry summarizes what is currently known about Saint Valentine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine
The National Retail Federation publishes data on consumer spending through the following website: http://www.nrf.com/
Ensler’s Vday organization’s website is at: http://www.vday.org/home
As I reviewed two years ago, this holiday generates spending in our nation to the tune of “teen billions” in sales. Last year, the National Retail Federation (NRF) expected a dip in sales from the previous year: $14.7 Bn in 2009, compared to $17.02 Bn in 2008 –in case you were wondering, no estimates for this particular festivity were publicly available for 2010 at the time of this writing, but a projected increase of 2.5% in sales for 2010 leads me to believe that we might see a slight bump.
NRF’s data also shows that only the end of the year and the return to school generate larger sales than “V-day;” not even Mother’s or Father’s day, Easter, Halloween, the Super Bowl or Saint Patrick’s day inspire our nation to open our wallets as we do in the middle of February. And, of course we are not the only ones stimulating the economic cycles; all around the world, there are variations that celebrate love and friendship, with the exception of cultures that explicitly reject Western influences as do some Hindi and Saudi Arabians.
Where is “the Twist”?
For the past decade or so, I have been observing an increase in popularity, scope, and support for a different type of “V-Day,” the movement created by Eve Ensler, the author of The Vagina Monologues. I would be surprised if you haven’t heard about it, as universities and community centers all over the US have been organizing readings of this work on or around February 14. What started as a presentation of diverse feminine experiences (including one that was highly questionable to say the least) has become a world-wide movement that demands a stop to all forms of violence and abuse against women.
I will admit that the monologues were not particularly appealing to me when their dissemination started. The reviews I read cautioned that one of the segments offered a highly appreciative portrayal of a lesbian rape of an underage, drunken girl, while most other segments categorically condemned –as they should!—any violence perpetrated by males. Critics also pointed out how harmonious relationships between men and women are not given enough “air time” within the event, compared to traumatic encounters. Others have criticized the “hijacking” of St. Valentine’s Day and in a few countries –including European ones like Monte Carlo or Monaco—the piece has been found vulgar or tasteless.
The Redemption of the Monologues?
Still, the activism that this movement has been generating is worth a close look. Among the most noticeable outcomes of the V-Day movement we find a dozen festivals prominently covered by the mainstream media thanks to the support of well-known personalities; thousands of benefit events in cities around the world; and a great deal of grass-roots events with the purpose of educating, raising funds and supporting organizations that year-round help victims of domestic and other types of violence. This year the focus is on the women of the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of many fronts that, thanks to its marginal socio-political status, has gone largely unnoticed by the media. Kudos to Ensler for using in this way the notoriety that her V-Day movement has acquired!!
Another initiative that I find laudable is the grass-roots creation of a V-Men event for 2011. Within the next few weeks, focus groups will be joining men who are willing to contribute their own experiences, thoughts and other resources to stop the violence against women. As a researcher on women’s experiences at the workplace who also happens to be the husband of an amazing woman, father of two little girls, brother of another two great women, and son of a most loving home-based activist, I can only strongly recommend this effort that surely will eliminate the criticism that V-Day is a “man hating” event.
Should We Have a “BV-Day”?
Considering all the disadvantages that women encounter in business –the gender pay gap, the glass ceiling, mommy tracks, double-duty, tokenism, glass cliffs, stereotyped treatment, difficulties in finding mentors and career advocates, to name just a few—perhaps we ought to have a “BV-Day.” At least once a year, we, in the world of Business, should stop to reflect how a very subtle type of violence is perpetrated against some of the smartest, hardest working, underappreciated individuals who just happen to have a body that is different from those of us in the majority.
What do you think? Feel free to send me an email to drolivaslujan_at_gmail.com or post your comment on my facebook or LinkedIn page.
¡Hasta la próxima!
To learn more:
…repetition –luxury or necessity?
Somehow, it had become easy for me to look down on repetition. Visiting manufacturing plants or observing jobs that are not so high in the prestige scale made it hard for me to appreciate the importance of repetition in developing expertise. In classrooms, workshops, and offices, work that is complex, wide-ranging and varied tends to be associated with higher levels of cognitive complexity, education, pay, status, and so on. Rarely do we have a chance in organizations to appreciate the importance of repetition. Sometimes, we might even think it is a luxury we cannot afford!
Remember your coursework that included quality management? Or, if you haven’t yet taken Operations Management or a related course, you will soon read that “re-doing things is waste”! Even the dictionary tells us that “repetitive” is a synonym of “boring, dull, monotonous, tedious, tiresome, and uninteresting.” Not exactly what we would consider graduate level work, right? At least not in the School of Business…
But that is perhaps a major difference between a graduate program in Business and another in, say, Fine Arts or Health Sciences, where students have to practice, practice, practice, before they are allowed to pass from the basic to the advanced stages, much less graduate.
A Lesson from my Children
For the past four or so years, I have been taking my children to music classes (not at the graduate, but basic level) and to martial arts classes. I guess I had forgotten how I learned to play the guitar, and all the time I spent in front of the piano...
Well, before my body’s catabolism clearly beats its anabolism (i.e., before I get much older!), I decided it was time to join them at the gym (actually, dojang, is the Korean word for it). After about fifteen weeks of repeating specific sets of movements –or “forms”—I hope to get my first promotion and receive my first colored belt in a week or two.
In addition, I have been realizing how my children’s musical abilities have improved by virtue of reiteration. I do not even want to remember how the violin sounded whey they were starting “twinkle, twinkle, little star…,” but now it is hard to be humble when they play some classical selections, in arrangements suitable for their age! This has made me wonder… When do managers have chances to get better at work, if most managerial work is not repetitive? Moreover, how difficult it is to appreciate the necessity to do many times the same thing before we can truly master it! Is repetition at work truly a luxury, or is it a necessity?
Well, Parts of Managerial Work Are Repetitive...
Before I start receiving a flurry of email or comments on my facebook profile for ignoring how some managerial work actually involves reiteration, I should include an example or two. Some HR managers have to interview dozens –if not hundreds—of candidates before their companies’ line managers interview or consider those applicants in the hiring process. Also, it is true that MBAs with Accounting or Finance specializations include generating relatively similar reports every quarter, end-of-year, or other term. In Marketing, some colleagues go through well-established seasons of heavy advertising, promotions, distribution, etc. every year. Clearly, going over such cycles every so often, gives them an opportunity to learn and execute their jobs in an increasingly effective fashion. Perhaps your work includes some of this?
In Higher Education, we also run through well-defined periods of time (a.k.a. semesters, quarters, terms, etc.) that require repetition and afford learning opportunities, not just for students, but also for instructors, administrators, etc. Of course, there is the need to renew and update courses and procedures every semester, but individuals that do it too often, end up never consolidating their work in a manner that truly benefits their students or other clients.
What do you think? Do you feel that your work gives you enough repetition so that you can get better at it? Perhaps your work is one in which reiteration is actually a luxury that you cannot afford. Would you mind sharing your thoughts on this matter? You can send me your comments or reflections via email to drolivaslujan_at_gmail.com or by posting a comment on my facebook profile (I am also test-driving twitter -@drolivas is my username). I look forward to hearing from you.
¡Hasta la próxima!
Remember your coursework that included quality management? Or, if you haven’t yet taken Operations Management or a related course, you will soon read that “re-doing things is waste”! Even the dictionary tells us that “repetitive” is a synonym of “boring, dull, monotonous, tedious, tiresome, and uninteresting.” Not exactly what we would consider graduate level work, right? At least not in the School of Business…
But that is perhaps a major difference between a graduate program in Business and another in, say, Fine Arts or Health Sciences, where students have to practice, practice, practice, before they are allowed to pass from the basic to the advanced stages, much less graduate.
A Lesson from my Children
For the past four or so years, I have been taking my children to music classes (not at the graduate, but basic level) and to martial arts classes. I guess I had forgotten how I learned to play the guitar, and all the time I spent in front of the piano...
Well, before my body’s catabolism clearly beats its anabolism (i.e., before I get much older!), I decided it was time to join them at the gym (actually, dojang, is the Korean word for it). After about fifteen weeks of repeating specific sets of movements –or “forms”—I hope to get my first promotion and receive my first colored belt in a week or two.
In addition, I have been realizing how my children’s musical abilities have improved by virtue of reiteration. I do not even want to remember how the violin sounded whey they were starting “twinkle, twinkle, little star…,” but now it is hard to be humble when they play some classical selections, in arrangements suitable for their age! This has made me wonder… When do managers have chances to get better at work, if most managerial work is not repetitive? Moreover, how difficult it is to appreciate the necessity to do many times the same thing before we can truly master it! Is repetition at work truly a luxury, or is it a necessity?
Well, Parts of Managerial Work Are Repetitive...
Before I start receiving a flurry of email or comments on my facebook profile for ignoring how some managerial work actually involves reiteration, I should include an example or two. Some HR managers have to interview dozens –if not hundreds—of candidates before their companies’ line managers interview or consider those applicants in the hiring process. Also, it is true that MBAs with Accounting or Finance specializations include generating relatively similar reports every quarter, end-of-year, or other term. In Marketing, some colleagues go through well-established seasons of heavy advertising, promotions, distribution, etc. every year. Clearly, going over such cycles every so often, gives them an opportunity to learn and execute their jobs in an increasingly effective fashion. Perhaps your work includes some of this?
In Higher Education, we also run through well-defined periods of time (a.k.a. semesters, quarters, terms, etc.) that require repetition and afford learning opportunities, not just for students, but also for instructors, administrators, etc. Of course, there is the need to renew and update courses and procedures every semester, but individuals that do it too often, end up never consolidating their work in a manner that truly benefits their students or other clients.
What do you think? Do you feel that your work gives you enough repetition so that you can get better at it? Perhaps your work is one in which reiteration is actually a luxury that you cannot afford. Would you mind sharing your thoughts on this matter? You can send me your comments or reflections via email to drolivaslujan_at_gmail.com or by posting a comment on my facebook profile (I am also test-driving twitter -@drolivas is my username). I look forward to hearing from you.
¡Hasta la próxima!
...multiple commitments
Is it possible to be committed to two opposite units? For example, can employees feel identified with both their union and their management? What about headquarters and a branch office? Or to more than one country? And what types of commitments are those?
The answer to these questions is intriguing at many levels and for many audiences! Corporations, unions, headquarters, subsidiaries, even countries are at some time or another pitted against each other and loyalty from individuals from these places is often questioned by “the other side.” The answer seems to be a categorical “yes,” though, as is for many other topics in business, “it depends.”
Yes, even though there is great potential for conflict between unions and companies, it is possible for workers to feel attached to and interested in remaining members of both organizations. Yes, it is also possible for people to be loyal to apparently opposing foci of commitment such as headquarters and branch offices, even when their interests may be at odds, as in the case of a divestiture or other tough choices that often have to be taken in business. And YES, it is possible for people who have reasons to feel as part of two (and even more) countries to be patriotic about both. My guess is that many NSHMBA members –and their families--have experienced the latter in a very personal manner.
Of course, when expectations (the “psychological contract” that is created inside individuals' minds) are not met by one of these entities, it is not hard for the corresponding attachment to dwindle. For example, employees who feel “taken” by management or perceive that unions’ dues are not worth the services received from them, are more likely to detach themselves from that focus of their commitment.
Also importantly, there are at least two distinct types of commitment empirically documented by work psychologists: affective and continuance -or calculative. Affective commitment deals with the feelings of identification with and attachment toward an organization, manager, workgroup, etc. This is the type of commitment that we, as managers want to elicit in our coworkers and associates, as it seems to relate to a more cohesive and pleasant work climate, as well as to a more satisfied workforce. Continuance commitment, on the other hand, is more of a cost-benefit analysis that individuals sometimes keep in their mind to assess whether there are alternatives to their current employment. In the first case, employees are committed because they “feel good” to be associated to their workplace, while in the latter case they are committed because they do not perceive a desirable alternative, a situation that may breed cynicism, disengagement, and other unwelcome circumstances.
The answer to these questions is intriguing at many levels and for many audiences! Corporations, unions, headquarters, subsidiaries, even countries are at some time or another pitted against each other and loyalty from individuals from these places is often questioned by “the other side.” The answer seems to be a categorical “yes,” though, as is for many other topics in business, “it depends.”
Yes, even though there is great potential for conflict between unions and companies, it is possible for workers to feel attached to and interested in remaining members of both organizations. Yes, it is also possible for people to be loyal to apparently opposing foci of commitment such as headquarters and branch offices, even when their interests may be at odds, as in the case of a divestiture or other tough choices that often have to be taken in business. And YES, it is possible for people who have reasons to feel as part of two (and even more) countries to be patriotic about both. My guess is that many NSHMBA members –and their families--have experienced the latter in a very personal manner.
Of course, when expectations (the “psychological contract” that is created inside individuals' minds) are not met by one of these entities, it is not hard for the corresponding attachment to dwindle. For example, employees who feel “taken” by management or perceive that unions’ dues are not worth the services received from them, are more likely to detach themselves from that focus of their commitment.
Also importantly, there are at least two distinct types of commitment empirically documented by work psychologists: affective and continuance -or calculative. Affective commitment deals with the feelings of identification with and attachment toward an organization, manager, workgroup, etc. This is the type of commitment that we, as managers want to elicit in our coworkers and associates, as it seems to relate to a more cohesive and pleasant work climate, as well as to a more satisfied workforce. Continuance commitment, on the other hand, is more of a cost-benefit analysis that individuals sometimes keep in their mind to assess whether there are alternatives to their current employment. In the first case, employees are committed because they “feel good” to be associated to their workplace, while in the latter case they are committed because they do not perceive a desirable alternative, a situation that may breed cynicism, disengagement, and other unwelcome circumstances.
A meta-analysis –a “study of studies” see Johnson et al. (1999)—analyzed 31 studies with over twenty-two thousand employees in seven countries. Their findings include the existence of commitment toward both union and company, but cultural work values and industrial relation systems on those nations made a difference!
If you are interested in the scientific evidence for this theme -I am sure many of my colleagues would be interested in a research project on this topic, or simply for your own, professional development--, I have added a few references at the end of this column. Also, you may want to read some of the studies that were generated on this topic; all you have to do is search the term “dual commitment” or “dual allegiance” on a scholarly database, and you will find a wide variety of articles that dealt with this puzzle.
What do you think? Do you ever worry about how committed your employees (or your employer!) will be "when the rubber meets the road"? Do you find as ridiculous as I do all those commentators that try to pit Hispanics against main stream America? Feel free to post your comment on my facebook page or send me an email.
¡Hasta la próxima!
To learn more:
- Gregersen, H.B. & Black, J.S. (1992). Antecedents to commitment to a parent company and a foreign operation. Academy of Management Journal, 35 (1), 65-90.
- Hoff, T.J. (2001). Exploring dual commitment among physician executives in managed care. Journal of Healthcare Management, 46 (2), 91-109.
- Johnson, W.R.; Johnson, G.J.; & Patterson, C.R. (1999). Moderators of the relationship between company and union commitment: a meta-analysis. Journal of Psychology, 133 (11), 85-103.
- Liden, R.C.; Wayne, S.J.; Kraimer, M.L.; & Sparrowe, R.T. (2003). The dual commitments of contingent workers: An examination of contingents' commitment to the agency and the organization. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24 (5), 609-625.
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