Charles B. Shrader

Board of Director Diversity and Firm Financial Performance

This study examines the relationship between demographic diversity on boards of directors with firm financial performance. This relationship is examined using 1993 and 1998 financial performance data (return on asset and investment) and the percentage of women and minorities on boards of directors for 127 large US companies. Correlation and regression analyses indicate board diversity is positively associated with these financial indicators of firm performance. Implications for both strategic human resource management and future research are discussed.

Effects of formal strategic planning on financial performance in small firms: a meta-analysis

Researchers have been examining the effects of formal strategic planning on small firm financial performance for more than twenty years. Reviewers of prior studies have drawn differing conclusions as to whether formal planning improves small firm performance. We have applied meta-analysis for the first time to the results of previous studies on formal strategic planning and small firm performance. The results suggest that even though the size of the effects for planning for individual studies Is not large, the overall relationship between formal planning and performance across studies Is positive and significant. Much of the variance in the size of the effects, however, Is not explained by sampling error, Indicating the potential for other variables to moderate the effects of planning on the performance of small firms. It is concluded, in general, that strategic planning is a beneficial activity for small firms.

Strategic Planning and Organizational Performance: A Critical Appraisal

The literature addressing the empirical relationships between strategic planning and hard measures of organizational performance is examined. Distinctions are drawn among formal strategic planning; strategic planning content; and research linking strategic planning, environment, and organizational performance. Implications of the extant research and recommendations for future research are offered for theorists and practitioners alike.

Structuring the Classroom for Performance: Cooperative Learning with Instructor-Assigned Teams*

The main concern is a longstanding one in classroom instruction—the determinants of effective team performance. The paper explicitly examines the effect of teacher-controlled factors on the use and functioning of student teams. From a sample of 500 undergraduate students, data are obtained on aptitude, diversity, instability, motivation, personality style, size, and performance. The regression results suggest that team motivation and instability, which are both partly controlled by the instructor, are particularly important in determining a teams performance. An implication is that instructor decisions about team make-up and incentives can have a significant impact on student achievement.

Moral Reasoning and Ethical Climate: Not-for-Profit vs. For-Profit Boards of Directors

Utilizing Rests moral development and Victor and Cullens ethical climate surveys, we examine differences in moral reasoning and ethical climate between board members in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. Six for-profit corporations and seven not-for-profit corporations, all with base operations in a major midwestern state, participated in the study. We find that profit and not-for-profit boards may not differ in moral reasoning, but do exhibit different types of ethical climates. We also find that for-profit board members may utilize higher stages of reasoning a greater percentage of the time than not-for-profit directors. In contrast, the ethical climates of the two types of organizations are significantly different. For-profit companies had climates higher in egoism than did not-for-profit companies. In addition, not-for-profit firms reflected higher benevolence factors than for-profit firms. Not-forprofit organizations also had somewhat higher, but not significantly different, mean scores on the principle factor compared to the for-profit organizations.

Informative Testing—a Practical Approach for Tutoring With Groups

Most educators would agree that the ideal learning situation would be one in which each student had his or her own personal instructor. In fact, achievement test scores of the average student in a one-to-one tutoring situation are typically about two standard deviations higher than the average student in a conventional class with an instructor and 30 or so students (see Bloom, 1984 for a review of the relevant empirical research). In other words, the average student who is exposed to the feedback and individualized corrective instruction thczt is characteristic of a one-to-one tutor situation is likely to outperJforrn 98 percent of the students in conventional classes. These findings suggest two important conclusions: (1) the

Structure, context, and centrality in interorganizational networks

Abstract This study explored the relationship among organization structure, context, and network centrality in four interorganization networks: 1) clients sent, 2) clients received, 3) director contracts, and 4) joint programs. Analyses covered 52 youth service delivery agencies in a large metropolitan area. Results indicated that formalization and organization size were positively related to centrality in the clients sent network, and organization age was positively associated with centrality in the joint programs and director contracts networks. Organization domain was also an important variable, as agencies with a high percentage of female clients were central in both the clients sent and clients received networks, while agencies with a high percentage of minority clients were central in the clients sent network. Overall, the results suggest that organization structure and context are important considerations in the study of network centrality.

Attribution Theories of Leadership and Network Analysis

This article examines the potential of applying network analysis to attribution theories of leadership. Network analysis allows the identification of social groups linked together by work, friendship, influence, or communication relations and of the relative position of actors within the social group. Moreover, network properties such as centrality, influence domain or prestige, and the presence of isolates enable the identification of leaders in relation to their position, status, and influence in a particular social setting. The use of network analysis in evaluating leader-subordinate relationships and leader behavior descriptions is discussed and a research agenda suggested.

Planning and firm performance: effects of multiple planning activities and technology policy

Our concern in this paper is a longstanding one in the field of strategic management – the effect of strategic planning on firm performance. However, we argue that strategic planning is best examined in the context of both its formal and informal aspects, as well as with operational planning and technology policy. From a survey of 150 manufacturing firms, planning and performance data were obtained from top managers. Our results provided support for the general argument that both formal and informal planning pay, and that both operational planning and technology policy have significant associations with firm performance.

Top executive pay and firm performance

A study examining longitudinal data obtained from theDisclosure database for 390 large American firms yielded complex and unclear patterns of correlations between firm performance and executive pay. An examination of the data indicates that the relationship between firm performance and executive compensation may be nonlinear. Among performance measures, total assets was found to have the strongest association with executive pay. It was concluded that the scale of discretionary resources available to the firm better predicts executive pay than profitability or efficiency ratios.