Christy H. Weer

Affiliation motivation and interest in entrepreneurial careers

Purpose – The goal of this paper is to better understand affiliation motivation patterns among students interested in pursuing entrepreneurial/self‐employment careers as compared to students less interested in pursuing entrepreneurial careers.Design/methodology/approach – The study sample included 424 college students enrolled in upper‐division business courses in a public institution in the Mid‐Atlantic region of the USA. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the effects of four dimensions of affiliation motivation on entrepreneurial aspirations.Findings – Interest in entrepreneurial careers was negatively associated with the need for emotional support and positively associated with the need for positive stimulation from other persons. Therefore, persons with entrepreneurial interests enjoy interacting with other people, but they are not emotionally dependent upon them. Neither the need for social comparison nor the need for attention varied as a function of entrepreneurial aspirations.Researc...

A holistic view of employee coaching: Longitudinal investigation of the impact of facilitative and pressure-based coaching on team effectiveness.

This study uses regulatory focus theory to take a holistic perspective on employee coaching. The contrasting effects of facilitative versus pressure-based coaching on changes in team effectiveness were examined over a 54-month period of time. Results of growth curve analysis on a sample of 714 managers and their teams indicated that facilitative and pressure-based coaching had opposing direct and indirect effects on long-term changes in team performance, with team commitment playing a critical role in this process. Specifically, facilitative coaching positively influenced team commitment and, in turn, team effectiveness. In contrast, pressure-based coaching hindered team functioning by negatively influencing team commitment through heightened levels of tension within the team. Limitations and areas for future research are discussed.

Preference for group work in China and the US

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine whether Chinese and US students differ in preference for group work (PGW) and whether the factors contributing to PGW differ in the two countries. Design/methodology/approach – The sample included 412 Chinese and 423 US college students who completed a survey measuring cultural values and motives. Hierarchical regression and simple-slope analyses were used to examine main effects and interactions. Findings – Overall, the US and Chinese students did not differ in PGW. Although US men exceeded US women in PGW, no gender difference occurred in China. PGW was positively associated with others focus (concern for what others think) and helping others in both countries, but the association was stronger in China. In China, but not in the USA, PGW was positively associated with extrinsic motivation and need for achievement. Therefore, despite the general acceptance of group work in the USA, participation in groups is not seen as critical in attaining rewards as i...

KCI Technologies, Inc.: Engineering the Future, One Employee at a Time

The company now known as KCI was founded in Baltimore County, Maryland, in 1955 in the basement of one of its cofounders. In 1977, the company was purchased by industrial products conglomerate Walter Kidde & Company and was subsequently merged with three other architectural and engineering firms into an engineering subsidiary that came to be known as Kidde Consultants Inc., or KCI. In 1987, Kidde was purchased by Hanson Trust PLC, a British manufacturing company with diversified holdings worldwide.

Culture in Shared Entrepreneurship Firms

“Organizational culture” has been defined as a system of shared, taken-for-granted assumptions that holds a group together and that determines how it reacts to its environment.1 More succinctly, it has been described as “the way we do things around here.”2 Organizations with healthy cultures are said to have enhanced employee morale and team cohesiveness, enhanced employee performance, and strengthened alignment toward goal achievement. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the cultural components most typically found in shared entrepreneurship (SE) firms, and to provide support for the benefits to be derived from such cultures in terms of organizational performance.