Jack Smothers

Alfred D. Chandler, Jr: historical impact and historical scope of his works

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarize the life and works of Alfred Chandler and highlight the impact of his thoughts on organizational theory, strategy and history.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyzes Alfred Chandlers life and the lasting contributions his works have provided to many disciplines as well as the work of his revisionists. Furthermore, the paper analyzes his contributions to the understanding of US business history and global business history.Findings – Chandlers conceptualization of the growth of large business and management practices have shaped business history by transitioning from an American exceptionalist view to a more global comparative perspective.Practical implications – The paper provides Chandlers insights as well as those of his revisionists regarding USA and comparative global business history.Originality/value – The paper highlights Chandlers cross‐disciplinary impact and analyzes Chandlerian and revisionist perspectives in both the American exce...

From the Follower’s Viewpoint: A Configurational Approach to the Ideal Academic Leader

These studies examine the context-specific differences in implicit leadership theory (ILT)—based conceptualizations (i.e., perceptual configurations) of the ideal academic leader in two contexts: private and public universities. Specifically, the authors measured the perceived importance of leadership abilities and traits among university faculty followers (i.e., non—department heads and non-deans) to reveal the ILTs of academic followers and how the ILTs influence these faculty perceptions depending on university context (i.e., private vs. public university context). The studies were conducted within academic business units, and they examined the faculties’ conceptualizations of the ideal academic leader (e.g., department head or dean) among more than 500 business school members from more than 220 universities. Conceptualizations of the ideal academic leader varied substantially across private and public contexts, indicating that the leadership characteristics desired by faculty followers are context specific. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Institutional entrepreneurship as emancipating institutional work: James Meredith and the Integrationist Movement at Ole Miss

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to propose an action-interaction-process framework to extend research on institutional entrepreneurship. The framework examines an actors characteristics, interactions in an institutional context, and the process by which entrepreneurial action is accomplished. Design/methodology/approach – Via a sociohistorical archival method of narrative analysis, the action-interaction-process framework is applied to an exemplary case of institutional entrepreneurship – the case of James Meredith and the integrationist movement at the University of Mississippi in the 1960u2009s. Findings – The findings show that institutional entrepreneurs who maintain little power and influence over the institutional field must form strategic alliances to mobilize constituents and capitalize on the convergence of resources in the social setting. Practical implications – Through the process of collective action, institutional entrepreneurs can overcome resistance to change and displace inequitable insti...

The collective endorsement of James Meredith: Initiating a leader identity construction process

DeRue and Ashford (2010) proposed a social process of leadership identity construction, asserting that leadership identity is co-constructed by way of claims and grants of leader and follower identities. In addition, these authors suggested that the collective endorsement of the broader social context might serve as a catalyst to initiate the leader identity construction process. As a result, they called for qualitative studies to further develop this idea. During archival research of James Meredith’s historic integration of the University of Mississippi, we discovered evidence to support and extend their theoretical arguments. Accordingly, we interpret the archival evidence of support and opposition of Meredith’s defiant integration to contrast the leader identity construction processes of Meredith with his contemporary antagonist, former Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett. We use this analysis to illustrate how the distinctive social context broadly recognized the key element of defiance and collectively endorsed Meredith as a leader, thereby initiating his leader identity construction process.

In the Eye of the Beholder: A Configurational Analysis of Followers’ Conceptualizations of the Ideal Academic Department Leader at Private Universities

This paper examines followers’ conceptualizations of the ideal business department leader within private universities. Using an internet survey of 273 faculty members and 31 department leaders from 59 private, non-ivy league universities, this paper examines how faculty members and department leaders conceptualize the ideal leader in terms of abilities and traits, and investigates the measures by which they define departmental success. A principal components analysis is utilized to identify the underlying cognitive framework of these abilities, traits, and success measures from both the faculty member and department leader perspective. The results indicate that faculty members desire equity rather than personalized treatment, and the measures by which business faculty and administrators define departmental success reflect the best interests of the institution in which they are employed. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

The Potential of Student Co-Creation in Extracurricular Experiences

Given trends in the marketing literature, marketing education is attempting to innovate to enhance its value proposition. Education is an experiential service where student engagement implies involvement in activities both in and out of the classroom that reinforce educational value. In order to create value in service delivery, there is a need for more understanding of student extracurricular experiences. This study contributes to the field by describing a student co-design platform consistent with emerging thinking related to customer orientation, engagement, and co-creation. The framework received empirical support, which holds implications for future marketing educational value creation that bonds students to universities.

Social enterprise in Antebellum America: the case of Nashoba (1824-1829)

Purpose n n n n nThis paper examines the case of Nashoba, a Tennessee-based social enterprise founded in 1824 by Scottish immigrant Frances Wright. The Nashoba venture intended to diminish the institution of slavery in the USA through entrepreneurial activity over its five years of operation. n n n n nDesign/methodology/approach n n n n nThis study methodology entailed mining primary source data from Wright’s letters; communications with her cofounders and contemporaries; and documentations of enterprise operations. The authors examined these data using social enterprise theory with a focus on personal identity and time-laden empirical aspects not captured by traditional methodologies. n n n n nFindings n n n n nThe social enterprise concept of a single, self-sustaining model generating more than one denomination of value in a blended form has a deeper history than the literature acknowledges. As an entrepreneur, Wright made strategic decisions in a context of supply-side and demand-side threats to the venture. The social enterprise engaged injustice by going beyond market and state contexts to generate impact in the realms of institutions and non-excludable public goods. n n n n nResearch limitations/implications n n n n nThis study generates two formal implications for the development of new research questions in social enterprise studies. The first implication addresses the relation between social entrepreneurs and their constituencies. The second implication pertains to the effects of macro-level education, awareness and politics on social enterprise performance and impact. The implications herald new insights in social enterprise, such as the limits of moral conviction and the importance of social disruption. n n n n nOriginality/value n n n n nThis paper broadens the current understanding of how social enterprises redress unjust and unethical institutions. It also contributes new insights into social enterprise launch and growth based on shared values within communities and coordinated strategic intentions across communities.

How Theory X style of management arose from a fundamental attribution error

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose that the Theory X style of management arose from a fundamental attribution error, in which managers assumed that employees’ lack of motivation was a disposition rather than a function of unmotivating work situations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the nature of work during the industrial revolution from a Job Characteristics Model perspective and compares Theory X and Theory Y perspectives in terms of their emphasis on dispositional or situational influences on behavior. Findings – It was found that factory work performed during the industrial revolution was likely to be deficient in terms of the five core dimensions of the Job Characteristics Model, and would have been unmotivating. Because of the fundamental attribution error, managers would have assumed that workers were unmotivated by nature, but the situation was likely the cause of their lack of motivation. Practical implications – As illustrated by our findings, management theory de...