Kenneth R. Thompson

Testing the Self-Efficacy-Performance Linkage of Social-Cognitive Theory.

Past empirical research examining the relationship of self-efficacy perceptions and performance has had several limitations. Most studies were performed in the laboratory with tasks not directly related to individual work performance. As a consequence, many findings are not generalizable to individual work performance. This study tested the self-efficacy-performance model found in Banduras social-cognitive theory in a work setting, with a sample of 776 American university employees, and with discriminant function analyses. Respondents indicated that performance with computers significantly predicted perceptions of high and low self-efficacy. Results provide additional support for social-cognitive theory as outlined by Bandura.

The moderating role of optimism on politics-outcomes relationships: A test of competing perspectives

Research to date has assumed that politics perceptions lead to uniformly negative outcomes. Recent studies, however, advocate examining theoretically relevant dispositional factors capable of differentially predicting politics perceptions—work outcome relationships. One individual difference factor possessing considerable scholarly merit in this regard is optimism. Building on recent research, the politics perceptions—optimism relationship was examined in a series of three studies. In particular, our objective was to determine whether optimism intensified or neutralized the potentially negative effects of perceived politics on job satisfaction and tension. Across samples, findings confirmed a moderating effect; notably, politics triggered increased stress and lower satisfaction for individuals with higher levels of optimism. In contrast, stress and satisfaction remained largely unaffected for less optimistic individuals reporting elevated levels of politics. These findings, which suggest that optimism may be associated with undesirable effects in threat situations, contradicts the preponderance of research affirming favorable stress reactions.

A Corporate Training View of Ethics Education: An Interview with Dov L. Seidman, CEO of LRN

Dov L. Seidman is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of LRN. LRN was founded in 1994 as a privately-held company that provides companies of all sizes an integrated set of applications and services that help companies foster and fortify enduring, ethical corporate cultures that encourage self-regulation based on shared values, rather than externally-imposed rules. With uncompromising commitment to this mission and vision, Mr. Seidman has successfully grown an organization that is having a significant impact on the ways employees and management behave in the workplace. An innovator and leader in ethics and compliance management and corporate governance solutions, LRN works with more than 200 organizations many of which are the worlds most successful companies, including 3M, Viacom, DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Raytheon, The Dow Chemical Company, Tyco, and United Technologies Corporation. Our interview was conducted on March 8, 2006, just before the Enron trial commenced.

A Conversation with Steven Kerr: A Rational Approach to Understanding and Teaching Ethics:

Steven Kerr has been active in both the academic world (Past President of the Academy of Management) and, more recently, has been active in a leadership role in industry. Steve covered many topics in the interview. To help the reader better access material, I divided the interview into four parts: 1) The challenge of defining ethics; 2) The role of government in managing ethical behavior; 3) Structuring the organization to improve ethical conduct; and 4) Implications for ethical education and training. However, first a few words about Stevens background.

A Conversation with Mark Blazey: A Driving Force in the Quality and Performance Excellence Movement

1 About the Interviewer: Ken Thompson is professor of Management at the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University. His current research interests are in goal setting, quality management, and leadership (kthompso@depaul.edu). Mark L. Blazey Ed.D., is the president of Quantum Performance Group, Inc. -a management consulting and training organization specializing in organization assessment and high-performance systems development. Dr. Blazey has an extensive background in quality systems. He has been a member of the Board of Examiners and a senior

The Management Curriculum and Assessment Journey: Use of Baldrige Criteria and the Occupational Network Database

Improving the ability to set and assess learning outcomes for students has been a challenging task and not one that has been well documented or executed. This article presents a protocol for the development of a content- and skills-based management curriculum that is based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Performance Criteria and the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET database as a means to define learning outcomes and to assess skills-based performance measures. The O*NET database has career-related data for 965 occupations. Because the data are collected from thousands of job incumbents in a representative sample of the U.S. labor force, this database can be used to help determine the desired learning outcomes of employers. In this article we first look at existing means to evaluate the quality of an academic management program through the popular press ranking criteria and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) standards. Then the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program Criteria and Balanced Scorecard will be applied to the establishment of standards of performance as an alternative way of measuring learning. Next, the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET database will be used to demonstrate how to define specific needed skills for an MBA or undergraduate management program. Bringing together the elements of the Baldrige Award criteria and O*NET database will help focus management education into a learning outcome mentality that better meets AACSB accreditation standards and managerial job requirements.

Reflections on a Quality, Values-Driven Academic Career: An Interview With Kenneth R. Thompson

This article is a career legacy interview of Kenneth R. Thompson, the 2016 Midwest Scholar.

Exporting America: Why Corporate Greed Is Shipping American Jobs Overseas/The Lexus and the Olive Tree

This article presents reviews of the books “Exporting America: Why Corporate Greed Is Shipping American Jobs Overseas,” By Lou Dobbs and “The Lexus and the Olive Tree,” by Thomas L. Friedman.

A Conversation with Peter Schall: Building a Quality Focus at the Hilton Hawaiian Village

The Hilton Hawaiian Village with 3,000 guestrooms is the flagship of the Hilton Hotel chain. It is a splendid property overlooking the Pacific Ocean on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu on the island of Oahu. The property is lush with flowers and native plants and trees. It is a paradise within the paradise that is called Hawaii. In this beautiful setting, I sat down with Peter Schall. Peter is the Managing Director and Area Vice President of Hawaii for the Hilton Chain. He is quite a person. His enthusiasm for quality programs and a focus on customers is contagious. His leadership shows throughout the hotel operations. Staying there is an experience that helps to make Hawaii a special place for countless of quests. The quality of the experience begins with the immaculate property and the caring nature of the employees. There is a genuine love of people at this hotel. It shows with every team member of the hotel I met from the bell captain to the housekeeping staff. It is a property that a person, who focuses on quality like myself, can enjoy just viewing the quality of operations at this hotel. Peter also has a zeal that people ought to learn about the culture of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He has sponsored various cultural events on the property and within the state of Hawaii. The new wing of the hotel will have a cultural center and museum dedicate to having visitors learn more of the history of Hawaii and its royalty. For example, I was surprised to learn from Peter that the kings palace had electric lights before the White House in Washington D.C., so much for the primitive image. Peter is from Germany. He started with the Hilton chain as a waiter in 1965. He was part of the opening team at the Hilton Washington in Washington D.C. and has been in Hawaii since 1986. It is my honor to introduce you to Peter Schall, an extraordinary leader.

A Conversation with Reverend Theodore Hesburgh: Building a World Class University

Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C. is the President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame stepping down in 1987, after 35 years at the helm. Father Hesburgh served the University of Notre Dame well, building the academic quality of the university from a modest position to one of a national reputation in scholarship and quality of instruction. At 82 years of age, he still is active throughout the world in striving for world peace and justice. He is also active at Notre Dame in serving as an inspiration providing counsel and religious strength to the community of faculty and students. Father Hesburgh was born in Syracuse, New York on May 25, 1917. He attended the University of Notre Dame from 1934-1937. He then attended Gregorian University in Rome from 1937-1940, where he received a bachelor of philosophy degree. He was ordained a priest in the Congregation of Holy Cross College in 1943. Following his ordination, Father Hesburgh continued his study of scared theology at the Catholic University of America receiving a Doctor of Theology in 1945. Father Hesburgh was an assistant professor of religion at Notre Dame from 1945-1948, and was the chairman of the department from 1948-1949. In 1949, he became the executive vice president of Notre Dame until 1952, when he became the 15th President of the University. He held that position until 1987. He has held 15 presidential appointments over the years most recently for the United States Institute for Peace. At the same time, he remained a national leader in the field of education, serving on many commissions and study groups. As chairman of the International Federation of Catholic Universities from 1963-1970, Father Hesburgh led a movement to redefine the nature and mission of the contemporary Catholic university. His stature as an elder statesman in American higher education is reflected in his 141 honorary degrees, the most ever awarded to a single person. Highlighting a lengthy list of awards to Father Hesburgh is the Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian honor, bestowed on him by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and on the 10th of July, 2000, he will receive the Congressional Gold Medal. Father Hesburgh has served as the first Catholic Priest to serve as a director of the Chase Manhattan Bank and a trustee (later chairman) of the Rockefeller Foundation. His appointment as ambassador to the 1979 United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Development was the first time a priest had served in a formal diplomatic role for the United States government. He was the first priest elected to the Board of Overseers at Harvard University being chosen as President in 1994 and 1995. In 1990-1996, he co-chaired the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, studying the need for reform of college sports. I served under Father Hesburgh from 1977-1984 and was very impressed with the quality of leadership he displayed. It is an honor to spend time with a legend and get a better understanding how he worked to improve the academic quality of the University of Notre Dame and worked to promote social justice and world peace. I hope this interview will provide you some insights into a man that has typified quality leadership over four decades. K.T.: Father Hesburgh, how would you describe your leadership philosophy? FATHER HESBURGH: My leadership philosophy is that leadership is more than just management. A person can come to a company or a university and manage it very well for 10 years. And when your 10 years are up, the organization has gone 10 years with no revolutions and no big failures of any kind, but no greatness either. It seems to me that the first thing a leader needs more than anything else is vision. He has to know lets say, where this institution is to go. He wants to know what it is to be. I gave a talk, I remember, at the beginning of being President and I said we had a mediocre faculty, we had a criminal budget given what we were purporting to do (like