Paul M. Swiercz

Securing the Future of the Family Enterprise: A Model of Offspring Intentions to Join the Business:

In this study, the authors have tested empirically a model that investigates intergenerational transitions in family firms. Through the model, the authors have explored the aspirations of 18 to 28-year-old university students in taking over the family business and the reasons for which they would join or not join the business.

Human resource information systems (HRIS) and technology trust

Scholars in many disciplines have considered the antecedents and consequences of various forms of trust. This paper generates 11 propositions exploring the relationship between Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) and the trust an individual places in the inanimate technology (technology trust) and models the effect of those relationships on HRIS implementation success. Specifically, organizational, technological, and user factors are considered and modeled to generate a set of testable propositions that can subsequently be investigated in various organizational settings. Eleven propositions are offered suggesting that organizational trust, pooled interdependence, organizational community, organizational culture, technology adoption, technology utility, technology usability, socialization, sensitivity to privacy, and predisposition to trust influence an individual’s level of trust in the HRIS technology (technology trust) and ultimately the success of an HRIS implementation process. A summary of the relationships between the key constructs in the model and recommendations for future research are provided.

Entrepreneurial leadership in high‐tech firms: a field study

There are many known reasons why hot start‐ups fail – new technologies, new markets, new distribution channels, inexperienced management teams, etc. – but an unquestionably critical factor is the leadership ability of the entrepreneurial CEO. Conventional wisdom states that professional managers should replace founders because they customarily do not have the necessary leadership skills and experience to further the continued growth of the organization. Recent research, however, has found no evidence that professional managers perform better in high‐growth firms than the original founder. This investigation analyzed the experiences of 27 entrepreneurial CEOs who successfully defied conventional wisdom by leading their organizations from tenuous start‐up to professionally managed enterprise. The research revealed two distinct sets of leadership competencies – labeled self competencies and functional competencies – required of entrepreneurs aspiring to remain at the helm of growth‐driven high‐tech firms.

Teaching with and through Teams: Student-Written, Instructor-Facilitated Case Writing and the Signatory Code

Modern organizations prize teamwork. Management schools have responded to this reality by integrating teamwork into the curriculum. Two important challenges associated with integrating teams in the management classroom include (a) designing teamwork assignments that achieve multiple, sophisticated learning outcomes and (b) instruction in, and management of, the classic social loafing problem. This article addresses these two challenges. First, it provides a method for designing teamwork assignments using Student Written–Instructor Facilitated (SWIF) case learning. SWIF provides the ideal vehicle for achieving all six of Bloom’s (1956) Educational Objectives— knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Second, it demonstrates the use of the Signatory Code, a team-contracting device that helps teams minimize social loafing. Survey results from 112 students speak to the efficacy of this tandem teaching methodology for blending complex management concepts with genuine team experience.

Rational, Human, Political, and Symbolic Text in Harvard Business School Cases: A Study of Structure and Content

Critics of the case method have argued that cases too frequently overempha-size the formal and rational aspects of organizational functioning. Responding to these concerns, Harvard Business School (HBS) announced a commitment to broaden case content. In this study, narrative analysis is used to investigate the content of the 36 most popular HBS cases of 1996. It reveals that these cases continue to reflect the rational domain bias that engendered the original criticism. The authors provide guidance to both case users and writers through the identification of four perceptual hazards (metathemes) that characterize the rationality bias.

DEVELOPMENT AND INITIAL VALIDATION OF A COGNITIVE-BASED WORK-NONWORK CONFLICT SCALE "'

Current research related to work and life outside work specifies three types of work-nonwork conflict: time, strain, and behavior-based. Overlooked in these models is a cognitive-based type of conflict whereby individuals experience work-nonwork conflict from cognitive preoccupation with work. Four studies on six different groups (N = 549) were undertaken to develop and validate an initial measure of this construct. Structural equation modeling confirmed a two-factor, nine-item scale. Hypotheses regarding cognitive-based conflicts relationship with life satisfaction, work involvement, work-nonwork conflict, and work hours were supported. The relationship with knowledge work was partially supported in that only the cognitive dimension of cognitive-based conflict was related to extent of knowledge work. Hypotheses regarding cognitive-based conflicts relationship with family demands were rejected in that the cognitive dimension correlated positively rather than negatively with number of dependent children and perceived family demands. The study provides encouraging preliminary evidence of scale validity.

Further examination of the measurement properties of Leifer & McGannon's (1986) Goal Acceptance and Goal Commitment Scales

The factor structure and discriminant validity of the Leifer & McGannon (1986) Goal Acceptance and Goal Commitment Scales were examined with structural equation modelling and a sample of employees (N = 196) who participated in a 2-year goal-setting programme. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the Goal Acceptance and Goal Commitment Scales measured two factorially distinct constructs. Internal consistency reliabilities were .81 for the Goal Acceptance Scale and .88 for the Goal Commitment Scale. Structural equation analysis indicated that both scales related positively to performance but differentially related to participation, satisfaction with supervision and goal difficulty.

Father-daughter succession issues in family business among regional economies of Asia

An important issue that is evolving in the family business literature is the increasing involvement of women in leadership/management roles in businesses and more specifically, the family firm. In the developing economies of Asia, there is sparse research in the extant literature on gender issues in the family firm ownership and management. This research study seeks to investigate the trend for daughters in Asian family owned businesses to take over leadership roles from their fathers in the family firm and what might hinder or support a daughters intentions to succeed her father in the family business.