Rae André

Managing Workforce 2000

Valuing Diversity is a high quality film/video series that delivers what its promotional literature promises: it addresses issues of deep concern to today’s employers, employees and students of human behavior. It treats stereotypes and assumptions. cultural differences, unwritten rules and double standards, the &dquo;glass ceiling,&dquo; the &dquo;white male club,&dquo; &dquo;clustering,&dquo; mentors, networks, coaching, communication styles and accents, and the stresses of being bicultural. The tapes combine didactic narration, corporate interviews and staged role plays to demonstrate how managers evaluate, develop and motivate diverse employees, how employees can succeed in a multicultural organization, and how misunderstandings result from different styles of communication. Separately, the tapes can be used to teach such organizational behavior topics as interpersonal and intergroup convict, organizational socialization, communication, and attribution in cross-cultural situations. Together the tapes can be used as a basis for a long unit on managing diversity suitable for a course such as organizational development. The production quality of the three 30-minute tapes (or films) is superior. The tapes are well-paced for today’s students, in that they are fast enough to focus their attention yet moderate enough to illustrate main points clearly. Because of the pace of the tapes, notetaking should probably be discouraged during them. Summaries of the main points are provided at the end of each tape. These can be developed as a handout both to allow students to focus on the tape while it is being shown and to reinforce discussion and learning afterwards. The tapes also have a distinctly contemporary feelf with office scenes similar to those that most of our students will ex-

Using Leadered Groups in Organizational Behavior and Management Survey Courses.

In organizational behavior and management survey courses, students are likely to maximize certain career-appropriate knowledge when their classroom groups are leadered rather than leaderless. Using leadered groups facilitates the learning of the professional and managerial skills associated with formal leadership while reducing some problematic learning that can occur in leaderless groups. This article presents a pedagogical design that meets the logistical and content challenges of giving every student the opportunity to lead a group during the class term, to observe other student leaders, to receive feedback on formal leadership skills, and, in addition, to reflect on groups and group process in general. The author argues that teachers and researchers should reexamine the frequent assumption that leaderless groups are the most effective experiential method for teaching the practice of management.

AN EXAMINATION OF THE COMPETITIVE ATTITUDES OF ENTREPRENEURS: IMPLICATIONS FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AT THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

This study examined the competitive attitudes of entrepreneurs using the psychological theory of hyper-competitiveness versus personal development competitiveness in data from a cross-section of small business entrepreneurs. Results suggest most entrepreneurs view themselves, and their cohort, as personal development (e. g., growth oriented) competitors rather than as hypercompetitors (e. g., dominant individuals). The analysis suggests that, when applied at the individual level, the entrepreneurial orientation dimension of competitive aggressiveness should be reconceptualized to include not only hyper-competitiveness but also personal development competitiveness. Implications for the theories of entrepreneurial gender, affective engagement, interactional competitiveness and self-actualization are discussed.

Enhancing the practical application of Five-Factor personality theory

Although the Five-Factor Theory (FFT) of personality is today a dominant theory in psychology and business research, it is used much less frequently in applied settings. In this paper, the author describes why FFT is useful in practice and addresses some of the issues that have impeded its organisational application. Issues such as domain nomenclature, transitioning from other tests, and ethical concerns are examined, and methods to address these issues are suggested. Finally, the author reviews a variety of FFT instruments from a practitioners point of view.

A National Study of Economic Development Organizations at the State Level: The Key Organizations, their Industrial Constituencies, and their Networks

Who represents the business sector in economic development? This study analyzes the population of private-sector economic development organizations operating at the state level in order to understand the manner in which these organizations represent the business community. The study profiles the most prominent industries and the most active companies, and it describes the extent to which members of economic development organizations network among themselves. The author argues that for policy makers, businesspeople, and citizens, understanding these existing institutions and processes is prerequisite to making informed decisions about the desirability of centralized industrial policy.

Viewpoint: Diversity Curricula in the Business School

Abstract As courses and modules on the management of diversity become more widespread in business schools, risks to professors and their institutions are of some concern. This article suggests how business schools can establish organizational systems to improve the integration of diversity topics into the management curriculum and to minimize diversity stress.

Socofrance, S. A.: An American and French Negotiation Simulation

In this negotiation simulation, students assume roles on a French or an American management team or as observers/evaluators. The two management teams negotiate the introduction of a new product into the European market. This simulation reveals the cross-cultural issues in French-American negotiations and related international negotiations. It demonstrates such negotiation concepts as integrative versus distributive bargaining, relative power of the negotiating parties, cultural noise in negotiations, bargaining skills, and shortversus long-term relationships of the negotiating parties.

Who Should Define the “Social” in “Social Enterprise” Elected Governments or Partnered Corporations?

During the past decade, new legal forms termed social enterprises have been introduced in the United States, purportedly to create opportunities for altruistic companies to be more socially responsible than traditional companies. This development has sparked significant controversy, however, with many legal scholars arguing that the forms introduce new types of corporate greenwashing. This exercise literally brings students into this debate, helping them clarify their values about the roles of government and business in a capitalist democracy. Such clarification can help all students navigate their roles in business and society, and it can help new entrepreneurs choose an appropriate legal form of incorporation. The exercise focuses on the most widely implemented social enterprise, the benefit corporation, inviting students to debate whether this form improves corporate social responsibility. It is appropriate for courses in business and society, business ethics and law, and social entrepreneurship.

A National Longitudinal Analysis of Women’s Representation in Private-Sector Economic Development Organizations

This national study analyzes changes in women’s representation in economic development organizations (EDOs) at the state level between 1988 and 1998. Although in 1998, the number of women in EDOs was still small (11.9% of all memberships), the increase in women’s representation during the decade was 56.6%. These figures parallel other research reports that note women’s increased representation as corporate officers and board members. Future research should focus on the extent to which women’s agendas for economic development differ and whether women’s influence is sufficient to advance an agenda.

The AF Managerial Assessment: Experiencing the Pitfalls of Psychobabble and the Emotional Aspects of Organizational Socialization

The AFMA exercise teaches participants about the potential misuses of quasi-psychological generalizations and the role of emotion in organizational socialization by allowing them, in a gentle way, to experience their own gullibility in the face of psychological jargon and their own emotional involvement when an organization selects or rejects them. The exercise is recommended for graduate and undergraduate students in courses on organizational behavior and organizational change.