Roger J. Volkema

Culture, Perceived Corruption, and Economics A Model of Predictors and Outcomes

Corruption can impede commerce and economic development, yet it seems to be tolerated in many countries. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a model that integrates socioeconomic factors related to corruption. The analysis revealed that a negative relationship between economic adversity and wealth was mediated by corruption. Economic adversity was positively related to corruption, and corruption was inversely related to wealth. Uncertainty avoidance moderated the relationship between economic adversity and corruption, whereas power distance and uncertainty avoidance were positively associated with corruption. The implications of these results for enhancing the effectiveness of international agreements are discussed.

Ethicality in Negotiations: An Analysis of Perceptual Similarities and Differences Between Brazil and the United States

Abstract Similarities and differences in perceptions of the ethicality of negotiation behaviors were examined for 271 current and future business professionals from Brazil and the United States. Five categories of behaviors were considered: traditional competitive bargaining, misrepresentation of information, bluffing, information collection, and influencing an opponent’s professional network. The results suggest similarities among respondents regarding behaviors that involve third parties to a negotiation (information collection, influencing an opponent’s professional network) but significant differences regarding behaviors involving immediate opponents (misrepresenting information, bluffing). In addition, gender and age were found to be significant moderating factors. The implications of these findings for cross-cultural negotiations are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.

The Effects of Facilitator Characteristics on Meeting Preparation, Set Up, and Implementation

Organizational meetings represent a primary means of communication and coordination within and across work units. The trend toward team-based organizations has created a special need for meeting facilitation skills. Despite the growth in awareness of the importance of facilitation skills in both meetings, there has been little empirical research on the role of the organizational facilitator in preparing for and executing meetings. This study surveyed 238 group facilitators regarding facilitator characteristics, pre-meeting planning, room/facilitator preparation, and agenda use during meetings. The facilitator characteristics examined were amount of experience/training, amount of facilitation external to versus within one’s organization, and use of group support systems (GSS). Findings show that these facilitator characteristics each correlate with multiple aspects of pre-meeting planning and agenda use items. The data suggest a typology of facilitators based on the level of experience in facilitation and whether facilitators operate primarily within or outside their own organization.

Designing Effective Projects: Decision Options for Maximizing Learning and Project Success

In recent years, more and more business schools have introduced team-based projects into their curricula as a means of addressing corporate, small business, and community-service issues while teaching students a variety of project management skills (technical and sociocultural). In designing a project-oriented course, an instructor has a number of options available with respect to project identification, project focus and scope, team size, composition and leadership, course content, content delivery, and student project evaluation. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of these various options, as well as the factors that are most likely to moderate an instructor’s choices in seeking to maximize student learning and project success.

Ethicality in Negotiation: An Analysis of Attitudes, Intentions, and Outcomes

The study reported in this article examines the prediction and use of invalid information (e.g., exaggerated offers, false promises, misrepresented facts) in a two-party, property leasing negotiation in which participants from different countries negotiated seven issues via electronic mail. Prior to negotiating, attitudes and intentions towards questionable or unethical tactics were measured, and perceived behavior was measured through a post-negotiation questionnaire and compared with actual behavior and negotiated outcomes (differential and joint). The results suggest that the pre-negotiation questionnaire was a modest predictor of actual behavior, with general attitudes effective in predicting general behavior. Ethical behavior of the negotiator, ethical behavior of the other party, and perceived honesty of the other party were the best predictors of performance (perceived and actual), while likely use of unethical tactics and perceived honesty of the other party predicted whether or not an agreement was reached.

Planning and Managing Organizational Meetings: An Empirical Analysis of Written and Oral Communications.

Organizational meetings represent one of the largest investments of human resources in public- and private-sector organizations. In spite of the many hours people devote weekly to meetings, few studies have examined the written and oral communications used in planning and managing scheduled meetings. This paper reports on a study of thirty-five organizational meetings, each from a different organization. The development and use of five primary tools for planning and managing meetings were examined, and the relationships of these tools to meeting processes were analyzed. The results were consistent with prior findings regarding the use of agendas, while offering additional information regarding the use of support documents, announcements, meeting minutes, and evaluations. Control of these tools varied by group leaders/facilitators, secre taries, and other participants; and the strongest relationships were found between the use of agendas, minutes, and support documents and the timing of meetings (duration, delays). Finally, traditional media (for example, flip charts, chalk boards, transparencies) and higher-level technologies (for example, computers, VCRs) were largely absent from meetings, consistent with the find ings of prior research.

Influence of agenda creation and use on meeting activities and outcomes: report on initial results

The meeting agenda is often recommended as a critical element for conducting successful meetings. However, this recommendation is rarely explained and has not been empirically tested. Prior research (Niederman, Beise, and Beranek, in press) based on interviews of practicing meeting facilitators showed a wide range of views regarding the methods of using and value derived from agendas. Findings from a survey questionnaire of 55 practicing group facilitators suggest that agenda items are ordered by complexity and difficulty of tasks; that methods for addressing each agenda item from a “toolkit” of techniques rather than creating new processes; that time spent with meeting sponsors is used to clarify expectations and define the task more than than to identify assumptions or delve into the group’s background; and variations from the agenda during the meetings were more likely to be triggered by changes in the nature of the task than by getting off track or following tangential issues. Finally, facilitators found the value of using agendas to focus on quality of meeting deliverables and group satisfaction with the process; longterm organizational impacts and increasing group consensus were rated less highly as outcomes of agenda use. Permissionto make digitaI/hard copies of all or part of this material for personaI or classroom use ia granted without fee provided that tbe copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage, the copyright notice, the title of the publication and its date appear, and notice is given that copytight is by permission of the ACM, Inc. To copy otherwise, to republish, to poston serversor to redistributeto lists, requiresspecitic permissionand/or fee. SIGCPR/ SIGMIS ’96, Denver Colorado USA 01996 ACM 0-89791-782-0/96/04. .

Understanding propensity to initiate negotiations

3.50 OVERVIEW Practitioner advice on improving meetings generally stresses the value of composing and distributing an agenda prior to or at the start of a meeting (The 3M Meeting Management Team, 1987; Buhler, 1992; Scannell, 1992; Beaubien, 1993; Hequet, 1993; Langham, 1994). Practitioner heuristics additionally suggest including information about the meeting’s purpose; start time, breaks, and end time; agenda items by topic, presenter, time allotment, and action needed; who should attend; and what those attending should bring (e.g. Murnighan, 1981). Distribution of the agenda prior to the meeting assures that all group members have the opportunity to be informed about topics to be covered. In spite of this practical advice, almost no research has presented evidence that these heuristics generate positive meeting results. This paper (1) reviews the conceptual basis for research on the meeting agenda, (2) formulates a series of research questions regarding the use and value of agendas in meetings, and (3) presents preliminary results of one empirical study based on questionnaire surveys distributed to professional group facilitators regarding the preparation, use, and evahtation of agendas for use in meetings. Defining agenda. The term agenda derives from the Latin word agere meaning to act. According to Webster’s New World Dictionary (1989), it is a program of things to be done; specifically, a list of things to be dealt with at a meeting. However, we should further distinguish two major usages: (1) the ability to bring an

Negotiating for Grades: Theory into Reality in the Classroom

Purpose – This paper seeks to introduce a model of the initiation process in negotiations, and to describe a study of the effects of culture and personality on propensity to initiate and assertiveness in negotiations.Design/methodology/approach – Using a survey research approach and hierarchical regression analyses, initiation propensity and assertiveness were regressed against two country cultures diverse with respect to perceived appropriateness of initiation (Brazil and the USA) and four measures of personality (self‐efficacy, locus of control, risk propensity, Machiavellianism).Findings – Regression analyses found three personality factors (risk propensity, self‐efficacy, Machiavellianism) to be most significantly associated with initiation propensity/assertiveness, along with an interaction effect involving country culture and risk propensity.Research limitations/implications – Future studies might benefit from a broader, more diverse subject pool (beyond the two countries studied). This would allow ...

Understanding Initiation Behavior in Chinese Negotiations: An Examination of Distinctions across Three Regional Subcultures

This article describes a course that was offered in (rather than about) negotiation and conflict management, in which students negotiated with the instructor for grades. The purpose of the methodology was to bring a level of reality to the course that would go beyond simulation. Issues associated with this course, including student-teacher power differential, responsibility for negotiating, equity, negotiating on promises, and evaluating versus negotiating for grades, are discussed.