Steven E. Abraham

Managerial Competencies and the Managerial Performance Appraisal Process.

Uses survey research to investigate two general questions concerning managerial competencies and performance appraisal: whether a set of managerial competencies currently being used by organizations to describe successful managers can be identified; and whether organizations are appraising these same competencies as part of their managerial performance appraisal processes. The six competencies most often identified as critical to managerial success appear to be proper choices, given the discussion of the attributes needed for a competency to be effective. The results also show, however, that many of these same organizations are not appraising these competencies in their managerial‐performance appraisal processes. Concludes that failure to appraise the competencies reduces the effectiveness of the competencies and the managerial performance appraisal programs.

Do Business Schools Value the Competencies That Businesses Value

The authors used survey research to determine the congruence among the competencies that businesses identify as being indicative of successful managers, the competencies that business schools identify as being indicative of successful graduates, and the competencies that are emphasized in business school curricula. The results show that although businesses and business schools essentially agree on the competencies that identify successful managers and graduates, business schools do not emphasize these competencies in their curricula. Because one of the main goals of business schools is to prepare their graduates for managerial careers after graduation, these results suggest that business schools should do more to align their curricula with the desires of businesses.

Right-to-Work Laws: New Evidence from the Stock Market

This article is an empirical examination of whether or not stockholder wealth rises in response to passage of a right-to-work law—a state law banning union security clauses from collective bargaining agreements. Stockholder wealth rose when Louisiana passed such a law in 1976 and when Idaho did so in 1985–1986. Presumably this occurred because investors anticipated higher future profits with weaker labor unions or a lower probability of future organization. This is new evidence that such laws are more than symbolic: They hamper labor unions.

Layoff announcements and employment guarantee announcements

The effect of layoff announcements on the shareholder returns of 154 firms that announced layoffs in 1993‐1994 was examined with event study methodology. As expected, the returns to these firms were negative. Further, the returns to the firms that announced layoffs for “reactive” reasons were more negative than the returns to the firms that announced layoffs for “proactive” reasons. The effect of employment guarantee announcements on the shareholder returns of 13 firms that announced employment guarantees in 1993‐1994 and on the returns of 63 firms that made similar announcements throughout the 1990 s was examined. Returns of these samples also responded negatively to the announcements. When the response to the two types of announcements was compared, however, there was no clear conclusion regarding which type of announcement drew a more negative response.

Total quality management: applicability to law firms

The practice of law is under pressure from various sources. Economics is one such source. The number of licensed lawyers is growing rapidly at a time when other disciplines are threatening areas of practice that were once the sole province of lawyers. Another pressure on the profession comes from the courts which are in some instances attempting to reduce legal fees. Thus, a question arises as to whether law firms may be implementing TQM techniques developed by other disciplines and by the few law firms which are leading the way for change. To answer that question a survey of Iowa law firms was conducted. The survey was sent to 100 law firms in Iowa in an attempt to determine the extent to which these firms are adopting TQM in an effort to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The research in this exploratory study shows that Iowa lawyers are not embracing even simple means of increasing efficiency such as employing paraprofessionals and upgrading employees’ skills.

The market reaction to layoff announcements: a union‐nonunion comparison

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare the market reaction to layoff announcements of union and nonunion employees.Design/methodology/approach – Event study methodology was utilized to assess the effects of layoff announcements of union versus nonunion employees. The union status of the laid‐off employees was determined for 135 layoff announcements reported in the Wall Street Journal in 1993 and 1994 and shareholder returns between the two groups was compared.Findings – Over each event period tested, the market reaction was more negative when nonunion employees were downsized than when the announcement concerned unionized employees. Over the two days surrounding the announcement, the market reaction to the layoff announcement of unionized employees was actually positive, while the reaction was negative when nonunion employees were the subject of the announcement.Research limitations/implications – The sample included layoff announcements from 1993 and 1994 only. The market reaction to announcem...

An empirical assessment of employment‐at‐will: a tale of two states

The market’s reactions to six decisions that dealt with the employment‐at‐will doctrine were examined with event study methodology. Three hypotheses were tested, all three of which were supported clearly by the data. Shareholder returns to a sample of California firms fell in response to the three California decisions that provided at‐will employees with causes of action to challenge their discharges; returns to those same firms rose in response to the Foley decision, which cut back on the employment‐at‐will erosions in California; and, returns to a sample of firms in New York rose in response to the two decisions from New York that affirmed the supremacy of the employment‐at‐will doctrine in New York. These results support the view that employment‐at‐will is beneficial for employers and that erosions to that doctrine are costly to employers.

New Technology in Unionized Firms: Advantages of Mandatory Bargaining

U.S. Labor Law currently allows employers whose work forces are unionized to introduce new technologies without bargaining over the decision to do so. This forces unions to adopt inefficient strategies when negotiating collective bargaining agreements in an effort to minimize the impact of technological change on their members. Allowing unions to bargain over the decision to introduce new technologies would obviate their having to resort to these inefficient strategies. In addition, it might increase the likelihood of employees suggesting alterations in production processes that would increase the rate of technological change. For these reasons, this article advocates amending U.S. labor law to require employers to bargain over the introduction of new technologies.

California's Health Insurance Act of 2003: View of the Market

This play or pay mandate would have required California employers to either provide medical insurance for their employees or pay into a state insurance fund. Although the law ultimately did not go into effect, movements in shareholder wealth provide evidence about the differential effects of such health-care mandates on various types of employers. Large or unionized firms had no negative effects expected profits declined most for firms with 50,199 employees.

The Ramifications of the Gilmer Decision for Firm Profitability

The impact of Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp., was assessed by examining the effect of the decision on shareholder returns in two samples of firms. Shareholder returns of securities firms rose between 5% and 6% in response to the decision, indicating that firms in the securities industry benefited substantially from being able to require that their employees arbitrate all employment related disputes. The results were less clear in a sample of firms in financial services industries. This indicates that the effects of Gilmer on the nonunion sector in general are more ambiguous.