William P. Anthony

An Examination of the Perceptions of Organizational Politics Model: Replication and Extension

This study examined the Perceptions of PoliticsModel (Ferris, Russ, & Fandt, 1989) in a three-phaseprocess. In the first phase, the model was examinedusing Anderson and Gerbings (1988) two-step approach to structural equations modeling. Themodel was tested on data collected from 786 employees ofa state government agency and 469 employees of anelectric utility cooperative. Results from this phase indicated that the model had acceptablefit and was more parsimonious than any of the competingmodels to which it was compared. In the second phase,understanding as a moderator of the relationships between perceptions of organizational politicsand several outcome variables was examined. Resultsindicated that understanding only moderated the outcomerelationship between politics and job satisfaction, not intent to turnover or job anxiety. Finally,in phase three, the additional outcome variables oforganizational satisfaction, supervisor effectiveness,and self-reported individual performance were included in an effort to expand the Ferris et al. (1989)framework. Additionally, the moderating effects ofunderstanding on the relationships between perceptionsof politics and these new outcome variables were explored. Results from the final step indicatedthat adding the new outcome variables increased theparsimonyof the model without decreasing model fit. Withrespect to the moderating effects, only thepolitics-performance relationship was moderated byunderstanding.Allof these results are discussed in light of theirimplications for future research.

Tacit Knowledge and Strategic Decision Making

Tacit knowledge is not easily recognized or acknowledged, but it can be a key factor in enhancing the quality of strategic decisions made by the top management team. A working definition of tacit knowledge is the work-related practical know-how that is acquired through direct experience and instrumental in achieving goals important to the holder. The study provides an integration of the cognitive and strategic literatures to show that tacit knowledge is accessible and how it plays an integral role in the context of strategic decision making. The authors propose that better decisions will occur when tacit knowledge is employed overtly during strategy sessions. Among other methods, the use of guided mental imagery seems to provide the simultaneous benefits of explicating tacit knowledge as well as enhancing the socialization process necessary for its transfer among team members.

The use of mental imagery to facilitate information identification in requirements analysis

Many alternative approaches have been devised for eliciting information systems requirements. The majority of these approaches, however, assume a familiarity with and understanding of the organizational context by those individuals from whom requirements are to be derived. Such approaches often yield unsatisfactory results when the information system being developed involves ill-structured task contexts. The generation of a robust set of information items can be an important first step in the specification of information requirements. Scenario-based approaches to generate information items for requirements analysis appear intuitively promising as a mechanism for promoting the elicitation of information requirements for ill-structured task contexts. However, little empirical evidence exists regarding their potential effectiveness. This paper proposes the use of mental imagery as a scenario-based technique and reports on the results of an exploratory laboratory experiment that compared a mental imagery approach with goal-oriented and critical success factors approaches in the generation of information items. The results of this experiment provide modest evidence that positive and negative mental imagery protocols may both outperform goal-oriented and critical success factors approaches for ill-structured task contexts. Further, the strongest results were observed to favor the positive imagery protocol. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings and suggestions for future research.

User Perceptions of E-Mail at Work:

This article examines employee sentiments concerning the use of e-mail. An exploratory study at one state agency was used to create a survey of employee perceptions of e-mail use. The survey was then administered to a second state agency. The survey findings show that although most employees found e-mail to be highly useful, they also complained of information overload. The findings also suggest that employees perceive peer misuse and lack of peer training to be culprits of e-mail overload. The article discusses the theoretical implications of the study and makes recommendations for improving e-mail training.

Strategic group membership and environmental scanning: their relationship to firm performance in the foodservice industry.

Abstract This study examined performance differences between strategic groups affirms in the foodservice industry, as well as the moderating effect of environmental scanning on individual firm performance within those strategic groups. Factor analysis and cluster analysis were used to identify six strategic groups in the foodservice industry. Significant performance differences were discovered between the strategic groups. Environmental scanning was also found to moderate performance levels within strategic groups with high scanning firms performing at higher levels than low scanning firms.

Following the crowd:social influence and technology usage

This study examined the impact of social influence theory on distance education technology (DET) usage. Delineation of university culture types conceptualized by Bergquist (the collegial culture, the managerial culture, the developmental culture, and the negotiating culture) were also examined in relation to technology usage. This study tested the proposed relationships in a survey of distance education technology usage at a major southeastern university, and findings support the influence of past experience with technology and social influence, and provide limited support for the influence of the culture types and individual factors on technology usage. This study encourages administrators to more closely examine their own academic cultures to identify appropriate actions to take before pursuing organizational changes like DET adoption, so that the resulting DET usage might more closely mirror the expected outcomes.

Individual Executive Characteristics: Explaining the Divergence Between Perceptual and Financial Measures in Nonprofit Organizations

Using survey data collected from chief executives of nonprofit organizations and financial performance information, the current study examined the influence of the individual chief executive characteristics on their perception of organization performance. The study found that executives with internal Locus of Control, high collectivism values, and analytical decision styles have greater convergence between their perceptions of performance and a financial measure. The study findings also offer support for existing theories that suggest executive cognitions play a significant role in filtering information, ultimately influencing the accuracy of perceptions and the effectiveness of strategic choices.

The Mind’s Eye and the Practice of Management

Theory and practice indicate that managers experience considerable difficulty and exhibit limited rationality as they attempt to grasp, process, and understand the often ambiguous requirements of managerial tasks. Argues the efficacy of mental imagery and visualization as a means to overcome such human limitation. Notes the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of mental imagery and applies them to the “episodic performance situations” inherent in the reality of management practice. Imagery techniques allow managers to create and manipulate actively a much more information‐rich and thorough projection of the once ambiguous, abstract management scenario. Discusses some example uses of mental imagery in the steps of the strategic planning model, in decision‐making applications, and in organizational communication. Provides some guidelines for developing effective mental imagery scripts and outlines important considerations for their use in organizations.

Evaluation of team‐based management: a case study

Team‐based management systems appear to be a possible avenue for increasing the productivity and effectiveness of organizations. However, there are concerns regarding their true purposes and effects within organizations. There is presently a dearth of literature evaluating the effectiveness of team‐based management. To begin filling this void, provides a case study illustrating the process, as well as the findings, from such an evaluation effort. In addition, presents a review of the literature regarding team‐based management.

Creative strategic planning using imagery

Abstract Strategic planning is often dominated by left-brain thinking which emphasizes rational, analytical techniques. Imagery is a technique which has been widely applied in other disciplines such as sports, medicine, learning and counselling, which can be used by planners to enhance more right-brain thinking. The technique is especially useful for creative thinking in scenario building and goal setting. This paper reviews the technique, explains how it has been used in other fields, and how it can be used to enhance planning.