Journal for Quality & Participation, pp. 46-55.
Eventually any proponent of employee involvement (EI) will encounter managerial resistance. Knowing the underlying sources of the resistance aids in overcoming it. Some managers resist EI because of a perceived threat to their egos. EI will also have a difficult time in organizations where the labor-management history is best characterized as distrustful. If top managers are not serving as good role models for EI, neither will the other managers. Three tools have been developed to handle resistance to EI: 1. the organizational readiness assessment (ORA), 2. the client finder scale (CFS), and 3. the negotiation check list (NCL). The ORA can identify specific changes the organizations can make to get ready for EI. The CFS will help the EI representative screen potential managers and improve the chances for success. A successful EI effort requires starting with balanced managers, those who neither exercise too much nor too little control. The NCL ensures that the important points are clarified for all parties.
Human Relations, 44(4), 371-388.
A behavioral approach was applied to the study of leadership. The subjects were managers of sub-units in a hospital. Eleven managerial behaviors were assessed using the managers' subordinates as untrained observers and using behaviorally anchored questionnaires. Effectiveness was assessed by industrial engineering measures of employee attitude and performance. The results indicated that managers of sub-units of high and low morale and/or performance exhibited significantly different levels of mastery of managerial behaviors. In contrast, no differences were found in frequency of managerial behaviors for either high or low morale units. Only one managerial behavior was observed to be significantly more frequent for managers of high and low performing units. Overall, higher frequency of managerial behaviors was found to be associated with low performing sub-units.
In Proceedings. Academy of Management Meeting. Dallas, Texas.
A recent study has suggested that women and men have different sets of managerial skills and that career success is partially dependent on the use of a gender appropriate set of skills. These conclusions are not supported by prior research. A study was undertaken using a different methodology to see if these results were supportable and if not, why not. The study investigated the managerial skills of 177 female and 815 male managers in a nontraditional organization. The results contradicted the recent study, and agree with prior research, but suggest that gender may be a moderating variable in how managerial skills are acquired.
In Program of Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference. Macomb, Illinois.
The roles of paradoxical managerial skills have created controversy in both the academic and corporate worlds. This session will introduce participants to an exercise to validate the usefulness of both interactive and controlling managerial skills. Participants will experientially verify the impact that mastery of paradoxical managerial skills have on work unit effectiveness. In addition, they will see evidence of the interplay between these skills and work unit effectiveness in a diverse set of organizations. The group will also share ideas of how the exercise can be integrated into regular classes and management development programs.
Journal of Leadership Studies, 2(3), 133-143.
This interactive exercise has participants validate for themselves the need for the appropriate use of control. Participants explore the effectiveness of four managerial archetypes for themselves. One uses neither interactive nor controlling skills; one uses only interactive; one uses only controlling; and the other one uses both sets of skills. This exercise has been validated in both traditional and non-traditional organizations and for both men and women. For comparison, a chart is provided contrasting the commitment, tension and performance of the work units for the four types of managers. Also, the exercise introduces participants to the concept and validity of 360 degree feedback
Educational and Psychological Measurement, 55(3), 468-479.
Much interest in managerial skills has been generated recently. However, most of the questionnaires on managerial skills have focused on frequency and not competency. Thus, the purpose of this study is to test the psychometric properties of the managerial skill scales of the Survey of Management Practices, which is purported to measure the competency of individuals on eleven managerial skills. Overall, the results suggest that the managerial skill scales of this instrument have the psychometric properties of internal consistency, interrater agreement, construct validity, divergent discriminate validity, and both internal and external criterion validity. Some modifications for improvement are nevertheless suggested.
Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference. Bellingham, Washington.
Managerial skills and their impact on individual and organizational outcomes have become a topic of great interest. This workshop will have participants explore through their own ex- perience the impact that managerial skills have had on their own outcomes and that of their organizations. In addition, they will see evidence of the impact that managerial skills have had on others in other organizations. The workshop will also explore the use of both command-and-control and interactive skills and the balance between them. The par- ticipants will also hear how employee feedback has been successfully used in executive, graduate, and undergraduate education
]. In Proceedings. Academy of Management Meeting. Dallas, Texas.
This study investigates managerial derailment, personality, and skills during different career stages. The results indicate that different skill profiles are required for success at different career stages. In addition, the results suggest that one can recover from derailment. The results also imply that personality plays a role in career success
In Program of Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Orlando, Florida.
Derailer and fast tracking managers assessed themselves and were assessed by their associates using the Survey of Management Practices. In addition, the gap between their self-assessment and the assessment by others was also calculated. Performance was assessed using five years of performance evaluations and indicators of career success. The results indicate that fast trackers across all career stages possess a higher skill profile with some variations at different stages. In addition, fast trackers show a tendency to underestimate their skills while derailers tend to overestimate their skills
Proceedings of Symposium on Productivity and Quality Improvement with a Focus on Government. Washington, D.C.: Industrial Engineering and Management Press (pp. 13-20).
The value of employee feedback as a management development tool was studied, and the results applied to a government organization. The use of employee information, both formal and informal, is explored as a valid source of evaluation, since employees are in a good position to observe managerial behaviors. Government organizations have relied on periodic performance appraisals conducted by supervisors of their managers both for purposes of evaluation and development. Employees provide observations that clearly distinguish between managers of high and low performing work groups, better than either superiors, or peers. Employee feedback as a tool in management development tends to achieve better results when employees see it as being part of a "change" approach. A strategic approach also involves top management early in the process and helps assure their participation and support. Since the employees are a source of information most closely related to the management function, their observations can provide the manager with information that otherwise remains buried. The results of the study conclude that the use of employee observations as a management development tool has the potential to improve the skill level of managers plus the level of satisfaction and performance within the organization.
Organizational Dynamics, pp. 48-61.
Management practices at W. L. Gore & Associates give a new dimension to employee empowerment. Gore's example illustrates an approach that promises many of the advantages and benefits of formally established empowered work teams, but without formally designated teams. The entire work operation becomes essentially one large empowered team in which everyone is individually self-managing and can interact directly with everyone else in the system. The primary features that characterize Gore can be summarized as a series of organizational themes, such as: 1. a culture and norms supporting employee empowerment and success, 2. a lattice organization structure, 3. many leaders, but no bosses or managers, 4. successful employees - called associates - who work without structure and management, and 5. unstructured research and development for increased creativity and innovation.
In Proceedings. Academy of Management Meeting. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The relationships among mastery and frequency of managerial behaviors and subunit effectiveness have frequently been confused. This study investigates both main and interactive effects. The results show that the interaction effect can often be the strongest effect and that increasing frequency without improving mastery can sometimes be detrimental
Human Resource Development Quarterly), 1(4), 371-384.
How can managers receive feedback about the consequences of their behavior? One undervalued source of feedback is subordinates' observations. This article describes a study of subordinates' observations that were used to evaluate managers' skills. This source is compared with other sources of feedback, and methods of collecting and using subordinates' observations to improve managerial skills are presented. The study further illustrates how subordinates' observations can provide a realistic, positive method for gathering information about managers' long-term behavior so that the company, subordinates, and managers all benefit from the skills assessment
National Conference on Federal Quality. Washington, D.C.
The long-term pursuit of quality depends on the quality of leader, managerial and peer relationships in a workforce. Without the skills to develop such relationships, the pursuit of quality will be a frustrating and short-lived program. Use of 360 feedback to assist in the development of skills has now reached the fad stage. The pressure for quick implementation is immense. Based on experience and research, insights from employees, managers, and facilitators of 360 feedback programs are shared. The purpose of this paper is to help others develop successful 360 feedback processes
In K. Clark & D. Campbell (Eds.), Impact of Leadership (pp. 119-129). Greensboro, N.C.: Center for Creative Leadership.
The impact of managerial behaviors on group performance, stress, and commitment are investigated through a longitudinal study. Industrial engineering measures are used to assess performance. The results indicate that work units with high performance, high commitment, and low tension are associated with managers with a developed set of behaviors
In K. Clark & M. Clark (Eds.), Measures of Leadership (pp. 185-204). West Orange, N.J.: Leadership Library of America, Inc.
Leadership is viewed as one of several organizational roles that depends upon skills at influencing others. Organization behavior is made up of a series of task cycles that are repeated performances. Each task is viewed as equivalent to a learning trial, with opportunities for reliable observations readily present. The six phases of the managerial task cycle were operationalized into a Survey of Management Practices (SMP) and a training program developed to improve performance. Effects were tested in a Veterans Administration installation, a bank, a health care organization, and nuclear power plant; results of each study are presented.
Silver Spring, MD.: The Clark Wilson Group ( To order call 1-800-537-7249).
Task Cycle Management: A Competency-Based Course for Operating Managers begins by outlining the basic skills required to be an effective manager. It then describes in detail what each of the basic skills are. In the description, the nuances of the skills that separate the novice from the competent managers are identified. After the in-depth description of each skill, techniques which have been proven to be effective for building the required skills are presented. The techniques are based on the only one tried and true way to obtain competency at any skill. That way involves learning techniques, practicing those techniques, obtaining feedback, and repetition. Both examples and step-by-step instructions of the techniques are included. Each chapter also includes note pages so the material can become personalized.
In K. Clark, M. Clark & D. Campbell (Eds.), Impact of Leadership (pp. 345-358). Greensboro, N.C.: Center for Creative Leadership.
This paper reports on three different explorations of scores on the Survey of Management Practices (SMP): (a) their association with personality self-assessments on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI TM) and the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI), (b) the differences in ratings of male and female managers by their subordinates, and (c) the differences in ratings of managers by their subordinates in Asia, Europe, and in the U.S. In these samples, self-assessments on SMP were more closely related to personality assessments than were ratings by bosses or subordinates. Ratings of men and women managers appeared to differ more by organization or occupation than by gender. Regional differences indicated higher ratings for Asian than either European or U.S. managers, while European - especially senior - managers were seen as imposing more structure or exercising more control than their U.S. counterparts.