3590 Posts Found

Few psychological forces in organizational life have an impact that compares to those caused by the human inclination to become part of an elite US, and to elevate that group’s status (as well as one’s own) by diminishing THEM. Power, bestowed on bosses by their employing organizations, appears to be too great a temptation. It seduces bosses into using incivility as a means of venting … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Personality / Behavior

Robert Jackall’s Moral Mazes offers an eye-opening account of how corporate managers think the world works, and how big organizations shape moral consciousness.

Based on extensive interviews with managers at every level of two industrial firms and of a large public relations agency, Moral Mazes takes the reader inside the intricate world of the corporation. Jackall reveals a world where hard work does not necessarily … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Author: Robert Jackall | Subjects: Ethics, Organizational Behavior

It is dangerous and downright irresponsible to prescribe management practices without addressing two types of questions. First, what problem does the practice address, what are its causes, and how does the prescription remedy these causes? Second, and more pragmatically, how does an executive detect the symptoms of the problem in order to know if and how extensively they should use the practice, or whether they … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

The five most cited reasons for alliance failure are each the direct consequence of cultural mismatch. This is not to suggest that cultural differences doom a prospective alliance. Strategic alliances, after all, are formed to unite culturally different partners in pursuit of a common objective. Successful alliance leaders manage the relationship in the context of the partner’s cultural differences, finding ways to create value from … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Pablo C. Biggs | Source: Strategic Triangle | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Strategy

Few organizations know how to maximize knowledge worker performance to achieve optimum business results. Most executives focus exclusively on attracting and retaining talented individuals; few bother to ask how they can best support and enhance the performance of the knowledge workers they already employ. To determine how organizations can best enhance the performance of their knowledge workers, the authors studied how high-achievers solve problems and … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Susan Cantrell, Thomas H. Davenport | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Career, Organizational Behavior

A lot of people are sort of living a lie, they’re doing things they don’t really believe in because they feel they have to, and that’s very uncomfortable actually… you sort of hate yourself for doing it… and it’s very bad for morale, very bad for productivity. I think that one of the talents of leadership is to make that happen as little as possible.

Here … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Charles Handy | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Career, Organizational Behavior

People today are raised to be niche thinkers. We’re all specialists in particular subject matters. We need to return to thinking more broadly to generate big ideas.

Content: Article | Author: Steve Hardy | Source: ChangeThis | Subjects: Innovation, Organizational Behavior

Poker’s own brand of ethics is different from the ethical ideals of civilized human relationships. The game calls for distrust of the other fellow. It ignores the claim of friendship. Cunning deception and concealment of one’s strength and intentions, not kindness and openheartedness, are vital in poker. No one thinks any the worse of poker on that account. And no one should think any the … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subject: Ethics

Running an organization does not license a manager to violate the norms and standards of society, but instead introduces a brand-new set of moral considerations based on stakeholder obligations. In respect of normatively legitimate stakeholders (e.g. financiers, employees, customers), the ethics of business implies more obligations rather than less.

Content: Quotation | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Ethics, Social Responsibility (ESG)

On the playing field or in the boardroom, high performance depends as much on how people renew and recover energy as on how they expend it, on how they manage their lives as much as on how they manage their work. When people feel strong and resilient-physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually – they perform better, with more passion, for longer. They win, their families win, … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Success / Failure

Isn’t stress the real test of personal and corporate values? The instant decisions executives make under pressure reveal the most about personal and corporate character.

Content: Quotation | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Decision Making, Values

It’s been said that no one is a prophet in his own land, but can anyone be a prophet in his or her own organization? Apparently, the ancient adage seems to hold true even in our modern temples of commerce, says Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer. People in most companies, he has found, value knowledge possessed by outsiders more than they do knowledge possessed by members of … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Jeffrey Pfeffer | Source: Stanford University | Subject: Organizational Behavior

Prudence operates on life in the same manner as rules on composition; it produces vigilance rather than elevation, rather prevents loss than procures advantages; and often escapes miscarriages, but seldom reaches either power or honour. It quenches that ardour of enterprize, by which every thing is done that can claim praise or admiration, and represses that generous temerity which often fails and often succeeds. … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Sources: Global Province, Idler 57 | Subjects: Miscellaneous, Personality / Behavior

Recruiters hiring business-school grads see a clear difference between male and female candidates.

Content: Article | Author: Ron Alsop | Source: CareerJournal (WSJ) | Subjects: Career, Women in Business

The shift toward tacit (complex) interactions upends everything we know about organizations. Since the days of Alfred Sloan, corporations have resembled pyramids, with a limited number of tacit employees (managers) on top coordinating a broad span of workers engaged in production and transactional labor. Hierarchical structures and strict performance metrics that tabulate inputs and outputs therefore lie at the heart of most organizations today.

But the … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Trends / Analysis

Workers’ general notions about the effectiveness of male and female managers can be as important as their actual leadership abilities or business results, according to a recent Wharton Executive Development program entitled, “Women in Leadership: Legacies, Opportunities & Challenges.” As a result, women executives need to be exceptionally aware of their own leadership styles and strengths — as well as changes underway in their organizations … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Leadership, Women in Business

At its heart, reengineering is based on the century-old theory of Frederick Winslow Taylor, that variation is waste. His followers sought to root out variation by routinizing, and if possible automating, core business processes. This approach makes sense when applied to clerical, easily measured work, like insurance claims processing and call-center operations. But this process-oriented approach breaks down in cases where individuals must make decisions … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Strategy& | Subject: Reengineering

When endeavoring to improve internal customer service among individuals, workgroups, and departments, it is important to know what questions to address. The key questions should include:
* What do we measure?
* Who do we hold accountable?
* How do we begin to take action?

The assessment methodology and action learning process described here is one way to answer these questions.

Content: Article | Author: Charles D. Kerns, Ph.D. | Source: Graziadio Business Report | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Today’s virtual teams have yet to realize their full potential. They could learn a lot from Mother Nature’s teams.

Content: Article | Authors: Ken Thompson, Robin Good | Source: ChangeThis | Subject: Organizational Behavior

To help organizations assess the return on their human capital investments, Accenture introduced a new assessment and analytic tool: the Accenture Human Capital Development Framework. The Accenture framework was developed by drawing on best practices and Accenture experience in human resource (HR) development, learning and knowledge management, workforce productivity, along with state-of-the-art measurement techniques. With the framework, an organization can better assess its core human … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: James M. Benton, Linda Kerzel, Meredith A. Vey, Robert J. Thomas, Susan Cantrell | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior