The interpretation and resolution of resource allocation issues in professional organizations: A critical examination of the professional-manager dichotomy

Professional organizations have long been depicted as rife with conflict between professionals, who are assumed to represent the interests of their profession, and managers, who are assumed to represent the potentially competing interests of the organization. This study examines the validity of this assumption. Based on past research on both professional organizations and knowledge structure development, we predict that to the extent that professionals and managers conflict, they may do so because they interpret \u27identical\u27 issues differently. The results of a study of resource allocation decision preferences with 350 chief financial officers, chief medical officers, and physicians revealed strong support for our issue interpretation predictions, and virtually no support for the simple professional manager dichotomy. Specifically, using structural equation modeling, we found that: (1) single resource allocation issues could be interpreted in multiple ways; (2) issue interpretations were strong predictors of decision preferences; (3) professionals and managers tended to interpret issues differently, although many of the differences were not consistent with past theorizing about professionals; (4) the interpretations and decision preferences of professionals who occupied management positions were like those of other professionals but different from those of managers; and (5) decision maker status (i.e., professional and/or manager) was only modestly related to decision preference. Our findings suggest that the sources and manifestations of a professional-manager dichotomy are more complex than previously reported

Moral Intensity and Managerial Problem Solving

There is an increasing interest in how managers describe and respond to what they regard as moral versus nonmoral problems in organizations. In this study, forty managers described a moral problem and a nonmoral problem that they had encountered in their organization, each of which had been resolved. Analyses indicated that: (1) the two types of problems could be significantly differentiated using four of Jones' (1991) components of moral intensity; (2) the labels managers used to describe problems varied systematically between the two types of problems and according to the problem's moral intensity; and (3) problem management processes varied according to the problem's type and moral intensity

Identidade organizacional e os componentes do processo de identificação: uma proposta de integração

Este artigo tem como objetivo analisar como se configuraram os componentes do processo de identificação em uma organização, cuja trajetória foi caracterizada por crescimento, crise e reestruturação. Buscando oferecer uma perspectiva qualitativa e integrada dos fenômenos "identificação" e "identidade organizacional", são aqui analisados os componentes cognitivo, afetivo e valorativo do processo de identificação propostos na teoria da identidade social e na teoria da categorização do self, com destaque para a identidade organizacional e para as similaridades no comportamento das pessoas, como bases do componente cognitivo. Essas abordagens foram integradas em um estudo de caso de uma empresa multinacional de tecnologia. Observou-se que na época de crescimento os empregados estabeleceram um estável senso de pertencimento com a empresa idealizada, amada e considerada prestigiosa, resultando na predominância de uma relação de dependência psicoemocional. Entretanto, a partir da crise e da reestruturação, ocorreu um movimento racional de desvinculação dos empregados com a empresa, reforçado pela alteração e instabilidade nos atributos e valores organizacionais. Isso foi fruto da perda do senso estável de pertencimento, da relação afetiva e da percepção de prestígio da empresa. Concluiu-se que organizações contemporâneas em processos de mudanças freqüentes e radicais têm perdido a conotação de espaços seguros com os quais as pessoas se identificariam, resultando numa relação mais racional de troca de interesses