Whole document restricted, see Access Instructions file below for details of how to access the print copy. / The main aim of this study was to develop an understanding of current practice in New Zealand firms with regard to the management of managers, in particular the senior management team consisting of the CEO and direct reports. Although theory drawn from organizational economics, human resource development and strategic human resource management do provide useful perspectives, there is not, as yet, a well developed or coordinated theory on the management of managers. In this study a theoretical framework is developed, which identifies three broad goal domains for the management of managers and the key strategic tensions that firms may have to deal with in order to achieve their goals within these domains. The theoretical framework also proposes a taxonomy of company styles that describes different patterns of practice that might be expected in firms at various stages of development or in different contexts. The empirical research is centred on case studies of practice in four mid-sized New Zealand firms selected to represent a cross-section of established companies in different sectors and with some variation in patterns of ownership. The main findings are that current practice is largely consistent with the predictions of the theoretical framework and that the firms in the study face pronounced challenges with regard to the recruitment and retention of managers. In particular, the difficulties are compounded by the relatively shallow pool of talent available in a small economy, which makes it difficult for firms to establish robust managerial internal labour markets capable of supplying the bulk of the firms' senior managerial needs. Other findings of note are that there is little evidence of clearly perceived agency issues of the kind raised by the organizational economics literature and that processes and systems for identifying managerial talent in general, and for developing managers at the senior level, are not well developed. The broad conclusions are that firms in a small economy face particular difficulties in making the transition from an emergent stage to having fully evolved internal capabilities to bring managers with superior talent through to senior positions.

Whole document restricted, see Access Instructions file below for details of how to access the print copy. / The international human resource management models developed in the last decade pursue a contextual analysis of the standardisation (global integration) of multinational parent companies’ human resource management policies and practices and localisation (local differentiation) of host countries' practices. However, as a popular but unique international alliance, the process by which international joint ventures determined HRM policies and practices remained unclear. This research utilizes a resource dependency perspective to explore the company-specific determinants of Chinese-western joint ventures' HRM formation, by investigating JV parent companies HRM decision drivers in terms of contractual and non-contractual resources, expertise, consistency requirements, and internationalization experience. Through five in-depth case studies, this research demonstrated that HRM standardisation or localisation is a function of the IJV parents’ HR decision drivers. Additional variables, contextual factors and future research directions are discussed. Contributions of this research include a balanced consideration of both partners in the international joint venture to counter the ethnocentric lens of MNC-subsidiary relationships. The research recasts standardisation and localisation as a continuum that should express the interests of multiple partners, rather than the interests of one in a host country context.

This study develops and used a CHESS (chief Executive Stress Survival) model developed from the occupational stress literature to predict variations in the psychological and physical stress experience and health risk of chief Executives of New Zealand organisations. The model proposes that stress is a sequential process with identifiable phases and that variation are mainly due to the frequency of environmental experiences and stressor factors which are both “chronic” and “episodic”, “at work” and “outside work”. The model also assumes, however, that the impact of the environmental variables and stressor factors are moderated by individual personality differences, coping mechanisms and stress management practices. The model was tested on a sample of 107 male chief Executive officers and General Managers. It was found that the majority of the sample (80%) were relatively stress resistant and healthy. Stepwise multiple regression was used to test the model, and some evidence derived suggests that the frequency of environmental problems does predict various stress symptoms and that environmental stressors ultimately predict health risk profiles. Individual differences are shown as being largely independent variables predicting stress, rather that being moderating variables as suggested by the model. Coping and stress management variables are also shown to play a significant moderating role in the stress - outcome relationship. Some evidence derived suggests that there may be individual manager profiles, provisionally labelled “stress immune” vs “vulnerable” and “ill - health preventers” vs “non-preventers”. Due to the depth of the cross-sectional data obtained on this rarely studied management level, some comparison with published information on other researched groups are explored. A number of limitations of the study are noted. The practical implications for this senior management group of the findings of this study are also examined. / Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.

This thesis examines the relationships between performance, evolution and network governance of international joint ventures from a dynamic perspective. This is accomplished with a two-stage examination of case studies on the China-New Zealand joint ventures in China, involving two case studies in the first stage and one case study in the second stage. The exploratory and narrative research aims to aid theory building in the area of assessment and determination for IJV performance. In an investigation of the case IJVs between the Chinese and New Zealand firms, the study results in the development of three conceptual models of IJV performance and network relationships, namely, the Static Goal Model, the Goal Succession Model, and the Goal Emergence Model. These conceptual models adopt goal attainment as the criterion for assessing UV performance, and address goal attainment from a dynamic perspective by using a network approach. The theoretical models are illustrated and supported by the empirical evidence from the longitudinal case studies. The conceptual models differ from existing models of IJV performance in a number of important aspects, and thus contribute to theory relating to IJV performance in the following ways. These models integrate the concepts from the three research areas of performance, governance structure and dynamic evolution into a conceptual framework addressing IJV performance. Two types (organisational and interpersonal) of IJV network relationships are identified, and complex multiple tiers of network relationships in each type and their influence on JV performance and evolution are discussed. The study highlights the influence of network relationships and their evolution on IJV performance by arguing that IJV performance hinges on whether a trend of institutionalising the mechanism of trust building and conflict resolution and of balancing the network relationships within the IJV arrangement emerges from the process of IJV dynamic evolution. This research was solely undertaken by the author for the purpose of a thesis submitted in fulfilling the requirements for the degree of Ph. D at the University of Auckland.

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This thesis studies the potential role of formal models in providing support to the strategic-level decision processes within an organisation. Strategic activities are defined as being essentially outward looking and primarily concerned with the positioning of the organisation in its environment in the long term. The types of interaction which are of interest at this level are defined and a general mathematical framework is developed to describe these processes. Optimisation techniques which are potentially useful in the screening and evaluation of decision alternatives are also discussed. A collection of mathematical techniques will, however, remain only of theoretical interest. To be of practical assistance in the decision-making process they must be accessible to the decision maker. This can only be accomplished by means of a properly constructed computer system. A brief review of decision support systems, the field of study which is concerned with the application of computers to the decision making process, is followed by an investigation into the requirements that a computer system should fulfil if it is to be successful as a strategic-level decision aid. An overview is then given of "Stratagem", a computer system designed and built to integrate the mathematical modelling framework and the decision support concepts. Finally, two different applications of Stratagem are described to illustrate its potential role in strategic-level decision processes.

The primary purpose of this research was to establish whether different perspectives on managerial effectiveness could be integrated to derive a common core of skills and characteristics. The different perspectives include management theory, strategic management and international business perspectives, and the competency-based approach to management effectiveness in the United Kingdom, The United States, and New Zealand. The research programme used a blend of quantitative and qualitative techniques. Each phase of research is supported by a review of the international literature and empirical field work conducted in New Zealand. A research tool relatively new to management research, Concept Mapping (Trochim, 1989a, 1989b), was to allow qualitative verbal statements to be described in terms of both quantitative and spatial relationships. A singular advantage of Concept Mapping is that collection and analysis of data is conducted without imposing research constructs at any stage, and a distillation of a core set of skills and characteristics can be derived through the reiterative process of Concept Mapping. In addition to Concept Mapping sessions with practicing managers and management educators and developers, two national surveys were conducted. In essence, the research builds a framework of the factors influencing managerial effectiveness through literature reviews and empirical work to generate a predictor variable list then tests that list for predictive strength. The primary outcomes of the research were: 1) the identification of a set of skills and characteristics that discriminate classes of effectiveness and ineffectiveness; and 2) the provision of a conceptual framework for analysing the similarities and differences between models of managerial effectiveness.

Whole document restricted, see Access Instructions file below for details of how to access the print copy. / The main aim of this study was to develop an understanding of current practice in New Zealand firms with regard to the management of managers, in particular the senior management team consisting of the CEO and direct reports. Although theory drawn from organizational economics, human resource development and strategic human resource management do provide useful perspectives, there is not, as yet, a well developed or coordinated theory on the management of managers. In this study a theoretical framework is developed, which identifies three broad goal domains for the management of managers and the key strategic tensions that firms may have to deal with in order to achieve their goals within these domains. The theoretical framework also proposes a taxonomy of company styles that describes different patterns of practice that might be expected in firms at various stages of development or in different contexts. The empirical research is centred on case studies of practice in four mid-sized New Zealand firms selected to represent a cross-section of established companies in different sectors and with some variation in patterns of ownership. The main findings are that current practice is largely consistent with the predictions of the theoretical framework and that the firms in the study face pronounced challenges with regard to the recruitment and retention of managers. In particular, the difficulties are compounded by the relatively shallow pool of talent available in a small economy, which makes it difficult for firms to establish robust managerial internal labour markets capable of supplying the bulk of the firms' senior managerial needs. Other findings of note are that there is little evidence of clearly perceived agency issues of the kind raised by the organizational economics literature and that processes and systems for identifying managerial talent in general, and for developing managers at the senior level, are not well developed. The broad conclusions are that firms in a small economy face particular difficulties in making the transition from an emergent stage to having fully evolved internal capabilities to bring managers with superior talent through to senior positions.

Whole document restricted, see Access Instructions file below for details of how to access the print copy. / The international human resource management models developed in the last decade pursue a contextual analysis of the standardisation (global integration) of multinational parent companies’ human resource management policies and practices and localisation (local differentiation) of host countries' practices. However, as a popular but unique international alliance, the process by which international joint ventures determined HRM policies and practices remained unclear. This research utilizes a resource dependency perspective to explore the company-specific determinants of Chinese-western joint ventures' HRM formation, by investigating JV parent companies HRM decision drivers in terms of contractual and non-contractual resources, expertise, consistency requirements, and internationalization experience. Through five in-depth case studies, this research demonstrated that HRM standardisation or localisation is a function of the IJV parents’ HR decision drivers. Additional variables, contextual factors and future research directions are discussed. Contributions of this research include a balanced consideration of both partners in the international joint venture to counter the ethnocentric lens of MNC-subsidiary relationships. The research recasts standardisation and localisation as a continuum that should express the interests of multiple partners, rather than the interests of one in a host country context.