Note:

Ip, Chung Yan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-153). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii / CONTENTS --- p.v / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Empirical Puzzle and Theoretical Questions / Chapter 1.2 --- Casing a Case: The Life Insurance Industry as a Critical Case to Study the Labor Process in Interactive Service Work Organizations / Chapter 1.3 --- Literature Review and Theoretical Framework / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Marxist Labor Process Theories / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Labor Control in Interactive Service Work / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Emotional Labor in Interactive Service Work Context / Chapter 1.3.4 --- The Deterministic Description on the Negative Consequences of Emotional Labor / Chapter 1.3.5 --- The Missing Subject in Labor Process Theory / Chapter 1.3.6 --- "Gender, Work, and Identity" / Chapter 1.4 --- The Research / Chapter 1.5 --- Overview of the Thesis / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- An Overview of Life Insurance Industry in Hong Kong --- p.27 / Chapter 2.1 --- Life Insurance Market in Hong Kong / Chapter 2.2 --- Organizational Structure: Agency Management System / Chapter 2.3 --- The Commission System / Chapter 2.4 --- Nature of Services and Public Perception of the Industry / Chapter 2.5 --- My Cases: Mutual Trust and Synergy / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- Ideological Control in Life Insurance Industry --- p.38 / Chapter 3.1 --- Comprehensive and Ail-Round Training: Teaching Practical Sales Techniques and Cultivating a Mind of Success / Chapter 3.2 --- Money and Motivation: Transforming Labor Power into Labor / Chapter 3.3 --- Dedicatory Ethics: Serving Your Clients and Contributing the Society / Chapter 3.4 --- Missionary Sales Personnel: Maximizing Exploitation and Minimizing Resistance / Chapter 3.5 --- Entrepreneurial Spirit and Partnership Metaphor: Securing Profits and Obscuring Control / Chapter 3.6 --- Altruistic Work Culture: Releasing Work Stress and Retaining Agents / Chapter 3.7 --- """Love, Care, and Concern"": Eliciting Cooperation and Generating Consent" / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- Managing the Selves in Selling Life Insurance --- p.76 / Chapter 4.1 --- Impression Management or Surface Acting: Doing Trust- and Relationship-Building Activities / Chapter 4.2 --- Deep Acting: Selling Life Insurance plus Selling One's Soul / Chapter 4.3 --- "Managed Feelings: Commercialization of Selves, Human Relations, and Interpersonal Trust" / Chapter 4.4 --- "Alienation, Burnout, and Emotional Exhaustion: Understanding the Negative Consequences of Emotional Labor" / Chapter 4.5 --- Emotions in Relational Service Exchanges: Refining the Concept of Emotional Labor / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- Searching for the Subjectivities of Life Insurance Agents --- p.106 / Chapter 5.1 --- Bringing the Subject Back In: Workers as Victims versus Workers as Actors / Chapter 5.2 --- Shifting Alliances: The Three-Way Dynamics of Control / Chapter 5.3 --- Maintaining a Sense of Self: Gendered Strategies of Resistance / Chapter 5.4 --- Job Satisfaction: Gendering Consent and Autonomy / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- Theorizing the Labor Process in Service Work Organizations --- p.134 / Chapter 6.1 --- Motivations in Work Organizations / Chapter 6.2 --- Three-Way Dynamics of Control / Chapter 6.3 --- A New Form of Emotional Labor / Chapter 6.4 --- Subjects in the Workplace / Chapter 6.5 --- Limitations of the Present Study / Appendix 1 List of Authorized Life Insurers in Hong Kong --- p.141 / Appendix 2 Career Path in Life Insurance Industry --- p.143 / Appendix 3 Personal Information of Informants --- p.144 / Bibliography --- p.146

The interaction of the personnel boundary in inter-firm relationship management is viewed as particularistic in China instead of universalistic as in many Western cultures. Specifically, guanxi networks, the Chinese system of inter-personal relationship, have strong strategic implications for business interactions. The practices of guanxi and the social norms associated with guanxi are complicated. On the one hand, guanxi practices can be traced back to Confucianism; on the other hand, guanxi???s significance has been changing in line with China???s economic reform. In this research, we have attempted to find what presently constitutes good guanxi in inter-firm relationship management against this dynamic backdrop. Additionally, from the transaction cost economies (TCE) perspective, we provide an analysis that guanxi-based business practices offer transaction cost advantages as an alternative to market-based practices. We argue that such advantages partially result from guanxi???s effect on the reduction of opportunist behaviors. Backed up by 97 questionnaire responses from firms in Shanghai and 15 semi-structured interviews, our study confirms that, in inter-firm relationships management, trust, affection and long-term orientation are features of close guanxi. To enhance guanxi quality, familiarization by self-disclosure and the presence of mutual benefits are also necessary, providing practical implications for business practitioners in China. Our study also indicates that guanxi business partners are expected to be obligational in business and flexible in contingencies. Opportunistic behaviors can be mitigated by adopting guanxi practices, supporting the TCE logic. In an absence of a rationalized legal system, guanxi may fill the gaps in the enforcement of the written contract.N

<p>In today&rsquo;s global, dynamic, and uncertain business environments, the need for developing leaders and managerial talent throughout the organization is increasingly evident, especially for multinational companies. While the important role of job assignment for leadership and managerial development has been well recognized, there is no aligned, comprehensive global leadership development model. This study focused on understanding leadership development assignments and experiences of successful Japanese managers who are functioning in for-profit multi-national Western companies in the consumer products industry in Japan. A sequential explanatory mixed method design incorporating phenomenological interviews was used to first explore work-related strengths and developmental experiences and key competencies of 24 high performing managers working in the consumer goods industry, representing three different companies. 6 individuals were selected to participate in the phenomenological interview process. </p><p> Key findings from phase 1 research among 24 respondents are (a) while challenging job is the most effective method for leadership development, that alone cannot always develop effective leaders, and (b) effective leaders have more number of challenging assignments and work experiences. Phase 2 research, phenomenological interview was conducted among 6 most effective leaders selected based upon 360 feedback survey results. There were 3 types of developmental experiences those effective leaders found very effective: (a) business challenges, (b) interpersonal and cultural challenges, and (c) developmental relationship. Key findings from phase 2 research are (d) effective leaders have experienced dual challenges from key developmental work&mdash;both business challenge and interpersonal (or cultural) challenges, (e) they possess both business skills and interpersonal skills, (f) they have learned and strengthened both business management and interpersonal skills through overcoming challenges on the job, (g) they have a positive and open mindset and positive attitudes toward new challenging, learning and achievements, (h) they have learned through self reflection during and after developmental experiences. Of note, all of them have had a significant learning and influence from their boss(es) in their career. </p><p> Incorporating the findings from this research, I recommend a systemic leadership development approach that integrates challenging assignments with reflective learning, skill development supports, 360 feedback, and thorough performance review system, involving boss. </p>

<p> Women make up half of the workforce in America. Despite this, in traditional organizations, leadership roles are overwhelmingly held by men. Of the small number of African American women employed in the workforce, 30% hold professional or management positions and women in general are more educated, qualified and transformational than their male counterparts. Despite this, African American female leaders experience organizational barriers, social labeling, and biases driven by their intersectionality that hinders their career opportunities. Black feminist research suggests that social norms place women in subordinate roles in comparison to men in society. African American women face such social barriers at a higher level given additional societal hardships driven by racism. Literature on African American female leadership outlines the barriers, but there is a limited amount of literature that seeks to appreciate Black female leadership as it relates to their style characteristics, expertise, and experience within their organizations regarding their leadership styles and the resilience required to maintain success in their positions. In order to add to the body of research in this area, this study explored the leadership characteristics, barriers, success strategies and resilience of African American female leaders through the lenses of these women. This study assessed leadership and resilience in African American females who hold higher level positions of leadership in traditionally White, male dominated industries. The purpose of the research was to identify those factors that increase achievement, advancement and success in high ranking positions despite the documented adversities associated with African American women, who hold leadership positions. The goal was to provide a guide for women who aspire towards entering particular fields and holding similar leadership positions and to provide an outline of their success in order to offer a blueprint for organizational strategies to promote diversity and advancement for women. </p>

<p>Organized religion plays a significant, even defining role for millions of people worldwide. Recently however, churchgoers, pastors, and denominational hierarchies are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with clergy leadership effectiveness and pastors are experiencing higher than expected levels of burnout and emotional exhaustion. Leadership effectiveness is often reported as one of the least satisfying aspects of working in faith-based settings and religious congregations. Clergy and congregational leaders need a leadership paradigm that provides a framework for leading in highly relational contexts such as religious organizations that also addresses the leaders need to maintain emotional health and psychological well-being. The present study utilized a mixed-methods approach to examine the relationship between self-differentiation and leadership effectiveness among 97 pastors in leadership positions from a variety of Christian religious denominations. Participants completed the Differentiation of Self and Role for Clergy and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Results of this study suggest that pastors performing in leadership roles have higher levels of self-differentiation than pastors performing in non-leadership roles and that self-differentiation was moderately and positively correlated with the transformational leadership components of intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration. For the qualitative portion of the study, fourteen pastors participated in telephone interviews about their experiences of self-differentiation in leadership roles. Utilizing thematic analysis, nine distinct themes emerged and identified as precipitating event, &ldquo;aha&rdquo; moment, self-regulating, systemic awareness, self-in-role, take a stand, use of self-in-system, lead through connection and inclusion, and followers first. Qualitative results suggest that higher self-differentiation is related to pastors&rsquo; use of self-regulation of emotion, experiential learning, awareness of social context, and willingness to accept risk in exchange for progress. Higher levels of self-differentiation may contribute to the leaders ability to develop and maintain emotional connections with followers during times of conflict or disagreement. </p>

<p> The multi-vendor consulting model is a transorganizational development topic that has gained importance as more organizations strategically source professional services, such as management consulting. Multi-vendor consulting models often require competitors to collaborate on service delivery, fostering coopetitive relationships. This research study acknowledged the paradoxical nature of coopetition and aimed to understand more fully the frequency of coopetition in the management consulting industry, the perceived benefits and risks of coopetition, and the key factors that motivate management consulting leaders to collaborate with their competitors on client engagements. The study revealed that there is a deeper level of motivation for management consulting leaders who chose to collaborate with competitors: the fear of missing out on current and future opportunities and the desire to develop stronger relationships in both their vertical and horizontal networks.</p>

<p> Leadership theories provide guidance, methods, and models for effective leaders. Many leadership theories, such as transactional, transformational, and servant leadership, identify a set of leadership traits or behaviors an effective leader possesses. Robert Greenleaf's (1970) servant leadership theory and characteristics have endured for decades. Greenleaf's servant leadership theory has resurfaced and grown in popularity as evidence by his work being widely cited in new publications, leadership journals, and articles on servant leadership (e.g., Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, and Peter Senge). </p><p> A number of authors have studied Eunice Kennedy Shriver and written about her leadership style, but no one to date has conducted an analysis to determine if her characteristics match those of a servant leader. This dissertation was a historical case study to recognize the leadership of Shriver and analyze the supposition that she was a servant leader. Shriver had the vision that became the Special Olympics movement that transformed the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and their families and communities worldwide. The fact that under the leadership of Shriver the Special Olympics achieved global success makes a study of her leadership style significant to the field of organizational leadership. </p><p> This qualitative case study sought to determine if leadership behaviors of the research subject, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, exemplified the 10 characteristics (behaviors) of servant leadership as defined by Robert Greenleaf (1970) and Larry Spears (1995, 1998b). </p><p> Servant leadership is the antithesis of leadership in much of corporate America. For decades, American managers of large corporations and the military have applied an autocratic (command and control) style of leadership. Servant leaders are selfless and seek to invest in the people they lead by genuinely caring about them and their success. They understand that success is realized through the efforts of their followers over selfinterest (Greenleaf, 1977). </p><p> Leadership can be a company's competitive advantage, and servant leadership can be the key element. Laub (1999) and Parolini (2004) found that organizations that fostered a servant leadership culture capitalized on the skills of both their employees and their leaders, which led to greater employee engagement and profitability (Block, 1993; Wheatley, 2005).</p>

<p> Community college student support services are an important aspect of success among community college students. Theoretical and empirical models of organizational politics and withdrawal guided the expectation that community college employees who perceive their organizations as political may withdrawal from their organization, diminishing the services delivered to students at the institution. A multisite cross-sectional survey design was utilized to gather quantitative data via Survey Monkey from national professional organizations. Two-hundred seventeen usable surveys from community college administrators (executive, mid-level managers, and administrators) were gathered. Data were analyzed via correlation and regression models to examine if political skill reduced or moderated the relationship between perception of organizational politics and work withdrawal behaviors. Employee political skill was a partial antidote, reducing the effect of organizational politics on withdrawal behaviors, but there was not a significant interaction moderating effect. Recommendations include political skill training for community college administrators as part of their professional development program, as well as including graduate education components and new employee orientation programs. Such training could lead to positive social change in community college settings by increasing levels of service and job satisfaction and reducing attrition among community college administrators, leading to higher levels of community college student satisfaction and graduation rates.</p>

<p> Existing research has shown that gender stereotypes regarding characteristics of men and women influence others' perceptions of their fit with organizational roles, including leadership roles (cf. Eagly &amp; Karau, 2002). However, little research has examined stereotypes regarding other demographic characteristics (e.g., race, sexual orientation) and how they may interact with gender stereotypes to influence leadership evaluations. The current study examined whether leader gender and sexual orientation interact to influence subordinates' evaluations of leader effectiveness, likability, and boss desirability using an experimental design. In addition to examining whether leader gender and sexual orientation interacted to predict leader evaluations, the present study also examined why, or the mechanisms, that underlie these effects. Specifically, the present study evaluated two potential mediators: (1) role incongruity, perceptions that there is a misfit between the characteristics of an individual and the role on communality (or warmth) and agency (or competence) and (2) moral outrage, affective reactions of contempt, anger, and disgust toward individuals and/or groups who violate societal mores. Results indicate that gay and lesbian leaders were perceived to be less agentic and more communal than their heterosexual counterparts, though leader gender and sexual orientation did not interact in predicting perceptions of agency and communality. Furthermore, in the full sample, leader gender and sexual orientation interacted to predict moral outrage. When examining moderated mediation analyses, moral outrage mediated the relationship between leader demographics and evaluations of leader effectiveness (but not leader likability) for gay male leaders. Results from the present study helps to inform researchers and practitioners regarding how and why stereotypes influence others' leadership evaluations and suggest entry points for interventions designed to minimize discrimination against sexual minorities in organizational settings.</p>