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The purposes of this study were twofold: (1) to explore whether and how the self relationship orientations of attachment and equality described by Gilligan in her research on moral development are identifiable in a new domain--professionals' descriptions of organizational conflict; and (2) to produce a rich account of a conflict situation presented through the perspectives of a group of professionals engaged in a conflict in their organization. The participants are seven physicians involved in an on-going conflict over compensation in their organization. Qualitative research methods were used in collecting the data with an open-ended, in-depth interview conducted with each of the participants and analyzed using the protocol developed by Gilligan and her colleagues for reading narratives of conflict and choice. The study's research questions focus on: (1) whether the orientations of attachment and equality are identifiable in these narratives of conflict; and, (2) how these orientations shape the individual's definition of conflict, perceived stakes and aspirations for resolution. The findings support the extension of Gilligan's theory into the domain of organizational conflict. The data revealed that both relationship orientations were expressed by each individual, regardless of gender or position in the organization, in their constructions of this conflict. In these narratives, attachment was expressed as a desire for voice in the organization, as caring for others, as a view of self interdependent with others, and as a desire for maintaining relationships. Equality was framed as a balancing of scales, as objectified considerations, and as inequity of power, position and money. The data suggest that how individuals perceive themselves in relation to others influences how they construct a conflict and what they desire as resolution. In addition, the analysis reveals that context is critical to understanding an individual's construction of conflict and that not knowing is a critical concept in defining conflict in an organizational setting. This study carries implications for the extension of Gilligan's theory as well as for creating a more inclusive understanding of organizational conflict. It also has relevance for practitioners who are involved in intervening in organizational conflict.

This study is an investigation into the complexities of organizational commitment and its effect(s) on people's behaviors. In recent management literature, the concept of organizational commitment has developed along two separate lines of research. One holds commitment to be a set of positive attitudes towards an organization with motivational effects on performance and membership. The other views commitment as an outcome of "investments" in a relationship which retrospectively bind the individual to continued membership. Following an exploratory study into managers' views on "commitment", a measure of commitment to "goals" was added. All three types were compared to hypothesized outcome behaviors. An interactive effect between "calculative" commitment and "job alternatives" on "intent to remain" was included. A questionnaire was used to measure individual commitment on the three commitment scales and reported behavior on seven outcome variables. All ten measures were operationalized by combining existing measure with ideas drawn from the exploratory study. The questionnaire was administered to 250 people at two private companies. Factor analysis was conducted on related variable measures in order to examine discriminant validity. Correlation analysis, multiple regression, and LISREL analysis were conducted in order to test 26 separate hypotheses derived from two models. All three types of commitment were confirmed as separate constructs. As expected, both "affective commitment" and "goal commitment" appeared to have positive relationships with performance variables. Also as expected, "affective" and "calculative commitment" proved to be strong predictors of "intent to remain". "Affective commitment" also a predicted low "search behavior" and high "desire to remain". Contrary to expectations, the effect of "affective commitment" on performance variables was stronger than that of "goal commitment". Also contrary, "calculative commitment" had a positive relationship with "desire to remain" and low "search behavior". There was no evidence of an interactive effect between "calculative commitment" and "job alternatives". The results confirm the power of "affective commitment" as a motivating phenomenon and suggest that its power exceeds that of commitment to "goals". Results also suggest that "calculative commitment" is related to desire to remain a member, though not with a willingness to expend extra job effort.

Perceptions of people on-the-job as a function of smiling and gender were examined. Forty male and forty female undergraduate students viewed slides of same- and mixed-gender confederate dyads taken at their places of work. On each slide, the face of only one member of the dyad could be seen. The visible face was smiling in half of the slides and not smiling in the other half. After viewing each slide, subjects completed questionnaires in which they rated confederates' ability, affect, and presumed job level. Contrary to expectations, smiling increased evaluations of confederates' ability. In accordance with expectations, gender was an influential variable; males were seen as more able and as holding higher level jobs than females overall, and females were judged to be more considerate than males. Further, interactions and post hoc analyses of the means indicated that evaluations of and by females were more influenced by smiling than evaluations of and by males were.

Alasdair MacIntyre (1984) asserts that the ethical systems of the Enlightenment (formalism and utilitarianism) have failed to provide a meaningful definition of "good." Lacking such a definition, business managers have no internal standards by which they can morally evaluate their roles or acts. MacIntyre goes on to claim that managers have substituted external measures of "winning" or "effectiveness" for any internal concept of good. He supports a return to the Aristotelian notion of virtue or "excellence." Such a system of virtue-based ethics depends on an interrelationship of the community, one's roles in that community, and the virtues one needs to perform that role well. This study presents MacIntyre's position, stressing its implications for business ethics. It presents an empirical study to determine if MacIntyre's assertions about the existence of an excellence/effectiveness dichotomy can be supported. I use a scenario to present an ethically ambiguous situation which reflects MacIntyre's dichotomy. A sample of 25 practicing managers taking MBA courses at different New England schools participated in this study. After these respondents read the scenario and decided upon courses of action, they then performed a Q sort to prioritize their reasons for deciding as they did. The hypothesis that an excellence/effectiveness dichotomy exists for managerial priorities was supported. Factor analysis revealed four factors which accounted for 68.3% of the total variance. Eighteen of the 25 respondents clustered on a factor which strongly reflected an ethic of emphasis on excellence while the other 7 clustered on three factors which expressed various versions of MacIntyre's concept of an ethic of effectiveness. I interpret these four factors to see what they reveal about the subjective priorities of the respondents. Beyond this core hypothesis, the following research question was asked: What demographic and attitudinal variables might be associated with the respondents who report an excellent or effective orientation? Using Chi-square tests, I found that "effective" managers were more likely than "excellent" managers to be in a marketing class, to choose an aggressive marketing response to the scenario's situation, and to be younger. This study concludes with some recommendations for theoretical development and some avenues for future research.