Motivation is an important factor that distinguishes those nascent entrepreneurs who make progress towards an operating venture from those who do not. Based on Vroom’s (Work and motivation, 1964) expectancy theory, we predict that startup-specific instrumentality, valence and expectancy are key components of entrepreneurial motivation and closely related to those intentions, efforts, and behaviors that will eventually lead to operating a firm. Hypotheses are tested using data from the first Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics I. Our results show that valence is a multidimensional construct, and that various types of valence are related to different intent and behavioral outcomes. All types of valence, instrumentality, and expectancy are related to a nascent entrepreneur’s intended effort level in a cross-section of data, and over time, intended effort is positively related to operative firm status. Overall, our results suggest that expectancy theory holds promise for research on nascent entrepreneurs’ motivation.

Understanding institutional systems is critical for the advancement of women's participation in leadership in varying contexts. A unique and global analysis of the contextual factors that affect women in political leadership, this paper extends prior research in the field. This is a cross-country study where we ask, “How are societal-level institutional forces related to women's participation in political leadership?” We collected data from 8 secondary sources on 181 countries and conducted linear regression analyses with six institutional influences: the business environment, societal development, the economic environment, physical and technological infrastructure, political freedom, and culture. Results indicate that to increase the political leadership participation of women, we need to evaluate the following: customs and trade regulations, graft, the gender gap in political empowerment, public spending on education, the economic viability of the country, access to power and the internet, political freedom, and cultural variables like performance orientation, collectivism, and power distance.

IntroductionFor several decades, researchers have attempted to identify individual differences that distinguish entrepreneurs from their less counterparts in the population so as to classify and understand the nature of the entrepreneurial personality. Constructs in the psychological and cognitive domains have been most often invoked in the quest to find correlates with behavior (Chen, Greene, & Crick, 1998; Gatewood, Shaver, & Gartner, 1995; Mitchell, Smith, Morse, & Seawright, 2002; Shaver, Gartner, Crosby, Bakalarova, & Gatewood, 2001). In addition, there has been an attempt to study other common characteristics of entrepreneurs such as certain demographic variables in pursuit of the idea that higher frequency of such variables among entrepreneurs might lead to identifying a profile of those most likely to engage in activity (Littunen, 2000; Reynolds, Carter, Gartner, Greene, & Cox, 2002). Demographic characteristics such as gender and ethnicity that might be more common among nascent entrepreneurs than what would be expected in the general population are examples of such characteristics that have been considered in the attempt to better understand propensity.Nevertheless, the notion seems intuitively evident that individuals should be distinguishable by virtue of certain psycho-social characteristics. Most notably, the locus of control construct is based on the presumption that a cognitive continuum exists such that some individuals have a strong belief in personal control of their own destiny (i.e. internal locus of control) while others tend to have greater belief in the power of luck or fate in impacting the events that shape their lives (Rotter, 1966).The purpose of this study is to provide greater insight with regard to the relevance to the locus of control construct in understanding individual differences in behavior. Due to disparities in the literature regarding locus of control, we reanalyzed the PSED dataset and offer an alternative view of the locus variable in order to determine whether domain specific beliefs about personal control of outcomes predicts behavior. If locus of control can explain some of the variance in behavior, it has value for the development of potential entrepreneurs with regards to their expectations about their personal ability to successfully exact outcomes and enables us to better understand one of the cognitive components of personality that impacts the tendency to engage in new ventures (i.e. Kickul, Gundry, Barbosa, & Whitcanack, 2009). Further this study considers other individual differences (i.e. gender and ethnicity) which may interact with locus of control in predicting behavior. If in fact gender differences and ethnicity differences in the importance of strong belief in personal control of outcomes is found among female and minority entrepreneurs, results might explain differences in activity among members of these groups as compared to males and non-minority entrepreneurs. Further, such results would indicate an even greater need to assist potential female and minority entrepreneurs in gaining a sense of self efficacy within the domain. Finally, the importance of locus construct within the field of entrepreneurship is valuable in that it may lend to a better understanding of the continuation of firms in early years of the start-up process when most nascent entrepreneurs face the biggest challenges. If an internal disposition toward outcomes is characteristic of successful entrepreneurs, the usefulness of the locus construct becomes all the more apparent.Locus of Control & EntrepreneursIn prior studies examining locus of control in the workplace, internal locus has been reported to be positively related to favorable work outcomes, such as positive task and social experiences, greater job motivation (Ng, Eby, & Sorensen, 2006), decision making (Hendricks, Vlek, & Calje, 1992; Kaplan, Reneau, & Whitecotton, 2001), satisfaction (Judge & Bono, 2001; Kimmons & Greenhaus, 1976), goaldifficulty and self-ratings of performance (Bigoness, Keef, & duBose, 1988), and to have a significant impact on venture growth rate (Lee & Tsang, 2001). …

Attempts to improve the level of customer service delivered have resulted in an increased use of technology in the customer service environment. Customer-contact employees are expected to use computers to help them in providing better service encounters for customers. This research study done in a business-to-business environment explored the effects of customer-contact employees' computer self efficacy and positive mood on in-role customer service, extra-role customer service and organization citizenship. It also examined the relationship of customer service to customer satisfaction and customer delight. Research questions were analyzed using descriptive statistics, frequency distributions, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. Results indicated that computer self efficacy had a greater impact on extra-role customer service than it did on in-role customer service. Positive mood had a positive moderating influence on extra-role customer service but not on in-role customer service. There was a significant relationship between in-role customer service and customer satisfaction but not between extra-role customer service and customer satisfaction. There was no significant relationship between in-role customer service and customer delight nor between extra-role customer service and customer delight. There was a statistically greater positive relationship between joy experienced by clients and customer delight than between pleasant surprise and customer delight. This study demonstrated the importance of facilitating customer-contact employee positive mood on the job in order to improve the level of extra-role customer service delivered. It also showed that increasing the level of customer service does not necessarily lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction.

There are many opportunities for failure when designing information systems. Most of the IS research investigating this area has concentrated on problems related to organizational environment, informational characteristics, or physical software design. Little attention has been given to the subconscious cognitive biases which can impact the manner in which information systems are developed and utilized. While it is recognized that elimination of these biases is neither feasible nor altogether desirable, it is further acknowledged that ignoring them can lead to an exacerbation of their undesirable effects. This paper provides a general framework to identify where system designer and decision maker biases are likely to occur, and suggests some moderating measures which might be taken to alleviate some of the potentially harmful effects of these biases.

Business students in two universities were queried regarding their willingness to accept international postings. In contrast to Adler's (1984a, 1986) findings, gender was a significant predictor when specific referent countries were identified. Country characteristics considered here included cultural distance (or the difference between the cultures of the respondent's home country and that of the referent location) and the levels of development and political risk in the referent country. Differences among countries on indices of cultural distance and human development explained substantial variance among males and females in their willingness to accept international assignments. Political risk, however, was not significant in explaining these gender differences.

Research in Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is at critical cross-roads today, with increased emphasis on developing theories, and testing relationships among organizational strategy, SHRM and firm performance. However, there has been no systematic effort to develop a measurement system for SHRM or its derivative constructs embedded in the broader theoretical network. The results of a research study aimed at conceptualizing, developing, and validating a measurement scheme for the HR strategy construct, termed Strategic Orientation to HRM are reported. Confirmatory factor analysis of the data provided support for the dimensionality and validity of the measurement scheme. A second-order factor provided support for the chosen definition of SHRM as the pattern in a stream of HR decisions.

Awareness that questionnaire ratings of leaders may be subject to systematic errors has led to increased emphasis on understanding the perceptual/memory processes underlying leadership ratings. Subordinates may judge leadership effectiveness based on their implicit leadership theories. Folk theories of leadership refers to these deeply felt and idiosyncratic theories of leadership behaviors. Borman's (1983) "Trait-Implication Procedure" based on Kelly's Repertory Grid technique was used to examine the leadership categorization schema of ten senior executives from a wide variety of organizations. Results indicate some association between the folk theories of leadership and the background/experience of the respondent. Implications of these findings for future research and practice are discussed.

Sullivan's [1994] suggestion that an index measure of the internationalization construct is superior to single-variable measures is critiqued on psychometric, content validity, criterion validity, reliability, and utilitarian grounds. We argue that internationalization is more complex than envisioned by this index and suggest that further refinement of the construct is necessary before constructing indices.

This study compared data on existing positions in a wide variety of occupational categories and corresponding normative data on career interests in those same occupations. Data was based on U.S. labor statistics and Holland typology norms for career interest categories using separate analyses for samples of high school students and working adults. For the adult sample, separate analyses were conducted for men and women. Results of loglinear analyses indicated an overall discrepancy between existing positions and normative interests. Certain occupational categories exhibited high normative interest but a low number of existing positions, while other occupational areas exhibited low normative interest relative to the number of existing positions. Implications are discussed for development of career interests that will reduce this discrepancy.

A meta-analysis of the transformational leadership literature using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was conducted to (a) integrate the diverse findings, (b) compute an average effect for different leadership scales, and (c) probe for certain moderators of the leadership style-effectiveness relationship. Transformational leadership scales of the MLQ were found to be reliable and significantly predicted work unit effectiveness across the set of studies examined. Moderator variables suggested by the literature, including level of the leader (high or low), organizational setting (public or private), and operationalization of the criterion measure (subordinate perceptions or organizational measures of effectiveness), were empirically tested and found to have differential impacts on correlations between leader style and effectiveness. The operationalization of the criterion variable emerged as a powerful moderator. Unanticipated findings for type of organization and level of the leader are explored regarding the frequency of transformational leader behavior and relationships with effectiveness.

This study examines the influence of ethical fit on employee attitudes and intentions to turnover. The results of this investigation provides support for the conjecture that ethical work climate is an important variable in the study of person-organization fit. Ethical fit was found to be significantly related to turnover intentions, continuance commitment, and affective commitment, but not to job satisfaction. Results are discussed in regard to some of the affective and cognitive distinctions among satisfaction, commitment, and behavioral intentions.

This paper discusses the use of drug screening for employee selection decisions. Common methods of drug screening are described, and a recent study of drug screening accuracy is summarized. It is argued that drug screening is subject to the same standards as are other selection procedures, and that human resource professionals must assume responsibility for understanding the potential problems associated with drug screening. Issues relevant to determining the benefits of drug screening are discussed, and an illustration of the impact of drug screening on decision accuracy is presented. It is suggested that, in many instances, the value of drug screening in the selection process may be low enough to warrant serious concern. Implications for human resource research and practice are noted.