American Journal of Management

Job Satisfaction and Generational Difference: The Shifting Nature of the Workplace

Maureen Snow Andrade, Jonathan H. Westover, Silvia Clark, Angela Schill — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0400

This study investigates job satisfaction across different generational cohorts within the workforce. It explores how intrinsic rewards, extrinsic rewards, work relations, work-life balance, and employee activation variables influence job satisfaction among these groups. A web-based survey was conducted across the United States, involving 566 participants. Regression analysis was used to identify significant predictors of job satisfaction for each generational cohort. The results revealed that interesting work significantly predicts job satisfaction for all generations, with the strongest impact observed in Generation Z. baby boomers, Generation X, and millennials reported high levels of satisfaction with pay and relations with management. The study highlights distinct generational preferences, contributing to a nuanced understanding of job satisfaction drivers.

Why Are so Many Remote Workers Reluctant to Endure the Politics of Organizational Culture?

Sandylane Y. Oquendo, Reginald L. Bell — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0400

A recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article dated May 31, 2023, titled “Why Workers Aren’t Coming Back to the Office Full-Time” (Smith & Carpenter, 2023), examines reasons employees prefer remote work, such as rising childcare costs, avoidance of micro-management, low interpersonal conflict, wardrobe requirements, food costs, commute time, and parking expenses. The WSJ has recently published multiple articles on remote work, including one on January 11, 2024, stating “Remote Workers Are Losing Out on Promotions, New Data Shows” (Chen, 2024), which claims remote workers were promoted 31% less frequently than office workers. Understanding the politics of organizational culture related to remote work preferences is crucial. We conducted a literature review using Google Scholar with key terms “remote work” and “office” OR “politics” OR “culture” from 2019 to 2023, including the COVID-19 pandemic period. There is a pressing need for a cultural shift within organizations to adopt remote and hybrid work models, driven by professionals' increasing demand for remote work options.

Assessing Organizational Culture in Real Estate Brokerages: Links to Real Estate Agent Success

Dean A. Koutroumanis, Stephanie J. Thomason — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Real estate agents interested in maximizing their sales commissions may consider the impact of their brokerage firm’s organizational culture on their incomes. They may also seek to understand whether the size and age of their brokerage firms correspond to four popular organizational culture types: clan, hierarchical, market, and adhocracy. A survey distributed to United States real estate agents was analyzed to examine these relationships. The results supported hypotheses indicating that clan cultures were dominant in small firms with 20 or fewer employees and in younger firms under six years, while market cultures prevailed in larger and older firms. Additionally, market and adhocracy cultures correlated positively with brokerage firm size, and adhocracy cultures were more prevalent in younger firms. Real estate commissions were highest in companies with market culture features, followed by clan, adhocracy, and hierarchical cultures. Linear regressions and bootstrapping further supported a negative relationship between hierarchical cultures and real estate commissions and a negative relationship between adhocracy cultures and the age of firms. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Beyond Cost Benefit Analysis: A SAM-CGE Model for Project-Program Evaluation

Pasquale Lucio Scandizzo, Daniele Cufari — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0400

This paper presents a new methodology of project evaluation based on the use of a social accounting matrix (SAM). The proposed method considers both the project as an autonomous shock and an endogenous activity, thus capturing both the demand and the supply side effects that can be associated with investment. In assessing project impact, these two effects have to be considered complementary, even though they may be combined in different proportions and with different strength in different practical cases. The autonomous dimension is however a distinctive feature of a project as an economic concept. Its consideration has important implications for assessing a project’s structural impact as an activity ranging from complete isolation to total embeddedness in the economic system. The paper also shows that both in its construction and operational phases the project displays structural effects on the economic system and that these effects may be sizable and partly offsetting the project’s direct impact on demand and supply variables.

Middle Manager Resistance to, or Acceptance of Organisational Change in the Australian Public Service

Julia Ashton-Sayers, Yvonne Brunetto — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0400

This paper explores the impact of policy on organisational factors (leadership and organisational culture) and managers’ personal attributes (such as psychological capital) on their resistance to or acceptance of change. This qualitative study utilised interviews with senior leaders and focus groups with middle managers. The findings identified the impact of senior leadership and managers’ Psychological Capital on their acceptance of change. This paper identified the importance of understanding the drivers of change on managers during the change process in two public sector organisations. This paper found that the implementation of NPM reforms and austerity funding affected how managers’ interpreted new policies, which impacted their acceptance of change.

Life Science Case Examples Using the Quick Screen Tool for Opportunity Assessments

Ryan Friedrich, Joon Seok Lee, Rayan K. Salih, Arthur A. Boni, John M. York — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Innovations are plentiful in the biopharma landscape but often fail to reach commercialization. This paper addresses the research question: How can a tool efficiently assess life science opportunities to go to market successfully? This paper analyzes three case studies using the quick screen tool, culminating in a scorecard that reflects commercial potential and readiness. COASTAR’s score of 1.95 represents strong potential despite lacking clinical validation, while JD Bioscience’s score of 2.87 reflects unique attributes and developmental risks. Reviva’s score of 3.08 highlights strong intellectual property and competitive challenges. The quick screen tool simplifies decision-making, with simple rules enhancing heuristic strategies.