|
ADVANCED
MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
VOLUME
65 NUMBER 1 WINTER 2000
Return
to AMJ Contents
Free Trade in South
America: A Tale of Two Countries' Economic Growth (or Decline?)
Although Argentina and Colombia
both joined trade blocs (the Mercosur and the Andean Pact, respectively),
which encourage group trade in integration and open-door policies toward
countries outside their bloc, in fact progress toward economic improvement
has been fitful. Obstacles include, a desire by corporations to
retain traditional protections from competition, resentment by business
and labor unions of foreign investment, and
the higher unemployment that may accompany privatization
programs, at least in the short run. It remains to be seen whether
these countries will stay on the free trade path or become more insular in
their blocs.
Jane H. Stanford
The Dual Loyalty
Dilemma for HR Managers Under Title VII Compliance
Responsibility for
compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which aims to
erase employment discrimination, was intended to rest with
employers. The Act prohibits employers from retaliating against
employees who allege discrimination. However, the courts exclude
managers, particularly HR managers, from this retaliation protection, so
that HR managers are unlikely to undertake employee advocacy. Clearly, the
courts need to change their interpretation in order to improve corporate
internal compliance efforts.
Jeffry A. Mello
Navigating the External
Environment Through a Market Orientation
It seems to go without
saying that companies today will not survive
much less prosper without a market orientation. But that may not be
enough. What kind of orientation do they have? Are they focused on
their competition or their customers?
A study of 159 hospitals in the U.S. Showed that those with a competitor
focus (48%) had higher return on capital, while those
focused on customers (29%) were more successful with new services and in
retaining patients. Groups with no clear focus performed poorest.
Kamalesh Kumar
and Ram Subramanian
Technology at the Top:
Developing Strategic Planning Support Systems
Among all the areas of
business that have benefited from the application of new technologies,
strategic planning and decision-making functions have been notably
absent. One reason has been the qualitative and subjective nature of these processes and the reluctance of
executives to learn how to harness information technology. But all
that is changing, particularly with group support system (GSS) software,
which facilitates information and opinion gathering, organization, and
analysis; can preserve anonymity to dilute
office politics; and is user friendly to boot.
Anthony M.
Townsend, Samuel M. DeMarie, Anthony R. Hendrickson, and Michael E.
Whitman
Wrongful Termination and
the Expanding Public Policy Exception: Implications and Advice
When employers dismiss
an "at-will" employee, there is always the chance that the
employee will bring suit for wrongful termination. However, until
recently, tort damages (compensatory and punitive) were rarely awarded
even if wrongful termination was proved unless the employer violated
public policy. In 1998, California joined a handful of other state
courts in expanding the potential for such
costly damages by broadening the public policy exception
(currently recognized by 42 states). Thus, without violating either
statutory or constitutional provisions of the law, but only by violating
administrative regulations of a federal agency, a company may violate
public policy. Human resources managers need to move aggressively
within their organizations to minimize potential liability for dismissals
that may be held to violate public policy under current (or future) expanded
definitions.
Susan Gardner,
Glenn M. Gomes, and James F. Morgan
The Project Life Cycle:
The Termination Phase
Much has been written
about how to organize projects and make them succeed, but relatively
little attention has been paid to their termination -- an ine3vitable
process whether they have succeeded or failed. Knowing when and
deciding how to end a project can have profound effects on an organization
and its future projects. Managers would do well to become familiar
with monitoring and analytical tools that can help with these decisions
and also to be sensitive to the needs of employees when projects end.
Amir M. Hormozi,
Robert D. McMinn, and Okeleke Nzeogwu
|
