Call for Papers

Management behaviour represents an important and often examined topic in management literature. Numerous behavioural studies have explored management behaviour from different perspectives. They have addressed issues such as the behaviour of managers and their leadership styles (Brodbeck et al., 2000; Egri & Herman, 2000; House et al., 2004), the role of values for management behaviour (Hambrick & Mason, 1984; Cater et al., 2013; Lang et al., 2013), and the ethical and social responsibility of managers (Schultz et al., 2005; Crane & Matten, 2010). However, the greatest proportion of behavioural studies has focused on examination of management behaviour in well-developed economies. Notwithstanding the numerous important contributions made by this these studies, research focusing on management behaviour in countries in transition is still in deficit and a comprehensive insight into management behaviour in those regions is lacking. It is important to study differences of managerial behaviour in efficiency and knowledge-driven economies and at different stages of transition.
 
Given the particular setting of countries in transition in Eastern Europe – and in many other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America that provide a highly complex background for organizations and managers – a strong need for more in-depth research is fairly obvious. The necessity for this research is even stressed when taking into account (a) the growing power of those regions in the world economy, (b) the interesting transfers this kind of research may provide for topics such as management in turbulent environments or management of organizational transformations, and (c) the high expectation to gain some challenging and surprising findings related to patterns of managerial behaviour in those particular contexts.
 
A key aim of this sub-theme is to examine management behaviour in countries in transition, where we strive for the bigger picture and place examination of management behaviour in countries in transition into a wider context. Management behaviour in countries in transition may be the result of a synergetic set of: (1) external factors from the organizational environment, like actions of the European Union, OECD and IMF, and changes in the international environment, political situations, global crises (Deming, 1982; Mrak et al., 2004), etc.; (2) country-level factors such as prevalent values and culture, the country’s overall situation and environment characteristics, its regulations, the development of the country’s management force, its legacy of previous systems in terms of managerial practices, etc. (Nedelko & Potocan, 2013); (3) organizational-level factors such as goals and aims of the organization, organizational culture, its innovative capacity, industry of the organization, organization of organization, etc. (House et al., 2004); and (4) personal factors such as personal values, ethics, absorptive capacity of managers, expectations, etc. (Crane & Matten, 2010; Nedelko & Mayrhofer, 2012).
 
We call for papers that will enhance our understanding of management behaviour in countries in transition, by considering various possible factors that may have impact on management behaviour in these societies, especially those not well-elaborated in the literature yet. This leaves researchers space to combine different behavioural and leadership theories, research perspectives and methodological approaches, which investigate management behaviour in considered societies. Broad consideration of the topic will also contribute to the central topic of the conference “surprise”, by combining many possible perspectives to examine management behaviour in countries in transition. This may result in highlighting new perspectives for examining management behaviour in these societies that have not been previously (often) considered by the researchers.
 
A non-exclusive list of potential themes includes:

• Management behaviour in countries in transition from various perspectives (Cater et al., 2013)
• Key drivers of management behaviour in countries in transition (Nedelko & Potocan, 2013)
• Management behaviour and the role of external factors for the behaviour, such as the European Union, OECD, IMF, etc. (Mrak et al., 2004)
• The impact of country-level factors – like prevalent values and culture, the country’s situation and regulations, development of country’s management force, etc. – on management behaviour (House et al., 2004)
• The role of legacies from the pre-transitional period in shaping management behaviour in organizations in countries in transition (Dyck & Mulej, 1998)
• The impact of organizational-level factors on management behaviour, like goals and aims of the organization, organizational culture, organizational climate, innovative capacity or the organization (Alas et al., 2012)
• The role of personal values for shaping management behaviour in countries in transition (Hambrick & Mason, 1984)
• The role of various attitudes, like attitudes toward economic orientation, and natural environment for management behaviour (Schultz et al., 2005; Potocan et al., 2013)
• Co-operation between entrepreneurs, investors and managers
• Dilemmas, contradictions and unresolved phenomena associated with management behaviour in countries in transition
• New perspectives for studying management behaviour in the framework of uncertain external environments, including influences such as regional politics, country political and economic situation, changes in organizational settings, cultural changes, specific features of technology-driven and creative industries, etc.

References

• Alas, R., Sun, W., & Gao, J.H. (2012): “The implementation of organizational changes during the transition in China and Estonia.” Baltic Journal of Management, 7 (1), 86–102.
• Brodbeck, F.C., Frese, M., Akerblom, S., Audia, G., Bakacsi, G., Bendova, H., et al. (2000): “Cultural variation of leadership prototypes across 22 european countries.” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 73, 1–29.
• Cater, T., Lang, R., & Szabo, E. (2013): “Values and leadership expectations of future managers: Theoretical basis and methodological approach of the globe student project.” Journal for East European Management Studies, 18 (4), 442–462.
• Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2010): Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Deming, E. (1982): Out of Crisis. London: MIT Press.
• Dyck, R., & Mulej, M. (1998): Self-Transformation of the Forgotten Four-Fifth. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.
• Egri, C.P., & Herman, S. (2000): “Leadership in the north american environmental sector: Values, leadership styles, and contexts of environmental leaders and their organizations.” Academy of Management Journal, 43 (4), 571–604.
• Hambrick, D.C., & Mason, P.A. (1984): “Upper echelons – the organization as a reflection of its top managers.” Academy of Management Review, 9 (2), 193–206.
• House, R.J., Hanges, P.J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P.W., & Gupta, V. (2004): Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The Globe Study of 62 Societies. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
• Lang, R., Szabo, E., Catana, G.A., Konecna, Z., & Skalova, P. (2013): “Beyond participation? Leadership ideals of future managers from central and east european countries.” Journal for East European Management Studies, 18 (4), 482–511.
• Mrak, M., Rojec, M., & Silva-Jauregui, C. (2004): Slovenia: From Yugoslavia to the European Union. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
• Nedelko, Z., & Mayrhofer, W. (2012): The Influence of Managerial Personal Values on Leadership Style. Management Re-Imagined. Paper presented at the 11th World Congress of the International Federation of Scholarly Associations of Management, University of Limerick, Ireland, June 26–29, 2012.
• Nedelko, Z., & Potocan, V. (2013): “The role of management innovativeness in modern organizations.” Journal of Enterprising Communities, 7 (1), 36–49.
• Potocan, V., Mulej, M., & Nedelko, Z. (2013): “The influence of employees’ ethical behavior on enterprises’ social responsibility.” Systemic Practice and Action Research, 26 (6), 497–511.
• Schultz, P.W., Gouveia, V.V., Cameron, L.D., Tankha, G., Schmuck, P., & Franek, M. (2005): “Values and their relationship to environmental concern and conservation behavior.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36 (4), 457–475.