Top management groups: The relationships among member characteristics, group processes, business environments, and organizational performance.

摘要

In the present quasi-experimental study, the relationships among individual executive characteristics, top management group processes, the business environment, and organizational performance for the gas and computer industries were investigated. Data were collected through a questionnaire using several published instruments measuring work locus of control, self-monitoring, group innovation/improvement, collaboration, and task management, environmental uncertainty, and perceptions of organizational performance. Return on assets data and sales data for several years were obtained from a business database. A total of 204 executives, 135 from the gas industry and 69 from the computer industry, returned completed questionnaires. Group processes were positively correlated with the average return on assets over three years. In addition, based on regression analyses, group processes predicted the average return on assets over three years. Work locus of control was positively correlated with group processes. However, none of the hypothesized moderator relationships were supported due to collinearity difficulties with one of the measures. Also, there were no differences between the gas and computer industries with regard to the uncertainty of the business environment.