Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-02T16:49:43.172Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Proposed Model for Investigating Relationships between Vision Components and Business Unit Performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

Gayle C. Avery
Affiliation:
Macquarie Graduate School of Management, North Ryde NSW 2109, Australia Phone: +61 2 9850 9930, Fax:, +61 2 9648 0221, Email: Gayle.Avery@gsm.mq.edu.au

Abstract

Leaders are widely exhorted to employ visions, yet surprisingly little research has been conducted on what constitutes an “effective” vision. A research model is proposed for investigating relationships between vision components, and business unit performance as measured by employee and customer satisfaction. The model, expressed both graphically and as three propositions, proposes that vision attributes of brevity, clarity, abstractness, challenge, future orientation, stability, and desirability, plus vision content relating to employee and customer satisfaction, can directly affect performance. However, the model also predicts indirect effects on performance mediated by six realization factors and two intervening variables.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aaker, D.A. 1992, ‘The value of brand equity’, Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 13, 07/August, pp. 2732.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adam, E.E Jr., Corbett, L.M, & Rho, B.H. 1994, ‘Quality improvement practices in Korea, New Zealand, and the USA’, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 11, no. 7, pp. 618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adams, J.S. 1965, ‘Inequity in social exchange’, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 2, pp. 267300.Google Scholar
Anderson, C.H. 1984, ‘Job design: employee satisfaction and performance in retail stores’, Journal of Small Business Management, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 916.Google Scholar
Anderson, E. & Weitz, B. 1989, ‘Determinants of continuity in conventional industrial channel dyads’, Marketing Science, vol. 8, Fall, pp. 310323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, E.W., Fornell, C. & Lehman, D.R. 1994, ‘Customer satisfaction, market share, and profitability: findings from Sweden’, Journal of Marketing, vol. 58, 07, pp. 5366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atchison, T. 1999, ‘The myths of employee satisfaction’, Healthcare Executive, 03/April, pp. 1923.Google ScholarPubMed
Atkins, P.M., Marshall, B.S. & Javalgi, R.G. 1996, ‘Happy employees lead to loyal patients’, Journal of Health Care Marketing, Winter, pp. 1523.Google ScholarPubMed
Awamleh, R. & Gardner, W. 1999, ‘Perceptions of leader charisma and effectiveness: the effects of vision content, delivery, and organizational performance’, Leadership Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 345373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baetz, M.C. & Bart, C.K. 1996, ‘Developing mission statements which work’, Long Range Planning, vol. 29, pp. 526533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A. 1986, Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.Google Scholar
Barbin, B.J. & Boles, J.S. 1996, ‘The effects of perceived co-worker involvement and supervisor support on service provider role stress, performance and job satisfaction’, Journal of Retailing, vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 5775.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barling, J., Weber, T. & Kelloway, E.K. 1996, ‘Effects of transformational leadership training on attitudinal and financial outcomes: a field experiment’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 81, pp. 827832.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bass, B.M. 1985, Leadership and performance beyond expectations, Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bass, B.M. 1990, Bass and Stogdill's handbook of leadership: Theory, research, and managerial applications (3rd ed), Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Baum, J.R. 1994, The relations of traits, competencies, vision, motivation, and strategy to venture growth, Doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland UMI 9526175.Google Scholar
Baum, J.R., Locke, E.A. & Kirkpatrick, S.A. 1998, A longitudinal study of the relation of vision and vision communication to venture growth in entrepreneurial firms’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 83, pp. 4354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beer, M., Spector, B., Lawrence, P., Mills, D. & Walton, R.E. 1984, Managing human assets, The Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bennis, W. 1990, ‘Managing the dream: leadership in the 21st century’, Training: The Magazine of Human Resource Development, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 4446.Google Scholar
Bennis, W.G. 1984, ‘The four competencies of leadership’, Training and Development Journal, vol. 28, no. 8. pp. 1419.Google Scholar
Bennis, W.G. & Nanus, B. 1985, Leaders: The strategies for taking charge, Harper and Row, New York.Google Scholar
Bernhardt, K.L., Donthu, N. & Kennett, P.A. 2000, ‘A longitudinal analysis of satisfaction and profitability’, Journal of Business Research, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 161171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bird, A. 1995, ‘Performance measurement for the financial services industry’, Community Banker, vol. 1, no. 5, pp. 710.Google Scholar
Bolton, R.N. & Drew, J.H. 1991, ‘A multistage model of customers' assessments of service quality and value’, Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 17, 03, pp. 375384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burns, J.M. 1978, Leadership, Harper & Row, New York.Google Scholar
Buzzell, R.D. & Gale, B.T. 1987, The PIMS principles: Linking strategy top performance, Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Collins, J.C. & Lazier, W.C. 1992, Beyond entrepreneurship, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.Google Scholar
Collins, J.C. & Porras, J.I. 1994, Built to last: Successful habits of visionary companies, London, Century.Google Scholar
Conger, J.A. 1989, The charismatic leader: Beyond the mystique of exceptional leadership, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Conger, J.A. 1991, ‘Inspiring others: the language of leadership’, Academy of Management Executive, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 3145.Google Scholar
Conger, J.A. & Kanungo, R.N. 1987, ‘Toward a behavioral theory of charismatic leadership in organizational settings’, Academy of Management Review, vol. 12, pp. 637647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conger, J.A. & Kanungo, R.N. 1988, Charismatic leadership: The elusive factor in organizational effectiveness, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.Google Scholar
Conrad, C. 1990, Strategic organizational communication: An integrated perspective, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, Orlando.Google Scholar
Cowley, M. & Domb, E. 1997, Beyond strategic vision, Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston.Google Scholar
Davenport, H.T. & Pearlson, K. 1998, ‘Two cheers for the virtual office’, Sloan Management Review, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 5165.Google Scholar
Davidson, W.N. & Worrell, D.L. 1990, A comparison and test of the use of accounting and stock market data in relating corporate social responsibility to financial performance’, Arkon Business and Economic Review, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 720.Google Scholar
Davis, S. & Meyer, C. 1998, Blur: The speed of change in the connected economy, Addison-Wesley, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Ditthavong, V 1977, ‘Satisfaction = profits’, Banker News, vol. 5, no. 24, p. 2.Google Scholar
Doz, Y.L. & Prahalad, C.K. 1987, ‘A process model of strategic redirection in large complex firms: The case of multinational corporations’, in The management of strategic change, ed. Pettigrew, A., Basil Blackwell, Oxford, England, pp. 6383.Google Scholar
Drucker, P.E. 1954, The practice of management, Harper & Row, New York.Google Scholar
Etzioni, A. 1964, A comparative analysis of complex organizations, Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Evans, J.R. & Lindsay, W.M. 1996, The management and control of quality, West, MN.Google Scholar
Faye, M. & Dianne, R.L. 1995, ‘Transformational leadership and job satisfaction’, Nursing Management, vol. 26, no. 9, pp. 64JJ64NN.Google Scholar
Fornell, C. 1992, ‘A national customer satisfaction barometer: The Swedish experience’, Journal of Marketing, vol. 55, , pp. 121.Google Scholar
Fornell, C. & Wernerfelt, 1987, ‘Defensive marketing strategy by customer complaint management: a theoretical analysis’, Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 24, 11, pp. 337346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freud, S. 1921, Group psychology and the analysis of the ego, Norton, New York.Google Scholar
Gabarro, J. J. 1987, The dynamics of taking charge, Harvard Business School Press, Boston Mass..Google Scholar
Garvin, D.A. 1988, Managing quality: The strategic and competitive edge, The Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Gates, S. 2000, ‘Strategic performance measurement systems: translating strategy into results’, The Bank of America Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 4459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenwood, R. & Hinings, C.R. 1988, ‘Organizational design types, tracks and the dynamics of strategic change’, Organization Studies, vol. 9, pp. 293316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenwood, R. & Hinings, C.R. 1993, ‘Understanding strategic change: the contribution of archetypes’, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 36, pp. 10521081.Google Scholar
Hackl, P., Scharitzer, D. & Zuba, R. 2000, ‘Customer satisfaction in the Austrian food retail market’, Total Quality Management, vol. 11, no. 7, pp. S999S1006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hackman, J.R, & Oldham, GR (1980) Work redesign, Addison Wesley, Reading, MA.Google Scholar
Hallowell, J R., Schlesinger, L.A. & Zornitsky, J. 1996, ‘Internal service quality, customer and job satisfaction: Linkages and implications for management’, Human Resource Planning, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 2031.Google Scholar
Hamner, WC 1975, ‘Reinforcement theory and contingency management in organizational settings’, in Motivation and work behavior, eds Steers, R.M. & Porter, L.W., McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 477504.Google Scholar
Hausfeld, J., Gibbons, K., Holtmeier, A., Knight, M., Schulte, C., Stadtmiller, T. & Yeary, K. 1994, ‘Self-staffing: improving care and staff satisfaction’, Nursing Management, vol. 25, no. 10, pp. 74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hay, M. & Williamson, P. 1997, ‘Good strategy: the view from below’, Long Range Planning, vol. 30, pp. 651664.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinings, C.R. & Greenwood, R. 1988, The dynamics of strategic change, Basil Blackwell, New York.Google Scholar
House, R.J. 1977, ‘A 1976 theory of charismatic leadership’ in Leadership: The cutting edge, eds Hunt, J.G. & Larson, L.L., Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, pp. 189207.Google Scholar
Howard, J.A. & Sheth, J.N. 1969, The theory of buyer behavior, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.Google Scholar
Howell, J.M. & Frost, P.J. 1989, ‘A laboratory study of charismatic leadership’, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 243269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howell, J.M. & Avolio, B.J. 1993, ‘Transformational leadership, transactional leadership, locus of control, and support for innovation: key predictors of consolidated-business-unit performance’, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 78, pp. 891902.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, J.G. 1991, Leadership: A new synthesis, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.Google Scholar
Hurley, R.F. & Estelami, H. 1998, ‘Alternative indexes for monitoring customer perceptions of service quality: a comparative evaluation in a retail context’, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 209221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Survey Research 1997, Transition and transformation: Employee satisfaction in the 1990s, International Survey Research, London.Google Scholar
Jacobs, T.O. & Jaques, E. 1990, ‘Military executive leadership’, in Measures of leadership, eds Clark, K.E. & Clark, M.B., Leadership Library of America, West Orange, NJ, pp. 281295.Google Scholar
Jones, M. 1996, ‘Four trends to reckon with’, HR Focus, 07, pp. 2223.Google Scholar
Kaplan, R.S. & Norton, D.S. 1992, ‘The balanced scorecard - measures that drive performance’, Harvard Business Review, -February, pp. 7179.Google Scholar
Keller, K.L. 1993, ‘Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing brand equity’, Journal of Marketing, vol. 57, , pp. 122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkpatrick, S.A. 1992, Decomposing charismatic leadership: The effects of leader content and process on follower performance, attitudes, and perceptions, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park.Google Scholar
Kotter, J.P. 1988, The leadership factor, Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Kotter, J.P. 1995, ‘Why transformation efforts fail?’, Harvard Business Review, 03-April, pp. 5967.Google Scholar
Kotter, J.P. 1990, A force for change: How leadership differs from management, Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Kotter, J.P. 1997, ‘Leading by vision and strategy’, Executive Excellence, vol. 14, no. 10, pp. 1516.Google Scholar
Kouzes, J.M. & Posner, B.Z. 1987, The leadership challenge: How to get extraordinary things done in organizations, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Levin, M.L. 2000, ‘Vision revisited’, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, vol. 36, pp. 91107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Likert, R. 1961, Patterns of management, McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Lipton, M. 1996, ‘Demystifying the development of an organizational vision’, Sloan Management Review, Cambridge, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 8391.Google Scholar
Locke, E.A. & Latham, G.P. 1984, Goal setting: A motivational technique that works, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.Google Scholar
Locke, E.A., Kirkpatrick, S., Wheeler, J.K., Schneider, J., Niles, K., Goldstein, H., Welsh, & Chah, D.O. 1991, The essence of leadership, Lexington Books, New York.Google Scholar
Maslow, A.H. 1954, Motivation and personality, Harper and Row, New York.Google Scholar
McClelland, D. 1985, Human motivation, Scott Foresman, Chicago.Google Scholar
McGregor, D. 1960, The human side of enterprise, McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Mendes, A. 1996, Inspiring commitment, Irwin Professional Publishing, Chicago, Illinois.Google Scholar
Messick, D. & Mackie, D. 1989, ‘Intergroup relations’, Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 40, pp. 4581.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miodonski, B. 2001, ‘Gain a competitive advantage by satisfying your customers’, Contractor, vol. 48, no. 6, pp. 50.Google Scholar
Montgomery, D.B. 1975, ‘New product distribution: An analysis of supermarket buyer decisions’, Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 12, 07, pp. 255264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morden, T. 1997, ‘Leadership as vision’, Management Decision, vol. 35, no. 9, pp. 668676.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, T. 1996, ‘Employee satisfaction: Maximizing the return on human capital’, CMA Magazine, 12-January, pp. 1517.Google Scholar
Nanus, B. 1992, Visionary leadership: Creating a compelling sense of direction for your organization, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.Google Scholar
Oliver, J. 1998, ‘Invest in people and improve profitability and productivity’, Management Today, 03, pp. 9091.Google Scholar
Osterman, P. 1995, ‘Work/family programs and the employment relationship’, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 681700.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pace, R.W. & Faules, D.F. 1989, Organizational communication, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Page, N.R. & Wiseman, R.L. 1993, ‘Supervisory behavior and work satisfaction in the United States, Mexico, and Spain’, Journal of Business Communications, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 161180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parikh, J. & Neubauer, F. 1993, ‘Corporate visioning’, in International Review of Strategic Management, vol. 4, ed. Hussey, D.E., Wiley, Chichester, pp. 105116.Google Scholar
Passikoff, R. 1997, ‘The limits of customer satisfaction’, Brandweek, vol. 38, no. 9, p. 17.Google Scholar
Pearson, A.E. 1989, ‘Six basics for general managers’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 94101.Google ScholarPubMed
Peters, T.J. & Waterman, R.H.J. 1982, In search of excellence, Warner Books, New York.Google Scholar
Puffer, S.M. 1990, ‘Attributes of charismatic leadership: the impact of decision style, outcome, and observer characteristics’, Leadership Quarterly, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 177192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quigley, J.V 1993, Vision: How leaders develop it, share it, and sustain it, McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Raelin, J.A. 1989, ‘An anatomy of autonomy: Managing professional’, Academy of Management Executive, vol. 3, pp. 216228.Google Scholar
Raynor, M.E. 1998, ‘That vision thing: do we need it?’, Long Range Planning, vol. 31, pp. 368–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reardon, K.K. 1991, Persuasion in practice, Sage, Newbury Park, California.Google Scholar
Reichheld, F.F. & Sasser, W.E. 1990, ‘Zero defections: Quality comes to services’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 68, 09/October, pp. 105111.Google ScholarPubMed
Robbins, S.R. & Duncan, R.B. 1988, ‘The role of the CEO and top management in the creation and implementation of strategic vision’, in The executive effect: Concepts and methods for studying top managers, ed..Hambrick, D.C., JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 137162.Google Scholar
Robertson, T.S. & Gatignon, H. 1986, ‘Competitive effects on technology diffusion’, Journal of Political Economy, vol. 82, /February, pp. 3455.Google Scholar
Rust, R.T. & Zahorik, A.J. 1993, ‘Customer satisfaction, customer retention and market share’, Journal of Retailing, vol. 69, Summer, pp. 193215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sashkin, M. 1985, ‘Creating a corporate excellence culture: Identifying levers and how to use them’, Emprender, vol. 21, no. 145, Spanish; Mendoza, Argentina, pp. 3639.Google Scholar
Sashkin, M. 1988, ‘The visionary leader’, in Charismatic leadership: The elusive factor in organizational effectiveness, eds Conger, J.A. & Kanungo, R.N., Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, pp. 122160.Google Scholar
Sashkin, M. 1992, ‘Strategic leadership competencies: an introduction’, in Strategic leadership: A multiorganization-level perspective, eds Phillips, R.L. & Hunt, G., Quorum, Westport, CT, pp. 139160.Google Scholar
Schmalansee, R. 1978, ‘A model for advertising and product quality’, Journal of Political Economy, vol. 86, 09, pp. 485503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneier, R. 1997, ‘People value add: The new performance measure’, Strategy & Leadership, 03-April, pp. 1419.Google Scholar
Senge, P.M. 1990, The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, Currency Doubleday, New York.Google Scholar
Sergiovanni, T.J. 1990, ‘Adding value to leadership gets extraordinary results’, Educational Leadership, vol. 47, no. 8, pp. 2327.Google Scholar
Shamir, B., House, R.J. & Arthur, M.B. 1993, ‘The motivational effect of charismatic leadership: a self-concept based theory’, Organization Science, no. 4, pp. 577594.Google Scholar
Silberstang, J. 1995, ‘Does joy in work have a place on your balance sheet?’, Journal for Quality and Participation, vol. 18, no. 7, pp. 2027.Google Scholar
Sims, H.P. Jr. & Lorenzi, P. 1992, The new leadership paradigm: Social learning and cognition in organizations, Sage, Newbury Park, CA.Google Scholar
Sitzia, J. & Wood, N. 1997, ‘Patient satisfaction: a review of issues and concepts’, Social Science Medical, vol. 45, no. 12, pp. 1829–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slavitt, D., Stamps, P., Piedmont, E. & Hasse, A. 1986, Index of work satisfaction, University of Michigan Press, MI.Google Scholar
Srivastva, Suresh, & Associates 1983, The executive mind, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.Google Scholar
TARP/Technical Assistance Research Program 1979, Consumer complaint handling in America: An update study, White House Office of Customer Affairs, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
TARP/Technical Assistance Research Program 1981, Measuring the grapevine: Consumer response and word-of-mouth, The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, GA.Google Scholar
Taylor, P. 1991, ‘Morale is the main issue’, Financial Times, 12 20, pp. 12.Google Scholar
Thomas, A.B. 1988, ‘Does leadership make a difference to organizational performance?’, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol 33, pp. 388400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tichy, N.M. & Devanna, M.A. 1986, The transformational leader, Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Tompkins, N.C. 1992, ‘Employee satisfaction leads to customer service’, HR Magazine, vol. 37, no. 11, pp. 9397.Google Scholar
Topolosky, P.S. 2000, Linking employee satisfaction to business results, Garland Publishing, Inc New York.Google Scholar
Tvorik, S.J. & McGivern, M.H. 1997, ‘Determinants of organizational performance’, Management Decision, vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 417435.Google Scholar
Ulrich, D., Halbrook, R., Meder, D., Stuchlik, M. & Thorpe, S. 1991, ‘Employee and customer attachment: Synergies for competitive advantage’, Human Resource Planning, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 89103.Google Scholar
Vallario, M. 1997, ‘Work life programs’, Compensation & Benefits Management, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 2530.Google Scholar
van Dyck, B. 1996, ‘Employee satisfaction one factor of top performing banks’, Northwestern Financial Review, vol. 181, no. 19, p. 5.Google Scholar
Vroom, V.H. 1964, Work and motivation, Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Wall, B., Solum, R.S. & Sobol, M.R. 1992, The visionary leader, Prima, Rocklin, CA.Google Scholar
Westley, F. & Mintzberg, H. 1989, ‘Visionary leadership and strategic management’, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 10, pp. 1732.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams-Brinkley, R. 1999, ‘Excellence in patient care demands a clear vision in action’, Health Care Strategic Management, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1819.Google ScholarPubMed
Yeung, A. & Berman, B. 1997, ‘Adding value through human resources: Reorienting human resource measurement to drive business performance’, Human Resource Management, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 321335.3.0.CO;2-Y>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yukl, G.A. 1998, Leadership in organizations, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.Google Scholar