The literature on growth need strength (GNS) as a moderator in organizational research, particularly the job characteristics model of work motivation, is reviewed. This review reveals a preponderance of inappropriate cross-sectional surveys and few appropriate experimental tests in the field on the GNS moderator hypothesis. Next, an incremental model of growth opportunity is contrasted with that of the general level of motivating potential. It is proposed that one should manipulate growth opportunities (increments) being offered to employees in an experimental design to test GNS as a moderator in a theory of motivation. A field experiment using this approach is described. Growth opportunities were manipulated by a vertical collaboration offer based on the leader-member exchange (LMX) model. Results of this experiment demonstrated statistically significant interaction effects between GNS and growth opportunity. As predicted, only high GNS employees responded to the growth opportunity (a 55% increase in quantity produced). This increase in quantity was not made at the expense of quality; the number of errors per week also decreased for this group. The implications of these results for future research on the moderating effects of GNS are discussed.

Management development systems in the leading Japanese corporations have produced executives and managers who are commonly acknowledged to be among the best in the world. How these systems operate is not well understood. In this investigation of the 13-year career progress and current middle-management situation of 71 college graduates who entered a leading Japanese corporation at the same time, university quality, nature of first job assignment, quality of early dyadic exchange treatment from immediate superiors, and early job performance evaluations by immediate superiors were used to predict management progress at 13 years. Two different models of career mobility were investigated: an early competition (first 3 years) and a later competition (7 years) model. Results generally supported the early competition model suggested by an earlier 7-year study, but notable differences from this earlier investigation were found. In addition, assessments of the current middle-management leadership situation, not included in the 7-year study also were found to be predictable by the early (first 3 years) model. Implications of these results are discussed.Careers of Japanese managers in the leading corporations typically end in the executive suite of either the mother company or a subsidiary (\bshino, 1968). In this process of career development, those who succeed stay with the mother company and can look forward to the status, challenge, influence, and the material and social rewards bestowed on the most valued contributors to the corporation. The others can anticipate a comfortable position for a short time and an early retirement.A critical question is how do these leading corporations ensure that the "best of the best" become the honored corporate decision makers-the executives? What is the nature of the competitive process, and what characteristics render advantage, and how, when, and with what impact? What opportunities are offered, and how are they capitalized upon? These are some of the questions addressed by the Japanese Management Progress Study (Wakabayashi & Graen, 1984;Wakabayashi, Minami, et al., 1980).Two different views of the timing of this career mobility in leading Japanese corporations have been proposed. A process that we call deferred competition was described by Yoshino (1968) and Drucker (1971) and endorsed by Ouchi and Johnson (1978) as one of the unique aspects of Japanese organization.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract