He worked in the industry and as operations consultant for over eight years. His work has been published in several leading journals, such as

In theory, strategic priorities at the functional level align with and support business level strategies. Alignment of priorities is presumed to contribute to enhanced organizational performance, just as misalignment is expected to undermine performance. This study further develops and tests these theoretical conventions by examining the perceptions of general managers and manufacturing managers regarding manufacturing priorities of their business units. Based on a sample of matched pairs of manufacturing managers and general managers from 98 manufacturing plants, the hypotheses regarding the alignment-performance relationship are tested. Specifically, we tested whether the performance of the manufacturing unit is enhanced when general managers and manufacturing managers agree on strategic priorities. Furthermore, the influence of organizational factors on the relationship between alignment and performance of the manufacturing unit is studied. Results support our hypotheses that certain organizational variables moderate the relationship between alignment of priorities and manufacturing performance.

He worked in the industry and as operations consultant for over eight years before embarking on his Ph.D. His research interests include operations strategy, management of service firms, and supply chain integration. His work has been published in several leading journals, such as Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Decision Sciences, and International Journal of Operations & Production Management. He has presented papers at numerous conferences and has been awarded best paper distinctions on various occasions, including the Chan Hahn Prize for the Academy of Management Best Paper Award in the Operations Management Division, and a Distinguished Paper Award at the Decision Sciences Institute's conference. He serves on the editorial review boards of Journal of Operations Management and Production and Operations Management.

In the information age, the key to competitive advantage, claim many contemporary management thinkers, is no longer land or capital but knowledge, and specifically the capacity of organizations to acquire knowledge that translates into ongoing organizational innovations. The learning organization is a model of the organizational type that allows the human spirit to flourish so that creativity and innovation are possible. This study examines the characteristics of the learning organization, emphasizing its spiritual themes of employee growth, collaboration, and a sense of community. Points of convergence and divergence between the learning organization model and traditional spiritual understandings of employees and organizations are explored. Learning from these spiritual sources, it is argued, will not only help organizations achieve business objectives, but allow human beings to flourish within organizations.

Prior research of the influence of "upper echelon" managers has confirmed the importance of matching the characteristics of senior executives with the requirements of their organizations' strategies. Firms that achieved higher levels of strategy-manager alignment at both the corporate and business unit levels were found to have correspondingly higher levels of organizational performance. This study extends prior research of the strategy-managerial characteristics relationship to the functional level of the organization. Specifically, based on a sample of 196 managers from 98 companies, this study investigates whether manufacturing units pursuing dissimilar strategies are led by manufacturing managers with dissimilar attributes, and whether the strategy-manager alignment is related to the performance of the manufacturing unit. Results provide evidence to support these hypothesized relationships.The impact of top managers on organizational performance and how this relationship may depend on the organization's strategy have been recognized as critical issues in strategic management for many years (Hambrick and Mason, 1984;Gupta and Govindarajan, 1984;Gunz and Jalland, 1996). As Gupta (1984, p. 399) states: After all, if the choice of appropriate strategies (Hofer and Schendel, 1978; Porter, 1980) and their implementation (Galbraith and Nathanson, 1978) is crucial to effective organizational adaptation, then the selection of specific individuals most directly responsible for the choice and implementation of those strategies also should be regarded as crucial.