Managers' workplace attitudes, tolerance of ambiguity and firm performance

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of the research is to investigate how managers' personal traits, emotions and attitudes shape their tolerance of ambiguity (TOA); and consequently, the influence of managers' ambiguity tolerance in organizations' financial performance. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected from 54 Greek banks. A total of 412 senor-level managers completed questionnaires examining TOA, personal traits, emotions and attitudes in the workplace. Principal components analysis and ordinary least-squares regressions were used to explore the hypotheses of the paper. Findings – Three factors characterize managers' emotions in the workplace, namely pleasure, arousal and dominance; and, respectively, two factors their involvement, namely importance and interest. Further, locus of control, importance, job satisfaction, pleasure and organizational commitment critically affect managers' TOA, which, in turn, seems to influence positively organizations' profitability. Research limitations/implications – Further research is required in Greek banking industry regarding the influence of managers' emotional and cognitive attributes in organizations' financial performance. Likewise, this research should be expanded to other industries. Practical implications – The findings provide further support on the significance of emotional and cognitive attitudes in the workplace; the paper suggests policies to enhance managers' TOA, and thus, organizations' profitability. Originality/value – The originality of this study lies in the finding that emotional and cognitive characteristics affect managers' TOA, which, in turn, influences significantly organizations' profitability. Another significant contributing factor is that the study is carried out in Greece, where few studies have been conducted in this area.