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Article
Publication date: 16 December 2024

Richard C. Hoffman and Frank Shipper

The purpose of this teaching case is to introduce students to an alternative business model as practiced by the Haier Group, a Chinese company, and how that model was used to turn…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this teaching case is to introduce students to an alternative business model as practiced by the Haier Group, a Chinese company, and how that model was used to turn around an acquired company in the United States of America (USA). The explicit teaching objectives are threefold. First, the case provides insights into Haier’s unique employee-centered culture. Second, Haier’s efforts to transfer parts of its culture to the newly acquired General Electric (GE) Appliance Division are discussed. Third, to improve the performance of the acquired division, Haier had to invest in people, equipment and new product technology.

Design/methodology/approach

This case is based on both primary and secondary research. The authors interviewed the chief executive officer. In addition, one of the authors spent a week in China observing and participating in meetings at the Haier Group. Both before and after the interviews, the authors searched both print and electronic media for additional information.

Findings

The case describes how Haier, a large Chinese appliance manufacturer, learned from its own difficult growth in building an employee- and client-driven organization. Haier was able to transfer key aspects of its culture, management practices and technology to help turnaround the well-known American appliance brand GE. The results of the first five years have been financially successful and investment in new product technology (Smart Home) bodes well for the future.

Research limitations/implications

This case represents only one successful turnaround of one acquisition, GE Appliances, by the Haier Group in the USA. Whether the changes introduced would work with other acquisitions in other countries is unknown. Thus, additional follow-up research needs to be done.

Practical implications

This case brings into question the traditional, hierarchical, bureaucratic, spreadsheet-driven model of management that is the predominant model taught and practiced in the USA. Others, such as Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini, have also raised the same question. This case introduces readers to another way and is just one more example of how managers who practice a high engagement style and share financial success with workers can outperform those who do not.

Social implications

This case documents the introduction of nontraditional management and human resource management practices by a foreign, Chinese company, into what at one time had been a highly regarded division of a traditional major American corporation. GE had become known for strident labor-management relationships. The employees’ acceptance of the alternative approach to management was in doubt prior to the acquisition, but over the past five years, the labor–management relationship appears to have improved as well as the profitability of the division.

Originality/value

Although the acquisition of the GE Appliance Division by the Haier Group has been widely reported in the press, knowledge of how the acquisition was successfully turned around from a money-losing GE Division to a profitable and growing portion of the Haier Group has been largely ignored in both the popular press and in instructional material for the classroom. This case study seeks to ameliorate the latter deficiency.

Details

Journal of Participation and Employee Ownership, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-7641

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 6 September 2024

Tyler N. A. Fezzey and R. Gabrielle Swab

Competitiveness is an important personality trait that has been studied in various disciplines and has been shown to predict critical work outcomes at the individual level…

Abstract

Competitiveness is an important personality trait that has been studied in various disciplines and has been shown to predict critical work outcomes at the individual level. Despite this, the role of competitiveness in groups and teams has received scant attention amongst organizational researchers. Aiming to promote future research on the role of competitiveness as both an adaptive and maladaptive trait – particularly in the context of work – the authors review competitiveness and its effects on individual and team stress and Well-Being, giving special attention to the processes of cohesion and conflict and situational moderators. The authors illustrate a dynamic multilevel model of individual and team difference factors, competitive processes, and individual and team outcomes to highlight competitiveness as a consequential occupational stressor. Furthermore, the authors discuss the feedback loops that inform the different factors, highlight important avenues for future research, and offer practical solutions for managers to reduce unhealthy competition.

Details

Stress and Well-Being in Teams
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83797-731-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 4 October 2024

Chris de Blok and Richard Page

Sustainable Development Goal 14 of the United Nations aims to ‘conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development’. To achieve this…

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goal 14 of the United Nations aims to ‘conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development’. To achieve this goal, we must rebuild the marine life-support systems that provide society with the many advantages of a healthy ocean. Therefore, countries worldwide have been using Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to restore, create, or protect habitats and ecosystems. Palau was one of the first countries to use MPAs as a tool to develop biodiversity within its exclusive economic zone. On 22 October 2015, Palau placed approximately 80% of its maritime territory in a network of locally monitored MPAs, which has now shown a population increase in stationary and migratory fish species. This movement towards a MPA was intentional and because of increased pressure from tourism and the increasing incursion of foreign fishing vessels in Palauan territorial waters. Since countries worldwide are using and looking towards MPAs, secondary protection projects are becoming more and more popular. This chapter highlights the practical implementations and results in Palau, how to theoretically apply this within the Greater North Sea in combination with Windmill Farms, and how the Marine Strategy Framework Directive stimulates these practices.

Book part
Publication date: 26 September 2024

Christopher M. Castille and Larry J. Williams

In this chapter, the authors critically examine the application of unmeasured latent method factors (ULMFs) in human resource and organizational behavior (HROB) research, focusing…

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors critically examine the application of unmeasured latent method factors (ULMFs) in human resource and organizational behavior (HROB) research, focusing on addressing common method variance (CMV). The authors explore the development and usage of ULMF to mitigate CMV and highlight key debates concerning measurement error in the HROB literature. The authors also discuss the implications of biased effect sizes and how such bias can lead HR professionals to oversell interventions. The authors provide evidence supporting the effectiveness of ULMF when a specific assumption is held: a single latent method factor contributes to the data. However, the authors dispute this assumption, noting that CMV is likely multidimensional; that is, it is complex and difficult to fix with statistical methods alone. Importantly, the authors highlight the significance of maintaining a multidimensional view of CMV, challenging the simplification of a CMV as a single source. The authors close by offering recommendations for using ULMFs in practice as well as more research into more complex forms of CMV.

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2024

Fiona Edgar, Jing Zhang, Nataliya Podgorodnichenko and Adeel Akmal

This study examines how the resource of egalitarianism, at both individual and organizational levels, affects employee proactivity. Specifically, we propose relational social…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines how the resource of egalitarianism, at both individual and organizational levels, affects employee proactivity. Specifically, we propose relational social capital is an effective mechanism through which an individual's egalitarian mindset and the organization's egalitarian HR practice facilitate employee proactivity.

Design/methodology/approach

This study surveys a sample of 511 knowledge workers employed in small to medium-sized enterprises in Australia and New Zealand.

Findings

Results of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) demonstrate that relational social capital partially mediates the relationship between an egalitarian mindset and employee proactivity and fully mediates the effects of egalitarian HR practice on employee proactivity.

Practical implications

Globally, a social transformation, particularly around the notions of social responsibility and sustainability, is occurring, and this means increasing numbers of employees support egalitarian ideals. HR practitioners therefore need to be aware of how their human resource management (HRM) system supports this value orientation.

Originality/value

This study illuminates a new performance pathway by highlighting egalitarianism's contribution, as a valuable resource, to organizational and employee innovation. This focus on egalitarianism is both timely and important. This is because the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, through their support of diversity, inclusiveness and equality, reflect an egalitarian ethos, and managers are becoming increasingly cognizant of the need to embed these values into organizational structures and operational processes.

Details

Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2051-6614

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2024

Howard Riley

This study aims to offer an original criterion of assessment for examiners of practice-based doctorates in contemporary arts practices, based upon the degree of intrigue…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to offer an original criterion of assessment for examiners of practice-based doctorates in contemporary arts practices, based upon the degree of intrigue, perceptual and conceptual, afforded by the research outputs. It is argued that intrigue is the necessary stimulus for the states of attention required for the recognition of fresh understanding and the acquisition of new knowledge from such outputs. The paper is intended to support doctoral students structuring theses for such research, those responsible for assessing proposals in university cross-disciplinary research committees with limited experience of practice-based research and the examiners of such research.

Design/methodology/approach

Acknowledging the several decades of work already published on practice-based research, this study adopts an aesthetic cognitivist position from which the visual arts are construed as powerful means of deepening our understanding, a source of non-propositional knowledge on a par with, although qualitatively different from, the way that the sciences are accepted as the means to propositional knowledge.

Findings

A case study demonstrates the efficacy of applying the proposed criterion in the assessment of practice-based doctoral research.

Social implications

Within the social context of academic research, the article strengthens the validation of practice-based research.

Originality/value

The terms perceptual intrigue and conceptual intrigue are coined as values implicit in aesthetic cognitivism; they are construed as the initial stimuli for the state of attentiveness required for fresh understanding, and the degree of balance between them is proposed as an original criterion for the assessment of practice-based research.

Details

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4686

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 May 2021

Amira Abou Samra

This paper aims to explore the interplay between methods and methodologies in the field of international relations (IR) over the 100 years of its lifetime reflecting on the…

7097

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the interplay between methods and methodologies in the field of international relations (IR) over the 100 years of its lifetime reflecting on the relationship between the rise of new research methods and the rise of new methodologies.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper looks in retrospect into the field’s great debates using a historiography approach. It maps chronologically the interplay of methods and methodology throughout the stages of the development of the study of IR.

Findings

This paper argues that inspite of narratives of triumph being common in the field, the coexistence of competing research methods and methodologies is the defining feature of the field. All theories, all methods and all methodologies have undergone a process of criticism, self-criticism and change. New methodologies have not necessarily accompanied the rise of new research methods in the field.

Originality/value

Drawing a map of the field’s methodologies and methods reveals necessarily its dynamism and its plurality. An honest map of the field is one that highlights not only theoretical differences but also ontological, epistemological and methodological differences embedded in the field’s debates.

Details

Review of Economics and Political Science, vol. 9 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2356-9980

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 March 2024

Peter Smagorinsky

This study aims to consider the role of emotions, especially those related to empathy, in promoting a more humane education that enables students to reach out across kinship…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to consider the role of emotions, especially those related to empathy, in promoting a more humane education that enables students to reach out across kinship chasms to promote the development of communities predicated on a shared value on mutual respect. This attention to empathy includes a review of the rational basis for much schooling, introduces skepticism about the façade of rational thinking, reviews the emotionally flat character of classrooms, attends to the emotional dimensions of literacy education, argues on behalf of taking emotions into account in developmental theories and links empathic connections with social justice efforts. The study’s main thrust is that empathy is a key emotional quality that does not come naturally or easily to many, yet is important to cultivate if social justice is a goal of education.

Design/methodology/approach

The author clicked Essay and Conceptual Paper. Yet the author required to write the research design.

Findings

The author clicked Essay and Conceptual Paper. Yet the author required to write the research design.

Research limitations/implications

The author clicked Essay and Conceptual Paper. Yet the author required to write the research design.

Originality/value

The paper challenges the rational emphasis of schooling and argues for more attention to the ways in which emotions shape thinking.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 August 2024

Leviticus Mensah, Richard Arhinful and Jerry Seth Owusu-Sarfo

The purpose of this study was to leverage agency theory to examine the impact of board attributes on cash flow management in Ghana’s financial institutions.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to leverage agency theory to examine the impact of board attributes on cash flow management in Ghana’s financial institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for the study was collected from the annual published financial statements of selected financial institutions, which were obtained from their respective websites. The sampling technique used was purposive, resulting in the selection of 15 financial institutions in Ghana, of which 10 were listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange and 5 were non-listed. The study covered a period of 10 years, ranging from 2011 to 2020. The two-step generalized method of moments estimation was used to determine the relationship between the board attributes and cash flow management.

Findings

The study found that board size had a positive and significant influence on net cash flow from operating, investing and financing activities. The study also discovered that the proportion of nonexecutive directors had a positive and significant influence on net cash flow from operating, investing and financing activities. In addition, it was revealed that the proportion of female directors on the board exhibited a positive and significant influence on net cash flow from operating activities but a negative and significant influence on net cash flow from investing and financing activities.

Practical implications

The study recommends increasing female representation on corporate boards to 25%, as women bring valuable skills, knowledge and experience that positively impact the financial institutions’ cash flows.

Originality/value

This study focused on the impact of board attributes on cash flow management within Ghana. It explored how corporate governance affects strategic decisions related to cash flow management, contributing original insights to this field of research.

Details

Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-0701

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2024

Fangfang Hou, Boying Li, Zhengzhi Guan, Alain Yee Loong Chong and Chee Wei Phang

Despite the burgeoning popularity of virtual gifting in live streaming, research lacks an in-depth understanding of the drivers behind this behavior. Using para-social…

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Abstract

Purpose

Despite the burgeoning popularity of virtual gifting in live streaming, research lacks an in-depth understanding of the drivers behind this behavior. Using para-social relationship (PSR), this study aims to capture viewers’ lively social feelings toward the streamer as the key factor leading to the purchase behavior of virtual gifts. It also aims to establish a theoretical link between PSR and viewers’ holistic experience in live streaming as captured by cognitive absorption and aims to investigates the role of technological features (i.e. viewer–streamer and viewer–viewer interactivity, streamer-level and viewer-level deep profiling and design aesthetics) in shaping viewers’ experience.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on 433 survey responses, this study employs a combination of structural equation modeling and neural networks to offer valuable insights into the relationships between the technological environment, viewer experience and viewer behavior.

Findings

Our results highlight the salience of PSR in promoting the purchase of virtual gifts through cognitive absorption and the importance of the technological environment in eliciting the viewer experience. This study sheds light on the development of PSR in a technological environment and its relationship with cognitive absorption.

Originality/value

By applying PSR to conceptualize viewers’ perceived connection with the streamer, this study extends the research on purchase behavior in the non-shopping context by providing an enlightened understanding of virtual gift purchase behavior in live streaming. Moreover, by theoretically linking PSR with cognitive absorption, virtual gift purchase and technological features of live streaming, it enriches the theory of PSR and bridges the gap between the design practice of supporting the IT infrastructure of live streaming and research.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 34 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

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