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1 – 10 of 20Suzanna Windon, Mariah K. Stollar and Rama Radhakrishna
The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate Penn State Extension 4-H volunteer leaders’ leadership development needs and preferred delivery methods for leadership…
Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate Penn State Extension 4-H volunteer leaders’ leadership development needs and preferred delivery methods for leadership development. The participants were 147 volunteer leaders who attended Penn State Extension Annual 4-H Leader Forum and filled out the survey. We found that the overall mean score for leadership skills needs among volunteer leaders was 4.33 (SD =.45). Volunteers’ overall leadership skills needs do not differ based on volunteer gender, level of education, age, and previous volunteer experience. The preferred delivery methods of leadership development for Penn State Extension 4-H volunteer leaders were workshop and in-service training. Leadership education is critical in advancing volunteers’ skills and preparing them to delivery well-developed, state of the art contemporary leadership education programs.
Emre Burak Ekmekcioglu and Kürşad Öner
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of servant leadership (SL) and innovative organizational culture (IOC) on employees' innovative work behavior (IWB). In…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of servant leadership (SL) and innovative organizational culture (IOC) on employees' innovative work behavior (IWB). In addition, this paper attempts to examine the mediating role of perceived organizational support (POS) in these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 280 employees working in technopark companies located in Turkey, which require intensive IWB. Structural equation modeling and bootstrapping procedure were used to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
The findings suggest that SL, and IOC are significantly and positively related to employees' IWB. The results also show that SL and IOC stimulate employees' IWB through POS.
Research limitations/implications
Because this study was carried out by employing a cross-sectional research design with data obtained from the same source, the inferences about the causality among the variables cannot be inferred.
Practical implications
The empirical findings suggest that organizations should make efforts to promote SL and improve IOC in order to harvest IWB from their employees. Moreover, organizations and managers need to recognize the importance of the POS by employees, and therefore form an adequate working environment, create and utilize policies and procedures accordingly.
Originality/value
This study suggests ways for organizations to enhance their innovativeness through IOC and SL applications in pursue of harvesting employees' IWB using POS by employees as mediator. This study is also original, in that no previous studies have investigated the mediating role of POS in the relationship between IOC, SL and IWB.
研究目的
本研究旨在探討僕人式領導和創新組織文化對僱員的創新工作行為的影響; 研究亦擬探討就上述有關的影響和關聯而言、組織支持感所扮演的調節角色。
研究設計/方法/理念
研究的數據取自在土耳其的科技園區裡工作的280名僱員 (在科技園區工作,僱員須具備強大的創新工作行為) 。研究採用結構方程模型和拔靴法程式去測試假設的關聯。
研究結果
研究結果間接表明了僕人式領導和創新組織文化與僱員創新工作行為之間的關聯是正相關的,而且,這相關性頗為顯著。研究結果亦顯示,僕人式領導和創新組織文化均會透過組織支持感、促進僱員的創新工作行為。
研究的局限/啟示
由於研究採用橫斷研究設計,而使用的數據又取自同一來源,故變數間的因果關係是無法推斷的。
實務方面的啟示
本研究之經驗結果建議組織應鼓勵推行僕人式領導,亦應努力提昇創新組織文化,以能取得僱員創新工作行為所帶來的成效。而且,組織和管理階層必須明白使僱員感受到組織的支持是很重要的,因此,組織和主管須創造一個良好的工作環境,並制訂適當的政策和處理各種事宜的程式,以能提高組織支持感。
研究的原創性/價值
本研究為組織提供了增強創新能力的建議,方法是透過促進創新組織文化和採用僕人式領導,並利用僱員組織支持感的調節作用,以取得僱員創新工作行為所帶來的成效。另外,本研究是獨創的,這是因為從前沒有研究、去探討在創新組織文化和僕人式領導與創新工作行為之間的關聯上、組織支持感所扮演的調節角色。
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While the university as an institution is a great success story, one hears the constant chatter of the crises in higher education usually associated with the organizational…
Abstract
While the university as an institution is a great success story, one hears the constant chatter of the crises in higher education usually associated with the organizational transformation of universities. Regardless of one’s normative assessment of these observations, the institutional success of the university has been accompanied by the emergence of universities as organizational actors. I reflect on how these changes could alter the university as an institution, using the Australian higher education sector as an example. In doing so, I explore how universities as organizational actors, in responding to the demands of their external environment, set in motion a series of changes that redefine highly institutionalized categories, and, in doing so, radically remake the university as an institution.
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Desirée H. van Dun and Maneesh Kumar
Many manufacturers are exploring adopting smart technologies in their operations, also referred to as the shift towards “Industry 4.0”. Employees' contribution to high-tech…
Abstract
Purpose
Many manufacturers are exploring adopting smart technologies in their operations, also referred to as the shift towards “Industry 4.0”. Employees' contribution to high-tech initiatives is key to successful Industry 4.0 technology adoption, but few studies have examined the determinants of employee acceptance. This study, therefore, aims to explore how managers affect employees' acceptance of Industry 4.0 technology, and, in turn, Industry 4.0 technology adoption.
Design/methodology/approach
Rooted in the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model and social exchange theory, this inductive research follows an in-depth comparative case study approach. The two studied Dutch manufacturing firms engaged in the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in their primary processes, including cyber-physical systems and augmented reality. A mix of qualitative methods was used, consisting of field visits and 14 semi-structured interviews with managers and frontline employees engaged in Industry 4.0 technology adoption.
Findings
The cross-case comparison introduces the manager's need to adopt a transformational leadership style for employees to accept Industry 4.0 technology adoption as an organisational-level factor that extends existing Industry 4.0 technology user acceptance theorising. Secondly, manager's and employee's recognition and serving of their own and others' emotions through emotional intelligence are proposed as an additional individual-level factor impacting employees' acceptance and use of Industry 4.0 technologies.
Originality/value
Synthesising these insights with those from the domain of Organisational Behaviour, propositions were derived from theorising the social aspects of effective Industry 4.0 technology adoption.
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Barbara Rebecca Mutonyi, Terje Slåtten and Gudbrand Lien
The aim of this study is to examine the role of organizational climate in employees’ creative performance using the public sector as an empirical context. The employees’ creative…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to examine the role of organizational climate in employees’ creative performance using the public sector as an empirical context. The employees’ creative performance is divided into two entities and studied as two separate effect variables: individual creativity and individual innovative behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model is developed and tested in a survey in which employees of a public sector organization participated.
Findings
The findings indicate that organizational climate has an important role in employees’ creative performance. The organizational climate showed a positive and significant link to the two creative performance variables included in this study. Moreover, the study revealed that individual creativity mediates the relationship between organizational climate and individual innovative behavior.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is limited to examining the role of organizational climate on two creative performance variables related to individual employees in the public sector. To trigger individual creativity and individual innovative behavior in the public sector, there is a need for managers to build, develop and maintain an organizational climate that supports both employees’ creativity and enthusiasm in implementing those novel and useful ideas.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first in the public sector to demonstrate the importance of organizational climate for employees’ individual creative performance. The findings of this study adds to our current knowledge and understanding of the value of organizational climate, and its influence on individual creative performance in the public sector.
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Caitlin Ferreira, Jeandri Robertson, Raeesah Chohan, Leyland Pitt and Tim Foster
This methodological paper demonstrates how service firms can use digital technologies to quantify and predict customer evaluations of their interactions with the firm using…
Abstract
Purpose
This methodological paper demonstrates how service firms can use digital technologies to quantify and predict customer evaluations of their interactions with the firm using unstructured, qualitative data. To harness the power of unstructured data and enhance the customer-firm relationship, the use of computerized text analysis is proposed.
Design/methodology/approach
Three empirical studies were conducted to exemplify the use of the computerized text analysis tool. A secondary data analysis of online customer reviews (n = 2,878) in a service industry was used. LIWC was used to conduct the text analysis, and thereafter SPSS was used to examine the predictive capability of the model for the evaluation of customer-firm interactions.
Findings
A lexical analysis of online customer reviews was able to predict evaluations of customer-firm interactions across the three empirical studies. The authenticity and emotional tone present in the reviews served as the best predictors of customer evaluations of their service interactions with the firm.
Practical implications
Computerized text analysis is an inexpensive digital tool which, to date, has been sparsely used to analyze customer-firm interactions based on customers' online reviews. From a methodological perspective, the use of this tool to gain insights from unstructured data provides the ability to gain an understanding of customers' real-time evaluations of their service interactions with a firm without collecting primary data.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge regarding the use of computerized lexical analysis to assess unstructured, online customer reviews to predict customers' evaluations of a service interaction. The results offer service firms an inexpensive and user-friendly methodology to assess real-time, readily available reviews, complementing traditional customer research. A tool has been used to transform unstructured data into a numerical format, quantifying customer evaluations of service interactions.
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David J. Harper, Darren Ellis and Ian Tucker
This chapter focusses on the ethical issues raised by different types of surveillance and the varied ways in which surveillance can be covert. Three case studies are presented…
Abstract
This chapter focusses on the ethical issues raised by different types of surveillance and the varied ways in which surveillance can be covert. Three case studies are presented which highlight different types of surveillance and different ethical concerns. The first case concerns the use of undercover police to infiltrate political activist groups over a 40-year period in the UK. The second case study examines a joint operation by US and Australian law enforcement agencies: the FBI’s operation Trojan Shield and the AFP’s Operation Ironside. This involved distributing encrypted phone handsets to serious criminal organisations which included a ‘backdoor’ secretly sending encrypted copies of all messages to law enforcement. The third case study analyses the use of emotional artificial intelligence systems in educational digital learning platforms for children where technology companies collect, store and use intrusive personal data in an opaque manner. The authors discuss similarities and differences in the ethical questions raised by these cases, for example, the involvement of the state versus private corporations, the kinds of information gathered and how it is used.
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Zafer Adiguzel and Fatma Sonmez Cakir
The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between innovative climate, strategic orientation, work motivation, business performance and job performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between innovative climate, strategic orientation, work motivation, business performance and job performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Within the scope of the research, a survey was conducted with 400 engineers working in organizations operating within companies producing spare parts for automobile companies. IBM SPSS 25, IBM SPSS AMOS and LISREL programs were gradually used, and the data obtained were evaluated and analyzed.
Findings
The importance of strategic orientation and work motivation for organizations can be seen in the analysis results in terms of their positive effects.
Practical implications
In the production sector, where innovation and competition activities take place, not only strategic decisions but also motivation for employees must be realized within the organizational culture in order for the organizations to be successful. Strategic orientation is effective in achieving innovation and creation to the extent that employees are motivated.
Originality/value
In terms of successful performance, it is very important to manage companies with the right strategic understanding and to involve the employees. In order to realize the innovation climate and to be successful in performance criteria, motivation is considered a key factor, in particular for the automobile sector. Automobile companies are now turning to electric vehicle production using new generation technologies. However, they also attach importance to the use of smart technologies in cars. For this reason, the effects of strategic orientation and work motivation on performance and innovation are investigated in companies producing automobile spare parts.
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Barbara Rebecca Mutonyi, Terje Slåtten and Gudbrand Lien
This study clarifies the factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in the public sector by examining the effects and roles of empowering leadership, work group…
Abstract
Purpose
This study clarifies the factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in the public sector by examining the effects and roles of empowering leadership, work group cohesiveness and individual learning orientation. This study also explores the direct effect of empowering leadership on work group cohesiveness and individual learning orientation, the influence of work group cohesiveness on individual learning orientation and the mediating roles of work group cohesiveness and individual learning orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from an online survey of respondents working in a public sector organization. Partial least squares structural equation modelling and mediation analysis by the bootstrap method were used for the data analysis.
Findings
Empowering leadership and individual learning orientation had significant direct effects on individual innovative behaviour. Both empowering leadership and work group cohesiveness have significant direct effects on individual learning orientation. Empowering leadership was positively related to work group cohesiveness. The mediation analysis revealed that individual learning orientation mediates the relationships between empowering leadership and individual innovative behaviour and between work group cohesiveness and individual innovative behaviour.
Research limitations/implications
The study focuses on three factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in a public sector organization.
Originality/value
This study offers new insights into the factors that foster individual innovative behaviour in the public sector. The findings reveal the importance of using a balanced leadership style and encourage learning in the workplace for individual innovativeness by public leaders.
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Bianca Bindi, Romeo Bandinelli, Virginia Fani and Margherita Emma Paola Pero
The purpose of this paper was to investigate what types of supply chain strategies (SCS) are implemented within luxury fashion companies, according to the drivers that regulate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to investigate what types of supply chain strategies (SCS) are implemented within luxury fashion companies, according to the drivers that regulate competitiveness in this sector (brand positioning, distribution channel, type and line of product). Moreover, the objective was to define which key performance indicators (KPIs) should be measured according to the chosen strategy, and finally to evaluate the alignment of luxury fashion companies with the proposed indicators.
Design/methodology/approach
The literature review was the first step performed. Thereafter, a case study was conducted and the sample, composed of six companies, was selected, a questionnaire was then developed to guide the interviews, after which the data were collected. From the data, a primary case analysis was conducted, from which cross-case patterns were also researched.
Findings
From the results obtained, it was possible to state that companies involved in the case study adopted different SCS within the same company according to the drivers that regulate the sector competitiveness. As a result, the product line was shown to be the only driver that affected both the alignment between the expected and implemented SCS, respectively, and the alignment with the selected KPIs.
Originality/value
The paper provides valuable insights to companies that are trying to align SCS and KPIs. The close link between these aspects had not yet been explored previously. In particular, there were no indications about the KPIs that have to be measured for a specific SCS.
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