M. Darío Rodríguez and F. René Ríos
Paternalism in labour relationships is characteristic of Chilean and Latin American firms. Despite its empirical and practical relevance it lacks adequate conceptual elaboration…
Abstract
Purpose
Paternalism in labour relationships is characteristic of Chilean and Latin American firms. Despite its empirical and practical relevance it lacks adequate conceptual elaboration so that it remains an opaque real drive that cannot be managed. This paper seeks to propose some conceptual distinctions to help clarify its meaning.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the social systems theory of Niklas Luhmann, paternalism is analysed as semantics which makes three main aspects visible: interests, autonomous decisions and responsibility that are seen as different sources of risk and danger for the workers. Paternalism is allegedly a protective device.
Findings
Paternalism is reinforced and reproduced by distrust in the workers' capacities to make decisions on their own and it becomes a justification to keep wages low, hinder delegation and becomes an ideology that justifies gaps between productivity and compensation.
Research limitations/implications
Paternalism is difficult to operationalize in order to make empirical observations, but through qualitative analysis we were able to characterize it with two examples. This will help empirical research to continue on a more appropriate conceptual basis.
Practical implications
HRM practices should consider that paternalism is present as an expectation and that management should know that it can also pervade administration despite its modernized appearance.
Originality/value
Since paternalism pervades expectations in opaque ways, it sets limits to management's capacities to administer human resources in a modern way. Awareness of this fact allows its comprehension and the ability to properly deal with it.
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Labor contracts are built on the basis of different latent premises about expectations of the organizations and the workers. Paternalism is widespread in Latin America, and its…
Abstract
Purpose
Labor contracts are built on the basis of different latent premises about expectations of the organizations and the workers. Paternalism is widespread in Latin America, and its diverse forms should be taken into account in the design of HR policies and management practices. The paper seeks to compare two Chilean banks and show that different forms of paternalism exist. As long as the organization is consistent with the premises it works with, productivity is not hindered by either form.
Design/methodology/approach
By means of a case study two banks's contractual premises are compared. Each one represents a different set of cultural expectations for the labor contracts.
Findings
Paternalistic and non paternalistic premises for labor contracts differ widely, but as long as the organization is coherent with them in its human resources policies and practices, productivity can be achieved indistinctively.
Research limitations/implications
The cases are representative of main types of organization's labor contracts, but not statistically representative. Generalizations are possible insofar as other organizations show similar cultural pre‐contractual premises.
Practical implications
Human resource management policies and practices need to be consistent with the premises underlying the labor contract and the social bond in order to allow for productivity increases.
Originality/value
Paternalism is still present in Latin American organizations, instead of dismissing it as traditional or premodern, acknowledging it will allow for organizations to act more realistically towards its labor force.
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The paper shows how two banks – Bank of Credit and Investments (BCI) and ABN Amro – have taken the paternalism widespread in Latin America into account in designing their HR…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper shows how two banks – Bank of Credit and Investments (BCI) and ABN Amro – have taken the paternalism widespread in Latin America into account in designing their HR policies and management practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reveals, through case studies of the two banks, how different contractual premises represent different sets of cultural expectations.
Findings
The paper emonstrates that the two approaches differ widely, but neither bank has compromised on performance.
Practical implications
The author contends that HR policies and practices need to be consistent with the premises underlying the labour contract and social bond in order to allow for productivity increases.
Originality/value
The pape advises organizations not to work against the paternalism that continues to exist in business in Latin America, but to acknowledge and accommodate it.
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Sajjad Nazir, Amina Shafi, Muhammad Ali Asadullah, Wang Qun and Sahar Khadim
This study examines the serial mediation mechanism between paternalistic leadership and innovative work behavior through the leader–member exchange (LMX) and employee voice…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the serial mediation mechanism between paternalistic leadership and innovative work behavior through the leader–member exchange (LMX) and employee voice behavior. Particularly, this study utilized the social exchange theory to investigate the indirect effect of three distinct dimensions of paternalistic leadership style on innovative work behavior through LMX and employee voice behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
Self-reported questionnaires were used to collect data from 397 employees in Pakistan. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings
The two dimensions of paternalistic leadership were significantly related to LMX. LMX had a significant effect on employee voice behavior that was further related to innovative work behavior. The findings also support the mediating role of LMX between authoritarian and moral leadership and employee voice. Further, LMX and employee voice boosted the indirect relationship between moral leadership and innovative behavior. However, authoritarian leadership demonstrated a significant but negative indirect effect on innovative behavior through LMX and employee voice.
Practical implications
The organizational members need to encourage a high LMX and voice behavior to enhance the positive effects of benevolent and moral leadership styles on innovative employee behaviors. Contrarily, they need to discourage authoritarian leadership if they want to enhance innovative work behavior through LMX and employee voice. Furthermore, when leaders provide a safe environment to employees at the workplace, then they may feel secure to take risks and exhibit innovative work behavior, which ultimately contributes to increasing employee and organizational performance.
Originality/value
This study extended the existing literature on paternalistic leadership in two important ways. First, this study examined a serial mediation mechanism to test the effect of paternalistic leadership on innovative work behavior through LMX and voice behavior. Second, this is a key study to investigate which dimension of paternalistic leadership is effective to boost employees' innovative work behavior at the individual level in the Pakistani organizational context.
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Juan Dario Hernández, Juan Camilo Calderón, Iván Felipe Rodríguez and Jaime Andrés Bayona
Identify the influence of contextual variables (i.e. politics) in the strategy of a military organisation. Analyse and evaluate strategic change options of a military…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
Identify the influence of contextual variables (i.e. politics) in the strategy of a military organisation. Analyse and evaluate strategic change options of a military organisation. Decide on a strategic change from the resources and capabilities model.
Case overview/synopsis
Colombia Aeronautics Industry Corporation (CIAC) is a Colombian mixed economy company that commercialises, maintains and repairs civil and military aircraft and aeronautical components. The case presents the decision that the manager must make regarding a change in corporate strategy because of the entry into force of the peace agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). This agreement assumes that the main line of business of the CIAC would be weakened (i.e. repair of military aircraft used in the internal armed conflict with FARC), because in a new peace scenario, the aircraft would not need as much maintenance as in the most critical stages of the conflict.
Complexity academic level
Master of Business Administration level (suggested courses: strategy, strategic management and organisational change). Undergraduate level (suggested courses: strategy and organisational change).
Supplementary materials
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Subject code
CSS 11: Strategy.
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Sandra Rodríguez-Alvarez, Laura del Río del Río-Fernández, Daniel del Río-Santos, Carmen de la Torre-Gamarra, Belen Levenfeld and Alejandro Varez
This study aims to develop a highly loaded filament with spherical metallic particles for fused filament fabrication (FFF) technology. The research focuses on optimizing powder…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop a highly loaded filament with spherical metallic particles for fused filament fabrication (FFF) technology. The research focuses on optimizing powder loading, printing parameters and final processes, including debinding and sintering, to produce successful metal parts.
Design/methodology/approach
The optimal powder loading was identified by measuring mixing torque and viscosity at various temperatures. The filament was extruded, and printing parameters − particularly printing speed to ensure proper material flow − were optimized. Different filling patterns were also examined. After printing, the polymeric binder was removed and the parts were sintered to form the final metal components.
Findings
The optimal powder loading was determined to be 55 vol.%. The best surface quality was achieved with an optimized printing speed of 5 mm/s. Parts printed with various infill patterns were studied for differences in open, closed and total porosity, showing a strong link between porosity and infill pattern.
Originality/value
This comprehensive study provides new insights into manufacturing metal parts using FFF technology. It fills a gap in the literature regarding feedstock viscosity and shear rate in highly loaded metal filaments during FFF. Additionally, it uniquely examines the open, closed and total porosity of metal parts printed with different infill patterns.
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THE VAST PORTIONS of land south of the United States, commonly known as Latin America, form a political, social and cultural structure which—with very few exceptions—owes its…
Abstract
THE VAST PORTIONS of land south of the United States, commonly known as Latin America, form a political, social and cultural structure which—with very few exceptions—owes its singularity to its spiritual ties with Spain and Portugal. Although sharp social and cultural contrasts among the Latin American nations do exist, the Spanish language is a formidable link which has helped to overcome many differences. Latin American literature, despite its very distinctive voices, proclaims in unison a literary wealth which ignores political and geographic boundaries. The development of modern Latin American literature springs from the modernista movement, which roughly spans the period between the late 1880's and the 1930's. The Nicaraguan Rubén Darío (1867–1916) is considered the focal point of this new literary school which led to “the discovery of the emotional life made by the romantic, the almost professional awareness of what literature and its latest fashions are” and “the pride of belonging to an Hispanic American generation which, for the first time, is able to specialize in art”. By the time Latin American literature reached European and North American shores during the late 1920's, a vigorous regionalist novel developed. Its basic themes were played against the background of the Argentinian pampa, the Venezuelan plains, the Andean mountains, the villages of revolutionary Mexico or the jungle of Brazil. In essence, this literature was concerned more with nature than with the social and cultural realities of city life. Writers sought to present exotic materials to the urban dwellers.
Sobeida Margarita Giraldo, Luis Joyanes Aguilar, Lillyana María Giraldo and Iván Darío Toro
This paper aims to explore the requirements of organizational knowledge management initiatives using requirements engineering techniques, identifying the optimal techniques…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the requirements of organizational knowledge management initiatives using requirements engineering techniques, identifying the optimal techniques configuration and serving as a management tool for knowledge engineers.
Design/methodology/approach
The method is selection attributes. Knowledge management enablers are characterized and mapped with the coverage capabilities of requirements engineering techniques, using the attributes of the elicited object and a box-plot analysis. The information is gathered from 280 references, 32 companies and 16 experts in requirements engineering.
Findings
Requirements of organizational knowledge management initiatives are got optimally by combining interviews, use cases, scenarios, laddering and focus group techniques. The requirements of structure and processes are more complex to identify, while culture requirements are the best covered.
Research limitations/implications
Knowledge management enablers are analyzed according to the current studies and comprehension of engineering techniques.
Practical implications
Knowledge engineers need to consider the coverage capabilities of engineering techniques to design an optimal requirement identification and meet the objectives of organizational knowledge acquisition initiatives. Requirement engineers can improve the requirements identification by a staged selection process.
Social implications
The requirements of knowledge management initiatives that impact the community can be identified and traced to ensure the knowledge objectives. Requirements related to culture and people, like shared values, beliefs, and behaviors, are also considered.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study about formal requirement identification of knowledge management initiatives in the organizational context, providing the optimal configuration. A novel staged process is proposed for requirements engineering techniques selection, analyzing the enablers at component level and identifying the attributes associated with the elicited object.