Emmanuel Kwabena Anin, Dominic Essuman and Hannah Owusu
Though extant literature proposes buyer–seller information sharing as a crucial variable for quality improvement, there is a dearth of empirical understanding of how it affects…
Abstract
Purpose
Though extant literature proposes buyer–seller information sharing as a crucial variable for quality improvement, there is a dearth of empirical understanding of how it affects procurement quality performance. The present study aimed at addressing this knowledge gap by using small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in a developing African economy as an empirical context.
Design/methodology/approach
The research hypotheses are tested on survey data from 138 SMEs in Ghana using structural equation modeling.
Findings
Results show that buyer–seller information sharing is positively related to procurement quality performance and that high levels of buyer–seller information sharing lower procurement quality performance.
Research limitations/implications
Though the study demonstrates that there is a limit to the procurement quality performance benefit of buyer-seller information sharing, it does not empirically analyze the conditions that may relax this limit.
Practical implications
This research highlights both the bright and dark sides associated with buyer-seller information sharing and how they work out to determine procurement quality performance. It shows that SMEs could optimize procurement quality performance when they pursue a moderate level of buyer–seller information sharing.
Originality/value
This research advances the sparse literature on the procurement quality performance construct and its determinants within the context of SMEs. Unlike prior research that focuses on information technology, this study explicitly analyzes the role of information sharing in determining procurement (quality) performance and shows that differing levels of buyer–seller information sharing impact procurement quality performance differently.
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Francis Kamewor Tetteh, Benjamin Nyantakyi, Kwame Owusu Kwateng and Hannah Vivian Osei
This study examined the mediation-moderation role of innovation and market dynamism in the association between total quality management (TQM) practices and the performance of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examined the mediation-moderation role of innovation and market dynamism in the association between total quality management (TQM) practices and the performance of small and medium-scale enterprises' (SMEs') performance with empirical evidence from sub-Saharan Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a questionnaire, the research model developed was tested with responses from 203 owners and managers of SMEs in Ghana. The analyses were done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Smart Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The innovation initiatives partially and fully mediated the relationship between TQM practices and the performance of SMEs. Also, the indirect effect of TQM practices of SMEs on performance through innovation initiatives was negatively moderated by market dynamism.
Practical implications
The study contributes to the TQM literature by validating the indirect and direct relationship between TQM practices and performance in the context of SMEs in a developing region.
Originality/value
This paper presents a novel understanding of the relationship between TQM and SMEs in developing regions of the world. The paper serves as a guide for SME owners and managers to improve the performance of their organizations through TQM practices.
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Hannah Vivian Osei, Ahmed Agyapong and Kwame Owusu Kwateng
Interest has been generated for a while in unpacking the “black box” and providing a contingency approach to understanding the effects of human resource management (HRM…
Abstract
Purpose
Interest has been generated for a while in unpacking the “black box” and providing a contingency approach to understanding the effects of human resource management (HRM) practices. This study aims to investigate the possibility that the relationship between human capital development and task performance is mediated by work self-efficacy and work engagement – and that this mediation depends on the degree of perceived investment in employees’ development.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a synthesis of theories –systems, social cognitive and social identity theories – a moderated mediation model is tested using data from 220 academic employees and Heads of Departments from multiple Higher Educational Institutions in Ghana. AMOS and Hayes Conditional Process analysis were used to analyze the data.
Findings
The study finds support for a bundle of human capital investments boosting work self-efficacy and motivating work engagement, as well as task performance. Consistent with expectations, the mediation in human capital investments to task performance via work self-efficacy is conditional on the degree of perceived investment in employees’ development.
Originality/value
The study provides the first attempt at studying a conditional process model in human capital development by addressing whether, how and when human capital system functions more or less effectively, and provides knowledge on the “black box” in HRM.
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Hannes Velt and Rudolf R. Sinkovics
This chapter offers a comprehensive review the literature on authentic leadership (AL). The authors employ a bibliometric approach to identify, classify, visualise and synthesise…
Abstract
This chapter offers a comprehensive review the literature on authentic leadership (AL). The authors employ a bibliometric approach to identify, classify, visualise and synthesise relevant scholarly publications and the work of a core group of interdisciplinary scholars who are key contributors to the research on AL. They review 264 journal articles, adopting a clustering technique to assess the central themes of AL scholarship. They identify five distinct thematic clusters: authenticity in the context of leadership; structure of AL; social perspectives on AL; dynamism of AL; and value perceptions of AL. Velt and Sinkovics assert that these clusters will help scholars of AL to understand the dominant streams in the literature and provide a foundation for future research.
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Ibiyemi Omeihe and Christian Harrison
The research on authentic leadership has recently become a priority in leadership literature. As policy-makers and practitioners seek evidence in addressing leadership malfeasance…
Abstract
The research on authentic leadership has recently become a priority in leadership literature. As policy-makers and practitioners seek evidence in addressing leadership malfeasance across organisations and the broader society. Hence, a growing body of evidence suggests that the authentic leadership construct is plagued with a lack of conceptual clarity, embodying philosophical ambiguity and demographic limitations. Consequently, the study provides crucial descriptions of authentic leadership within a developing economy context.
The study’s findings show that three perspectives were evident from the authentic leaders and followers in defining authentic leadership. Authentic leaders perceive the construct from dual perspectives while followers have a singular outlook. The first perspective provided by the authentic leaders focussed on their leadership and how the burden of the role influenced their approach. The second perspective linked authentic leadership to areas that improve organisational outcomes. An unconscious awareness of the necessities that support organisational performance underpins the descriptions by the leaders. Remarkably, followers provide the last perspective that emphasises the relational aspects of the authentic leader and how it influences them in their daily lives. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the study’s contributions and limitations before charting the path for future research.
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Tessa Withorn, Jillian Eslami, Hannah Lee, Maggie Clarke, Carolyn Caffrey, Cristina Springfield, Dana Ospina, Anthony Andora, Amalia Castañeda, Alexandra Mitchell, Joanna Messer Kimmitt, Wendolyn Vermeer and Aric Haas
This paper presents recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy, providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper presents recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy, providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering various library types, study populations and research contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations, reports and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2020.
Findings
The paper provides a brief description of all 440 sources and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.
Originality/value
The information may be used by librarians, researchers and anyone interested in a quick and comprehensive reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.
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Muhammad Asim Faheem, Ishfaq Ahmed, Insya Ain and Zanaira Iqbal
The ethical issues arising at work demand the role of both leader and employees, but how both the levels are linked in determining the ethical responses is an area that has not…
Abstract
Purpose
The ethical issues arising at work demand the role of both leader and employees, but how both the levels are linked in determining the ethical responses is an area that has not gained due attention in the past. Against this backdrop, this study aims to address the influence of a leader’s authenticity and ethical voice on ethical culture and the role ethicality of followers.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey design has been used, and a questionnaire is used to elicit the responses. In total, 381 filled questionnaires were used for data analysis.
Findings
The findings of this study highlight the role of authentic leadership in predicting the role ethicality of followers both directly and through the mediation of ethical culture. Furthermore, a leader’s ethical voice strengthens the authentic leadership and outcome relationships (with ethical culture and followers’ role ethicality). The moderated-mediation mechanism has proved as the leaders’ voice foster the indirect mechanism.
Originality/value
There is a dearth of literature that has focused on leadership traits (authenticity) and behavior (ethical voice) in predicting the followers’ outcomes (perceptions – ethical culture and behaviors – role ethicality). The moderated-mediation mechanism has been unattended in the past.
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Hannah Vivian Osei, Evaristus Tepprey and Philip Opoku Mensah
This study aims to investigate the effects of several individual elements vis-a-vis the environment that affects students’ choice of a career. The study assesses the effects of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the effects of several individual elements vis-a-vis the environment that affects students’ choice of a career. The study assesses the effects of cognitive-person factors on the career decision-making of tertiary students and analyses how chance events moderate these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used the survey research design to gather data from 302 final-year tertiary students from four (4) Faculties and sixteen (16) academic departments of a Technical University in Ghana. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires and analysed using the partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The study reveals that students’ self-efficacy and outcome expectations are two cognitive-person factors that positively and significantly influence students’ career choices. However, chance events of tertiary students were found not to moderate the relationship between cognitive-person factors and students’ career choices.
Practical implications
Understanding how several cognitive-person factors influence the career choice of students through the lens of social career-cognitive theory could enable researchers to advance knowledge in the career choice process. Counselors and guidance coordinators need to motivate and encourage career/job exploration and development by identifying sources of psychosocial support available to students.
Originality/value
This study identifies the cognitive person factors that drive career decisions and provides one of the initial attempts to investigate how chance events moderate students’ cognitive-person career choice relationship.
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The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of post‐exit knowledge diffusion created by departed firms on recipienfirms.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of post‐exit knowledge diffusion created by departed firms on recipienfirms.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an inductive and exploratory study which tries to understand questions of how and why. The research used a qualitative interview methodology and data analysis using within and cross‐case analysis.
Findings
Analysis of the data revealed that recipient firms' strategic directions and organizational design are fundamentally shaped by the career imprint of the former managers of the departed firm.
Research limitations/implications
Practical and policy implications are identified and discussed. The study suggests that organizational failure should be viewed as having wider externalities, on both markets and society as a whole. The demise of an industry incumbent should not be viewed as necessarily having a negative impact, rather as a strategic opportunity for new firms to enter and for existing ones to expand by drawing on the expertise released by its departure.
Originality/value
This paper makes an original contribution to the literature by integrating learning‐from‐failure, knowledge spillover and career imprinting theories to examine the post‐exit effect of firm departure. The paper also counters prior emphasis of the extant literature on the relationship between work experience and job performance which has focused mainly on experience within the current firm, overlooking the importance of work experience acquired in prior firms.
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Kathryn Nowotny, Hannah Metheny, Katherine LeMasters and Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein
The USA has a rapidly aging prison population that, combined with their poorer health and living conditions, is at extreme risk for COVID-19. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The USA has a rapidly aging prison population that, combined with their poorer health and living conditions, is at extreme risk for COVID-19. The purpose of this paper is to compare COVID-19 mortality trends in the US prison population and the general population to see how mortality risk changed over the course of the pandemic. The authors first provide a national overview of trends in COVID-19 mortality; then, the authors assess COVID-19 deaths among older populations using more detailed data from one US state.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used multiple publicly available data sets (e.g. Centers for Disease Control and prevention, COVID Prison Project) and indirect and direct standardization to estimate standardized mortality rates covering the period from April 2020 to June 2021 for the US and for the State of Texas.
Findings
While 921 COVID-19-related deaths among people in US prisons were expected as of June 5, 2021, 2,664 were observed, corresponding to a standardized mortality ratio of 2.89 (95%CI 2.78, 3.00). The observed number of COVID-19-related deaths exceeded the expected number of COVID-19-related deaths among people in prison for most of the pandemic, with a substantially widening gap leading to a plateau about four weeks after the COVID-19 vaccine was introduced in the USA. In the state population, the older population in prison is dying at younger ages compared with the general population, with the highest percentage of deaths among people aged 50–64 years.
Research limitations/implications
People who are incarcerated are dying of COVID-19 at a rate that far outpaces the general population and are dying at younger ages.
Originality/value
This descriptive analysis serves as a first step in understanding the dynamic trends in COVID-19 mortality and the association between age and COVID-19 death in US prisons.