Paul Hughes, Ian Richard Hodgkinson, Karen Elliott and Mathew Hughes
Developing and implementing strategies to maximize profitability is a fundamental challenge facing manufacturers. The complexity of orchestrating resources in practice has been…
Abstract
Purpose
Developing and implementing strategies to maximize profitability is a fundamental challenge facing manufacturers. The complexity of orchestrating resources in practice has been overlooked in the operations field and it is now necessary to go beyond the direct effects of individual resources and uncover different resource configurations that maximize profitability. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on a sample of US manufacturing firms, multiple regression analysis (MRA) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) are performed to examine the effects of resource orchestration on firm profitability over time. By comparing the findings between analyses, the study represents a move away from examining the net effects of resource levers on performance alone.
Findings
The findings characterize the resource conditions for manufacturers’ high performance, and also for absence of high performance. Pension and retirement expense is a core resource condition with R&D and SG&A as consistent peripheral conditions for profitability. Moreover, although workforce size was found to have a significant negative effect under MRA, this plays a role in manufacturers’ performance as a peripheral resource condition under fsQCA.
Originality/value
Accounting for different resource deployment configurations, this study deepens knowledge of resource orchestration and presents findings that enable manufacturers to maximize profitability. An empirical contribution is offered by the introduction of a new method for examining manufacturing strategy configurations: fsQCA.
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Thomas W. Jackson and Ian Richard Hodgkinson
In the pursuit of net-zero, the decarbonization activities of organizations are a critical feature of any sustainability strategy. However, government policy and recent…
Abstract
Purpose
In the pursuit of net-zero, the decarbonization activities of organizations are a critical feature of any sustainability strategy. However, government policy and recent technological innovations do not address the digital carbon footprint of organizations. The paper aims to present the concept of single-use dark data and how knowledge reuse by organizations is a means to digital decarbonization.
Design/methodology/approach
Businesses in all sectors must contribute to reducing digital carbon emissions globally, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to examine “how” from a knowledge (re)use perspective. Drawing on insights from the knowledge creation process, the paper presents a set of pathways to greater knowledge reuse for the reduction of organizations’ digital carbon footprint.
Findings
Businesses continually collect, process and store knowledge but generally fail to reuse these knowledge assets – referred to as dark data. Consequently, this dark data has a huge impact on energy use and global emissions. This model is the first to show explicit pathways that businesses can follow to sustainable knowledge practices.
Practical implications
If businesses are to be proactive in their collective pursuit of net-zero, then it becomes paramount that reducing the digital carbon footprint becomes a key sustainability target. The paper presents how this might be accomplished, offering practical and actionable guidance to businesses for digital decarbonization.
Originality/value
Two critical questions are facing businesses: how can decarbonization be achieved? And can it be achieved at a low-cost? Awareness of the damaging impact digitalization may be having on the environment is in its infancy, yet knowledge reuse is a proactive and cost-effective route to reduce carbon emissions, which is explored in the paper.
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Argyro Elisavet Manoli and Ian Richard Hodgkinson
Relative to the increasing focus on organisations’ outward communication consistency and coherency, the internal communication taking place between different organisational…
Abstract
Purpose
Relative to the increasing focus on organisations’ outward communication consistency and coherency, the internal communication taking place between different organisational functions is under-explored. The study aims to address the following two research questions: What form does cross-functional communication take within organisations? How do features of the communication work climate influence the form of cross-functional communication?
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws on qualitative data generated from semi-structured interviews with media and marketing managers from 33 professional football organisations operating in the English Premier League.
Findings
Thematic patterns between internal communication practices and different communication climates lead to the development of a new internal organisational communications typology, comprising: Type 1: collaborative symmetrical communication (cohesive climate); Type 2: unstructured informal communication (friendly climate); and Type 3: cross-functional silos (divisive climate).
Originality/value
Internal organisational communication practices are deemed fundamental to organisational success, yet there remains limited empirical evidence of the form such practices take or how they interact with features of an organisation’s communication climate. The study introduces a new internal organisational communications typology to develop and extend the theory and practice of internal marketing communications.
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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Resource orchestration is an overlooked aspect of manufacturing strategy. Yet resource combinations and effective alignment are fundamental for management if an organization is going to become, or remain, profitable and competitive.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
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Jared Friedman, Anthony Ian Jack, Kylie Rochford and Richard Boyatzis
Recent neuroscience research shows that two large-scale cortical networks are involved in organizational behavior. These two networks are naturally antagonistic – when one is…
Abstract
Recent neuroscience research shows that two large-scale cortical networks are involved in organizational behavior. These two networks are naturally antagonistic – when one is active the other tends to be suppressed. The focus of the chapter is to apply the opposing-domains hypothesis to problems associated with: (1) trying to balance creative thinking and global processing with analytic reasoning and focused attention; (2) avoiding ethical dangers associated with an imbalance in task positive network (TPN) and default mode network (DMN) thinking; and (3) properly motivating and incentivizing employees so as not to lead to an imbalance between the TPN and DMN. We contend that the opposing-domains hypothesis can inform organizational and leadership theory in areas where single-dimensional dual-process models are inadequate.
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Ian R. Hodgkinson, Claire Hannibal, Byron W. Keating, Rosamund Chester Buxton and Nicola Bateman
In providing a fine-grained analysis of public service management, the purpose of this paper is to make an important contribution to furthering research in service management, a…
Abstract
Purpose
In providing a fine-grained analysis of public service management, the purpose of this paper is to make an important contribution to furthering research in service management, a body of literature that has tended to regard public services as homogenous or to neglect the context altogether.
Design/methodology/approach
Integrating public management and service management literatures, the past and present of public service management are discussed. Future directions for the field are outlined drawing on a service-dominant approach that has the potential to transform public services. Invited commentaries augment the review.
Findings
The review presents the Public Service Network Framework to capture the public value network in its abstraction and conceptualizes how value is created in public services. The study identifies current shortcomings in the field and offers a series of directions for future research where service management theory can contribute greatly.
Research limitations/implications
The review encourages service management research to examine the dynamic, diverse, and complex nature of public services and to recognize the importance of this context. The review calls for an interdisciplinary public service management community to develop, and to assist public managers in leveraging service logic.
Originality/value
The review positions service research in the public sector, makes explicit the role of complex networks in value creation, argues for wider engagement with public service management, and offers future research directions to advance public service management research.
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João S. Oliveira, Magnus Hultman, Nathaniel Boso, Ian Hodgkinson, Paul Hughes, Ekaterina Nemkova and Anne Souchon
This special issue seeks to create an interdisciplinary community of researchers applying decision-making theory to the international marketing context. The articles published in…
Abstract
Purpose
This special issue seeks to create an interdisciplinary community of researchers applying decision-making theory to the international marketing context. The articles published in this special issue contain cutting-edge conceptual and empirical studies that enhance existing knowledge on international marketing decision-making.
Design/methodology/approach
Thirty-six (36) manuscripts were submitted to the editorial office focusing on a broad range of international marketing decision-making. Following a thorough review process, a collection of five original empirical studies on different facets of international marketing decision-making from multiple theoretical, contextual and methodological perspectives are included in this Special Issue.
Findings
Overall, the combined evidence presented in this Special Issue shows that the general field of international marketing decision-making is starting to mature. Evidence from the contributors to this Special Issue shows that researchers have taken inspiration from both the past and the present when designing and crafting their research and, by doing so, they have collectively contributed to new knowledge in terms of international marketing decision-making principles, decision-maker personality traits, the consequences of international marketing decisions and cross-cultural differences with regards to decision-making influences and behavior.
Originality/value
With few exceptions, not much is known about how international marketing decisions are made. Yet, the way international marketing decisions are made is critical for international marketing success. This sphere of international marketing decision-making research, while relatively anemic, is typically underpinned by behavioral economic theories of decision-making, such that a duality in decision-making processes is identified. Nevertheless, international marketing and management studies are dominated by the planning paradigm, while in practice, managers often see the attempt to deviate from planning as irresponsible and dangerous. The articles included in this special issue have addressed major unanswered questions regarding the content and processes of international marketing decision-making.
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Keith D. Walker and Benjamin Kutsyuruba
We often hear questions like “What must that leader have been thinking?” “What possessed her to do that?” “That leader needs to give his head a shake!” or “It is so disappointing…
Abstract
We often hear questions like “What must that leader have been thinking?” “What possessed her to do that?” “That leader needs to give his head a shake!” or “It is so disappointing to see the pain caused by one wrong-headed and self-serving leader!” This chapter describes how leaders may subtly fall into rationalization, self-justification, foolishness, and callous indifference through maleficent internal narratives. How is it that leaders who have found the favor of others in the service of a great cause (i.e., the education of children and youth) find themselves sucked into clearly wrong or unthinkably bad actions? In this chapter, vicious (non-virtuous) thinking, inner political churnings, unconscious reinforcement of systemic evil, and hurtful ways of influencing others are explored, named, and challenged.