In the managerial and organizational cognition (MOC) literature, cognition is often studied by considering the observable characteristics of decision-makers. However, these…
Abstract
In the managerial and organizational cognition (MOC) literature, cognition is often studied by considering the observable characteristics of decision-makers. However, these studies have largely neglected cognitive differences stemming from the cultural, national, ethnical, and geographical (CNEG) characteristics of decision-makers – ones that are commonly studied in the field of international business (IB) research. Despite the contributions of IB research within the domain, the advancements have not found their way to the broader literature on MOC. In order to remedy this deficiency, this chapter seeks to introduce the work conducted within the IB field on the cognitive differences and the resultant cognitive distance stemming from decision-makers’ CNEG characteristics. This work has generated original insights on: (1) cognitive distances; (2) cognitive structures; (3) the legacy of the home country; and (4) tolerance to cognitive differences. As a result, this chapter strengthens the foundations for cumulative knowledge building by providing an integrative understanding of cognitive research based on the characteristics of managers.
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Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah and Maqsood Ahmad
This paper aims to investigate the effects of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with mediating role of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the effects of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with mediating role of differentiation strategy in Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical framework has been developed to base the hypotheses, as also to determine the exact approach in this study. To establish the influence of EO on the performance of SME, a five-point Likert scale questionnaire has been used to collect data from middle and senior managers who operate in SMEs in the manufacturing sectors. The sample illustrates 166 incumbents, comprising 68.07 per cent from middle management and 31.93 per cent from senior management operating in manufacturing sector of SMEs, by means of a stratified random sampling technique. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS and Amos graphics software. Hypotheses were tested by using structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.
Findings
EO, as a whole, presents a significant positive effect on the performance of SMEs. Moreover, differentiation strategy partially mediated the relationship between EO and performance of SMEs. Two dimensions of EO, proactiveness and risk-taking propensity, strongly increased firm performance while innovativeness, competitive aggressiveness, autonomy and competitive energy did not cause any significant change. The findings differ from the current view of western enterprises that innovativeness (INO) played a major role by increasing performance of SMEs. The results transpired that innovativeness (INO) tends to reduce performance of SMEs, but the p-value did not reach a high significance value.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this empirical study is comparatively a small size of the sample. The analysis of power suggests that a larger sample could have provided more reliable and extensive results. Regardless of that, the analysis of reliability, using the Cronbach's alpha, exhibited the consistency of outcomes in providing an accurate portrait of the EO influences on the performance of SME.
Practical implications
The study verifies that two dimensions of EO have considerable effects on the performance of SMEs, while the others have not, whereas, the EO, as whole, has significant positive effect on performance of SMEs. These findings should be helpful for researchers looking for appropriate performance measures, and for entrepreneurs aiming at getting support for their decisions and evaluating their performance.
Originality/value
The current study appears to be first of its kind focusing on the link between EOs, as whole, and its dimensions, to performance of SMEs and differentiation strategies within the specific context of Pakistan.
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J. Augusto Felício, Eduardo Couto and Jorge Caiado
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the human capital and social capital of managers and the influence of these attributes on the performance of small and medium-sized Portuguese…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the human capital and social capital of managers and the influence of these attributes on the performance of small and medium-sized Portuguese companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The structural modeling approach was applied to a sample of 199 small and medium-sized companies aged between 3 and 15 years, from five different sectors of activity.
Findings
It was found that human capital affects social capital, and that experience and cognitive ability influence personal relations and complicity. Organizational performance is strongly influenced by human capital through the cognitive ability of the manager.
Practical implications
Based on these findings managers can gain a better knowledge about how to improve the performance of their firms, for example through adjustments in communication methods or strategic decision capacities.
Originality/value
This work is innovative in the sense that it confirms the influence of human capital on social capital, and shows that it is cognitive ability that affects organizational performance.
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J. Augusto Felício, Ricardo Rodrigues and Vítor R. Caldeirinha
The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of intrapreneurship on the performance of companies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of intrapreneurship on the performance of companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The study develops and tests a theoretical model where the intrapreneurship is supported on the factors innovation, risk/uncertainty, risk/challenges, competitive energy, proactivity and autonomy, and the performance on the factors financial performance, growth and improvement and on the variable productivity. Based on a questionnaire, data from a sample of 217 medium‐sized Portuguese companies were obtained. The study used the confirmatory analysis method based on structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings
The intrapreneurship has a multidimensional structure. This model proves its influence on the growth and improvement and the importance and explanatory power of this latent variable.
Research limitations/implications
The techniques used to verify the effect of firm size and the age periods has not been sufficiently explored and the direct effect of latent variables of intrapreneurship on performance was not assessed. This work contributes to the theory highlighting the importance of factors in intrapreneurship and the influence of the context in the model.
Practical implications
It was verified that the intrapreneurship has obvious effects on the measures of qualitative performance – growth and improvement. This is helpful for researchers looking for appropriate performance measures and for intrapreneurs aiming to get support for their decisions and evaluate their performance.
Originality/value
This study considers the separation of the propensity for risk in two latent variables and includes the autonomy to characterize intrapreneurship and demonstrates the importance of qualitative measures of performance perceived in the perspective of medium and long term.
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Yariv Itzkovich, Sibylle Heilbrunn and Niva Dolev
In the current study framework, the authors test the underlying assumptions of affective events theory concerning the impact of job satisfaction and job insecurity driven by…
Abstract
Purpose
In the current study framework, the authors test the underlying assumptions of affective events theory concerning the impact of job satisfaction and job insecurity driven by incivility on intrapreneurial behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected with a sample of 510 employees from five organisations. All hypotheses were tested via SmartPLS3. Additionally, a distinction between formative and reflective measures was performed.
Findings
Findings revealed that incivility decreases intrapreneurial behaviour, mediated by job satisfaction and job insecurity. Additionally, this study’s results show that the relationship between job satisfaction and job insecurity and intrapreneurial behaviour distinguishes unionised employees from employees who are not unionised.
Research limitations/implications
The cross-sectional nature of the present data precluded definitive statements about causality. Additionally, further studies should increase the sample size and include an international perspective to ensure the overall generalisability of the results.
Practical implications
Practically, this study’s findings point to the need for organisational management to understand better underlying employees' perceptions and their antecedents and consequences.
Originality/value
The study results contribute to the literature by testing the core assumptions of affective events theory and by extending the affective events theory model, incorporating contextual influences on the relationship between attitudes and behaviours. The authors also show for the first time that incivility can be directly (compared to indirectly) linked to emotional-based responses, but not to those responses driven by cognitive appraisals. Thus, the study also contributes to the incivility literature and the understanding of various antecedents and consequences of incivility. Additionally, this study addressed the notion of formative versus reflective measurement models for the first time relating to incivility and intrapreneurial behaviour, allowing for more sensitive and less biased results. Herein lies an additional methodological contribution.
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Jatin Pandey, Manish Gupta and Yusuf Hassan
Intrapreneurship is gaining traction in organizations to buckle up for the dynamic business environment. Scholars have argued that intrapreneurship increases positivity at work…
Abstract
Purpose
Intrapreneurship is gaining traction in organizations to buckle up for the dynamic business environment. Scholars have argued that intrapreneurship increases positivity at work and helps employees attach themselves better with their job. However, empirical evidence suggests that these relationships do not exist. The objective of this paper is to examine the mediating role of psychological capital (PsyCap) in the relationship between intrapreneurship and work engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through an online survey. Responses from 309 employees working in different industries in India were analysed. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
The results show that there exist positive relationships among intrapreneurship, psychological capital (PsyCap) and work engagement. Further, it was observed that the PsyCap partially mediates the relationship between intrapreneurship and work engagement.
Practical implications
Managers may not only encourage intrapreneurial behaviour in their organizations but also ensure that the employees are psychologically capable (high on PsyCap). It would enable the employees to engage themselves wholeheartedly into their work.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is one of its kinds to relate intrapreneurship with PsyCap and work engagement.
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Carlo Torre, Aurelio Tommasetti and Gennaro Maione
The paper proposes a conceptual integration between two variables, both considered as capable of affecting public firm performance: technology and intellectual capital.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper proposes a conceptual integration between two variables, both considered as capable of affecting public firm performance: technology and intellectual capital.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is performed by testing a structural equation model (SEM) which allows to measure simultaneously a plurality of variables, highlighting all the possible connections. Data is collected by administering more than 500 paper questionnaires to accountants working within Local Health Firms of Naples and Salerno.
Findings
The study seems to align with the considerations according to which intellectual capital expressed through its three dimensions – relational capital, human capital and organizational capital – exert a positive influence on perceived performance of healthcare firms, ultimately impacting on the Employees' Satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
The study acts as a useful guide from a managerial point of view, because it may support firm decision-making. In fact, public sector managers can leverage an instrument capable of activating functional mechanisms to improve firm performance.
Originality/value
The work allows overcoming the literature gap due to the fact that, although there is a wide recognition of the potential of technology and intellectual capital, there are no studies that synergistically integrate both the aspects in the attempt to understand their value in terms of influence on the performance of public firms, on the one hand, and on employees' satisfaction, on the other. In this vein, the work, in an attempt to provide further scientific support to the link between technology and intellectual capital, is a tool capable of highlighting how this link positively impacts on company performance and employee satisfaction.
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This work aims to propose an alternative method of human capital calculation for research laboratories of public university, taking into account some drawbacks of the methods…
Abstract
Purpose
This work aims to propose an alternative method of human capital calculation for research laboratories of public university, taking into account some drawbacks of the methods currently applied in this field.
Design/methodology/approach
This method is implemented via a linear program extracted from Data Envelopment Analysis based on slack movement. This is the formulation of Copper et al. (2000), which is used as the starting point for developing the proposed method through important transformations.
Findings
The proposed method is supported by an illustration related to a Moroccan public university. This illustration showed that 57 per cent of the laboratories and all the research activities that they perform are in deficit with respect to target scores.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed method has technical limitations related to scores equal to 1 and to variables when those are numerous. To solve them, it is possible to use peer benchmarking system for the first limitation, and methods of regrouping the variables when those are numerous for the second limitation. Equally, the proposed method does not associate slack with important factors like governance and the impact analysis of research on innovation, competitiveness, and societal aspects. Likewise, it does not use the slack to measure individual efficiency at the same laboratory. Future research can fill these gaps.
Practical implications
This work allows making appropriate budgetary and research policy within university, through budgeting process and management control by using raw and adjusted target values as well as actual ones. Also, the highlighting of the excessive slacks leads the university to take actions to reduce them, according to the most loss-making research activities.
Originality/value
The proposed method is original, since it fills a deficit in terms of human capital target values calculation and of the slack movement concept in relation to the efficient frontier. Additionally, it transforms the Data Envelopment Analysis program into a program that eliminates the slacks linked to the inputs, the radial movement related to the outputs and treats only the outputs and slacks related to these outputs.