Joni Joni, Kamran Ahmed and Jane Hamilton
The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between politically connected boards (both supervisory boards [SBs] and boards of directors [BODs]) and firm performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between politically connected boards (both supervisory boards [SBs] and boards of directors [BODs]) and firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
We focus on the political connections of SBs and BODs separately and estimate a quadratic model based on 1,099 Indonesian listed firm-year observations. Additionally, we address endogeneity problem by using sample selection model, generalized method of moments (GMM), propensity score matching\ and lagged variables regression.
Findings
We find that political connections of SBs are more significantly associated with firm performance than that of BODs. Furthermore, such an association is not monotonic, in that the relationship declines after a certain level of political connections. We also find that stand-alone firms with political connections perform better than firms belonging to family business groups. Our results are robust to alternative measures and to tests for endogeneity.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to the literature by proposing non-linear model to incorporate the rent-seeking and resource dependence arguments. Although previous studies use regression analysis (linear model) and find mixed results on the association between political connections and firm performance, our non-linear model extends our understanding of the relationship between political connections and firm performance. We extend corporate governance literature by examining the role of political supervisory boards in the dual board system and the role of family business group in Indonesia. Several limitations are addressed to interpret all the findings. We use one period of the presidency (SBY-Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) in Indonesia as our sample, but other regimes are not considered. We collect political connection and family business group information based on publicly data available. For politically connected firms, we do not have information whether they obtain connections through ruling parties or not.
Practical implications
Practitioners (such as companies and policymakers) can use our models to consider the level of political connections that can improve corporate’s performance. Additionally, they can use our findings to design corporate governance policies.
Originality/value
The paper identifies the use of the non-linear model on the association between political connections and firm performance in Indonesian dual board system.
Details
Keywords
Jane Hamilton Johnstone, Derek Bryce and Matthew J. Alexander
This paper aims to evaluate the possibilities associated with go-along technique and other mobile qualitative methods augmenting other qualitative methods as a novel approach to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to evaluate the possibilities associated with go-along technique and other mobile qualitative methods augmenting other qualitative methods as a novel approach to developing understanding of multifaceted organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
The study explores the challenges associated with “static” qualitative methods for understanding multifaceted organisations and evaluates how a range of mobile methods can achieve a greater depth of analysis when researching complex hospitality and tourism settings. The paper uses an illustrative empirical case where mobile methods are used as part of a multi-method qualitative study exploring ancestral tourism in a large, heterogeneous tourism organisation.
Findings
This research highlights how mobile methods can service to: broaden the scope of interviews through introducing enhanced meaning and spontaneity; afford opportunity to explore and verify interview findings in informal settings; and widen participation in the study through ongoing recruitment of participants.
Practical implications
The authors identify implications for researchers working within hospitality and tourism who can gain additional insight by augmenting qualitative studies with mobile methods.
Originality/value
This paper identifies challenges in using more static qualitative methods when seeking understanding of complex, multifaceted tourism organisations where work activities are mobile and spatially dispersed. This research highlights the value of mobile methods in combination with other qualitative methods, to gain greater understanding of these organisations.
Details
Keywords
Leonie Jane Cassidy and John Hamilton
Website benchmarking theory and the website analysis method (WAM) are benchmark tested across non-commercial tropical tourism websites. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Abstract
Purpose
Website benchmarking theory and the website analysis method (WAM) are benchmark tested across non-commercial tropical tourism websites. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The abridged WAM benchmarks 280 tropical tourism websites from four continental areas (Africa, Asia, Oceania, and The Americas) and presence or absence of website components objectively rank-scores. Across locations significant website benchmark score differences are determined. In all, 20 of these websites are ranked by an eight expert focus group. These experts also seek-out the existence of allocated common website components.
Findings
The abridged WAM approach is suitable for benchmarking tropical tourism websites. Website benchmarking scores at-level are determined. At the website, domain, and function levels significant continental area differences exist. Experts cross-check the study. They find it easier to rank websites with fewer components, and show split decisions when determining the existence of common website components.
Research limitations/implications
This study’s abridged version of WAM uses publicly viewable components to show significant differences across website scores, and identifies some missing components for possible future inclusion on the website, and it also supports the WAM benchmarking theory approach.
Practical implications
Website managers/owners can apply WAM (or an abridged WAM) to benchmark their websites. WAM is theoretically supported and it systematically allows comparison against the universal set of components and/or against competitor websites. A full or abridged WAM approach to website benchmarking is preferable to subjective or survey-based approaches.
Originality/value
This study successfully applies the Cassidy and Hamilton (2016) theory and approach to practical website benchmarking.
Details
Keywords
Examines the effectiveness of employee wellness and stress programmes.Suggests areas that could be covered in such programmes, including howto identify one′s own body response;…
Abstract
Examines the effectiveness of employee wellness and stress programmes. Suggests areas that could be covered in such programmes, including how to identify one′s own body response; understanding body rhythms; knowing whether one is left or right brained and introvert or extrovert; and specific techniques for changing one′s own stress responses.
Details
Keywords
Leon C. Prieto, Simone T. A. Phipps, Lemaro R. Thompson and Xavier A. Smith
This paper aims to depict the pivotal role played by Rose Schneiderman and Frances Perkins in early twentieth-century labor and safety reform in the USA. The paper also examines…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to depict the pivotal role played by Rose Schneiderman and Frances Perkins in early twentieth-century labor and safety reform in the USA. The paper also examines the contributions made by these notable women through the lens of stakeholder theory and the feminist ethic of care.
Design/methodology/approach
The review process commenced with a comprehensive search for women in history who advocated labor and safety reform and campaigned for safer organizational practices in the workplace. History books, academic journals and newspaper articles, including writings from Schneiderman and Perkins, were the main sources used for this research endeavor.
Findings
Schneiderman and Perkins were both instrumental in playing a major role in fighting for labor and safety reform in the early twentieth century, albeit in different ways. Through their work, there was a heightened understanding of organizations’ duties and obligations to their stakeholders and, in particular, to their employees. They also embodied the feminist ethic of care by being attentive to the needs of others, accepting responsibility and demonstrating competence, while being responsive to their needs.
Originality/value
The influential women in management history are often given scant recognition or not recognized at all. This article highlights the contributions of two women who greatly impacted labor and safety through their struggle for the improvement of working conditions in the USA. The originality of this manuscript also lies in the ethical perspective in which it is grounded.
Details
Keywords
Abstract
Details
Keywords
Once a year a reference source is published in Surrey, England, that brings visitors such as the military attachés from the Chinese and former Soviet embassies in London to…
Abstract
Once a year a reference source is published in Surrey, England, that brings visitors such as the military attachés from the Chinese and former Soviet embassies in London to Surrey. The source these individuals and organizations are so eager to obtain is Jane's Fighting Ships (JFS), an annual naval compendium which has summarized international naval trends and developments for nearly a century.
This chapter challenges and augments the received view of the history of symbolic interaction at the University of Chicago. The history of the discipline’s development at the…
Abstract
This chapter challenges and augments the received view of the history of symbolic interaction at the University of Chicago. The history of the discipline’s development at the University of Chicago between 1889 and 1935 is well-known, especially the work of George Herbert Mead and John Dewey, sometimes called “the Chicago school of sociology” or symbolic interaction. But the Hull-House school of sociology, led by Jane Addams, is largely unknown. In this chapter I explore her founding role in feminist symbolic interaction. Her perspective analyzes micro, meso, and macro levels of theory and practice. Feminist symbolic interaction is structural, political, rational, and emotional, and employs abstract and specific models for action. Addams led a wide network of people, including sociologists, her neighbors, and other citizens, who implemented and institutionalized their shared visions. Addams led many controversial social movements, including the international peace movement, recognized in 1931 by the Nobel Peace Prize. “Feminist symbolic interaction” expands the scope of symbolic interaction by being more action-oriented, more political, and more focused on a successful social change model than the traditional approach to this theory. In addition, many new sociologists are added to the lists of important historical figures.
Details
Keywords
Few scholars become notable figures in their areas of specialization. Understanding how and why some scholars are identified by their unusual accomplishments, therefore, can be…
Abstract
Few scholars become notable figures in their areas of specialization. Understanding how and why some scholars are identified by their unusual accomplishments, therefore, can be difficult, especially when some scholars achieve more notable careers and are invisible in their professions than others, more recognized colleagues. The reasons for some scholars’ visibility and their colleagues’ invisibility may be unclear or ambiguous. One common reason for invisibility is being a woman in a patriarchal discipline. Men’s ideas, values, and careers are privileged and more highly rated in a patriarchal subject like sociology.
Here, I analyze case studies of invisibility that emerge from deliberate suppression but focus on the more hidden processes of making women invisible in sociology. These less overt processes of invisibility require different theories, networks, and methods to discover the women’s notable careers than those used in examples of more overt processes.
Making invisible women visible requires multiple processes, over time, by a number of professionals and gatekeepers.