Mathias E. Brun and John Philipp Siegel
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the question of what accounts for appropriate performance reports in the context of the new public management (NPM), and how they can…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the question of what accounts for appropriate performance reports in the context of the new public management (NPM), and how they can deliver the information they need to politicians.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a survey of members of cantonal and federal members of governments and parliaments, where performance contracting has been introduced; 454 questionnaires answered.
Findings
The results of the study reflect the distinct roles of the parliament in the performance contracting process. On the content side of the reports, they are expected to contain general as well as detailed information. Outcome rather than output indicators are demanded, especially by parliamentarians. There is, also, a need for “early warning indicators” of long‐term threats, and extra‐ordinary incidents. Formally, a homogeneous reporting format across government should be realized. Reports are expected to be well visualized and to contain the most relevant indicators. Changes and deviations should be commented on. Reports should be printed, additional electronic publication would be accepted; external revision is considered to be necessary. Regarding time‐related aspects, the assumption is confirmed that political decision makers have very little time to deal with the reports. Reporting has to be as up to date as possible. Parliaments demand a one‐ or two‐year rhythm; governments require annual or even semi‐annual reports.
Originality/value
Up to now, public management research has addressed the issue of appropriate performance reporting insufficiently, despite the fact that the central concept of outcomes is a political concept. The research question answered in this paper – what the essential components of appropriate performance reports under NPM conditions, and how should they be characterized in order to give politicians the performance information they need, provides some public management research in a Swiss context.
Details
Keywords
Ruchi Sinha, Louise Kyriaki, Zachariah R. Cross, Imogen E. Weigall and Alex Chatburn
This chapter introduces electroencephalography (EEG), a measure of neurophysiological activity, as a critical method for investigating individual and team decision-making and…
Abstract
This chapter introduces electroencephalography (EEG), a measure of neurophysiological activity, as a critical method for investigating individual and team decision-making and cognition. EEG is a useful tool for expanding the theoretical and research horizons in organizational cognitive neuroscience, with a lower financial cost and higher portability than other neuroimaging methods (e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging). This chapter briefly reviews past work that has applied cognitive neuroscience methods to investigate cognitive processes and outcomes. The focus is on describing contemporary EEG measures that reflect individual cognition and compare them to complementary measures in the field of psychology and management. The authors discuss how neurobiological measures of cognition relate to and may predict both individual cognitive performance and team cognitive performance (decision-making). This chapter aims to assist scholars in the field of managerial and organizational cognition in understanding the complementarity between psychological and neurophysiological methods, and how they may be combined to develop new hypotheses in the intersection of these research fields.
Details
Keywords
On the invitation of the Editor I am publishing in the JOURNAL OF DOCUMENTATION a selection of lists of music publishers' numbers, with an indication of the date of issue of their…
Abstract
On the invitation of the Editor I am publishing in the JOURNAL OF DOCUMENTATION a selection of lists of music publishers' numbers, with an indication of the date of issue of their publications so numbered.
Giustina Secundo, Valentina Ndou, Pasquale Del Vecchio and Gianluigi De Pascale
The purpose of this paper is to review and critique the knowledge management (KM) literature within Entrepreneurial universities, providing an overview of the state of research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review and critique the knowledge management (KM) literature within Entrepreneurial universities, providing an overview of the state of research and outlining a future research agenda.
Design/methodology/approach
In a systematic literature review, 1106 articles indexed at Scopus were initially submitted to a bibliometric analysis. Finally, 150 papers published in a variety of academic journals specializing in the field of Entrepreneurship, KM and Higher Education were analyzed through a content and a bibliometric analysis to minimize mistakes in interpreting findings of collected studies.
Findings
KM within entrepreneurial university is a research area of growing importance. Findings show that literature on KM models and tools in the entrepreneurial university is fragmented and dominated by unrelated research. Content analysis shows heterogeneous literature, but four major research streams emerge: knowledge transfer in university–industry collaboration; knowledge creation in entrepreneurship education; KM processes for university spin-offs; entrepreneurial university to support knowledge-based regional development. The results show a failure to address the implications of findings for policy makers, which risks making KM in entrepreneurial universities research irrelevant.
Research limitations/implications
Although different structured literature reviews (SLRs) exist separately in the field of KM and entrepreneurial universities, to the authors’ best knowledge, no studies exist in the intersection between the two fields.
Originality/value
The paper presents the first attempt to provide a comprehensive SLR of the articles dealing with models and processes of KM in the entrepreneurial university. Despite the increasing literature, this research area is still fragmented and undertheorized, thus requiring more systematic and holistic studies, considering both the economic and the social aspects of KM within universities. The paper’s findings can offer insights into future research avenues.
Details
Keywords
Roberto Zotti, Nino Speziale and Cristian Barra
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of religious involvement on subjective well-being (SWB), specifically taking into account the implication of selection…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of religious involvement on subjective well-being (SWB), specifically taking into account the implication of selection effects explaining religious influence using the British Household Panel Survey data set.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to measure the level of religious involvement, the authors construct different indices on the base of individual religious belonging, participation and beliefs applying a propensity score matching estimator.
Findings
The results show that religious active participation plays a relevant role among the different aspects of religiosity; moreover, having a strong religious identity such as, at the same time, belonging to any religion, attending religious services once a week or more and believing that religion makes a great difference in life, has a high causal impact on SWB. The authors’ findings are robust to different aspects of life satisfaction.
Originality/value
The authors offer an econometric account of the causal impact of different aspects of religiosity finding evidence that the causal effect of religious involvement on SWB is better captured than through typical regression methodologies focussing on the mean effects of the explanatory variables.
Details
Keywords
Asmund Rygh, Eleni Chiarapini and María Vallejo Segovia
Realising the sustainable development goals (SDGs) will require substantial efforts from both governments, businesses, civil society and academic researchers. This paper aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Realising the sustainable development goals (SDGs) will require substantial efforts from both governments, businesses, civil society and academic researchers. This paper aims to discuss the contributions that the international business (IB) discipline can make to promoting the SDGs.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is conceptual.
Findings
The authors argue that IB can contribute to promoting the SDGs, given IB’s expertise on the multinational enterprise (MNE) and knowledge that is relevant to the international dimensions that most SDGs have. However, paradigmatic features of IB such as a focus on firm-level financial performance and on the MNE as an organisation, and dominance of quantitative methods, may presently restrict the discipline’s contributions to the SDGs.
Originality/value
The authors present a set of recommendations for IB research on the SDGs, many of which imply an extension of the boundaries of the current IB paradigm.