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Drawing on DiMaggio and Powell's (1983) perspective of institutional theory, this study examines the influence of institutional pressures on the adoption of management innovation and the subsequent impact of management innovation on competitive advantage.

Data were obtained from 156 middle-level managers in Australia using a survey questionnaire, with data analysed using structural equation modelling.

The results show that internal coercive pressures and normative pressures are positively associated with both dimensions of management innovation (i.e. practices and techniques). However, external coercive pressures were found to negatively influence management innovation techniques, and no association was found between mimetic pressures with either dimension of management innovation. Finally, both dimensions of management innovation were found to exhibit a positive influence on competitive advantage.

The findings provide organisations with an insight into the institutional factors that affect their ability to introduce new management practices and techniques (i.e. management innovation) and the role of management innovation in enhancing competitive advantage.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between the extent of adoption of TQM, using Kaynak’s (2003) core TQM practices (quality data and reporting, supplier quality management, product/service design, process management) model and competitive advantage. In addition, the study examines the antecedent role of organisational-related factors (intensity of market competition, information technology (IT), expert systems and the supplier evaluation programme) in respect to the extent of adoption of TQM.

A survey was conducted of 673 business units of garment organisations in a developing country, Bangladesh.

The findings indicate that the extent of adoption of TQM practices was positively associated with competitive advantage. In addition, two organisational-related factors (intensity of market competition and IT) were positively associated with the extent of adoption of TQM.

The findings provide an insight into the ability of TQM to facilitate competitive advantage in developing countries. Practitioners are also provided with an insight into which organisational factors facilitate the adoption of TQM practices.

The findings provide an important insight into the use and value of TQM practices in developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an initial empirical insight into the mediating role of quality performance on the association between six specific organisational factors (top management support, employee involvement, employee empowerment, reward and recognition, training and customer focus) and competitive advantage.

A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 179 garment organisations in a developing country, Bangladesh.

The results show that quality performance mediates the association between three specific organisational factors (top management support, employee involvement and reward and recognition) and competitive advantage. In addition, a fourth organisational factor, employee empowerment, exhibited a direct association with competitive advantage.

The findings provide managers of developing economies with an important insight into the critical role of quality in achieving competitive advantage. In line with the resources-based view, the findings suggest that managers should deploy their limited resources to focus on providing top management support for, encourage employee involvement in and provide adequate rewards and recognition in respect to quality initiatives.

This study aims to investigate the influence of organisational culture, specifically O’Reilly et al.’s (1991) six dimensions of the organisational culture profile (respect for people, outcome orientation, team orientation, innovation, attention to detail and stability) on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and the subsequent impact of CSR practices on organisational performance from the context of an emerging economy.

The study used a survey of middle- and higher-level managers in Bangladeshi organisations to develop a seven-dimensional model of CSR practices and used structural equation modelling to analyse the developed hypotheses.

The findings provide evidence of the influence of the six different dimensions of organisational culture on the different dimensions of CSR practices. The findings highlight the diverse impacts (i.e. positive and negative) of CSR practices on organisational performance. The study also highlights the direct influence of organisational culture on both financial and non-financial performance. In particular, the outcome and team orientation culture are positively associated with non-financial and financial performance, respectively, while an innovative culture is negatively associated with both non-financial and financial performance.

The findings of the study provide practitioners, internal (i.e. the managers and business owners of both the local and multinational organisations) and external policy-makers, and foreign investors in an emerging economy with new insights into the role of an intra-organisational factor (i.e. organisational culture) in influencing the adoption of CSR practices and the subsequent impact of CSR practices on organisational performance.

Using the 52 guidelines of CSR practices provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, this study provides a unique empirical insight into the influence of organisational culture on CSR practices and the impact of CSR practices on organisational performance. The findings contribute to the limited CSR literature examining the influence of organisational culture on the adoption of CSR practices and its subsequent impact on organisational performance in an emerging economy.

This study examines the mediating role of the fairness of performance appraisal on the association between the extent of use of strategic performance measurement systems (SPMSs) with SPMS effectiveness.

Data were collected using an online survey distributed to 656 Australian middle and lower level managers.

The findings reveal that informational fairness mediates the association between SPMSs (link to value drivers and the use of multidimensional performance measures) with performance-related outcomes; procedural fairness mediates the association between SPMSs (link to strategy and the use of multidimensional performance measures) with staff-related outcomes and distributive fairness mediates the association between the use of SPMSs (all three types) with both performance and staff-related outcomes.

The study provides a unique insight into the importance of fairness (the distributive, informational and procedural fairness of the performance appraisal system) in mediating the associations between the extent of use of SPMSs and SPMS effectiveness. The findings contribute to the human resource management (HRM) “black box” literature by providing an insight into the behavioural mechanism through which a specific human resource management practice (i.e. the SPMS) influences organisational performance.

The study provides an insight into the application and usefulness of activity management (AM) principles in an environmental context. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of use of environmental activity management (EAM) utilising Gosselin’s (1997) three levels of AM (namely, environmental activity analysis (EAA), environmental activity cost analysis (EACA), and environmental activity-based costing (EABC)). The study also examines the association between EAM and environmental performance, and the role of decision quality as a mediator in this relationship.

Data were collected from 208 Australian organisations across different industries using a mail survey questionnaire.

The results indicate a relatively high extent of EAA use but a low extent of use of EACA and EABC. In addition, organisations using each level of EAM to a greater extent were found to experience higher levels of environmental performance. Furthermore, the relationship between EAA and EABC with environmental performance was found to be mediated by decision quality.

The findings suggest that organisations should endeavour to increase their use of EAM, and modify their existing costing systems to consider the drivers and costs of environmental activities.

This is the first study to empirically examine the extent of use of EAM and its association with environmental performance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between Simons’ (2000) enabling (beliefs and interactive) use of controls with employee empowerment, and the subsequent influence on organisational performance.

A survey questionnaire was distributed to 636 Australian manufacturing organisations.

The findings indicate that the enabling use of controls is associated, both directly and indirectly, through the level of employee empowerment, with organisational performance.

This paper provides an initial empirical insight into the relationship between the use of controls with the level of employee empowerment. The findings highlight the significant interrelationship between the enabling use of controls and employee empowerment and the importance of both facets in enhancing organisational performance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the characteristics of strategic performance measurement systems (SPMSs) influence the effectiveness of such systems. Specifically, the study examines the association between the following three strategic performance measurement approaches with the effectiveness of SPMSs: the use of multidimensional performance measures, the use of performance measures that are linked to value drivers, and the use of performance measures that are linked to strategy.

Data were collected using a mail questionnaire distributed to a random sample of 800 Australian manufacturing and service business units.

The use of multidimensional performance measures is found to positively influence the effectiveness of SPMSs.

Organisations need to strive to design their SPMSs in a manner which considers the achievement of both performance- and staff-related goals, with the findings suggesting that managers need to focus on a broad set of performance measures relating to the four dimensions of the BSC (financial, internal, customer, and learning and growth measures).

This study contributes to the literature by examining the important role that SPMSs play in the achievement of organisational process outcomes. The incorporation of a measure of organisational process effectiveness, and the subsequent identification of the performance-related outcome and staff-related outcome dimensions, provides future researchers with an alternative approach to analyse SPMS effectiveness and provides managers with an insight into how to adjust their SPMS to improve their organisational processes.

This study aims to reinforce the important role of management control systems (MCSs) in managing change through adopting a unique approach to the conceptualisation of Simons’ (1995) levers of control, specifically focussing on the enabling (beliefs and interactive) and constraining (boundary and diagnostic) levers of control and empirically examining their association with management innovation and organisational performance.

A mail survey questionnaire was used to collect data, with the Dillman (2007) tailored design method used in regards to the development of questions, and the personalisation and distribution procedures. A total of 645 questionnaires were distributed to either the Financial Controller or Chief Financial Officer of manufacturing business units identified in the OneSource database.

The findings reveal that the use of enabling controls was directly associated with organisational performance and with three management innovation dimensions (new structures, processes and practices) with new structures positively associated with organisational performance. It was also found that the use of constraining controls was indirectly, through the extent of adoption of new management techniques, associated with organisational performance.

The findings have important implications for managers in respect to how they use controls to enhance innovation and organisational performance.

The findings highlight the importance of the use of MCS, specifically both enabling and constraining controls, in facilitating change (management innovation) and performance. Hence, the findings provide empirical evidence in support of Simons’ (1995, 2000) theoretical assertion that the levers coexist to provide benefits to organisations.

This study focuses on the role of green human resource management (GHRM) practices through providing an empirical insight into the mediating role of the use of environmental performance measures (EPMs) in the association between Simons’ (1995) positive levers of control (beliefs and the interactive use of controls) with environmental and organisational performance.

A survey questionnaire was distributed to 577 chief financial officers within Australian manufacturing organisations who were randomly chosen from the OneSource online database.

The use of operational EPMs is found to mediate the association between the use of the positive levers of control with two of the four dimensions of environmental performance (resource usage and stakeholder interaction), and non-financial performance (through stakeholder interaction). In addition, the use of management EPMs mediates the association between the use of the positive levers of control with the regulatory compliance dimension of environmental performance. The findings highlight the importance of GHRM practices, in particular, the need for managers to focus on the positive levers of control and using operational EPMs and management EPMs to a greater extent.

The study contributes to the limited empirical research examining GHRM practices, highlighting the importance of EPMs and integrating such measures with internal control mechanisms, specifically beliefs and the interactive use of controls.