Describes current research on organizational learning and change beingconducted in the Midlands region in the UK, centring on the industrialconurbation of Derby. One of the…
Abstract
Describes current research on organizational learning and change being conducted in the Midlands region in the UK, centring on the industrial conurbation of Derby. One of the catalysts for the current upsurge in interest in organizational learning within this region has been the arrival of Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK Ltd and the perceived revitalization of the region′s economy that this investment is seen to have made. Research at Derby University focuses on ascertaining the degree to which Toyota Ltd can be attributed as being a point source of change for firms learning, emulating and adopting what are known as new wave manufacturing strategies and associated human resource management practices. Discusses and theoretically frames empirically derived results.
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Daniel Jimenez‐Jimenez and Raquel Sanz‐Valle
This paper aims to study the effect of HRM practices on the knowledge management process, focusing on HRM practices both in isolation and forming a knowledge‐oriented HR system.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the effect of HRM practices on the knowledge management process, focusing on HRM practices both in isolation and forming a knowledge‐oriented HR system.
Design/methodology/approach
After reviewing the relevant literature, the paper empirically analyzes the relationship between knowledge‐oriented HR practices and the processes of knowledge acquisition, distribution, interpretation and storing, using a sample of 701 firms.
Findings
Findings provide evidence of a positive relationship between the adoption of a knowledge‐oriented HR system and each of the knowledge management processes, but also show that the HRM practices comprising that system have different effects on the knowledge management processes.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitations of this paper are the cross‐sectional design of the empirical research and the fact that data were collected from one source only.
Practical implications
Findings can guide managers hoping to enhance the development of organizational knowledge. They show that HRM practices may foster all the knowledge management process when they are adopted jointly, as a system of consistent knowledge‐oriented HRM practices. The paper also suggests some particular HRM practices that systems should include.
Originality/value
Although literature suggests that HRM can play a key role in knowledge management, little empirical research has explicitly examined the relationship between HRM and each of the knowledge management processes – that is the main purpose of this paper. In addition, the paper defines which practices should be included in a knowledge‐oriented HR system.
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Juan A. Marin‐Garcia, Manuela Pardo del Val and Tomás Bonavía Martín
The purpose of this paper is to show a real experience of how a scheme of continuous improvement has been gradually transformed, from a very unsuccessful start, passing through…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show a real experience of how a scheme of continuous improvement has been gradually transformed, from a very unsuccessful start, passing through different phases and finally delivering results for the firm.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyse the evolution of the formal programs of continuous improvement of a firm in a traditional sector (food). The data for the research were gathered by means of participatory observation over the course of 18 months spent in the firm attending the meetings of the improvement teams.
Findings
Both programs (individual and group) have proved to be very profitable for the company. However, there is no magic formula for the correct operation of the system of continuous improvement. The existing system has to be continually improved, correcting faults and trying always to contribute something new to re‐launch the system regularly.
Practical implications
This study has also permitted the authors to highlight the importance of continuous improvement in the firm from both the economic point of view and that of worker development.
Originality/value
The investigation aims to help to cover the lack of longitudinal case studies of continuous improvement.
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Kodo Yokozawa, Hao Anh Nguyen and Thi Bich Hanh Tran
This study examines the role of anxiety in kaizen behaviour and performance by empirically testing the influence of personal anxiety (state and trait) on individual kaizen…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the role of anxiety in kaizen behaviour and performance by empirically testing the influence of personal anxiety (state and trait) on individual kaizen behaviours (rule adherence, initiative and perseverance of effort), which, in turn, affect individual kaizen performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were obtained from a survey of 552 employees of four companies in Japan and analysed using structural equation modelling.
Findings
The results show that state anxiety has a significantly positive effect on rule adherence and kaizen performance. Trait anxiety positively influences employees' initiative and perseverance but has a significant negative effect on kaizen performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes to kaizen and continuous improvement theory by focussing on individual kaizen, which is considered to be as important as organisation-level kaizen and investigating the relevance of personal anxiety in individual kaizen behaviours and kaizen performance.
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Juan A. Marin-Garcia, Amable Juarez-Tarraga and Cristina Santandreu-Mascarell
The purpose of this paper is to perform a context analysis about a specific Kaizen program, suggestion systems in permanent teams, and identified the barriers and facilitators…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to perform a context analysis about a specific Kaizen program, suggestion systems in permanent teams, and identified the barriers and facilitators that companies encounter while implementing them from the workers’ perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors applied an inductive method, the Grounded Theory, to develop a specific context theory using the information that emerged from a convenience sample of 182 workers in several countries.
Findings
The facilitators and barriers identified for the workers in the field study are aligned with those identified in previous studies, generally obtained using information provided by managers. The methodology enabled us to identify the relationships between them and their level of relevance.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitations were linked with the source of the data as the authors worked with a convenience sample and only analyzed the information provided by the workers.
Practical implications
The identified facilitators, their relationships and their relevance, contribute to understand the functioning phenomena of suggestion systems in permanent teams to facilitate organizations using this continuous improvement program more effectively.
Originality/value
The originality of this study, apart from identifying facilitators from the workers’ perspective, is that the used method enabled us to identify the relationships between them and know how the operators perceived their relevance.
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Alessia Sammarra, Silvia Profili, Fabrizio Maimone and Gabriele Gabrielli
Important demographic changes are causing organizations and teams to become increasingly age-diverse. Because knowledge sharing is critical to organizations’ long-term…
Abstract
Important demographic changes are causing organizations and teams to become increasingly age-diverse. Because knowledge sharing is critical to organizations’ long-term sustainability and success, both researchers and practitioners face a strategic dilemma: namely, finding ways to cultivate greater knowledge sharing among different age cohorts.
In this chapter, we claim that age diversity adds relevant opportunities and distinct challenges. On one hand, it increases demands for effective knowledge sharing: Employees of different ages are likely to hold diverse knowledge and capabilities that may be lost and/or poorly exploited if they are not effectively shared. On the other hand, age differences can activate age-related stereotypes and foster the formation of age subgroups, which can hamper social integration, communication, and ultimately, knowledge sharing.
Building on these insights, this chapter looks at the role of the human resource management (HRM) system as a key facilitator of effective knowledge sharing in age-diverse organizations. To this end, the chapter focuses on HR planning, training and development, performance appraisal, and reward systems, each of which can be used to develop the motivations, norms, and accountability structures that encourage employees of different ages to bridge their differences and integrate their unique perspectives and knowledge. This chapter suggests ways of tailoring HRM practices to unlock the benefits of age diversity, which may help organizations exploit and capitalize on the knowledge-based resources held by their younger and older employees.
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Mariette Strydom and Elizabeth Kempen
This paper aims to investigate the business operations of informal clothing manufacturing micro enterprises (CMMEs) and identifies ways to support owners to achieve economic…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the business operations of informal clothing manufacturing micro enterprises (CMMEs) and identifies ways to support owners to achieve economic sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach applying a case study design was used to study the business operations of 13 informal CMME owners at a business incubation hub (IH).
Findings
The study found that emerging CMME owners need ongoing generic business and fashion-related field-specific support particular to their business. Such support can be offered through the collaboration between higher education (HE) institutions and business IHs.
Social implications
Starting a clothing manufacturing business offers women in Africa the opportunity to improve both their personal and community well-being contributing to three sustainable development goals, namely, to end poverty, gender equality and empowering women, as well as sustainable consumption and production patterns. Partnering with existing business IHs, HE can influence skills-specific training that may contribute to the economic sustainability of emerging entrepreneurs and reduce poverty.
Originality/value
The study proposes in-house apparel apprenticeships to ensure the economic sustainability of the CMME, contributing to apparel entrepreneurship literature and fashion-based entrepreneurship education.
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Mohammad Rashed Hasan Polas, Valliappan Raju, Md Muhibbullah and Mosab I. Tabash
This study aims to provide a better understanding of the individual-level factors that affect rural women’s sustainable entrepreneurial intention in starting and running a…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to provide a better understanding of the individual-level factors that affect rural women’s sustainable entrepreneurial intention in starting and running a business in Bangladesh and contributing to national economic growth.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from a sample of 297 rural Bangladeshi women were analysed using a quantitative approach with Smart PLS 3.0 (SEM) and SPSS V25. This was to explore the direct influence of perceived capability, social perception and individual competencies on women’s intention to become sustainable entrepreneurs. The indirect consequences of these three variables on perceived opportunity were also evaluated.
Findings
The studies confirmed a positive and significant association between perceived capability and social perception with the intention to become a sustainable entrepreneur. There is no conventional connection between women’s individual competencies and their intention to become an entrepreneur. Moreover, the data confirmed that perceived opportunity mediates the relationship between perceived capability and individual competencies with the intention to become an entrepreneur. However, no mediation role of perceived opportunity in the relationship between social perception and intention was found.
Originality/value
This study is one of very few to explore through empirical analysis the relationship between women’s individual characteristics and their intention to become sustainable entrepreneurs and to investigate whether rural women are motivated to become empowered to contribute to economic development through sustainable entrepreneurial intention.
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Innovation drives new product development, novel approaches to our professional and personal lives, and entrepreneurial activity in our communities. Women entrepreneurs are…
Abstract
Innovation drives new product development, novel approaches to our professional and personal lives, and entrepreneurial activity in our communities. Women entrepreneurs are increasing in numbers and are becoming more visible across myriad domains. A growing number of scholars are focusing on better understanding women entrepreneurs’ unique approach to developing an entrepreneurial enterprise. However, the research suggests that entrepreneurship is still (mis)perceived as being traditionally masculine, with the number of men outnumbering the number of women entrepreneurs. Using a model of innovation consisting of the three distinct tasks of idea generation, idea promotion, and idea realization (Janssen, 2000; Scott & Bruce, 1994), this chapter explores the influence of gender on these various domains, followed by suggestions for future research and practical implications for women entrepreneurs today.
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New ways of working (NWW) change some fundamental processes in the workplace. NWW practices like teleworking, flexible workspaces, and flexible working hours lead to different…
Abstract
New ways of working (NWW) change some fundamental processes in the workplace. NWW practices like teleworking, flexible workspaces, and flexible working hours lead to different behaviors of employees. But does the employment of NWW practices also have an impact on the innovation behavior of employees? This chapter explores this relationship and uses qualitative data from case studies to illustrate the complex linkages between three components of NWW and IWB.