Tomás F. González and Manuel Guillén
Deals with theoretical arguments that justify why the leadership of managers and its ethical dimension is a powerful enabler for TQM efforts to sustain, together with a systematic…
Abstract
Deals with theoretical arguments that justify why the leadership of managers and its ethical dimension is a powerful enabler for TQM efforts to sustain, together with a systematic management. Starts by setting out a multidimensional conception of leadership in which the ethical sphere is explicitly considered. The principles articulating TQM are then analysed, studying the role of leadership and its ethical dimension, in their implementation. Concludes with five propositions, stating that the explicit consideration of leadership’s ethical dimension is required in order to achieve a complete, deep and sustained deployment of TQM principles. Draws implications for managers and researchers.
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Manuel Guillén Parra, Álvaro Lleó de Nalda and Ginés Santiago Marco Perles
The aim of this paper is to propose a wider and more humanistic understanding of the phenomenon of trust and “trust building” through a dialogue between ethics and social sciences.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to propose a wider and more humanistic understanding of the phenomenon of trust and “trust building” through a dialogue between ethics and social sciences.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper offers a constructive critical review of the explanation of trust proposed by Mayer et al. in their 1995 seminal article, and expands this by considering the ethical dimension and the role of virtues.
Findings
The integrative model of organizational trust by Mayer et al. lacks a specific reference to the role played by human will and the ability to make free choices. When assessing the trust built in a relationship, an explicit consideration of human will should be included in the related model, and specifically, reference to moral virtues and practical wisdom as elements involved in this trust‐building process.
Practical implications
It improves the understanding of the dynamics of trust in human relationships, which is key, as numerous studies in management carried out over the past decades show. Having an increasingly clear and complete understanding of trust is fundamental to understand, analyze, develop and manage interpersonal relationships within organizations.
Originality/value
This article proposes a holistic conception of organizational trust, which allows for a more complete vision of the renowned model of Mayer et al. It does this by specifically considering the role of human will in both the trustor and in the trustee, and by incorporating an ethical vision which considers the trustee's perception on virtues and practical wisdom in the understanding of the phenomenon of trust.
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Domènec Melé and Carlos J. Sanchez‐Runde
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue and to point at how much in the current economic and social crisis has to do with having lost an integrative, holistic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue and to point at how much in the current economic and social crisis has to do with having lost an integrative, holistic and humanistic approach to management and organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a brief introduction of the current context, this piece summarizes the main points of the six papers selected for inclusion in this special issue. These papers were selected from among the more than 80 presented at an International Symposium on Ethics, Business and Society hosted by IESE Business School in Barcelona in May 2010.
Findings
The main contributions from the papers in this special issue include conceptual elaborations on the conditions for work, that is, meaningful, holistic management delivered through management education programs, the interface between ethical values/responsibility and firm strategy, corporate community involvement, gift and gratuity dimensions of organizational analysis, and developing trust through a dialogue between management, on the one hand, and ethics and the social sciences, on the other.
Originality/value
This paper points at new avenues to address the main management challenges that managers confront in today's social and economic crisis
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Pablo Sánchez‐Lorda and Esteban García‐Canal
We analyze how entry order in a new field influences the stock market reaction to strategic alliances and acquisitions aimed at expanding firm boundaries. We argue that alliances…
Abstract
We analyze how entry order in a new field influences the stock market reaction to strategic alliances and acquisitions aimed at expanding firm boundaries. We argue that alliances would be more valued by investors at the early stages of a process of convergence between two markets, whereas acquisitions would be more valued in the later stages. Using a sample of alliances and acquisitions carried out by European telecom firms, our hypotheses have been confirmed.
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Manuel Leiria, Efigénio Rebelo and Nelson deMatos
The insurance industry has not been able to effectively retain its customers and struggles to establish and maintain long-lasting relationships with them. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
The insurance industry has not been able to effectively retain its customers and struggles to establish and maintain long-lasting relationships with them. The purpose of this paper is thus to identify the main factors that explain the cancellation of motor insurance policies by individual customers, considering the influence of intermediaries on their decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
The data used in this research is based on a sample of 3,500 insurance policies that lapsed during the period of analysis between January and July 2017, against another sample of 3,500 policies that did not lapse, from a major insurance company in Portugal. Binary logistic regression was used for data analysis, using IBM SPSS software.
Findings
Aggressive tactics by insurance companies for customer acquisition may induce the cancellation of insurance policies. More valuable customers, the policies with higher premiums and recent claims, as well as the ancillary intermediaries and agents, are determinants of insurance cancellation. Conversely, the payment of policies by direct debit and without instalments reduces the probability of cancellations.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this study is the restriction on data access. Insurance companies are significantly resistant to sharing their customer data – including with academic researchers – even in an anonymised form.
Practical implications
The paper highlights internal and external practices of insurance companies that should be reformulated to significantly improve their performance regarding product cancellation, related to customer information management, mistrust behaviours related to stakeholders and new value propositions that deepen the relationships with intermediaries.
Originality/value
This research developed a framework with which to identify the factors that are mainly associated with motor insurance cancellation and to predict its likelihood.
研究目的
保險業一向未能有效地留住客戶,故業內不斷努力建立並維繫與客戶長久的關係。因此、本文擬確定個人客戶終止其汽車保單的因素;研究過程中、會考慮中介人對客戶作有關決定的影響 。
研究的設計/方法/理念
本研究所使用的數據、為基於一個涵蓋3500份期滿終止保單的樣本、並以之與另一涵蓋3500份沒有終止保單的樣本相比,樣本均來自葡萄牙一家大型保險公司。期滿終止保單之樣本、乃於2017年1月至同年7月這個研究進行期間内期滿終止的。研究使用了二元羅吉斯迴歸來分析數據,並應用了IBM SPSS 數據分析軟件。
研究結果
保險公司為贏得客戶所採用的積極進取策略可能導致客戶終止其保單。保單終止的決定因素包括更多有價值的客戶、保險費較高的保單、最近的索賠和輔助的中介及代理。反之,以自動扣帳方式及以非分期付款形式繳付保單則會減低終止保單的機會。
研究的原創性/價值
本研究發展了一個框架、以確定與客戶終止其保單有關聯的主要因素,並預計客戶終止保單的可能性。本文亦強調了保險公司須重新制定其內部與外部的做法,以能大幅改善其與產品取消有關的績效,而這些產品取消涉及客戶信息管理、與持份者有關的不信任行為、以及能深化與中介人之關係的新價值主張。
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Manuel Idrovo Arguello, Diego Monferrer Tirado and Marta Estrada Guillén
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of service quality dimensions as determinants of the emotional and relational behaviours experienced by the client in bank…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of service quality dimensions as determinants of the emotional and relational behaviours experienced by the client in bank branches in the post-crisis context experienced by Spanish financial institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
Data taken from a total of 1,125 customers were analysed through structural equations modelling (EQS6.1) to test the relationships of the proposed model’s variables.
Findings
The results support the hypotheses stated, with the exception of the influence of a service quality dimension (servicescape) on emotions during the service. In fact, the dimensions of the service quality of an intangible nature (personnel, outcome and social) are determinants of the positive emotions and relational behaviours of clients around the service provided by the branches. For its part, servicescape quality, of a more tangible nature, exerts indirect influence on the other dimensions that compose the quality of service.
Practical implications
This paper provides senior bank executives established evidence on the degree of influence of the different dimensions in relation to the quality of service in the bank branch. Furthermore, it emphasises the importance of emotional factors during service as essential elements in strengthening customer–staff relationships under a non-transactional dynamic.
Originality/value
This paper has adopted an analytical holistic, theoretical and empirical perspective on the impact of the different dimensions of service quality (servicescape, personnel, outcome and social) as well as to the emotions experienced by banking customers during services and its lasting effect on customer engagement and customer advocacy.
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Francisco José Mas-Ruiz, Carla Rodriguez-Sanchez, Franco Manuel Sancho-Esper and Esther de Quevedo-Puente
This study examines the relationships between the foreign entry mode (FEM) used by a company, its global corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the host country's local CSR…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the relationships between the foreign entry mode (FEM) used by a company, its global corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the host country's local CSR environment in Spanish quoted firms. Additionally, it seeks to explore the moderating role of the host country's CSR in the relationship between firm's global CSR and FEM.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the proposed hypotheses, binary logistic regression is used with a sample of 418 foreign direct investment (FDI) operations between 2002 and 2008. This period is chosen with the aim of knowing what happened after the boom in Spanish investments abroad in the 1990s and the uncertainty of the early 2000s.
Findings
The results reveal firm patterns of behaviour regarding the FEM of companies and the two types of CSR according to the proposed hypotheses. Furthermore, it is found that the host country's local CSR may not only have a direct influence on the FEM decision but may also moderate the relationship between the firm's global CSR and firm's entry mode in a host country.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies to propose as explanatory variables of FEM two types of CSR (firm's global CSR and host country's local CSR). This has been possible by the creation of an ad-hoc database with data from different information sources of FDI (Instituto Español de Comercio Exterior) and CSR [Eikon™ and AccountAbility National Corporate Responsibility Index (NCRI)].
Propósito
Se examina las relaciones entre el modo de entrada en el exterior (MEE) de una empresa, su responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC) global y el entorno de RSC local del país de destino en empresas cotizadas en España. Además, analiza el papel moderador de la RSC del país de destino en la relación entre la RSC global de la empresa y el MEE.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Se utiliza la regresión logística binaria con una muestra de 418 operaciones de inversión directa exterior (IED) entre 2002–2008. Este período se elige para conocer qué sucedió durante el auge de las inversiones españolas en el exterior a principios de 2000.
Hallazgos
Los resultados revelan patrones de comportamiento en relación al MEE de las empresas y los dos tipos de RSC según las hipótesis propuestas. Además, se encuentra que la RSC local del país de destino puede también moderar la relación entre la RSC global de la empresa y el MEE.
Originalidad/valor
Este es uno de los primeros estudios en proponer como variables explicativas del MEE, dos tipos de RSC (RSC global de la empresa y RSC local del país de destino), gracias a la creación de una base de datos ad-hoc con datos de diferentes fuentes de información de IED (ICEX) y RSC (Eikon ™ y AccountAbility NCRI).
Details
Keywords
- Social responsibility
- Foreign direct investment
- Reputation
- Empirical studies of trade
- Trade and the environment
- Binary choice model
- Responsabilidad social
- Inversión extranjera directa
- Reputación
- Estudios empíricos de comercio
- Comercio y medio ambiente
- Modelo de elección binaria
- C250
- F18
- F140
- L140
- M140
- M160
Drawing on the work of Niklas Luhmann, the paper argues that technology can be viewed as a self-referential system which is autonomous from both human beings and other function…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the work of Niklas Luhmann, the paper argues that technology can be viewed as a self-referential system which is autonomous from both human beings and other function systems of society. The paper aims to develop a philosophy of technology from the work of Niklas Luhmann. To achieve this aim, it draws upon the systems-theory work of Jacques Ellul, a philosopher of technology who focuses on the autonomous potential of technological evolution.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on the work of Niklas Luhmann and Jacques Ellul to explore the theme of autonomous technology and what this means for our thinking about technological issues in the twenty-first century. Insights from these two thinkers and researchers working in the Luhmannian sociological tradition are applied to remote work.
Findings
The sociological approach of Luhmann, coupled with Ellul's insights into the autonomous nature of technology, can help us develop a systems theory of technology which takes seriously its irreducibility to human functions.
Research limitations/implications
The paper contributes to the growing sociological literature that thematizes the Luhmannian approach to technology, helping us better understand this phenomenon and think in new ways about what technological autonomy means.
Originality/value
The paper brings together the work of Luhmann, Ellul and contemporary researchers to advance a new understanding of technology and technological communication.
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Manuel Portugal Ferreira, Felipe Borini, Simone Vicente and Martinho Ribeiro Almeida
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the pre-acquisition process and, specifically, how the complexity involved in the transaction may drive the temporal gap between the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the pre-acquisition process and, specifically, how the complexity involved in the transaction may drive the temporal gap between the formal announcement and the completion of the deal. The authors emphasize the time (in days) between announcement and completion.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical setting consists of the cross-border acquisitions (CBAs) of Brazilian firms by multinational corporations announced between 2008 and 2012. Using a sample of 741 acquisitions, the authors examine how institutional (cultural and regulatory) and technological complexity and the predictable mitigating effect of prior acquisition experience in Brazil all impact on the time needed for evaluating the target and negotiating.
Findings
The results show that these complexity factors do matter for hastening the process and that recent experience with acquisitions in Brazil shortens the time needed to completion.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on the acquisition process and the uncertainty and complexity factors in CBA in an emerging economy.