Manfred Bornemann, Kay Alwert and Markus Will
This article reports on the background, the conceptual ideas and the lessons learned from over more than 20 years of IC Statements and Management with a country focus on Germany…
Abstract
Purpose
This article reports on the background, the conceptual ideas and the lessons learned from over more than 20 years of IC Statements and Management with a country focus on Germany and some international developments. It calls for an integrated management approach for IC and offers case study evidence on how to accomplish this quest.
Design/methodology/approach
Report on the German initiative “Intellectual Capital Statement made in Germany” (ICS m.i.G.). A brief review of the literature describes the background and theoretical foundation of the German IC method. A short description of the method is followed by four detailed case studies to illustrate long-term impact of IC management in very different organizations. A discussion of Lessons Learned from more than 200 implementations and an outlook on current and future developments finalizes the article.
Findings
IC Statements made in Germany (ICS m.i.G.) was successful in providing a framework to systematically identify IC, evaluate the status quo of IC relative to the strategic requirements, visualize interdependencies of IC, business processes and business results as well as to connect IC reporting with internal management routines and external communication. However, ICS is not an insulated method but delivers the maximum benefit when integrated with strategy development, strategy implementation, business process optimization accompanied by change management routines. Strong ties to human resource management, information technology departments, quality management, research and development teams as well as business operations as the core of an organization help to yield the most for ICS m.i.G. Over time, the focus of managing IC changes and maturity leads to deutero learning.
Practical implications
ICS m.i.G. proved easy to apply, cost efficient for SMEs, larger corporations and networks. It helps to better accomplish their objectives and to adjust their business models. The guidelines in German and English as well as a software application released were downloaded more than 100,000 times. A certification process based on a three-tier training module is available and was successfully completed by more than 400 practitioners. ICS m.i.G. is supporting current standards of knowledge management, such as ISO 9001, ISO 30401 or DIN SPEC PAS 91443 and therefore will most likely have a continuing impact on knowledge-based value creation.
Originality/value
This paper reports lessons learned from the country-wide IC initiative in Germany over the last 20 years initiated and supported by the authors. Several elements of the method have been published over time, but so far no comprehensive view on Lessons Learned had been published.
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Walter Leal Filho, Laís Viera Trevisan, João Henrique Paulino Pires Eustachio, Izabela Simon Rampasso, Rosley Anholon, Johannes Platje, Markus Will, Federica Doni, Muhammad Mazhar, Jaluza Maria Lima Silva Borsatto and Carla Bonato Marcolin
This study aims to investigate how sustainability and ethics are being addressed both by the literature and companies. Furthermore, it seeks to identify the specific strategies…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how sustainability and ethics are being addressed both by the literature and companies. Furthermore, it seeks to identify the specific strategies that these companies use to foster ethical behaviour and promote sustainability in their business operations.
Design/methodology/approach
The study entails a bibliometric analysis and a set of case studies from a sample of companies working in different industry sectors. Based on these tools, it analyses whether – and how – enterprises are placing an emphasis on sustainability and ethics as part of their businesses. In addition, the selected companies' unethical practices or socially irresponsible corporate activities were investigated and presented.
Findings
The findings suggest that using an ethics perspective can be a valuable tool in improving the accuracy and correctness of business decision-making. In addition, the paper has identified the fact that sustainability standards can be used to improve customer satisfaction as many important issues are addressed. Finally, the paper highlights the importance of ethical considerations when designing and implementing sustainability standards at enterprises and the need for regulatory guidance in this regard.
Originality/value
The paper addresses the need for studies on how sustainability and ethics are being discussed by both the literature and companies. The paper presents some elements that can be used as possible corporate indicators for a wider implementation of sustainability and ethics objectives in enterprises.
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Joost (Johannes) Platje, Markus Will and Ynte K. Van Dam
Management education trainers are increasingly called upon to train students to devise interventions for sustainable development in business settings. Due to the dominant…
Abstract
Purpose
Management education trainers are increasingly called upon to train students to devise interventions for sustainable development in business settings. Due to the dominant reductionist paradigm, these interventions may lead to unwanted side effects. Teaching students about unacknowledged feedback loops in complex systems should prevent them from choosing “the most obvious” intervention without considering unwanted side effects.The current study aims to report the effects of teaching a systems perspective, applied to transport systems, on students’ opinions and expressed paradigms. The following questions are addressed: Do students adhere to the techno-centric paradigm, believing technology, innovation and growth can solve all types of threats for sustainable development, while neglecting low probability, high impact events? Are paradigms held by students coherent? Can teaching lead to a change in opinions and paradigms held by students?
Design/methodology/approach
Measures for several systems concepts (i.e. functional stupidity, paradigms and fragility) are taken across a wide sample of university students. Posttests of some key items are taken for a subsample that followed a sustainability and systems perspective in a course on transport economics.
Findings
A large share of students think that technology can solve different types of problems in sustainable development (a kind of weak sustainability), but their paradigms tend to be a mix of conflicting opinions. Though student opinions on topics that were explicitly treated in the course have changed, neither a wider paradigm shift nor significantly more coherent paradigms can be confirmed.
Originality/value
The results show that even though students can be taught about the unwanted side effects and limitations on specific techno-fix interventions, this does not automatically translate into a critical mind-set toward techno-fixing in general.
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Sabine Einwiller and Markus Will
Based on the findings of an empirical study among communication executives in 11 multinational companies we propose an increasingly integrated approach to corporate branding. Key…
Abstract
Based on the findings of an empirical study among communication executives in 11 multinational companies we propose an increasingly integrated approach to corporate branding. Key aspects which support our claim are the growing importance of the financial community, the augmenting skills shortage driving competition for current and future employees, and the enhanced transparency of corporate activities being greatly supported by the particular characteristics of the Internet. In order to achieve greater integration and eventually a favourable reputation we propose an organisational model combining centralisation and team organisation which particularly aims to support integration across the various functions responsible for stakeholder relations.
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Benny M.E. de Waal and Ronald Batenburg
The aim of this study is to debunk the relationship between user participation practices and the development and success of information systems/information technology…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to debunk the relationship between user participation practices and the development and success of information systems/information technology implementations. While most studies practically rely on how many participation activities are performed, the process through which users engage in user participation is not specified.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed method approach was applied to study the research questions. A number of relationships were tested by survey data collected among 143 end-users and 49 interviews of employees of a large Dutch social insurance organization that implemented a new and integrative business process management (BPM) system.
Findings
The results show that specification of the participation context is of key importance for understanding the success of BPM implementation. Quantitative and qualitative analyses show that rich participation activities hold a stronger positive relationship with the BPM system development and implementation success than other participatory activities that only assist development or implementation. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the updated theory of user participation by Markus and Mao can be turned into a useful instrument for measuring the different aspects of participation.
Originality/value
Most studies on user participation “only” measure how many participation activities were performed, and not how or why they were performed. Furthermore, the combination of qualitative and quantitative data and instruments resulted in a greater understanding of how exactly user participation was brought into practice and how the consequences of this practice were interrelated.
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Pamala J. Dillon and Charles C. Manz
We develop a multilevel model of emotional processes grounded in social identity theory to explore the role of emotion in transformational leadership.
Abstract
Purpose
We develop a multilevel model of emotional processes grounded in social identity theory to explore the role of emotion in transformational leadership.
Methodology/approach
This work is conceptual in nature and develops theory surrounding emotion in organizations by integrating theories on transformational leadership, emotion management, and organizational identity.
Findings
Transformational leaders utilize interpersonal emotion management strategies to influence and respond to emotions arising from the self-evaluative processes of organizational members during times of organizational identity change.
Research limitations/implications
The conceptual model detailed provides insight on the intersubjective emotional processes grounded in social identity that influence transformational leadership. Future research into transformational leadership behaviors will benefit from a multilevel perspective which includes both interpersonal emotion management and intrapersonal emotion generation related to social identity at both the within-person and between-person levels.
Originality/value
The proposed model expands on the role of emotions in transformational leadership by theoretically linking the specific transformational behaviors to discrete emotions displayed by followers. While previous empirical research has indicated the positive outcomes of transformational leadership and the role of emotion recognition, work has yet to be presented which explicates the role of discrete emotions in the transformational leadership process.
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Michele Heath and Tracy H. Porter
The purpose of this paper is to gain understanding into the human factors which might impede the change process. Change is inevitable in contemporary organizations and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to gain understanding into the human factors which might impede the change process. Change is inevitable in contemporary organizations and particularly within the healthcare field with respect to information technology (IT). Regardless of the amount of literature surrounding change management process organizational leaders will often ignore the human factors associated with the introduction of new IT.
Design/methodology/approach
This study sought to examine physician resistance surrounding the Electronic health record (EHR) change process through the lens of each of these three aspects of the Bovey and Hede (2001a) model through semi-structured interviews with physicians. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with physicians from hospitals within the Midwest.
Findings
The findings suggest that physicians have been impacted by the EHR change management system within their hospitals. Though each of the participants experienced different issues; it was clear from the data the change to an EHR system was disruptive to their day-to-day routines and caused various challenges. EHR change management research demonstrates physicians are resisting the change despite recognizing its potential benefits.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the change management literature by examining how physician resistance can have a negative impact on healthcare organizations during a precipitous technology change. The study also provides a unique understanding of how technology resistance can disrupt an organizational change process.
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Janet Fulk, Everett M. Rogers and Mary Ann Von Glinow
The fundamental premises of three different models of diffusion of new technologies are described; the similarities and differences in prediction which are derivable from the…
Abstract
The fundamental premises of three different models of diffusion of new technologies are described; the similarities and differences in prediction which are derivable from the three perspectives are highlighted. These perspectives include (1) diffusion of innovation; (2) technology transfer; and (3) critical mass theory. The article examines these predictions within the context of the unique social, cultural and political environments of developing countries. To illustrate the results of this approach, these theories are applied retrospectively to three technologies introduced into developing countries. They differentially explain diffusion and the subsequent use of these technologies. Implications for change management and technology policy are presented and future research is suggested.
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Alfred Hodina and Arthur Anthony
1. Eshbach, Ovid W. and Mott Souders (eds.). Handbook of Engineering Fundamentals, 3rd edition. New York, John Wiley and Sons, 1975. 1562p. $24.95. Engineering handbooks are…
Abstract
1. Eshbach, Ovid W. and Mott Souders (eds.). Handbook of Engineering Fundamentals, 3rd edition. New York, John Wiley and Sons, 1975. 1562p. $24.95. Engineering handbooks are notorious for the excessively long periods of time it takes for them to come out as revised editions. Periods of anywhere from ten to twenty years can be expected for a revision process and which, unfortunately, appears to be more of the rule than the exception. This 3rd edition of the Handbook of Engineering Fundamentals is welcome for it has been more than twenty years since the publication of the 2nd edition, and has been very much overdue for revision.
Aurélie Leclercq - Vandelannoitte
In reference to increasing consumerization, this article investigates how organizations react to employees’ adoption and use of personal devices at work, such as by incorporating…
Abstract
Purpose
In reference to increasing consumerization, this article investigates how organizations react to employees’ adoption and use of personal devices at work, such as by incorporating innovative, individual, IT-driven changes into their corporate practices. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Four in-depth, longitudinal case studies, conducted between 2006 and 2010, feature 92 interviews and observations to ensure triangulation.
Findings
We identify three types of organizational reactions (induction, normalization, and regulation) that depend on specific dimensions and affect the nature of subsequent IT-based organizational change.
Research limitations/implications
Continued research into the consumerization of IT can explore how it affects organizations today and whether different effects might arise in other contexts and with different kinds of organizations.
Practical implications
Reversed IT adoption logics have deep consequences for organizations; companies could achieve great gains from them, if carefully considered and managed.
Originality/value
This article addresses a topic that has been analyzed only scarcely and rarely, namely, the consumerization of IT and the tactics organizations use to incorporate user-driven IT innovation. Although this article presents only a few cases, it constitutes an initial attempt to explore this research area theoretically and investigate the ways organizations can harness employees’ personal IT adoption logics to promote creative, IT-driven change in firms.