Thomas F. Burgess, Paul Grimshaw, Luisa Huaccho Huatuco and Nicola E. Shaw
The purpose of this paper is to address the following research question: how do the interlocking editorial advisory boards (EABs) of operations and supply chain management (OSCM…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the following research question: how do the interlocking editorial advisory boards (EABs) of operations and supply chain management (OSCM) journals map out the field’s diverse academic communities and how demographically diverse is the field and its communities?
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies social network analysis (SNA) to web-based EAB data for 38 journals listed under operations management (OM) in the 2010 ABS Academic Journal Quality Guide.
Findings
The members of EABs of the 38 journals are divided into seven distinct communities which are mapped to the field’s knowledge structures and further aggregated into a core and periphery of the network. A burgeoning community of supply chain management academics forms the core along with those with more traditional interests. Male academics affiliated to the US institutions and to business schools predominate in the sample.
Research limitations/implications
A new strand of research is opened up connecting journal governance networks to knowledge structures in the OSCM field. OM is studied separately from its reference and associated disciplines. The use of the ABS list might attract comments that the study has an implicit European perspective – however the authors do not believe this to be the case.
Practical implications
The study addresses the implications of the lack of diversity for the practice of OM as an academic discipline.
Social implications
The confirmation of the dominance of particular characteristics such as male and US-based academics has implications for social diversity of the field.
Originality/value
As the first study of its kind, i.e. SNA of EAB members of OSCM journals, this study marks out a new perspective and acts as a benchmark for the future.
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Matthias D. Mahlendorf, Utz Schäffer and Oliver Skiba
Participative budgeting is one of the most intensively researched budgeting variables in management accounting. Research has stalled, however. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Participative budgeting is one of the most intensively researched budgeting variables in management accounting. Research has stalled, however. The purpose of this paper is to stimulate further research by providing an overview of antecedents of participative budgeting and suggesting ways to build upon extant research.
Methodology/approach
We assess 22 studies published prior to 2011 that offer statistical insights into why organizations use participative budgeting by theorizing and modeling it as a dependent variable.
Findings
This work answers two research questions regarding why organizations use participative budgeting: (a) Which antecedents of participative budgeting have been analyzed so far? (b) Which causal-model forms are used in extant research regarding the antecedents of participative budgeting?
Originality/value
This paper provides a detailed overview of empirical studies and respective findings aiming to explain why organizations use participative budgeting. Many prior studies have measured the association between contextual antecedents and participative budgeting. However, from a theoretical perspective, objectives of employees and supervisors are often used to explain the relation. Based on our literature review, we propose that all objectives identified so far intervene in the relationship between context and use of participative budgeting and also further detail these objectives. Consequently, our review analyzes the status quo of research on why organizations use participative budgeting and adds additional suggestions of underlying causal processes that can be tested in future studies.
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Tammar B. Zilber, John M. Amis and Johanna Mair
In this introduction, the authors outline some critical reflections on the sociology of knowledge within management and organization theory. Based on a review of various works…
Abstract
In this introduction, the authors outline some critical reflections on the sociology of knowledge within management and organization theory. Based on a review of various works that form a sociology of organizational knowledge, the authors identify three approaches that have become particularly prominent ways by which scholars explore how knowledge about organizations and management is produced: First, reflective and opinion essays that organization studies scholars offer on the basis of what can be learned from personal experience; second, descriptive craft-guides that are based on more-or-less comprehensive surveys on doing research; third, papers based on systematic research that are built upon rigorous collection and analysis of data about the production of knowledge. Whereas in the studies of organizing the authors prioritize the third approach, that is knowledge produced based on systematic empirical research, in examining our own work the authors tend to privilege the other two types, reflective articles and surveys. In what follows the authors highlight this gap, offer some explanations thereof, and call for a better appreciation of all three ways to offer rich understandings of organizations, work and management as well as a fruitful sociology of knowledge in our field.
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N. van der Merwe and S.S. Visser
South African motor manufacturers should find ways to improve their performance management systems to ensure survival in the face of strong competition in the market. The main…
Abstract
South African motor manufacturers should find ways to improve their performance management systems to ensure survival in the face of strong competition in the market. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the industry’s approach to performance management and to make recommendations about a framework for performance management that can be implemented to obtain a competitive advantage. A well‐known instrument that proves to be highly effective in performance management is the balanced scorecard. This instrument manages performance on four distinct levels, namely from the financial perspective, the customer perspective, internal business processes and learning and growth. It is apparent from the results of this study that performance management is still very much a one‐way process, and that a lack of communication is the primary reason for unsatisfactory workforce performance. Furthermore, the majority of motor manufacturers consider the customer perspective as the most important of the four above‐mentioned perspectives. Motor manufacturers also disagree about the number of performance measures that need to be included in the performance management system, and the majority feel that both controllable and non‐controllable fixed costs must be included in the measurement of management performance. Shareholder value measures are also largely neglected in practice.
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Ralph J. Masi and Robert A. Cooke
As part of an integrative model of leadership, transformational (versus transactional) styles are proposed to be related to subordinates' motivation and commitment to quality, the…
Abstract
As part of an integrative model of leadership, transformational (versus transactional) styles are proposed to be related to subordinates' motivation and commitment to quality, the strength of empowering norms at the subunit level, and organizational productivity. Transformational and transactional styles also are proposed to be related to the self‐image of leaders. Hypotheses are tested in a military setting, the United States Army Recruiting Command, through the use of survey data provided by mid‐level leaders, station commanders, and recruiters. Data are supplemented by direct measures of subunit productivity. Results support some, but not all, of the proposed hypotheses. Implications for research and practice are presented, along with limitations of the research.
Ana Isabel Rodrigues, Antónia Correia, Metin Kozak and Anja Tuohino
Lake tourism is a growing academic sub-field of tourism studies with an emerging body of literature. However, little research attention has been given to lake-destinations’…
Abstract
Lake tourism is a growing academic sub-field of tourism studies with an emerging body of literature. However, little research attention has been given to lake-destinations’ projected or perceived tourism images. Specifically, there has been a scarcity of literature investigating the variables involved in the formation of a lake-destination image. Therefore, this study aims to explore the main attributes that might potentially influence this type of destination, and simultaneously, contribute to conceptualizing and defining lake tourism as recent research area. An explorative study was then conducted in order to generate a set of image variables through the use of textual and photographic data. The results will contribute to characterize potential lake-destinations and to develop a final list of variables specifically related to this type of destination.
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Julie M. Birkholz and Robin Shields
The goal of this chapter is to introduce the network paradigm for analyzing relational phenomena and organizing knowledge in higher education research. This introduction is…
Abstract
The goal of this chapter is to introduce the network paradigm for analyzing relational phenomena and organizing knowledge in higher education research. This introduction is presented by example: it analyzes knowledge on inter-organizational relationships of higher education institutions. The formation, maintenance, and impact of relationships are implicitly relational, although they have largely been understood as a consequence of institutional practices. Through the network paradigm, we show that focusing on relations we can develop new and more precise models to understand the antecedents, consequences, and characteristics of these networks.
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The purpose of this paper is to test alternative conceptualizations of the relationship between systems of human resource management (HRM) practices and organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test alternative conceptualizations of the relationship between systems of human resource management (HRM) practices and organizational effectiveness. The authors describe a framework suggesting a complex relationship between HRM practices and organizational effectiveness, test this approach empirically in a large sample of US motor carriers, and compare the results to those derived using other approaches prevalent in the strategic HRM literature.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a large scale cross-sectional survey design. In a sample of US motor carriers, questionnaires completed by senior HRM department staff were used as the primary data. The data were supplemented by organizational effectiveness data reported by motor carriers to the US Government.
Findings
The results support the general hypothesis that HRM practices enhance organizational effectiveness, provide some evidence that HRM practices can enhance each other’s effectiveness, and underscore the value of theory driven methodological approaches. Specifically, the authors found that HRM system comprising practices that ensure selectivity in staffing, performance-based pay, and enhanced employee opportunity through participation in decision-making result in higher levels of organizational effectiveness. Additionally, the effects of other combinations of these practices varied.
Practical implications
This study highlights the need for HRM departments and organizations to approach the strategic management of employees with a systems perspective. The optimal design of an HRM strategy must take into account the various components.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to test the main assumptions of the systems perspective in strategic HRM using multiple measures and empirical approaches for combining HRM practices into systems. Comparison of these different approaches in a single study offers insight into how researchers can test the relationship between HRM practices and organizational effectiveness and provide practitioners more useful approaches for designing HRM systems.
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T.F. Burgess, T.S. Ong and N.E. Shaw
The paper seeks to examine the prevalence of traditional versus contemporary (balanced) types of performance measurement system (PMS) in an emerging economy and link incidence to…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to examine the prevalence of traditional versus contemporary (balanced) types of performance measurement system (PMS) in an emerging economy and link incidence to key organisational factors of size, age and ownership.
Design/methodology/approach
Data on design and use of PMSs are collected through a questionnaire survey (n=149) of electrical and electronic firms. Hierarchical cluster analysis identifies two PMS groups and assigns them to traditional and contemporary types, and then links them to key organisational factors via contingency tables.
Findings
Use of contemporary PMS dominates the sample. PMS type is significantly associated with size and ownership, while age is not. Firms more likely to use contemporary PMSs are foreign‐owned and large in terms of number of employees.
Research limitations/implications
This survey‐based research employs multivariate analysis and therefore standard limits for such statistical work apply. Results rely on hierarchical cluster analysis.
Practical implications
If balanced approaches are more effective, as is argued by many, then a firm without such a style of PMS is at a competitive disadvantage given the high incidence of use.
Originality/value
The paper establishes a framework for a contemporary type of PMS that integrates balanced scorecard and other balanced approaches, then collects data in an emerging economy. Links use of contemporary PMS type to key organisational factors.
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Lorenzo Mizzau, Fabrizio Montanari and Marta Massi
This chapter explores the potential of social media in the context of festivals and shows how web platforms can better inform event managers’ understanding of how a festival’s…
Abstract
This chapter explores the potential of social media in the context of festivals and shows how web platforms can better inform event managers’ understanding of how a festival’s social atmosphere (i.e. the socialscape) can be extended online and beyond the actual periods of the staging of a festival. This is possible as social media can help to build an online environment that favours social identification and user engagement. To illustrate such a mechanism, the chapter presents a multi-method analysis of Fotografia Europea, a photography festival held in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Results show the potential of a coordinated web and social media strategy for enhancing the festival’s atmosphere in terms of social identification and engagement.