Paul Fitzsimmons and Tony White
The NHS reforms increased emphasis on a managerial culture. In primary care this raised questions about responsibility and philosophical approaches. Greater integration between…
Abstract
The NHS reforms increased emphasis on a managerial culture. In primary care this raised questions about responsibility and philosophical approaches. Greater integration between agencies brings benefits, but creates tensions. Failure to bridge the gap may result in dysfunctional teams and compromised quality of patient care. The different orientations may manifest themselves in several ways but lead to frictions that can breed hostility and prevent effective teamwork. Explores issues involving social service and community nurse teams in Dorset to identify a new framework for working, by recognizing and respecting differences and by creating a climate of dialogue. The process involves three stages. First, mutual awareness by use of meta planning which revealed several important themes, different priorities, political dynamics and organizational constraints. Second, behavioural contracting facilitated by role reversal and third, the development of consensus working protocols as a bridge for professional gaps.
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Paul Fitzsimmons and Tony White
Partners and practice managers are beginning to understand implications of management issues raised by recent reforms. Practices involved in this study agree the need for…
Abstract
Partners and practice managers are beginning to understand implications of management issues raised by recent reforms. Practices involved in this study agree the need for improvement, but partners and managers were often unable to define improvements needed. Demonstrates that effective management structure is vital to future success for general practice. To achieve this involves understanding new managerial challenges practices must meet and different organizational competences required. To change requires a radical restructure of many practice roles and several options are considered. Regardless of the chosen option the question of training remains. There is a need to involve consultants, managers, and doctors already advancing the boundaries of practice development, in a dialogue with institutions providing management training, to design suitable programmes. Academic institutions too often produce management programmes geared towards the old environment, whereas managerial skills which changes in the NHS demand from future practice managers are now required.
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Mike Szymanski, Ilan Alon and Komal Kalra
In this study, micro-foundations of strategy as the theoretical framework to study the effect of managers’ individual characteristics on multinational team performance are…
Abstract
Purpose
In this study, micro-foundations of strategy as the theoretical framework to study the effect of managers’ individual characteristics on multinational team performance are adopted. In particular, the purpose of this paper is to study managers’ multilingual communication abilities and multicultural background, and their role in, respectively, effectively reconfiguring team human assets and sensing cognitively distant opportunities and threats.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses national football teams competing in national and international competitions and their coaches’ characteristics as the data set to test the theory. Using random coefficient modeling and ordinary least square regression, this paper analyzes two samples of 222 and 79 teams and found that both these characteristics contribute to team performance; however, their effects differ depending on the team environment.
Findings
Multicultural managers contribute positively to team performance only when the team is operating in a highly diverse environment, their effect is not statistically significant in homogeneous environments. In less diverse environments, it is the multilingual manager who can improve team performance through more efficient communication and greater effects of leadership on the team.
Originality/value
Managers’ characteristics such as their multicultural background and multilingual capabilities affect team performance. In particular, these effects come into play in highly diverse and international settings. Micro-foundation literature is advised to focus on the internationalization and multicultural backgrounds of managers as a precursor for organizational international performance.
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Darline Vandaele and Paul Gemmel
Supply chain management and business networks have gained increased attention in services settings. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of external purchased…
Abstract
Purpose
Supply chain management and business networks have gained increased attention in services settings. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of external purchased services by a service provider on the satisfaction of downstream supply chain members, i.e. end‐users. The focus is on transaction‐specific satisfaction as it provides in‐depth information on specific satisfaction elements.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the propositions, one business service provider purchasing a service from an external supplier is selected. Data are collected by sending a web survey to the business service provider's customers. partial least squares (PLS) is used to analyze the data as transaction‐specific satisfaction is considered as a formative construct.
Findings
PLS analyses indicate that the elements determining satisfaction with the external supplier and those determining satisfaction with the business service provider differ. Moreover, transaction‐specific satisfaction of end‐users with the external supplier's service is positively related to transaction‐specific satisfaction of end‐users with the service provider's service. Furthermore, the strength of that relationship is influenced by the importance attached to the external supplier's service by the end‐users.
Research limitations/implications
First, the position of the customer in the supply chain influences how the service delivery is evaluated. Second, the relevance of service supply chains and business networks are confirmed. The relationship between supplier and provider and between provider and end‐user are interconnected. The strength of that relationship interconnectedness is influenced by importance attached to the purchased service. Future research is needed to extend the findings of this study to other services settings.
Originality/value
The results of the paper indicate that service providers should pay more attention to services purchased from external suppliers and to those suppliers' selection and evaluation, even when these services are considered less strategically valuable.
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The takeover of Asda by US retail giant Wal‐Mart has created a great deal of speculation by business analysts and the media. Wal‐Mart is recognized as the world’s largest retailer…
Abstract
The takeover of Asda by US retail giant Wal‐Mart has created a great deal of speculation by business analysts and the media. Wal‐Mart is recognized as the world’s largest retailer and its move into the UK is creating interest in its future plans for Europe. Some consider that the move will cause a complete realignment of grocery chains across Europe and that the move will be revolutionary. Others consider that the move will simply augment and accelerate current retailing trends but will not completely change the face of supermarket retailing. This issue brings together a variety of viewpoints. First, Paul Whysall reviews and analyses the press coverage. He provides insights into the possible outcomes of the deal. The second piece is an industry insight prepared by Retail Intelligence, which is followed by an overview of the Institute of Grocery Distribution’s research document Wal‐Mart in the UK. Finally, we present a number of abstracts that offer further thoughts on the subject.
Marina Z. Solesvik, Paul Westhead, Lars Kolvereid and Harry Matlay
This paper aims to explore whether an integrated conceptual model (ICM) relating to factors drawn from entrepreneurial event theory (EET) (i.e. perceived desirability and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore whether an integrated conceptual model (ICM) relating to factors drawn from entrepreneurial event theory (EET) (i.e. perceived desirability and perceived feasibility) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) (i.e. attitudes toward the behaviour, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control) explains more of the variance relating to the intention to become an entrepreneur than individual EET or TPB models.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey information from 192 students from three universities in the Ukraine was hand collected. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses presented.
Findings
Models relating to EET, the TPB and the ICM explained 40 per cent, 55 per cent and 60 per cent of the variance in the entrepreneurial intention dependent variable, respectively. Students reporting higher levels of perceived desirability, perceived feasibility, attitude toward the behaviour (i.e. enterprise) and perceived behavioural control were more likely to report the formation of entrepreneurial intentions. No significant negative interaction effect between perceived desirability and perceived feasibility was detected.
Research limitations/implications
The study does not evaluate the benefits of enterprise modules. The results can be generalised to the Ukraine and comparable transition economy contexts.
Practical implications
The formation of entrepreneurial intentions in more students could be increased if enterprise teaching seeks to nurture higher levels of attitude toward the behaviour (i.e. enterprise), and higher levels of perceived behavioural control.
Originality/value
Structural equation modelling was used to test the predictive accuracy of EET, TPB and ICM perspectives. Direct and indirect effects between factors and the intention to become an entrepreneur were considered.
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Aurelia Engelsberger, Jillian Cavanagh, Timothy Bartram and Beni Halvorsen
In this paper, the authors argue that multicultural skills and relational leadership act as enablers for open innovation, and thereby examine the process through which teams can…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors argue that multicultural skills and relational leadership act as enablers for open innovation, and thereby examine the process through which teams can utilize multicultural skills to support the development of relational leadership and knowledge sourcing and sharing (KSS) through individual interaction and relationship building. The authors address the following research question: How does relational leadership enable open innovation (OI) among employees with multicultural skills?
Design/methodology/approach
This paper applies a multi-level approach (team and individual level) and builds on interviews with 20 employees, middle and senior managers with multicultural experiences, working in open innovation environments.
Findings
The authors’ findings shed light on the process through which social exchange relationships among team members (e.g. R&D teams) and knowledge exchange partners are enhanced by the use of multicultural skills and support the development of relational leadership to facilitate KSS and ultimately OI. The decision for participants to collaborate and source and share knowledge is motivated by individual reward (such as establishing network or long-lasting contacts), skill acquisition (such as learning or personal growth in decision-making) and a sense of reciprocity and drive for group gain. The authors encourage greater human resource (HR) manager support for relational leadership and the development and use of multicultural skills to promote KSS.
Research limitations/implications
Despite the value of our findings, this paper is not without limitations. The authors explained that the focus of this study design was on the work activities of the participants and their skill development and not specific projects or organizations. It was outside the scope of this study to examine variations across organizations and individuals as the authors wanted to focus on multicultural skills and relational leadership as enablers for OI. The authors recommend that future studies extend our research by unpacking how various boundary conditions including relational leadership and multicultural skills impact KSS and OI over the life cycle of innovation teams within large multinational organizations, across countries and ethnicities.
Practical implications
The study’s findings provide managers with improved understandings of how to enable an individual's willingness and readiness to source and share knowledge through multicultural skills and relational leadership. Managers need to ensure that human resource management (HRM) practices celebrate multicultural skills and support relational leadership in innovation teams. The authors suggest managers engaged in OI consider the components of social exchange as described by Meeker (1971) and utilize reciprocity, group gain, rationality and status consistency to support the emergence relational leadership and KSS in innovation teams.
Originality/value
In this paper, the authors contribute to the dearth of literature on the boundary conditions for OI by examining the role of relational leadership and characteristics/skills of the workforce, namely multicultural skills and contribute to the scarce research on the role of employees with multicultural skills and their impact on OI and present multicultural skills/experiences and relational leadership as enablers for OI.
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Šejma Aydin, Emil Knezović, Azra Bičo and Hamza Smajić
This study aims to investigate the relationship between age and entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial intentions considering the mediating role of individual entrepreneurial…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between age and entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial intentions considering the mediating role of individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) dimensions (risk-taking, innovativeness and proactiveness).
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from 782 individuals from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s working-age population using a cross-sectional survey design. Hypotheses were tested via structural equation modeling.
Findings
Younger individuals have significantly higher intentions for entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship than older individuals. The mediating role of IEO was partially supported in the case of the relationship between age and entrepreneurial intention as well as age and intrapreneurial intention. While risk-taking and innovativeness partially mediate the relationship, proactiveness does not.
Originality/value
This study takes a comprehensive approach when examining the relationship between age and entrepreneurial/intrapreneurial intentions in a developing economy while considering the indirect effects of IEO dimensions.