Per Geisler Hansen and Jakob Soerensen
The purpose of this article is to show how The Rockwool Group has undergone an impressive change journey in recent years. Under the leadership of its president and chief executive…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to show how The Rockwool Group has undergone an impressive change journey in recent years. Under the leadership of its president and chief executive officer, Eelco van Heel, the business has successfully redefined its strategic objectives, clarified its vision and mission and positively changed its culture to one that focuses firmly on people and values. The aim of this article is to examine the strategic role that HR has played in helping the organization meet its goals.
Design/methodology/approach
The case study discusses how managers across the global Rockwool business have been empowered to take on the mantle of change and adapt their own behavior for the good of the wider business. It examines the leadership approach taken to launching the change program and identifies how challenges were overcome in gaining buy‐in from across the organization.
Findings
Through the “Leading People & Brands” program, which encourages managers to mobilize their people to undertake positive change, the Rockwool Group has successfully cascaded responsibility for change throughout the organization.
Originality/value
This case study demonstrates the importance of going beyond simply communicating a new vision to gaining buy‐in from employees. This was achieved at Rockwool by listening and responding to feedback and adapting the launch program so that its message was simpler, understood by all, easy to translate into action and involved managers in its implementation.
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Torben Pedersen, Christine Soo and Timothy M. Devinney
This research examines the differential impact of the importance of internally and externally sourced information and knowledge and their relationship to absorptive capacity and…
Abstract
This research examines the differential impact of the importance of internally and externally sourced information and knowledge and their relationship to absorptive capacity and firm performance. In addition, this analysis deals directly with the unobservable heterogeneity amongst firms that is generally viewed as the raison d'être for a unique resource-based perspective of organizational performance. Latent class, finite mixture regression models are used that show that a single model relating knowledge sourcing, absorptive capacity and firm performance is inadequate in explaining even a minor portion of the variation which is seen between firms.
Lillian Do Nascimento Gambi and Koenraad Debackere
The purpose of this paper is to examine the evolution of the literature on technology transfer and culture, identifying the main contents of the current body of knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the evolution of the literature on technology transfer and culture, identifying the main contents of the current body of knowledge encompassing culture and technology transfer (TT), thus contributing to a better understanding of the relationship between TT and culture based on bibliometric and multivariate statistical analyses of the relevant body of literature.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this study were collected from the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection database. Based on a bibliometric analysis and in-depth empirical review of major TT subjects, supported by multivariate statistical analyses, over 200 articles were systematically reviewed. The use of these methods decreases biases since it adds rigor to the subjective evaluation of the relevant literature base.
Findings
The exploratory analysis of the articles shows that first, culture is an important topic for TT in the literature; second, the publication data demonstrate a great dynamism regarding the different contexts in which culture is covered in the TT literature and third, in the last couple of years the interest of stimulating a TT culture in the context of universities has continuously grown.
Research limitations/implications
This study focuses on culture in the context of TT and identifies the main contents of the body of knowledge in the area. Based on this first insight, obtained through more detailed bibliometric and multivariate analyses, it is now important to develop and validate a theory on TT culture, emphasizing the dimensions of organizational culture, entrepreneurial culture and a culture of openness that fosters economic and societal spillovers, and to link those dimensions to the performance of TT activities.
Practical implications
From the practical point of view, managers in companies and universities should be aware of the importance of identifying those dimensions of culture that contribute most to the success of their TT activities.
Originality/value
Despite several literature reviews on the TT topic, no studies focusing specifically on culture in the context of TT have been developed. Therefore, given the multifaceted nature of the research field, this study aims to expand and to deepen the analysis of the TT literature by focusing on culture as an important and commonly cited element influencing TT performance.
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The purpose of this paper is to propose a model to understand how and when employees’ perceived privacy violations and procedural injustice interact to predict intent to leave in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a model to understand how and when employees’ perceived privacy violations and procedural injustice interact to predict intent to leave in the context of the use of social networking sites (SNSs) monitoring.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was conducted in a field setting of Facebook to frame the hypotheses in a structural equation model with partial least squares-structural equation modeling. Variables were measured empirically by administering questionnaires to full-time employed Facebook users who had experienced SNS monitoring.
Findings
The results showed that when an employee believed that he/she had more ability to control his/her SNS information, he/she was less likely to perceive that his/her privacy had been invaded; and when an employee believed that the transparency of the SNS data collection process was higher, he or she was more likely to perceive procedural justice in SNS monitoring.
Research limitations/implications
This research draws attention to the importance of intent to leave in the absence of perceived procedural justice under SNS monitoring, and the partial mediation of the perception of justice or injustice by perceived privacy violations.
Practical implications
For employers, the author recommends that employers come to know how to conduct SNS monitoring and data collection with limited risk of employee loss.
Social implications
For employees, the author suggests that SNS users learn how to control their SNS information and make sure to check their privacy settings on the SNS that they use frequently.
Originality/value
This study provided an initial examination and bridged the gap between employer use of SNS monitoring and employee reactions by opening a mediating and moderating black box that has rarely been assessed.
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Adele Berndt and Jane P. Wayland
Locally authored textbooks are used at tertiary South African institutions to assist in marketing research studies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the readability of…
Abstract
Purpose
Locally authored textbooks are used at tertiary South African institutions to assist in marketing research studies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the readability of locally authored marketing research textbooks in South Africa and compare them with international (USA) texts.
Design/methodology/approach
South African marketing research textbooks (authored locally) used at South African institutions were identified. Electronic versions of the textbooks were used and analysed using accepted readability formulae. The same procedure was used with texts produced in the USA and the findings of each were compared.
Findings
The South Africa texts scored higher on the Flesch Reading Ease score than US texts, which links to the target audience of these books (undergraduate students), while also being cognisant of the reading skills of the target audience but their score still describes them as “difficult”.
Research limitations/implications
The original formulae and theory tend to be dated, though there are recent studies into readability in other areas of business studies. There are also those that question the applicability of readability formulae in the tertiary environment.
Practical implications
Instructors need to ensure that material is at a suitable reading level to maximise the student's learning. For publishers and authors, this means that the examples and illustrations used need to be linked to the context in which the student lives and functions, and not just focus on the English used in the text.
Originality/value
While studies have been conducted into the readability of US textbooks, there is little published research into the readability of regional marketing research textbooks in other contexts to facilitate comparison.
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Janine Viol Hacker, Freimut Bodendorf and Pascal Lorenz
Enterprise social networks (ESN) are increasingly used by companies to reinforce collaboration and knowledge sharing. While prior research has investigated ESN use practices…
Abstract
Purpose
Enterprise social networks (ESN) are increasingly used by companies to reinforce collaboration and knowledge sharing. While prior research has investigated ESN use practices, little is known about potential user roles emerging on these platforms. Against this backdrop, this paper develops an ESN knowledge actor role framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The framework is constructed based on a systematic review of literature covering knowledge worker role typologies, user roles identified in public online social spaces as well as findings from ESN research.
Findings
The ESN knowledge actor role framework distinguishes eight contributing and two reading roles. It describes the associated participation behaviours and establishes metrics to identify the roles.
Research limitations/implications
Providing a notion of knowledge management-related roles in ESN, the framework enables a better understanding of knowledge processes and the involved actors. Moreover, the paper advances the field of ESN data analytics by designing a set of ESN metrics to characterise user behaviour.
Practical implications
Understanding ESN user roles, in particular regarding their knowledge contributions to the platform, can improve knowledge transparency in companies. The framework may usefully support the identification and management of critical knowledge resources and support decision-making in the areas of human resources management and knowledge management.
Originality/value
Providing a platform for knowledge-intensive interactions as well as record of user activities, ESN are well suited to observe and identify knowledge actor roles emerging in this context.
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Jane Webster and D. Sandy Staples
A growing body of literature exists on virtual (i.e., geographically dispersed) teams; however, few summaries of this knowledge are available. The purpose of this paper is to help…
Abstract
A growing body of literature exists on virtual (i.e., geographically dispersed) teams; however, few summaries of this knowledge are available. The purpose of this paper is to help fill this gap by reviewing empirical research that addresses the effectiveness of virtual versus traditional (i.e., co-located) teams. Based on the typical input-process-output model of team effectiveness, we classify almost 200 empirical studies on virtual teams according to key dimensions of the model, including tasks and group characteristics, contextual factors, and supervisory behaviors. We develop propositions to address neglected research areas regarding the differences between virtual and traditional teams. There is still much to learn about virtual teams and how the physical dispersion of team members affects team effectiveness. It is our hope that our review and propositions will guide future research efforts and will help human resource professionals realize the potential for distributed teams in their organizations.
Fredrick Ahenkora Boamah, Jianhua Zhang, Dandan Wen, Mrs Sherani, Adil Hayat and Oleksandra Horbanenko
To effectively implement knowledge management, one prerequisite is to understand and implement the knowledge management enablers in the sense of optimal institutional efficiency…
Abstract
Purpose
To effectively implement knowledge management, one prerequisite is to understand and implement the knowledge management enablers in the sense of optimal institutional efficiency. This paper aims to analyze and measure the significant enablers in overseeing knowledge management in the construction sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The mixed-method technique was used to achieve the objective of this study and involved the application of detailed questions to project engineers and project managers within leading construction engineering companies, provided by the Institution of Engineering and Technology Ghana. In total, 150 questionnaires were collected and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences v. 26.
Findings
The study confirms that the knowledge management enablers such as employees knowledge, motivations, effective decisions and strategic planning are some of the important ways in which construction professionals can achieve different strategic goals in many processes and concluded that the progress of the next generation knowledge management strategy will be based on content sharing, decision-making and by promoting the free flow of ideas.
Originality/value
The study offers perspectives into knowledge management enablers and recommends key performance factors, championed by Ghanaian construction contractors for institutional knowledge capture.
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Maral Mahdad, Thai Thi Minh, Marcel L.A.M. Bogers and Andrea Piccaluga
There is little known about investigating the importance of all proximity dimensions simultaneously as a result of geographical proximity on university-industry collaborative…
Abstract
Purpose
There is little known about investigating the importance of all proximity dimensions simultaneously as a result of geographical proximity on university-industry collaborative innovation. This paper aims to answer the question of how geographically proximate university and industry influence cognitive, social, organizational, institutional and cultural proximity within university-industry joint laboratories and finally, what is the outcome of these interplays on collaborative innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses an exploratory multiple-case study approach. The results are derived from 53 in-depth, semistructured interviews with laboratory directors and representatives from both the company and the university within 8 joint laboratories of Telecom Italia (TIM). The data collection was carried out in 2014 and 2015. The analysis follows a multi-grounded theory approach and relies on a mix of deductive and inductive reasoning with the final goal of theoretical elaboration.
Findings
This study finds the role of social and cultural proximity at the individual level as a result of geographical proximity as an enabler of collaborative innovation by triggering mutual learning, trust formation and frequent interactions. Cognitive proximity at the interface level could systematically influence collaborative innovation, while organizational and institutional proximity has marginal roles in facilitating collaborative innovation. The qualitative analysis offers a conceptual framework for proximity dimensions and collaborative innovation within university-industry joint laboratories.
Practical implications
The framework not only advances state-of-the-art university-industry collaboration and proximity dimension but also offers guidance for managers in designing collaborative innovation settings between university and industry.
Originality/value
With this study, the paper advances the understanding beyond solely the relationship between proximity and collaboration and shed light on the interplay between geographical proximity and other proximity dimensions in this context, which has received limited scholarly attention.