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Article
Publication date: 6 May 2022

Irma Rybnikova and Rainhart Lang

The study examines prevailing understandings and meanings of management represented in Lithuanian higher management education as a selected East European post-socialist country…

Abstract

Purpose

The study examines prevailing understandings and meanings of management represented in Lithuanian higher management education as a selected East European post-socialist country. While concentrating on the notion of management as an institution, the study draws upon the concept of “travel of ideas” by Czarniawska (2008). The study aims at analysing what reasons led to the development of specific management meanings in Lithuanian higher education by considering local historical and socio-political processes of transformation.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical analysis is based on a qualitative content analysis of 23 relevant textbooks on general management in Lithuania, written by local authors.

Findings

The results show that the reception and translation of management concepts in Lithuania is mainly focused on rationalistic Anglo-Saxon concepts. Dominating meanings are informed by Taylorism, with alternative or critical management approaches remaining absent. The study additionally reveals the effect of “imprinting”, referring to the fact that local management pioneers have a considerable and sustainable impact on how and which management models and theories are adopted in management education.

Research limitations/implications

Since the analysis is limited to local textbooks in higher education of only one post-socialist country, there is a need for further research, especially for the inclusion of the remaining Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Additionally, other factors that may influence management meanings in higher education in post-socialist countries need to be considered by analysing translated books, management programmes or guest lecturers from other countries.

Practical implications

One of the central implications of the research into management in higher education is the call for a stronger inclusion of management ideas that go beyond Taylorist approaches. These could be team-based management or participative management, as these potentially better align with work-oriented expectations by prospective, especially young, employees.

Originality/value

The study shows the relevance of historic roots regarding managerial thought. The study identifies an “imprinting” by local pioneers in the field of management that establishes initial and enduring meanings of management in a considered country. The mechanism of “imprinting” serves as a selective filter and indicates a local general receptivity towards certain ideas and could, thus, enable or impede travelling of ideas. In the case of Lithuanian higher management education, the study shows that “imprinting” has led to a narrow meaning of management with a higher receptivity towards concepts and approaches that align with Taylor's scientific management theory.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2016

Rainhart Lang and Irma Rybnikova

This study aims to explore the main discursive images of women managers as reproduced by selected German newspapers at the time of the political debate surrounding gender quota on…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the main discursive images of women managers as reproduced by selected German newspapers at the time of the political debate surrounding gender quota on management boards between 2011 and 2013.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on critical discourse analysis according to Wodak (2001), an empirical analysis of media articles on women managers in two German newspapers, Welt and Bild, has been conducted.

Findings

The results of the study show that despite the diversity of images fabricated by the media in reference to women managers, the debate surrounding the issue of establishing a gender quota in management boards is dominated by dualistic categories and reductionist identity ascriptions, like women managers as being “over-feminine” or “over-masculine”, “exclusive” or “outsiders”.

Research limitations/implications

As the empirical focus of the study lays on two right-wing newspapers in Germany, the results do not allow for generalizations regarding the German media landscape.

Social implications

Public dispute surrounding gender quota in German companies tends to reproduce stereotypical discursive figures regarding women managers instead of challenging them. A fundamental change in the media reports on women managers is needed.

Originality/value

The research contributes to the analysis of media representations of women managers, by providing context-sensitive results from the current political debate in Germany. The findings reveal the stability of discursive structures over time, particularly gendered bias in the case of media representations of women managers, notwithstanding political aspirations to change established practices.

Details

Gender in Management: An International Journal, vol. 31 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2413

Keywords

Content available

Abstract

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Article
Publication date: 11 January 2011

Thomas Steger, Rainhart Lang and Friederike Groeger

The purpose of this paper is to provide an in‐depth description of the process of institutionalisation and development of human resource management (HRM) practices in subsidiaries…

7453

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an in‐depth description of the process of institutionalisation and development of human resource management (HRM) practices in subsidiaries of German multinational companies in Russia.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on nine case studies of Russian subsidiaries including 26 interviews (13 German expatriates and 13 local employees), participative observations and document analyses. The data analysis follows a qualitative methodology.

Findings

The study provides four patterns of institutionalisation processes of HRM practices. They stress the importance of personal, institutional and contextual factors for the institutionalisation of HRM practices. Moreover, the key role of expatriates with their specific value orientations and behaviour in this process is highlighted.

Research limitations/implications

One suggestion for further research would be to replicate the study quantitatively (in order to get more cases) as well as qualitatively (to get broader inter‐cultural data). Furthermore, it would be valuable to take a more long‐term focus to examine the described institutionalisation paths in the long run.

Practical implications

The paper highlights the importance of personal characteristics of expatriates that are often underestimated in companies' selection procedures. Moreover, the connection between the parent company's strategy and the pattern of institutionalisation of HRM practices should make the company management reflect upon the preferred pattern before taking the basic decisions. Taking into account the strong economic relationship between Russia and Germany and the expected further development of joint activities, the paper provides also important insights for the use of German expatriates in Russia.

Originality/value

This paper improves our comprehension of the complex process of implementation and institutionalisation of HRM practices abroad. Moreover, it contributes to the HRM literature as it employs the concept of “transnational spaces” as an alternative and additional approach to explain this process. The resulting patterns may not be restricted to the Russian case only but should be adaptable to other emerging countries as well.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 6 November 2015

Irma Rybnikova, Rita Toleikienė, Rainhart Lang and Diana Šaparnienė

The general aim of this chapter is to scrutinize implicit assumptions regarding leadership in the public sector entailed in the normative concept of “good governance.” We draw on…

Abstract

Purpose

The general aim of this chapter is to scrutinize implicit assumptions regarding leadership in the public sector entailed in the normative concept of “good governance.” We draw on the concepts of leadership substitution (Kerr & Jermier, 1977), managerial leadership activities (e.g., Bass & Avolio, 1994), and demands for leadership (Blom & Alvesson, 2014). In our empirical study, we explore fine-grained processes of leadership in several local government organizations, including everyday decision-making and social interactions.

Methodology/approach

A qualitative study was conducted on the basis of 21 interviews with middle- and lower level managers and their subordinates in five municipal departments in Germany and three in Lithuania.

Findings

The results suggest that everyday leadership processes can be considered as the coexistence of leadership substitutes and leadership interventions, initiated by the leaders and their subordinates. Such leadership substitutes like routines, laws, and instructions turned out as particular important constituents of leadership processes.

Research Implications

Results of our study open several new avenues for further research on governance and leadership in local governance organizations. First, future research can proceed with a re-conceptualization of leadership in the context of local governance by drawing on the follower-oriented approaches of leadership and governance. Particular focus on tensions, conflicts, and struggles as well as on the interrelationships between different hierarchical levels of public administration could represent a fruitful extension of our study. Second, the institutional and country-based contexts of local government systems should be taken into account more explicitly while studying leadership practices.

Practical Implications

In terms of implications for practice, the results of the study call for an explicit consideration of the everyday activities while implementing “good governance.” Considerations of leadership as process of daily interactions between leading persons, subordinates and codes, structures, process rules, and management instruments should become a necessary element of such concepts, otherwise, important aspects of a “good governance” would be ignored and couldn’t be realized.

Originality/value

Our study contributes to the behavioral perspective of governance structures in the public sector by providing empirical insights from local government contexts and by re-conceptualizing governance and leadership processes. Instead of a merely reductionist concentration on managerial positions and persons, we propose a social-constructionist view on governance that allows for a more fine-grained, context-sensible perspective on governance in the public sector. Concretely, we call for a conceptualization of micro-level governance structures and processes mainly as a result of ongoing order-maintaining and order-negotiating processes between supervisors and subordinates, accompanied by institutions of leadership substitution and interventions from leaders and subordinates.

Details

Contingency, Behavioural and Evolutionary Perspectives on Public and Nonprofit Governance
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-429-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 May 2007

Lina Labatmedienė, Auksė Endriulaitienė and Loreta Gustainienė

The goals of the present study are three‐fold. First of all, the paper aims to test the three‐component model (emotional, continuance and normative components) of organizational…

5113

Abstract

Purpose

The goals of the present study are three‐fold. First of all, the paper aims to test the three‐component model (emotional, continuance and normative components) of organizational commitment in the Lithuanian population. The second goal is to analyze the relationships among individual factors (age, gender, personality traits) and organizational commitment. Finally, the paper aims to test the hypothesis if there was a relationship between organizational commitment and intention to leave the organization in the Lithuanian sample.

Design/methodology/approach

The participants of the study were 105 employees working in various Lithuanian organizations (41 men and 64 women). The average age was 34.9 (SD = 11.6). The subjects completed the questionnaire that included responses to three‐dimensional measure of organizational commitment, self‐reported measure of temperament, as well as questions about demographic information. Following Meyer et al., intention to leave the organization was assessed with three questions: first, how frequently the employee thinks about leaving his or her current employer; second, how likely it is that employee will search for a job in another organization; and third, how likely it is that an individual will actually leave the organization within the next year. The regression analysis was used to predict the relationships between individual factors and organizational commitment.

Findings

The results of the investigation revealed that the three‐component measure of organizational commitment is valid in Lithuanian sample. Contrary to expectations, it was found that there was no significant relationship between personality traits and organizational commitment, but there was a significant relationship between organizational commitment and intension to leave the organization. It was also found that there was a significant relationship among organizational commitment, age, and the level of education.

Research limitations/implications

The design of the study does not allow making causal statements. In addition, the sample is quite small and may not be representative, so one should be careful to make generalizations to other populations. Third, since all measures used are self‐reports, common method variance is a problem, as well as social desirability effects.

Practical implications

Organizational commitment is an important research topic of human resource management, having both practical and theoretical implications. Managers could benefit from understanding the predictors of committed manpower because they can initiate the interventions when the problem exists.

Originality/value

The research contributes to organizational commitment literature by providing empirical findings and theoretical interpretations regarding the role of individual factors in explaining interrelationships among different forms of organizational commitment and employee behaviour.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 May 2007

Nerijus Mačiulis, Vaiva Lazauskaitė and Elias Bengtsson

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and compare performances of three Nordic (Sweden, Denmark, Finland) and three Baltic (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) exchanges.

1543

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and compare performances of three Nordic (Sweden, Denmark, Finland) and three Baltic (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) exchanges.

Design/methodology/approach

Portfolio performance is estimated using two different approaches: traditional measures – Sharpe, Sortino and Treynor ratios; and alternative measures – reward to value‐at‐risk and reward to expected tail loss (RETL).

Findings

The findings highlight the differences and similarities in Nordic and Baltic stock exchanges and their performance trends after creation of common marketplace OMX. Returns of Baltic, like Nordic, exchanges are normally distributed. During the period of 2000‐2006, Baltic exchanges outperformed Nordic exchanges.

Research limitations/implications

The research is limited to six stock exchanges that are members of common marketplace OMX. Proposed alternative performance measures did not diverge from traditional approaches, because, apparently, Baltic exchanges offer normally distributed returns and should not be considered emerging markets. These measures should be further tested in developing and emerging markets.

Originality/value

The findings have both theoretical and practical implications. To the authors' best knowledge, it is the first public attempt to estimate performance of Baltic and Nordic exchanges in the context of modern portfolio theory and, alternatively, new science of risk management (value at risk and expected tail loss). The paper argues for the usage of an alternative measure for performance valuation – RETL. Furthermore, the paper discuses merits and limitations of different approaches to risk and performance measurement.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 May 2007

Trude Johansen

The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate literature on subsidiary learning, and to trace the main logics and conventional opinions in international business. A secondary…

1055

Abstract

Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate literature on subsidiary learning, and to trace the main logics and conventional opinions in international business. A secondary purpose is to evaluate the fit, suitability and applicability to this topic.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review on subsidiary learning and knowledge transfer in International Business and Economic Geography was conducted following an explorative design. Through a survey of articles on subsidiary learning sources, barriers, and the required mechanisms were identified. Some underlying theoretical contributions were also surveyed to better capture core constructs.

Findings

Motivation, knowledge, absorptive capacity, and role of the subsidiary influence on learning, and the more embedded the subsidiary the better for performance. Furthermore, more advanced economies are expected to create more valuable knowledge, and knowledge flows therefore from advanced to transition economies. The more value‐chain activities that are carried out, a greater flow of knowledge flow is expected. Not much research is conducted on the value of the knowledge flows. Subsidiary learning is not studied in transition economies by economic geographers, or international business researchers. Subsidiary learning is not studied in transition economies by economic geographers, or international business researchers.

Research limitations/implications

Little knowledge exists on knowledge flows from subsidiaries in transition economies, to multinational corporation (MNC') entities in developed economies. Mapping of ongoing relations through the lenses of business networks may be one viable way to capture evolution and change in the role of subsidiaries, or it could be mapped through analysis of evolution and change in the routines between dyads in the MNC.

Practical implications

MNCs may overlook learning opportunities due to biases in literature. Knowledge management and formal and informal integrative mechanisms for knowledge transfer may be as important in transition – as in developed economies. As Western firms continue to offshore critical activities to transition economies, they should explore the learning opportunities for organisational learning and improved strategic performance.

Originality/value

The value of this paper lies in questioning the conventional knowledge on learning and knowledge transfer which is most often researched in developed economies.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 May 2007

Zsolt Bedő and Barnabás Ács

The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between ownership structure and company performance of public companies. The central tenet of the analysis is that…

1596

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between ownership structure and company performance of public companies. The central tenet of the analysis is that separation of ownership and control has an adverse effect on the value of the firm, as information asymmetry between owners and managers is exploited by management.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross sectional regression is conducted using data on 669 companies, which were members of the S&P 500, BUX (Hungary), WIG (Poland), SBI (Slovenia), PX (Czech) indexes in the third quarter of 2005. Owners with at least 5 percent share ownership are collected from Reuters and Business and Company Resource Center databases.

Findings

Results for CEE companies are in line with that of Earle et al. and also support Zwiebel's “space creation” concept. The negative effect of multiple shareholdings is due to collective action problems instead of alternative explanations such as manager repression. Companies in the CEE region have rather concentrated ownership, which implies that at least there is one blockholder with dominant stake allowing him to influence corporate decision making. The contribution to management control of the next largest blockholder generates tension between the two causing costs that exceed the benefits of control. Interestingly, enough in case of institutional investors as largest blockholders the formerly positive effect on performance became negative. This is in contradiction with the popular literature that emphasizes the beneficent role of institutional investors. Results for the US firms also show that dominant blockholders “create their own space” in another word when the ownership stake of the largest blockholder exceeds 10 percent the contribution of smaller owners to the monitoring and control of management is negative. This implies that even though the dominant blockholder is much smaller in size relative to the one in the CEE sample its willingness to cooperate is low. On the other hand, when the largest blockholder is not dominant the coalition of blockholders is able to create value by efficient monitoring. Institutional investor as dominant blockholder further enhances the efficiency of control, while decreases it when coalition consists solely from institutional investors.

Originality/value

The definition of ownership concentration outlined by Zwiebel is applied. To assess the effect of coalition of blockholders on company performance the concept determined by Earle et al. is used. Their notion is extended by differentiating between blockholder identity and the homogeneity of blockholder coalition, in order to scrutinize the consequence of shareholder activism.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 May 2007

Zydziunaite Vilma and Katiliute Egle

The study aims to explore the experiences of nursing personnel in private health care organizations in Lithuania, in terms of their work motivation and satisfaction, promotion and…

3979

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to explore the experiences of nursing personnel in private health care organizations in Lithuania, in terms of their work motivation and satisfaction, promotion and quitting the job, interpersonal interaction at work and to identify areas for sustainable improvement to the health care services they provide.

Design/methodology/approach

The research problem includes the following questions. What is the attitude of nursing personnel to the existing elements of motivation in private health care organizations? What organizational tools should be developed in order to improve the motivation of nursing personnel? The sample consists of 237 registered nurses practitioners and 30 nurses' managers working in private health care sector. Methods: data selection: questioning survey; data analysis: descriptive statistics, correlation and factor analysis (using SPSS for Windows 12.0). The research instrument involves 99 closed‐ended items divided into 11 evaluation blocks; Cronbach α of every part ranges from 0.68 to 0.85.

Findings

Results showed no statistical differences among nurse practitioners and executives of what motivates them in private health care organization as workplace and illuminated factors that decrease and increase motivation among nurses. Motivation decreases, when nurses are not empowered not autonomous in activity; nurses' competencies (specific professional and general) are not applied in full value, e.g. managerial, educational, social‐psychological, clinical/expertise; decisions are not made collectively; in organization does not exist mechanism of information‐sharing; meetings of personnel are not prepared methodically. Motivation increases when the nurses collaborate with physicians by parity; nursing profession is respected and recognized as autonomous and valued by themselves and other health care specialists; the interpersonal communication is effective and conflicts are solved constructively.

Research limitations/implications

A major weakness is that the characteristics of the present sample may limit the generalizability of the results. The major implication is that the paper supports the prediction for characteristics of motivation among health care workers in private health care organizations with perspective of nursing personnel.

Originality/value

The paper examines in a private health care sector the factors that increase and/or decrease the motivation of nursing personnel.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

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