Frank D. Behrend and Ronel Erwee
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of Social Network Analysis (SNA) to map information and knowledge flow in six virtual project teams with members of diverse…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of Social Network Analysis (SNA) to map information and knowledge flow in six virtual project teams with members of diverse cultures in private and public sector companies in different sectors.
Design/methodology/approach
Due to the area of research, the authors supplemented the in‐depth interviews with an embedded SNA questionnaire and two stage analysis.
Findings
The SNA findings demonstrated that network ties are useful predictors of how information and knowledge flows in virtual project teams and can be better indicators than formal project structures. assessment of participants' prestige, activity and influence and their generic formal team functions, thus leadership, member and support roles.
Research limitations/implications
SNA does not yield information about causal factors, context or history of the team contributing to the current team relationships.
Practical implications
SNA as a method in this study delivers information on diverse members' influence, prestige and specific team member‐related brokerage roles. It highlights what boundary‐crossing knowledge sharing activities they engage in and maps the knowledge and information flows between members of the virtual project teams within the companies.
Originality/value
The multi‐method research design represents a sound approach to target knowledge management in virtual project environments in international contexts.
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Wolfgang Stehle and Ronel Erwee
Researchers still debate the relevance of using cultural frameworks and socio‐economic differences between countries versus focussing on institutional differences when analysing…
Abstract
Researchers still debate the relevance of using cultural frameworks and socio‐economic differences between countries versus focussing on institutional differences when analysing issues affecting the transfer of Human Resource policies between countries. This paper first compares four countries from Europe and Asia on a macroeconomic level as well as on cultural dimensions. It then investigates perceived cultural differences between managers on the transfer of human resource policies by contrasting the perceptions of German headquarters managers with those of their subsidiary managers in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. This exploratory study uses qualitative methodology to analyse twenty four in‐depth interviews with Human Resource directors and line managers in German electrical, mechanical and chemical companies. The study confirms the importance of perceived cultural differences between managers at headquarters and in the subsidiaries and highlights the presence of misperceptions based on overgeneralisations emanating from the German headquarters as well as local subsidiaries. Convergence is confirmed on a HR policy level with crossvergence taking place on a process level via regional platforms. The growing role of the subsidiary HR director as a cultural translator and regional team player is found to be a key element in the transfer process.
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Khutula Sibanda, Ronel Erwee and Eric Ng
This study identifies key variables that contribute most to the discrimination between firms with high export performance levels and those with low export performance levels. Data…
Abstract
This study identifies key variables that contribute most to the discrimination between firms with high export performance levels and those with low export performance levels. Data were collected through a structured multi-item questionnaire involving a randomly selected sample of 105 exporting firms. Discriminant analysis was used to identify the key discriminating variables. Exporters with high-performance levels differed significantly from those with low levels. Strategy implementation, experience in international business and training, economic factors, size of the firm, cultural factors, strategic orientation, education, and political/legal factors, listed in order of importance, were identified as key discriminators between the two types of firms.
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Banjo Roxas, Doren Chadee and Ronel Erwee
South Africa (SA) has undertaken significant institutional reforms since the change in its political regime in 1994. During the same period, SA has also experienced rapid economic…
Abstract
Purpose
South Africa (SA) has undertaken significant institutional reforms since the change in its political regime in 1994. During the same period, SA has also experienced rapid economic growth. Although it is widely accepted that institutional reform generally has positive impacts on firm competitiveness and economic growth, the extent to which institutional reforms in SA have been of benefit to businesses is not well understood. The purpose of this paper is to focus specifically on the rule of law and assesses the extent to which the rule of law affects business performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses multinomial logistic regression techniques and data, from a large‐scale firm level survey (n=751) of SA businesses undertaken by the World Bank in 2007, to estimate the effects of various elements of the rule of law on firm performance.
Findings
Crime and theft were found to have the largest impact on business performance, followed by corruption and tax administration. Political instability and the effectiveness of the court system were not perceived to affect business performance significantly.
Research limitations/implications
Ongoing institutional reforms aimed at improving business performance and competitiveness in SA should pay particular attention to the design of effective policies to address crime, theft, corruption and tax administration issues faced by businesses.
Originality/value
The study is one of the first to provide empirical evidence based on a large‐scale survey of the extent to which crime and theft, corruption and tax effectiveness inhibit business growth in SA.
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Lucas van der Laan and Ronel Erwee
The foresight styles assessment (FSA) was regarded as an important empirical measure and dimension of a strategy level leader's dominant and back‐up styles of engaging with…
Abstract
Purpose
The foresight styles assessment (FSA) was regarded as an important empirical measure and dimension of a strategy level leader's dominant and back‐up styles of engaging with matters related to anticipating the future. The measure is also associated as a dimension of foresight as a leadership competence. This study seeks to determine the validity and reliability of the revised FSA as proposed by Gary.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative two‐step methodology was adopted as a pilot study preceding the main study in which a web‐based survey methodology was used. The sample consisted of 298 strategy level leaders. Data were analysed using advanced statistical analysis techniques including factor analysis and structural equation modelling.
Findings
The FSA's four factors; tester, adapter, framer and reactor, were confirmed but did not display uni‐dimensionality. Analytical results confirmed the validity and reliability of the measure, and the structural equation model illustrated good model fit. The reactor factor was determined to be a method factor and theoretical concerns could be raised regarding whether the reactor factor describes a foresight style. Future research of a summated three‐factor scale (excluding the reactor factor) is suggested and should include strategy‐level leaders, especially in more diverse populations, investigating further, the nomological validity and reliability of the scale.
Research limitations/implications
Owing to the purposive non‐probability sampling technique the sample results are not generalisable. However, the statistical results are rigorous and significant in terms of determining the validity and reliability of the measure. Further research of a summated three‐factor (tester, framer, adapter) scale amongst a more diverse population is suggested.
Practical implications
While some notable studies have been conducted, futures studies research generally lacks validated and reliable quantitative measures related to the foresight construct. As suggested by Inayatullah, the importance of understanding the value free observations of the empirically observable is required to meaningfully conduct deeper analysis of social issues. The findings of this research has implications in the study of foresight by providing empirical grounds for further exploratory research, and providing rigorous evidence supporting the use of the foresight styles assessment especially as a three‐factor summated scale. Use of the scale is not limited to foresight studies, indeed it can and has been applied to broader leadership cognition and strategic management studies yet to be reported.
Social implications
Considering that foresight is regarded as an innate human characteristic and the need for social foresight may never have been higher, understanding a basis of measuring the construct may have significant implications in terms of further social science research and social foresight development.
Originality/value
In terms of measuring a broader construct of foresight competence, the rigorous validation of a measure to enable further interpretive, exploratory and critical research is important. To the author's knowledge, using structural equation modelling techniques in futures studies is very rare if at all. The study further contributes to the development of a rigorous measure that may facilitate significant foresight/futures studies/leadership and management future research.
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Elmarie Sadler and Jacobus Stephanus Wessels
The purpose of this paper is to report on the reflective identity work of a white female chartered accountant, scholar and academic manager, regarding the intersectional…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on the reflective identity work of a white female chartered accountant, scholar and academic manager, regarding the intersectional transformations of gender and race as well as leadership within the South African accounting profession over four decades.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical lens of intersectionality is applied through an autoethnographic approach. Multiple layers of personal experiences and observations are interpreted through identity work of leadership provided and received. Autoethnographic data are substantiated and contextualised through the researchers’ sense-making, official and scholarly sources.
Findings
Sustainable transformation of the accounting profession requires a deepened understanding of the interconnections of the personal, structural and systemic areas within unique contexts. Leadership, as provided and received, must be included within the intersectional orientations. Intersectional orientations become then more significant for understanding progressive changes of the demographic profile of the accounting profession not only in South Africa but also in other countries. The transformation interventions aimed at affirming high-quality black African, coloured and female candidates to the South African accounting profession are founded on the principles of social justice. A sustained reframing of the demographic profile of a profession is possible through accelerated and well-funded collaborative transformation interventions enhancing intentional structural changes of the membership pipeline.
Research limitations/implications
The possible limitations of this study lie in the contextual nature of the material and findings and the lens of the specific theory.
Practical implications
The understanding of the practice of interventions aiming at transforming the country-specific demographic profile of a scarce skills profession such as the accountancy profession.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper lies in the application of an intersectional theoretical lens that argues for leadership as a dimension alongside age, gender and race in an autoethnographic sense making of the transformation of the South African accounting profession.
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Meetings NOWME meetings in 1988 The UK's National Organisation for Women's Management Education (NOWME) has devised a programme of meetings for 1988. The venue is The Industrial…
Abstract
Meetings NOWME meetings in 1988 The UK's National Organisation for Women's Management Education (NOWME) has devised a programme of meetings for 1988. The venue is The Industrial Society, Carlton House Terrace, London SW1: