Simon Wiersma, Tobias Just and Michael Heinrich
Germany has a polycentric city structure. This paper aims to reduce complexity of this structure and to find a reliable classification scheme of German housing markets at city…
Abstract
Purpose
Germany has a polycentric city structure. This paper aims to reduce complexity of this structure and to find a reliable classification scheme of German housing markets at city level based on 17 relevant market parameters.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a two-step clustering algorithm combining k-means with Ward’s method to develop the classification scheme. The clustering process is preceded by a principal component analysis to merely retain the most important dimensions of the market parameters. The robustness of the results is investigated with a bootstrapping method.
Findings
It is found that German residential markets can best be segmented into four groups. Geographic contiguity plays a specific role, but is not a main factor. Our bootstrapping analysis identifies the majority of pairwise city relations (88.5%) to be non-random.
Research limitations/implications
A deeper discussion concerning the most relevant market parameters is required. The stability of the clusters is to be re-investigated in the future, as the bootstrapping analysis indicates that some clusters are more homogeneous than others.
Practical implications
The developed classification scheme provides insights into opportunities and risks associated with specific city groups. The findings of this study can be used in portfolio management to reduce unsystematic investment risks and to formulate investment strategies.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to offer insights into the German housing markets which applies principal component, cluster and bootstrapping analyses in a sole integrated approach.
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Janine Burghardt and Klaus Möller
This study examines the relationship between the use of management controls and the perception of meaningful work. Meaningful work is an important driver of individual performance…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the relationship between the use of management controls and the perception of meaningful work. Meaningful work is an important driver of individual performance of managers, and employees and can be enabled by sufficient use of management controls. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on bibliometric analyses and a structured literature review of academic research studies from the organizational, management and accounting literature, the authors develop a conceptual model of the relationship between the use of management controls and the perception of meaningful work.
Findings
First, the authors propose that the use of formal management controls in a system (i.e. the levers of the control framework) is more powerful than using unrelated formal controls only. Second, they suggest that the interaction of a formal control system together with informal controls working as a control package can even stretch the perception of meaningful work. Third, they argue that the intensity of the control use matters to enhance the perception of meaningful work (inverted u-shaped relationship).
Originality/value
This study presents the first conceptual model of the relationship between the use of management controls and the perception of meaningful work. It provides valuable implications for practice and future research in the field of performance management.
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Flavio Hourneaux Jr, Julio Araujo Carneiro-da-Cunha and Hamilton Luiz Corrêa
Managerial usage of performance measurement and management systems (PMMS) is commonly far from what theory advocates as ideal. Based on this, the purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Managerial usage of performance measurement and management systems (PMMS) is commonly far from what theory advocates as ideal. Based on this, the purpose of this paper is to identify the justifications for using PMMS and how much each of them explains the actual use of these systems.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical survey was conducted with 149 manufacturing companies’ managers as respondents. Descriptive statistics analysis and factorial analysis were performed with multivariate analysis to test proposed hypotheses.
Findings
The results for all the companies surveyed are similar for the four dimensions – monitoring, focus, strategic decision-making and legitimization. Only monitoring dimension presents a difference between larger and smaller companies. There is no difference in the other three dimensions. As for the source of capital, there is no difference in any of the four dimensions. It evidences that companies do not seem to be mature enough in the full usage of their PMMS.
Research limitations/implications
Data are related only to a sample of São Paulo manufacturing companies and should not be fully considered in different contexts without the proper awareness of ambiance differences.
Practical implications
There is still room for organizations to improve their performance measurement systems as managers could learn how to better avail themselves of the information from the PMMS. Brazilian policymakers could support this process through policies and programs that incentivize manager to gain education in PMMS.
Social implications
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should be supported by policymakers (through learning programs or internal monitoring incentives) to improve their measurement performance systems usage capabilities.
Originality/value
Discussion was based on data from an emerging country where there are mostly SMEs and companies have to deal with more contingencies and restrictions. Although the lack of resources tends to diminish a more effective usage of these systems, PMMS are mostly directed to monitoring issues.
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Mandy M. Cheng and Kerry A. Humphreys
Strategic uncertainty from emerging threats and opportunities in the business environment can significantly impact managers’ abilities to successfully implement their business…
Abstract
Purpose
Strategic uncertainty from emerging threats and opportunities in the business environment can significantly impact managers’ abilities to successfully implement their business strategy. A key strategic control and governance mechanism designed to enable managers to respond to strategic uncertainty is a strategic performance measurement system, such as the balanced scorecard (BSC). This study aims to investigate whether strategic uncertainty is associated with the diversity and types of performance measures in a BSC, which are used by managers for various strategic control and governance purposes.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of senior-level managers within strategic business units of Australian Stock Exchange listed organizations was conducted.
Findings
This study finds that the extent to which managers face strategic uncertainty is positively associated with performance measurement diversity. Further, managers faced with greater strategic uncertainty use performance measures relatively more to evaluate subordinates’ performance, communicate business strategy, track performance against targets, identify problem areas and guide future directions. Outcome measures are used to a greater extent for all five purposes, whereas leading measures are used more only for future-oriented purposes.
Practical implications
Strategic performance measurement systems, such as the BSC, can and are being used to provide managers with the information and control mechanisms necessary to meet the challenges associated with strategic uncertainty.
Originality/value
This study provides the first evidence on the relations between strategic uncertainty, performance measurement diversity and managers’ use of performance measures for five key purposes. Understanding these relations is important, as managers need to formulate appropriate responses to strategic uncertainty, to protect and create value by exploiting emerging opportunities and managing associated threats.
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Hillman Wirawan, Muhammad Jufri and Abdul Saman
This study aims to investigate the effect of authentic leadership and psychological capital (PsyCap) on work engagement via job satisfaction by employing the job demands-resources…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the effect of authentic leadership and psychological capital (PsyCap) on work engagement via job satisfaction by employing the job demands-resources (JD-R) model.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants were 307 (52% male and 48% female) employees randomly recruited from a state-owned company in the eastern part of Indonesia. Most participants had completed an undergraduate degree with a mean age of 27.55 (SD = 7.89). The study employed a three-wave data collection technique to rule out any common method biases.
Findings
The results suggested that the theoretical model and empirical data showed a good fit (CMIN/DF = 2.19 and RMSEA = 0.06), indicating an indirect effect of authentic leadership and PsyCap on work engagement via job satisfaction. The effect of authentic leadership on work engagement was fully mediated by job satisfaction. In contrast, job satisfaction only partially mediated the relationship between PsyCap and work engagement.
Research limitations/implications
First, this study did not explore any further consequences of gender equality. Second, although the data have been compared with some existing studies, this study did not collect cross-cultural data from different countries. Lastly, the data were collected from a state-owned enterprise, which may limit generalisation to other organisations.
Originality/value
This study offered a new perspective by examining the implications of the JD-R model in the eastern part of Indonesia, where organisation culture is predominantly influenced by Buginese values. Furthermore, the inclusion of job satisfaction into the model added new information regarding the importance of mediating variables in explaining the indirect effect of job and personal resources.
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Simon T. Tidd and Raymond A. Friedman
This study investigates the impact of conflict style as a coping strategy in response to role conflict. Recent research has begun to examine workplace uncertainty as a mediator in…
Abstract
This study investigates the impact of conflict style as a coping strategy in response to role conflict. Recent research has begun to examine workplace uncertainty as a mediator in the role stress process. Using this overall framework, we developed and tested hypotheses regarding the effect of conflict style activeness on the link between role conflict and uncertainty. Results supported the mediating role of uncertainty in the role stress process, thus replicating previous research. Additionally, the results showed that exhibiting a more active approach to conflict management decreased the negative impact of role conflict on uncertainty. These findings suggest that individuals may be able to reduce the negative individual impact of role conflict in their environment by adopting positive behavioral styles while avoiding negative ones.
Recent research states that both the instrumental and the behavioral dimensions of performance management have equal influence on the performance of an organization. To test this…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent research states that both the instrumental and the behavioral dimensions of performance management have equal influence on the performance of an organization. To test this statement, these dimensions have been operationalized in an analysis tool called the performance management analysis (PMA). This paper aims to discuss the results of research into the relation between the instrumental and the behavioral dimensions and organizational performance, using the PMA.
Design/methodology/approach
The PMA questionnaire was developed to test the instrumental and behavioral dimensions of performance management. With the PMA an organization can score itself on both dimensions, to evaluate the degree of its result‐orientation. The more attention an organization pays to elements belonging to a certain dimension, the higher it will score on that dimension. In addition the relative competitive performance of the organization is identified. This is done by asking the respondents to compare their organization's performance to that of its competitors or organizations with similar services. During the period January 2002‐March 2006 data were obtained by distributing PMA questionnaires to work‐experienced students of MBA courses taught by the author, participants of seminars conducted by the author, and workshops held by the author and colleagues at companies. In total 577 questionnaires of organizations in The Netherlands and the UK from a broad range of industries (both profit and non‐profit), were collected.
Findings
The research results show that paying equal attention to the instrumental and behavioral dimensions of performance management systems indeed results in higher competitive performance. Therefore, the research results provide a first indication of the importance of combining instrumental and behavioral dimensions to create a successful performance‐driven organization that achieves sustained better results.
Research limitations/implications
The respondents of the questionnaire may have scored their own company more favorably than an objective outsider would have done. It is also possible that there are other aspects of importance to performance‐driven behavior, which have not been included in the research.
Practical implications
This study identifies which instrumental and behavioral dimensions an organization has to focus on, and the extent of this focus, in order to achieve sustainable performance.
Originality/value
An increasing number of profit and non‐profit organizations are implementing new and alternative performance management systems in order to obtain better organizational results. Despite the increase in experience gained with this approach, there is still a lot to be learned about the factors that influence the everyday use of these systems and of the factors that influence performance‐driven behavior. The research described in this paper provides evidence that paying equal attention to both instrumental and behavioral dimensions is paramount in order to create a successful performance‐driven organization that achieves sustained better results. As these dimensions have until now not been identified as an integral set, this identification is the contribution to the literature.
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Suresh Cuganesan and Jerome Donovan
A number of studies across a variety of disciplines call for further research investigating the factors that influence performance measurement (PM) systems and practices. Despite…
Abstract
A number of studies across a variety of disciplines call for further research investigating the factors that influence performance measurement (PM) systems and practices. Despite management control systems (MCS) comprising performance measurement as one of its elements, the influence of MCS on PM systems and practices has received little attention. This study attempts to address this need by examining the associations between MCS and PM practices through a survey of large Australian organisations, with MCS characterised in terms of Simons’ (1991; 1995) levers of control (LOC) framework and the objects-of-control (OOC) framework (Emmanuel et al., 1990; Merchant and Van der Stede, 2007). We find that MCS approaches and the specific LOC and OOC that these comprise influence both the purpose for which PM systems are used and the selection of KPIs, but has little influence on the use of benchmarking. Also, diagnostic MCS are associated with the design of causally structured PM systems while results-focused MCS are linked with an absence of structure. Adding to the findings are evidence that interactive LOC are not associated with strategic learning, validation and the use of causality in PM systems.
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Akansha Mer and Amarpreet Singh Virdi
The study aims to propose a conceptual Bhartiya (Indian) model of workplace spirituality (WPS) in non-profit organisations (NPOs) in the context of burnout and resilience by…
Abstract
The study aims to propose a conceptual Bhartiya (Indian) model of workplace spirituality (WPS) in non-profit organisations (NPOs) in the context of burnout and resilience by synthesising the concepts of the east and the west. The researchers have kept an open approach by exploring various dimensions of WPS by reviewing the extant literature of both the east and the west. The researchers delved into Bhartiya (Indian) scriptures to identify the concepts that have similarity with the dimensions of WPS so that it may further assist in facilitating those dimensions in NPOs. Furthermore, to propose a conceptual Bhartiya model for NPOs, the researchers synthesised the literature pool of Bhartiya studies on WPS. They examined how WPS decreases burnout and leads to resilience. The study’s findings reveal that concepts from Bhartiya scriptures such as Karm Yog (Nishkam Karm, self-abnegation, swadharm), parasparam bhavayantaha, loksangrah, daivi sampat and kritagyata are instrumental in facilitating the constructs of WPS. Meaningful work is facilitated through karm yog; sense of community is facilitated through parasparam bhavayantaha and loksangrah; and alignment with organisational values is facilitated through daivi sampat and kritagyata. The findings further suggest that WPS is an antidote to burnout and an enabler of resilience.