Stewart Miller, Jayanth Jayaram and Kefeng Xu
The purpose of this paper is to examine predictors of obtaining global certification (ISO 9000) in an emerging market by focusing on ownership structure and total quality…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine predictors of obtaining global certification (ISO 9000) in an emerging market by focusing on ownership structure and total quality management (TQM) commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adapts the theory of planned behavior to explain organizations that obtain global certification in an emerging market (China). Using 269 service firms at different stages of ISO 9000 certification (a proxy for goal-directed behavior/excellence by organizations), the study examines the influence of ownership structures (a proxy for perceived behavioral control) and TQM commitment (a proxy for attitude toward a behavior), using a probit model.
Findings
The results showed that ownership structures that were state-owned enterprises, privately owned enterprises and township-village enterprises (TVEs) had a lower probability of obtaining global certification. However, TQM commitment moderates the relationship between ownership structure and obtaining ISO 9000 certification for POEs and TVEs. The study found stronger results for a subsample of organizations that intended to obtain ISO 9000 certification. Among organizations without ISO 9000 certification, we examined organizations that began the learning process for ISO 9000 and those that had not, and found differences based on competitive pressures, ownership structures, and the moderating effect of TQM commitment.
Research limitations/implications
Future research may consider manufacturing organizations and other countries to further validate the findings of our study.
Practical implications
Creating strong TQM commitment can be an effective means for POEs and TVEs to obtain ISO 9000 certification.
Originality/value
This study is the first to adapt the theory of planned behavior for an organization-level analysis of ISO 9000 certification, especially in the service operations setting. The study found that TQM commitment selectively moderates ownership structures in explaining the probability that an organization obtained ISO 9000 certification.
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Indu Ramachandran, Kim Clark, Derrick McIver and Stewart R. Miller
The present study develops an international joint venture (IJV) partner selection framework to explain the choice between state-owned or privately owned local partners in the…
Abstract
The present study develops an international joint venture (IJV) partner selection framework to explain the choice between state-owned or privately owned local partners in the context of emerging economies. We suggest that once an IJV is selected as the mode of entry, a multinational enterprise's strategic motivations – that is, efficiency seeking, market seeking and knowledge seeking – will influence its choice of IJV partner type: state-owned enterprise or privately owned firm. We argue that liability of foreignness and rule of law moderate the multinational enterprise's selection of IJV partner type.
Christine Mitter, Michaela Walcher, Stefan Mayr and Christine Duller
Family firms strive for transgenerational survivability. Thus, bankruptcy is a daunting event. Whether family firms fail for other causes than non-family firms has been scarcely…
Abstract
Purpose
Family firms strive for transgenerational survivability. Thus, bankruptcy is a daunting event. Whether family firms fail for other causes than non-family firms has been scarcely researched and is investigated in this study.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on a sample of 459 Austrian bankruptcy cases to examine the effects of the distinct characteristics of family firms on failure causes.
Findings
Our results indicate that family firm characteristics impact their failure, as bankruptcy causes differ from non-family firms. While family firms fail less often than non-family firms due to unqualified management and poor business-economic competencies, external bankruptcy causes, in particular bad debt and economic slowdown, are more widespread.
Practical implications
As our findings suggest that the close social bonds of family firms may become a burden in crisis situations and make them especially prone to external bankruptcy causes, owner-managers should pay more attention to the dependencies, deficiencies and risks that come with their binding social ties. Moreover, they should rely on external advice and appropriate management tools to better recognize and fend off the resulting risks.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that quantitatively examines differences in bankruptcy causes between family and non-family firms.
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The digital economy, which heralds the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4), is upon us. What can history teach international business scholars about how firms are…
Abstract
The digital economy, which heralds the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4), is upon us. What can history teach international business scholars about how firms are likely to respond to this new form of technological change? Who are the likely winners or the likely losers? For 30 years, the author has lived through, studied, and written about the Third Industrial Revolution and other major environmental shocks, ranging from new entrants to academia to regional integration to outbreak of war, looking at the fundamental issues of how individuals, firms, communities, and countries respond to and are affected by life-changing events. In this chapter, the author tells seven brief stories about living through and studying “shocks and responses.” Perhaps, some of these stories may provide useful lessons to the scholars of IR4.
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The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the interplay between fathers’ perceptions of the workplace and how they enact fatherhood. Data were derived from qualitative in-depth…
Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the interplay between fathers’ perceptions of the workplace and how they enact fatherhood. Data were derived from qualitative in-depth interviews with seven elite, professional fathers employed at multinational manufacturing corporations in Detroit, Michigan. Fathers are highly educated, have a significant income and all but one have wives in the paid labour market. This study shows how the persistence of the ideal worker norm and penalties for using work-family policies (WFP) perpetuate the gendered division of paid and unpaid work. First, fathers who are ideal workers are rewarded; fathers who do not face criticism and obstacles to promotions. Second, management and supervisor’s discretion results in uneven access to WFP, penalizing fathers for asking and preventing most from using them. Third, fathers express desire to be ‘involved’, but their engagement is largely visible fatherhood.
This study extends our theoretical understandings of work, WFP and fatherhood from a distinct departure point – the elite fathers highlighted here have been parenting for at least three years, and live and work in circumstances that seemingly would allow them to disrupt normative expectations of work and family. The United States provides a unique backdrop to examine the navigation of competing work and family demands because reconciliation is largely left to employees and their families. Public and individual company policies are not enough; there must be a corresponding supportive family-friendly culture – supervisor support and penalty-free WFP – to disrupt gendered work and family.
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Indu Ramachandran, Kim Clark, Stewart R. Miller and Dana Wang
We develop a framework that explains the role of knowledge resources in the formation of international strategic alliances by multinational corporations. The focus is on the value…
Abstract
We develop a framework that explains the role of knowledge resources in the formation of international strategic alliances by multinational corporations. The focus is on the value and uniqueness of knowledge resources and two types of learning international strategic alliances, exploratory and exploitative. Also, we explain how the institutional environment – a host country's property and contractual rights, rule of law and the institutional distance between the countries of the partnering firms – affects the attractiveness of these two forms of alliances.
Leslie D. Edgar, Barry Boyd, Tracy Rutherford and Gary E. Briers
According to a survey of professionals in agricultural education, The Journal of Leadership Education (JOLE) is a new and primary outlet of leadership education research and…
Abstract
According to a survey of professionals in agricultural education, The Journal of Leadership Education (JOLE) is a new and primary outlet of leadership education research and professional scholarship. The purpose of this study was to assess five years of JOLE’s primary and secondary research theme areas, frequent primary and secondary research themes by year, prolific authorship, and research methods and types using a mixed-methods design. A compilation of the research results is reported. Research themes appear cyclic and add little to improving an apparent lack of research continuity. Research must continue to determine cycle depth and the influence on research in leadership education as an integrated specialization area of agricultural education. This research may be used comparatively with the National Research Agenda to determine where future research should be focused.
R.A. Stewart, S. Mohamed and M. Marosszeky
The need for the improved implementation of information technology (IT) has been identified in both empirical and highly structured research studies as being critical to effective…
Abstract
The need for the improved implementation of information technology (IT) has been identified in both empirical and highly structured research studies as being critical to effective innovation and development at an industry and enterprise level. This need is greater in the construction industry as it has been relatively slow to embrace the full potential of IT‐based technologies. In an attempt to understand why the construction industry lags other industries in the uptake and effective implementation of IT, this study reports on an investigation of the Australian construction industry, which identifies the impediments or barriers to IT implementation and the most effective coping strategies to overcome them. A questionnaire‐based research approach was adopted for this purpose and a total of 134 valid survey responses were received from various architectural, engineering and construction professionals. The questionnaire was designed to identify perceptions of the most significant barriers to IT implementation and to determine the most “practical” and “effective” corresponding coping strategies to mitigate their effects at three decision‐making levels: Industry; Organization; and Project.