Vesa Peltokorpi and Mervi Hasu
The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize a curvilinear relation between transactive memory systems (TMS) and team innovation by integrating diverging conceptual and research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize a curvilinear relation between transactive memory systems (TMS) and team innovation by integrating diverging conceptual and research findings in TMS research. While increasingly argued to enhance team innovation, TMS also have negative effects on team processes and outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors tested the hypothesis through hierarchical linear regression analyses using data obtained from 124 technical research teams.
Findings
Logistic regressions support the hypothesis, showing an inverse U-shaped relationship between TMS and team innovation, measured by patents received.
Research limitations/implications
The average within team response rate was relatively low, and the findings are driven by a limited number of teams with patents.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that research teams with moderate levels of TMS are the most effective in terms of patents received.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study to link TMS to team innovation and to test the potential counterproductive effects of TMS on team innovation.
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Vesa Peltokorpi and Emiko Tsuyuki
The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which scholars have proposed organizational forms combining elements of markets and hierarchies. These hybrid forms are based…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which scholars have proposed organizational forms combining elements of markets and hierarchies. These hybrid forms are based on networked connections and bottom‐up entrepreneurship, fostering knowledge sharing among semi‐independent units. Despite their suitability to knowledge‐intensive companies, scholars are divided on their views on governance in internal hybrids. While knowledge management scholars emphasize soft community‐like dimensions, organizational economists seek to reduce opportunism through hard hierarchical governance. Because these views act as complementaries, this paper synthesizes them to present organizational governance in internal hybrids.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study with 56 interviews describes the functioning of soft and hard governance mechanisms in the Japanese company Maekawa Manufacturing Ltd.
Findings
The case study indicates that soft and hard governance mechanisms work in complementary ways in a successfully implemented internal hybrid.
Practical implications
Internal hybrids tend to function most efficiently with a mix of soft knowledge management practices and hard control devices.
Originality/value
Instead of taking an “either/or” perspective, this paper seeks to synthesize contrasting views of knowledge management and organizational economics.
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This paper seeks to fill the research gap created by predominately Anglo‐Saxon large‐scale surveys and comparative studies by providing insights of Japanese organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to fill the research gap created by predominately Anglo‐Saxon large‐scale surveys and comparative studies by providing insights of Japanese organizational behavior through the eyes of Nordic (Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden) expatriates.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical material of this paper is based on 30 semi‐structured interviews collected in Japan in 2002 and 2004.
Findings
The interviews indicate that verticality and collectivism have a prominent influence on Japanese organizational behavior. The prominent theme of verticality deviates from several Anglo‐Saxon studies focusing on collectivism.
Research limitations/implications
Similarity between interviewer and interviewees in terms of gender, nationality, and race could influence research findings. Future studies should incorporate both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
Practical implications
Interviews show that it is important for expatriate managers to create synergic relations with local middle managers who are strategically located between the higher and lower organizational echelons.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to provide an empirical account of Japanese organizational behavior from the Nordic perspective. Due to the distinctive features of Nordic management, the studies conducted by Anglo‐Saxon researchers might not provide accurate insights for Nordic expatriates.
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Despite the increased importance for companies to control their intangible assets, little empirical research has been made on the linkages between single and distributed cognition…
Abstract
Despite the increased importance for companies to control their intangible assets, little empirical research has been made on the linkages between single and distributed cognition in organizations. In this paper, the transactive memory concept is extended and adapted to examine the antecedents and consequences of directory formation in the Nordic subsidiaries in Japan. Value congruence, psychological safety, organizational commitment, and interpersonal and electronic communication are proposed to have a positive impact on directories. The directories are proposed to have positive linkage with service capital. Regression analyses show that the most of the independent variables have a statistically significant relationship with directories. Further, interpersonal communication mediates the impact of value congruence and psychological safety to directories. Directories were also found to have a positive relationship with the service capital.
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Vesa Johannes Kämäräinen, Antti Peltokorpi, Paulus Torkki and Kaj Tallbacka
Healthcare productivity is a growing issue in most Western countries where healthcare expenditure is rapidly increasing. Therefore, accurate productivity metrics are essential…
Abstract
Purpose
Healthcare productivity is a growing issue in most Western countries where healthcare expenditure is rapidly increasing. Therefore, accurate productivity metrics are essential to avoid sub-optimization within a healthcare system. In this article, we focus on healthcare production system productivity measurement.
Design/methodology/approach
Traditionally, healthcare productivity has been studied and measured independently at the unit, organization, and system level. Suggesting that productivity measurement should be done in different levels, while simultaneously linking productivity measurement to incentives, this study presents the challenges of productivity measurement at the different levels. The study introduces different methods to measure productivity in healthcare. In addition, it provides background information on the methods used to measure productivity and the parameters used in these methods. A pilot investigation of productivity measurement is used to illustrate the challenges of measurement, to test the developed measures, and to prove the practical information for managers.
Findings
The study introduces different approaches and methods to measure productivity in healthcare.
Research limitations/implications
Practical implications
A pilot investigation of productivity measurement is used to illustrate the challenges of measurement, to test the developed measures, and to prove the practical benefits for managers.
Originality/value
We focus on the measurement of the whole healthcare production system and try to avoid sub-optimization. Additionally considering an individual patient approach, productivity measurement is examined at the unit level, the organizational level, and the system level.
Liisa Mäkelä, Vesa Suutari, Anni Rajala and Chris Brewster
This study explores whether expatriation type (assigned expatriates (AEs) versus self-initiated expatriates (SIEs)) is linked to job exhaustion via possible differences in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores whether expatriation type (assigned expatriates (AEs) versus self-initiated expatriates (SIEs)) is linked to job exhaustion via possible differences in required efforts for their jobs and the rewards they gain from them, and/or the balance between efforts and rewards. Adopting effort–reward imbalance (ERI) and job demands/resources (JD-R) theories, the authors study the possible role of ERI as a mediator between expatriation type and job exhaustion.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was carried out in co-operation with two Finnish trade unions, providing representative data from 484 assigned and SIEs. The authors test this study’s hypotheses through latent structural equation modelling, and the analysis was conducted with Stata 17.0 software.
Findings
The results show that ERI between them are correlated with the job exhaustion of expatriates in general and there are no direct links between expatriation type and job exhaustion. The required effort from AEs was higher than that from SIEs though no difference was found for rewards, and the match between effort demands and rewards is less favourable for AEs than SIEs. AEs experienced higher job exhaustion than SIEs because of the higher effort demands and greater imbalance between efforts and rewards.
Originality/value
The study examines the work well-being of two types of expatriates and explores the underlying mechanisms that may explain why they may differ from each other.
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Chris Brewster, Vesa Suutari and Marie-France Waxin
This paper aims: to undertake a systematic literature review on SIEs, examining twenty years of literature published between 2000 and 2020, focusing on the most-cited empirical…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims: to undertake a systematic literature review on SIEs, examining twenty years of literature published between 2000 and 2020, focusing on the most-cited empirical work in the field; to analyse the topics covered by these studies; and to propose a research agenda.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted a systematic literature review, identifying the 20 most-cited empirical articles through citation analysis during the period and, because citations accrue over time, the six most-cited empirical articles of the last three years. We then used content analysis to examine the main themes they address and identify the research gaps.
Findings
The most common themes addressed in the SIE literature are: analysis of the types and distinctions of SIEs, motivation to undertake self-initiated expatriation, SIEs' adjustment to the new country, and SIEs' careers and outcomes.
Originality/value
This paper provides a first opportunity to look back at 20 years of research into a relatively new topic, highlighting the main research themes and knowledge gaps, and setting directions for future research. The paper expands knowledge on SIEs, assisting SIE scholars and IHRM practitioners to develop a global, critical understanding of SIEs' issues, and hopefully energising future research in this field.
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Liisa Mäkelä, Hilpi Kangas and Vesa Suutari
The purpose of this paper is to focus on satisfaction with an expatriate job and how such satisfaction is linked to leadership. Specifically, this research examines how two…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on satisfaction with an expatriate job and how such satisfaction is linked to leadership. Specifically, this research examines how two different kinds of distances – physical distance and functional distance – between an expatriate and his/her supervisor are related to satisfaction with the expatriate job.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted among 290 Finnish expatriates. Moderated hierarchical regression analysis was conducted in order to test the research hypothesis.
Findings
The results show that low functional distance with a supervisor is related to greater satisfaction with the expatriate job. The physical distance is not directly connected to expatriate job satisfaction, but the common effect of the two types of distance shows that among those whose functional distance is low, working in the same country with the leader is linked to greater expatriate satisfaction than recorded among those who were physically distant. Interestingly, expatriates with high functional distance are more satisfied with the expatriate job if they work in a different country to their supervisor.
Originality/value
This study makes a contribution in three areas; first, it addresses the understudied phenomena of international work-specific job satisfaction, specifically satisfaction with an expatriate job. Second, it provides new knowledge on the outcomes of leader distance in the context of expatriation, a work situation that is inherently related to changes in physical location and to organizational relationships. Third, it contributes to leadership literature and highlights the importance of the conditions and the context in which leadership occurs.