Shenyang Hai, Kai Wu, In-Jo Park, Yongxin Li, Quan Chang and Yating Tang
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of high-performance (HP) human resource (HR) practices on employee job engagement and organizational citizenship behavior…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of high-performance (HP) human resource (HR) practices on employee job engagement and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and the moderating effects of transformational leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 268 employees from the US and a sample of 288 employees from South Korea (SK) were used for examining the hypotheses.
Findings
The results illustrated that high-performance HR practices (HPHRP) significantly predicted employee job engagement and OCB in SK. Transformational leadership was found to moderate the associations of HPHRP with employee job engagement and OCB in SK, while in the US, transformational leadership only moderated the relationship between HPHRP and OCB.
Practical implications
Transformational leaders reinforce the quality of the employee–organization relationship and strengthen the impact of HPHRP on employees' positive work-related behaviors.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the understanding of employees' organizational behavior as exploring the relationships of HPHRP, transformational leadership, job engagement and OCB.
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Chang‐duk Kong, Ja‐young Ki, Myoung‐cheol Kang and Seong‐hee Kho
In this study, in order to facilitate application of the NNs as well as to provide user‐friendly conditions, a performance diagnostic computer code using MATLAB® was newly…
Abstract
In this study, in order to facilitate application of the NNs as well as to provide user‐friendly conditions, a performance diagnostic computer code using MATLAB® was newly proposed. As a result, not only more precise and prompt analysis results can be obtained due to use of the toolbox in MATLAB® on diagnosis and numerical analysis, but also the graphical user interface platform can be realized. The proposed engine diagnostics system is able to train the BPN with each fault pattern and then construct the total training network by assembling the trained BPNs. The database for network learning and test was constructed using a gas turbine performance simulation program. In order to investigate reliability on construction of the database for diagnostic results, an analysis is performed with five combination cases of 40 fault patterns. Finally, a diagnostic application example for the PT6A‐62 turboprop engine is performed using the trained network with the database, which represents the best diagnostic results among test sets.
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Syed M. Ahmed, Raymond T. Aoieong, S.L. Tang and Daisy X.M. Zheng
To obtain a general opinion concerning the implementation of quality management systems (QMS) of construction‐related firms in the USA and Hong Kong, and to determine whether…
Abstract
Purpose
To obtain a general opinion concerning the implementation of quality management systems (QMS) of construction‐related firms in the USA and Hong Kong, and to determine whether construction‐related firms have ever made an effort to measure quality improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
Two questionnaire surveys, one in the USA and one in Hong Kong, were conducted by sending out questionnaires to construction‐related companies. The surveys were then followed by 15 in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews with top management and quality managers of construction‐related firms in both the USA and Hong Kong.
Findings
The results of the study indicate that different perceptions towards the implementation of formal quality management systems existed between the two places. Mainly due to the lack of initiative and promotion from both clients and governments, construction companies in the USA have failed to see the need to obtain the ISO 9000 certification. In Hong Kong, however, the government's initiatives have resulted in a high percentage of companies having certified to the ISO 9000 standards. The results of the study also indicate that, though most companies used different tools for quality measurements, such measurements were mainly for monitoring and for recording purposes.
Originality/value
This is the first time that such a rigorous comparative study of quality management systems in the construction companies of two different countries has been conducted. It provides useful and practical insights into the differences and similarities between US and Hong Kong construction industries. This paper should be extremely valuable to practitioners in both countries, particularly the USA.
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Considers the issue that Chinese people are more confident than Americans when answering general knowledge questions. Suggests that this over‐confidence may be indicative of other…
Abstract
Considers the issue that Chinese people are more confident than Americans when answering general knowledge questions. Suggests that this over‐confidence may be indicative of other biases, such as over‐confidence in the ability to retrieve information accurately from memory. Presents empirical results demonstrating that the Chinese subjects were not over‐confident in their estimate of retrieval accuracy. Suggests the accuracy‐confidence correlation for Chinese subjects was significantly higher than the correlation for Western subjects. Discusses implications for current theories of judgement research and consequences for marketing.
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Simon R. Croom and Alistair Brandon-Jones
This paper presents the analysis from a study into the key lessons learned from e-procurement implementation across a range of UK public sector organisations. The literature…
Abstract
This paper presents the analysis from a study into the key lessons learned from e-procurement implementation across a range of UK public sector organisations. The literature relating to e-procurement implementation and operation is reviewed, identifying five main themes addressed by the current literature: impact on cost efficiency; the impact on the form and nature of supplier transaction; e-procurement system implementation; broader IT infrastructure issues; and the behavioural and relational impact of eprocurement. The research carried out was intended to explore the perceptions and reflections of both 'early' and 'late' adopters of e-procurement. Seven key lessons are drawn from the study and presented here. We conclude by proposing areas for further research, including the need for research into failed eprocurement projects.
Evelyne Vanpoucke and Scott C. Ellis
To build resilient supply chains, buyers should implement risk mitigation tactics. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the risky decision-making process that…
Abstract
Purpose
To build resilient supply chains, buyers should implement risk mitigation tactics. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the risky decision-making process that underlies buyers’ decisions to adopt supply risk mitigation tactics for creating supply-side resilience.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employ experimental scenarios to simulate supply disruptions of low and high likelihood. The authors then assess buyers’ decisions to adopt supply risk mitigation tactics in response to these scenarios.
Findings
The authors find that buyers’ perceptions of supply disruption likelihood are positively related to their adoption of buffer- and process-oriented risk mitigation tactics and preference for process-oriented risk mitigation tactics. Conversely, risk propensity negatively affects buyers’ adoption of buffer- and process-oriented mitigation tactics.
Originality/value
Beyond risk perceptions, the authors consider how risk propensity also affects the risky decision-making process. Moreover, whereas previous studies often focus on a single mitigation tactic, the authors study buyers’ adoption of multiple buffer- and process-oriented risk mitigation tactics to create supply-side resilience.
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A key challenge for higher education institutions around the world is to provide active and engaging learning encounters for a new generation of students to develop their skills…
Abstract
A key challenge for higher education institutions around the world is to provide active and engaging learning encounters for a new generation of students to develop their skills for work in a rapidly changing environment. Typically, these students are accustomed to being digitally connected 24/7 and they have real-time access to truly global learning resources. The challenge facing higher education providers is how to create active and engaging learning encounters within an aging stock of infrastructure by a generation of traditional academics, both of which generally foster teacher-led instruction.
In considering this conundrum, this chapter is viewed through two lenses: (1) a teacher practising problem-based learning (PBL) for more than 20 years and (2) an educational planner who designs learning spaces. Together the paper explores the challenges of pedagogy and design, some disruptors that are making change imperative and, specifically, the opportunities available in both pedagogy and design to create new learning activities and spaces. The paper argues that curricula need to be dominated by collaborative investigation and problem solving in spaces that encourage and afford such activity.
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Every year several thousand female cadets participate in the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) in the UK, but little is known about the impact that this experience has on the subsequent…
Abstract
Purpose
Every year several thousand female cadets participate in the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) in the UK, but little is known about the impact that this experience has on the subsequent employability of the female cadets. This study aimed to understand the perceptions of academic teenage girls from one all-female unit of their participation in CCF and the personal benefit or otherwise in relation to their ultimate employability.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of 10 young women who had participated in CCF for at least three years. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis.
Findings
Participants were effusive about the transformative effects of CCF in relation to personal confidence, recognising transferable skills and raising personal aspiration, all key elements to employability, particularly for women. They also considered they had gained future workplace advantage having had opportunity to trial leadership strategies in mixed gender teams, an experience unavailable elsewhere to them. Loyalty to the contingent pervaded every discussion and the importance of team goals, although this level of selfless commitment may be detrimental to employability, subsuming their personal interests to the greater good.
Originality/value
Research into the benefit or otherwise of teenage girls' extra-curricular activities is scarce, and this is the first study, to the authors' knowledge, that explores the perceptions of the impact their time in CCF had on their graduate employability skills.
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Jennifer Franczak, Robert J. Pidduck, Stephen E. Lanivich and Jintong Tang
The authors probe the relationships between country institutional support for entrepreneurship and new venture survival. Specifically, the authors unpack the nuanced influences of…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors probe the relationships between country institutional support for entrepreneurship and new venture survival. Specifically, the authors unpack the nuanced influences of entrepreneurs' perceived environmental uncertainty and their subsequent entrepreneurial behavioral profiles and how this particularly bolsters venture survival in contexts with underdeveloped institutions for entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
Coleman (1990) ‘bathtub’ framework is applied to develop a model and propositions surrounding how and when emerging market entrepreneur's perceptions of their countries institutional support toward entrepreneurship can ultimately enhance new venture survival.
Findings
Entrepreneurs' interpretations of regulatory, cognitive and normative institutional support for private enterprise helps them embrace uncertainties more accurately reflective of “on the ground” realities and stimulates constructive entrepreneurial behaviors. These are critical for increasing survival prospects in characteristically turbulent, emerging market contexts that typically lack reliable formal resources for cultivating nascent ventures.
Practical implications
This paper has implications for international policymakers seeking to stimulate and sustain entrepreneurial ventures in emerging markets. The authors shed light on the practical importance of understanding the social realities and interpretations of entrepreneurs in a given country relating to their actual perceptions of support for venturing—cautioning a tendency for outsiders to over-rely on aggregated econometric indices and various national ‘doing business' rankings.
Originality/value
This study is the first to create a conceptual framework on the mechanisms of how entrepreneurs in emerging economies affect new venture survival. Drawing on Coleman's bathtub (1990), the authors develop propositional arguments for a multilevel sequential framework that considers how developing economies' country institutional profiles (CIP) influence entrepreneurs' perceptions of environmental uncertainty. Subsequently, this cultivates associated entrepreneurial behavior profiles, which ultimately enhance (inhibit) venture survival rates. Further, the authors discuss the boundary conditions of this regarding how the national culture serves to moderate each of these key relationships in both positive and negative ways.
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The aim of this chapter is to propose a model of entrepreneurs’ communication strategies in the start-up process by synthesizing previous empirical research. The focus on…
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to propose a model of entrepreneurs’ communication strategies in the start-up process by synthesizing previous empirical research. The focus on communication strategies in the start-up process is important for several reasons. We know that many businesses fail during the first year of existence and others are liquidated during the first three years of operation. We also know that new businesses face problems when entering the market. These problems are assumed to arise partly due to the liability of newness (LoN), that is lack of a track record and legitimacy. The model of communication strategies is built upon entrepreneurs’ communicative practices since strategy is seen as a social practice. The chapter also emphasizes communication strategies as being a part of the research field strategic entrepreneurship. The model focuses communicative behaviours in terms of the message and the conversation as well as the chosen strategy in terms of planned and emergent strategies. Three types of communication strategies emerge from the communication practices; (i) content-centred, (ii) behaviour-centred and (iii) adaptive-centred.