bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Surgical services efficiency by data envelopment analysis
Authors: Ketabi Saeedeh , Ganji Hamid , Shahin Samireh , Mahnam Mehdi , Soltanolkottabi Marzieh , Hadian Zarkesh Moghadam Shirin Alsadat
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– Different surgical services demand operating rooms (OR) to treat elective patients, each competing for a limited supply of OR time. The purpose of this paper is to obtain empirical measures of performance in the management of OR. The current research compares technical efficiency of 11 specialties in elective operating theatre of Alzahra Hospital in Isfahan, Iran in autumn of 2009.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data envelopment analysis (DEA) can be used as tools in management control and planning. First, the input oriented and variable returns to scale model of DEA technique has been applied and separate benchmarks for possible reductions in resources used has been derive, and significant savings are possible on this account.

Findings

– The efficiency scores of inefficient specialties are between 0.62 and 0.96. Neurosurgery and general surgery are the best and the worst units. DEA results determine by how much hospitals can increase elective inpatient surgeries for each specialty.

Originality/value

– The originality of this study is to obtain empirical measures of performance in the management of OR. DEA has not been applied to measure the efficiency of different department in an organization. The measures are common in different units and have been collected in a similar way.
Consistency of strategic and tactical benchmarking performance measures
Authors: Meybodi Mohammad Z.
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the consistency of benchmarking performance measures and to investigate the impact of organizational size and managerial positions on the deployment of strategic and tactical benchmarking performance measures.

Design/methodology/approach

– A set of eight hypotheses was used to examine the consistency of the benchmarking performance measures and the impact of organizational size and managerial positions on selection of strategic and tactical benchmarking performance measures. A questionnaire-based survey data were used to test the hypotheses. The target population was manufacturing firms in Midwestern USA; the sample covers organizations in a variety of industries. Out of 91 completed surveys received, 84 surveys were usable resulting in a response rate of 17 percent.

Findings

– The paper found evidence of misalignment between organizational goals and objectives and proactive development of organizational core capabilities. The result also indicates that managers with high-level positions as well as managers from large organizations placed higher emphasis on strategic benchmarking performance measures.

Research limitations/implications

– Research is general and not industry specific.

Practical implications

– Effective performance measurement is a critical element of organizational success. It requires a thorough understanding of organizational strategy and deployment of the strategy into consistent sub-strategies.

Originality/value

– For effective benchmarking, managers must develop a complete understanding of their own business strategy and choose long-term and short-term benchmarking performance measures that are consistent with organizational strategy.
Efficiency assessment of banking sector in Yemen using data envelopment window analysis
Authors: Shawtari Fekri Ali , Ariff Mohamed , Abdul Razak Shaikh Hamzah
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the banking industry’s efficiency using the case of Yemen.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper utilises two-stage analysis to evaluate the efficiency adopting Data Envelopment Window Analysis (DEWA) in the first stage for the period 1996-2011. Furthermore, the paper addresses, in two-dimensional matrix, the stability and efficiency of the banking sector in order to assess their ability for survival. In the second stage, panel data analysis is applied to regress a set of bank-specific and macro-economic variables on the efficiency of the banking sector in Yemen in a comparative fashion between Islamic and conventional banks.

Findings

– The findings of the investigation indicate that the Yemeni banking industry in general was on a declining efficiency’s trend with increased instability during the later period of the investigation. In addition, the study shows that most conventional banks were relatively stable, though inefficient, while Islamic banks were more efficient over the time. The results of panel data regression further suggest that efficiency is related to a number of determinants. Loan/financing, and profitability are the common key determinants of efficiency for both Islamic and conventional banks. However, other determinants have impacted differently for Islamic and conventional banks, which could reflect the uniqueness of their operation and structure.

Research limitations/implications

– The present study provides a basis for the regulators and bankers to assess the viability of the banking sector and proposes policies to restructure the industry in order to enhance the performance of the whole industry.

Originality/value

– The paper presents new empirical findings on the efficiency of Islamic and conventional banks in Yemen.
The moderating effect of bureaucratic quality on the pricing of policy instability
Authors: Lam Swee-Sum , Zhang Weina
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine how policy instability is priced in interest rates. Policy instability refers to the likelihood that the current policy will be changed in the future in the absence of political power shifts.

Design/methodology/approach

– Chinese government’s experimental policy-making approach provides an ideal set of frequent policy flip-flops which allows us to identify the effect of policy changes.

Findings

– Conditional on the bureaucratic quality of policymaking, a good-quality policy reversal is related to reductions in interest rate term spread and volatility; a bad-quality policy reversal is related to increases in the spread and volatility. The bureaucratic quality is multi-dimensional and the moderating effect is stronger on interest rates when it is measured more precisely.

Originality/value

– First, we can use the interest rate dynamics to infer the policy risk premium, which is a more objective market indicator of the bureaucratic quality of the policy change. Second, the study is among the first that documents the pricing of policy instability can be moderated by the bureaucratic quality. The results indicate that it is important for a government to be responsive and consistent in liberalizing the financial market. It will lead to reduced cost of capital and volatility for investors and firms in the economy. Third, given that the bureaucratic quality is multi-dimensional and produces stronger impact jointly, a country shall continue to improve on different aspects of the bureaucratic quality. Although the study is based on the empirical evidence from Chinese policy environment, the results can be broadly applied to any developing economies that intend to liberalize the market to spur economic growth.
The employees’ self-interest and the underwriter reputation effects
Authors: Liu Bo , Wang Kemin
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– Prior research on underwriter reputation treats underwriters as the unit of analyzing, while the purpose of this paper is to analyze underwriter reputation effects after introducing discretion of underwriters’ employees. Specially, this paper investigates the damage on underwriter reputation effects when underwriters’ employees tolerate issuers’ earnings management for their self-interest.

Design/methodology/approach

– In 2004, a Chinese security regulation introduced two professional employees from the lead underwriter, known as sponsors, to work as individual financial intermediaries. This paper tests whether the ability of reputable underwriters in restraining issuers from manipulating earnings decreases after the 2004 regulation, given that the regulation encourages sponsors to exchange for their private benefits by ignoring issuers’ earnings management.

Findings

– The inverse relation between underwriter reputation and issuers’ earnings management is weakened after the 2004 regulation, especially when underwriters do not employ enough sponsors. Sponsors who have tolerated issuers’ earnings management will win more business in the following years. The influence of underwriter reputation on issuers’ underpricing and post-initial public offering performance is also less significant after the regulation.

Originality/value

– This work extends literatures on underwriter reputation from a completely different aspect that emphasizes the self-interest of underwriters’ employees. This paper also has direct policy implications for regulators, especially in the current reform climate that Chinese government is trying to carry out the Registration System.
Stock dividends policy and liquidity of ex ante announcement
Authors: Ye Zhiqiang , Zhang Zhi , Tang Songlian
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between stock dividends policy and liquidity of ex ante announcement to improve the traditional stock dividends liquidity hypothesis.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors examine a sample of 2,088 which matching stocks between having stock dividends policy and having no dividends policy during 1999-2012 in Chinese listed firms. Using the multiple liner regression, the authors empirically tests the relationship between the possibility, payout ratio and timing choice of stock dividends and the liquidity of ex ante announcement.

Findings

– The authors find that the possibility of stock dividends policy has negative relationship with liquidity, and the relationship of stock dividends and liquidity of ex ante announcement is influenced by the time choice of stock dividends.

Originality/value

– This paper study the reason of stock dividends policy from the perspective of liquidity and improve the traditional stock dividends liquidity hypothesis.
Block trading, information asymmetry, and the informativeness of trading
Authors: Pan Ningning , Zhu Hongquan
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate how block trading and asymmetric information contribute to the firm-specific information measured by the stock return synchronicity. Based on China stock market which is dominated by individual investors, this study focus on whether traders of block trading, which are usually institutional investors, are “information trader.”

Design/methodology/approach

– Based on the high frequency data, the paper constructs two measures of information asymmetry, intraday measure and inter-day measure. Then the paper constructs a multiple regression model and examine how block trading and information asymmetry contribute to the firm-specific information measured by the stock return synchronicity.

Findings

– The results show that: on the one hand, block trading transmits more firm-specific information, and can reduce the synchronicity; on the other hand, when the degree of information asymmetry is higher, block trading contains more firm-specific information and has a stronger effect on synchronicity. The effect of information asymmetry specifically displays as: block trading during the first half-hour of the trading day has a stronger effect on synchronicity; and block trading occurred in the days with publicly announced trading information has greater impact on synchronicity.

Practical implications

– The conclusions have important practical implications: for market regulators, monitoring for block trading can improve the recognition and prevention of insider trading; for individual investors, especially the risk aversion investors, recognition of intraday and inter-day information asymmetry is beneficial for them to avoid the risk of asymmetric information.

Originality/value

– First, the domestic and foreign research mostly concentrated impact of block trading on stock prices. However, reasons of stock price changes include the information effect and non-information effect, this paper selects stock return synchronicity as firm-specific information measure, and mainly focus on the information effect of block trading. Second, based on the high frequency data, the paper constructs two measures of information asymmetry, intraday measure and inter-day measure. Compared with general measure of information asymmetry, such as firm size, earnings quality, the two measures based on high frequency data are more precisely.
How productive is the agricultural sector across Indian states?
Authors: Tan Khee Giap , Rao Kartik , Rajan Ramkishen
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to provide an up-to-date analysis of the productivity in the agricultural sector within the states and union territories of India. Despite agriculture’s diminishing role as a share of overall gross domestic product (GDP) in India, it plays a crucial role by providing a large proportion of jobs to the workforce. Recognising agriculture’s central role in the economy as well as the significant diversity between the states in terms of resources, this paper estimates the total factor productivity (TFP) for Indian crops at the state level from 2000 to 2010 using both the growth accounting and the Malmquist Index Data Envelopment Analysis methodologies. The results highlight the possibility of increasing production with existing technologies by focusing on efficient resource deployment and enhanced management techniques.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper utilizes both growth accounting and the Malmquist Index Data Envelopment Analysis methodologies to estimate the growth of TFP at the regional level at the sub-national level (for states and union territories).

Findings

– The results highlight the wide variations in the performance of states with respect to growth in TFP for the period 2000-2010. At the regional level, the Western region experienced the largest TFP growth, while the Eastern region experienced the lowest. At the state level, Gujarat registered the highest TFP growth, while Bihar emerged as a laggard with the lowest growth in TFP.

Practical implications

– The results highlight the possibility of increasing production with existing technologies by focusing on efficient resource deployment and enhanced management techniques.

Originality/value

– Although most of the existing literature focuses on national level analysis for India, this paper provides an up-to-date analysis of the productivity in the agricultural sector within the states and union territories of India. Correspondingly, the results are more applicable for these sub-national economies and offer more relevant policy implications.
Myopic preferences or subsistence income among rickshaw cyclists
Authors: Hatlebakk Magnus
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate why poor people make decisions that at first sight appear irrational. The author stays within the realms of classical consumption theory, and investigates preference-based explanations. The author studies the case of rickshaw rental versus purchase. One-year rent is sufficient to buy a rickshaw in the plains of Nepal, while a rickshaw will last many years, so purchase appears very profitable. Still most cyclists rent the rickshaw.

Design/methodology/approach

– Based on choices made by rickshaw cyclists between hypothetical financing schemes for rickshaws we investigate whether the explanation is a high time-preference rate or a high elasticity of the marginal utility of consumption, which in turn can be explained by preferences that are formed by consumption near a subsistence level.

Findings

– The authors find that subsistence constraints are more important than high time-preference rates. In short, many rickshaw cyclists switch from profitable investment decisions to myopic choices if the weekly payments are too high.

Research limitations/implications

– In contrast to standard bidding-forms, the methodology does not allow for exact estimates of the implied time-preference rate or the elasticity of the marginal utility of consumption.

Practical implications

– Microcredit has no role if people are subsistence constraint, as they will need to save every day also to repay loans.

Social implications

– The findings indicate that myopic choices by poor people are not due to myopic preferences, but rather that the disutility of reducing consumption today is too high.

Originality/value

– The authors believe bidding-forms are too complex for field experiments among people with no, or minimal, education. The simple hypothetical choices we have constructed appear to work.
Output growth volatility, remittances and institutions
Authors: Ajide Kazeem Bello , Raheem Ibrahim D. , Adeniyi Oluwatosin
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the role of institutions on the remittances–output growth volatility relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

– The data set of this paper is limited to 71 remittances recipient countries. In an attempt to deal with endogeneity issues, the paper adopts the use of system generalised method of moment (GMM).

Findings

– First, in consonance with earlier studies, the growth volatility reducing influence of remittances flows was established. Second, unlike the extant literature, the growth volatility reduction potential of remittances was found to be more pronounced in the presence of well-functioning institutions. Finally, the interaction of remittances with our six institutional quality measures showed that growth volatility reduced considerably with better institutions.

Practical implications

– In terms of policy, remittances recipient countries need to simultaneously pursue economic and governance reforms. Both of these will enhance the counter-cyclicality of remittances and possibly other capital flows.

Originality/value

– Substantial efforts have been devoted to investigating the impact of remittances on output growth volatility, while very little research attention has been devoted to analysing the impact of institutions on the remittances–output growth volatility nexus.
Learning from peer support schemes – can prison listeners support offenders who self-injure in custody?
Authors: Griffiths Louise , Bailey Di
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the current evidence for peer support in prisons, in particular its contribution to working with prisoners who self-injure and the extent to which the success of peer support schemes such as the prison listeners, hinges upon staff’s willingness to engage with the initiative.

Design/methodology/approach

– The review was constructed by using primary and secondary terms to search the literature. The studies focused on peer support in custody with reference to mental health and self-injury. Searches identified papers on the prison listener scheme and staff perspectives on prison peer support, as these formed a central focus of the review. Studies were excluded from the review if the participants’ behaviours was explicitly linked to suicidal intent, as the review focused on self-injury as a coping strategy.

Findings

– A total of 23 studies were selected according to specific inclusion criteria (six were grey literature, 17 academic literature). Of the 23 studies ten studies focused on peer support and self-injury. Of the 23 studies the listener scheme was the focus of 15 studies, of these 15 studies self-injury and the listener scheme was a focus of eight studies.

Originality/value

– Evidence from the review suggests that prison peer support could be considered on a continuum depending on the different degrees of peer involvement.
Community reentry challenges after release from prison among people who inject drugs in St. Petersburg, Russia
Authors: Cepeda Javier A. , Vetrova Marina V. , Lyubimova Alexandra I. , Levina Olga S. , Heimer Robert , Niccolai Linda M.
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– Little is known about the context of the post-release risk environment among formerly incarcerated people who inject drugs (PWID) in Russia. The purpose of this paper is to explore these challenges as they relate to reentry, relapse to injection opioid use, and overdose.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors conducted 25 in-depth semi-structured interviews among PWID living in St Petersburg, Russia who had been incarcerated within the past two years. Participants were recruited from street outreach (n=20) and a drug treatment center (n=5).

Findings

– Emergent themes related to the post-release environment included financial instability, negative interactions with police, return to a drug using community, and reuniting with drug using peers. Many respondents relapsed to opioid use immediately after release. Those whose relapse occurred weeks or months after their release expressed more motivation to resist. Alcohol or stimulant use often preceded the opioid relapse episode. Among those who overdosed, alcohol use was often reported prior to overdosing on opioids.

Practical implications

– Future post-release interventions in Russia should effectively link PWID to social, medical, and harm reduction services. Particular attention should be focussed on helping former inmates find employment and overdose prevention training prior to leaving prison that should also cover the heightened risk of concomitant alcohol use.

Originality/value

– In addition to describing a syndemic involving the intersection of incarceration, injection drug use, poverty, and alcohol abuse, the findings can inform future interventions to address these interrelated public health challenges within the Russian setting.
Governing boards and perceived performance of secondary schools
Authors: Nkundabanyanga Stephen Korutaro , Tauringana Venancio , Muhwezi Moses
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study carried out to determine the effect of governing boards on the performance of Ugandan secondary schools. Specifically, the study investigated whether governing boards (board role performance, finance committee role performance, board size, frequency of board meetings and board finance expertise) have an effect on the perceived performance of the schools.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study is cross-sectional and correlational. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 271 schools out of which 200 responded. The data were analysed through ordinary least squares regression using Statistical Package for Social Scientists.

Findings

– The results suggest that board role performance, finance committee role performance, frequency of meetings and finance expertise of governing boards have a significant effect on the schools’ performance.

Research limitations/implications

– The authors measure some of the variables qualitatively and perceptively contrary to, for instance, the commonly used quantitative measures of performance, but process factors which are inherently qualitative in nature can better explain variances in secondary schools’ performance. Thus, in this study, the authors do not claim highly refined measurement concepts. More research is therefore needed to better refine qualitative concepts used in this study. The results too suggest that board and finance committee role performance and finance expertise of the board are more important for performance of a school than board size, and frequency of meetings which academics have been focusing on. These findings call for more research to validate the posited relationships.

Practical implications

– The results are important for governing board policy development; for example, in terms of prescribing the qualifications for schools’ governing board members and also finance committee board members.

Originality/value

– This study shows that one way to capture the influence of all governing boards’ roles including service role is to adopt a perception-based approach which asks respondents to what extent they think governing boards fulfil all their roles. Unlike previous studies which used proxies for board role performance such as proportion of non-executive directors and board size for monitoring and control and resource provision, the study incorporates proxies as well as perception-based measures of board role performance to determine if governing boards have a significant influence on the performance of Uganda secondary schools.
Can hard-to-solve one-off homicides be distinguished from serial homicides? Differences in offence behaviours and victim characteristics
Authors: Pakkanen Tom , Zappalà Angelo , Bosco Dario , Berti Andrea , Santtila Pekka
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences (if any) between serial and hard-to-solve one-off homicides, and to determine if it is possible to distinguish the two types of homicides based on offence behaviours and victim characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

– A sample of 116 Italian serial homicides was compared to 45 hard-to-solve one-off homicides. Hard-to-solve one-off homicides were defined as having at least 72 hours pass between when the offence came to the knowledge of the police and when the offender was caught. Logistic regression was used to predict whether a killing was part of a series or a one-off offence.

Findings

– The serial killers targeted more strangers and prostitutes, displayed a higher level of forensic awareness both before and after the killing, and had more often an apparent sexual element in their offence. Conversely, the one-off homicides were found to include more traits indicative of impulsive and expressive behaviour. The model demonstrated a good ability (AUC=0.88) to predict whether a homicide belonged to the serial or one-off category.

Research limitations/implications

– The findings should be replicated using local homicide data to maximise the validity of the model in countries outside of Italy.

Practical implications

– Being able to distinguish between serial and one-off homicides based on information available at a new crime scene could be practically useful for homicide investigators managing finite resources.

Originality/value

– Studies comparing serial homicides to one-off homicides are scarce, and there are no studies explicitly trying to predict whether a homicide is an isolated case or part of a series.
The relation between goal orientation and occupational withdrawal
Authors: Sims Randi L. , Boytell Jess J.
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to test the relation between employee goal orientation and occupational withdrawal intentions and behaviors considering employee satisfaction a mediator in the relations.

Design/methodology/approach

– Survey data were obtained from a sample of 241 licensed real estate professionals using a self-administrated questionnaire. Mediation hypotheses were tested using Smart PLS.

Findings

– The results indicate that job satisfaction fully mediates the relation between learning goal orientation and occupational withdrawal intentions and behaviors. A direct positive relation was found between avoid goal orientation and occupational withdrawal intentions and behaviors.

Practical implications

– Worker shortages in many occupations increases the importance of the ability to understand and predict occupational withdrawal behaviors.

Originality/value

– This study adds to the literature by considering goal orientation as an individual employee characteristics central in predicting and understanding occupational attitudes and withdrawal intentions and behaviors.
The interaction effect of social exchanges on the relationship between organizational climate and psychological contract
Authors: Kasekende Francis , Munene John C. , Ntayi Joseph Mpeera , Ahiauzu Augustine
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction effect of organizational climate and social exchanges and how they fuse to affect psychological contract in the public service in Uganda.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper adopts a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical design. The authors employ structural equation modeling to test hypotheses. Using proportionate and simple random sampling procedures, a sample of 346 respondents was drawn from Uganda public service commissions and agencies of which a response rate of 61.5 percent was obtained.

Findings

– The magnitude effect of organizational climate on psychological contract depends on social exchanges; implying that the assumption of non-additivity is met.

Research limitations/implications

– Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate.

Practical implications

– In order to boost the employee-employer relationship of public servants in Uganda commissions and agencies, managers should always endeavor to find a viable organizational climate-social exchanges mix or blend that can add value to employee-employer relationship.

Originality/value

– This is one of the few studies that focus on testing the interactive effects of social exchanges on the relationship between organizational climate and psychological contract in Uganda public service commissions and agencies.
Changes in top management team strategies caused by the external financial environment
Authors: Ferrero-Ferrero Idoya , Muñoz-Torres María Jesús , Fernández-Izquierdo María Ángeles
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether the onset of the financial crisis caused changes in the influence of top management team (TMT) on corporate results.

Design/methodology/approach

– The sample is comprised of the list of S & P 500 Index firms between 2002 and 2008. The study uses a longitudinal panel methodology applying a two-step GMM estimator system. This approach addresses potential unobserved heterogeneity, simultaneity, and dynamic endogeneity.

Findings

– The primary results reveal that the onset of the financial crisis stimulated those TMTs with large teams and a high frequency of meetings to improve corporate performance, without leading to a reduction in corporate risk taking.

Originality/value

– This study reveals that different environmental conditions call for different behaviour from TMTs to fulfil their responsibilities. This study also suggests changes in normative and voluntary guidelines for improving the quality of the TMT’s work.
Making sense of business leadershipvis-à-visChina’s reform and transition
Authors: Ren Shuang , Zhu Ying
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the contemporary paradigm of business leadershipvis-à-visChina’s reform and transitional context.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper employs an evidence-based approach to explore the business leadership issues influenced by economic reform and within the context of societal transition in China. A qualitative research method was adopted based on in-depth interviews with a number of middle managers from a variety of Chinese enterprises, including state-owned, domestic-private and foreign-invested enterprises. Content analysis of several rounds of interviews added depth to the data analysis.

Findings

– The findings complement existing thoughts and illustrate concepts, issues, and characteristics not yet emphasized in mainstream literature. General patterns and associated characteristics of business leadership in China, as well as specific patterns associated with different forms of enterprise ownerships, are identified.

Research limitations/implications

– The study makes a timely and necessary contribution that enriches context-specific understandings of business leadership against the backdrop of surrounding economic, social, and cultural changes.

Practical implications

– The study enriches understandings of commonalities and differences in leadership across the globe, facilitating working collaboratively to achieve common goals in a global community.

Originality/value

– The study offers new insights into business leadership by linking contextual, personal, and cognitional factors together and demonstrates some unique characteristics of leadership styles in transitional economies like China.
An investigation into the leadership practices of volunteer leaders
Authors: Posner Barry Z.
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– While numerous studies of leadership have been conducted in the corporate and public sectors, there are lots of people leading in civic, social, and community service organizations and little is known about either how they lead or how their leadership practices are similar to or different from those leading in other sectors. The purpose of this paper is to fill that gap by examining leadership practices unique to leadership that occurs within organizations where both leaders and followers are volunteers.

Design/methodology/approach

– The sample involved surveying over 60 percent of the volunteer (n=569) leaders across a national youth sports organization based in the USA.

Findings

– Volunteer leaders engaged more frequently in leadership behaviors than did paid leaders. Some differences in leadership behaviors were found on the basis of respondent gender, age, educational level, and employment status. Leadership behaviors were systematically related to quality of respondents’ volunteer leadership experience. While objective measures of organizational effectiveness were unrelated to the leadership behaviors of the voluntary leaders, subjective assessments did impact how leaders behaved.

Research limitations/implications

– The research relied upon the self-reported leadership behaviors of respondents, and the organization’s measure of effectiveness was unrelated to respondent leadership behaviors. Future studies would benefit from leadership assessments provided by observers and constituents, samples involving different kinds of volunteer organizations (both settings and services) and more complex and nuanced empirical relationships.

Practical implications

– It is problematic that a volunteer organization cannot clearly define what it means to be an effective leader. Knowing the direct relationship between leadership behaviors and how favorably people feel about their voluntary leadership experience implies making certain that volunteer leaders actually have the opportunity to lead.

Social implications

– Because so many people volunteer and voluntary (and not-for-profit) organizations are vital to economic well-being it is important to know more about what effective leadership looks like within this domain.

Originality/value

– Few studies of volunteer leaders have been done, and none in this particular type of youth sports organization. Extends an understanding of leadership and what people do when they are leading others, especially in terms of settings involving volunteer participants rather than paid participants.
Exploring the links between ethical leadership, customer orientation and employee outcomes in the context of retailing
Authors: Lindblom Arto , Kajalo Sami , Mitronen Lasse
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– In the increasingly competitive retail environment, retailers’ ability to elevate frontline employees’ customer orientation (CO) can make the difference between the success and failure of their stores. However, the question of how to enhance employee CO is a tricky one. It has been stated that employee CO is a stable work value or disposition that is consistent over time, and therefore, difficult to manage. However, one factor that might be an important driver of employee CO is the retailers’ ethical leadership behaviour. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to focus on exploring the links between retailers’ ethical leadership, frontline employee CO and frontline employee job satisfaction, job-related stress and turnover intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

– For the purpose of this study, the authors develop five hypotheses about the retailers’ ethical leadership, frontline employee CO and frontline employee job satisfaction, job-related stress and turnover intentions. Using structural equation modelling, the authors test the hypotheses using a sample of 208 respondents from the Finnish retail industry.

Findings

– As a first important contribution, the findings of the present study indicate that frontline employee perceptions of their retailer’s ethical leadership are strongly linked to employee CO. As a second contribution, our results suggest that employee CO is positively related to job satisfaction. As a third contribution, this study shows that frontline employee job satisfaction is negatively related to their turnover intentions.

Originality/value

– This study contributes to service management and retail marketing literature by broadening the current understanding of the links between the ethical leadership of retailers, frontline employee CO and frontline employee job satisfaction, job-related stress and turnover intentions.
Pay for performance and employee creativity
Authors: Zhang Yong , Long Lirong , Zhang Junwei
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– Previous studies concerning on the effect of reward on individual creativity have generated generally inconsistent conclusions. These ambiguities call for more studies to explore the potential boundary conditions under which reward may or may not promote creativity. The purpose of this paper is to clarify how pay for performance (PFP), a specific type of extrinsic reward awarded in field settings, impacts employees’ creative self-efficacy, and their creativity under varying levels of procedural justice as well as willingness to take risks.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study used a survey method to investigate nine enterprises in China. A total of 236 matched subordinate-supervisor questionnaires were returned (a 94.4 percent response rate). Because of missing data, the final usable sample comprised 213 subordinate-supervisor matched questionnaires.

Findings

– The results suggest that for employees with low procedural justice perception or low willingness to take risks, PFP was negatively related to creative self-efficacy and creativity; where procedural justice or willingness to take risks was high, those relationships were positive. In addition, moderated path analysis revealed that when procedural justice or willingness to take risks was high, PFP had a positive indirect effect on creativity via creative self-efficacy, whereas when procedural justice or willingness to take risks was low, the indirect effects of PFP on creativity via creative self-efficacy were negative.

Research limitations/implications

– The findings shed light on the process through which and the conditions under which PFP may promote creativity.

Practical implications

– The findings have concrete implications for how to leverage PFP to enhance employee creativity through creative self-efficacy.

Originality/value

– The results further underscore the need to rethink the simple reward-promotes (or hinders)-creativity model in order to think in more complex ways about how and under what conditions PFP might promote or inhibit creativity. Second, the results of this research better explain how PFP promotes or inhibits creative performance by pointing to the important mediating role of creative self-efficacy. Finally, the results indicated that social cognitive theory can be used as an overarching theory to clarify how and why reward can influence creativity. Thus, the research contributes to the current literature by developing a new theoretical perspective for exploring the relation of reward to creativity.
The renewal of assets using a tool to aid decision making
Authors: Muñoz-Porcar Antonio , Alonso-Nuez Mª Jesús , Flores-García Mónica , Duret-Solanas Daniel
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is the application of a tool to assist the multi-criteria decision-making process for selecting an asset for a company in the metallurgical industry which manufactures metal parts for diverse industries.

Design/methodology/approach

– This investment, complex due to the commitment of resources it requires, has been made with the assistance of decision-making methodologies, specifically versions I and IV of the ELECTRE method.

Findings

– This model of multi-criteria decision making has been chosen over other models because it offers the possibility of including technical and economic decisions so they can be analyzed simultaneously, therefore the decision is not based solely on financial aspects. Many companies base their decisions exclusively on financial returns, however in this case it is also appropriate to include the technical parameters, since the asset being replaced is the most important asset of the company.

Originality/value

– Applying version I of the methodology, the optimal technical configuration of the asset will be analyzed based on the features requirements, all of which are among options available in the market. Once a subset of technically and economically viable alternatives has been defined, version IV will be applied and a ranking of the alternatives from the best to the worst will be obtained and, based on this ranking, the final decision will be made.
Inter-organizational knowledge transfer through corporate venture capital investment
Authors: Lee Sang M. , Kim Taewan , Jang Seung Hoon
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corporate venture capital (CVC) investment and the level of knowledge transferred from start-ups to corporate investors. It also delineates the conditions under which CVC investment facilitates the knowledge transfer.

Design/methodology/approach

– A longitudinal design is used to examine annual snapshots of CVC investment and patent citing activities for the period from 1995 to 2005. This paper uses a negative binomial Poisson regression model to test proposed research hypotheses.

Findings

– The authors found that that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the number of CVC investments and the level of knowledge transferred from the start-up. The results of this study also found that knowledge diversity of the investing firm moderates the inverted U-shaped relationship.

Originality/value

– This research contributes to the search literature by conceptualizing CVC investment as a distant search process for sourcing external knowledge from start-ups. By arguing theoretically and demonstrating empirically the effects of tie strength of CVC structure and technological knowledge diversity on organizational knowledge transfer, this current study extends the previous understanding and applicability of social relations and technological diversity to understand CVC activity.
Synergy management pitfalls in mergers and acquisitions
Authors: Fiorentino Raffaele , Garzella Stefano
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to advance a conceptual comprehensive framework to analyze synergy management pitfalls in mergers and acquisitions (M & As). The framework highlights the main dimensions of synergy management, the most relevant synergy pitfalls and the ways to overcome them.

Design/methodology/approach

– A greater recognition of synergy management literature in M & As is developed. A framework is provided integrating the compatible elements of previous broad areas of research and the main findings of studies on several topics related to synergy.

Findings

– Prior literature has suggested that synergy is an important motivation of M & As, has tended to be overestimated and has been difficult to achieve. Specifically, there are three relevant synergy pitfalls: the “mirage,” a tendency to overestimate synergy potential, the “gravity hill,” the underestimation of the difficulties in synergy realization and “amnesia,” a dangerous lack of attention to the realization of synergy. An effective synergy management requires an analysis of five dimensions: the steps of the M & A process, the several values of synergy, the forbidding effects of poor synergy management, the potential causes of synergy inflation and the selection of solutions to synergy pitfalls.

Practical implications

– The comprehensive framework suggests insights and guidelines to help managers to overcome pitfalls in synergy management. Managers will learn the following lessons: “when” pitfalls should embrace synergy management; “where” pitfalls may occur; “why” pitfalls may occur; “what” consequences can result in a value of “realized synergy” lower than the “expected synergy”; and “how” actions, tools and behaviors can overcome hidden dangers in synergy management.

Originality/value

– The study changes the focus from a single, generic synergy trap to three more analytical, useful synergy pitfalls: the mirage, the gravity hill and the amnesia. By shedding light on synergy management pitfalls, this paper enriches M & A literature and enhance practical solutions to reduce pitfalls in synergy decision making.
Qualitative Delphi approach of advanced algae biofuels
Authors: Ribeiro Lauro Andre , Pereira da Silva Patricia
Published: August 2015

Purpose

– Currently, experimental and theoretical work is being performed to ensure that biofuels from microalgae become a reality. However, there is a considerable number of discussions concerning in which processes should be focussed efforts of research and development. The purpose of this paper is to provide decision support not only to help build guidelines of research to be undertaken, but also to contribute to the design of more adequate policy and funding instruments. The key objective of this study is to determine the prospects of employing microalgae into the production of biofuels within a time scale extending to 2030.

Design/methodology/approach

– The Delphi method is a qualitative research aiming to support strategic future-oriented action, such as policy making in the areas of science and technology. It is especially appropriate in judgment and long-range forecasting (20-30 years) situations, when expert opinions are often the only source of information available, due to a lack of appropriate historical, economic or technical data.

Findings

– The Delphi method proved to be a successful research method when expert opinions are the main source of information available, due to a lack of appropriate historical, economic or technical data and the outcomes provided a clear outline of the main issues of microalgae biofuels’ market at present and in the future.

Research limitations/implications

– The outcomes might not represent the majority of the microalgae experts’ opinion due to the sample size.

Originality/value

– The work presented in this paper is especially original. According to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first qualitative Delphi study related to algae biofuels.