bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Increasing Returns, Labour Utilization and Externalities: Procyclical Productivity in the United States and Japan
Authors: Vecchi Michela
Published: May 2003

This paper investigates procyclical productivity and attempts to discriminate among several competing explanations. The study focuses on the United States and Japan, since the different industrial relations in these two economies serve to cast a sharper light on the procyclical productivity debate. Labour hoarding, evaluated through the introduction of a labour utilization proxy, proves to be an important influence. The interpretation of the role of external economies remains an open issue.
Job Independence as an Incentive Device
Authors: Mitusch Kay
Published: May 2003

A firm can either subject its workers to strict rules and regulations or grant them independence. If independent, they can make entrenchment‐investments which will not only raise their productivity but also make the firm depend on their cooperation. However, in contrast to a standard holdup problem, the firm can afterwards take over control, thus stripping such workers of a part of their bargaining assets. This leads to structural distortions and may aggravate the holdup problem. However, the threat of partial expropriation may also alleviate the holdup problem and even induce overinvestment.
From Work as Sex to Sex as Work: Networks, ‘Others’ and Occupations in the Analysis of Work
Authors: West Jackie , Austrin Terry
Published: May 2003

While once upon a time the social science of work and organization neglected or marginalized gender and sexuality, we have now lost sight of what people actually do, that is to say the activity of work. Gender and sexuality have been identified as crucial to organizational dynamics and, notwithstanding different theoretical emphases, this paradigm has become increasingly influential. We argue (contrary to most of its protagonists) that — within this model — the significance of sex and gender for organization rests principally on their role in the production of identities rather than in what they can tell us about production or work in any wider sense. The article highlights parallels with the ways in which prostitution is now generally understood, whether the emphasis is on subordination or agency. This literature also emphasizes gender relations and identities, even where the focus is on re–writing ‘sex as work’. We argue that this focus neglects the wider networks in which all work, whether mainstream or otherwise, is embedded and that a full analysis must take due account of both these networks and the discursive production of identities. Examples — of work in the finance and sex industries — are used to substantiate this argument and a case is made for the importance of the Chicago School’s analysis of occupations.
Embodying Gender, Work and Organization: Solidarity, Cool Loyalties and Contested Hierarchy in a Masculinist Occupation
Authors: Monaghan Lee F.
Published: May 2003

Despite a ‘somatic turn’ in the social sciences, there remains a dearth of theoretically informed research on male working bodies, the embodied doings of masculinities independent of biological sex and intra–gendered workplace relations. This is unfortunate because embodiment is thoroughly implicated in major social divisions, including gender domination in institutional contexts. Using an embodied sociological perspective and data generated during an ethnography of British nightclub and pub security work, this article goes some way towards embodying the social study of plural masculinities, work and organization. Exploring worker solidarity, cool loyalties and contested hierarchy in this risky masculinist occupation hopefully makes several contributions to the literature. Furthering the (theoretically informed) empirical study of masculinities and socially embedded bodies, the article sensitizes other researchers to gendered/embodied processes possibly taking a more diluted form in other work settings.
From Orgasms to Organizations: Maslow, Women’s Sexuality and the Gendered Foundations of the Needs Hierarchy
Authors: Cullen Dallas , Gotell Lise
Published: May 2003

One of the most enduring theories in management is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, in that its basic concepts, such as the needs for self–esteem and self–actualization, are accepted without question. This adoption of Maslow’s theory has generally occurred without an examination of its empirical basis, which was his own 1930s’ study of the relationship between self–esteem and sexual behaviour in young college women. In this article, we locate Maslow’s study of women’s sexuality in the sexological research of his time, and contrast it with a study undertaken by Katharine Davis in 1929. These two studies present very divergent pictures of women’s sexuality. We argue that Maslow’s portrayal, which is subsequently embedded in the needs hierarchy, has implications for our understanding of dominance and subordination in organizations, because implicit in Maslow’s portrayal is an assertion of the naturalness of female submission and the eroticization of male dominance.
Gender and Sexuality in Discourses of Managerial Control: The Case of Women Miners
Authors: Eveline Joan , Booth Michael
Published: May 2003

Mining scholarship has focused chiefly on capital developments, labour relations, changing technology, and global markets, ignoring the equally critical aspects of gendered organizations and their role in shaping the subjectivities of workers and managers. This article probes how gender and sexuality organize a mine site through organizational design and productivity management. It looks behind the rhetoric of equal opportunity, glamour mining and human resource techniques to explore the sexual politics of employing women as miners. In particular it scrutinizes the discourses of masculinity that produce ‘the woman miner’ in a context where the barriers between work and personal life are particularly mobile and highly contested. Equally crucially, it recounts some of the ways in which women have mobilized against systemic male dominance and privilege. The workplace in question is the world’s largest gem mine of its kind, a state–of–the–art computerized operation set in the remote Australian outback.
The ‘Feminine Advantage’: A Discursive Analysis of the Invisibility of Older Women Workers
Authors: Ainsworth Susan
Published: May 2003

This article discusses the overlap of gender and age identity and its implications in a specific political context — a public inquiry into the problems facing the older unemployed. Using discourse analysis, it examines how ‘older worker’ identity is socially constructed in this setting. At the beginning of the inquiry, fundamentally gendered versions of ‘older worker’ identity were initially constructed, yet by its conclusion, female versions had disappeared. The analysis shows that this ‘invisibility’ of female ‘older worker’ identity is the outcome of a central discursive struggle for recognition of older male workers as a disadvantaged group in the labour market. This ‘disadvantaged’ status is achieved by constructing a companion version of ‘feminine advantage’ in the search for employment. The article discusses the complexity of discursive processes through which this invisibility is accomplished and its implications for those targeted by female and male older worker identity.
The Frontiers of Legal Analysis: Reframing the Transition in Northern Ireland
Authors: Campbell Colm , Ní Aoláin Fionnuala , Harvey Colin
Published: May 2003

British constitutional legal discourse is structurally limited in its capacity to capture the complexity of the Good Friday Agreement. Rather than assessing the Agreement in narrow devolutionary terms, it should be seen as a hybrid domestic and international law instrument, making an important contribution to accepted international law norms in relation to self‐determination. The Agreement transforms and partly transcends the Northern Ireland conflict by substituting political contestation for violent conflict, and by defining the modalities of conducting that contestation. This analysis complements classical international law perspectives, and opens up the application of legal discourses associated with ‘transitional justice’ to the legal and political transformation in Northern Ireland. These discourses focus on the problem of reconciling the demands of peace with the imperatives of justice. The Agreement sits squarely in this terrain with its provisions on ‘dealing with the past’ and ‘institutional legacies’. The insights gained here challenge orthodox thinking about conflict‐management and the ongoing political process.
Who are Law's Persons? From Cheshire Cats to Responsible Subjects
Authors: Naffine Ngaire
Published: May 2003

What is it to be a legal person? A review of the jurisprudence of persons reveals considerable confusion about this central legal question, as well as deep intellectual divisions. To certain jurists, law's person should and does approximate a metaphysical person. Depending on the metaphysics of the jurist, the legal person is thus variously defined by his uniquely human nature, by his possession of a soul, or by his capacity for reason, and therefore his moral and legal responsibility. To other jurists, law's person is not a metaphysical person but rather a pure legal abstraction; he is no more than a formal, abstract, but nonetheless highly convenient device of law. This paper endeavours to bring some order and clarity to these scholarly debates about the nature of legal personality. It also considers their implications for feminist legal theorists, with their enduring interest in the character of law's subject.
Dazed and Confused: Accidental Mixtures of Goods and the Theory of Acquisition of Title
Authors: Hickey R.W.J.
Published: May 2003

This paper explores the law of accidental mixtures of goods. It traces the development of the English rules on mixture from the seminal nineteenth century case of Spence v Union Marine Insurance Co to the present day, and compares their responses to those given by the Roman law, which always has been claimed as an influence on our jurisprudence in this area. It is argued that the different answers given by English and Roman law to essentially the same problems of title result from the differing bases of these legal systems. Roman a priori theory is contrasted with the more practical reasoning of the common law, and while both sets of rules are judged to be coherent on their own terms, it is suggested that the difference between them is reflective of a more general philosophical disagreement about the proper functioning of a legal system, and the relative importance of theoretical and pragmatic considerations.
On Fairness and Efficiency
Authors: Jameel Mokal Rizwaan
Published: May 2003

Vanessa Finch, Corporate Insolvency Law – Principles and Perspectives, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, xxxix + 616 pp, pb £35.00.
Gender differences in advancing to the top
Authors: Tharenou Phyllis
Published: May 2003

Recently, there has been much empirical interest in why women are so poorly represented in executive ranks in organizations. This review summarizes the findings from recent empirical studies into the causes of gender differences in advancement to executive levels. The results are categorized to answer three questions based on the major arguments for, and assumptions made about, gender differences in advancement to the top of organizations. Are there gender differences in advancing to the top of organizations because (1) women lack the relevant knowledge, skills and expertise, that is, human capital, (2) women lack the relevant networks, are stereotyped as unsuitable, and are in male organizational cultures, that is, social capital, and/or (3) different factors are needed to advance to higher than to lower levels; women incrementally develop fewer of these factors and resources than men, and thus advance less to the top? The review most supports the second proposition. Surprisingly, even though there are many studies, several critical questions have not been addressed with strong research designs. Research using rigorous designs is especially needed to test the major theoretical frameworks.
Putting consumer behaviour in its place: the Behavioural Perspective Model research programme
Authors: Foxall Gordon R.
Published: May 2003

Consumer research remains overwhelmingly cognitive in orientation, partly because its apparent underlying philosophical stance usually goes unremarked and unchallenged. In so far as scientific progress relies on the interaction of competing theories, consumer research is impoverished by too great a reliance on a single approach to theory. This paper proposes an alternative to the prevailing ‘intentional stance’ on which consumer research predominantly rests; the ‘contextual stance’ eschews the intentionality of the cognitive explanations of consumer choice, substituting for it an account of behaviour determined by its environmental consequences. As a prelude to the interactive debate that these competing stances will hopefully engender, the paper demonstrates that the contextual stance is a viable strategy for consumer research. The contextual strategy leads to an alternative model of consumer choice to those based on social cognitive psychology. It is argued that this model of consumer choice in behavioural perspective provides a thoroughgoing conceptual reinterpretation of consumer behaviour and marketing management as currently envisaged.
When children work: implications for youth, society and organizations
Authors: Kelloway E. Kevin , Barling Julian
Published: May 2003

We review the literature on youth employment. In particular, we highlight data suggesting youth is not a homogenous group, and that employment is not a homogenous experience for young workers. Demographic and motivational differences within the group categorized as ‘youth’, as well as differences in the context and quality of youth employment experiences, are shown to have substantial implications for research, policy and organizations.
Postmodernism, philosophy and management: concepts and controversies
Authors: Hassard John
Published: May 2003

The paper offers a (partial) review of the philosophy of postmodernism as it applies to social science in general and management and organization theory in particular. Initially, some of the main analytical perspectives of postmodernism and post‐structuralism are explored, notably those relating to epistemology and ethno‐industrial change. Subsequently, we review concepts which lie at the heart of the ‘postmodern mood’ in social philosophy and sociology; for example, representation, reflexivity, deconstruction and decentring. In so doing, we take reference to the works of Jean Baudrillard, Jacques Derrida and Jean‐François Lyotard amongst others Finally, this philosophical assessment review forms the basis for an analysis of postmodernism as an emerging paradigm of management and organization theory. The works of key postmodernist writers in management and organization studies are reviewed and case examples of postmodern research presented.
Research and development project selection and resource allocation: a review of quantitative modelling approaches
Authors: Heidenberger Kurt , Stummer Christian
Published: May 2003

This paper reviews the literature on quantitative modelling for research and development (R&;D) project selection and resource allocation. The topic has been a subject of operations research for about four decades. Its importance stems from the fact that R&D projects are a core element of corporate renewal, heavily influence a firm's market success and, if not properly chosen and trimmed, may waste large amounts of resources or even ruin the enterprise. Our survey classifies and characterizes the various modelling approaches.
Building Industry–University Research Centers: Some Strategic Considerations
Authors: Santoro Michael D. , Chakrabarti Alok K.
Published: May 2003

This paper reviews the importance of industry–university relationships and the strategic considerations within the context of these partnerships in university research centers. We have identified several factors that are particularly important to industry in building relationships with university centers. These include: acquiring skills, knowledge and gaining access to university facilities; organizational cultures that are more organic; flexible university policies for intellectual property rights, patents and licenses; and the presence of champions. Firms also have explicit collaborative strategies for partnering with universities where firms can be segmented into three distinct clusters: Collegial Players, Aggressive Players and Targeted Players. Collegial Players are often large firms working with universities and university‐sponsored consortia on topics of interest that have long‐term value rather than promise immediate commercial opportunities. Aggressive Players are both large and small firms who employ university relationships specifically to develop and commercialize a wide range of marketable products and services. Targeted Players are often smaller firms, largely interested in using university relationships to address specific issues central to their business. We conclude by discussing key implications for both industry and universities.
Analysing and Forecasting Business Cycles with the Aid of Economic Indicators
Authors: Boehm Ernst A. , Summers Peter M.
Published: May 2003

This paper provides a survey of the development and role of economic indicator analysis in measuring and analysing business cycles. Our major objective is to highlight the usefulness of leading and coincident indexes of economic activity, both for forecasting purposes and as an aid to macroeconomic policy. We show that the analysis of business cycles can be facilitated by distinguishing between classical cycles (which involve fluctuations in the level of aggregate economic activity) and growth cycles (recurring fluctuations in the rate of growth of economic activity around its trend). Many recent theoretical and empirical studies have concentrated on deviations from trend (that is, growth cycles) to the exclusion of classical cycles. We also argue for the use of a range of indicators, combined in a composite index, rather than using a single series such as gross domestic product as a proxy for the business cycle. We illustrate our survey with empirical evidence on the business cycles of the United States and Australia.
Models of Management System Standards: A Review of the Integration Issues
Authors: Wilkinson G. , Dale B. G.
Published: May 2003

The subject of Integrated Management Systems in terms of quality, environmental and occupational health and safety management has become of increasing interest to researchers and business alike during the last 3 years or so. This paper focuses on a review of the various models of integration found in the academic literature and also those advocated by the standards bodies, such as the British Standards Institution and the International Organization for Standardization. A number of writers advocate alignment of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 and present models to facilitate this; however, integration into a single standard is, in general, not favoured. Various models have been developed to overcome these difficulties, but the authors believe that none is completely satisfactory. It is considered that a model of integration based on the EFQM Model for Business Excellence will allow the limitation of the standards to be overcome and the total systems approach to integration to be facilitated.
Organizational Improvisation: What, When, How and Why
Authors: Pina e Cunha Miguel , Vieira da Cunha João , Kamoche Ken
Published: May 2003

In this article, the authors review the growing body of literature on organizational improvisation in order to present an encompassing and systematic perspective on this concept. An integrative definition of its construct is presented together with a new way of measuring this phenomenon in organizational settings. The article further explores this construct by presenting its triggers, necessary conditions, influencing factors and major outcomes. The issues of improvisation’s growing legitimization in the organizational arena for practitioners and researchers alike are addressed in order to argue for the need for and interest in a fuller development research on this concept.
Small Enterprise: Finance, Ownership and Control
Authors: Hutchinson Patrick
Published: May 2003

Finance, ownership and control issues have received a great deal of attention in recent years as centres of interest in the ‘new institutional economics’. Much of the debate has been fuelled by the inability of neoclassical economics to explain the continued existence, and increasing importance, of small enterprises. Developments in agency theory, information asymmetry and signalling theory, and transaction cost economics are identified as contributing to a new approach. The concepts distilled from a review of these developments are then used in the analyses of well‐known phenomena involving small enterprises. These include capital structure and access to capital markets featuring the finance gap, the underpricing of new issues and the small firm effect. In addition, going private, by means of management buy‐outs, and franchising are examined. It is seen that the economic literature on finance, ownership and control helps to explain both the advantages and disadvantages of small enterprises. Their continued existence is seen as being due to a trade‐off of various costs and benefits.
Human resource management and performance
Authors: Wood Stephen
Published: May 2003

The study of human resource management (HRM) has been invigorated by the promise that there is a best‐practice, high‐involvement management (HIM) that can guarantee superior organizational performance. None the less, there remain concerns that contingency theory still rules, that is, that the fit between the human resource systems and their context, and particularly the organization's business strategy, is all important and, thus, that HIM will only outperform other systems in certain circumstances. In the 1990s, there has been a spate of research that has sought to test whether HIM is indeed universally relevant. This paper reviews these studies. The paper first introduces the conceptual dimensions of the debate concerning HRM and performance. This shows that the issues go beyond a simple competition between universalism and contingency theory. There are more complicated hypotheses linking human resource practices beneath the surface of the recent literature. The second part of the paper overviews the studies in the light of these hypotheses, revealing that they present an uneven picture. Firstly, there are conceptual differences underlying the studies and, secondly, the results vary between them, and the effects of HIM vary between performance measures even in particular studies. Though a fair number of the studies claim to support universalism, their claims are not always unequivocally supported by their research evidence, and it is premature to conclude in its favour. If anything, there is more support for the ‘lean production’ argument that stresses the interaction effect between HIM and total quality management on performance.
Cognitive approaches to new venture creation
Authors: Forbes Daniel P.
Published: May 2003

Cognitive processes play a critical role in the formation of new ventures. Moreover, the effects of managerial cognition are likely to be more direct and immediate in new venture settings than in the context of larger, more established organizations. For these reasons, the theories and methods of managerial and organizational cognition can provide insight into the process of new venture creation. This paper reviews recent studies that take a cognitive approach to new venture creation and categorizes them according to the stage of new venture creation with which they are concerned. Key issues discussed include the formation of entrepreneurial intentions, the sensemaking processes of scanning, interpretation and action, the use of schema and heuristics in decision‐making and the phenomenon of entrepreneurial alertness. Several preliminary research conclusions are drawn, and the implications of these findings for the practice of entrepreneurship are considered. Finally, several promising avenues for future research are explored.
Quality costing: a management review
Authors: Williams A. R. T. , Van Der Wiele A. , Dale B. G.
Published: May 2003

This paper relates a review of the English language literature on quality costing and traces its historical development; it provides authoritative reading on the subject. The review also has a focus on collection and use of quality‐costing methods, quantitative cost data and the role and views of accountants in the task of quality‐cost collection and reporting. Amongst the main findings is the preoccupation with the prevention – appraisal – failure categorization of quality costs and lack of guidance on definitions. The considerable impact of the American quality profession on the development of quality costing is pointed out along with the increasingly positive stance of accountants.
Selecting managers for cross‐border assignments: building value into the process
Authors: Fish Alan
Published: May 2003

Selecting cross‐border managers simply by relying on an assessment of technical competence, isolated and domestic management success as well as perceived commitment to the organization has become inadequate. Multiple value orientations associated with cross‐cultural business performance need to be examined as an integral part of the selection process. Value orientations associated with cultural identity, cross‐border business focus and personal and professional development, are missing from and need to be taken into consideration when selecting managers for cross‐border assignments.

A cross‐cultural manager typology is developed, which identifies four cross‐border manager ‘types’. These ‘types’ are described as (1) transnationalist, (2) internationalist, (3) ethnocentrist and (4) transitionalist. The implications of these ‘types’ for the selection of cross‐border managers are then explored within the context of, and interplay between, three value orientations. First, how and why managers value their cultural identity. Secondly, how and why managers value involvement in cross‐border business activity. Finally, how these two value orientations are better understood based upon personal and professional development.
Technological progress and the market value of firms
Authors: Brockhoff Klaus K.
Published: May 2003

Is market valuation of corporations affected by events from their product innovation processes? This review shows that such effects can be determined. Whether markets make rational use of the information cannot be established. The surprise element of any information and closeness to market introduction seem to be two important variables that explain the degree of market response. The study concludes with eight statements on what we know and what could or should be investigated in the near future.
Workaholism in organizations: concepts, results and future research directions
Authors: Burke Ronald J.
Published: May 2003

This review examines the literature on workaholism in organizations. Although the topic of workaholism has received considerable attention in the popular press, relatively little research has been devoted to increasing our understanding of it. Workaholism is acknowledged to be a stable individual characteristic, though how it is distinguished from other characteristics is often unclear. The review addresses the following areas: types of workaholics, definitions of workaholism, measures of workaholism, the prevalence of workaholism, validating job behaviors, antecedents of workaholism, work outcome consequences, health consequences, extra‐work satisfactions and family functioning, evaluating workaholism components, possible gender differences, reducing workaholism and future research directions. Research programs begun by Robinson and his colleagues and by Spence and Robbins, though having different emphases, serve as useful starting points for future research efforts.
Marketing’s contribution to business strategy: market orientation, relationship marketing and resource‐advantage theory
Authors: Hunt Shelby D. , Lambe C. Jay
Published: May 2003

Although overlooked to some degree by non‐marketing disciplines, the discipline of marketing has contributed significantly to the body of knowledge on business strategy over the last two decades. This paper evaluates these contributions, examines how they complement dominant non‐marketing theories of business strategy, and shows how marketing offers a generalized theory of competition that integrates the concepts of both marketing and non‐marketing theories of business strategy.
Management paradigms for the new millennium
Authors: Clarke Thomas , Clegg Stewart
Published: May 2003

A proliferation of paradigms is occurring in management thought and practice, defining paradigms as means of understanding the world and a basis for informing action. Frequent paradigm shifts are essential for survival in a business context of constant innovation. While the idea of paradigms has been widely received in management, it has been so more as a contested than a settled domain. Management paradigms are far more numerous than those of the natural sciences that Kuhn studied. Kuhn expected the long periods of normality to be marked by an absence of paradigmatic questioning and strife. In management, at any time, there are a number of competing paradigms available.

Kuhn was concerned to chart how changing realities of investigation were tied up with changing perceptions. In business the focus has been much more on the changing realities rather than changing perspectives. In any system that is ecologically interdependent, if you change any paradigmatic part then you change the whole. When there is sufficient change and fluidity in a system then we can speak of a ‘paradigm shift’: that period when a shift occurs from one paradigm set to another, the transition from one wave to the next. In these conditions uncertainty and ambiguity will apply. Discontinuous change is a step shift in the rate of change that invalidates existing assumptions and begins to transform the rules of competition.
Safety culture: under‐specified and overrated?
Authors: Clarke Sharon
Published: May 2003

Is the measurement of ‘safety culture’ a valid management tool in the effort to reduce accident rate and improve safety performance, or is it a fuzzy academic concept, lacking empirical validation? The answer to this question seems to depend on whom one asks. The UK Health and Safety Commission has encouraged companies to improve their safety performance through the development of a ‘positive safety culture’. However, academic discussions in this area suggest that the concept remains vague, lacks empirical validation and is used as an ‘umbrella term’ for all the social and organizational factors that affect accident rate. This paper reviews the existing literature on safety culture and provides some clarification in terms of definition, empirical evidence and theoretical development. A theoretical framework of the mechanisms by which safety culture affects safety behaviours in organizations is proposed. The implications for practical management issues are discussed and future challenges and areas for further research are identified.
Research on global strategy
Authors: Chng Pheng‐Lui , Pangarkar Nitin
Published: May 2003

This paper reviews the extant literature on global strategy. We argue that the literature has developed along three major directions, namely: (1) the literature identifying the emergence of a global village; (2) the literature identifying the advantages to a firm following a global strategy; and (3) the literature addressing the management challenges and the implementation issues faced by an international firm. We find that the literature has arrived at a number of important conclusions, namely: (1) the global environment places conflicting demands on participating firms; (2) there is no one strategy called global strategy, firms adopt different strategies to compete in the global arena; (3) the benefits accruing from a global strategy are contingent on the industry environment; (4) it is imperative to have multidimensional capabilities in the global arena; (5) matrix structures are becoming increasingly vital in implementing global strategies; and, finally, (6) the actual benefits of adopting matrix structures are contingent on the adoption of appropriate management processes. We identify the trends in the literature and suggest some directions for further research on the topic.
Performance measurement in industrial R&D
Authors: Kerssens‐van Drongelen Inge , Nixon Bill , Pearson Alan
Published: May 2003

Currently, the need for R&D performance measurements that are both practically useful and theoretically sound seems to be generally acknowledged; indeed, the rising cost of R&D, greater emphasis on value management and a trend towards decentralization are escalating the need for ways of evaluating the contribution of R&D to corporate performance. However, although recent research and writing on the subject shows that the challenge of developing such sound measurements has been taken up by many academics and organizations, it is also clear that there is no generally applicable approach.

In this review, we consider various approaches for measuring the performance in industrial R&D and identify their key characteristics. We also include a brief summary of the ‘history’ of performance measurement in R&D, which shows that although there are some new ways of looking at the issue there are many examples from the past that can contribute to our current thinking.

The approaches found in the literature and practice are very varied in their application, some being more suitable for the project level, others for the R&D department, and some for the development process or for the organization as a whole. Furthermore, the uses of the approaches tend to be different. For example, some approaches are intended to justify the continuation of investment in R&D to upper management, whilst others are more suited to support learning and self‐correction by empowered R&D teams. In this paper these uses, or ‘functions’, of performance measurement and a taxonomy of typical subjects of measurement in R&D environments are explored.

Finally, we conclude the review with a discussion of some limitations of the growing literature on R&D performance measurement.
Performance measurement: a critical analysis of the literature with respect to total quality management
Authors: Sinclair David , Zairi Mohamed
Published: May 2003

This paper represents a comprehensive review of the literature on performance measurement. The roadmap used for this analysis is from the evolution of performance measurement, to the way it is currently defined and how it is applied from a corporate‐wide perspective. One useful contribution of this review is a special focus on performance measurement in a non‐financial, non‐traditional sense. This discussion was further amplified by referring to newly developed tools and techniques and by highlighting critical factors of success in the application of performance measurement.

The key factors from this literature review reveal that, although interest in the area of measurement is growing significantly, this is not reflected by the tangible and credible experiences in the organizations concerned. There is a concurrent view amongst various writers that there are both hard and soft issues reflecting, for instance, the lack of strategic thinking and goal clarity, putting measurement systems in the driving seat and therefore trusting unreliable designs and not focusing on the true ethos of modern measurement towards continuous improvement and thereby not engaging employees and neglecting the culture change aspects.

The paper concludes by highlighting the dearth in research in the important field of performance measurement and, in particular, the design and implementation of performance measurement systems that cover all the essential aspects through an integrated perspective.
Coping with unemployment: a literature review and presentation of a new model
Authors: Waters Lea E.
Published: May 2003

This paper reviews the unemployment literature with a view to identifying a new way of modelling the process of coping with unemployment. The review shows that early models of coping adopted a trait‐based approach, which viewed coping as a stable, transcending disposition of the person and, therefore, failed to consider the range of coping responses that people use during unemployment. The use of state‐based approaches to coping, in more recent research, has overcome this problem. However, the newer models still assess coping via discrete, linear relationships and have focused primarily on the obtainment of re‐employment rather than promotion of psychological health during unemployment. In an attempt to overcome these problems, the ‘Coping, Psychological and Employment Status’ (CoPES) model is presented in the current paper. This new and comprehensive model illustrates the non‐recursive relationships between stressors, cognitive appraisals, coping efforts and psychological health during unemployment. The CoPES model also depicts the relationship between coping, psychological health and re‐employment. This model provides a more integrated approach to coping with unemployment and allows for the examination of new relationships. The CoPES model, applied within Ipsative‐Normative designs and assessed using quantitative and qualitative techniques, will make a significant contribution to research conducted into unemployment.
Strategic human resource management: where have we come from and where should we be going?
Authors: Boxall Peter , Purcell John
Published: May 2003

Strategic human resource management (SHRM) implies a concern with the ways in which HRM is critical to organizational effectiveness. This straightforward assertion is examined in theory and through research evidence to reveal high levels of complexity in relation to how, when and why the interconnection between HRM and organizational outcomes is achieved. The two dominant normative models of ‘best fit’ and ‘best practice’ are considered. The paper concludes that the HR strategies of firms are heavily shaped by contextual contingencies, including national, sectoral and organizational factors. However, such a conclusion does not invalidate all ‘best‐practice’ thinking. Although constrained in certain ways, underpinning principles of labour management still have relevance to practice as essential attributes of a firm's ability to compete in its chosen markets. The paper then considers the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm and asks whether this provides a better basis for the development of theory in SHRM and in understanding the contribution of HRM to the achievement of sustained competitive advantage. While limits to the utility of RBV in respect of SHRM theory are identified, important implications for research are signalled. Trends in the RBV literature are pushing all those interested in strategy towards studies of intellectual capital, learning processes and organizational adaptability. Researchers in HRM could, if they wished, play a central role in these developments because questions of how to attract, motivate and develop workers with critical and scarce abilities, and develop effective processes of work organization, must be fundamental to any model of knowledge‐based competition. Greater progress will be made when organizations are studied in a much more interdisciplinary or systemic way.
Commitment to the union: a survey of research and the implications for industrial relations and trade unions
Authors: Snape Ed , Redman Tom , Chen Andy W.
Published: May 2003

This paper presents an overview of the literature on union commitment. The aim is to survey the main approaches, findings and implications of the research. The nature and dimensionality of union commitment are examined, and the antecedents and consequences of union commitment are discussed in detail, including a review of the implications for union participation. There is also a discussion of the possibility of dual commitment to union and employer, and of the ‘multiple constituencies’ view of commitment. An attempt is made to link the union commitment findings to the wider industrial relations literature on, for example, why people join unions and the ‘union renewal’ thesis. The article concludes by discussing the implications of the literature for union–management relationships and for unions themselves, and with some suggestions for future research.
Critical success factors for cross‐functional teamwork in new product development
Authors: Holland Sarah , Gaston Kevin , Gomes Jorge
Published: May 2003

There is consensus that the effective implementation of cross‐functional teams is critical to new product success. However, such teams face particular challenges because of well‐documented barriers between functions. Furthermore, there is little evidence‐based guidance for practitioners on how to achieve effective cross‐functional teamwork. In order to address this gap, the literature on cross‐functional teamwork was analysed to identify critical success factors. Using a heuristic team effectiveness model, these were categorized into six groups: task design, group composition, organizational context, internal processes, external processes and group psychosocial traits. Recent theory on group effectiveness has increasingly recognized the significance of a supportive organizational context, and this is particularly pertinent for cross‐functional teams. Key success factors include strategic alignment between functions, a climate supportive of teamwork and team‐based accountability. The findings are integrated into a diagnostic model which is intended to be of practical benefit to people designing, leading and facilitating cross‐functional new product development teams.
Service quality in the legal profession: a review
Authors: Stewart Heather M. , Hope Christine A. , Muhlemann Alan P.
Published: May 2003

Research into the management of professional service quality, other than in health care, has been very limited, despite being particularly problematical. This paper focuses on the interactive, highly customized and labour‐intensive service offered by solicitors to their commercial and corporate clients. The intangible nature of legal services, the natures of the professionals themselves and the firms within which they operate, and the perceptions of risk brought to the service by the client create additional difficulties in managing the service and measuring client perceptions of it. Yet solicitors must understand the requirements of the group of clients they seek to serve in order to design their service to match those needs. Clients have to assume the technical competence of their solicitor. Moreover, they seek confidence when buying legal services. Our research, therefore, sought to gain an understanding of the process used by commercial and corporate clients when evaluating legal service, and of the factors that are key drivers in the creation of confidence.
Knowledge work as organizational behavior
Authors: Kelloway E. Kelvin , Barling Julian
Published: May 2003

Knowledge work has been defined as a profession, a characteristic of individuals, and as an individual activity. We review and critique these definitions of knowledge work and propose that knowledge work is best understood as discretionary behavior in organizations. As such, knowledge work is understood to comprise the creation of knowledge, the application of knowledge, the transmission of knowledge, and the acquisition of knowledge. Each of these activities is seen as a discretionary behavior. Employees are likely to engage in knowledge work to the extent that they have the (a) ability, (b) motivation, and (c) opportunity to do so. The task of managing knowledge work is focused on establishing these conditions. Organizational characteristics such as transformational leadership, job design, social interaction and organizational culture are identified as potential predictors of ability, motivation and opportunity. Implications for further research and practice are identified.
Arriving at a strategic theory of the firm
Authors: Phelan Steven E. , Lewin Peter
Published: May 2003

The theory of the firm seeks to explain the existence and boundaries of the firm in relation to the market. Since the pioneering work of Coase (The nature of the firm. Economica, 4, 386–405, 1937), economics has developed a whole family of theories that focus on the ability of firms to economize on certain costs of using markets. More recently, researchers in strategic management have published several theories of the firm that have tended to emphasize the benefits of incorporation rather than the costs of using the market. Although researchers in the strategy profession have tentatively labeled their work as ‘moving towards’ a strategic theory of the firm, economists have been very critical of existing approaches. This paper seeks to begin ‘arriving’ at a strategic theory of the firm by addressing these criticisms and offering an integration of the strategic and economic perspectives within an institutional framework. The paper concludes with future directions for research in the theory of the firm.
A review of the Chinese cultural influences on Chinese enterprise management
Authors: Pun Kit‐Fai , Chin Kwai‐Sang , Lau Henry
Published: May 2003

In order to create and sustain competitive advantage, a company should not only develop technologies to create products and processes that meet customer needs, but also stimulate a corporate culture that commits to continuous performance improvement. Managing corporate culture is one of a number of important factors that make for organizational change and business success. This paper reviews the cultural roots and identifies the characteristics of Chinese cultural values and management. A comparative analysis of the differences between Anglo‐American and Chinese cultures is made. The cultural influences on Chinese management systems are then elaborated with reference to enterprise management in Mainland China and Hong Kong. With unique cultural heritage, collective orientation has a pervasive influence on the mode of Chinese management and organization. The prevailing Chinese culture values stress largely the paternalistic approach to management, acceptance of hierarchy and the importance of relationships. Today's Chinese enterprises need to determine changes in practice or value or both aspects of corporate culture in order to facilitate organizational change and maintain a competitive edge over their rivals. The paper also discusses the links of cultural values to employee involvement (EI) and total quality management (TQM), and initiates a need to manage cultural influences on EI/TQM practices to improve organizational performance in Chinese enterprises.