bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Making sense of the quality maze: perspectives for public and academic libraries
Authors: Rowley Jennifer
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Public sector policymakers have been preoccupied with quality, performance and impact initiatives, which constrain and define the strategic and operational objectives of public sector bodies. This theoretical article aims to review the quality, performance management and impact assessment regimes that currently impact on public and academic libraries in the UK, and to explore the challenges for managers in finding their path through this quality maze. Much of the literature focuses on individual initiatives, with little reference to the wider quality management context. Also seeks to urge consideration of the cumulative impact of such initiatives, with their different notions of quality, on public sector organisations and their quality management processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The article is an opinion piece that offers some conceptual frameworks, based on an analysis of literature, practice and web sites gathered over many years' investigation and observation. The tension between externally‐focused quality assurance and internally‐focused quality enhancement is taken as a point of departure. A further source of complexity is the quality management agendas that impact on library and information services from different levels in the organisation, otherwise described as the quality hierarchy.

Findings

A review of the approaches to collecting customer evaluations of service quality, enhancing quality and performance, and the accreditation of quality and performance illustrates the complexity associated with accommodating agendas arising from different contexts, and the competing notions of quality that are embedded in these different approaches.

Practical implications

The range of different influences on quality management, the sheer complexity and dynamism of the landscape and the management challenges associated with maintaining an appropriate quality management regime for any specific information service, are key messages that emerge from this review. Information managers in different posts experience the quality maze differently. Further research and reflection on practice are necessary.

Originality/value

This paper provides useful information for those managers trying to implement quality, performance and impact assessment regimes.
Conflict management in Nigerian university libraries
Authors: Adomi Esharenana E. , Ozioma Anie Sylvester
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to investigate pattern of conflict management in Nigerian university libraries

Design/methodology/approach

A survey employing descriptive design and using questionnaire to collect data from paraprofessional and professional staff of three Nigerian university libraries.

Findings

This article reveals the personal characteristics of the respondents; majority of respondents perceive conflict as positive and can be stimulated by library managers; a majority of them have experienced conflict with their colleagues followed by those who experienced it with their boss(es); interpersonal conflict ranks highest in the type of conflict experienced in the libraries; organisational goal(s) is a major fact taken into consideration during conflict resolution while accommodation ranks highest as technique of conflict avoidance; it is concluded that library managers should deal with conflicts as soon as they arise.

Originality/value

This paper generated important findings which are capable of enabling library managers and staff in understanding conflict and how it can be managed.
Indexing change in LIS work: implications for recruiting managers
Authors: Cullen John , Kavanagh Allison
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on three periods of library and information service (LIS) recruitment data collected over a six‐year timeframe with the aim of developing a tool for indexing change in the recruitment and labour market for workers in the field.

Design/methodology/approach

The recruitment data were collected in an Irish context over three distinct 12‐month timeframes (1999, 2001‐2002 and 2005). The two earlier annual sets of data have already been reported and discussed, and the most recent set (2005) is presented here. The data over the three timeframes are compared here, and a practical approach for collecting these data in an ongoing fashion is suggested.

Findings

The article finds that although LIS positions have become less available in 2005 than in previous periods, that remuneration has increased at a rate of 16 per cent.

Originality/value

The value of this approach and the data unearthed are discussed in the context of their value to senior managers and individuals with responsibility for recruitment and strategic human resource management in library and information service context.
From “user” to “customer”: TQM in academic libraries?
Authors: Wang Hong
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a retrospective overview of total quality management (TQM) in the context of library services.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a study of TQM and a comparative analysis of TQM in the library context.

Findings

Studies of both theoretical principles and experimental implementations demonstrate that it is worthwhile to introduce TQM to the academic libraries. The process of implementing TQM in libraries involves a conceptual change in library professionals and a cultural transformation in the organizational operations. Without a long‐term thinking and commitment, it is not applicable. Teamwork is important for successful implementation of TQM. Every step of the process depends upon the constant support of the top management. Their role determines how far and how long the implementation can go. Therefore, once a decision is made to apply TQM, a strong leadership is required.

Research limitations/implications

It is still too early to predict that TQM is a perfect model for library management.

Originality/value

TQM provides a model and benchmark as guidelines in making new strategies in libraries facing today's great changes. It is arguable whether it is feasible to apply the principles without reservation, but it is reasonable to adopt the techniques with adaptations suitable to the library environment.
Engaging active citizenry among Singaporeans, young and old, at the Singapore public libraries
Authors: Yeen Valerie Siew Wai
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the strategies NLB has undertaken to encourage people to become active citizens at the public libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper covers a brief history of the volunteer movement in NLB, followed by a short discourse on the benefits of having volunteers. This is followed by a discussion on the various strategies taken by NLB for its volunteer management programme. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications for public libraries on the need to engage and manage volunteers.

Findings

The findings in the paper were: as public institutions, public libraries need to engage members of the public beyond just being library members. At the National Library Board Singapore (NLB), library volunteers are seen as strategic community partners who actively play a part in value‐adding and improving library services to the public. From the volunteer standpoint, being part of the public library network is one way of giving back to the community. From the organizational point of view, having volunteers at the public libraries give NLB additional resources through which it can innovate and channel more information and knowledge seeking services.

Practical implications

The paper shows that active citizenry is encouraged as part of NLB's Library 2010 blueprint to forge public libraries into social learning spaces. To do this, volunteers are engaged at different levels – both in terms of the time commitment they can give and the tasks they are willing to undertake. This allows for a flexible volunteering scheme for people from all walks of life to contribute back to society, either on a long or short‐term basis, as a regular volunteer or on a project basis. Libraries hoping to engage volunteers may find the strategies outlined in the paper as useful considerations to build their own volunteer management programme.

Originality/value

This paper offers practical strategic considerations to libraries and information resource centers intend on engaging volunteers as part of the resources to fulfill library services to the public.
Developing knowledge innovation culture of libraries
Authors: Sheng Xiaoping , Sun Lin
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper aims to focus on the definition, meaning and functions of knowledge innovation culture (KIC) of libraries, its influencing factors and some strategies to develop it.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper gives a definition of KIC, discusses its meaning and functions, analyzes several influencing factors, and suggests some strategies and provides a case study.

Findings

The paper finds that the KIC of libraries is a kind of value, behavior and institutional system, which gains competitive advantages and sustainable development of libraries through knowledge creation. This kind of culture is different form traditional library culture and has several specific functions. Some factors like environment, resources and business may affect the development of KIC of libraries. Therefore, it is necessary for libraries to establish environment beneficial to knowledge innovation, enhance trust and cooperation within staffs, create a kind of learning culture, shape knowledge‐based team organization, enhance human resource development and cultivate knowledge innovation talents in order to build up KIC of libraries.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates how libraries can develop KIC.
Embracing customer service in libraries
Authors: Miao Hong , Wang Bassham Mia
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of customer service and outline the practices and conditions required to provide excellent customer service in libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

The concept of service being at the core of the library profession and the role of libraries to lifelong learning are reiterated to emphasize the importance of quality customer service in libraries. The three‐dimension approach to service management is introduced with practical advice on how this approach is applied to libraries. A customer service self‐assessment is provided for libraries to evaluate how well they serve their customers and identify potential areas for improvement in regards to customer service.

Findings

The paper presents ways to establish an effective customer service plan in libraries and provides examples and models for better customer service initiatives.

Research limitations/implications

The paper shows that while the three dimensions of the “Service Triangle” and the implications for libraries are discussed, the interplays between all the dimensions need to be further explored.

Practical implications

The paper provides a practical guide and a useful source of information for libraries planning to set up customer service programs or to improve their customer service efforts.

Originality/value

This paper reviews the concept of customer service from the corporate world and discusses its implications and applications for libraries.
The heretical library manager for the future
Authors: O'Connor Steve
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore what it means to be a library leader in the future.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper begins with an exploration of the intelligences library leaders need to pursue their work and their lives. It then assesses the understanding of those intelligences and their relative values. Finally, the paper attempts to bring the threads together.

Findings

Building the bridge across the chasm from one form of library service to another will require many intelligences, perspectives and different skills if it is to happen.

Originality/value

The paper advocates a robust approach to the future, with managers re‐examining their own values, their ability to listen, keep an open mind, think heretical thoughts and think the unthinkable.
Organizational effectiveness through technology innovation and HRM strategies
Authors: Wang Zhongming
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This editorial aims at providing a general framework for papers in this special issue. The main theme is to understand the organizational effectiveness from recent developments in technology innovation and human resources strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

The editorial first describes the need for technology innovation and HRM integration. A three‐strategy model for global technology innovation and organizational development was adopted: personnel strategy, system strategy, and organizational strategy.

Findings

The personnel strategy could play a crucial role in enhancing the effects of human resources management (HRM) and entrepreneurship by supporting the main dimensions of HRM. The system strategy was used to facilitate technology innovation through knowledge management while the organizational strategy was adopted to create positive organizational culture and high performance systems.

Originality/value

The paper suggests that globally distributed engineering and international technology entrepreneurship be new area for theory building. The strategies from this special issue have implications for the study of new information technology innovation and e‐HR developmental approaches as well as professional service, customer relations modeling and strategic HRM.
An exploratory study on contingency factors affecting R&D performance measurement
Authors: Cho Eunseong , Lee Mushin
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To explore the effects of contingency and the position of R&D professionals on R&D performance measurement.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting a bottom‐up approach that reflects R&D professionals' opinion, this study investigated the relationship between preferred performance measures and contingency factors (project phase, structure, technology, and the position of R&D professionals). Fifty two senior researchers at a Korean telecommunications laboratory were surveyed.

Findings

The results suggest that the goal achievement dimension and technology factors are more important in earlier phases of an R&D project while production, economy/market, and external evaluation factors become more significant in later stages.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that the weights of R&D performance measures should be aligned with the contingency factors and the position of R&D professionals.

Originality/value

While most studies have adopted a macro‐level approach, this study examined R&D performance measurement at the micro‐level. While most previous works are conceptual, this study made an empirical investigation that enables statistical tests. And the findings provide useful recommendations for human resource managers who are interested in measuring the performance of technology innovation.
Informal contacts and performance in innovation teams
Authors: Kratzer J. , Leenders Roger Th.A.J. , Van Engelen Jo M.L.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper addresses the effect friendly and friendship relationships among members of innovation teams on the performance of the teams.

Design/methodology/approach

The members of innovation teams may develop friendly and friendship relationships over time. In our study, we focus on the effect of the frequency of such non‐work relationships on team performance. For this research, we collected full network data on non‐work relationships in a sample of 44 innovation teams and investigate how these “friendly and friendship networks” affect the performance of innovation teams.

Findings

As result turns out that the frequency of friendly ties has positive as well as negative consequences on team performance, whereas the frequency of friendship ties positively relates to the performance.

Research limitations/implications

The results indicate the importance of informal relations for the performance of innovation teams. Further, it is shown that friendly and friendship relations have different theoretical and practical implications. Future research can overcome the limitations of the presented research by concentrating on larger sample sizes and longitudinal research designs.

Practical implications

Building on the results of the study managers can better orchestra innovation teams focussing not only on formal but also on informal contacts. The main practical implication is to strive for friendship contacts and to avoid too strong friendly contacts.

Originality/value

The study adds knowledge to the research on informal relationships and performance two‐fold. First, the findings testify that friendly and friendship contacts are different and not part of the same dimension, and there is strong evidence for the importance of informal contacts.
The effects of culture and HRM practices on firm performance
Authors: Chew Irene K.H. , Sharma Basu
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of organizational culture and human resource management (HRM) effectiveness on financial performance of a sample of Singapore‐based companies involved in mergers and acquisition activities.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used the method of content analysis to collect information on cultural values and HRM effectiveness, using Kabanoff's content analysis dictionary. Culture profiles were then assigned to organizations in the sample following the results from cluster analysis. Various financial ratios were used to measure organizational performance. Finally, regression analysis was performed to test various hypotheses.

Findings

The key finding of the study is that organizations with either elite or leader value profile, when complemented by human resource effectiveness, had a better financial performance as compared to organizations with meritocratic or collegial value profiles. It thus follows that, to achieve better financial results by undertaking merger and acquisition activities organizations need to have elite or leadership value profile.

Originality/value

This study makes a contribution to the literature by producing new empirical evidence to bear on the effect of organizational culture and human resource effectiveness on financial performance of merging acquiring organizations from a newly industrialized Asian country.
Introduction: HRM and job performance incentives
Authors: Mahy Benoît , Plasman Robert , Rycx François
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper aims to introduce the special issue of IJM, a collection of papers that were originally presented at the 88th Applied Econometrics Association Conference.

Design/methodology/approach

Provides a general outline of the focus of the issue.

Findings

The conference papers aimed to stimulate discussion on the “Econometrics of labour demand”. They focus on aspects of HRM, including incentive pay schemes, job satisfaction, promotion and social concerns.

Originality/value

The paper outlines the development of personnel economics over the past 25 years and introduces the papers in the special issue of IJM.
Performance‐related pay and firm performance in Finland
Authors: Piekkola Hannu
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To analyse productivity effects of performance‐related pay (PRP).

Design/methodology/approach

Fixed effect analysis of the productivity effects of the introduction of PRP scheme using linked employer‐employee data from Finland in 1996‐2002 and controlling for the skill structure of the employees.

Findings

PRP improves both productivity and profitability by the same magnitude of around 6 per cent, but only if the compensations are substantial enough and exceeding on average 3.6 per cent of salaries for those who receive it. Incentive effects relate to the introduction of PRP, usually accompanied by new human resource management. PRP in Finland cannot, however, be directly linked to an increase in participation of employees in decision‐making. PRP schemes have substantially improved firm performance without creating much wage pressures.

Practical implications

Useful information for the implementation and design of incentive‐based wage schemes.

Originality/value

Very few papers using large data sets have information on exact PRP payments that are separate from bonus pay or piece wages.
Some are punished and some are rewarded
Authors: McCausland W.D. , Pouliakas K. , Theodossiou I.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To investigate whether significant differences exist in job satisfaction (JS) between individuals receiving performance‐related pay (PRP) and those on alternative compensation plans.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data from four waves (1998‐2001) of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), a Heckman‐type econometric procedure is applied that corrects for both self‐selection of individuals into their preferred compensation scheme and the endogeneity of wages in a JS framework.

Findings

It is found that while the predicted JS of workers receiving PRP is lower on average compared to those on other pay schemes, PRP exerts a positive effect on the mean JS of (very) high‐paid workers. A potential explanation for this pattern could be that for lower‐paid employees PRP is perceived to be controlling, whereas higher‐paid workers derive a utility benefit from what they view as supportive reward schemes.

Research limitations/implications

As the study utilises data from the UK only, its results cannot be generalized to other countries characterized by distinct labour market contexts. Furthermore, the quality of the estimates depends on the quality of the identifying restrictions which, in these types of studies, are always somewhat ad hoc. However, the available tests for evaluating the quality of the identifying restrictions indicated that they are appropriate for the models used.

Practical implications

The findings of the paper suggest that using performance pay as an incentive device in the UK could prove to be counterproductive in the long run for certain low‐paid occupations, as far as employee JS is concerned.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to have attempted to correct for the selectivity issue when considering the effect of PRP on JS. Its implications should be of interest to human resource managers when designing the compensation strategies of their organizations.
Promotion to hospital consultant in NHS Scotland
Authors: Mavromaras Kostas , Scott Anthony
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors that influence promotions of medical staff from registrar to consultant in the Scottish NHS.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper addresses the question of what determines the incidence of promotion, concentrating on the impact of experience, effort and the choice of specialty in promotion outcomes. A unique panel data set is used that contains individual level information on all NHS hospital doctors in Scotland from 1991 to 2000. Probabilities of promotion are decomposed by specialty into the part attributable to the mean characteristics of the doctors in each specialty and the effect of belonging to a specialty itself.

Findings

The paper estimates a panel model of promotion and identifies specialty effects on promotion. Effort in the two years before promotion is shown to have an influence on promotion probabilities. Specialties are found to exhibit considerable differences in their rate of promotion over and above the differences explained by the characteristics of the doctors in them.

Originality/value

The paper examines the promotion of medical staff from registrar to consultant in the Scottish NHS during the 1990s. The paper concentrates on the impact of experience, effort and medical specialty on the probability of promotion.
Firm‐provided social concerns – just another compensating wage differentials story?
Authors: Bolvig Iben
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To analyse two important effects of the level of social concern in the firm. First, the effect on the labour force composition, i.e. do particular types of concerns attract certain kinds of employees? Second, the effect on the wage level within the firm, i.e. do firm‐provided social concerns substitute for money wages, or are they provided as an additional compensation?

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical analysis using a survey on more than 2,000 firms, linked to administrative data for each employee in the firms. Estimates wage equations using the IV approach to deal with endogeneity of the level of social concerns. Two competing theories aiming to explain the use of social concerns toward employees, the compensating wage differential theory and corporate social responsibility, are compared.

Findings

Finds indications in favour of the compensating wage differential theory when looking at wage effects at the firm level, whereas looking at the target group level finds that white‐collar workers might experience higher levels of social concerns without having lower wages, which contrast the theory of compensating wage differentials.

Originality/value

The paper compare two well‐established theories within two different disciplines – the compensating wage differential theory from economics, and CSR from management. This is done using solid empirical analysis.
Why do large firms pay higher wages? Evidence from matched worker‐firm data
Authors: Lallemand Thierry , Plasman Robert , Rycx François
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper analyses the magnitude and sources of the firm‐size wage premium in the Belgian private sector.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a unique matched employer‐employee data set, our empirical strategy is based on the estimation of a standard Mincer wage equation. We regress individual gross hourly wages (including bonuses) on the log of firm‐size and insert step by step control variables in order to test the validity of various theoretical explanations.

Findings

Results show the existence of a significant and positive firm‐size wage premium, even when controlling for many individual characteristics and working conditions. A substantial part of this wage premium derives from the sectoral affiliation of the firms. It is also partly due to the higher productivity and stability of the workforce in large firms. Yet, findings do not support the hypothesis that large firms match high skilled workers together. Finally, results indicate that the elasticity between wages and firm‐size is significantly larger for white‐collar workers and comparable in the manufacturing and the service sectors.

Research limitation/implications

Unfortunately, we are not able to control for the potential non‐random sorting process of workers across firms of different sizes.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the few to test the empirical validity of recent hypotheses (e.g. productivity, job stability and matching of high skilled workers). It is also the first to analyse the firm‐size wage premium in the Belgian private sector.
Human resource management and labour demand dynamics in Belgium
Authors: Arnone Laurent , Dupont Claire , Mahy Benoît , Spataro Séverine
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to estimate whether human resource (HR) practices influence labour demand dynamics behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

Groups practices in terms of employees satisfaction and work organisation, financial incentives and individual's career perspectives, and explains how they may influence labour productivity and cost. Considering five HR variables, estimates two specifications of labour demand dynamics, under production constrained by demand or monopolistic competition regimes. Applies the two‐step GMM estimator proposed by Blundell and Bond to a balanced panel of 452 Belgian firms observed during the period 1998‐2002.

Findings

In the complete monopolistic competition specification, estimates a positive one lag relation explaining labour demand by average training hours combined with an indicator of well‐being of workers, the fact that they are engaged in long term contracts and stay in firms. Some evidence therefore seems to show that some combined HR practices can improve labour demand.

Originality/value

Provides information on whether HR practices influence labour demand dynamics in a Belgian context.
US physician board certification and labor market returns
Authors: O'Halloran Patrick L. , Bashaw David J.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to determine the characteristics of board certification among US physicians and to test whether accounting for the expected gains to certification alters the pattern of the determinants of board certification.

Design/methodology/approach

Splitting the sample into sub‐samples by characteristics associated with certification/non‐certification identified in a probit, the incremental gain to certification from log‐earnings equations is identified. Realizing that these methods are susceptible to sample selection, correction is made for it using the Heckman approach. Using the sample selection corrected equations, the expected gain to certification among those who certify is then predicted and those who do not certify is then predicted and this difference is included as a proxy for the expected gain in the original probit to ascertain whether including the expected gain alters the determinants of certification.

Findings

Accounting for the expected gain alters the pattern of the determinants of certification. Although some groups such as blacks appear less likely to certify, after accounting for their expected return to certification, they are not as less likely. This is explained in terms of the expected marginal return to certification, market structure and practice setting.

Research limitations/implications

The data used in the analysis apply only to young physicians in the USA. Also, these results may be applicable only to the particular cohort used in this analysis.

Practical implications

The findings help to explain the absence of minority board certified physicians within the USA.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to simultaneously estimate the returns to physician board certification and the decision to obtain certification.
Does one size fit all?
Authors: Atkinson Carol , Cuthbert Peter
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper sets out to investigate the effect of position in the organisational hierarchy on an employee's psychological contract.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a statistical analysis of secondary data taken from the Working in Britain 2000 (WIB) dataset, an ESRC/CIPD funded study, to investigate the perspectives on the content of the psychological contract of different employee groups, namely managers, supervisors and “shop floor” employees.

Findings

The results show that differences do emerge between different groups of employee, managers having a generally more relational contract. These differences are not, however, as large as may be expected and, for some aspects of the psychological contract, there are also considerable similarities between all the groups.

Research limitations/implications

Analysis is limited by the data present in the dataset, meaning that certain aspects of the psychological contract, for example, trust, are not as fully explored as is desirable.

Practical implications

The research has implications for how to appropriately manage the employment relationships of differing employee groups.

Originality/value

Most existing empirical data assume that there is “a” psychological contract within an organisation and the findings from this research demonstrate that the position is, in fact, more complex.
Participation in voluntary training activities in the Canadian banking industry
Authors: Renaud Stéphane , Morin Lucie , Cloutier Julie
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This study seeks to investigate whether gender and managerial status act as significant correlates of participation in voluntary training.

Design/methodology/approach

This theoretical foundation rests on human capital and systemic discrimination theories. Data come from the computerized records of a bank's employees.

Findings

Results show that both gender and managerial status have a differential impact on participation in voluntary training: women participate more than men and managers' participation is higher than non‐managers' participation. Also, individual characteristics and productivity‐related variables impact differently on participation by gender and managerial status.

Originality/value

The results showed that the probability of participating in voluntary training varies according to gender and managerial status. This probability is explained in particular by the differential effect produced by the individuals' productivity‐related characteristics (age, schooling, organizational tenure and part‐time status) according to gender and managerial status.
The relationship between HRM, technology innovation and performance in China
Authors: Li Yuan , Zhao Yongbin , Liu Yi
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Human resource management (HRM) is seen as crucial for innovation and firm performance in China. This paper aims to carry out an empirical research to investigate the effects of main dimensions of HRM on technological innovation as well as organizational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The research uses a sample of 194 high‐tech firms surveyed in eight provinces in China.

Findings

This research finds that employee training, immaterial motivation and process control have positive effects on technological innovation, while material motivation and outcome control have a negative influence on technological innovation. It is also found that technological innovation is positively related with performance.

Research limitations/implications

This study does not consider the different influence of every HRM dimension affecting different innovation types. This should be a future research topic.

Practical implications

This study provides useful managerial implication for managers. First, employee training is needed to develop employees' knowledge. Second, material incentive is needed but not main motivation in Chinese high‐tech firms. Third, process control should be emphasized more than outcome control in Chinese high‐tech firms.

Originality/value

This study demonstrated that the HRM significantly contributed to technological innovation and firm performance. This study demonstrates that Chinese high‐tech firms' HRM has an important influence on technological innovation, and lead to firm's superior performance.
Coping with a structural crisis: evaluating an innovative redundancy‐retraining project
Authors: Winter‐Ebmer Rudolf
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to evaluate a specific manpower training program in Austria; a program which was particularly designed for workers affected by a structural crisis in the steel industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Microeconometric evaluation methods were used to assess earnings and employment probabilities up to five years after training. A treatment/control group approach was used together with instrumental variables estimates to control for selective entry into training.

Findings

The results show considerable wage gains – even for a period of five years after leaving the Foundation – as well as improved employment prospects.

Research limitations/implications

The research has concentrated on a very specific project, which was exceptional in terms of broad training and counseling as well as in terms of funding and selection of trainees; therefore, it is not easily generalisable to other programs.

Practical implications

The success of the program can be traced back to high incentives of all participants which, in turn, was caused by joint financing by local government, the workers themselves and the firm which made these workers redundant in the first place. Moreover, a combination of job counseling, search activities and training in capabilities which give presentable certificates turned out to be successful.

Originality/value

The study will be valuable to those who look at specifics of job training programs as well as to those who are interested in designing programs for structural change.
Organizational socialization, career aspirations and turnover intentions among design engineers
Authors: Bigliardi Barbara , Petroni Alberto , Ivo Dormio Alberto
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Turnover intention is one's behavioural intention to quit. The purpose of this study is to compare the relative influences of organizational socialization and career aspirations on turnover intentions of design engineers and to address the design of more effective development programmes and the reduction of dysfunctional turnover.

Design/methodology/approach

A study of 442 engineers staffed within “design and development” units is presented, and a research model is tested using structural equation modelling techniques.

Findings

The analysis indicates that design engineers report lower levels of turnover intention when organizational socialization is prominent and an adequate range of opportunities that satisfy career aspirations exist within the organization.

Research limitations/implications

The cause‐effect relationships among constructs that are empirically derived from the analysis should be further supported by a longitudinal study. Future research should be aimed at exploring the different patterns of turnover intentions of engineers with different career orientations and in organizations with or without rigid formalized career advancement system.

Practical implications

Managers of technical staff are advised to put an effort to develop and encourage lateral career moves of research and development staff members, particularly for newcomers, by offering a variety of experiences, that is likely to speed up their prompt creation of a better defined self‐concept.

Originality/value

The originality of the research lies in that it addresses an explanation of engineers’ turnover based on a theoretical framework that jointly combines internal career anchors as well as external career opportunities and socialization, thus striving to fill a gap in existing literature.
Accessing ideas to develop leadership and organization
Authors: Rothberg Glenn
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To measure, group, and understand the role of ideas in the workplace.

Design/methodology/approach

The study carries out a cluster analysis of what managers say is happening to ideas in their workplace.

Findings

This pilot study finds that the role of ideas, their interaction, and progression across organizations and workplaces can be identified and measured. It provides a way of identifying group mindsets and a medium for understanding and addressing orthodoxy.

Research limitations/implications

The main implication is to gain a practical understanding of the role of ideas in any group's performance. The questions about ideas are widely applicable across groups. The research was also limited by its sample size.

Practical implications

By identifying how ideas are currently addressed, the approach is available for a wide range of group situations in organizations and across disciplines. It can be used to recognize, harness and improve the contribution of disparate ideas to performance and outcomes.

Originality/value

The article's originality is in its focus on the role of ideas in organization and society. The study highlights the role of idea interaction and progression, invaluable in integrating the development of the theory and practice of leadership, organization and management.
Organizational culture in public sector organizations
Authors: Schraeder Mike , Tears Rachel S. , Jordan Mark H.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To provide two possible approaches for enhancing organizational culture awareness and promote cultural change in public sector organization. These approaches include training and leading by example.

Design/methodology/approach

Literature outlining fundamental aspects of organizational culture is summarized, serving as a foundation for reviewing the potential value of training as a method for enhancing public managers' awareness of organizational culture. This is followed by an illustrated example of how the culture was changed in major department of a public organization through leading by example.

Findings

Training and leading by example can serve as effective methodologies for promoting culture awareness and brining about culture change in organizations.

Practical implications

The article highlights some interesting similarities and differences between cultures in public organizations and cultures in private sector organizations. The differences, in particular, reinforce the importance of training and leading by example to guide public sector employees through the complex dynamics often embodied within culture transformations in organizations.

Originality/value

While there are some important similarities between cultures of private sector and public sector organizations, the differences existing in public sector organization cultures create unique challenges for managers trying to evoke change. The article provides a unique perspective on applying training and leading by example to the context of public sector organizational culture.
The unintended consequences of management by objectives: the volume growth target at Volvo Cars
Authors: Dahlsten Fredrik , Styhre Alexander , Williander Mats
Published: January 2007

Purpose

In order to lead and control large organisations, top managers could use objectives as an integrative mechanism and a driver of change. This paper aims to study the overall volume target of Volvo Cars regarding the consequences it has on organisational practices.

Design/methodology/approach

Interviews with relevant managers at Volvo Car Corporation were conducted.

Findings

Different interpretations of a seemingly clear objective, different views on both the rationale for and possible direction of the needed change and an increasing gap between middle and top managers are organisational responses to the demanding volume ambition. The response from the interviewed managers was more emotional than expected, resulting in an overall sense of target fatigue in the studied organisation.

Research limitations/implications

The study suggests that the lack of academic research interest in the management by objectives (MBO) discourse is misleading. Rather than dismissing MBO as what is an outmoded management fad, management researchers should examine how MBO is used in practice.

Practical implications

Organisations rely on objectives, but such objectives need to be translated into detailed actions by top management. The creation of meaning and actual means to fulfil the targets is an important dimension to consider for managers wanting to manage the organisation by using objectives. Organisational context and cultural obstacles must not be neglected.

Originality/value

The paper offers a unique insight into how a major automotive company deals with long‐term objectives. In addition, the paper calls for a renewal of research on MBO.
Creative climate and learning organization factors: their contribution towards innovation
Authors: Ismail Meriam
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of two independent variables, creative climate and learning organization, on innovation separately and simultaneously.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology used was multiple regression analysis executed on the data collected. Apart from that, the study also usedT‐tests to compare the means of variables between the randomly selected local organization and MNCs. ANOVA was also conducted to compare the means of the variables between three different employee categories of job levels, namely the top, middle/lower management and supporting staff.

Findings

The results indicated that both learning culture and creative climate contributed 58.5 percent to the explanation of the observed variances in the innovation construct. The learning organization culture separately was found to have a significantly stronger relationship with innovation (r=0.733) than did the organizational creative climate (r=0.473). This implied a larger contribution from the learning organization variable towards innovation. The findings also showed that there were no significant differences in the mean scores (P>0.05) among the three organizational job levels included, namely the top management, middle/lower management and staff, in the members' perceptions of innovation, creative climate and learning culture. The study also found no significant differences in the mean scores (P>0.05) among the small, medium, large and very large organizational population sizes in the members' perceptions on innovation, creative climate and learning culture.

Originality/value

The study involved a sample of 18 private organizations selected at random from a list of 165 organizations across various core businesses. The instrument used for innovation is developed by the researcher, validated bypost hocfactor analysis involving 259 respondents.
Hormesis: an evolutionary “predict and prepare” survival mechanism
Authors: Pech Richard J. , Oakley Katherine E.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Can managers prepare their organisations for the unexpected and unforeseeable? The purpose of this paper is to argue that organisations that endure and survive a serious disruption to homeostasis may as a consequence be better equipped to survive further and more devastating attacks.

Design/methodology/approach

This hypothesis is based on a naturally occurring biological survival mechanism termed hormesis. Hormesis describes a controversial biological phenomenon where the organism overcompensates and adaptation occurs after exposure to low doses of toxins. Hormesis protects the organism against subsequent repeat exposure to more lethal doses.

Findings

Hormetic effects may occur in an organisation just as it does in a biological entity following exposure to a life‐threatening disruption, inoculating it against potentially more lethal recurrences. Disruption in an organisational context may include negative environmental impacts, incidences of management incompetence, or consequences of competitive hostilities. It is argued that lessons can be applied from examples of biological hormesis, particularly lessons related to the hormetic recovery stages of overcompensation and adaptation as part of an evolutionary survival mechanism for organisations.

Practical implications

Organisational hormesis may have the potential to produce growth and advancement that would not normally occur under ordinary circumstances. Hormesis demonstrates more than a step in an organisational learning process as it conveys an adaptive response designed to prevent future disruptions. Hormesis is a healing process with foresight, “designed” with the intent of increasing organisational fitness within a rapidly changing environment. It has been “designed” with the knowledge that the environment may yet dispense an even greater challenge, still to be met. In this respect the hormetic process defies evolutionary dogma which claims that evolutionary processes are blind that evolution can only react to and compensate for past pressure rather than being able to predict and prepare for future threats. After recovery from disruption, managers may, for cost cutting and other expedient purposes, cease recovery or restructuring activities. This action may unwittingly interfere with the hormetic overcompensation stage, thereby interfering with evolutionary adaptation processes. As a consequence, the organisation's ability to repel more severe disruptions may be compromised. Some firms are prematurely liquidated or downsized before they can develop hormetic response mechanisms. As demonstrated by the Xerox example, liquidation in 2000 would have been a catastrophic mistake.

Originality/value

Provides a post‐mortem examination searching for possible explanations for organisational phenomena that have as yet been adequately explained.