bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Do internal and external environmental management contribute to the triple bottom line?
Authors: De Giovanni Pietro 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of both internal and external environmental management (EM) on the triple bottom line (TBL), which embraces environmental, economic, and social performance. Both direct and indirect effects are estimated in order to capture the overall relationships between EM and performance. Furthermore, the paper contributes to the ongoing debate of measuring the latent variable “performance” as a formative rather than reflective construct.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model is drawn up based on the existing literature in EM and considering the TBL paradigm. The model is tested on a large sample of Italian firms; thus, the unit of analysis is represented by single firms. A structural equation model (SEM) is tested to analyze the data, and its estimation is performed using both Lisrel and PLS – namely, covariance‐ and component‐based SEM.FindingsCovariance‐based SEM shows that internal EM is a successful driver of TBL. EM directly improves environmental and social performance, but contributes only indirectly to the economic bottom line. In contrast, external EM is a less effective driver, contributing only positively to environmental performance and exerting only an indirect, marginal impact on economic performance. When using a formative mode to measure performance and component‐based SEM, internal EM has a positive direct and indirect influence on the TBL; however, external EM does not directly improve economic performance.Research limitations/implicationsData collection was completed at the end of 2008 and comprises only data about Italian firms. Items in the questionnaire allow for a two‐year lag period.Practical implicationsWhen targeting to meet the TBL, managers should concentrate their efforts on internal EM, which is more effective than external EM.Originality/valueThe paper tests the direct and indirect impacts of internal and external EM on the TBL measuring performance using a formative model and showing the different results obtained in the causal relationships.
Job satisfaction and quality management: an empirical analysis
Authors: de Menezes Lilian M. 
Published: February 2012

PurposeQuality management requires increasing employee involvement that could empower employees, leading to employee and customer satisfaction. Although the literature describes a picture of increasing job demands and work intensification, the evidence of an association between employee job satisfaction and quality management remains mixed and narrow. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this link in the wider economy, and address the roles of human resource management practices that target direct employee participation (job enrichment and high involvement management) in this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe Workplace Employment Relations Survey of 2004 (WERS2004) provides information on British workplaces including the use of specific quality and human resource management practices, employees' job satisfaction and other outcomes. Latent variable analysis identifies employers' approaches to quality management, job enrichment and high involvement management. Workplace‐level regression analyses illustrate the link between job satisfaction and various desired organizational outcomes. Hierarchical two‐level regression models are used to assess the link between quality management at workplaces and employee job satisfaction.FindingsAlthough job satisfaction is positively associated with desired workplace outcomes (organizational commitment, productivity and quality), no significant link between quality management and employee job satisfaction is found. By contrast, a positive association between job enrichment and job satisfaction is confirmed, which may be weakened in the presence of quality management.Practical implicationsGiven the potential impact of job satisfaction on organizational outcomes, job enrichment features should not be neglected when designing jobs so that an effective quality management strategy can be in place. Some weak positive association between high involvement and quality managements with perceived job demands is also observed, and this should be further investigated in more detailed studies of employee well‐being.Originality/valueThis is a large empirical study on an economy‐wide sample of workplaces and their employees.
Impact of RFID on manufacturing effectiveness and efficiency
Authors: Zelbst Pamela J. , Green Kenneth W. , Sower Victor E. , Reyes Pedro M. 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology utilization in manufacturing firms on manufacturing efficiency and effectiveness.Design/methodology/approachUsing systems theory as a basis, a RFID utilization and outcome(s) performance model was developed from the literature. Data from a sample of 155 manufacturers were collected and the model was assessed using a structural equation methodology.FindingsFindings indicate that utilization of RFID technology leads to improved manufacturing efficiency and manufacturing effectiveness. Improvements in efficiency lead directly to improved organizational performance, and improvements in effectiveness lead directly to improved supply chain performance.Research limitations/implicationsData were collected during the growth stage of RFID technology adoption and were only collected from firms in the manufacturing sector. Results should be interpreted with these limitations in mind.Practical implicationsThe implementation of RFID technology can result in improved manufacturing efficiency and effectiveness. Practitioners considering adoption of the technology should fully account for these potential efficiency and effectiveness related benefits when determining the justification for adoption of this technology.Originality/valueThe paper describes one of the first empirically‐based studies investigating the impact of RFID technology implementation on supply chain and organizational performance in manufacturing organizations.
Relationship between union strength and supervisor‐subordinate power relations
Authors: Martinez Arthur D. , Fiorito Jack , Ferris Gerald R. 
Published: February 2012

PurposeA labor union's strength is a crucial factor when considering outcomes such as its constituents' empowerment. One of the most important goals of any labor union is to achieve increased balance‐of‐power between the labor and management groups; hence, union strength is an accomplishment of this fundamental aim. It follows that stronger unions, measured by their perceived effectiveness in dealing with management, will contain more empowered constituents. Previous union‐related research typically considered employee empowerment at the group‐level of analysis (e.g. improved work rules, pay, and benefits for entire groups of employees). The purpose of this paper is to propose and test hypotheses on the relationship between perceived union strength, a micro‐ or workplace‐level analog of union bargaining power, and perceptions of shared leader‐member expectations using supervisor‐subordinate dyads as a unit of analysis.Design/methodology/approachWorking adults across the USA were sampled (n=347), through the use of a survey software company that makes survey panels commercially available. Respondents were racially/ethnically diverse, with a mean age of about 41 years (range of 18 to over 62 years), and slightly more females than males (about 65 percent female). Also, about 13.5 percent were members of a labor union.FindingsEmployees who belonged to more powerful unions (i.e. compared to employees who belonged to less powerful unions) demonstrated increased shared‐leadership expectations with their supervisors. In support of Hypothesis 1, non‐union employees also possessed increased shared leadership expectations in comparison to union workers where the union was perceived as weak. As proposed in Hypothesis 2, unions perceived as strong produced more empowered constituents relative to unions perceived as weak. Finally, non‐union employees did not appear to differ in shared‐leadership expectations from employees perceiving strong unions, contrary to Hypothesis 3.Originality/valueA contribution of the present study is to show that unions also have significant connections with supervisor‐subordinate relations (i.e. shared leadership), and that simply having a unionized workplace does not guarantee increased employee empowerment; unions must also be strong.
Drug vis‐à‐vis consumer: a retrospection
Authors: Das Praufulla Kumar 
Published: February 2012

PurposeDrugs and pharmaceuticals assume importance in the healthcare system today for their capacity to replace costly treatments like surgery. The pharmaceutical industry is considered capital intensive and building a new product costs as much as $900 million. Though the cost of developing a new product is significantly low in a country like India, it is substantial. Therefore, perhaps, companies try to go for incremental innovation. This apart, finding new symptoms to promote products, hiding major side effects, publishing data mixing the outcomes of different studies, publishing major outcomes in reputed journals and poor outcome studies in less important journals are some of the strategies being adopted by pharmaceutical companies. The purpose of this paper is to analyze these issues and their impacts on the Indian economy. As most of the Indian pharmaceutical companies are in private hands, this paper focuses on the possible plight of Indian poor in the changing world order.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws upon earlier research undertaken by the author. His experience from the pharmaceutical industry as well as the published works of other researchers also helped complete the work.FindingsThe analysis of this paper indicates that in order to avoid the loss of revenue and to keep their businesses floating, drug and pharmaceutical companies resort to information manipulation.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited to the author's ability to review literatures in the field of marketing and corporate ethics related to drugs and pharmaceuticals. As competition and economic liberalization would have a significant impact on pharmaceutical brand‐success, therefore, perhaps, drug companies would resort to manipulations for survival. This paper is an attempt to alert the society to these sorts of information laundering.Practical implicationsThis paper would perhaps provide consumers with necessary information to understand the unethical practices being adopted by drug companies and help them consider what exactly to look for and would press for their right to good health.Originality/valueThis paper is the record of original work done by the author. It would probably fulfil an identified need and would perhaps help the society fight unethical practices being adopted by pharmaceutical companies.
Open book practices in buyer‐supplier relationships in India
Authors: Kumra Rajeev , Agndal Henrik , Nilsson Ulf 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThis paper seeks to explore how Indian buying firms practise an open book (OB) policy in supplier relationships in three industries, i.e. the vehicle industry, the construction industry and the information technology industry. It also aims to study determinants of open book practices.Design/methodology/approachApplication of the OB policy is operationalised as the nature of open book practices, the extent and stage of data disclosed, the form of data disclosed, the direction of data disclosed, the attitude towards cost data disclosed, and the purpose and conditions of data disclosed. Determinants of the open book policy comprise characteristics of the exchange, the product, the buyer, the supplier and the supply market. Qualitative data were collected in the form of 22 interviews with representatives of three buying organisations and several of their suppliers in order to build three case studies.FindingsThe results suggest that the OB policy is used by buyers for diverse purposes ranging from strategic to operational, for example value engineering at the product development stage, to ensure supplier margins, for self improvements and cost reductions, and country entry decisions. Similarly, the data shared ranged from narrow to wide in scope and scale. Suppliers' attitudes ranged from fairly neutral to very negative towards open books. Power asymmetries, the number of alternative suppliers, product performance characteristics and value, incentives offered, and buyer efforts were found to influence OB practices.Practical implicationsExperiences gained from employing an OB policy in vehicle manufacturing suggests that firms in other industries can better leverage the use of open books for joint problem solving, equitable profit sharing and supplier selection.Originality/valueThe paper highlights that an OB policy can have broader applicability than recognised by many past studies and indicates that it can serve purposes of strategic decision‐making. It can also be an integrated part of a buyer's risk reduction strategy. Further, the study provides specific recommendations for Indian companies with regard to the application of an open book policy.
Understanding the mechanism linking interpersonal traits to pro‐social behaviors among salespeople: lessons from India
Authors: Agnihotri Raj , Krush Michael , Singh Rakesh K. 
Published: February 2012

PurposeFactors such as globalization and market size have made India a major consideration for multinational firms and their salespeople. Despite the appeal of the market, the majority of theories and empirical studies of sales have been based on Western thought and within a Western context. This study seeks to address the issue of what interpersonal traits impel outcomes and behaviors of Indian salespeople.Design/methodology/approachA model was tested using survey data collected from salespeople and their respective sales managers within a print media company located in India. A structural equation model was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results suggest an interesting interplay between interpersonal traits and pro‐social sales behaviors. Empathy proneness was positively related to helping behaviors targeted at other salespeople, while guilt proneness was positively associated with behaviors targeted at customers.Practical implicationsThe research suggests that a salesperson's capacity for empathy does not always translate into customer‐based behaviors. Hence sales training and other interventions targeted towards building empathy may actually impact on behaviors between salespeople versus the interface between the salesperson and the customer. Theoretical and managerial applications are also discussed.Originality/valueThe paper combines a data collection of salesperson‐sales manager dyadic responses and examines whether the theoretical undergirding of the Western‐based pro‐social literature is appropriate to apply in Eastern cultures such as India.
Rethinking impact and redefining responsibility
Authors: Humphrey Christopher , Miller Peter 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThe starting point for the paper is an assessment of the impact of a 1993 special issue ofAccounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal,which provided an interdisciplinary analysis of the pursuit of accountable management reforms in the UK public sector. From this assessment, the paper offers a set of reflections on the development over the last two decades of “new” public management practice and research, and also indicates some of the obligations and responsibilities of academic researchers and managers alike in the context of a continuing appetite for such reforms.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is written in a reflective fashion, including assessments of: our role as guest editors of the special issue; the continuing pertinence of key messages emanating from the special issue; and broader considerations drawn from our own working experience in managerial roles in universities and personal reflections on the state of the public management literature.FindingsThe paper highlights the long‐standing litany of failure attached to such public management reform movements, as well as the limited degree of cross‐disciplinary learning within the field. The paper emphasises that we need to rethink the parameters of “public sector” (accounting) research, and avoid the partitioning of (accounting) research into ever smaller and self‐referential sub‐areas. We need more cross‐national studies. We need to know more about which management practices travel readily, and which travel less easily, and what happens when implementation is problematic. We need also to reinforce the importance of historical analyses, if we are to derive the most benefit from studies of the interrelations among accounting and public management reforms and wider transformations in ways of governing economic and social life. Finally, we need to retain or reinstate curiosity at the heart of our concerns, in order to dispel the self‐evidence or taken‐for‐grantedness of so much of our present.Research limitations/implicationsPersonal reflections, while being beneficially close to the subject under consideration, inevitably suffer from claims of bias and a lack of independence. We have sought to control for such risks by drawing on a variety of sources of information with respect to impact, including (albeit ironically) citation counts and an analysis of the writings of individual authors contributing to the special issue.Originality/valueThe paper is novel in that it seeks to combine an analysis of the literature on public sector accounting and management reforms over several decades with our own, multi‐faceted, engagement with public management research and practice.
The special issue: AAAJ and research innovation
Authors: Carnegie Garry D. 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to a special issue commemorating the 25th anniversary of the publication of Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal (AAAJ).Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides the background to the special issue and a summary of the articles appearing across the following pages. It features five retrospective/prospective essays by the guest editors of selected special issues, published between 1991 and 1997 within the first ten volumes of AAAJ.FindingsThe guest editors of selected special issues have endeavoured to identify and assess the impacts of the issues they edited in shaping future developments in the literature and to consider issues for future research developments in those fields.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper serves as a selected commentary and is not a substitute for carefully reading each of the essays published. Each individual paper provides a comprehensive review of developments in the relevant literature and of the possibilities for future research developments within the theme addressed.Originality/valueThe paper outlines a novel approach to the development of the AAAJ special issue which may gain wider acceptance or provide a basis for the further development of approaches to the production of other special issues.
On the role of emotional arousal in sensegiving
Authors: Vuori Timo , Virtaharju Jouni 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThis paper aims to increase understanding of how emotional arousal could be used to enhance the adoption of new beliefs during a sensegiving episode.Design/methodology/approachCase study about the sensegiving tactics of a successful corporate coach and the reactions of 102 sense‐receivers. Data consist of 39 interviews, 95 hours of observation, a longitudinal survey, and informal discussions.FindingsTwo elements are recognized in sensegiving, which are: increasing sense‐receivers' level of emotional arousal; and cognitively associating that arousal with desired definitions of organizational reality. While the cognitive component determines the beliefs individuals come to hold, the emotional component influences how intensively they will hold these beliefs. Emotional arousal can be amplified in ways that are loosely coupled with the cognitive dimension of sensegiving.Research limitations/implicationsThe level of emotional arousal is assessed qualitatively through observations, interviews, and interpretation of open‐ended survey responses. Future research should use more objective measures for assessing the level of emotional arousal and replicate the findings of this study. In addition, future research should investigate different combinations of emotional and cognitive sensegiving that may lead to good results.Practical implicationsThis study identifies a sensegiving approach that seems to work. Sensegivers can use these findings by first focusing on increasing sense‐receivers' emotional arousal and only then focusing on delivering their actual message.Originality/valueExisting sensegiving studies have mainly focused on cognition and identity‐related dynamics and explanations. This study shows that emotional arousal is an alternative explanation for many of the previous findings.
A story's impact on organizational‐culture change
Authors: Briody Elizabeth , Meerwarth Pester Tracy , Trotter Robert 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to explain the successful implementation of organizational applications, and ensuing organizational change, based on a story from a GM manufacturing plant.Design/methodology/approachThe approach involved collecting and analyzing the Hoist Story as part of a multi‐year ethnographic research project designed to identify the key attributes in an ideal plant culture. Through a cooperative process of co‐production, the authors worked in tandem with organizational members on issues related to organizational‐culture change.FindingsThe findings emphasize both the Hoist Story's process impact and outcome impact. The Hoist Story was a catalyst for the change process, resulting in a high level of buy‐in across the organization; as such it contrasts with much of the management literature on “planned change.” It also led to the development of several “packaged products” (e.g. a story script, video, collaboration tools) which propelled GM manufacturing culture closer to its ideal – a culture of collaboration. Using employee stories as a means to understand and drive culture change is a largely underdeveloped area of scholarship.Originality/valueThis paper provides value by bridging the gap between theory and praxis. It includes the documentation and cultural analysis of the story, but illustrates how the story evolved into specific organizational‐culture‐change applications. This “soup‐to‐nuts” approach can serve as a model for organizational researchers and change agents interested in spearheading or supporting organizational‐culture change.