Upper echelons theory posits that organisational performance reflects the personal values and cognitive frames of the top management team and, crucially, that greater heterogeneity in individual backgrounds of senior executives leads to better outcomes. However, often missing from this research is a more developed account of how this relationship between the characteristics of TMTs and performance is also mediated by internal conditions within organisations. In this paper we begin to address this deficiency focusing on the mediating impact (...) of employee satisfaction and the styles and practices of line managers. Looking at the empirical case of English National Health Services acute care hospital trusts, we use a multiple mediation model to analyse the relationship between board heterogeneity, performance and these two organisational factors. A variance-based structural equation modelling approach is applied to a sample of 102 boards of directors. First, the results lend support to the UE hypothesis that there is a positive impact of board heterogeneity and hospital-level performance. Second, the analysis shows that the relationship heterogeneity–performance is positively influenced by: the styles and practices of line managers; the levels of staff satisfaction; and by their mutually reinforcing roles. (shrink)

Although a number of studies have shown that corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities often lead to greater organisational performance in western developed economies, researchers are yet to examine the strategic value of CSR in emerging economies. Using survey data from 280 firms operating in Dubai, this study examines the link between CSR activities and organisational performance. The results show that CSR has a positive relationship with all three measures of organisational performance: financial performance, (...) employee commitment, and corporate reputation. These results reinforce the accumulating body of empirical support for the positive impact of CSR on performance and challenge the dominant assumption that, given the weak institutional framework in emerging economies, CSR activities drain resources and compromise firms’ competitiveness. (shrink)

_ Source: _Volume 5, Issue 2, pp 228 - 250 Despite inroads made by critical realism against the ‘scientific method’ in social science, the latter remains strong in subject-areas like human resource management. One argument for the alleged superiority of the scientific method lies in the taken-for-granted belief that it alone can formulate empirically testable predictions. Many of those who employ the scientific method are, however, confused about the way they understand and practice prediction. This paper takes as a case (...) study empirical research on the alleged empirical association between human resource management practices and organisational performance. By unpacking the confusion surrounding the two basic notions of prediction used, it reveals what is wrong with them, why the scientific method cannot actually make accurate predictions and why, therefore, the scientific method fails to meet its own criteria for scientificity. Finally, explanation is considered in order to prevent any confusion between it and prediction and to offer what we call _tendential prediction_. (shrink)

Despite inroads made by critical realism against the ‘scientific method’ in social science, the latter remains strong in subject-areas like human resource management. One argument for the alleged superiority of the scientific method (i.e. its scientificity) lies in the taken-for-granted belief that it alone can formulate empirically testable predictions. Many of those who employ the scientific method are, however, confused about the way they understand and practice prediction. This paper takes as a case study empirical research on the alleged empirical (...) association between human resource management practices and organisational performance. By unpacking the confusion surrounding the two basic notions of prediction used, it reveals what is wrong with them, why the scientific method cannot actually make accurate predictions and why, therefore, the scientific method fails to meet its own criteria for scientificity. Finally, explanation is considered in order to prevent any confusion between it and prediction and to offer what we call tendential prediction. (shrink)

Despite inroads made by critical realism against the ‘scientific method’ in social science, the latter remains strong in subject-areas like human resource management. One argument for the alleged superiority of the scientific method (i.e. its scientificity) lies in the taken-for-granted belief that it alone can formulate empirically testable predictions. Many of those who employ the scientific method are, however, confused about the way they understand and practice prediction. This paper takes as a case study empirical research on the alleged empirical (...) association between human resource management practices and organisational performance. By unpacking the confusion surrounding the two basic notions of prediction used, it reveals what is wrong with them, why the scientific method cannot actually make accurate predictions and why, therefore, the scientific method fails to meet its own criteria for scientificity. Finally, explanation is considered in order to prevent any confusion between it and prediction and to offer what we call tendential prediction. (shrink)

Despite inroads made by critical realism against the ‘scientific method’ in social science, the latter remains strong in subject-areas like human resource management. One argument for the alleged superiority of the scientific method lies in the taken-for-granted belief that it alone can formulate empirically testable predictions. Many of those who employ the scientific method are, however, confused about the way they understand and practice prediction. This paper takes as a case study empirical research on the alleged empirical association between human (...) resource management practices and organisational performance. By unpacking the confusion surrounding the two basic notions of prediction used, it reveals what is wrong with them, why the scientific method cannot actually make accurate predictions and why, therefore, the scientific method fails to meet its own criteria for scientificity. Finally, explanation is considered in order to prevent any confusion between it and prediction and to offer what we call tendential prediction. (shrink)

This study examines whether and how a CEO’s personal traits (gender, altruism, age, and founder) influence organizational performance. Building upon upper echelons theory, this study develops a conceptual framework that gives explicit recognition to how the institutional environment surrounding the CEOs shapes their characteristics, which, in turn, are reflected in the different organizational strategies and performance. This study moves beyond the existing focus on for-profit corporations and conducts the empirical analysis on a novel, hand-collected, longitudinal dataset of 1342 (...) firm-year observations of 128 faith-based charity organizations operating in a major developing, Muslim-majority country in the period 1996–2019. This study reveals that those faith-based charity organizations led by CEOs with specific personal traits (woman, altruistic, young, and founder) exhibit better organizational performance. Importantly, CEOs’ personal traits, however, do not have a uniform, systematic effect; their effect is generally strengthened when the CEO is also the founder of the faith-based charity organization, given the greater latitude of managerial discretion that a CEO has in managing the organization. Our findings have important implications for individual charity organizations; their board of directors; and their stakeholders, in particular the communities they serve, as well as the whole society where they operate. (shrink)

How to measure performance in charitable organisations continues to excite interest among academics and practitioners. Despite the intellectual interest, little consensus has emerged as to what are the best measures of performance in charities. This is against the backdrop of an increased demand by donors and other stakeholders on charities to provide information on their performance. Building on prior studies, this paper examines the measures of performance in charities using a hybrid methodological approach which consists of (...) 14 exploratory interviews and a quantitative survey of 105 chief executive officers/board of trustees of large British charities. The results of factor analysis and internal reliability produced five broad measures of performance of charities: financial measures; client satisfaction; management effectiveness; stakeholder involvement; and benchmarking, indicating that the overall performance of charities is best measured by a set of factors that reflect the multiple and diverse stakeholders associated with charities. Further analysis using structural equation modelling corroborates the results that non-financial measures such as management effectiveness, stakeholder involvement and benchmarking are important to the performance of charities. (shrink)

The aims of this research were twofold: first, to compare the levels of organisational harmony between family and non-family firms and, second, to study the influence of organisational harmony on family firms’ performance (profitability, longevity and group cohesion). Starting from a definition of organisational harmony as a value and considering the importance of the management of organisational values, we use the main topics indicated by the general literature (organisational climate, trust and participation) to analyse (...) organisational harmony, as well as three other topics for performance (profitability, survival and group cohesion). Results indicate that family firms have higher levels of these three qualities than non-family firms, and that the levels of trust, participation and organisational climate have a positive and significant influence on the performance of family firms. These results can be understood as a consequence of the influence of family social capital on organisational social capital and so on the performance of family businesses. From the perspective of institutionalism, the higher levels of harmony existing in family businesses are a reflection of the pressures that the owning family as an institution exercises on the organisational social capital in its companies. (shrink)

Digital technologies have become a major factor for innovation in the business environment. Organisations have taken advantage of digitised data and information to increase performance. However, there is still little research focusing on the effect of digitalisation on organisational culture, which in the end will affect performance. We develop this research by exploring a proposed model involving digital organisational culture with the final goal to enhance organisational performance. The research involved 263 managers of state-owned (...) companies in Indonesia. We analysed the theoretical model by using structural equation modelling and processed the data using the SmartPLS version 3 software. We conclude that digital organisational culture can become an essential factor in improving digital strategy and performance. However, business digitalisation does not really affect digital organisational values. (shrink)

Drawing on a global sample of microfinance institutions (MFIs), this paper offers insights into the trade-off versus synergy debate of adopting multiple institutional goals in hybrid organisations. Additionally, it unravels which organisation- and country-specific determinants associate with top joint performance using machine-learning techniques. We find that the synergy versus trade-off debate is not dichotomous. Rather, MFIs can be strong both socially and financially but not while charging low interest rates. In our sample, 17% of MFIs serve a low-income clientele (...) in need with a diverse range of services while remaining financially sustainable and ask a close-to-average interest rate. These organisations are larger and more mature as well as financially prudent in that they minimize both financial and credit risk. Moreover, they are located in countries where their services can create larger benefits regarding their underlying goals. (shrink)

This document presents the Bonn PRINTEGER Consensus Statement: Working with Research Integrity—Guidance for research performing organisations. The aim of the statement is to complement existing instruments by focusing specifically on institutional responsibilities for strengthening integrity. It takes into account the daily challenges and organisational contexts of most researchers. The statement intends to make research integrity challenges recognisable from the work-floor perspective, providing concrete advice on organisational measures to strengthen integrity. The statement, which was concluded February 7th 2018, provides (...) guidance on the following key issues: § 1. Providing information about research integrity§ 2. Providing education, training and mentoring§ 3. Strengthening a research integrity culture§ 4. Facilitating open dialogue§ 5. Wise incentive management§ 6. Implementing quality assurance procedures§ 7. Improving the work environment and work satisfaction§ 8. Increasing transparency of misconduct cases§ 9. Opening up research§ 10. Implementing safe and effective whistle-blowing channels§ 11. Protecting the alleged perpetrators§ 12. Establishing a research integrity committee and appointing an ombudsperson§ 13. Making explicit the applicable standards for research integrity. (shrink)

This document presents the Bonn PRINTEGER Consensus Statement: Working with Research Integrity—Guidance for research performing organisations. The aim of the statement is to complement existing instruments by focusing specifically on institutional responsibilities for strengthening integrity. It takes into account the daily challenges and organisational contexts of most researchers. The statement intends to make research integrity challenges recognisable from the work-floor perspective, providing concrete advice on organisational measures to strengthen integrity. The statement, which was concluded February 7th 2018, provides (...) guidance on the following key issues: § 1.Providing information about research integrity § 2.Providing education, training and mentoring § 3.Strengthening a research integrity culture § 4.Facilitating open dialogue § 5.Wise incentive management § 6.Implementing quality assurance procedures § 7.Improving the work environment and work satisfaction § 8.Increasing transparency of misconduct cases § 9.Opening up research § 10.Implementing safe and effective whistle-blowing channels § 11.Protecting the alleged perpetrators § 12.Establishing a research integrity committee and appointing an ombudsperson § 13.Making explicit the applicable standards for research integrity. (shrink)

This study aims to examine the effect of Islamic visionary leadership on organisational commitment and its impact on employee performance. This study uses explanatory quantitative research on 20 state-owned enterprises (BUMN) in the food and technology cluster in Indonesia, with 85 respondents who were processed using the structural equation modelling (SEM) with partial least square (PLS) (SEM-PLS) approach. The results of the study indicate that Islamic visionary leadership directly influences organisational commitment to the organisation in the food (...) and technology cluster state-owned enterprises in Indonesia; Islamic visionary leadership directly influences employee performance in the food and technology cluster BUMN companies in Indonesia; Islamic visionary leadership indirectly influences employee performance through organisational commitment in the technology and food cluster BUMN companies in Indonesia; and organisational commitment affects employee performance in the technology and food cluster BUMN in Indonesia, Jakarta.Contribution: The results of this study show that the application of Islamic teachings in the leadership of organisations can improve organisational commitment and the performance of employees in the organisation in an Islamic context. (shrink)

Research integrity is a continuously developing concept, and increasing emphasis is put on creating RI promotion practices. This study aimed to map the existing RI guidance documents at research performing organisations and research funding organisations. A search of bibliographic databases and grey literature sources was performed, and retrieved documents were screened for eligibility. The search of bibliographical databases and reference lists of selected articles identified a total of 92 documents while the search of grey literature sources identified 118 documents for (...) analysis. The retrieved documents were analysed based on their geographical origin, research field and organisational origin of RI practices, types of guidance presented in them, and target groups to which RI practices are directed. Most of the identified practices were developed for research in general, and are applicable to all research fields and medical sciences. They were mostly written in the form of guidelines and targeted researchers. A comprehensive search of the existing RI promotion practices showed that initiatives mostly come from RPOs while only a few RI practices originate from RFOs. This study showed that more RI guidance documents are needed for natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities since only a small number of documents was developed specifically for these research fields. The explored documents and the gaps in knowledge identified in this study can be used for further development of RI promotion practices in RPOs and RFOs. (shrink)

Public or stakeholder participation in environmental governance has been strongly advocated within the United Nations (UN) since the early 1990s. A relatively new mechanism for global climate finance that emphasises stakeholder engagement is the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a UN strategy for channelling funds from the Global North to the Global South. Drawing on previous critical approaches to multi-stakeholder involvement in global governance, this article explores stakeholder involvement within the GCF. The study combines ideas from institutional logics and resource dependency (...) to provide a better understanding of how stakeholder arrangements are shaped in climate organisations. Results show that the GCF stakeholder arrangement favours private sector stakeholders – stakeholders that take a technical and apolitical approach to climate finance – and disfavours smaller, less resourceful stakeholders as well as those who perform a politicised watchdog function. (shrink)

The aims of this study were to investigate what kinds of personal work goals managers have and whether ethical organisational culture is related to these goals. The sample consisted of 811 Finnish managers from different organisations, in middle and upper management levels, aged 25–68 years. Eight work-related goal content categories were found based on the managers self-reported goals: (1) organisational goals (35.4 %), (2) competence goals (26.1 %), (3) well-being goals (12.1 %), (4) career-ending goals (7.3 %), (5) (...) progression goals (6.8 %), (6) prestige/influence goals (4.2 %), (7) job change goals (4.2 %) and (8) employment contract goals (3.9 %). Ethical organisational culture operated as a context for personal goal setting: Those managers who evaluated their organisational culture as more ethical were more likely to report organisational goals (e.g. goals toward the success or performance of the organisation). However, if managers gave lower ratings regarding ethical culture, then they named job change and career-ending goals in more cases. Therefore, investing into ethical virtues of the organisational culture can promote managers’ personal work goals, which also benefit the organisation. (shrink)

This paper assesses the potential of organisational culture as a means for improving ethics in organisations. Organisational culture is recognised as one determinant of how people behave, more or less ethically, in organisations. It is also incresingly understood as an attribute that management can and should influence to improve organisational performance. When things go wrong in organisations, managers look to the culture as both the source of problems and the basis for solutions. Two models of (...) class='Hi'>organisational culture and ethical behaviour are evaluated. They rest on different understandings of organisational culture and the processes by which ethics are enhanced. Firstly, the prevailing approach holds that creating a unitary cohesive culture around core moral values is the solution to enhancing ethical behaviour. Both the feasibility and desirability of this approach, in terms of ethical outcomes, is questioned. The second model queries the existence of organisational culture at all, arguing that organisations are nothing more than shifting coalitions of subcultures. In this second model, the very porousness of the subcultures provides a catalyst for the scrutiny and critique of norms and practices. Such diversity and debate is construed as potentially a better safeguard for ethical behaviour than the uniformity promised by the unitary, strong culture model. (shrink)

Social reporting has become an increasingly important dimension of the corporate social responsibility process. The growing necessity to include the social dimension in reporting practices raises important questions about the nature of social responsibility and its impact on corporate and individual behaviour and performance. The literature has yet to provide a reliable theoretical definition of corporate social responsibility and performance, however. Based on the approach proposed by Simons, we argue that organisational reporting about social responsibility can be (...) viewed as a learning tool in some instances. Under this view the design and implementation of corporate social reporting procedures may lead to individual and organisational dynamic changes that foster organisational performance. Research propositions are then derived from the analysis. (shrink)

Workforce education forms one of the core aspects of organizational learning which aims for performance as well as efficiency. Learning is goal-oriented in business organizations. Organizations' activities are highly-oriented towards customer satisfaction. Organizations learn from practice and delivery of services to meet consumer needs and necessities. Perfection, efficiency and smart practices define today's multinational organizational culture. But how do the multinational organizations achieve such perfections in their business operations? This paper addresses this issue by linking teleological aspects of learning (...) and practice to performance, adoption of routines, and learning-induced adaptation in order to explain how they achieve "perfection" in practice and operations. Further, the paper attempts to study a particular aspect of organizational (teleological perfectionism) process by modeling scenarios which define goal oriented organizational learning and adaptation, and underpins how such teleological processes effectively benefit organizations in the long run. Conclusions drawn up from an example being modeled in this paper suggest that teleology, or teleological dynamics play significant role in shaping today's organizations and help explain some (or high) degree of perfectionism in their operations. (shrink)

The original intent of business education in America focused on the development of professional managers who would look after the interests of society. As economic and shareholder theories influenced business education, firm performance became the manager’s top – if not only – priority. The economic responsibility of the firm also appears to be dominating scholarly interest in organisations as well. However, business firms constitute part of the fabric of society and closer attention should be paid by organisation researchers to (...) the social responsibilities of the firm. In doing so, a more balanced research approach can be achieved. In this article, we give evidence that research within the study of the organisation, specifically in the field of management, has predominately turned its attention to the economic responsibility of the firm. We close by demonstrating that other fields within organisation research also appear to be favouring the study of performance and we offer suggestions as to how scholars might better address the firm’s role in society beyond its economic responsibility. (shrink)

This study examines the extent to which enabling and controlling uses of management control systems moderate the relationship between environmental innovation strategy and organizational performance. Partial least squares structural equation modeling is used to analyze survey data collected from top managers in 175 manufacturing and services sectors representing multinational and local organizations operating in Sri Lanka. We find that while the enabling use of MCS positively moderates the relationship between environmental innovation strategy and organizational performance, in contrast, the (...) controlling use of MCS negatively moderates the relationship. We compare the results for the manufacturing and services sectors. As predicted, we find a significant positive moderating impact of the enabling use of MCS in both manufacturing and services sectors. However, contrary to our expectations, we find no significant moderating impact for both sectors for the controlling use of MCS. We conclude that environmental innovation strategy per se does not lead to performance improvements; however, the extent to which organizations use enabling and controlling MCS determines the relationship. We provide theoretical insights and practical implications concerning the importance of strategic alignment between managerial controls, environmental innovation strategy, and organizational performance. (shrink)

This study aimed to explore practices and strategies that have successfully reduced time-to-proficiency of the workforce in large multinational organisations and develop a model based on them. The central research question of this study was: How can organisations accelerate time-to-proficiency of employees in the workplace? The study addressed three aspects: the meaning of accelerated proficiency, as seen by business leaders; the business factors driving the need for shorter time-to-proficiency and benefits accrued from it; and practices and strategies to shorten time-to-proficiency (...) of the workforce. 85 participants (n=85) from 7 countries who represented 10 economic sectors, 20 business sectors and 28 industry groups contributed 66 successful bounded project cases. A qualitative research approach was used. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with project leaders and by collecting additional project case documents. Data were analysed using thematic analysis to identify the themes in the data. Matrix analysis was then used to perform within-case and cross-case analysis to compare the project cases. 11 overarching themes were developed from the data analysis, out of which two overarching themes explained the characteristics of job-role proficiency and accelerated proficiency, while three overarching themes described the magnituide and scale of time-to-proficiency business problem, business drivers for accelerating proficiency and business benefits of reduced time-to-proficiency. Six overarching themes revealed the business practices employed by organisations to reduce time-to-proficiency: (1) Defining business-driven proficiency measures in terms of expected business outcomes from a job role; (2) Developing a proficiency reference map of all the inputs, conditions and roadblocks that determine or influence how required business outcomes are being produced in a job role; (3) Sequencing an efficient proficiency path of activities and experiences ordered to produce the desired business outcomes in the shortest possible time; (4) Manufacturing accelerated contextual experiences by leveraging on-the-job opportunities or training interventions in a compressed time-frame; (5) Promoting an active emotional immersion through engagements, consequences, stakes, feedback and proficiency assessments; and (6) Setting up a proficiency eco-system, providing timely support to performers while doing the job such as enabling job environment, highly involved manager, structured mentoring from experts, purposeful social connectivity with peers, leveraging subject matter experts and on-demand performance support systems. Organisations orchestrated these six business practices as an input-output-feedback system to reduce time-to-proficiency of the workforce. A conceptual model (Accelerated Proficiency Model) was developed representing interactions among six business-level practices/processes as a closed-loop system to explain the concept and process of accelerated proficiency in the workplace. These practices were implemented through a set of twenty-four strategies proven successful in various contexts. The strategies employed were much beyond the boundaries of conventional training interventions. The job itself acted as the primary mechanism to accelerate proficiency. A two-level hierarchical framework (6/24 framework of strategies) was also constructed in the form of a checklist consisting of six practices and twenty-four strategies for practitioners. Overall, the findings of this research study contribute significantly to the body of knowledge on accelerated proficiency. In particular, the conceptual model and the framework developed in this study can be implemented across a range of contexts, business sectors, job types and settings to reduce time-to-proficiency of the workforce. (shrink)

Le monde muséal a considérablement évolué ces dernières années ; des notions telles que le développement touristique et économique, ou la performance, ont largement pris le pas sur les préoccupations sociales, voire sur la conservation du patrimoine. Dans une logique mondialisée, quelques grands « musées superstars », à l’instar du musée Guggenheim de Bilbao, imposent largement leur logique de fonctionnement, au détriment de nombre d’établissements de taille plus modeste. Le rôle particulier de l’État, en France, contribue au développement d’une (...) infrastructure muséale exceptionnelle, partiellement pour maintenir sa position dominante au niveau des flux de migration touristique. Mais ce renouveau patrimonial induit également un changement de culture sur le plan organisationnel. Des personnels purement administratifs remplacent les personnels scientifiques à la tête des établissements. L’autorité publique et l’intérêt économique encourent le risque de prendre le dessus sur l’intérêt scientifique et patrimonial.The world of museums has changed considerably in recent years, with concerns for tourist and economic development, or performance, largely overshadowing social and even heritage conservation concerns. Following the logic of globalisation, a few “superstar museums”, like the Guggenheim in Bilbao, have been imposing their own modus operandi to the overall detriment of more modest establishments. The particular role of the State, in France, has contributed to the development of an outstanding museum infrastructure, in part to sustain a dominant position in terms of incoming tourist flows. However, this new perspective on heritage has also brought a change in the culture of museum organisation. As scientific staff are replaced by purely administrative staff at management level, the interests of the public authorities and the economy are increasingly liable to outweigh the interests of science and heritage. (shrink)

The study examines and theorizes the importance of strategic attribute constructs as applied to Pakistan’s banking sector by identifying their roles in enhancing organizational performance and the mediating effect of organizational commitment. The current study adopted quantitative research designs and methods to determine structural relationships between the proposed constructs. A total of 10 hypotheses were tested underpinned by the Resource-Based View of the Firm and Social Exchange theories. The strategic attributes studied were significantly and positively related to, and enhance, (...) organizational performance if the banks: focus on strategic positioning, fostering a strong organizational culture, strategize internal marketing practices, and boost organizational commitment. The findings supported the mediating role of organizational commitment between strategic attributes and organizational performance. This study contributes to existing literature and supports prior research while filling in gaps in the literature concerning developing countries. (shrink)

Practical mechanisms for aligning performance, ethics, and accountability are urgently needed. The context for this includes the organisational, technological, and regulatory transformations underlying current patterns of globalisation. These factors, combined with the associated emergence of civil action concerned with corporate accountability and deeper value-shifts, make such realignments a practical possibility.Social and ethical accounting, auditing, and reporting provides one of the few practical mechanisms for companies to integrate new patterns of civil accountability and governance with a business success model (...) focused on deepening stakeholder relationships around core non-financial as well as financial values and interests. (shrink)

Organising smallholder farmers into groups or co-operatives is widely promoted as a strategy to connect farmers to markets and turn them into price makers rather than price takers. This pathway usually combines co-operative organisational models, based on collective ownership and representation in internal governance, with measures to shorten the agri-food chain, shifting the ownership of intermediary sourcing, aggregating and trading functions to the group. The underlying assumption is that this improves smallholder farmers' terms of inclusion in markets. To scrutinise (...) this assumption, our study compares two examples of farmer-led auctions facilitating trading in the chilli market in Java, Indonesia. The auctions' ownership, management and performance evolved differently: one was run by a group and the other by a family. The comparison brings nuance to the prevalent emphasis on co-operative ownership structures. By researching practices central to collective trading at the chilli supplier–trader interface, this study unravels four dimensions—ownership, voice, reward and risk—capturing smallholder chilli farmers' terms of inclusion in both the auctions and the market. Our comparative analysis suggests that shared ownership and control of the trading function, a central feature of co-operative models, does not necessarily ensure favourable terms of inclusion for smallholder farmers with little capacity to take risks. The capacity to reconfigure the terms of market inclusion for vulnerable smallholder farmers involves direct payment modalities and risk taking. A collectively owned trading organisation does not necessarily imply an inclusive business concept when the organisation cannot acquire sufficient working capital to pay its suppliers. (shrink)

OBJECTIVES: To review the characteristics and performance of research ethics committees in Spain in the evaluation of multicentre clinical trial drug protocols. DESIGN: A prospective study of 100 applications. SETTING: Forty-one committees reviewing clinical trial protocols, involving 50 hospitals in 25 cities. MAIN MEASURES: Protocol-related features, characteristics of research ethics committees and evaluation dynamics. RESULTS: The 100 applications involved 15 protocols (of which 12 were multinational) with 12 drugs. Committees met monthly (except one). They had a mean number of (...) 12 members, requested a mean of six complete dossiers and nine additional copies of the protocol with a mean deadline of 14 days before the meeting. All applications were approved except three (two of the three were open-label long-term safety trials rejected by the same committee), which were approved by the other committees involved. The mean time from submission to approval was 64 days. The mean time from submission to arrival of the approval document at our offices was 85 days. Twenty-five committees raised queries for 38 of the 97 finally approved applications. Impact of evaluation fee, number of members, queries raised and experience of committees on timings were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Obtaining ethical approval is time-consuming. There is much diversity in the research ethics committees' performance. A remarkable delay (> 20 days) exists between the decision and the arrival of the written approval, suggesting administrative or organisational problems. (shrink)

Cognition is usually associated with brain activity. Undoubtedly, some brain activity is necessary for it to function. However, the last thirty years have revolutionized the way we intend and think about cognition. These developments allow us to think of cognition as distributed in the sense that it needs tools, artifacts, objects, and other external entities to allow the brain to operate properly. Organizational Cognition: The Theory of Social Organizing takes this perspective and applies it to the organization by introducing a (...) model that defines the elements that allow cognition to work. This model shows that cognition needs the combined and simultaneous presence of micro aspects—i.e. the biological individual—and macro super-structural elements—e.g. organizational climate, culture, norms, values, rules. These two become practice of cognition as they materialize in a meso domain—this is any action that allows individuals to perform their daily duties. Due to the micro-meso-macro interactions, this has been called the 3M Model. Most of what happens in the meso domain relates to exchanges between two or more people, i.e. it is a social activity. This is usually mentioned in the perspectives above, but it is rarely explored. By bringing meso activities to the center of cognition, the book develops and presents the Theory of Social Organizing. Not only this is useful to organizational scholars, but it also opens a new path for cognition research. (shrink)

The new Hungarian Labour Code allows informal payments to be accepted, subject only to the prior permission of the employer. In Hungary, the area most affected is Health Care, where informal payments to medical staff are common. The article assesses the practice on ethical terms, focusing on organisational justice. It includes an analysis of distributional injustice, that is, of non-equitable payments to professionals, on the distribution of payments depending on the specialisation and status of the doctor, on his or (...) her rights to allocate Health Care resources and/or on how assertive he or she is. We show, by means of a content analysis of internet postings and of interviews with physicians, the feelings and attitudes of both patients and doctors—thus enabling us to trace interactional and procedural injustice and portray the main driving forces of informal payment with causal loops. We use a new approach (a system dynamics computer simulation) to demonstrate how informal payments influence therapy procedures. The example of treating the common skin disease of psoriasis examines the specific behaviour of doctors in their everyday practice and estimates the extent to which the prescription of unnecessary or more expensive therapy increases the costs. With this multi-method approach, we demonstrate that the legislation allowing informal payment represents bad ethics, since it enforces organisational injustice, creates mistrust between physicians and patients, decreases performance and increases the total costs paid both by society and the Health Insurance Fund. Informal payments distort the allocation of resources, enforce discrimination based solely on money, violate the concept of solidarity and limit Human Rights in terms of health. (shrink)

Are universities able to operate as strategic actors? An organisational sociology based approach supported by a comparative field research project identifies three types of social, cultural and cognitive processes that play a decisive role in building and implementing local capabilities required to mobilise a strategic capacity. The paper identifies how much these processes are present in the four ideal-types of universities defined by crossing their reputation and their metrics-based performance. Such a meso deterministic perspective suggests that universities may (...) position themselves as proactive actors or principals, and not just as agents of national reforms and political demands. Nevertheless, their ability to do it varies according to their type. The paper also explores the implications of such findings for institutional leadership and steering policymakers. (shrink)

Corporate reputation is decisive for stakeholders’ supporting or repelling behavior and, therefore, one of firms’ most valuable intangible resources. Drawing on signaling theory, this paper focuses on the usefulness of voluntarily provided corporate reputation disclosures (CRDs) and examines their impact on stakeholders’ attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. Our experimental vignette studies reveal that CRDs reduce stakeholders’ information asymmetries, which positively affects perceived organizational performance and corporate reputation as well as stakeholders’ purchase, investment, and employment intentions. The relationships between CRDs and (...) stakeholders’ behavioral intentions are sequentially mediated by changes in the perceived organizational performance and corporate reputation. This implies that stakeholders use the signals transmitted by CRDs to adjust their perceptions of a firm’s organizational performance and corporate reputation, which ultimately induces their behavioral outcomes. Overall, our empirical results show the usefulness of CRDs for firms in effectively developing stakeholder relationships and, thereby, contributing to assure their going concern. For stakeholders, CRDs improve efficiency in evaluating a firm’s future development. (shrink)

This study is an extension of our recent ethics research in direct marketing and information technology. In this study, we investigated the relationships among core organizational values, organizational ethics, corporate social responsibility, and organizational performance outcome. Our analysis of online survey responses from a sample of IT professionals in the United States indicated that managers from organizations with organic core values reported a higher level of social responsibility relative to managers in organizations with mechanistic values; that managers in both (...) mechanistic and organic organizations which were perceived as more socially responsible were also perceived as more ethical; and that perceived ethical attitudes and social responsibility were significantly associated with organizational performance outcome measures. Our article discusses research premises, conceptual framework, hypotheses, research methodology, data analysis, recommendations for further research, and conclusions. (shrink)

Business ethics is considered a key performance indicator for multiple stakeholders such as consumers, suppliers, shareholders, management and society. The adherence to business ethics has changed the way organisations function. The study argues that inclusiveness in an organisation drives several positive outcomes, including the perception of ethical climate. The study also tries to break the loop that suggests inclusiveness is practiced to enable the company to confirm legal requirements instead of a proactive approach. A conclusive research method was adopted (...) in which primary data from 540 respondents was analysed. Findings indicate that inclusiveness at the workplace is a precursor to creating a positive perception of an ethical climate. Increasing inclusiveness and ensuring reduction in discrimination create a stable and positive work culture that enables the employee to positively perceive the environment and climate. The paper will add a new perspective of support for organisations to take a proactive approach toward inclusiveness. (shrink)

Although the analogy between macroscopic machines and biological molecular devices plays an important role in the conceptual framework of both neo-mechanistic accounts and nanotechnology, it has recently been claimed that certain complex molecular devices cannot be considered machines since they are subject to physicochemical forces that are different from those of macroscopic machines. However, the structural and physicochemical conditions that allow both macroscopic machines and microscopic devices to work and perform new functions, through a combination of elemental functional parts, have (...) not yet been examined. In order to fill this void, this paper has a threefold aim: first, to clarify the structural and organisational conditions of macroscopic machines and microscopic devices; second, to determine whether the machine-like analogy fits nanoscale devices; and third, to assess whether the machine-like analogy is appropriate for describing the behaviour of some biological macromolecules. Finally, the paper gives an account of ‘machine’ which, while acknowledging the physicochemical and organisational differences between man-made machines and biological microscopic devices, nevertheless identifies a common conceptual core that allows us to consider the latter ‘machines’. (shrink)

Corporate governance is increasingly becoming an issue of global concern, not least because we are more and more living in a corporate world that transcends international boundaries. The main purpose and motivation of this study is to determine how the international community should motivate businesses in fostering exemplary corporate governance, therefore eliminating obstacles to ethically exemplary behavior. The empirical approach utilized here has been applied to 161 businesses, both listed and over-the-counter (OTC) companies, with the results indicating that ethical considerations, (...) corporate governance and organizational performance are inextricably linked and, to an extent, demonstrably proportional. This study also indicates a major finding that family management is a significant mediating variable of the ethical considerations of corporate governance and organizational performance. Finally, this study has developed an operational model of ethical considerations of corporate governance as a consultancy aid for businesses that wish to implement and/or boost their performance in respect to corporate governance. (shrink)

In order to study the influence of different entrepreneurial psychological leadership styles on organizational learning ability and organizational performance, and to provide theoretical basis for the improvement of organizational benefits of entrepreneurial enterprises in the future, 421 general managers, middle managers, and grass-roots managers of 350 small and medium-sized private enterprises in Beijing were surveyed by questionnaire in two forms: online and on site. Then, a hypothesis model of the relationship between different entrepreneurial psychological leadership styles and organizational learning (...) ability and organizational performance was constructed. The correlation between transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire psychological leadership style and organizational performance and organizational learning ability was analyzed using multiple regression models. AMOS 7.0 software was used to simulate and verify the model. The results show that transformational psychological leadership style is positively correlated with organizational learning ability, financial performance, and growth performance; transactional psychological leadership style is positively correlated with organizational financial performance, growth performance, and organizational learning ability; there is no correlation between laissez-faire psychological leadership style and organizational financial performance and growth performance, but there is a significant positive correlation between laissez-faire psychological leadership style and organizational learning ability. The covariance between the error terms of the internal and external potential variables of the model is positive, and the factor load value of each potential variable and the observed variable is between 0.5 and 1, which shows that transformational and transactional psychological leadership styles have more positive influence on organizational financial performance and learning ability than laissez-faire psychological leadership styles. The hypothesis model of the relationship between entrepreneurial psychological leadership style and organizational learning ability and organizational performance conforms to the adaptation criteria and is feasible. (shrink)

Growing interest in workplace spirituality has led to the development of a new paradigm in organizational science. Theoretical assumptions abound as to how workplace spirituality might enhance organizational performance, most postulating a significant positive impact. Here, that body of research has been reviewed and analyzed, and a resultant values framework for workplace spirituality is introduced, providing the groundwork for empirical testing. A discussion of the factors and assumptions involved for future research are outlined.

This study aims to identify the influence of knowledge management practices on the entrepreneurial and organizational performance with the mediating effect of dynamic capabilities and moderating role of opportunity recognition. Data were gathered from 486 entrepreneurs and applied a structural equation model to test the hypotheses. We found that knowledge management practices have a positive and significant influence on dynamic capabilities, as well as have a significant impact on entrepreneurial and organizational performance. Moreover, results indicated that dynamic capabilities (...) partially mediate in the relationship between knowledge management practices on entrepreneurial and organizational performance. Furthermore, the relationship between knowledge management practices with entrepreneurial and organizational performance strengthening by opportunity recognition. Further, implications and limitations were discussed in the paper. (shrink)

This study aims to investigate the impact of stakeholders’ views on the practices of green innovation, consequent effect on environmental and organizational performance, and moderating influence of innovation orientation. A quantitative method was employed for the sample size of 515 responses. To accumulate the data from the respondents, convenient random sampling was used. Data were collected from manufacturing and services firms through a field survey by using a closed-ended questionnaire based in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The analysis was (...) done using the structural equation model of the partial least square analysis method. Our findings proved a positive and significant link between stakeholders’ views on GI practices. A significant association has been found between GI practices and environmental and OP. The moderating effect was found to be negative but statistically significant. This research offers numerous contributions and provides decision-making insinuations. (shrink)

This article examines the challenges and opportunities that arise with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) methods and tools when implemented within cultural heritage institutions (CHIs), focusing on three selected Swedish case studies. The article centres on the perspectives of the CHI professionals who deliver that implementation. Its purpose is to elucidate how CHI professionals respond to the opportunities and challenges AI/ML provides. The three Swedish CHIs discussed here represent different organizational frameworks and have different types of collections, while (...) sharing, to some extent, a similar position in terms of the use of AI/ML tools and methodologies. The overarching question of this article is what is the state of knowledge about AI/ML among Swedish CHI professionals, and what are the related issues? To answer this question, we draw on (1) semi-structured interviews with CHI professionals, (2) individual CHI website information, and (3) CHI-internal digitization protocols and digitalization strategies, to provide a nuanced analysis of both professional and organisational processes concerning the implementation of AI/ML methods and tools. Our study indicates that AI/ML implementation is in many ways at the very early stages of implementation in Swedish CHIs. The CHI professionals are affected in their AI/ML engagement by four key issues that emerged in the interviews: their institutional and professional knowledge regarding AI/ML; the specificities of their collections and associated digitization and digitalization issues; issues around personnel; and issues around AI/ML resources. The article suggests that a national CHI strategy for AI/ML might be helpful as would be knowledge-, expertise-, and potentially personnel- and resource-sharing to move beyond the constraints that the CHIs face in implementing AI/ML. (shrink)

Due to the frequent occurrence of ethical transgressions and unethical employee behaviors, there has lately been an increasing interest in the ethical foundations of contemporary organizations. However, large-scale comprehensive analyses of organizational ethics are still comparatively limited. Our study contributes to both management control and business ethics literature by empirically examining potential antecedents as well as resulting effects of ethical work climates on organizational-level outcomes. Based on a cross-sectional survey among 295 large- and medium-sized companies, we find that more informal (...) means of control constitute important elements of a broader organizational control context that are strongly related to the emergence of coherent ethical work climates with an increased awareness of ethical issues. Moreover, our results show that the relationship between ethical work climates and organizational performance can be considered as rather indirect as it is fully mediated by increased mutual trust among employees. Overall, our study thus supports the particular importance of ethical work climates and identifies appropriate means to encourage ethical conduct. (shrink)