Contemporary Managers Research Articles

CONCEPTION OF LEADERSHIP OF MANAGERS OF BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS IN UKRAINE

Relevance. The presented research was conducted on the basis of the study "Leader in Business Organization of Ukraine", conducted to clarify the practice of leadership and management in the modern business environment of Ukraine: diagnosis of management potential to form mechanisms for improving the effectiveness of business organizations [21]. We set a goal to empirically test what personal qualities are required for effective leadership according to the opinion of leaders and managers in Ukraine. Metodology. Sample. 104 respondents, aged 28 to 52, participated in the study. The employees of companies from different spheres of business activity and forms of ownership participated in the survey. The study was conducted using a social-psychological questionnairing. The research participants were asked to identify 10 personal qualities that are required for an effective Ukrainian business leader. Results. For centuries, the phenomenon of leadership has been studied by philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, so the views on the nature of leadership are extremely diverse. Leadership is known by its very nature to be both the result of objective as well as subjective factors. The study highlighted the clusters based on leadership characteristics that testify to the conception of business leadership of contemporary business executives and managers. The respondents identified 42 qualities that they believe are inherent in today's Ukrainian business leader. In the general selection with a frequency of more than 10%, there are 14 distinguished qualities (determination, consistency, reasonableness, being bright at decision-making in emergencies, enthusiasm, sense of humor, patience, perseverance, observation, riskiness, responsibility, competence, sociability, self-perfection/self-development).

The Evolving Role of Aged Care Managers in Australia: A content analysis of aged care manager job descriptions

The Evolving Role of Aged Care Managers in Australia: A content analysis of aged care manager job descriptions

Developing a proof-of-concept curriculum foundation model for industry 5.0: A primary data survey of built environment academics

Purpose: Higher education curriculum development in the construction industry has historically received scant academic attention and often, courses/programmes are largely developed using the tacit knowledge of individual tutors. This research investigates the core interpersonal and technical skills and competencies required of a contemporary construction management graduate. Specifically, the work culminates in the development of a proof-of-concept model that could be incorporated into higher education curriculum development. Methodology: A mixed philosophical stance is implemented using both postpositivism and interpretivism together with inductive and abductive reasoning to examine built environment academics’ perceptions of the phenomena under investigation. Descriptive and inferential statistics (i.e., weighted average, relative importance index, one sample t test, Chi-square test and Kruskal-Wallis test) are utilised to formulate a foundational set of core interpersonal skills for construction management curricula. Such knowledge provides a strong foundation for building an optimised course curriculum. Findings: Research findings demonstrate that, whilst technical skills are relatively important for the construction manager’s role, they significantly pale in comparison to interpersonal skills. Furthermore, an aggregate ranking of skills and competencies suggests that a substantial number of interpersonal skills and competencies out-rank numerous technical skills and competencies. Surprisingly, digital-esque themes rank towards the bottom of the table, with ‘traditional’ skills competencies (i.e., workflow, budgeting and costing) ranking higher. Originality: This research constitutes the first attempt to: understand the core interpersonal and technical skills and competencies required of a contemporary construction manager; and premised upon this, generate a construction management education curriculum foundation model. Nascent findings pinpoint the core interpersonal skills and competencies that serve as the curriculum’s foundation and expose the inadequacies of digital technical skills in core construction management teaching.

INTELIGÊNCIA EMOCIONAL NAS ORGANIZAÇÕES

This work aims to analyze and investigate how administrators manage emotional intelligence within organizations. As emotions are a fundamental part of companies and an object of attention and analysis by contemporary managers, in the last 50 years, they have gained prominence and figure in strategic planning as a competitive advantage. The methodology used was a theoretical literature review, with a qualitative approach, from which we sought to understand this contemporary social fact, in an attempt to answer a disturbing question about how administrators in current times understand emotional capital, whether as an asset or expenses. Within a global context, in which there are rapid and considerable changes at all levels and in various dimensions, social, economic and above all technological, these acute transformations increasingly demand from people who work within organizations, not just technical skills and competences. even more so of emotional skills. In addition to emotional balance, administrators are being asked to review concepts and deconstruct old paradigms when it comes to emotions. These managers are now dedicated to the study and application of theories and concepts that structure new work environments in order to promote the well-being of employees, while urging them to manage emotions in mutual favor, for employees and also for companies and their respective markets.

Technology—Boon or Bane for Library Managers

By comparing management in 1987 with today, this column examines the differences for library managers as technology including computers and the Internet has become an integral part of their lives. Technology has made completing many managerial functions easier and erased the barriers of time and space. Communication has become almost instantaneous. Opportunities for learning are now global. On the other hand, the time required to manage and effectively use technology has reduced time devoted to other tasks. The work-free weekend has disappeared; products must have a slick professional look; and form has sometimes become more important than content. Contemporary library managers must focus both for themselves and for their staff on ways to use technology effectively in meeting library goals. Returning to an idyllic fictionalized past is impossible, especially now that artificial intelligence will likely bring another cycle of radical changes. Library managers will need flexibility, experimentation, and harsh critical evaluation of results to achieve success.

High-Performance Work Systems and Intrapreneurial Behavior: The Mediating Role of Knowledge Centered Culture

Abstract Background and purpose Employee intrapreneurial behavior (EIB) has become strategically important for organizational performance. Contemporary managers are exploring ways by which EIB can be reinforced and sustained. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of high-performance work systems (HPWS) and knowledge centered culture (KCC) on EIB, and the mediating role of KCC on the HPWS-EIB path. Methodology The proposed hypotheses were tested by utilizing the variance-based structural equation modeling approach on cross-sectional responses garnered from individuals working in the Jordanian tourism, travel, and hospitality enterprises. Results The analyses yielded robust support for the associations. As expected, HPWS had a direct and significant effect on KCC and EIB. Consequently, KCC did not only impact EIB significantly, but also mediated the association between HPWS and EIB. Conclusion This study considers bundle of HR initiatives via HPWS and explores the underlying processes by which EIB is nurtured. Unlike past discoveries that linked HPWS to EIB, this study shows why and how EIB is enabled in an Arabian context. The findings did not only extend past discoveries, but also provide theoretical and practical basis for EIB as an outcome.

Changing the role of a lecturer in educating of contemporary manager

Changing the role of a lecturer in educating of contemporary manager

Enhancing innovation in universities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of organisational resilience capacity

PurposeResilience has been emphasised by researchers as a probable framework for overcoming challenging circumstances and fostering organisational innovation. Universities have had to shift to a blended learning system which includes online learning. Prior scholars have studied resilience as a reactive aspect which focuses on organisation's ability to bounce back from a downfall. This study aims to establish the antecedent role of resilience capacity which is a proactive ability to preparedly respond to a downfall.Design/methodology/approachThe research adopts an explanatory study design to establish the hypothesised antecedent role of organisational resilience capacity in enhancing organisational innovation. Drawing a sample from Ugandan Universities, hierarchical regression was used to test the role of organisational resilience capacity on organisational innovation. The study also tested the influence of organisational characteristics of ownership, age and size on innovation.FindingsThe study findings show that the three dimensions of organisational resilience capacity (cognitive capacity, behavioural preparedness and contextual capacity) significantly enhance organisational innovation. The findings further reveal that ownership has a significant effect on innovation. The results show that organisational size and age do not influence innovation.Practical implicationsThe study's conclusions help contemporary managers decide how to set up numerous strategic initiatives to activate organisational resilience towards innovation. To deal with disruption, organisations should use dependable innovation systems and best practices in a robust and adaptable way. Organisational managers ought to integrate the doctrines of resilience into various organisational activities such as training and development and simulation activities, so that organisational managers learn resilience skills to deal with environmental changes.Originality/valueThis research shows how the three dimensions of organisational resilience capacity (cognitive capacity, behavioural preparedness and contextual capacity) influence innovativeness since most studies have been directed to the aspect of resilience (which only focuses on ability to recover from a downfall) as opposed to resilience capacity that relates to the ability of an organisation to successfully absorb disruptive events that may endanger organisation survival, develop situation-specific remedies and eventually evolve in transformative activities. The study further intensively extends the body of knowledge by delving deeper into establishing the influence of the individual dimensions of resilience capacity on innovation.

DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS OF LEADERS IN INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF INVESTMENT PROJECTS IN INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES

Confucius said: I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand. The key role in the efficiency of investment projects in industrial enterprises of organizational skills of managers plays vital role, who in ideal should be leaders, enabling organizations ef­fectiveness. It is a fact that leadership potential is needed in the specific professional situations, allowing manager to become organizational leader and become successful in managing activities. The sources in leadership theoretical analysis shows the lack of the position power research in organizations. Some ideas of this paper were discussed in the earlier publication. This paper rethinks and specifies some Western sources of diagnostic methods within their interpretations. The paper pres­ents the research results on the leadership potential of managers in organizations, as this potential becomes a basic source for a manager building towards being the organizational leader. Nowadays managers have a lack of leadership potential, as it is shown in research. In the paper there are presented the results of the research on the key elements of the leadership potential for managers, moreover, the revealing analysis of the leadership potential structure components of contemporary managers. The results of the research can be used by HR-managers and anyone interested in the issues related to the leadership potential development, effective management and developing the leadership skills in organizational leader.

Channeling the capital of others: How Luxembourg came to be asset managers’ “plumber” of choice

This article analyzes the development and growth of the administrative practices and structures necessary for leading asset management companies and other firms to create and sell their “product” of choice: investment funds. To investigate this problematic, I turn to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which currently serves as the domicile for over $5 trillion in fund assets. Since the 1980s, Luxembourg's “offshore” financial center has become a leader in providing the “plumbing,” to quote an interviewee of mine, for worldwide asset manager capitalism. On offer in Luxembourg to asset managers are the routine-but-essential tasks such as domiciliation, compliance, calculation of net-asset values, and distributions. After a brief history of the rise of asset manager capitalism and Luxembourg's role in it, I detail the strategies by which the Grand Duchy's financial-center professionals collaborate to devise ways to service the ever-increasing varieties of investment funds for sale today. Having used the Luxembourg financial center as a case study, I conclude the article by arguing that, in order to understand contemporary asset manager capitalism, researchers should pay as much attention to its “collaborating administrators” in locales like Luxembourg as they currently do to its “competing titans of industry” on Wall Street or in the City of London.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE OPINION OF MANAGERS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY FROM THE WARMISKO-MAZURSKIE PROVINCE IN POLAND

The aim of this article is to present the assumptions underlying the corporate social responsibility concept, and to evaluate its perception by managers of small and medium-sized enterprises in the food industry in the Warmisko-Mazurskie Province in Poland. Contemporary managers face the challenges arising from operating in an unpredictable and high volatile environment. Changes are often revolutionary in character, creating completely new conditions for business activities. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has enriched the world of management with other than economic values. It promotes building a new type of relations with key stakeholders of an organisation. The implementation of actual CSR in an organisation is a difficult, time-consuming and risk-prone process. To a large extent, it depends on the level of awareness of its importance among the managerial staff. The research object consisted of decision-making persons employed in the analysed SMEs. The study was conducted in 2019 and in 2022, using a customised survey. The companies included in the survey focus on internal stakeholders, where the activities undertaken are mostly proactive in character. Regarding external stakeholders, such activities do not typically go beyond the legal norms. Most of the CSR-related activities tend to have an informal character. The importance of socially responsible values according to the surveyed managers working in the food industry is higher than the average value assigned by the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Are you competent coping with uncertainty and risk? Implications for work-applied management

PurposeIn a rapidly changing world, organisations are constantly presented with threats and opportunities and the need to be responsive and resilient. This necessitates developing risk and uncertainty management capabilities within organisations. This article aims to consider risk and uncertainty competence, knowledge, skills, attitudes and the behaviours required by contemporary managers to protect their organisations from threat and harm, whilst seizing opportunity and reward.Design/methodology/approachThis article presents answers to three fundamental questions: (1) Do all managers (those not specialising in risk management) need to be competent in risk and uncertainty management? (2) What does risk competence mean? and (3) How can managers develop the capabilities to become risk competent? The content can be used by practicing managers or educators to develop individual and ultimately organisational risk competence.FindingsAll contemporary managers should have some degree of risk competence. Risk competence behavioural indicators and requisite risk knowledge and skills are identified and discussed.Originality/valueThis article provides a contemporary view on risk and uncertainty management competence, drawing on relevant competence frameworks and the existing risk literature.

Role of Ramayana in Transformation of the Personal and Professional Life of Indians: An Empirical Investigation Based on Age and Regions

Ramayana is one of the greatest and holiest Sanskrit epics and one of the first written pieces of literature in the context of India. In the past few centuries, several authors have been exploring different dimensions of the epic Ramayana, which range from spirituality, philosophy, economics, politics, language, culture, poetry, literature, and technology. However, management does not seem to be popular in terms of subject analysis from Ramayana, even though Valmik Ramayana offers examples of several managers. Thus, several studies have been done to fill the gap in the literature by simply exploring the relevance of Ramayana for the growth and development of contemporary managers. These papers explore dharmic management, work motivation, vigilance, principles for control from Ramayana that offers lessons for improving managerial efficiency. The prospects to explore Ramayana in the other management domains like people management, and strategy management, may also be considered in the future.

What characterises a good leader? A survey of organisational leaders in Poland

The article attempts to define the characteristics of a contemporary manager that determine being a leader in the 21st-century organisation. The way to achieve the assumed goal of the research was to conduct an own study among the managers of organisations in the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises in Poland. 48 top managers in 48 organisations were examined, obtaining information from them on the work, characteristics, principles, and roles of the organisation leader.

Managing Education and Teaching Team During the COVID-19 Pandemic. A Systematic Review

Circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many challenges for all entities constituting the education system in Poland. The article aims to present the specific character of managing education and the teaching team in this demanding unusual reality. Contemporary principals and managers of various levels of education, often burdened with a multitude and diversity of tasks and requirements imposed on their role and the organisation of work of the managed entity, regardless of the circumstances of management, require and expect adequate support. The article reviews current empirical research on the problem of the functioning of schools in the pandemic, including such aspects as the situation of teachers, principals, students and their parents. The results are set within the practical, day-to-day management of education, focusing on the implementation of statutory tasks and the circumstances of cooperation between the principal and the staff team (e.g., concerning communication, fulfilment of needs, conflict resolution). Reference has also been made to own empirical research dedicated to managerial talent in education and the specific character of conflict management in an educational institution.

Anomaly Detection in Time Series for Smart Agriculture

Purpose: Enormous amounts of data from sensors and automatic systems is available to contemporary managers of farms and agricultural enterprises. Therefore, the automated monitoring of the basic processes is becoming more and more necessary. Manager of a modern agricultural company is responsible for his decisions but must have accurate and transparent support in the decision making process. The reports based on wide-scale of mathematical and statistical approaches integrated to information system can provide a suitable hierarchy of alerts concerning important indicators. This paper provides a brief overview of methods usable for anomaly detection in time series together with a basic (and open) possibilities of their implementation.
 Study design/methodology/approach: A brief overview of the most important and sufficiently flexible modern methods for detection anomaly detection in time series with focus particularly on agriculture.
 Findings: The paper can serve as a starting point for creation of alerting in agricultural information systems as a support for managerial decision making. In connection to the extremely fast development in data and information spheres in smart agriculture within the last two decades develop also the new approaches for prediction in time series and search for unexpected fluctuations in their course. Besides the traditional mathematical and statistical approaches new methods emerge which are tailor-made to the internet environment and environment of social networks.
 Originality/value: This basic overview can be used for a primary orientation in the problem and can serve as a basis for creation of automated alerting system. It is always necessary to remember the domain of use, economic relations, structure and hierarchy of time series and their periodicity, seasonality and cycles.

Local Experts’ Observations, Interpretations, and Responses to Human-Polar Bear Interactions in Churchill, Manitoba

Since interactions and conflicts between polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and people are reportedly increasing across the Arctic, there is a pressing need to better understand how such conflicts can be prevented or their outcomes ameliorated. A great deal of knowledge about what strategies work for both preventing and mitigating human-polar bear conflicts lies with local experts, yet this knowledge has often remained relatively inaccessible to contemporary wildlife managers. This study had three main aims: to document and synthesize local knowledge of polar bear behaviour in Churchill, Manitoba, to characterize perceptions and interpretations of polar bears, and to examine the linkage between local experts’ knowledge, perceptions, and actions. We identified a suite of bear behaviours that local experts consistently observe and interpret as cues to the bears’ intent. These behaviours are not unique to this locale. Nevertheless, differences in perspectives on the predictability of polar bear behaviour and in interpretations of the nature of bears significantly influence study participants’ strategies for responding to bears. Our findings demonstrate that human-related factors are more complex than current models of human-bear interactions account for, so there is a need to develop richer models for understanding what motivates and influences human behaviours and responses towards bears.

Mapping the maturity of SMART WORLD trends as a tool for developing business excellence and reducing organizational complexity

Abstract By highlighting the importance of tracking the maturity of various phenomena, this study aims at facilitating their response to the emerging changes and reducing the complexity of organizational management processes. To support business excellence and organization management in the SMART WORLD era, special attention was paid to previous findings. The pilot study research was carried out on a sample of 107 enterprises from Poland and Lithuania. The results of the data analysis collected during the quantitative research and their mapping identified: currently leading trends (mainstream - “new normal trends”), trends expected to undergo the development in short/medium/long term perspective and trends labelled as “no future” - fads or one step before their time. Research results were the basis for expressing preliminary conclusions about how to reduce uncertainty and complexity of the process of strategic decision making by contemporary managers.

Resilience strategies to recover from the cascading ripple effect in a copper supply chain through project management

As the supply chains are growing and becoming more interdependent, the vulnerability and the chances of supply chain failure also increases. The supply chain industry is severely affected due to the COVID-19 outbreak and industry practitioners are focusing on minimizing the ripple effect of the disruption made to the economy. Considering the unprecedented situation, the research is motivated to analyse the ripple effect in a multi-echelon supply chain and investigate the performance at various nodes to understand the capability of the supply chain to withstand the disruptions at different levels. Using discrete event simulation, this study analyses the ripple effect in the copper industry by an agent-based simulation software anyLogistix, considering various key performance indexes (KPIs) to gauge the magnitude. From the results of the simulation, it is evident that the lack of safety stocks and multi-sourcing of copper facilitate as major causes for the disruptions. The simulation helps to understand the disruption levels and make the supply chain more resilient and robust for any future disruption. Further, the study proposes resilient project management solutions to recover from the cascading ripple effect in the copper supply chain. The scientific contribution of the research is to provide supply chain managers with simulation techniques to understand the ripple effect on the copper supply chain. It helps the stakeholders to understand the importance of project management tools to reduce the cascading ripple effect in a copper supply chain. Further, the findings of this study will support contemporary managers, supply chain allies, project managers, and stakeholders to formulate strategies for recovering from the supply chain disruptions caused due to natural disasters, pandemics such as COVID-19.

Linking employee perceptions and employee attitudes through their levels of organizational identification: a field investigation in India

PurposeDespite organizational socialization and support, contemporary managers often perceive employees to be less engaged and attached to their workplace, multiplying their workload with unsolicited vexations and worries. In this connection, the purpose of this paper is to explore and possibly confirm the ameliorative role of organizational identification as a mediator between employees' perceptions of organizational support and justice and their favorable association to their levels of engagement and attenuation of their intentions to quit.Design/methodology/approachSuitable theories such as the social exchange and fairness heuristics theories were examined to select and support the study constructs. Accordingly, the literature was reviewed to formulate the study hypotheses and connect them through a conceptual latent variable model (LVM). Data were collected from 402 full-time managerial executives all over India. The data thus collected were subjected to structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures.FindingsAll the measures used in this study had acceptable reliabilities as indicated by their Cronbach's Alpha values. Based on the SEM procedures all the study hypotheses and one of the competing LVMs labeled as LVM5 was finally accepted.Originality/valueThe distinctive feature of this study is the theoretical compilation of all the study constructs in one LVM and subsequent empirical verification of the same. This study is, perhaps, the first of its kind to examine the implications of such justice-based perceptions of social exchange relations between employees and their organizations in India more so, since it considers support and justice to complement each other as an interactive whole.