Internal Organizational Factors Research Articles

Employees' perspective of organizational service quality orientation

PurposeInternal organizational orientation of service quality and its impact on service delivery performance of the employees have received considerable attention from financial management literature. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue by conducting empirical research focusing on the Pakistani Islamic banking industry. It conceptualizes and measures key determinants of internal organizational orientation of service quality from the employees' perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from a sample of 150 employees of pure Islamic banks and conventional banks with IBBs (Islamic Banking Branches or windows) across the entire country. The paper uses principal component factor analysis and regression methods.FindingsStatistical results demonstrate that the employee perceptions of organizational service quality orientation mainly depends upon four main predictors: employees' perception about training and development; development and positioning of Islamic banking products/service concept; customer service orientation; and employees' service quality performance. Principal component factor analysis results indicate four predictive internal organizational service quality orientation factors (ISQF) where 16 per cent of the variation is being explained by employee perception of organizational orientation towards employees' training and development (ISQF1), 13 per cent variation explained employee perception of organizational orientation towards development and positioning of Islamic banking products/service concept (ISQF2), 11 per cent variation explained by employee perception of organizational service quality orientation towards customer service orientation (ISQF3), and 10 per cent variation explained employee perception of organizational service quality orientation towards employees' service quality performance (ISQF4).Originality/valueManagement of Islamic Banks in Pakistan need to be mindful about the fact that ISQFs identified by this study have the potential to indirectly influence customer perceptions through effective employees' recruitment and selection criteria, complemented by training to improve service oriented skills and knowledge development about Sh´ria principles related with the products/services offered by Islamic banks in Pakistan.

Using Activity Analysis to Identify Individual and Group Behavioral Constraints to Organizational Change Management

This article looks at the constraining influence of internal organizational factors on the management of organizational change. The purpose of the study was to determine the individual and group behavioral-induced situational problems, conflicts and tensions that change managers can identify and also use as innovative tools to enhance their capacity to manage organizational change. Individual and group behavioral factors that constrained the implementation and internalization of a best management practice model in an organization were examined. It is argued that in the organizational change process, the inability of change managers to simultaneously identify the development of situational problems, such as conflicts and tensions induced by individual and group based behaviours, and exploiting them as tools to enhance management innovation, is a significant constraint. It is concluded that; by continuously examining individual and group based mediated actions, managers can understand, identify, isolate and manage situational problems in future implementation and internalization of new practices models in their organizations.

Strategic Culture and Environmental Dimensions as Determinants of Anomie in Publicly-Traded and Privately-Held Firms

ABSTRACT:Anomie is a condition in which normative guidelines for governing conduct are absent. Using survey data from a sample of U.S. manufacturing firms, we explore the impact of internal (cultural) and external (environmental) determinants of organizational anomie. We suggest that four internal organizational factors can generate or suppress organizational anomie, including strategic aggressiveness, long-term orientation, competitor orientation, and strategic flexibility. Similarly, we argue that external contextual factors, including competitive intensity and technological turbulence, can influence organizational anomie. We extend anomie and ethics research by considering the impact of these firm cultural and environmental factors according to whether firms are publicly-traded or privately-held. Findings demonstrate that a number of firm cultural and environmental factors can generate or reduce anomie in firms. Moreover, strategic aggressiveness, long-term orientation, and strategic flexibility influence organizational anomie differently depending on whether the firm is publicly-traded or privately-held. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.

Factors influencing the non-disclosure of sustainability information on Malaysian district councils' websites within an institutional theory framework

This study examined why Malaysian district councils did not report sustainability information on their websites. It is a case study approach using semi-structured interviews. Results indicated that internal and external organizational factors influenced the non-reporting of sustainability information on councils' websites. In institutional theory, the lack of commitment shown by the top management in implementing sustainable development program appears to discourage the promotion of normative isomorphic pressure for disclosing sustainability information on websites. There is evidence of coerciveisomorphism relating to website bureaucratic procedures, but, not relating to disclosure of sustainability information. The overall findings may assist in formulating policiesto encourage district councils to report sustainability information to stakeholders.

Using social networks theory as a complementary perspective to the study of organizational change

This paper contributes to the literature on organizational change by examining organizations as social entities embedded in inter-organizational networks. In contrast with extant research that focuses on macro environmental and internal factors to explain organizational change, we put forth the social network surrounding the firm as a major driver of any change process. Specifically, we examine organizational change as driven by the organizations' positions and relations in an interorganizational network, and advance a set of theory driven propositions on innovation, imitation, inertia, structural equivalence and structural positioning. Our conceptual discussion demonstrates that inter-organizational networks are important in complementing the macro-environment and internal organizational factors for the study of organizational changes. We conclude with a discussion on normative implications for organizations and avenues for future research.

The Link between Standardization/Adaptation of International Marketing Strategy and Company Performance

Most scientific studies concentrate on factors that impact the choice of a certain strategy, and they seek to identify forces that stimulate standardization or adaptation. But the validity of the choice of standardization or adaptation strategy is determined by its potential to improve company performance (Samie & Roth, 1992). Jain (1989) states that suitability of an international marketing strategy is confirmed by the strategy's influence on the company performance - economic and strategic benefit, received due to implementation of the chosen strategy.Although the factor of company's performance should be one of the most important ones when making the strategic decision of standardization/adaptation, according to scientists, this issue has been researched empirically the least, and results of performed research works are contradictory (Katsikeas, Samiee & Theodosiou, 2006). Therefore, the link between standardization/adaptation of international marketing strategy and company performance remain a topical object of the scientific research.The problem in this article is formulated with the help of the following ąuestion: is there any link between standardization/adaptation decisions of international marketing strategy and company performance?The aim of the article is to develop a theoretical model of the link between standardization/ adaptation decisions of international marketing strategy and company performance and to test it empirically. Seeking to realize the set task, research was performed using methods of systematic and comparative analysis of scientific literature. Empirical verification of the theoretical model was performed using the case analysis method.Identified internal organisational and external environmental factors, which limit standardization/ adaptation decisions of international marketing strategy, are presented in the article based on the analysis of scientific literature. Reviewing research of this subject, causality direction is analyzed and the link between standardization/adaptation decisions of international marketing strategy and company performance is substantiated. The performed analysis of scientific literature has shown that the link between standardization/ adaption and company performance is reciprocal and complicated; possibly it is influenced by other forces, such as Porter's (1980) generic strategies.Based on literature analysis a theoretical model of the link between standardization/adaptation decisions of international marketing strategy and company performance was composed. The model encompasses external and internal antecedent factors that condition the decision to standardize or adapt and outcomes of standardization/ adaption as well as the influence of the generic strategy on the standardization/ adaptation decisions of international marketing strategy and company performance. The model reveals that company performance may be not only the outcome of standardization/adaptation decisions, but also an antecedent of these decisions. The generic strategies have a direct and indirect (acting through the international marketing strategy) impact on company performance.Analysis of the case of LENZE Group revealed that applied standardization/ adaptation and cost leadership/differentiation strategies when they are adjusted do complement each other and their strategic goals are not confronting. This partially negates theoretical assumptions that adaptation is compatible with the differentiation strategy, and standardization is compatible with cost leadership strategy, and this reveals that other combinations of strategic decisions are also possible, conditioning the improvement of company performance.http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.22.1.223

Environment for innovation: Gaining competitive advantage

Research has found that commitment to innovation is a key to success and in a long run can be helpful in earning a competitive advantage for the firm. However, it’s not that easy to buy it out because of the confrontational environment that is around and the many internal and external forces that influence positively and negatively and more then that there is a level of uncertainty in innovation and some degree of risk with a gap of its understanding and its actual implementation. The paper talks about a scenario that Michael porter and Stern (2001) has discussed with support of academic literature on the extinct to which the internal and external factors have their influence on the journey innovation to competitive advantage. Key words: Innovation, competitive advantage, organizational environment, external organizational factors, internal organizational factors.

The evolution of alliances in the global airline industry: A review of the African experience

AbstractIn an increasingly globalized world, alliances have proliferated in one industry after another, and the competitive game has shifted from firm versus firm to group versus group, leaving many firms operating on the margins of these constellations. Using the case of the global airline industry, this article examines how the shift from bilateral to multilateral alliances has left many African airlines operating on the margins of the global airline alliances groupings. We conjecture that a number of internal organizational factors, such as size and lack of access to scarce resources, and external factors, such as a slow market‐reform process and insufficient reform of state‐owned airlines, have hindered their success in a highly competitive environment. The theoretical, managerial, and policy implications of these findings are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Exploring the innovative potential of SMEs in Spain

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) tend to be theoretically and empirically considered to have critical limitations for innovation and technological development. Whereas this can be true in general terms, there are certain factors that can stimulate SMEs’ capacity for innovation, in particular internal organizational factors. Thus, in the context of less formally institutionalized regional/ local labour markets and labour relations, several factors or drivers, such as adequate size, the specific industrial sector and good human resources management, can be potential drivers of learning and innovation. These factors are analysed in three main dimensions, namely, management, further training and work organization. These arguments are explored with examples and data from industrial SMEs in their respective regional contexts in Spain.

The contingent value of exploratory and exploitative learning for new product development performance

This study endeavors to extend research on organizational learning by investigating the complicated effects between exploratory — exploitative learning and new product performance in a single new product project. Specifically, premised on contingency theory the authors investigate the negative nonlinear and interaction effects of project-level exploratory and exploitative learning behaviors on product development performance, and examine internal organizational and external environmental factors to recognize their differential moderating effects between the two learning behaviors and new product performance. Most of the hypotheses are supported based on questionnaire survey results of 253 new product projects. The results indicate that the two type of learning have curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) effects on new product performance, and suggest that product development performance will be enhanced when one learning is at higher level and the other is at lower level. Furthermore, the authors discover that process-based reward, encouragement to take risk, and environment dynamics strengthened the benefits of exploratory on new product performance. On the other hand, the advantages of exploitative learning on new product performance is further enhanced when output-based reward, project development formalization, and environment competitiveness is high. Finally, this study suggests that project managers should pay careful attention to employ the two learning behaviors during new product development.

Challenges of organizational change in the case of Albanian exporting companies

The authors, using the export sector companies’ data, attempt to study influence of internal organizational factors (such as structure, culture, political and power/authority issues of the decision making) on a company performance.

Reaching inter-institutional business processes in e-Society

Reaching inter-institutional business processes in e-Society Each business enterprise strives to achieve the most efficient organization of its operations. While business enterprises can influence internal factors of organization, external factors are more rigid. Public organizations have less of an incentive to be efficient. Furthermore, their organization is less favorable since the decision making is centralized and highly formal (i.e. legislative). Adoption of business process orientation (BPO) paradigm, with an emphasis on the management of internal factors of organization, has provided business organizations with substantial savings and improvements in efficiency. However, external factors also have a high potential for improvement of efficiency. For instance, development of supply chains or value chains has proven that external factors can be harnessed to provide additional sources of competitiveness. Other external factors can also be used to improve the performance of individual organizations, an entire industry or economy as a whole. These synergic effects can be achieved through a unified and virtualized communication infrastructure, document exchange and conduct of business transactions. The goal of this paper is to present business environment properties in an e-Society that can be further developed to enhance integration between organizations and public institutions, which in turn can be used to create and manage inter-institutional business processes. This type of processes can promote e-business and e-business models to a new level of efficiency, making a whole industry or national economy comparatively more competitive in international markets.

The influence of B2B e-commerce on SMEs' performance and efficiency: a review of the literature

The adoption of Business-to-Business (B2B) systems by enterprises can be expected to improve the efficiency of processes, reduce costs, improve the quality and availability of information, reduce inappropriate behaviour, streamline the supply chain and improve service (Devaraj and Kohli, 2003; Gulati, 2000). B2B systems can provide managers with better control over their enterprise's functions and activities and their relationship with local and global trading partners and suppliers (Akoh, 2001). Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to investigate the internal and external organisational factors that influence adoption of B2B systems in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through a review of related literature. It also aims to explore the influence of B2B adoption on performance and efficiency in SMEs.

Exploring deeper structures in manufacturing strategy formation processes: a qualitative inquiry

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explicate deeper structures in manufacturing strategy (MS) formation processes, in order to advance process understanding. This would be useful in identifying and nurturing appropriate forms of MS formation within specific organisational settings.Design/methodology/approachNine case studies in the Australian metal products, machinery and equipment manufacturing sectors, guided by the grounded theory approach.FindingsDeeper structures in MS processes represent linear and parallel, convergent and divergent, sequential and iterative progression of strategic initiatives across four broad phases identified as: initiation, consolidation, commitment and realization. The multiple progressions are explained by the nature of strategic initiatives, the causal relationships between the phases or modes and the influence of internal and external organisational contextual factors. The aggregate patterns are presented in the form of a conceptual model.Research limitations/implicationsThe conceptual model needed to be tested with a large sample of data using statistical techniques to improve its external validity. Causal relationships explored in this study may be further strengthened using longitudinal qualitative studies.Practical implicationsThe findings are grounded in empirical data. The model presented using simple formalisms is capable of providing rich insights in aggregate terms. As such, it is expected to hold a natural appeal to practitioners. If the findings can find their way into MS pedagogy, they can make a more substantial and progressive contribution to MS practice.Originality/valueThe findings of this study have corroborated and explained the findings of several recent studies that have uncovered alternative forms of MS formation. The deeper understanding of MS process developed in this study contributes to theory‐building with the added significance that this study has successfully crossed the traditional analytical boundaries.

Exploring Strategic Positioning in the UK Charitable Sector: Emerging Evidence from Charitable Organizations that Provide Public Services

The UK voluntary sector operates in an arguably enabling policy context. Yet, other external environmental influences have posed major challenges for charitable organizations within the wider voluntary sector. This paper aims to rectify the current lack of empirical research on how charitable organizations have responded in terms of their strategic positioning to the changing external operating environment and policy context. It both explores the positioning strategies adopted by two contrasting British charities that deliver public services in different ways, and investigates the factors that have influenced their choice of positioning strategies. The cases studied extend our knowledge of strategic positioning in organizations other than commercial (for‐profit) ones. The findings provide new evidence that charities have begun to strategically position themselves in response to both internal organizational factors and external environmental influences. Emerging lessons from the experiences of the case study organizations provide guidance to charity managers in planning and implementing strategic positioning in their organizations. The findings also underscore the need to develop theoretical and conceptual management models specific to non‐profit organizations, such as charities.

Linking Pay Level to Interactional Justice as a Determinant of Personal Outcomes

Human resource development literature highlights that pay level is a crucial compensation design issue. The ability of the management to properly design the level of pay according to external and internal organisational factors may have a significant impact on personal outcomes, i.e. job satisfaction, job commitment, and job performance. More importantly, a thorough review of such relationships revealed that effect of pay level on personal outcomes is indirectly affected by feelings of interactional justice. Although the nature of this relationship is interesting, little is known about the influence of interactional justice in compensation programme models. Therefore, this study was conducted to measure the mediating effect of interactional justice in the relationship between pay level and personal outcomes. A survey research method was used to gather 917 usable questionnaires from employees who have worked in Malaysian institutions of higher learning. The outcomes of stepwise regression analysis showed three important findings: firstly, the relationship between interactional justice and pay level would increase job satisfaction. Secondly, the relationship between interactional justice and pay level would increase job commitment. Third, relationship between interactional justice and pay level would increase job performance. This result confirmed that interactional justice does act as a full mediating variable in the pay system model of the organisation sample. In addition, the implications of this study on compensation theory and practice, conceptual and methodological limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

A influência das redes de alianças estratégicas sobre a tecnologia de informação e comunicação

As empresas cada vez mais se relacionam estrategicamente com outras empresas, com vistas a terem maior competitividade. Um dos principais fatores organizacionais internos de apoio à estratégia de uma empresa é a tecnologia de informação e comunicação (TIC). Este artigo apresenta os resultados de uma investigação empírica das percepções de gestores de TIC com atuação no Brasil. Foram investigadas as influências que 13 características de uma rede de alianças estratégicas (RAE) têm sobre quatro propriedades da TIC de uma empresa: maturidade, complexidade, flexibilidade e alinhamento. Os resultados da pesquisa exploratória sugerem que essa influência existe e que se manifesta de várias formas e com distintos graus de força. Há evidências que a maturidade - grau de evolução ou competência - de TIC é a mais fortemente afetada pelas 13 características de RAE investigadas e que a equivalência estrutural é aquela que menos influencia a TIC de uma empresa. Inferimos que, uma vez compreendida as possíveis influências de uma RAE, os gestores de TIC podem antecipar-se a estas influências e planejar melhor a TIC das suas empresas para dar sustentação à sua competitividade.

Motivación, satisfación y vinculación: ¿es gestionable la voluntad de las personas en el trabajo? [Motivation, satisfaction and attachment

People at work will management is a central topic of interest in private and public organisations. Nevertheless, under this concept underlie some constructs that often are superposed or misunderstood: motivation, satisfaction and attachment or loyalty. This paper tries to clarify these concepts from a conceptual point of view and presents an integrated vision of the internal and external organisational factors that may influence on them. Focusing on the internal factors and based upon the professional experience of the author throughout more then one hundred workshops with middle and high managers and workers from different sectors, and also on the empiric results of a metaanalysis from nine climate studies in different organisations representing 6,108 individuals, an integrated model is presented that shows which are the manageable factors that impact on motivation, satisfaction or attachment and the relative importance of this impact. Based upon these results, the practical consequences in human resources management are discussed. Finally, some future research trends are suggested to be held.

Determinants of Resident Autonomy in Assisted Living Facilities: A Review of the Literature

Assisted living (AL) stresses the importance of resident autonomy in the provision of good quality care. Resident autonomy has been linked to better resident well-being, less reliance on supportive services, and greater participation in social activities. Little is known, however, about factors that foster resident autonomy in AL. This article reviews what is currently known about organizational determinants of resident autonomy in AL. The open-natural systems approach to organizational effectiveness, which views organizations in relation to their environment, provides a broad conceptual framework for this analysis. Factors that influence resident autonomy in AL are classified into two categories: (a) external environmental conditions (e.g., ownership status, chain membership, regulatory environment) and (b) internal organizational structures and processes (e.g., facility size, residents' functional ability, resident social resources, and staff work environment). Environmental conditions represent the most antecedent set of factors that influence resident autonomy, indirectly through their effects on internal organizational structures and processes. Internal organizational factors influence resident autonomy through their impact on policies that enable resident choice and control in the facility. More research is needed to better understand the complex mechanism(s) through which organizational factors influence resident autonomy.

How Political Support Influences Red Tape through Developmental Culture

This study examines the interrelationship between external political support, internal organizational factors, and red tape, using a sample of information managers from state health and human service agencies. The study defines a red tape model and tests the model by structural equation modeling method. The study finds that political support has a direct effect on red tape. The higher the political support, the lower the level of red tape. The study also confirms an indirect effect of political support on red tape, mediated by developmental culture. Indirect effect through goal clarity has the correct sign but is not statistically significant. Practical recommendations are made for the political environment to provide the opportunity for managerial reforms that are often advocated.