Understanding Of Management Research Articles

Information systems for collaborating versus transacting: Impact on manufacturing plant performance in the presence of demand volatility

Research at the nexus of operations management and information systems suggests that manufacturing plants may benefit from the utilization of information systems for collaborating and transacting with suppliers and customers. The objective of this study is to examine the extent to which value generated by information systems for collaborating versus transacting is contingent upon demand volatility. We analyze a unique dataset assembled from non-public U.S. Census Bureau data of manufacturing plants. Our findings suggest that when faced with volatile demand, plants employing information systems for collaborating with suppliers and customers experience positive and significant benefits to performance, in terms of both labor productivity and inventory turnover. In contrast, results suggest that plants employing information systems for transacting in volatile environments do not experience such benefits. Further exploratory analysis suggests that in the context of demand volatility, these two distinct dimensions of IT-based integration have differing performance implications at different stages of the production process in terms of raw-materials inventory and finished-goods inventory, but not in terms of work-in-process inventory. Taken together, our study contributes to theoretical and managerial understanding of the contingent value of information systems in volatile demand conditions in the supply chain context.

Top Management Compositional Effects on Corporate Entrepreneurship: The Moderating Role of Perceived Technological Uncertainty

Because corporate entrepreneurship (CE) is central to firms' ability to compete, adapt, and perform in increasingly turbulent environments, there is a great interest in understanding its origins. To date, prior studies have overwhelmingly focused on the architectural factors—the structures, cultures, resources, and incentives—that shape entrepreneurial processes within organizations and the environmental conditions that stimulate entrepreneurial activity. However, some researchers have recently begun to argue that the requirements and challenges of CE fall most saliently on the shoulders of the firm's top management team. Focusing on various aspects of top managers' activities, roles, and processes, this line of research demonstrates the enabling role of top management teams in their firm's pursuit of CE. We extend this research by examining the impact of top management team composition in terms of human capital and social capital on CE. Additionally, because external environment perceptions within top teams shape their sociopolitical process and framing of the issues facing their firms, we submit that a team's level of perceived technological uncertainty moderates the impact of the team's human and social capital on CE. We find support for these arguments using multisource data from a sample of 99 high‐technology firms. The discussion finally traces the implications of our theory and findings for research and managerial understanding on CE.

A longitudinal study of individual and organisational learning

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically examine organisational learning (OL) and individual managerial learning and provide a comparative evaluation of the ability of each to generate organisational benefits.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical model of organisational learning is developed which was then longitudinally tested in four organisations using causal cognitive mapping methods.FindingsThe results demonstrate that organisational learning can increase shared managerial understandings that may lead to organisational benefits derived from higher degrees of unified action. However, the study also revealed potentially dysfunctional aspects of organisational learning such as cohesive managerial mental models inhibiting learning and organisational learning can be slower than individual learning.Research limitations/implicationsThe research methodology and analysis is innovative and unique in this context. The author recognises the need for further research.Practical implicationsThere is benefit for managers in promoting organisational learning; however, care must be taken to recognise when this learning is dysfunctional.Originality/valueWhilst there have been strong theoretical assertions that OL is crucial for organisational survival and success, this is one of the few longitudinal empirical studies to support these claims. Another contribution is the generation of empirical evidence derived from cognitive methods which have rarely been used in the organisational learning context.

Contemporary Threats Countermeasuresi

Information Systems Security (ISS) is of major concern to not only network administrators, but also for managers of organizations for a variety of reasons including: the need for organizations to comply with various regulatory agencies, the reliance on information systems to provide the organizational backbone to the organization, and rising operational dependence on ecommerce to conduct daily business activities. These aspects create challenges for network managers who are tasked with balancing the needs of stakeholders with protection of sensitive information and valuable hardware. Despite ISS being largely a managerial issue, managerial concern for ISS is inadequate, evidenced by its consistently low ranking as a key issue in information systems management surveys.This research seeks to examine the current state of threats faced by organizations and the countermeasures they employ by examining prior research on the subject and comparing the results of that research to interview responses from “experts” in positions that required both a technical and managerial understanding of the threats and countermeasures faced and used respectively. Results suggest that, based on interview responses from experts, both threats and countermeasure responses have changed over time. Interpretation of the results will help systems administrators and network managers better understand modern threats and point towards potential remedies to mitigate the risk generated by such threats.

The interrelationship between service features, job satisfaction and customer satisfaction

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to present a conceptual framework which explores the links between the two service features (physical and interactive), job satisfaction and their impact on customer satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachA structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 168 first line employees of a major European port. Structural equation modelling and regression analysis were used to examine and test the relationships.FindingsThe empirical data verifies structural relationships between service quality, customer satisfaction and job satisfaction, treating job satisfaction as a consequence of physical features and as an antecedent of interactive features. The direct impact of employee job satisfaction on customer satisfaction, together with its indirect influence via service features, were tested and supported by the empirical data.Originality/valueThis study extends the literature by examining the distinct role that the interactive and physical features of services play in the formation of job satisfaction, which in turn influences customer satisfaction. This perspective could improve managerial understanding of the service quality‐job satisfaction relationship and lead to more focused decisions.

Thinking the ontological politics of managerial and critical performativities: An examination of project failure

Summary Recent contributions within Critical Management Studies have argued for critical engagements with performativity to acknowledge and advance the plurality of performance calculi within organizations. However, even critically minded authors persist in deploying managerial calculi of performance when criticizing the failure of management on its own terms. Equally, interpretive analyses of performance narratives as discursive power games have thus far offered little substantive challenge to managerial understandings of performativity, as orientated around maxims of efficiency, control and profit. Positioned against these managerialist and conservative tendencies in extant understandings of performativity, we draw together the ANT-derived notions of ontological performativity and politics, alongside empirical research on projects, and specifically project failure, to propose that if ontologies are performative, multiple, and political, then performativities are ontological, multiple and political, and are thus capable of being realized otherwise; but crucially, we can advance this thesis only if we better understand how managerial performativity simultaneously others and depends on that which is outside it: an absent hinterland of different performative realities. This theoretical move challenges how we might not only understand but assemble multiple performed realities – demanding new methodological, analytical and political resources and responses to engage with performativities.

Putting the “psychic” Back in Psychic Distance: Awareness, Perceptions, and Understanding as Dimensions of Psychic Distance

Unlike the IB literature whose emphasis within the term ‘psychic distance’ has been more on “distance” and less on “psychic,” our starting point is all “psychic” and no “distance,” assuming distance is defined as the difference between two countries. We propose that psychic distance be centered on the firm's managers and explain how their cognitive limitations, perceptions, heuristics, and experiences interact with a foreign environment to influence their decision making. We replace the conventional definition of distance with the cognitive dimensions of managerial awareness , perceptions , and understanding . Awareness captures the manager's consciousness of foreign context elements relevant to the firm's decision, perception is the manager's interpretation of the extent of these relevant environmental elements, and a manager's understanding captures the relationships among these context elements and the firm's decision. We argue that a multidimensional psychic distance construct is necessary as many of distance's problems are due to the illusion it promises of capturing a manager's perception of a complex foreign environment in a single number. Our approach eliminates distance's problems of symmetry and linearity. It also eliminates the constraint that distance is only associated with negative outcomes. After explaining the theoretical value of awareness , perception , and understanding by developing propositions predicting context traps, we present our operationalization of psychic distance.

The Evidence Matrix: A Framework for Use of Evidence in Organizational Behavior Teaching

Evidence-based management (EBM) is a growing area in approaches to managerial understanding and decision making. In the current research we examine the relevance of evidence in the student lassroom context. Specifically, we suggest that organizational behavior teaching can be improved by taking a broader view toward evidence that is inclusive of four forms of evidence: faith, analytics, intuition, and research. Together the four forms of evidence comprise the Evidence Matrix. The authors share their findings and suggestions for the use of the Evidence Matrix applied to two sections of an organizational behavior class.

Managerial understanding of presenteeism and its economic impact

PurposeThe economic impact of ill‐health in employed individuals is largely experienced via absenteeism‐related and presenteeism‐related productivity loss. Using cognitive interviewing, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate a recently published interview method by which managers determine key job characteristics and their relationship to the cost of acute and chronic illness‐related absenteeism and presenteeism in the workplace: the team production approach.Design/methodology/approachManagers (n=20) from various industries in Australia completed the team production interview by telephone. Quantitative items measured replaceability, team production, time sensitivity of output and illness‐related absenteeism and presenteeism costs. Concurrent verbal probes followed five items which assessed the productivity impact of illness‐related presenteeism, identified as cognitively challenging.FindingsContent analysis of interview outputs examined cognitive processes underlying managers’ responses and revealed difficulties understanding and quantifying chronic illness and presenteeism. Difficulties were categorised as misunderstanding of key concepts/terminology, inability to provide answers due to lack of knowledge, difficulty applying questions/scenarios to employees/workplaces and miscellaneous problems.Practical implicationsInterview modifications are proposed to address concerns of managers. These changes aim to minimise measurement error in future applications of the instrument and improve valuation of chronic illness and presenteeism in the workforce.Social implicationsImproved understanding of chronic illness and presenteeism could enhance estimation of productivity loss recoverable via health management/promotion strategies and may increase managers’ willingness to implement such programs. Development of valuation methods in a manner acceptable to and informed by business leaders/employers ensures findings have “real‐world” value.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this is the first use of cognitive interviewing to identify sources of response error in a productivity evaluation method.

Managing highly flexible facilities: an essential complementary asset at risk

PurposeTwenty first century problems are increasingly being addressed by multi technology solutions developed by regional entrepreneurial and intreprepreneurial innovators. However, they require an expensive new type of fabrication facility. Multiple technology production facilities (MTPF) have become the essential incubators for these innovations. This paper aims to focus on the issues.Design/methodology/approachThe authors address the lack of managerial understanding of how to express the value and operationally manage MTPF centers through the use of investigative case study methods for multiple firms in the study.FindingsOwing to the MTPF centers' novelty and outward similarity to high volume semiconductor fabrication (HVF) facilities, they are laden with ineffective operation and strategic management practices. Metrics are the standard for both operational and strategic management of HVF facilities, yet their application to this new type of center is proving ineffectual.Research limitations/implicationsThese new types of regional economic resources may be at risk. A new approach is needed.Practical implicationsThe authors develop an operational and strategic metrics management approach for MTPFs that are based on these facilities' unique nature and leverages both the HVF and R&D metrics knowledge base.Social implicationsInnovations at the interface of micro technology, nanotechnology and semiconductor micro fabrication are poised to solve many of these problems and become a basis for job creation and prosperity. If a new management technique is not developed, then these harbingers of regional economic development will be closed.Originality/valueWhile there is an abundance of research on metrics for HVF, this is the first attempt to develop metrics for MTPFs.

Scientific Management and Pragmatism in PA Theory: Taylor and Dewey as Strange Bedfellows

Scientific management in public administration is usually associated with the Philadelphian, machinist and industrial engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor, who introduced high-priced efficiency studies into the workplace with a stopwatch and a clever method of analysis. In contrast, scientific management in philosophy finds more resonance with the ideas of the American pragmatist John Dewey, who conceived management as a species of intelligent inquiry, or scientifically-modeled problem solving. While these accounts are not entirely accurate, they do provide depictions of two thinkers with strikingly different visions of scientific management. However, this reading is the result of filtering Taylor’s ideas through recent commentaries, mostly critical, of mainstream management and consulting practices. Likewise, the view that Dewey understood management as a form of inquiry is the result of contemporary interpretations of his work. In the first two sections of this paper, I examine the similarities and differences between Dewey and Taylor’s conceptions of scientific management. Dewey’s critique of scientific management in his book Democracy and Education receives attention in the second section. In the third section, I consider how approaches to organizational theory and public management have moved away from Taylorism, reflecting several of Dewey’s critical insights about scientific management and a more recent alternative: human relations theory. The paper concludes with some final thoughts concerning the usefulness of the Dewey-Taylor comparison and its implications for good governance in a democratic society.

Manufacturing with item-level RFID information: From macro to micro quality control

Abstract Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tags have gained wide-spread popularity in a wide variety of application domains. However, their use in the manufacturing environment still remains at a low level. Despite maturity of related technologies, the lack of managerial understanding of potential benefits has been a major impediment to RFID tag's inroad in the manufacturing domain. In addition to their item-level identification capability, RFID tags enable local storage and retrieval of relevant features associated with each item. We consider the dynamic associated with the availability of item-level information in a mass manufacturing context, propose and develop a knowledge-based adaptive learning system for this scenario, and present related managerial insights. We use modeling as well as manufacturing process simulation to illustrate the proposed framework. Results from this study indicate that the benefits for manufacturing with item-level information increases, although bounded, with increasing variance present in the manufacturing process.

Antecedents of luxury brand purchase intention

PurposeThere has been considerable research into the global phenomenon of luxury brand consumption, but relatively few studies have empirically explored key relationships influencing purchase intention. This research aims to consider the respective roles of social context, individual perception, and vanity, and to set these relationships within a broader theoretical context of the literature on possession and consumer identity.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical study consisted of a large‐scale survey conducted among Chinese luxury brand consumers in Taiwan. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression.FindingsThe findings support the influence of the social context on purchase intention for luxury brands. There was weaker support for the role of perception. The experiential and functional aspects of luxury brand purchase were positively correlated with purchase intention, but symbolic value was not. Physical and achievement vanity had a positive impact on purchase intention while only achievement vanity had a moderating effect on perception.Practical implicationsThis study offers new empirical support for the proposition that vanity has a role in luxury brand purchase intention and thereby shades both theoretical and managerial understanding of luxury brand consumption. It also suggests that symbolic value, which is highly influential in western conceptualizations of luxury brand meaning, needs to be re‐evaluated in the context of Chinese consumers.Originality/valueThis study offers new empirical findings which contribute to a re‐conceptualization of the antecedents of purchase intention in the area of luxury brand consumption. In particular, the study provides evidence of the roles of social context, perception and vanity in a Chinese consumption context to inform the primarily western models of luxury brand purchase intention.

On the aims and scope of the Asia Pacific Journal of Management: What does APJM really seek to publish?

In recent editorial articles in the Asia Pacific Journal of Management (APJM),Inoted that APJM receives numerous submissions that fall outside of our aims andscope, which is to publish theory-based research that advances the understanding ofmanagement and organizational success with emphasis on the Asia Pacific region ofthe world (Ahlstrom, 2010a, b, c). Those editorials were concerned with the mainfocus of papers as well as related topics such as crafting a paper carefully andpositioning it for APJM. Those editorial articles also discussed the characteristicsand importance of clear and answerable research questions (Ahlstrom, 2010a),avoiding common problems such as submitting a paper that is outside of thejournal’s aims and scope, and the related problem of submitting papers that arewritten for a discipline other than management and organization studies (Ahlstrom,2010b, c)—problems that all authors should try to avoid.Appropriateness for APJMOver the years, I have regularly communicated with many editors at conferences tolearn of their experiences editing journals and assisting authors in improving theirwork. I also read widely on editing and reviewing, and the research process ingeneral (e.g., Baruch, Konrad, Aguinis, & Starbuck, 2008; Starbuck, 2006; Van deVen, 2007). In doing so, I have found that one of the pet peeves of editorseverywhere is that very often, prospective authors do not bother to read the journal’s

Complexity measurement of a project activity

Project managers very often describe their projects as simple or complex when discussing management issues. This indicates a practical acceptance that complexity makes a difference to the management of projects. The purpose of this paper is to propose a worker's skill-based metric for the complexity of a construction project activity using the concepts of functional decomposition and validate it. Based on a sample of 13 project activities from two construction projects, the empirical validation of the proposed metric using Spearman rank order coefficient exhibited a strong correlation between complexity of a project activity (CPA) and its completion time. The contribution of this paper is in identifying the influence of the skill of the worker(s) on the complexity of the project activity and as a support to project manager's intuitive understanding about the CPA. Moreover, the findings are applicable in assigning worker(s) to different project activities, based on their complexities.

Developing managerial understanding of self-organisation

The self-organisation process in a complex adaptive system (CAS) in the social world exhibits many different characteristics as opposed to the natural world or mechanical simulation. Our understanding is limited in the area of complexity science’s application to the social world. Based on research in three Australian SMEs, the author proposes to develop managerial understanding of self-organisation by classifying self-organisation in complex adaptive systems on the basis of agent behaviour and internal dynamics. The proposed classification distinguishes between self-organisation evident in the natural world and mechanical simulation from that evident in the social world.

Habitat Interference by Axis Deer on White‐Tailed Deer

Abstract: Many studies of interactions between exotic and native ungulates have not had temporal and spatial controls nor have they considered the types of competitive interactions that would allow coexistence. For exotic axis deer (Axis axis) and native white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to coexist one species should be superior at interference competition and the other species should be superior at exploitative competition. We generated and tested predictions, based on body size and diet breadth, about habitat selection by white‐tailed deer in the presence and absence of axis deer, dominance relationships, and time at sites provisioned with high quality forage. We conducted our study in treatment (axis and white‐tailed deer) and control (white‐tailed deer only) areas when both species were present and after axis deer were removed. We conducted vehicle surveys to determine habitat use of both species. At provisioned feeding sites we recorded aggressive behaviors and amount of time species spent at feeding sites alone and together. In the treatment area white‐tailed deer selection for wooded habitat increased 2.1 times after axis deer were removed, whereas habitat selection by white‐tailed deer was constant in the control area over the same time. At feeding sites axis deer were dominant to white‐tailed deer; both species spent a significantly greater amount of time alone than at feeders together, but amount of time that individuals of each species spent at feeders did not differ. Axis deer were superior at interference competition, but white‐tailed deer were not superior at exploitative competition; thus, species coexistence is unlikely. Whether white‐tailed deer are negatively impacted by axis deer at spatial scales larger than our experiment probably depends on abundance of axis deer at larger spatial scales. Experiments of species interactions with temporal and spatial controls that consider types of competitive interactions increase a manager's understanding of when and how native ungulates may be negatively impacted by exotic ungulates.

Executive Perceptions of Corporate Social and Environmental Disclosure: Evidence from a Developing Country

In the last four decades, the practice of corporate social and environmental disclosure (CSED) has been increasing in popularity and acceptance among business entities, scholars and practitioners. However, it has been found that the practice of CSED in developing countries is still very limited. This paper conducts in-depth semi-structured interviews to seek perceptions of Indonesian executives about CSED through the lens of stakeholder and legitimacy theories. Evidence from the interviews offers some indications about the level of managerial understanding regarding CSED, the motivations for CSED, and the preferred means for disclosure. The paper reflects on the managerial implications of the findings for future practices.

With or without you: The countervailing forces and effects of process standardization

Process standardization is defining a new era of business process revolution across many industries and contexts in electronic commerce in which the impetus for cooperation is greater than the drivers of competition. As industries consolidate and competition rises, firms are increasingly pursuing process standardization to further enhance process management and reap the benefits of standards. The current literature explores and analyzes standards and standardization at the IT, firm, and industry levels. The complex nature of process standardization requires a reorientation of the existing approaches to analysis to understand the countervailing forces and effects. This article introduces a robust framework that captures the dynamics of process standardization across four levels of analysis: IT innovation, firm, industry, and economy. It also presents the cascading effects that occur as we traverse through the different levels. We use this framework to draw conclusions for appropriate directions in research that will enable greater theoretical and managerial understanding of the related issues.

Is it really important to have a structured security budget?

Most top managers (including CIOs, when they are included among this rank) avail themselves of various surveys and assessment methods to cover their backs. However, when these processes quantify costs without reference to the context, out the window they go. For example, many managers, when confronted with an IT plan, have difficulty distinguishing between what is considered security and what is not. This article will cover the main aspects of security budget management. At the time this article was written, the dynamics of management's understanding of security issues and the valorisation of security investments remain somewhat nebulous. Until this concept is fully interpreted and explored, this valorisation is assigned to those in the company who deal with information security. And if they are lucky, they are given a reasonable budget with which to administrate.