Spanish Organizations Research Articles

The Effects of Transformational Leadership on Organizational Performance through Knowledge and Innovation*

Today's information and knowledge society requires new leaders who can confront a reality based on knowledge and foster innovation to achieve improvements in organizational performance. However, organizations sometimes fail to achieve sustainable competitive advantage due to their limited understanding of the relationships between these strategic variables. To date, very little research has analysed the direct and indirect relationships between these variables. Our study seeks to fill this research gap by analysing theoretically and empirically how the leader's perceptions of different intermediate strategic variables related to knowledge (knowledge slack, absorptive capacity, tacitness, organizational learning) and innovation influence the relation between transformational leadership and organizational performance. Based on the literature, we develop a theoretical model that shows the interrelations between these variables. We then test the model using data from 408 Spanish organizations, discuss the findings and provide several implications for business practitioners.

Exploring Spanish Nongovernmental Organizations for Development: An Empirical Approach

In Spain, as in other developed countries, the old public sector—private sector dichotomy is no longer valid as, between them, the two sectors cannot cover all social groups. As a result, the third sector has emerged strongly, with nongovernmental organizations for development (NGODs) being a clear example of this. This type of organization is assumed to have a series of specific values, among which some of the most important are the fostering of social capital, financial autonomy, political independence, transparency, and good governance. This study analyzes the current position of this emerging sector in Spain. To achieve this, a series of index numbers have been established to measure these comparisons in order to study the types of relationships existing between them. The results show that the Spanish NGOD sector is developing toward transparency. However, from a financial point of view, it is still very dependent, not very critical, and very atomized.

A triangulation analysis of value congruency in corporate Spain: American dream or Spanish reality?

The construct of value congruency has become the centre of scholarly as well as practitioner attention in the past two decades. Theoretical reasoning, however, has mainly originated in an Anglo Saxon context accompanied by scarce and contradictory empirical results. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore further the construct and determine its presence in the relatively unexplored cultural context of Spanish organizations. A novel triangulation measure is proposed and values are assessed by three independent data sources, representing three different constituencies in the company: non-management employees, HR directors, and a blend of senior management and communication directors inferred by the corporate websites of the firms studied. The latter is a relatively new medium for companies to shape and instil values, and is assessed by means of content analysis. Results show that value congruency is rather rare for the organizations of the sample studied and discussion revolves around issues of culture, possible clashes between values and the respective impact on the hypothesized sequence: values–satisfaction–performance. It is proposed that it may be more relevant in subsequent research to focus on incongruencies or ambiguities.

Human Resource Management in Spain: Are Cultural Barriers Preventing the Adoption of Global Practices?

This paper addresses the extent to which culture is affecting the adoption of global human resource management (HRM) practices by Spanish organizations. One of our main objectives was to offer a thorough review of the recent empirical evidence regarding HRM practices in Spanish organizations. Another goal was to discuss these findings in light of the Spanish culture in order to identify possible cultural barriers to the adoption of global HRM practices. Our results suggest that Spanish organizations are slowly adopting global practices; however, many traditional practices remain. We suggest that the cultural variables of low future orientation, high power distance, and low institutional collectivism may exert continuing pressures that will hinder the adoption of certain global HRM practices.

Interacción con los padres a través de internet de las sociedades pediátricas españolas y las integradas en la ALAPE

The Internet has revolutionized access to biomedical information among health professionals and the general public. There is demand for pediatric societies to develop quality contents directed at both pediatricians and parents. To evaluate interaction through the Internet among parents and the pediatric societies in Spain and member organizations of the Latin American Pediatric Association. All the official Spanish pediatric societies (n = 45) and the national organizations belonging to the Latin American Pediatric Association (25) were examined. Societies with their own websites (26 in Spain and 13 in Latin America) were identified. For each website, the following data were collected: size, access to contents, adherence to an ethical code, terms of use, division of contents for pediatricians and those for parents, and means of contact for parents. All the websites provided free access to biomedical information. Only 35 % of websites from Spain and 15.4 % of those from the Latin American Pediatric Association subscribed to an ethical code while 54 % and 84.6 % respectively had no terms of use section. Overall, 46 % had a specific area for parents. The most common means of contact between parents and websites was through electronic mail and 5 % of the sites explicitly accepted online consultations. Only six out of 39 websites fulfilled all the criteria evaluated. The presence of pediatric societies on the Internet is acceptable, without noteworthy differences between Spanish organizations and member organizations of the Latin American Pediatric Association. In general, interaction with parents is of poor quality.

Corporate business strategy, career management and recruitment: do Spanish firms adhere to a contingency model?

This study attempts to examine career management from a contingency perspective while making specific provisions to the Spanish cultural context. The underlying assumption is that the career focus is contingent on both the broader context (corporate business policy) and the human resource policy, namely in its staffing considerations. Although the literature on career management, from an organizational perspective, seems to indicate the existence of different models and contingencies with certain organizational variables, this study failed to support the dominance of the contingency approach in Spanish organizations. Two models of careers were identified and a tendency toward the majority use of one of the career models was found. Respectively, the contingent character of one career model was partially confirmed. All in all, both career models do not seem to be explained through the contextual variables considered in this empirical investigation.

The role of environmental accounting in organizational change ‐An exploration of Spanish companies

Critique originated by earlier theorization of environmental accounting, as a way of building environmentalist visibility of business, led Gray et al., to study environmental accounting in the dynamics of organizational change. They concluded that environmental accounting is being used to “negotiate the conception of the environment” by companies that have not significantly changed. In order to investigate whether Gray et al.’s model and conclusions apply to a different cultural context, we have conducted nine case studies in Spain. We found that Spanish organizations are not truly changing their conventional perception of the environment, even in those cases where generalized structural and organizational changes are taking place. Moreover, the use of environmental accounting is coupled with an attempt to negotiate and control the environmental agenda.

Business strategy, work processes and human resource training: are they congruent?

This study examines the extent to which human resource (HR) training (content and context) is contingent on business strategy (i.e. classified according to Miles and Snow (1984) typology—‘Designing strategic human resource systems’, Organizational Dynamics, 13, 36–52) as well as the characteristics of the work process. Sixty-five Spanish organizations (i.e. 65 senior executives and 65 senior HR officers) participated in the study. Using primarily factorial and cluster analyses, support was found to the assertion that companies adopting a particular type of training strategy/policy have a high degree of internal consistency amongst the training objectives sought. In terms of work processes and training, results indicate that under work processes where the content of work provides for enrichment and for long-term results, companies tend to adopt training strategies where emphasis is on enhancement of individual specialized skills aimed at improving direct productivity. By contrast, firms who use work processes that are characterized by repetitive and routine tasks, de-emphasize this type of training content. Results also indicae that limited level of contingencies exist between training policies and business strategy, especially when time dimension is also accounted for. While the theory suggests that organizations that have their HR training fit (contingent) on their business strategy are more effective, the empirical results portrayed in this study shows a more complex picture. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Scientific organizations in Spain (1950-1970): social isolation and international legitimation of biochemists and molecular biologists on the periphery.

Through a study of Spanish scientific organizations and the involvement of Spanish scientists in international ones, the beginnings of biochemistry and molecular biology in Spain are explored. The centre-periphery dichotomy is useful in explaining the progress of the establishment of these disciplines, together with the political context, both national and international, in which such establishment took place. It is suggested that international ties and national support are both necessary, but not sufficient conditions to overcome the distance between the Spanish scientific community and the centres of development and productivity in biochemistry and molecular biology. The interplay between both national and international factors has proved to be crucial. As a tool to study the whole scientific community of biochemists and molecular biologists, scientific societies allow us to analyze the role of that interplay in Spanish scientific development.

Historical dictionary of Spain

The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Spain is an unrivalled reference guide to Spanish history and politics from the Middle Ages to the present. With its chronology, introductory essay, and over seven hundred dictionary entries on major Spanish organizations, including political parties, trade unions, and state bodies; the various regions and languages which comprise Spain, including Catalonia and the Basque Country; and major figures in Spanish culture and the arts, the Historical Dictionary of Spain allows readers to easily follow the major changes Spain has undergone.

Balloons flights in France and in Europe

Large “Heavy Duty” Balloons are regularly operated in Europe since 1977, where CNES along with Italian and Spanish organizations, ASI and INTA, created the Transmediterranean flight facility, so-called “ODISSEA”. More than fifty flights have since then been achieved, using large polyethylene balloons of which the volume may exceed 1 million cubic meters with payload of more than two tons. This activity has been recently extended to the Southern Hemisphere, where a first campaign took place in 1988 from a site located in Australia. A rather intense activity will be developped during 1992, as a new campaign, organised by CNES, will take place on the Australian site, followed few months later by a series of Transmediterraean flights.

NDT performance demonstration in Spain

The experience obtained from the in-service inspection of reactor pressure vessels (RPV) of Spanish nuclear power plants and the participation in several international programs, such as PISC, has shown the need for a performance demonstration, not only for the ultrasonic inspection techniques of RPV, but also for other ISI non-destructive techniques as in the case of eddy current inspection of steam generator tubing. Section XI of the ASME Code, which is applied in Spain for ISI, has incorporated recently the Appendix VIII for performance demonstration of ultrasonic inspection techniques. As a direct consequence of this, a Spanish project for performance demonstration of ultrasonic inspection techniques has been launched recently, which includes the manufacturing of full-scale mock-ups of nozzle to vessel welds, reactor vessel welds, wrought austenitic piping welds and ferritic piping welds of PWR and BWR nuclear power plants from different suppliers. This considerable technical effort will let the different Spanish organizations which are part of the project to participate and colaborate with similar international projects and in particular with a European initiative for performance demonstration.

Management accounting systems in Spanish firms

Up until the late 1970s management accounting systems (MAS) lacked relevance for management purposes in Spanish organizations. However, since the early 1980s MAS have been increasing their importance in a large number of small, medium and large organizations. The contention of the article is that not only has this been the response to an increasingly complex and hostile competitive environment but it has been strongly linked to the changes experienced in the last two decades in the social and organizational contexts of Spanish organizations. Particularly, there were two relevant factors in the social context that were intertwined with the rising importance of MAS: firstly, the impact of the late 1970s' economic crisis on the profitability of the Spanish organizations; and, secondly, the changes in the social and political context since the late 1960s. Related to these, the weakening of the previous coercive mechanisms of social control, the end of the paternalistic organizational and social model of the 1...

Cooperative research projects between the Spanish National Research Council and Latin-American institutions

Research projects in cooperation between Spanish National Research Council and Latin-American Organizations, that have been developed in the last eight years, were studied. Around forty Spanish research institutes have cooperated with Latin-American ones, mostly with Cuba, Chile, Brazil and Mexico. The interpretation of the collaboration rates with the different countries is discussed. Duration of the projects, number of researchers and research output were examined. The cooperation results were quantified through articles, presentations to congresses, reports, monographs, patents and thesis. Diffusion, languages and impact of the journals used for publication were studied. Non quantifiable outputs were also examined.

The Ecors Pyrenean deep seismic profile reflection data and the overall structure of an orogenic belt

The 250‐km‐long deep seismic survey across the Pyrenees from the Aquitaine basin to the Ebro basin was sponsored by French and Spanish organizations, and was carried out in 1985 and 1986. This first seismic survey of an entire orogenic belt crosses the deformed boundary between the Iberian and European plates, the geometry of which has been greatly debated during a recent past. The main results are summarized as follows: (1) The entire crust shows well‐defined reflectors with a general fan shape geometry. (2) The Iberian crust seems to be thicker than the European one. Both are limited by a well‐defined deep layered material above the Moho discontinuity. (3) Only the Iberian crust was significantly thickened by a southward overstacking of slabs. (4) Near the surface in the external domains, reflectors define accurately the geometry of major thrusts and structures affecting the Mesozoic and Cenozoic cover of the Pyrenees. Using ECORS data (Etude Continentale et Océanique par Réflexion et Réfraction Sismique), the structure of the studied section of the belt can be modeled considering the nature and continuity of reflectors beneath the surface trace of the North Pyrenean fault considered as the initial vertical boundary between Iberian and European plates.

Mediterranean gyre

A team of scientists from the Naval Ocean Research and Development Activity (NORDA), with assistance from French and Spanish organizations, is studying a 100‐km diameter gyre in the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea. Formed by the water current flowing through the Strait of Gibraltar from the Atlantic Ocean, the gyre is nestled between the coasts of Spain and Morocco.The project, under the leadership of NORDA principal investigators Thomas Kinder, Harley Hurlburt, Paul LaViolette, and Dennis Conlon, focuses on how oceanic flows generally behave near straits and, in particular, how they behave in the Strait of Gibraltar. Increased understanding of gyre formation and behavior should lead to better forecasting and monitoring of oceanic conditions near the strait.

Clock comparison by laser in the nanosecond range

A first time transfer experiment using an infrared laser link and flyover was performed in November 1977 between the Paris and San Fernando (Spain) observatories. This experiment follows from a cooperative effort of several French and Spanish organizations (Besson, 1970; Benavente et al., 1977). Equipment to be used in the operation was developed independently by the participating organizations, and a brief description of the system is given, along with a presentation of the organization of the whole operation. From a study of the data obtained, one can appreciate the feasibility and capabilities of the method employed. The final result is the comparison of the UTC scales of the Paris and San Fernando observatories.