Top Management Beliefs Research Articles

Energy management in small and medium manufacturing firms: examining the enhancing role of top management commitment in a developing country context

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between top management commitment and energy management in small and medium manufacturing firms in a developing country context.Design/methodology/approachThis study was executed through a survey of 66 manufacturing firms in Kampala, Uganda. The data collected were analysed using SPSS v.26.FindingsThe results show that top management commitment influences energy management. A further probe of its three dimensions of top management participation, top management support and top management beliefs reveals that all of them positively and significantly predict energy management in manufacturing firms.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study results were obtained from manufacturing small and medium firms in Kampala, Uganda. Therefore, caution should be taken prior to generalization. Furthermore, this study only focuses on top management participation, top management support and top management beliefs as the dimensions of top management commitment. This study thus provides the foundation for future studies to test other dimensions of top management commitment, particularly in other sectors.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the contribution of top management commitment dimensions top management participation, top management support and top management beliefs to energy management in a developing country context. Although all dimensions are significant, top management beliefs contribute more to energy management.

By Any Other Name: Enabling Systems Engineering in an Unsupportive Environment

AbstractEngineers may find themselves in an organization which does not value systems engineering, or worse, in an organization which is hostile to systems engineering practices. The purpose of this paper is to help such engineers do effective systems engineering despite the lack of support. This paper offers a description of the variation found in top management beliefs and engineering cultures to aid in a diagnosis of the workplace environment. This paper then offers suggestions for appropriate actions suitable to each combination of top management belief and cultural support or hindrance for systems engineering practices. These actions may help individual engineers to implement effective systems engineering despite hindrances from the organizational culture or top management. Several case studies are included to illustrate how the approaches described have been implemented in their own experience.

Why and when firms respond accommodatively to the product-harm crisis: An institutional perspective

Accommodative response, as an attempt to manage product-harm crises to meet consumers' expectations by proactively accepting responsibility and actively taking remedial actions, is gradually becoming institutionalized. Our research explores the impacts of coercive, mimetic, and normative pressure on a firm's accommodating reaction and evaluates the possible mediating effects of top management beliefs (TMB) and participation (TMP), based on institutional theory and upper management echelons theory. The proposed hypotheses are empirically examined with survey data from 178 top managers in Chinese automobile firms. The potential endogeneity problem has been tackled by using firm size as the appropriate instrumental variable. Analysis results suggest that the three types of institutional pressures affect TMB and TMP differently, and TMP influences accommodative response positively while TMB exerts an indirect effect through TMP. Our findings emphasize the crucial mediating effects of top management and uncover the underlying mechanism through which institutional pressures affect accommodative response.

The impact of employees' perceptions about top management engagement on sustainability development efforts and firm performance

AbstractBecause sustainability management plays a vital role in firm performance, it is critical to understand the underlying mechanisms that drive better firm performance with sustainability adoption. Thus, drawing upon responsible leadership theory and the dynamic resource‐based view, this study examines how the level of sustainability adoption influences firm performance, both environmental and financial, emphasizing the role of top management beliefs and participation in sustainability adoption. With responses from 310 employees working in manufacturing, healthcare, and retail industries, the SEM analysis results support that (i) perceived top management's strong beliefs lead to a higher level of sustainability adoption by organizations; (ii) perceived top management's active participation positively moderates the relationship between perceived top management beliefs and the level of sustainability adoption; (iii) the higher level of sustainability adoption results in better environmental and financial performance; and (iv) environmental performance positively and partially mediates the relationship between the level of sustainability adoption and financial firm performance. Finally, we offer guidance to managers who would like to leverage top management attributes to achieve environmental and financial performance via environmental sustainability practices.

How do justice and top management beliefs matter in industrial symbiosis collaboration: An exploratory study from China

AbstractJustice has been widely studied by behavior researchers in recent years. However, it has not received very much attention in industrial symbiosis (IS) network research. This inductive study presents a synthetic conceptual model connecting justice to corporate collaborative actions in the context of IS through top management. Using structural equation modeling to analyze a survey of 209 firms in two eco‐industrial parks in China, we examined inductively the effects of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice on top management, IS collaboration, and environmental performance of firms. Results demonstrate that different aspects of justice have different direct and indirect effects on IS collaboration and environmental performance. Furthermore, we detected that top management beliefs (TMB) affect IS collaboration and influence environmental performance. The mediating effect of IS collaboration between TMB and environmental performance was examined and discussed.

A neo-institutional perspective on the establishment of information security knowledge sharing practices

Information security knowledge sharing (ISKS) among an organization's employees is vital to the organization's ability to protect itself from any number of prevalent threats, yet for many organizations, their ability to establish ISKS practices is hampered by a lack of understanding of where and how the key drivers of these practices will emerge. Based on neoinstitutional theory and a multi-study field survey of 834 professional managers in the USA, we develop and test a model that explains the establishment of ISKS practices in an organization as a product of the institutional forces abut to the organization providing normative, mimetic, and coercive influences on top management beliefs and participations in ISKS. Our findings also emphasize the importance of establishing ISKS practices for ensuring employee compliance with information security policies and an effective culture of security. Prior research has shown the importance of institutional forces on organizational processes as well as the importance of ISKS to organizational security efforts. However, this study is one of the early studies to provide insight into the manner, in which institutional forces hold sway over the people responsible for establishing the ISKS practices of a firm; insight that it is essential for firms that have yet to establish such practices or have struggled in their attempts to do so.

The effects of internal and external resource management on logistics performance

This empirical study aims to elucidate the effects of logistics information technology (LIT), top management beliefs (TMBs), and suppliers' resources selection (SRS) on logistics performance. The extended resources-based view (ERBV) supports the development of the proposed relationships in the study model, based on previous studies measures. Structural equation modeling (SPSS and AMOS v 25) was utilized to test the validity of the model and proposed hypotheses. Based on responses from 229 surveyed companies in Sudan’s food and beverages sector, this study’ findings showed that the LIT, TMBs, and SRS influence logistic cost performance (LCP) and logistic delivery performance directly. Additionally, it showed that company size could moderate the relationship between LCP and LIT, TMBs, and SRS. This study provides several theoretical and practical implications by evaluating the ability of LIT, SRS, and TMBs to improve delivery and cost performance.

Task support of electronic patient care report (ePCR) systems in emergency medical services: An elaboration likelihood model lens

This paper aims to investigate the antecedents of task support in the context of electronic patient care report (ePCR) in the emergency medical service (EMS). Although electronic health record has generated significant interest, the area of EMS has been largely overlooked in the literature. This study examines characteristics related to the ePCR system—information quality, security protection, and normative cues—and their impact on EMS task support, through the lens of the elaboration likelihood model. We further propose a moderating role of absorptive capacity and top management belief as elaboration likelihoods. Several theoretical contributions and managerial implications are discussed.

Determinants of dividend policy

Pakistan’s capital market and economy have significant features for examining the dynamics of the dividend policy. The agency conflicts between the management and the investors of the firms are main barriers to the success of the firm. The shareholder is generally taking away all the rights and similarly has a control on the decision concerning the dividend policy. The dividends are conveying better information than any other source regarding the firm’s prospects. The aim of this research is to identify and analyze the influence of shareholder preference and dividend signaling on the dividend policy of the corporations in Pakistan. The respective study presents the analysis of top financial management beliefs by taking eighty listed corporations on Pakistani stock exchanges during 2017–2018. Pearson correlation and multiple regressions are applied on responses to explore whether there is an influence regarding the shareholder preferences and the signaling mechanism on the dividend policy of the listed firms in Pakistan. Through statistical techniques the findings proved that shareholder preferences and dividend signaling have a positive and significant relationship with the dividend policy of listed corporations. Dividend policy is the response of investor preferences and signaling aspect of dividends.

The Effects of Justice and Top Management Beliefs and Participation: An Exploratory Study in the Context of Digital Supply Chain Management

Drawing on justice theory and upper echelons perspective, this study develops and tests an integrative model linking justice to the implementation of IT-enabled supply chain information integration (IeSCII) through the top management. Specifically, the study investigates the effects of the three facets of justice—distributive, procedural, and interactional justice—on the two dimensions of IeSCII (information sharing and collaborative planning), and examines the mediating influences of top management beliefs (TMB) and top management participation (TMP) in these relationships. Using structural equation modeling to analyze data collected from 190 firms in China, the study documents that interactional justice positively affects both TMB and TMP, while procedural justice positively affects TMB (but not TMP) in the IeSCII implementation process. In contrast, distributive justice is not significantly related to either TMB or TMP, but is positively associated with information sharing. The results also show that procedural justice positively affects TMB, which then positively affects TMP in IeSCII. Furthermore, the study finds significant mediating effects of TMB and TMP in the relationship between interactional justice and IeSCII. The theoretical and managerial implications of this study are discussed.

What drives E-Health usage? Integrated institutional forces and top management perspectives

As hospitals increase their reliance on healthcare information technology to deliver services, there is a growing need to understand how to promote E-Health innovation usage within a hospital. Drawing on institutional theory and top management perspectives, we develop a theoretical model that explains how E-Health usage is influenced by external institutional forces and top management support. Three types of institutional forces: mimetic, coercive and normative pressures and two actions: top management beliefs and E-Health championing by which top management champions E-Health usage are identified and examined. Our empirical results show: 1) mimetic and coercive pressures positively affect top management beliefs and mimetic pressure also positively affects E-Health championing, 2) the effect of mimetic pressure on top management beliefs and E-Health championing is significantly stronger than other pressures, 3) both top management beliefs and E-Health championing promote E-Health usage, and 4) institutional forces' influence on E-Health usage is mediated by top management support. These findings highlight the important role of top management support in mediating the effect of institutional forces on E-Health usage and provide insight into how hospitals govern the institutional forces that drive top management support for E-Health innovations, thereby leading to actual E-Health usage.

Levels of EMR Adoption in U.S. Hospitals: An Empirical Examination of Absorptive Capacity, Institutional Pressures, Top Management Beliefs, and Participation

Technology adoption literature generally focuses on behavioral and structural changes necessary for successful adoption. Little explored in that literature is the factors impacting the level of adoption which will be achieved within the organization. This healthcare industry research demonstrates that higher levels of technology adoption in organizations require the influences of both internal absorptive capabilities and external institutional pressures impacting the organization. We surveyed U.S. healthcare employees to assess top management beliefs, top management participation, absorptive capacity, institutional pressures, and level of electronic medical records (EMR) adoption in clinics and hospitals. Our results indicate no direct influence of mimetic and coercive pressures on the level of EMR adoption. Normative and mimetic pressures indirectly influence EMR adoption level through top management participation. Absorptive capacity enhances top management beliefs and participation associated with EMR adoption process, resulting in higher levels of EMR adoption in U.S. hospitals.

Social Network Site Usage by Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses: Understanding the Motivations and Barriers

This paper contributes to a growing body of research on the process by which small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) adopt social network sites (SNSs) as part of their business strategies. If SMBs make use of SNSs, they could potentially compete with big corporations, flattening the marketplace. Open-ended online survey questions were used to collect data from 24 different social media experts in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Jordan was selected for this study because 90% of its adult Internet users are active on SNSs, a percentage that surpasses many emerging and developed countries. This research project identifies (a) relative advantage, (b) community demand, and (c) interactivity as motivating factors for SNS adoption. The survey results also reveal that (a) top management belief, (b) firm readiness, (c) negative comments and reviews, and (d) a low level of awareness are barriers to SNS adoption by SMBs in Jordan. The present study should prove to be particularly valuable to academics and business managers to formulate their business strategies regarding SNS adoption, and to pave the way for more research to assess likely changes.

Examining sustainable supply chain management of SMEs using resource based view and institutional theory

The long-term viability of an organization hinges on social, environmental, and economic measures. However, based on extensive review of the literature, we have observed that measuring and improving the sustainable performance of supply chains is complex. We have grounded our theoretical framework in institutional theory and resource-based view and drawn thirteen hypotheses. We developed our instrument scientifically to validate our model and test our research hypotheses. The data was collected from the Indian auto components industry following Dillman’s total design test method. We gathered 205 usable responses. Following Peng and Lai’s (J Oper Manag 30(6):467–480, 2012) arguments, we have tested our model using variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). We found that the constructs used for building our theoretical model possess construct validity and further satisfy the specified criteria for goodness of fit. The hypotheses test further suggests that coercive pressures under the mediation effect of top management belief and participation have significant influence on resource selection (i.e. supply chain connectivity and supply chain information sharing). The supply chain connectivity and supply chain information sharing have significant influence on environmental performance. Contrary to our belief, the normative and mimetic pressures have no significant influence on top management participation. The managerial implications of the findings are also discussed.

Explaining the impact of reconfigurable manufacturing systems on environmental performance: The role of top management and organizational culture

This study develops a theoretical model that links reconfigurable manufacturing systems with top management beliefs, participation, and environmental performance, drawing on agency theory and organizational culture. The study takes into account the possible confounding effects of organization size and organizational compatibility. Drawing on responses from 167 top managers, the results of hypothesis testing suggest that (i) higher top management participation, being influenced by top management beliefs, leads to higher chances of RMS becoming adopted by organizations as their manufacturing strategy; (ii) organizational culture moderates the relationship between the level of top management participation and RMS (and manufacturing strategies) adoption; and (iii) higher re-configurability of manufacturing systems leads to better environmental performance. Furthermore, we integrate Agency Theory and organizational culture to explain the role of top management beliefs and participation in achieving environmental performance via RMS. Finally, we offer guidance to those managers who would like to engage in leveraging top management commitment for achieving environmental performance, and outline further research directions.

Towards a theory of sustainable consumption and production: Constructs and measurement

There has been increasing interest from both academics and practitioners in sustainable consumption and production (SCP) behaviour. The literature has mainly focused on antecedents and indicators for SCP behaviour, but scholars are yet to develop frameworks that provide insights into SCP behaviour. To address this gap, this paper develops a theoretical model grounded in institutional and agency theories that explicates the role of top management beliefs and participation when dealing with institutional pressures that impact upon SCP behaviour by facilitating information sharing and reducing behavioural uncertainty. Based on a sample of 167 responses from a survey with Indian organizations, we test the model using partial least squared regression-based structural equation modelling (PLSR SEM). Our results indicate the role of top management commitment as a mediator between institutional pressures and SCP behaviour and the role of beliefs as shaping the commitment of top managers towards strengthening SCP behaviour. We further suggest that participation plays a significant role in quality information sharing, which is important in reducing behavioural uncertainty among stakeholders. Finally we outline our research limitations and further research directions.

DO MANAGERS BELIEVE IN THE CORPORATE SOCIAL-FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE LINK?

The relationship between the corporate social and financial performance has already been explored in many empirical studies. Meta-analyses based on these studies confirm that positive financial outcomes result from firms´ social strategies. This confirmation should stimulate investments in social actions, practices and processes. However, as managers´ beliefs and interests drive their investment decisions, high-level executives may limit firms´ investments in social strategies if they are unaware or do not believe in a positive corporate social-financial performance link. This research therefore set out to investigate if managers do believe that social actions, practices and processes lead to superior financial performance. Data on the perception of 112 top-managers of Brazilian companies collected through a survey showed that, according to high-level executives, socially-responsible actions have a positive indirect effect on firms´ profitability, due to the increase they cause on stakeholders’ satisfaction. Managers´ decisions to invest in socially responsible strategies are not entirely based on financial returns and, thus, proving the CSP-financial performance link should not be the main focus. Researcher should now concentrate on the social strategies-stakeholder satisfaction-financial performance link. Top-management beliefs and decision-making processes have to be considered in future studies on the subject. Furthermore, there is the need to consider how much top managers and stakeholders actually know of firms´ social strategies and how long does it takes for them to become aware of it. Given these research outcomes, departments responsible for social strategies need to market heavily the positive outcomes of their efforts to assure future investments.

Organizational commitment and market orientation of Nigerian non‐oil exporting companies

PurposeThis paper aims to test the relationships between organizational commitment and market orientation within the context of the non‐oil sector of a developing country.Design/methodology/approachCross‐sectional data was collected from 190 managers of non‐oil exporting companies. Multiple regression analysis was adopted to test the impact of organizational commitment on market orientation.FindingsThe analysis of the data shows that organizational commitment affects market orientation positively and that top management belief and the organizational reward systems are important in the implementation of market orientation. However, the use of cross‐sectional data limits the measurement of the impact of organization commitment on market orientation over a long period.Practical implicationsMarket orientation can be improved upon through concerted efforts in building organizational commitment. This can be achieved either individually or by combining organizational commitment with reward system and top management belief.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the understanding of market orientation antecedents within the non‐oil sector of the Nigerian economy.

Assimilation of Enterprise Systems: The Effect of Institutional Pressures and the Mediating Role of Top Management

We develop and test a theoretical model to investigate the assimilation of enterprise systems in the post-implementation stage within organizations. Specifically, this model explains how top management mediates the impact of external institutional pressures on the degree of usage of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The hypotheses were tested using survey data from companies that have already implemented ERP systems. Results from partial least squares analyses suggest that mimetic pressures positively affect top management beliefs, which then positively affects top management participation in the ERP assimilation process. In turn, top management participation is confirmed to positively affect the degree of ERP usage. Results also suggest that coercive pressures positively affect top management participation without the mediation of top management beliefs. Surprisingly, we do not find support for our hypothesis that top management participation mediates the effect of normative pressures on ERP usage, but instead we find that normative pressures directly affect ERP usage. Our findings highlight the important role of top management in mediating the effect of institutional pressures on IT assimilation. We confirm that institutional pressures, which are known to be important for IT adoption and implementation, also contribute to post-implementation assimilation when the integration processes are prolonged and outcomes are dynamic and uncertain.

Do Differences Make a Difference? Managing Diversity in Division IA Intercollegiate Athletics

This study applies a framework of diversity initiatives as a basis of exploration into top management beliefs and diversity management strategies of Division IA intercollegiate athletic organizations. This framework utilizes issues of power, demographic and relational differences, and past literature regarding specific diversity strategies to empirically assess these organizations' outlooks regarding employee diversity. Results of the study suggest that Division IA intercollegiate athletic organizations operate in cultures that value similarity. Demographic variables predicted a significant amount of variance in employees' perceptions of diversity management strategies. In addition, demographic differences (being different from one's leader) accounted for an even greater amount of variance in these perceptions. Top management's beliefs in the benefits of diversity were related to perceptions of different diversity practices. That is, high beliefs resulted in higher levels of diversity management practice. Discussion of the findings relative to current theory in sport and implications for sport managers are noted.