Top Management Leadership Research Articles

Structural model of perishable food supply chain quality (PFSCQ) to improve sustainable organizational performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of perishable food supply chain quality (PFSCQ) and to suggest a structural model that counts the influence of PFSCQ practices on organizational sustainable performance.Design/methodology/approachOn the basis of comprehensive literature review, PFSCQ highly significant practices were examined and designated. These practices were classified into four dimensions: upstream quality (supplier quality), downstream quality (customer focus), internal quality (process and logistics quality) and support practices (top management leadership and commitment to quality, quality of human resource, quality of information and supply chain integration). The measurement instrument of organizational sustainable performance was also build on, containing three aspects: economic, environmental and social performance.FindingsAn inventive conceptual model that specifies a comprehensive image cover up core dimensions of PFSCQ and various aspects of organizational sustainable performance was suggested. This conceptual model can be used as “a directive” for theory developing and measurement instrument development of PFSCQ practices and organizational sustainable performance. More prominently, on the road to achieving additional insight, an extensive structural model that makes out direct and indirect relationships between PFSCQ practices and organizational sustainable performance was also developed. Practitioners can apply this model as “a path plan” for implementing PFSCQ practices to improve organizational sustainable performance.Originality/valueThe integration of quality and supply chain even now remains inadequate in the literature. Consequently, it is required to have a more focused approach in assessing quality issues inside the upstream, internal and downstream of the supply chain. This study concentrates on the practices which make better quality aspects of the supply chain, known as PFSCQ practices. Suggested research models in this paper contribute to conceptual frameworks for theory building in PFSCQ and sustainable organizational performance. It is also expected that this research can suggest a useful direction for determining and implementing PFSCQ practices as well as make possible further studies in this arena.

The moderating effect of benevolence on the impact of organisational culture on employee creativity

Rooted in the Nigerian manufacturing industry experience, this study, investigates the effect of top management leaders' benevolence on the impact of organisational culture (OC) on employee creativity. Structural equation modelling (SEM) results indicated that top management leaders' benevolence, and adhocracy OC have positive and significant effects on employee creativity. Market and clan OC have significant negative effects on employee creativity, and hierarchy OC has no significant effect on employee creativity. Likewise, benevolence has no significant moderating effect on the impact of clan OC on employee creativity, and has a significant negative moderating effect on the impact of adhocracy OC on employee creativity. SEM results demonstrate that benevolence has a significant positive moderating effect on the impact of market OC on employee creativity, and a significant negative moderating effect on the impact of hierarchy OC on employee creativity. Policy implications and future directions are also discussed.

APPLICATION OF TQM IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES - CASE OF TURKEY

I n this study, a questionnaire survey was developed in order to investigate the application of TQM in Turkish construction industry and identify the critical success factors, barriers, and benefits of thisapplication. The questionnaire was completed by 32 firms. The results of the study revealed that the reare short comings in TQM application in Turkish construction industry especially in relation to top management commitment and leadership; the greatest benefit of TQM to the firms is ‘increased customer satisfaction’.

An empirical study on factors leading to the success of construction organizations in India

Traditionally, construction organizations with a track record of successful project completion were considered successful construction organizations. However, if construction projects were successful, then it is not always necessary for the construction organization to also have been successful. They can even fail and go bankrupt. Therefore, there is a need to think about the success of construction organizations at a corporate level rather than focusing only at the project level. The objective of this study was to identify and to evaluate the successful attributes for construction organizations. The research methodology involved seeking responses from experts in the construction industry through a questionnaire survey. This paper presents the factors that contributed to the success of construction organizations that operate in the National Capital Region of Delhi, India. Factor analysis of responses extracted eight critical success factors: experience and performance, top management's competence, project factor, supply chain and leadership, availability of resources and information flow, effective cost control measures, favourable market and marketing team, and availability of qualified staff. The top management's competence emerged as the most critical success factor against various performance factors. The success factors that were identified in this study should provide a guideline to construction organizations for their success.

Alignment between Board of Directors Roles and Top Management Leadership Styles: An Empirical Study on Defense and Security industry in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

t This research aims to investigate the existence of the alignment between Top management leadership styles (Transformational and Transactional) and the Board of Directors roles (Monitor, Evaluate & Influence and Initiate & Determine) in the manufacturing companies in the Security and Defense industry at the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan due to the lack of previous researches focused on the topic and especially in the developing countries, and due to the lack of researches conducted in general on the research community. It seems to be fertile and worthy of analyzing the relationship between the variables. The survey data was gathered from 7 companies; in order to achieve these objectives, a questionnaire was developed. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program was used to analyze and test the hypotheses. The findings of the research showed that there is a significant existence of alignment between Top management leadership styles and the board of directors’ roles. The researcher suggests to maintain the current alignment between the top management leadership style and the board of director's roles and if possible develop on it by adding more dimensions.

Development culture and TQM in Turkish healthcare: importance of employee empowerment and top management leadership

Total quality management (TQM) is directed at quality consciousness throughout all organisational processes. A successful TQM practice requires a culture that can adapt to changes and promote innovation. Development culture focuses especially on improvement, flexibility and external environment, concerning with growth, innovation and adaptation. From this perspective, the present study aims to examine the link between development culture and TQM in Turkish healthcare organisations and to explore the mediating roles of top management leadership and employee empowerment. Data were collected by using survey method and analysed by using structural equation modelling while being controlled for common method bias. The findings revealed that while development culture has a positive influence TQM, it is the top management leadership which mediates this relationship, not the employee empowerment. The results are discussed considering the difference in these mediating effects and organisational implications of the findings are provided.

An international telecom acquisition: lost in translation when Ya'alla met Boben Yang

PurposeThis study aims to consider the transition that took place between two major telecom multinational companies (MNCs) during an acquisition in an emerging market, Laos. The differences in the orientation of top management, corporate culture and cultural distance led to the ineffective performance of the acquired telecom company.Design/methodology/approachContent analysis is used to identify the key factors in the case. The sources of data are annual reports, past interviews, market reports, and participant observation.FindingsThe ineffective performance of the acquisition was related to the lack of cultural compatibility of the new top management, a corporate culture that emphasized costs over customer satisfaction and the failure to close the cultural gap between the Middle Eastern cultural values and the Lao values.Research limitations/implicationsThe data are mostly secondary data with some interviews of key managers. The case study would benefit with more extensive primary data, but the company was reluctant to respond.Practical implicationsThe match between the top management leadership style, the complementarity of the new corporate culture with the existing one, and the reduction in the gap in national cultures are all critical in the continuing successful performance of an acquisition. A strategy of localization increasing the competencies of the local managers and professionals and the adaptation of the organization processes and practices to the local context are more effective in achieving positive performance.Social implicationsThe change in corporate cultures from the collaborative/customer satisfaction emphasis of Tigo to a competitive/cost culture of Beeline led to a significant conflict with other telecom providers in Laos. This had performance consequences for Beeline and also the telecom sector.Originality/valueThis study is a unique demonstration of what happens in an acquisition of a telecom company in an emerging market. It is an interesting interplay of two major telecom companies with similar strategic choices but very different corporate culture orientations.

Linking soft and hard total quality management practices: evidence from Jordan

The purpose of this study is to describe the relationship between the two aspects of total quality management (TQM), soft TQM practices and hard TQM practices in manufacturing organisations. A research project was carried out in Jordanian manufacturing organisations using questionnaire survey. The relationships between the practices were examined through Pearson correlation and simple linear regression analyses. The results showed that the relationship between soft and hard TQM practices is significant. Customer focus has a significant relationship with statistical process control (SPC), while education and training have two significant relationships (SPC and continuous improvement). Top management leadership has three significant relationships (SPC, continuous improvement and product design). Finally, supplier relationship has significant relationships with all hard practices except process management practice. Hence, managers of manufacturing companies should realise the important role of hard practices in implementing soft TQM practices successfully.

Factors influencing innovation capability of small and medium-sized enterprises in Korean manufacturing sector: facilitators, barriers and moderators

Securing and expanding innovation capability is a critical challenge for the survival and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as they normally lack internal resources and show limited environmental responsiveness. However, few prior studies focus on the factors influencing the innovation capability of SMEs in terms of facilitators, barriers, and moderators. Using survey data collected from Korean SMEs in the manufacturing sector, we show that innovation capability is a fundamental determinant of firm performance. Top management leadership and external networking serve as facilitators, while organisational rigidity and insufficient resources act as barriers to firm performance, and have a significant impact on innovation capability. This study reveals that commercialisation capabilities serve as moderators between innovation capability and firm performance. The implications and directions for future research are also suggested.

Do Not Panic! Enhancing Service Recovery of Nursing Services

Service recovery has been an important issue due to broader social and economic context that shows greater demand for health, care and support which can be concluded that it is critical to study the health care services. Predicting that factors such as top management leadership, teamwork, empowerment, training and commitment is critical to be understood because all these factors will affect the motivation and attitude of employees toward service recovery. Furthermore, employee is one of the source of sustainable competitive advantage to organisations. Nursing staffs are the ones who have variety of jobs to perform and need to juggle with many jobs at many places in the medical profession. Hence, there is no doubt that failure in their service might occur and service recovery is very crucial to make sure that nurses will perform better in service recovery. This study, therefore, aims to determine the factors influencing service recovery among public nurses. Nurses from various public hospitals in Seberang Perai Utara, Pulau Pinang were chosen as respondents for this study. A total number of 400 questionnaires were distributed to respondents using simple random sampling method. Only 368 questionnaires were returned and used for analysis. The results of correlation analysis and regression analysis have shown that three independent variables (empowerment, training and commitment) had a significant relationship and influenced service recovery. In conclusion, the findings in this study revealed that nurse’s commitment is the most critical factors in service recovery.

Linking soft and hard total quality management practices: evidence from Jordan

The purpose of this study is to describe the relationship between the two aspects of total quality management (TQM), soft TQM practices and hard TQM practices in manufacturing organisations. A research project was carried out in Jordanian manufacturing organisations using questionnaire survey. The relationships between the practices were examined through Pearson correlation and simple linear regression analyses. The results showed that the relationship between soft and hard TQM practices is significant. Customer focus has a significant relationship with statistical process control (SPC), while education and training have two significant relationships (SPC and continuous improvement). Top management leadership has three significant relationships (SPC, continuous improvement and product design). Finally, supplier relationship has significant relationships with all hard practices except process management practice. Hence, managers of manufacturing companies should realise the important role of hard practices in implementing soft TQM practices successfully.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE INTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING AN ORGANIZATION’S ABILITY TO IMPLEMENT OPEN INNOVATION

Urgency of the research. In today’s dynamic economic environment organizations are not able to innovate efficiently alone and being forced to revise their innovation strategies. In this context, open innovation is considered as a more effective approach to managing innovation processes that can provide external competencies and competitive advantages for companies operating in a modern marketplace. Target setting. Empirical studies demonstrate a wide variety of firm-level factors influencing an organization’s ability to implement open innovation model, however the relationships among these factors as well as the impact they have on a company’s innovation performance are not fully explained. Actual scientific research and issues analysis. Following researchers have made an important contribution to the development of an open innovation concept: G. Chesbrough, A.K. Crowther, E. Enkel, O. Gassmann, K. Laursen, A. Solter and others. Uninvestigated parts of general matters defining. Although an exploring of organizational determinants that support implementation of the open innovation model is an area of growing interest among both academics and practitioners, the current understanding of these firm-level factors and their interrelationships is still fragmented. The research objective. The aim of the paper is to provide a view of the critical internal factors which influence an organization’s ability to implement open innovation. An analytical framework of the study strengthens a theoretical basis for a thorough analysis of the relationships among the main factors that have impact on a company’s open innovation practice. The statement of basic materials. Based on the literature review on open innovation management key internal factors have been identified that have impact on a firm’s ability to implement open innovation: an organizational mission and value system, a top management style and leadership, an organizational structure, a corporate culture, employees’ skills and competencies and an appropriate incentive system, as well as technological and knowledge management capabilities. Conclusions. As a result of the research a set of firm-level internal factors is defined that should be primarily taken into account in order to increase a company’s ability to implement efficiently open innovation.

Assessment of top management leadership and commitment to improve perishable food supply chain quality

The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a technique for arranging and examining complicated judgements by the ample and realistic framework. This study was performed to attain the relative significance of the factors affecting the quality of top management leadership and commitment in perishable food supply chain. Three popular perishable food industries were acknowledged in a brainstorming phase and an expert group has been made and it consists of all stakeholders of perishable food supply chain. The input from the result was used for the pair wise comparison of the factors affecting quality of top management leadership and commitment to PFSCQ. The contrast of the alternatives in AHP is based on the input taken from an expert team involving of perishable food supply chain stakeholders who exist in each of perishable food industry under study.

Assessment of top management leadership and commitment to improve perishable food supply chain quality

Assessment of top management leadership and commitment to improve perishable food supply chain quality

The Relationship Between People-Related Elements of Total Quality Management (TQM) Practices and Employees’ Job Satisfaction in Apparel Industry in Gampaha District

Apparel manufacturing sector is the largest industrial sector in terms of density of employees. Over the last few decades, the importance of TQM has emphasized as a mean of competitive advantage. Peo in apparel industry. people-related TQM practices (PRTQM) have identified as the most important practices for organizational success. People- related practices mainly involve with soft performance of the organization. Therefore, the focus of the present study is to examine the relationship between people-related elements of Total Quality Management practices and Employees’ Job satisfaction in Apparel Industry in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, the data were collected from 110 employees using convenience sampling technique from Production Managers and Supervisors in selected garment factories in Gampaha district with 94% response rate. The study finds a positive relationship between people- related TQM practices and employees’ job satisfaction. Among six independent variables, Top Management Leadership, Employee Empowerment, Employee Involvement, Teamwork and Compensation had the significant relationship with employees’ job satisfaction. The results of this study show that Employee Training has no significant relationship with employees’ satisfaction. Finally, the study concludes that, only five TQM elements (Top Management Leadership, Employee Empowerment, Employee Involvement, Teamwork and Compensation) could impact on employee satisfaction in the apparel industry.

An Empirical Study on Top Management's Leadership in Construction Quality Management Activities and Construction Quality Management Performance

An Empirical Study on Top Management's Leadership in Construction Quality Management Activities and Construction Quality Management Performance

Organizational factors and knowledge management applications to user-centred services in federal university libraries in Nigeria

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between organizational factors and knowledge management applications to user-centred services in federal university libraries in Nigeria. The population of the study consisted of 26 federal university libraries in Nigeria with 450 professional librarians. A questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. This research instrument was pretested for reliability using Cronbach alpha procedure. A total of 450 copies of the questionnaires were distributed to the respondents. Of these, 350 questionnaires were completed and returned, thereby accounting for a response rate of approximately 78%. Descriptive and inferential analyses of data were achieved using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings revealed that knowledge management applications were more focused on knowledge identification and acquisition than on knowledge creation and dissemination. The findings also revealed that top management leadership and collaboration were the strongest of the organizational factors, and they correlated significantly with knowledge management applications to user-centred services. Other factors such as human resources policy and compensation schemes had both low and non-significant correlation with knowledge management applications. Both top management leadership and collaboration had significant relationships with knowledge management applications. It is, therefore, recommended that a knowledge management strategic action plan be developed for the federal university libraries in Nigeria.

When Top Management Leadership Matters: Insights From Artistic Interventions

This article addresses how top management leadership behaviors matter in innovative interventions in organizations. A comparison of six cases of artistic interventions in four countries reveals that lack of visible top management support and sense-making orientation during and after the process resulted in little added value for the organization in three cases. Three other cases show various ways in which top management can legitimize such experimentation, from which more positive outcomes flowed at the individual and collective levels. The implications are counterintuitive because top management faces two sets of tensions in innovative processes: presence/absence and providing orientation/being open to learning. The article suggests ways that top managers can address these tensions, including by engaging in constellations of distributed leadership, for which this article proposes a new definition.

The Role of Organizational Culture in Adopting Total Quality Management : Case Study the Salt Complex, El Outaya, Biskra State

This study aimed at exploring how the organizational culture can contribute in adopting Total Quality Management (TQM) in the organization. A case study was conducted at the Salt complex in El Outaya, Biskra State and the questionnaire was used to collect data. The study found that the organizational culture (organizational values, organizational behavior and the artifacts) contributes in adopting TQM with its four dimensions (top management leadership commitment, focus on the customer, focus on human resources and continuous improvement). All of the organizational culture’s dimensions can increase the top management leadership commitment towards TQM, they also contribute in focusing on the customer. Moreover, organizational culture contributes in increasing the focus on human resources through organizational behavior and artifacts. In addition, organizational culture can help sustain continuous improvement through artifacts and organizational values.

Digitalization of learning resources in a HEI – a lean management perspective

PurposeLean is considered as a major management approach for improving operational productivity and organizational performance. It is a systemic philosophy that emphasizes on fulfilling customer needs, waste minimization, and a commitment to a culture of continual improvement. In recent years, many higher education institutions (HEIs) have leveraged on the use of technology to provide flexibility in learning and just-in-time training for learners in the efforts to improve both the internal processes of course delivery and enhance the provisions of education quality. In recognizing these trends in HEIs, the purpose of this paper is to identify the key factors that facilitate the conversion of printed learning resources to e-learning resources in a HEI.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a qualitative exploratory case study approach and examined a unique case of a HEI that is undergoing the transformation process from printed learning resources to digital sources to simplify the processes involved in educational service delivery and operational complexity. Data sources include semi-structured interviews with key personnel directly involved in the project of converting printed learning resources to digital sources, notes taken from informal discussions, and secondary data such as minutes of meetings, learning resource archives, and relevant literature. A retrospective perspective was adopted in the case analysis since the HEI has already completed 50 percent of the conversion phase when this study was carried out.FindingsAbductive reasoning approach and well-established lean principles were used to make sense of the digital transformation process of the HEI. Based on the retrospective case analysis, the authors found evidence that characterizes lean management principles and identifies the critical factors (CFs) that have facilitated the HEI to achieve the key milestones in the conversion journey. These include common vision, top management support and leadership, timely information sharing, and relationship management with key stakeholders in the transformation processes.Research limitations/implicationsSince this research is an exploratory case study, the results obtained cannot be generalized. Future research can be conducted to provide an impact analysis of the potential risk factors of a system that employs only the use of e-study materials. In addition, future studies can also assess the quality of the learning services that is supported by the e-resources by gathering student feedback on their e-learning experience that is supported by the online digital learning resources and learning management system.Practical implicationsThis study provides managerial insights into the levers to engender the transformation from a traditional print learning resources model to leaning with digital e-learning resources. The insights into the CFs aid education managers to introduce process innovations and encourage behavioral changes that will benefit learners, instructors, and administers.Originality/valueThe study is one of the first to apply lean management principles in making sense of the transformation processes involved in the use of digital innovation in higher education context. The findings provide a holistic view of the process transformations.