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Article
Publication date: 13 September 2023

Sigmund A. Wagner-Tsukamoto

This paper aims to offer a new history of management by tracing a religious dimension of scientific management. The thesis is that the good was foundational for bringing…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to offer a new history of management by tracing a religious dimension of scientific management. The thesis is that the good was foundational for bringing scientific management to success in Taylor’s native Quaker Philadelphia in the 1880s. The paper’s main contribution is to contrast the philosophical origins of Taylor’s ideas in scientific management to his native Quaker roots, and how Taylor, over time, into the 1910s, wrestled with this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is situated in historical interpretivism and subjectivism, leaning on contextual and narrative research on religious morality.

Findings

Quaker morality prevented managerial opportunism at Taylor’s Midvale Steel in the 1880s. Conversely, by the 1900s and 1910s, interest conflicts between workers and managers escalated when scientific management moved out of its traditional cultural contexts of Quaker Philadelphia and spread across the USA. The historical implication is, already for Taylor’s time, that scientific management never was the “one-best way” of management.

Research limitations/implications

Future research needs to deepen and broaden research on scientific management when tracing the significance of religion and culture in management thought.

Practical implications

The paper has implications for modern studies of business morality by uncovering the practical relevance of religious business ethics at the outset of management studies.

Social implications

The historic emergence of scientific management points to a theory of institutional evolution and economic growth, when religiously grounded governance of the firm deinstitutionalized, and institutional economic governance, with different but superior economic advantages, progressed by the 1900s.

Originality/value

The paper suggests an alternative version of the intellectual heritage of management studies by tracing the legacy of Taylor’s Quakerism and how religious and cultural ideas contributed to the formation of science in management.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 May 2022

Mohamed Nour El-Barbary, Mariko Ikeda and Yasufumi Uekita

The paper aims at identifying the underlying factors that differentiate the local people's demographic and socio-economic characteristics, which influence their sense of place…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims at identifying the underlying factors that differentiate the local people's demographic and socio-economic characteristics, which influence their sense of place (SoP) toward different types of cultural heritage sites in different urban regions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on the sequential explanatory design, using quantitative and qualitative methods, respectively, to investigate the research themes in-depth. A total of 201, 207 and 228 questionnaires were collected on religious, non-religious/memorial and historic commercial buildings, respectively, at two different quarters in Historic Cairo, followed by 20 semi-structured interviews with a representative sample of local people in each quarter.

Findings

The authors found an apparent similarity in the significant characteristics that influence the local people's SoP levels toward the different historic buildings at the same quarter and a notable variation between both quarters. Also, many factors determine the local people's influential characteristics on their SoP toward the different cultural heritage sites (e.g. the sites’ distance from the person's residence/workplace, economic value, people's awareness about its history, type of activities and targeted gender, feeling of stability and regions' characteristics)

Practical implications

Identifying these underlying factors and priority local groups can assist policymakers in ensuring a sustainable management/conservation of the different cultural heritage sites.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates the causality of a significant correlation between local people's characteristics and their SoP levels toward the different types of historic buildings, apart from their religious symbolism or historical value, using the sequential explanatory design.

Details

Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-1266

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 April 2024

Changhai Tian and Shoushuai Zhang

The design goal for the tracking interval of high-speed railway trains in China is 3 min, but it is difficult to achieve, and it is widely believed that it is mainly limited by…

Abstract

Purpose

The design goal for the tracking interval of high-speed railway trains in China is 3 min, but it is difficult to achieve, and it is widely believed that it is mainly limited by the tracking interval of train arrivals. If the train arrival tracking interval can be compressed, it will be beneficial for China's high-speed railway to achieve a 3-min train tracking interval. The goal of this article is to study how to compress the train arrival tracking interval.

Design/methodology/approach

By simulating the process of dense train groups arriving at the station and stopping, the headway between train arrivals at the station was calculated, and the pattern of train arrival headway was obtained, changing the traditional understanding that the train arrival headway is considered the main factor limiting the headway of trains.

Findings

When the running speed of trains is high, the headway between trains is short, the length of the station approach throat area is considerable and frequent train arrivals at the station, the arrival headway for the first group or several groups of trains will exceed the headway, but the subsequent sets of trains will have a headway equal to the arrival headway. This convergence characteristic is obtained by appropriately increasing the running time.

Originality/value

According to this pattern, there is no need to overly emphasize the impact of train arrival headway on the headway. This plays an important role in compressing train headway and improving high-speed railway capacity.

Details

Railway Sciences, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2755-0907

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2024

Erik Taylor

Working conditions, pay rates and the rights of workers to collectively negotiate have become important points of discussions in recent years, with support for unions and union…

Abstract

Purpose

Working conditions, pay rates and the rights of workers to collectively negotiate have become important points of discussions in recent years, with support for unions and union applications rising to levels long unseen in America. In many instances, though, companies have responded aggressively. This is not the first time such a dynamic has played out in American business. This study aims to take a fresh look at one of America’s most prominent historical disputes between labor and ownership – the Homestead Massacre of 1892 – to glean lessons from that conflict that remain relevant to today’s business environment.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts game theory and the principles of repeated interaction to assess how differing discount factors led to differences in time orientations between the workers and the Carnegie company. These differing time orientations affected both the strategy each side deployed in the negotiations and the payoffs received by the parties. Letters, contemporary news reports and histories of the events leading up to and immediately following the 1892 Homestead Massacre are qualitatively analyzed with a genealogical pragmatic approach.

Findings

Differences in temporal orientation between management and workers exacerbated the conflict, with the workers adopting a more cooperative stance and distal time orientation, while the Carnegie company negotiated with a proximal time orientation and played to “win” a game that, in fact, could not be fully won or lost given its infinitely repeating nature. The result was a short-term victory for the Carnegie company but with long-term negative consequences that highlight the suboptimal outcome the company achieved by playing a proximal strategy in an infinite game.

Originality/value

Although the incident at Homestead is a well-studied labor dispute, many of the themes that preceded the incident have resurfaced in the modern work context. This work, by adopting game theory as an analytical framework, provides new insights into management mistakes that led to the labor conflict and lessons for what present-day managers can do to avoid exacerbating labor strife.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 April 2024

Lies Bouten and Sophie Hoozée

This study examines how assurors make sense of sustainability assurance (SA) work and how interactions with assurance team members and clients shape assurors’ sensemaking and…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines how assurors make sense of sustainability assurance (SA) work and how interactions with assurance team members and clients shape assurors’ sensemaking and their actual SA work.

Design/methodology/approach

To obtain detailed accounts of how SA work occurs on the ground, this study explores three SA engagements by interviewing the main actors involved, both at the client firms and at their Big Four assurance providers.

Findings

Individual assurors’ (i.e. partners and other team members) sensemaking of SA work results in the crafting of their logics of action (LoAs), that is, their meanings about the objectives of SA work and how to conduct it. Without organizational socialization, team members may not arrive at shared meanings and deviate from the team-wide assurance approach. To fulfill their objectives for SA work, assurors may engage in socialization with clients or assume a temporary role. Yet, the role negotiations taking place in the shadows of the scope negotiations determine their default role during the engagement.

Practical implications

Two options are available to help SA statement users gauge the relevance of SA work: either displaying the SA work performed or making it more uniform.

Originality/value

This study theoretically grounds how assurors make sense of SA work and documents how (the lack of) professional socialization, organizational socialization and socialization of frequent interaction partners at the client shape actual SA work. Thereby, it unravels the SA work concealed behind SA statements.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 March 2023

Svetlin Georgiev, Aissa Boukarou, Keltoum Bouhali and Khaled Zennir

This paper is devoted to the generalized Kadomtsev–Petviashvili I equation. This study aims to propose a new approach for investigation for the existence of at least one global…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper is devoted to the generalized Kadomtsev–Petviashvili I equation. This study aims to propose a new approach for investigation for the existence of at least one global classical solution and the existence of at least two nonnegative global classical solutions. The main arguments in this paper are based on some recent theoretical results.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is devoted to the generalized Kadomtsev–Petviashvili I equation. This study aims to propose a new approach for investigation for the existence of at least one global classical solution and the existence of at least two nonnegative global classical solutions. The main arguments in this paper are based on some recent theoretical results.

Findings

This paper is devoted to the generalized Kadomtsev–Petviashvili I equation. This study aims to propose a new approach for investigation for the existence of at least one global classical solution and the existence of at least two nonnegative global classical solutions. The main arguments in this paper are based on some recent theoretical results.

Originality/value

This article is devoted to the generalized Kadomtsev–Petviashvili I equation. This study aims to propose a new approach for investigation for the existence of at least one global classical solution and the existence of at least two nonnegative global classical solutions. The main arguments in this paper are based on some recent theoretical results.

Details

Arab Journal of Mathematical Sciences, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1319-5166

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 December 2023

Mohammad Imtiaz Hossain, Jeetesh Kumar, Md. Tariqul Islam and Marco Valeri

Manufacturing firms must embrace smart technologies and develop complex leadership approaches to achieve sustainability. Using the dynamic capability theory, this paper aims to…

Abstract

Purpose

Manufacturing firms must embrace smart technologies and develop complex leadership approaches to achieve sustainability. Using the dynamic capability theory, this paper aims to examine the influence of the adoption of industry 4.0 technologies (AT) and paradoxical leadership (PL) on corporate sustainable performance (CSP) of manufacturing small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Moreover, organisational ambidexterity (OA) is a mediator and strategic flexibility (SF) is a moderator in the study.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is a cross-sectional, quantitative study design that collected 395 usable responses through a simple random sampling technique and a close-ended structured questionnaire. Structural equation modelling (SEM) procedures were followed to analyse the data.

Findings

The statistical outcome implies that the AT significantly influence CSP and OA and mediate with CSP in the presence of OA. Moreover, PL shows a significant impact on OA, is insignificant on CSP and mediates with OA and CSP. The authors found a significant association between OA and CSP; however, SF did not provide evidence of a moderate effect.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study clarify the role that organisational capabilities (OA, AT, PL and SF) play in fostering sustainability. The authors suggest incorporating SMEs from different geographies in other sectors by applying diverse methodologies and relevant constructs.

Practical implications

The result injects new perspectives into policy, managerial and individual levels. Installing OA, AT, PL and SF makes SMEs sustainable.

Originality/value

The empirical validation of the influence of OA and AT on CSP and the interaction of PL and SF enriches the organisational and entrepreneurial literature.

Details

European Business Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 April 2023

Muhammad Mohtsham Saeed, Tafara Chipamaunga and Wanniwat Pansuwong

This study aims to highlight the moderating role of perceived organizational, supervisory and coworker’s support in weakening the negative relationship between fear of pandemic…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to highlight the moderating role of perceived organizational, supervisory and coworker’s support in weakening the negative relationship between fear of pandemic (FOP) and employee’s engagement in the Asian organizations. Furthermore, this study also aims to explore the role of employees’ engagement as an intervening mechanism, which mediates the relationship between FOP and employee’s performance in an Asian postpandemic context.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on extensive review of recent literature and sound theoretical reasoning, the authors have developed a comprehensive conceptual framework (with related theoretical propositions) which provides clear guidelines as to how Asian Business Managers/organizations can minimize the adverse effect of the employee’s fear triggered by the pandemic at the workplace and how provision of effective and timely organizational/interpersonal support (i.e. organizational, managerial and coworkers level support) can help Asian Managers address various workplace challenges created by the pandemic moving forward. This study has further validated the proposed conceptual framework and related theoretical propositions by conducting an in-depth bibliometric analysis and by developing clusters of the co-occurrences based on most recent/ relevant literature published in the area.

Findings

This study advances the knowledge in the areas of FOP and organizational support in particular. A comprehensive review of the literature clearly indicates how effective organizational, supervisory and peer support mechanism can help Asian Business Managers in alleviating the negative impact of the FOP on various employee level outcomes such as employees “engagement and performance” and how it can help Asian firms in addressing the associated challenges while working in a postpandemic context. Later on, an in-depth bibliometric analysis of the literature has revealed emerging knowledge patterns in the field and has indicated several key gaps in the existing literature which further confirms the theoretical framework and the propositions related thereto.

Originality/value

Though several researchers have previously examined the fear created by COVID-19 at workplace, relatively fewer researchers have tried to link it up with employees’ level of involvement/ engagement at workplace. Even fewer researchers have tried to examine the vital role that organizational, managerial and peers support can play in minimizing the adverse effects created by pandemic-induced fears for employees’ productivity and performance in an Asian workplace context. Furthermore, hardly any efforts have been made to look at this popular notion of employees’ engagement as an intervening mechanism which carries a significant potential to mediate the relationship between FOP and employees’ job performance. This study aims to bridge all these gaps by integrating the two main streams of knowledge together, i.e. Four Horsemen of Fear and Organizational Support theory. Based on strong theoretical reasoning, an in-depth review and a bibliometric analysis of the relevant literature, the authors have developed a comprehensive conceptual framework which explains how various levels of support may interact with FOP to predict different levels of employees’ engagement in a contemporary Asian workplace and how this in turn may impact employees’ job performance while at work.

Details

Journal of Asia Business Studies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1558-7894

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 March 2024

Keshav Krishnamurty

This paper aims to study the origin story of Harvard Business School’s involvement with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad to study the reasons for the spread of…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the origin story of Harvard Business School’s involvement with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad to study the reasons for the spread of American management education. It introduces both the explicit influence of Cold War politics and Indian development imaginaries to the export of American management thought in the early 1960s.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper relies on archival research for its primary source material, drawing upon rich archives of documents found at the Baker Library of Harvard Business School.

Findings

Harvard’s role in Ahmedabad was explicitly influenced by the Cold War anti-communist foreign policy of the USA, but did so opportunistically and contrary to the Ford Foundation’s (FF) original plans. Vikram Sarabhai, who was a key player in the Indian national imaginary of development, invited Harvard on his own initiative and forced the foundation to follow his interests rather than being a mere “subaltern.”

Research limitations/implications

This paper could additionally add to the historical debate about the scope and periodization of the Cold War and the role of non-state actors.

Originality/value

This paper covers new ground in exploring the early connection between the Indian development imaginary and business education. It concludes that the export of hegemonic US management education was not successful during Cold War, and the FF was not as dominant as it was made out to be.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 January 2024

Carolina Serra Folch and Cristina Martorell Castellano

This paper aims to review the history of Roldós y Compañía, one of the oldest advertising agencies in the world and the oldest currently operating. This research aims to highlight…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to review the history of Roldós y Compañía, one of the oldest advertising agencies in the world and the oldest currently operating. This research aims to highlight the importance of this agency and its founder, Rafael Roldós Viñolas – the first documented advertising agent in Spain to this day – in shaping the emerging Spanish advertising industry at the end of the 19th century.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology used in this paper is based on a review of period and contemporary literature, as well as on newspaper sources and documents from the private archive of Roldós, S.A.

Findings

In its early years, the agency’s participation in two of the most significant events for the modernization of the city of Barcelona, the Universal Exhibition of 1888 and the International Exhibition of 1929; as well as the ideation and implementation of several urban projects with the aim of finding new formulas and advertising media are factors that make it one of the most important in the country. In 1929, the alliance Roldós-Tiroleses, S.A. de Publicidad, the first great merger of advertising agencies in Spain, which lasted three years, was led. The outbreak of the Civil War and the subsequent post-war period marked a few years of business irregularities and advertising silences that gave instability to its activity. During the last third of the 20th century, the agency was immersed in the generalized advertising euphoria around the world. With the arrival of North American agencies in Barcelona and the consequent business movements, Roldós, S.A. specializes in the processing of advertisements and media planning. The 21st century began with important changes in the media planning sector, and the agency was forced to restructure its services and organizational structure. In 2022, it celebrates 150 years of uninterrupted activity, recognized by the country’s business sector.

Practical implications

This research aims to internationalize the history of the Roldós y Compañía agency, so that it can be studied together with other names of Anglo-Saxon advertising pioneers who were contemporaries of Rafael Roldós.

Originality/value

Scientific research on the history of advertising agencies, especially in Spain, is scarce, so this paper aims to help fill this gap.

Details

Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-750X

Keywords

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