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Article
Publication date: 25 November 2019

Alain Neher and Jane Maley

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of managerial values in improving the effectiveness of employee performance management (EPM).

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of managerial values in improving the effectiveness of employee performance management (EPM).

Design/methodology/approach

The research has been conducted as a conceptual study, in which EPM criteria are compared to managerial values and the related maturity model. A thorough review of the EPM and values literature identified relevant and significant works.

Findings

Despite copious extant literature on EPM, the process is riddled with persistent problems, particularly concerning the manager’s enthusiasm to adequately implement EPM and its subsequent effectiveness. A managerial grounded values framework is, therefore, proposed. Using a circular approach that is assisted by a values maturity model, it serves as a charter that guides the supervisor’s actions, goals, choices, decisions and attitudes; principles that are very much at the heart of an effective EPM process. Curiously, managerial values and EPM have not generally been connected.

Practical implications

This values-based circular framework contributes to the effectiveness of the EPM process and thus to a positive EPM experience that motivates, enhances engagement and guides personal development. When enacted individual values and EPM are linked, they are argued to lead to sustained superior financial performance.

Originality/value

This study makes an important and novel contribution to the performance literature by using a values-based maturity model to improve the effectiveness of the EPM process.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 69 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 May 2024

Jane F. Maley, Marina Dabić, Alain Neher, Lucia Wuersch, Lynn Martin and Timothy Kiessling

This conceptual work examines how, in times of post-COVID-19 paradigm shift, the employee performance management (PM) process can help multinational corporations (MNCs) strengthen…

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Abstract

Purpose

This conceptual work examines how, in times of post-COVID-19 paradigm shift, the employee performance management (PM) process can help multinational corporations (MNCs) strengthen their talent management and, at the same time, meet their future needs.

Design/methodology/approach

We take a conceptual approach and present our perspective on what we see as the most critical trends shaping PM and talent management. Contingency theory and Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA) theory provide a sound theoretical framework for understanding and responding to the complex and rapidly changing business context post-COVID-19.

Findings

Drawing on these theories, we create a framework providing a means of understanding why and how MNCs can maintain talent and, at the same time, develop new talent through the PM process.

Practical implications

Importantly, our study emphasizes the critical role that project management and talent management techniques play for both practitioners and scholars. In order to gain and sustain a competitive edge in the ever-changing VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) landscape, these processes necessitate ongoing reassessment and adaptation. As Plato eloquently stated, “Our Need Will Be the Real Creator,” encapsulating our vision for the proactive and dynamic nature of effective project management and talent management practices.

Originality/value

The study establishes the benefits of an agile and flexible PM approach to help develop talent and pave the way for future research in this increasingly critical area

Details

Management Decision, vol. 62 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 July 2021

Alain Neher, Alfred Wong and Morgan P. Miles

This study aims to explore if corporations that publicly disclose more information about their managerial values are also more organizationally authentic in enacting these values.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore if corporations that publicly disclose more information about their managerial values are also more organizationally authentic in enacting these values.

Design/methodology/approach

A maturity model of managerial values is used that ordinally ranks a corporation’s level of managerial values enactment using corporate annual reports. The samples of corporations’ corporate reports are qualitatively content analyzed, and the outcomes are statistically tested.

Findings

The findings indicate that as an organization voluntarily discloses more information about its corporate values, it tends to be more likely to enact their espoused values, and their corporation’s level of organizational authenticity increases.

Originality/value

This study suggests an approach to benchmark a corporation’s level of organizational authenticity using public information, and by doing so, contributes to both policy and practice by offering a framework to compare organizational authenticity between public corporations by their sector, size or the age of the corporation.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 September 2023

Marc K. Peter, Lucia Wuersch, Alfred Wong and Alain Neher

The purpose of this study is to better understand technology adoption and working from home (WFH) behaviour of micro and small enterprises (MSE) with 4 to 49 employees during the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to better understand technology adoption and working from home (WFH) behaviour of micro and small enterprises (MSE) with 4 to 49 employees during the first (2020) and second (2021) COVID-19 lockdowns in Switzerland.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses two data sets gathered using computer-assisted telephone interviewing surveys conducted with 503 managing directors of Swiss MSEs after the first and 506 MDs after the second COVID-19 lockdown period.

Findings

The study revealed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, WFH arrangements are related to the adoption of technology by Swiss industry groups. Furthermore, industry characteristics and technology adoption strategies are also associated with the long-term prospect of WFH. The overall result confirms the predominant role of technology pioneers.

Research limitations/implications

The study focuses on MSEs in Switzerland during a specific period. The data set includes mainly quantitative data. Future studies could investigate larger enterprises in international contexts, integrating employees’ viewpoints founded on long-term gathered qualitative data. The implications of this study include predictions about future WFH behaviour in Swiss MSEs.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study collecting data in Swiss MSEs after the two COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. As a result, this study offers a unique perspective on a specific business segment, which accounts for around 70% of global employment.

Details

European Business Review, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 May 2024

Marc K. Peter, Lucia Wuersch, Alain Neher, Johan Paul Lindeque and Karin Mändli Lerch

Micro and small enterprises (MSE) play a critical role in the Swiss economy but had no meaningfully adopted working from home (WFH) policy before the COVID-19 crisis. The timing…

Abstract

Purpose

Micro and small enterprises (MSE) play a critical role in the Swiss economy but had no meaningfully adopted working from home (WFH) policy before the COVID-19 crisis. The timing of the study’s data collection allowed a unique assessment of Swiss MSEs’ adoption of WFH enabled by the adoption of digital technologies due to the first government-mandated COVID-19 lockdown. The study also set out to assess the permanence of any changes in the adoption of WFH by MSEs after initial government COVID-19 restrictions ended.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a threefold theoretical framework combining social, technical and spatial dimensions. Data were collected via telephone interviews. The utilised sampling frame included 153,000 small businesses with 4–49 employees, and the realised sample for the study was 503 interviews with MSE owners and managing directors (MDs).

Findings

The Swiss government’s COVID-19 crisis lockdown policies accelerated the digital transformation of work by employees in Swiss MSEs by increasing the number of employees WFH. However, the number of MSEs with WFH employees decreased after the first lockdown ended. Small business leadership is an important influence on the persistence of any increases in WFH.

Originality/value

The data collection uniquely captures the effects of externally driven digital transformation of work in small businesses by the adoption of WFH. The findings show that small businesses can rapidly learn new ways of working and support the claim that Swiss MSE MDs play a critical role in the adoption of WFH. They also confirm the importance of digital leadership and culture for realising the potential of WFH in small businesses.

Details

Journal of Strategy and Management, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-425X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 December 2019

Wade Arnold, Danny Arnold, Alain Neher and Morgan P. Miles

This paper aims to develop and psychometrically assess an individual’s perception of their work unit’s psychological sense of community (PSOCw) scale. This new scale is designed…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop and psychometrically assess an individual’s perception of their work unit’s psychological sense of community (PSOCw) scale. This new scale is designed to capture the unique characteristics of a contemporary work unit that might include current practices such as hot-desking and workers located in physically separate locations.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper develops and then psychometrically accesses a new scale designed to better capture the psychological sense of community in a contemporary work unit.

Findings

The managerial implications for the PSOCw scale that is a psychometrically sound measure of work engagement, civility and collegiality in a work unit allow managers to audit a work unit based on these three dimensions and then take corrective actions to enhance the work unit’s sense of community.

Originality/value

The present study adapts previous work on PSOCw to a contemporary work environment where members of a work unit are often in physically separate locations and largely connect virtually.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 32 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 9 July 2018

Alain Neher, Alexander Jungmeister, Calvin Wang and Oliver Burmeister

This paper explored the relationship between the embeddedness of a firm’s managerial values and corporate financial performance in Swiss small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs…

Abstract

This paper explored the relationship between the embeddedness of a firm’s managerial values and corporate financial performance in Swiss small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by developing a conceptual maturity model of managerial values (MM-MV). The MM-MV articulates the extent to which managerial values are embedded within organizations, allowing the analysis of the interrelationship between the degree of values-embeddedness and financial performance in SMEs. The findings suggested that as managerial values become more embedded, financial performance increases; therefore, SMEs exhibiting highly embedded managerial values such as customer-minded, team spirit, innovation-driven reliability, persistency, competency, and engagement tend to financially outperform SMEs that have not fully embedded managerial values throughout the firm.

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 9 July 2018

Abstract

Details

Visual Ethics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-165-6

Article
Publication date: 27 September 2021

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

Design

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings

Managerial value reports are a method of transparently setting out organizational values, and demonstrating a commitment to them, through actions which can be judged by internal and external stakeholders.

Originality

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Abstract

Details

Visual Ethics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-165-6

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