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For some years, human resource management (HRM) scholars have sought to understand how the high performance work system (HPWS) impacts performance. Recently, attention has turned to developing knowledge about the more micro-level aspects of this relationship, with the ability–motivation–opportunity (AMO) framework providing a useful lens. Empirically, these studies have produced mixed results. This study explores whether context is useful in explaining these anomalous findings.

This study considered the effects of context across two levels – the descriptive (situated demography–gender) and the analytical (societal–national culture) – on employees' behaviour in the HPWS–job performance relationship using survey data obtained from a sample of New Zealand organisations.

Results indicate that the employee demographic of gender may play an influential role, with ability found to be the most significant predictor of job performance for males and opportunity the strongest predictor of job performance for females. Given the importance of cultural context when examining employees' gendered behaviours, this study also considers the influence of New Zealand's national culture.

By describing the interaction between trait expressive work behaviours and job features, this study dispels the myth of universalism. In line with a contingency view, practitioners are encouraged to ensure alignment between features of their organisational context and the behavioural outcomes sought from their HPWS.

This study suggests HPWS research designs would benefit from analysing the full effects of contextual variables, rather than considering them purely as controls.

Understanding expatriate performance, suitability, selection and development have long been identified as critical to international human resource management (IHRM). The authors explore how adult third culture kids (ATCKs) see themselves in regard to their future capacity to successfully engage in international assignments. This paper aims to confirm research suggesting ATCKs may indeed be invaluable to international organisations but that organisations might re-evaluate the form of IHRM support offered.

In-depth interviews with a small sample of ATCKs are used in an exploratory qualitative study.

The ATCKs see themselves as a genuine source of exceptionally capable, expatriate talent on the basis of their prior international experience in childhood and the capacity to socio-culturally adapt in a chameleon-like manner. This paper confirms research suggesting ATCKs may indeed be invaluable to international organisations but that organisations might re-evaluate the form of IHRM support offered. However, the flip-side of these self-perceptions is that they may appear rootless and restless, may be self-centred rather than organisationally oriented, and may voluntarily isolate themselves from more traditional expatriates instead opting to immerse themselves in the local host country scene.

The findings are based on a small sample, and future research embracing a range of methodologies is envisaged.

The findings offer insights for practitioners and researchers, and ATCKs with reference to the selection of international assignment and performance management of ATCKs.

While some scholars have suggested that ATCKs may be ideal expatriate talent, the findings give focus to what might retain this talent in an organisation and suggests a future research agenda.

This paper aims to refine the concept of community/ethnic resources for migrant communities by focusing on the way ethnic migrant entrepreneurs (EMEs) use co-ethnic-based (CEB) resources in their entrepreneurial activities, taking into account their migration contexts. Migrants are usually considered as disadvantaged individuals given their restricted opportunities in the labor market and in the business arena; thus, they rely on ethnic resources for survival in the host country.

Through Bourdieu’s (1986) forms of capital model, the authors compare the experiences of EMEs from three migrant communities in Malaysia (specifically, the Indonesian, Pakistani and South Korean communities) with regard to their ethnic resources. The authors used a qualitative approach in analyzing our data, which includes interview narratives with 41 individuals consisting of EMEs, community leaders, embassy representatives and trade experts.

This study’s findings indicate that migration contexts influence the differences in the way ethnic resources are used by EMEs. The findings are synthesized into a framework of ethnic resources within the context of ethnic migrant entrepreneurship.

Adopting a qualitative approach was useful in studying the subject, but the findings are still limited within the context of the study. As such, future research is encouraged to test the proposed framework and examine the underexplored aspects of migration in influencing the utilization of ethnic resources for entrepreneurial migrant communities.

A practical implication of this paper lies in the illustration of migrants’ usage of alternative routes for resources through co-ethnic networks, which is useful for policymakers and businesses focusing on migration and trade.

This framework contributes to the discourse of ethnic migrant entrepreneurship through further clarifying aspects shaping the utilization of community ethnic resources.

This study aims to explore the co-ethnic relations of migrant entrepreneurs (MEs) from advanced economies in a developing country, specifically in the context of co-ethnic ties among Korean migrant entrepreneurs (KMEs) operating business ventures in Malaysia.

This research is outlined by an embeddedness view and uses a qualitative approach using a single case study design.

For KMEs, in-group co-ethnic ties are mobilised in a relatively more structured manner coalescing personal and entrepreneurial endeavours, particularly demonstrating the dynamics of co-ethnic ties and the home country’s development levels. The findings lead to a model of migrant entrepreneurship for MEs from a more developed nation.

The theoretical value of this study lies in its clarification of the role of in-group ties in the setting of changing economic development levels and migration. Practice-wise, the findings on the adoption of co-ethnic ties that span formal, informal and transnational boundaries may inform migrants who are considering opportunities in less developed host countries, and assist stakeholders in developing policies concerning migrant communities and their ventures.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how ethnic migrant entrepreneurs (EMEs) utilise identity work to build legitimacy in a host country. According to optimal distinctiveness theory (ODT), legitimacy is achieved by balancing conformance and distinctiveness. This paper draws on ODT in the context of ethnic migrant entrepreneurship to examine how EMEs both fit in (conformance) and maintain their uniqueness (distinctiveness) in cross-cultural settings.

This study adopts a qualitative approach utilising semi-structured interviews to examine the identity work of EMEs from three distinct countries (Indonesia, Pakistan and South Korea (henceforth Korea)) in one host country (Malaysia).

The results show that EMEs’ identity work incorporates both the blurring and strengthening of host-home country boundaries. Building on this study’s results, the authors develop a model of identity work and three propositions regarding legitimacy building through identity in the context of ethnic migrant entrepreneurship.

Through the model and propositions, this research contributes to the identity, international entrepreneurship and ethnic migrant entrepreneurship discourse by identifying the mechanisms, focus and key features of identity work for entrepreneurs operating in cross-cultural settings. In so doing, this research also offers an alternative interpretation on the apparent divergent views around identity work in the fields of organisation (advocate isomorphism) and entrepreneurship (advocate uniqueness).

This study investigates how a globally-oriented, developing country enterprise formulates and implements ethics strategies, policies and behaviours with respect to its stakeholders, and how the case company discloses and utilises its ethics strategies, policies and behaviours to gain competitive advantage and create stakeholder value.

A longitudinal single case study is presented featuring a tea producer and marketer in Sri Lanka, one of the country’s largest exporters, that is targeting a global consumer market. Applying Spiller’s (2000) framework for ethical business practices, this research analyses data collected in a series of interviews in combination with content analysis of company annual reports and sustainability reports covering 2010 to 2019 supplemented by on-site observation.

Analysis reveals that the company maintains ethical strategies, policies and behaviours with respect to its prominent stakeholders, and strategically discloses those practices. The firm’s proactive disclosures of its business and sustainability ethics practices enabled it to establish and sustain competitive advantage over its competitors. The findings are discussed in light of their theoretical and practical implications, identifying areas for future studies.

This is the first ethics study to include both longitudinal documentary analysis and personal interviews in a single case study based in Sri Lanka. It contributes to discussion regarding balancing ethics and sustainability as parts of business strategies for reputation building and value creation through identifying salient stakeholders and ethics-based non-financial disclosures by contemporary business organisations.

The purpose of this empirical study is to develop an understanding of how human resource (HR) managers employed by organizations with an explicit sustainability agenda view employees as stakeholders, and to explore how such views are operationalized in HR policies and practices.

An interpretive approach using data from 35 semi-structured interviews was adopted for this study. Data were transcribed and analyzed using the Gioia methodology.

Comparison of approaches to sustainable human resource management (HRM) revealed three distinctive conceptualizations of employees with respect to the sustainability agenda – employees as a driving force for sustainability, employees as consumers of HR practices and employees as members of a community. Strong levels of integration between the HRM and sustainability agendas were only evidenced in those organizations where an attempt had been made to address all three roles simultaneously. Findings suggest that engagement with a sustainability agenda widens the remit of the HRM function, underscoring the importance of employees' roles as consumers of HR practices and as members of wider communities.

By addressing the integration of HRM with a sustainability agenda, this article helps practitioners recognize diversity among employees' roles and the varying associated needs. Examples of policy and practice initiatives that effectively address these needs are provided.

HRM has been widely criticized for overemphasizing shareholder value, thereby lacking in attention to the needs of other stakeholders, including employees. Findings from this study suggest the holistic approach advocated by a sustainability agenda can effectively quell these concerns.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the alignment of perceived organizational culture between Health Board chairs and Board members with that of their respective senior executive teams. It compares the degree of alignment between these two groups, and analyses them against District Health Board (DHB) performance using the New Zealand Ministry of Health’s national measure “shorter stays in Emergency Departments.”

Primary survey data were collected across eight DHBs using a modified version of the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument and utilizes a sample of both higher and lower performing DHBs as defined by the “shorter stays” measure.

Many health organizations cite Ovseiko and Buchan’s (2012) preferred culture as an ideal model. However, this study’s findings indicate that most DHBs scored higher than the preferred score for “Hierarchical” and “Rational” cultures, and lower for “Clan” and “Developmental” cultures, and therefore calls into question the validity of this organizational profile as the “preferred” cultural state.

This research considers perceived organizational culture from the perspective of the Board members and their respective senior executive teams. It uses a relatively small sample size and excludes potential interactions of national culture.

The findings indicate that healthcare organizations should de-emphasize the dominant “Hierarchical” and “Rational” cultures, and promote “Clan” and “Developmental” cultures within their organizations as a means of potentially improving healthcare performance.

Organizational culture has been highlighted as a major component of performance within healthcare organizations, yet very few studies examine how organizational culture is perceived by governance and executive groups. This study empirically counters prevailing knowledge regarding the most appropriate organizational cultures for healthcare organizations.

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) offers management researchers an approach which allows deep examination of the relationship between individuals and their environments, particularly in complex social situations. Phenomenology studies phenomena, or things and events, as they are perceived by people's consciousness. Interpretivism allows researchers to access such internal awareness of research participants by attempting to understand the words used by subjects to describe their experiences and perceptions. Inherently subjective, this approach requires self-awareness by the researcher and the willingness to abandon preconceived notions in favor of interactive listening and exploration, relying on terms and concepts volunteered by participants rather than nominated by theory or preceding literature. Qualitative text analysis software can be utilized to facilitate aggregation and distillation of the voluminous narratives that result from the open-ended semi-structured interviews typically employed to collect data for IPA. However, impartiality and discernment on the part of the researcher remain essential in interpreting any automated analytical results. The researcher becomes in essence a second-hand observer, peering through windows voluntarily opened by participants, attempting to understand their understanding of their world.

This chapter introduces IPA, providing an overview of its rationale and approach, and illustrates its application in a management-related setting, focusing on cultural adaptation of immigrant professionals.

This chapter provides research results from a study of contemporary leadership approaches (i.e., paternalistic, charismatic, transformational, aesthetic, authentic, and pragmatic leadership) in eight Chinese organizations. Data were collected from case studies in four private-owned enterprises (POEs) and four state-owned enterprises (SOEs) through both interviews and questionnaires. The main purpose of this chapter is to provide contextual analysis of these findings by applying the concept of field from Bourdieu's sociology. This research contributes to the leadership literature by generalizing Western leadership theories to the Chinese context as well as by giving an insight into contemporary leadership approaches in modern Chinese business by deeply contextualizing these leadership behaviors.