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Abstract

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 40 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Article
Publication date: 6 March 2020

Anne Reino, Kärt Rõigas and Merily Müürsepp

This paper elaborates on connections between organisational culture (OC) and financial performance in production and service companies in Estonia.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper elaborates on connections between organisational culture (OC) and financial performance in production and service companies in Estonia.

Design/methodology/approach

This cross-sectional study analyses the organisational culture of 19 SMEs and large service and production companies with 2,256 respondents. The questionnaire based on the Competing Values Framework (CVF) was used to map organisational culture. Six different performance indicators from annual reports in the Estonian Business Register database were used over a four-year period. A confirmatory factor analysis and non-parametric Spearman rank correlation were applied in the study.

Findings

The authors found that OC types are connected to each other and theoretical opposites in the CVF are not mutually exclusive. Strong correlations exit between Clan and Adhocracy cultures, also confirmed by previous studies. Surprisingly, Market and Hierarchy types correlated more strongly in our sample compared to previous studies. As expected, Clan–Adhocracy and Market types exhibited a strong positive correlation with financial indicators, but contrary to the authors’ hypothesis, the Hierarchy type also had positive connections to performance indicators. The Market culture was only significantly related to performance in years when the Hierarchy type was also positively correlated with performance. Correlations that were positive in some years under investigation became insignificant in other years.

Originality/value

First, The authors use multiple objective financial performance indicators to reveal relationships between OC and performance. Second, this study did not only rely on the managers' opinion of OC, but the sample also consists of respondents from all levels of the organisational hierarchy. Third, the authors expand on existing research into the link between OC and performance by exploring a country from the former Soviet Union (FSU), where the number of similar studies is low, but where the specific context has an impact on connections between OC and financial performance of the firms.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 15 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 October 2018

Krista Jaakson, Anne Reino and Peter Bernard McClenaghan

Understanding the relationship between performance and trust in virtual teams is receiving significant attention due to “connected” virtual team contexts becoming more prevalent…

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Abstract

Purpose

Understanding the relationship between performance and trust in virtual teams is receiving significant attention due to “connected” virtual team contexts becoming more prevalent. This paper reports on new findings relating to the dynamics of trust and performance in virtual team contexts. The study aims to explore the evolution of trust and its mediating role in determining the performance of virtual teams, as well as to investigate if and how performance itself affected trust.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on a longitudinal quantitative survey of 71 international virtual student teams working in four universities in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Russia.

Findings

In line with swift trust and social norms theory, the authors found that relatively high levels of initial trust did not change over the period of the teams’ projects in general, but in teams where feedback on performance was negative, both trust and trustworthiness declined significantly. Trust had a small mediating effect between group performances in two consecutive measurement points, meaning that past performance had an impact on trust, which in turn impacted the teams’ next performance. However, no mediating effect was present between individual and team performance.

Practical implications

The authors conclude that managing virtual teams should concentrate on team actions and achieving and recognising small quick wins at least as much as dealing with trust, specifically. Negative performance feedback should not deteriorate members’ perception of benevolence and integrity in the team.

Originality/value

The paper distinguishes the dynamics of two trust components and tests new models with these as partial mediators in determining virtual team performance. Importantly, the authors challenge the notion that emotional component of trust, perceived trustworthiness, is less relevant in virtual teams.

Details

Team Performance Management: An International Journal, vol. 25 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7592

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 August 2020

Aare Värk and Anne Reino

This paper aims to explore the coexistence of formal, informal and personal knowledge management (KM) practices as they support employees' everyday work in organizations.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the coexistence of formal, informal and personal knowledge management (KM) practices as they support employees' everyday work in organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative study involving 12 in-depth interviews and 30 hours of observations in a small, quickly growing, knowledge-intensive company.

Findings

Formal, informal and personal KM practices were all found to be relevant and interconnected in supporting everyday work in the organization. This suggests a shift from understanding KM as an organizational approach to ecology, shaped by multiple actors and concerns and extending over the formal/informal as well as organizational/personal divides. Interrelationships between formal, informal and personal KM practices took various forms. Among each of these KM categories were practices that contributed in a unique way, without having a functional parallel in other categories. Some KM practices had a strong functional overlap and were competing. Moreover, some formal, informal and personal KM practices formed complementary relationships.

Research limitations/implications

Findings are based on fieldwork in only one organization.

Practical implications

Organizations would benefit from the formal, informal and personal KM practices being complementarily connected. As these connections are sustained by employees in everyday work, effective management of KM ecology needs a collective and distributed effort.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the very few empirical accounts that problematizes the coexistence of formal, informal and personal KM practices and suggests a practice-ecology perspective through which their interrelationships could be studied.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 77 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 April 2012

Krista Jaakson, Anne Reino and Pille Mõtsmees

The purpose of this paper is to explore how different types of organizational culture (OC) manifest in certain corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and to uncover how…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how different types of organizational culture (OC) manifest in certain corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and to uncover how the presence of certain OC types induces changes in CSR caused by drastic shifts in the economic environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis relies on a case study and uses qualitative and quantitative data obtained via interviews, employee survey and analysis of documents. The paper focuses on Ecoprint Ltd, a small printing house in Estonia, and analyzes its reactions to the economic downturn in 2008 and 2009 in terms of CSR. The authors then analyze the concurrence of these changes with its OC, based on a survey that relies on the Competing Values Framework.

Findings

The dominant type of OC in the organization did not predict all its CSR practices, but described rather well how adaptation in the sphere of CSR took place as a result of economic downturn. The case demonstrated that CSR activities that relate to dominant OC types are less likely to be reduced in a recession; moreover, some were even intensified. On the other hand, there were certain CSR activities that reflected less prevalent types of OC, nevertheless these were not withdrawn either.

Research limitations/implications

The method used, single case study, serves as an exploratory study. The relationship between unchanged CSR activities related to less dominant OC types is not easy to interpret and needs further investigation.

Originality/value

There is abundant literature referring to a connection between OC and CSR, but related empirical research is hard to find. The current paper empirically explores the relationship between these concepts under the extraordinary economic situation that existed in Estonia in 2008‐2009.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2011

Iisi Saame, Anne Reino and Maaja Vadi

The concept of organisational culture (also referred to later as OC) is one of the approaches in modern organisational analysis exploring the values, attitudes and beliefs behind…

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Abstract

Purpose

The concept of organisational culture (also referred to later as OC) is one of the approaches in modern organisational analysis exploring the values, attitudes and beliefs behind human behaviour in the workplace. OC as a social phenomenon is considered to be important for the sustainability of every organisation. In the service sector, OC may affect the nature and quality of the services provided. The aim of this paper is twofold: on the one hand, to highlight the patterns of OC in a hospital; and, on the other hand, to outline relationships between OC and patient satisfaction. The study was conducted in Tartu University Hospital, one of the most influential health care organisations in Estonia. This paper has original value by presenting an insight into organisational culture in the Estonian health care sector, and the findings of the study will expand knowledge of OC in the health care sector in general.

Design/methodology/approach

The OC instrument applied in a quantitative cross‐sectional study was earlier developed according to the Competing Values Framework (CVF). Data from 456 medical and non‐medical professionals were analysed using non‐parametric tests of descriptive statistics. A factor analysis was performed to assess the instrument's compatibility for analysing the OC pattern in the health care sector.

Findings

The dominant culture type in all the groups investigated was the Internal Processes type, mainly followed by the Rational Goal type, while different cultural patterns were observed in professional groups. The factor analysis yielded a three‐subscale solution. Clinics with high patient satisfaction did not score more than clinics with low patient satisfaction in terms of the Human Relations type.

Originality/value

In future studies a random sample design and a multidisciplinary approach to OC research should be followed in order to further explore OC patterns in hospitals and their consequences for different aspects of hospital performance.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 May 2012

Eric D. Carlström and Inger Ekman

The purpose of this paper is to explore the connection between organisational cultures and the employee's resistance to change at five hospital wards in Western Sweden. Staff had…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the connection between organisational cultures and the employee's resistance to change at five hospital wards in Western Sweden. Staff had experienced extensive change during a research project implementing person‐centred care (PCC) for patients with chronic heart failure.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveys were sent out to 170 nurses. The survey included two instruments – the Organisational Values Questionnaire (OVQ) and the Resistance to Change Scale (RTC).

Findings

The results indicate that a culture with a dominating focus on social competence decreases “routine seeking behaviour”, i.e. tendencies to uphold stable routines and a reluctance to give up old habits. The results indicate that a culture of flexibility, cohesion and trust negatively covariate with the overall need for a stable and well‐defined framework.

Practical implications

An instrument that pinpoints the conditions of a particular healthcare setting can improve the results of a change project. Managers can use instruments such as the ones used in this study to investigate and plan for change processes.

Originality/value

Earlier studies of organisational culture and its impact on the performance of healthcare organisations have often investigated culture at the highest level of the organisation. In this study, the culture of the production units – i.e. the health workers in different hospital wards – was described. Hospital wards develop their own culture and the cultures of different wards are mirrored in the hospital.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 26 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 September 2016

Siti Rohajawati, Dana Indra Sensuse, Yudho Giri Sucahyo and Aniati Murni Arymurthy

This paper aims to recommend implementation of the knowledge management (KM) strategy for a mental health organisation, an area that has, to date, limited attention in literature…

1953

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to recommend implementation of the knowledge management (KM) strategy for a mental health organisation, an area that has, to date, limited attention in literature based on the factors that influence KM success.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed-methods research was conducted to identify the organisational culture, resources, enablers and the influential factors of mental health knowledge management (MHKM). The data were collected in five referral mental hospitals and were analysed using quantitative, qualitative and triangulation methods.

Findings

The organisational culture has become a great barrier. Forty-three influential factors were identified. Otherwise, based on culture, resources, enablers and strengthen, weakness, opportunities and threaten (SWOT) analysed were adopted to propose ten of the critical success factors and were recommended into an implementation strategy.

Research limitations/implications

The paper has proven that KM is a new and emerging discipline in Indonesia, especially on mental health care. This will contribute to the governmental policy of KM implementation and enforce the quality of services.

Practical implications

This result has the potential to leverage interdisciplinary KM research. It supports a mental health organisation in applying KM.

Originality/value

This study is probably the first to analyse factors that are of influence in an MHKM initiative programme.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 20 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2011

Stephen Wearing, Anne Buchmann and Chantelle Jobberns

The purpose of this paper is to explore contemporary issues in film tourism with reference to the growth in related tourism fields.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore contemporary issues in film tourism with reference to the growth in related tourism fields.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines the relationship between growth in dolphin and whale watching and the popularity of the Free Willy series of films.

Findings

Observes that films can significantly influence aspects of ecotourism, especially in terms of the expectations of tourists.

Practical implications

The paper illustrates how new tourism niche markets are strongly influenced by nature‐related films and discusses the implications for tourism stakeholders.

Originality/value

The paper reviews and reveals the potential for film‐induced ecotourism.

Details

Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, vol. 3 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4217

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1953

M. ROBERT‐HENRI BAUTIER

Avant‐propos sous les auspices de l'Institut international de Coopération intellectuelle, paraissait en 1934 le t. I, consacré à l'Europe, du Guide international des Archives. Le…

Abstract

Avant‐propos sous les auspices de l'Institut international de Coopération intellectuelle, paraissait en 1934 le t. I, consacré à l'Europe, du Guide international des Archives. Le questionnaire envoyé à tous les États européens comportait sous les points 4 et 6 les questions suivantes: ‘Existe‐t‐il un guide général pour les diverses catégories d'Archives ou des guides particuliers pour l'une ou l'autre d'entre elles?’ et ‘Existe‐t‐il des catalogues imprimés, des publications tant officielles que privées, susceptibles de constituer un instrument complet de référence pour tout ou partie importante des fonds d'archives?’ Les réponses des divers pays à ces questions, malgré leur caractère très inégal, ont fait du Guide international un bon instrument d'information générale sur les Archives. Malheureusement les circonstances ont empêché la publication du volume consacré aux États non européens, tandis que le temps qui s'écoulait tendait à rendre périmés les renseignements fournis sur les Archives européennes.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

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