Search results

1 – 5 of 5
Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 February 2019

Melody Barlage, Arjan van den Born and Arjen van Witteloostuijn

More and more workers in Western economies are operating as freelancers in the so-called “gig economy”, moving from one project – or gig – to the next. A lively debate revolves…

1228

Abstract

More and more workers in Western economies are operating as freelancers in the so-called “gig economy”, moving from one project – or gig – to the next. A lively debate revolves around the question as to whether this new employment relationship is actually good for innovation in the 21 st century economy. Proponents argue that in this gig process valuable knowledge is created and transferred from one organization to the next via freelancers through their sequence of temporary gigs or projects. Antagonists reason that freelancers are only hired as one-trick ponies on a transactional basis, where knowledge is neither created nor shared. In this study, we focus on the characteristics of gigs. Which project characteristics lead to increased engagement of freelancers, and hence to knowledge-sharing behavior? Our study suggests that the gig economy can indeed lead to increased knowledge sharing by and engagement of freelance workers, provided that organizations and freelancers structure and shape gigs in such a way that they: (1) not only suit the task requirements at hand and (2) fit with the acquired skills of the freelancer, but that these gigs also (3) leave ample of room for the freelancer’s individual growth and development of new skills. This suggests that innovative organizations will need to shape gigs in such a way that freelancers are not only hired for their expertise, but rather that gigs also provide a learning opportunity for freelancers.

Details

Emerald Open Research, vol. 1 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-3952

Keywords

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to take stock and to increase understanding of the opportunities and threats for policing in ten European countries in the Political, Economic, Social, Technological and Legal (PESTL) environment.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is part of the large EU‐funded COMPOSITE project into organisational change. A PESTL analysis was executed to produce the environmental scan that will serve as a platform for further research into change management within the police. The findings are based on structured interviews with police officers of 17 different police forces and knowledgeable externals in ten European countries. The sampling strategy was optimized for representativeness under the binding capacity constraints defined by the COMPOSITE research budget.

Findings

European police forces face a long list of environmental changes that can be grouped in the five PESTL clusters with a common denominator. There is also quite some overlap as to both the importance and nature of the key PESTL trends across the ten countries, suggesting convergence in Europe.

Originality/value

A study of this magnitude has not been seen before in Europe, which brings new insights to the target population of police forces across Europe. Moreover, policing is an interesting field to study from the perspective of organisational change, featuring a high incidence of change in combination with a wide variety of change challenges, such as those related to identity and leadership.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 26 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2016

Arjen van Witteloostuijn

Current publication practices in the scholarly (International) Business and Management community are overwhelmingly anti-Popperian, which fundamentally frustrates the production…

2955

Abstract

Purpose

Current publication practices in the scholarly (International) Business and Management community are overwhelmingly anti-Popperian, which fundamentally frustrates the production of scientific progress. This is the result of at least five related biases: the verification, novelty, normal science, evidence, and market biases. As a result, no one is really interested in replicating anything. In this essay, the author extensively argues what he believes is wrong, why that is so, and what we might do about this. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This is an essay, combining a literature review with polemic argumentation.

Findings

Only a tiny fraction of published studies involve a replication effort. Moreover, journal authors, editors, reviewers and readers are not interested in seeing nulls and negatives in print. This replication crisis implies that Popper’s critical falsification principle is actually thrown into the scientific community’s dustbin. Behind the façade of all these so-called new discoveries, false positives abound, as do questionable research practices meant to produce all this allegedly cutting-edge and groundbreaking significant findings. If this dismal state of affairs does not change for the good, (International) Business and Management research is ending up in a deadlock.

Research limitations/implications

A radical cultural change in the scientific community, including (International) Business and Management, is badly needed. It should be in the community’s DNA to engage in the quest for the “truth” – nothing more, nothing less. Such a change must involve all stakeholders: scholars, editors, reviewers, and students, but also funding agencies, research institutes, university presidents, faculty deans, department chairs, journalists, policymakers, and publishers. In the words of Ioannidis (2012, p. 647): “Safeguarding scientific principles is not something to be done once and for all. It is a challenge that needs to be met successfully on a daily basis both by single scientists and the whole scientific establishment.”

Practical implications

Publication practices have to change radically. For instance, editorial policies should dispose of their current overly dominant pro-novelty and pro-positives biases, and explicitly encourage the publication of replication studies, including failed and unsuccessful ones that report null and negative findings.

Originality/value

This is an explicit plea to change the way the scientific research community operates, offering a series of concrete recommendations what to do before it is too late.

Details

Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5794

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 27 May 2008

Robert J. Blomme, Debbie M. Tromp and Arjan van Rheede

As management-level turnover is increasing rapidly, one of the major challenges for the hospitality industry is to retain highly educated and highly skilled employees. As the…

Abstract

As management-level turnover is increasing rapidly, one of the major challenges for the hospitality industry is to retain highly educated and highly skilled employees. As the psychological contract approach to the employment relationship had not been investigated with regard to the hospitality industry, it became the subject of this study. The results demonstrate that psychological contract measures, in particular job content, can explain why there is a substantial amount of variance in intention among highly educated hotel employees with regard to leaving the organization, especially when the mediating role of affective commitment is taken into account. In this paper, managerial implications are discussed, and recommendations for further research are made.

Details

Advances in Hospitality and Leisure
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1489-8

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 July 2023

Moses Muhwezi, Henry Mutebi, Samuel Ssekajja Mayanja, Benjamin Tukamuhabwa, Sheila Namagembe and Robert Kalema

Procuring relief products and services is a challenging process for humanitarian organizations (HOs), yet it accounts for approximately 65% of relief operations’ costs (Moshtari…

2194

Abstract

Purpose

Procuring relief products and services is a challenging process for humanitarian organizations (HOs), yet it accounts for approximately 65% of relief operations’ costs (Moshtari et al., 2021). This paper aims to examine how procurement internal controls, materials and purchasing procedure standardization influence information integration and procurement performance.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, partial least square structural equation models and multigroup analysis were used to analyze data collected from 170 HOs.

Findings

Procurement internal controls and material and purchasing procedure standardization fully mediate between information integration and procurement performance.

Research limitations/implications

The study focuses only on HOs. Since humanitarian procurement projects take place over a period of several years, it is difficult to capture the long-term effects of information integration, procurement internal controls, material and purchasing procedure standardization and procurement performance. In this regard, a longitudinal study could be undertaken, provided that the required resources are available.

Practical implications

Procurement managers should implement information integration practices within acceptable procurement internal controls and standardize material and purchasing procedures to boost procurement performance.

Originality/value

By integrating information through procurement internal controls and standardizing material and purchasing procedures, procurement performance in a humanitarian setting can be systematically optimized.

Details

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6747

Keywords

1 – 5 of 5