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1 – 10 of 102Ana Cristina Freitas, Sílvia Agostinho Silva and Catarina Marques Santos
The purpose of this study is to identify individual and contextual influences on in-house safety trainers’ role orientation toward the transfer of training (TT).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify individual and contextual influences on in-house safety trainers’ role orientation toward the transfer of training (TT).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors tested a model where felt-responsibility for TT mediates the influence of job resources (i.e. autonomy, access to resources, access to information and organizational support) on trainers’ definition of their role and where training safety climate exerts a moderator effect. Data were collected from 201 Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) professionals, all in-house safety trainers, of large public and private companies. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The model highlighted the mediating influence of felt-responsibility in the interplay between job resources and role orientation, the moderating influence of safety climate on the relationship of autonomy and organizational support on role definition, but not access to resources and access to information on role definition in the TT. Results suggest that how much safety trainers consider supporting the TT as a part of their overall role is affected by autonomy and organizational support through a sense of responsibility regarding training results, and these effects are influenced by the perceived importance of safety training to the organization.
Research limitations/implications
The study is cross-sectional and used self-reported data, meaning that causal inferences should be carefully drawn. Further studies should explore other sources of influence over felt-responsibility, for example, supervisors’ support for transfer, the relationship between how in-house safety trainers define their role in the transfer process and trainees’ effective application of their new knowledge and skills.
Practical implications
Companies should overtly signal the importance of safety training to in-house safety trainers because it will elicit, by reciprocity, a greater sense of personal responsibility and increased efforts concerning training success.
Originality/value
No previous research looked at how in-house trainers define their role in the TT, as well as the individual and contextual factors that influence their efforts toward the efficacy of training.
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Catarina Marques Santos and Ana Margarida Passos
This study aims to evaluate the extent to which similar team mental models (TMMs) at the beginning of a team's lifecycle influence the level of relationship conflict within the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the extent to which similar team mental models (TMMs) at the beginning of a team's lifecycle influence the level of relationship conflict within the team, TMM-similarity at the middle of the team lifecycle, and in turn team effectiveness. Thus far, no research has analysed the mediating role of a dysfunctional team process between TMM-similarity and effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted in a strategy and management competition involving 414 individuals who comprised 92 teams (3-5 members). Data were collected at four moments in time. The questionnaires were developed based on validated scales and adapted for the specific context.
Findings
The results provide support for the mediating role of conflict between the similarity of team-TMMs at the beginning of team lifecycle and effectiveness. The results also provide support for the mediating role of task-TMMs in the middle of team lifecycle between task-TMMs at the beginning of team lifecycle and effectiveness. Findings suggest that teams with more similar TMMs, experience less relationship conflict which in turn improves effectiveness.
Research limitations/implications
In this study TMM-accuracy was not analysed. Future research should analyse the role of TMM similarity and accuracy. Further, future research should explore the optimal level of TMM-similarity and when the similarity of TMM is disruptive to teams.
Originality/value
This paper sheds light on the role of conflict as a dysfunctional team process between TMM-similarity and effectiveness. Moreover, this paper shows that more research on TMM evolution is needed.
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Jorge F. B. Lengler, Carlos M. P. Sousa and Catarina Marques
Despite some attempts to integrate the market orientation construct into the international marketing area, most conceptual and empirical studies have been conducted in the context…
Abstract
Despite some attempts to integrate the market orientation construct into the international marketing area, most conceptual and empirical studies have been conducted in the context of domestic operations. To address this gap we examine whether competitive intensity moderates the relationships among the components of market orientation and export performance. Data was used from 197 Brazilian export companies. Results suggest that interfunctional coordination enhances customer and competitor orientation. Moreover, customer orientation has no direct effect on export performance, while competitor orientation has a positive effect on firm’s international performance. Findings also indicate that competitive intensity moderates all the relationships tested in the model.
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Rhetta L. Standifer, Anneloes M.L. Raes, Claudia Peus, Ana Margarida Passos, Catarina Marques Santos and Silke Weisweiler
The purpose of this paper is to provide more insight into team temporal constructs and team satisfaction, this study proposes and tests a multiple mediation model of shared…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide more insight into team temporal constructs and team satisfaction, this study proposes and tests a multiple mediation model of shared temporal cognition (STC), temporal conflict (TC), action processes, and team satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors test the theoretical model in a sample of 364 student teams (1,414 individuals) from universities in the USA, Switzerland, Germany, and Portugal. Participants completed questionnaires at three points in time.
Findings
Results indicated a direct, positive relationship between STC and team satisfaction and a direct, negative relationship between TC and team satisfaction. Action processes and TC partially and sequentially mediated the relationship between STC and team satisfaction over time.
Research limitations/implications
This study was restricted to self-report, to a student population, and to Western cultures. The study was not of an experimental nature which prevents making causal claims regarding relationships among variables.
Practical implications
These results demonstrate the need for teams to be conscious of time and its relationship to team interaction and satisfaction. The authors advise both team leaders and members to acknowledge the importance of STC.
Social implications
The need for temporal awareness and STC in collaborative endeavors, and the need to mindfully utilize action processes to minimize conflict and assist in the effective use of shared cognition is widely applicable from a societal perspective.
Originality/value
This study provides new theoretical and empirical insight into a multiple mediation model including STC, TC, action processes, and team satisfaction. The size and multi-cultural nature of the sample also enhance the generalizability of the findings.
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Jorge Francisco Lengler, Carlos M.P. Sousa and Catarina Marques
Despite some attempts to integrate the market orientation construct into the international marketing area, most conceptual and empirical studies have been conducted in the context…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite some attempts to integrate the market orientation construct into the international marketing area, most conceptual and empirical studies have been conducted in the context of domestic operations. In addition, few studies have examined the quadratic effects of customer and competitor orientation on export performance. To address this gap in the literature we test a model that examines whether customer and competitor orientation have linear or quadratic relationships with export performance. We also investigate if competitive intensity moderates the linear and quadratic relationships between customer and competitor orientation and export profit.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses are tested using survey data collected from 197 Brazilian export firms. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the hypothesized relationships and to validate the proposed conceptual model.
Findings
Empirical evidence reveals that, while customer orientation has a U‐shaped relationship with export sales, the competitor orientation–export profit relationship is linear. Our results also provide evidence that the positive quadratic relationship between customer orientation and export profit is mediated by export sales. Contrary to expectations, the results also indicate that none of the linear or quadratic relationships investigated in the model are moderated by competitive intensity.
Originality/value
We test a model in an export context that examines whether the relationships between the separate components of market orientation and export performance are linear or quadratic. We also contribute to the literature by examining these relationships in the context of a developing country, namely Brazil.
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Catarina Grillo, Fernando A.F. Ferreira, Carla S.E. Marques and João J. Ferreira
The 2008 global financial crisis showed that the ability to innovate is a key management skill and that approaches to assessing the innovation capability of small- and…
Abstract
Purpose
The 2008 global financial crisis showed that the ability to innovate is a key management skill and that approaches to assessing the innovation capability of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to be as realistic as possible. This study aims to address the latter practical need through a sociotechnical approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a combined use of cognitive mapping and the Decision EXpert (DEX) technique, and grounded on the insights generated by a panel of SME managers and entrepreneurs in two intensive group meetings, a knowledge-based assessment system for evaluating SMEs’ innovation capability was created, tested and validated.
Findings
The knowledge-based assessment system identified the most innovative SMEs in a sample of companies. The “plus-minus-1” and dominance analyses carried out provided further support for the results.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed system is extremely versatile but process-oriented and idiosyncratic in nature, meaning that extrapolations to other contexts need to be done with due caution.
Practical implications
The panel of SME decision makers agreed that the system improves the current methods used to evaluate SMEs’ innovation capability, contributing to a more informed perspective on management issues. The panel members also noted that the proposed system functions as a learning mechanism, facilitating the development of well-focused suggestions for improvements SMEs can make.
Originality/value
The integrated use of cognitive maps and rule-base decisions contributes to a better understanding of how to assess SMEs’ innovation capability. No prior work reporting the integrated use of these two techniques in this study context has been found.
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