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1 – 10 of over 37000Deficits in fiscal and current account balances in a large number of countries reveal interesting implications of the causal relationship between internal and external imbalances…
Abstract
Deficits in fiscal and current account balances in a large number of countries reveal interesting implications of the causal relationship between internal and external imbalances. Empirical evidence about the occurrence of so-called twin deficits or twin surpluses provides crucial information about the validity of an intertemporal approach. However, most recent dynamic cyclical changes during the crisis period revealed many questions about the direct interconnection between macroeconomic performance and twin imbalances. In the paper we observe substantial features of twin imbalances in European transition economies. Event study (identification of large fiscal and current account changes and their parallel occurrence) and vector auto-regression methods will be employed to examine key aspects of twin imbalances. Our results suggest that current account deteriorations were predominately associated with negative public investment and savings balances (fiscal deficits), while current account improvements were predominately associated with positive private investment and savings balances, confirming empirical evidence about twin deficits in European transition economies.
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Mohammad Hadi Charkhakan and Gholamreza Heravi
Although several studies have evaluated effective factors for conflict occurrence, researchers have developed few methods of determining preventive capacities and determining…
Abstract
Purpose
Although several studies have evaluated effective factors for conflict occurrence, researchers have developed few methods of determining preventive capacities and determining preventive measures on the basis of an analysis of chain of risks that cause conflict. The purpose of this paper is to devise a mechanism for conflict prevention by evaluating chain of risks that cause conflict and different conflict types.
Design/methodology/approach
Efforts centered on facilitating the prevention conflicts through analyzing the effects of chain of risks on change causes, decomposing the mixture of conflict types in each conflict and determining the contribution of each conflict type to conflict creation.
Findings
The paper expands the existing body of knowledge on conflict management through the determination of complex relationships, namely, the relationship between conflict causes and project parties and the coherence between project parties and conflict types.
Originality/value
A practical example is analyzed to demonstrate the proposed approach capabilities. The results showed that using the developed approach to determine conflict type can serve as a means of control in projects and the developed approach can be incorporated into construction contracts as a conflict resolution mechanism. This paper presents an understanding of complex relationships among the chain of risks which cause conflict, the important players in conflict management process and different conflict types. It also provides a basis to select an effective management method for each conflict.
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Mohammad Hadi Charkhakan and Gholamreza Heravi
Although several studies have aimed to present models to predict conflict outcomes, fewer methods have been developed to analyze conflict manageability and provide management…
Abstract
Purpose
Although several studies have aimed to present models to predict conflict outcomes, fewer methods have been developed to analyze conflict manageability and provide management strategies based on prediction models. This research pitches into the manageability analysis of conflicts occur during the implementation of a proposed change in construction projects. In this way, a framework has been developed by defining two parameters: the predictability index and the preventability index.
Design/methodology/approach
Within this framework, the predictability index determines how many outcomes of the prediction model can be used for conflict management based on the degree of clarity. The preventability index demonstrates how preventive measures for conflict management can be identified. Eventually, three preventive measures can be determined: (1) identifying weaknesses of decision-making patterns and organizational culture, (2) identifying events that may be prevented using soft skills and (3) identifying differences among similar change-implementation scenarios and evaluating causes of the differences. To demonstrate the capabilities of proposed framework, a practical example has been analyzed.
Findings
The results show that the behavior of the project parties can be psychologically analyzed, and psychological conflicts can be distinguished from technical conflicts. Moreover, identifying the weaknesses of parties' decision-making patterns and their organizational culture is the most effective measure to prevent the conflicts.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the construction body of knowledge by quantifying the predictability and preventability of conflicts between the project parties in a construction project based on: (1) the certainty level of the conflict occurrence and (2) the level of alignment between predicted outcomes of the conflict occurrence and the issued change request and/or change order.
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The purpose of this study is to help managers in their constant quest to create and implement new sources of competitive advantage and ways to achieve sustainable high performance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to help managers in their constant quest to create and implement new sources of competitive advantage and ways to achieve sustainable high performance to become a high performance organization (HPO) – defined as an organization that achieves financial and non-financial results that are exceedingly better than those of its peer group over a period of five years or more to by focusing in a disciplined way on issues of genuine importance to the organization. One way to become an HPO is by applying the HPO Framework, which has been validated in multiple countries and shown to indeed help organizations to improve their performance. However, a change approach for implementing the HPO Framework that is valid in different contexts has not been developed to date. Such an approach is important as change initiatives suffer from a high failure rate.
Design/methodology/approach
The goal of this research was to identify an appropriate change approach for implementing the HPO Framework. A theoretical framework for an HPO change initiative was constructed, which subsequently was tested at an organization undergoing a transformation to become an HPO.
Findings
The results show that the theoretical approach in practice was indeed useful at the case company. A continuous rate of change is needed to implement a corporate-wide change strategy that will enable the organization to constantly adapt to the demands of its business environment. The scale of the transformation differs for each HPO change initiative, depending on the results of the HPO diagnosis. Directly after the HPO diagnosis and at the beginning of the HPO transformation, a planned approach predominates; conversely, while maintaining the HPO, the emergent approach predominates.
Research limitations/implications
This study is relevant by enabling managers to learn the essentials of a change approach for creating an HPO in the present-day business environment. Based on these essentials, managers can start to develop a change approach that is appropriate for creating their own HPO.
Originality/value
The theoretical relevance of this paper is that, although much literature exists concerning approaches for organizational change initiatives, no change approaches specifically designed for creating an HPO can be found in the literature. This paper provides such an approach.
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Bjørn Andersen, Nils O.E. Olsson, Lars E. Onsøyen and Ingrid Spjelkavik
This purpose of this paper is to investigate the volume and background of changes done shortly after project completion.
Abstract
Purpose
This purpose of this paper is to investigate the volume and background of changes done shortly after project completion.
Design/methodology/approach
To ensure a consistent set of projects, selection criteria were related to project budget, time of completion, and executing institution. Data collection included an initial survey followed by interviews.
Findings
The study identified frequency and extent of changes/alterations within a certain period after project completion as well as the dominating causes for such changes.
Research limitations/implications
The study is based on a limited number of projects and from three specific Norwegian agencies. Future research should include a larger sample, possibly also covering other sectors.
Practical implications
If acted upon, the suggestions for countermeasures can contribute to reducing or preventing post‐project changes. The findings indicate a need for new performance measures for projects, as the classical parameters provide motivation to project managers and their teams to focus on project cost and timely delivery, rather than the life‐cycle cost.
Social implications
In sectors experiencing a widespread occurrence of changes after project completion, this could mean that cost overruns or functionality beyond what was sanctioned by the financing bodies are “hidden” in this type of change work. If so, this prevents sponsors and society from seeing the real project cost, and is clearly a misuse of resources.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the limited literature focusing on changes after project completion. The paper includes material that may help project managers and project owners avoid post‐project changes and the costs and inconvenience associated with such changes.
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Lars Derek Mellert, Charles Scherbaum, Justina Oliveira and Bernd Wilke
Research on the effectiveness of organizational change initiatives tends to focus primarily on the positive benefits of organizational change including improved financial…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on the effectiveness of organizational change initiatives tends to focus primarily on the positive benefits of organizational change including improved financial performance. Rarely are negative outcomes examined, such as financial losses resulting from change initiatives. However, negative outcomes are possible, common, and understudied. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between organizational change and financial loss.
Design/methodology/approach
The research used a database of insurance losses from a global reinsurance company over a 30-year period. Each loss event was examined to determine the cause of the loss, the amount of loss, and type of organizational change if any that preceded the loss.
Findings
The results indicate that losses attributed to the organization and its employees are preceded by an organizational change initiative more often than not. In particular, the occurrence of losses attributable to the organization and its employees were preceded more often by organizational changes involving mergers, acquisitions and changes to ownership, changes involving downsizing, changes involving restructuring, but not changes to reporting relationships.
Originality/value
This research represents one of the few studies to examine financial loss from a wide variety of different types of organizational change and the only that has examined these questions using data from insurance losses. Findings support the growing theoretical movement focussing on the risks of organizational change.
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This research aims to develop a model that may be used to determine the effective adaptive measures to implement in a system affected by climate change.
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to develop a model that may be used to determine the effective adaptive measures to implement in a system affected by climate change.
Design/methodology/approach
The three primary dimensions of the model were individually investigated and then the linkages among them were developed. Specifically, the nature of climate change was examined and the issues emerging from the changes were analyzed. Next, an intensive study of system vulnerabilities was conducted, and the third factor in the model, risk, is then explored. Afterwards, the conceptual framework, which is the foundation of the climate change vulnerability risk model, was devised and the model created.
Findings
The model is a three‐dimensional matrix with the nature of climate change, vulnerabilities, and risks as its chief dimensions. It identifies the four natures of climate change, namely: variability, intensity, frequency, and quantity and the vulnerability types to be socio‐economic, biophysical, technological, and institutional. Meanwhile, risks are classified as income, biodiversity, health, mortality, and infrastructure risks.
Research limitations/implications
The research is the first phase of a three‐stage study on the linkages among climate change, vulnerability, and risks. It is the development stage of the framework that exemplifies the interrelationships among these variables and is the basis of the statistical and econometric analyses in the later stages.
Originality/value
The climate change vulnerability risk model was developed to act as an analytical guide in understanding the effects of climate change to systems. The model may be used to determine the effective adaptive measures to apply in the system, through a comparative analysis of the variables in the matrix.
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Jeffrey D. Ford and Laurie W. Ford
As Piderit (2000) points out, much of the work on resistance to change borrows from the field of mechanics, conceptualizing resistance as a force that slows or stops motion and…
Abstract
As Piderit (2000) points out, much of the work on resistance to change borrows from the field of mechanics, conceptualizing resistance as a force that slows or stops motion and increases the energy and work required to alter the rate and magnitude (distance) of movement. These ideas are evident in Lewin's (1947) work on resistance in which he conceptualizes a quasi-stationary equilibrium as a dynamic balance between a field of forces driving for movement in one direction and a field of forces driving for movement in the opposite direction; movement in the equilibrium occurs only through increases and decreases in these forces.
Larissa Ane Hora de Souza, Victor Diogho Heuer de Carvalho, Roberio José Rogério dos Santos and Jonhatan Magno Norte da Silva
This article aims to present a methodology applied to the transition between the “as-is” and “to-be” stages of the Business Process Management (BPM) life cycle, supporting its…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to present a methodology applied to the transition between the “as-is” and “to-be” stages of the Business Process Management (BPM) life cycle, supporting its implementation and maintenance for the organizational stability, using techniques from Operations Research and Information and Decision Theories, applied by a gamified system.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used Design Science Research, considering the following methodological elements: (1) artifact model, after initial analysis of the organization; (2) problem relevance, incorporating components to the Markov transition matrix and the integer programming model for resource optimization; (3) model evaluation, establishing mechanisms to validate the methodology created; (4) research contributions, showing benefits found; (5) systematic approach, detailing methods used; (6) model's research process, revealing the means for execution; and (7) final presentation of results.
Findings
After planning three scenarios for the company, containing zero, one or two implemented processes, the matrix of states in the Markov chain effectively identified the states of greater and lesser transition uncertainty. At the same time, the optimization model guided the organization toward a stable change in its operational and financial areas.
Practical implications
The company's planning capacity has increased, as its managers now have a methodology to promote rational decisions about the development of plans. Before, managers believed that the methodology used was only for large companies. However, this view changed with the results, showing a structured view of the ability to absorb new customers, relocate established ones, increase the comfort level for employees and increase profitability for the company's business.
Originality/value
The study showed that the combination of techniques opens a new perspective to the incorporation of BPM in organizations, allows a smooth change between the current and future state, making it possible to predict the evolution of transition scenarios.
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Bilal, Ali Meftah Gerged, Hafiz Muhammad Arslan, Ali Abbas, Songsheng Chen and Shahid Manzoor
The study aims to identify and discuss influential aspects of corporate environmental disclosure (CED) literature, including key streams, themes, authors, keywords, journals…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to identify and discuss influential aspects of corporate environmental disclosure (CED) literature, including key streams, themes, authors, keywords, journals, affiliations and countries. This review also constructs agendas for future CED research.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a bibliometric review approach, the authors reviewed 560 articles on CED from 215 journals published between 1982 and 2020.
Findings
The authors' insights are three-fold. First, the authors identified three core streams of CED research: “legitimization of environmental hazards via environmental disclosures,” “the role of environmental accounting in achieving corporate environmental sustainability” and “integrating environmental social and governance (ESG) reporting into the global reporting initiatives (GRI) guidelines”. Second, the authors also deployed a thematic map that classifies CED research into four themes: niche themes (e.g. institutional theory and environmental management system), motor themes (e.g. stakeholder engagement), emerging/declining themes (e.g. legitimacy theory) and basic/transversal themes (e.g. voluntary CED, environmental reporting and corporate social responsibility). Third, the authors highlighted important CED authors, keywords, journals, articles, affiliations and countries.
Research limitations/implications
This study assists researchers, journal editors and consultants in the corporate sector to comprehensively understand various dimensions of CED research and practices and suggests potential emerging research areas. Although this paper appears to have been thoroughly conducted, using authors' keywords to identify themes was a key limitation. Thus, the authors call upon using a more comprehensive data mining technique that uses keywords in abstracts, titles and the whole body of papers and then identifies inclusive trends in CED literature.
Originality/value
The authors contribute to the extant accounting literature by investigating the organizational-level CED, both mandatory and voluntary, using a systematic and bibliometric literature review model to summarize the key research streams, themes, authors, journals, affiliations and countries. By doing so, the authors construct a future research agenda for CED literature.
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