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1 – 10 of 28Conny J.J. Roobol and Ferry Koster
The purpose of this study is to examine the role of organisational conditions and workplace characteristics in midcareer and senior employees’ intention to volitionally provide…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the role of organisational conditions and workplace characteristics in midcareer and senior employees’ intention to volitionally provide career support to junior organisational members, their protégés.
Design/methodology/approach
Hypotheses are tested using multilevel linear modelling on a heterogeneous sample of Dutch employees ages 29 to 69 who participated in a vignette study in the autumn of 2017.
Findings
In line with the hypotheses, the findings of this study show that volitional (informal) mentoring is positively related to an organisation’s endorsement of intrinsic values (e.g. learning opportunities) and negatively to the presence of hindrance demands (e.g. time pressure).
Practical implications
Practitioners could facilitate co-mentor consultation, employ autonomy-supportive direct supervisors and fulfil psychological contract obligations by providing job security and learning opportunities. Organisations could also lower time pressures through job carving.
Originality/value
This study extends extant mentoring research by combining insights from perceived organisational support (POS) and self-determination theory (SDT) to examine the role organisational conditions and workplace characteristics play in aiding or hindering volitional mentoring. It enriches extant knowledge management studies on the link between organisational aspects and (intended) knowledge sharing behaviour by showing that similar organisational motivators predict volitional mentoring, thereby launching a call to study knowledge management through volitional mentoring using a SDT- and POS-based lens. A methodological novelty is the reliance on a vignette study.
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This study aims to address how the ISO 14001 standardisation and certification process improves substantive performance in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to address how the ISO 14001 standardisation and certification process improves substantive performance in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the development of an environmental management control system (EMCS).
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative cross-case interview design with those responsible for the implementation of an environmental management system (certified to ISO 14001) in SMEs is adopted to inductively “theorise” the EMCS.
Findings
The design and monitoring of environmental controls are often beyond the scope of the SMEs’ top management team and include extra-organisational dimensions such as the external audit and institutional requirements. This suggests more complex control pathways for SMEs to produce EMCS that primarily function as packages and are broader than the analytical level of the firm. Here, controlling for environmental performance exists at strategic and operational levels, as well as beyond the SMEs’ boundaries.
Practical implications
Various internal controls are put forward for SME owner-managers to meet environmental targets (e.g. gamification and interpersonal communication strategies). This builds upon a broader accountability perspective wherein formalised hierarchical control is only one route for ensuring sustainable action within the ISO 14001-certified SMEs.
Social implications
This study contributes to a more sustainable society through developing an understanding of how environmental sustainability is substantively managed by SMEs to improve performance for current and future generations.
Originality/value
This paper, to the best of the author’s knowledge, is one of the first to establish how SMEs control for environmental sustainability from empirically derived evidence. In doing so, it provides an example of the EMCS for the SME context.
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Solomon O. Obadimu and Kyriakos I. Kourousis
Honeycombs enjoy wide use in various engineering applications. The emergence of additive manufacturing (AM) as a method of customisable of parts has enabled the reinvention of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Honeycombs enjoy wide use in various engineering applications. The emergence of additive manufacturing (AM) as a method of customisable of parts has enabled the reinvention of the honeycomb structure. However, research on in-plane compressive performance of both classical and new types of honeycombs fabricated via AM is still ongoing. Several important findings have emerged over the past years, with significance for the AM community and a review is considered necessary and timely. This paper aims to review the in-plane compressive performance of AM honeycomb structures.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper provides a state-of-the-art review focussing on the in-plane compressive performance of AM honeycomb structures, covering both polymers and metals. Recently published studies, over the past six years, have been reviewed under the specific theme of in-plane compression properties.
Findings
The key factors influencing the AM honeycombs' in-plane compressive performance are identified, namely the geometrical features, such as topology shape, cell wall thickness, cell size and manufacturing parameters. Moreover, the techniques and configurations commonly used for geometry optimisation toward improving mechanical performance are discussed in detail. Current AM limitations applicable to AM honeycomb structures are identified and potential future directions are also discussed in this paper.
Originality/value
This work evaluates critically the primary results and findings from the published research literature associated with the in-plane compressive mechanical performance of AM honeycombs.
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Rodrigo Mello, Vesa Suutari and Michael Dickmann
This paper investigates whether career capital (CC) development abroad, expatriate type, career type and career stage affect expatriates' career success in terms of perceived…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates whether career capital (CC) development abroad, expatriate type, career type and career stage affect expatriates' career success in terms of perceived marketability and the number of promotions.
Design/methodology/approach
The study presents findings from a 2020 follow-up study among 327 expatriates, including assigned expatriates (AEs) (n = 117) and self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) (n = 220), who worked abroad in 2015 and 2016. Among that group, 186 had continued their international career, while 141 had repatriated. Structural equation modeling with robust maximum likelihood estimation was used to test this study's hypotheses. MPlus 8.6 software supported the analysis.
Findings
The study outlines that CC developed abroad positively impacts perceived marketability and the number of promotions. Second, repatriates reported a greater degree of perceived marketability than those continuing an international career. Career type did not predict the number of promotions. The expatriate type did not influence any of the career success measures. Finally, expatriates in their late-career stage did not achieve a similar level of career success as those in other career stages.
Research limitations/implications
All the expatriates were university-educated Finnish engineers and business professionals, and the career benefits of expatriation could differ for different sample groups. The study calls for more context-sensitive global careers research. The findings have positive implications for self-guided career actors considering working abroad. Organizations could focus more of their global talent attraction, management and career efforts on SIEs.
Originality/value
To analyze the impacts of these four antecedents on the career success of expatriates, the authors cooperated with two Finnish labor unions in 2020 to explore the careers of 327 expatriates, having surveyed the same group in 2015/2016. Such follow-up studies are not very common in expatriation research since it is difficult to keep track of expatriates who change locations and employers.
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Johannes Thaller, Christine Duller, Birgit Feldbauer-Durstmüller and Bernhard Gärtner
Due to globalization and digitalization, the world of work is undergoing comprehensive change. These trends are challenging management accounting (MA) and pressuring individuals…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to globalization and digitalization, the world of work is undergoing comprehensive change. These trends are challenging management accounting (MA) and pressuring individuals and organizations to change. The literature postulates a replacement of traditional organizational careers by “new” career models characterized by dynamism and flexibility. However, the state of the art on careers in MA lacks empirical evidence and has disparate research interests.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the authors investigate the status quo of careers in MA, key influencing factors and assumed change in such careers. To do so, the authors conducted a quantitative empirical study, based primarily on the careers of 83 graduates of a department offering a MA major at a German-speaking university. Nine qualitative empirical interviews supplement the quantitative findings.
Findings
The authors’ findings indicate that while MA careers are changing, the characteristics of the profession are continuing to concur with the traditional organizational understanding of careers. Accumulated professional experience is the key factor to achieving a management position although management accountants tend to become more dynamic in terms of career paths and career understanding. Thus, employment in various functional areas opens new career paths in MA.
Research limitations/implications
The methodology of analysing quantitative and empirical cross-sectional data and the resulting final sample size is too small to guarantee robust statistical inference. Moreover, further interviews would lead to greater data saturation.
Practical implications
The study sheds light on the under-researched question of how careers in MA proceed and develop. This could be of interest for practitioners working with management accountants such as personnel consultants.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the field through its comprehensive consideration of careers in MA in this changed context, thus providing new insights for academia and business practice.
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Thailand has seen waves of youth-led protests over the past three years. Pro-democracy youth activists have vociferously criticised authority figures: teachers, parents and…
Abstract
Thailand has seen waves of youth-led protests over the past three years. Pro-democracy youth activists have vociferously criticised authority figures: teachers, parents and political leaders, especially the king. Drawing on vignettes assembled over a 14-year ethnographic work with young people in Thailand, as well as on current research on youth (online and offline) activism in Bangkok, I examine the multi-layered meaning of kinship in Thai society. The chapter reveals the political nature of childhood and parenthood as entangled modes of governance that come into being with other, both local and international cultural entities. I argue that Thai youth activists are attempting to rework dominant tropes that sustain “age-patriarchy” in the Buddhist kingdom. Their “engaged siblinghood” aims to reframe Thailand's generational order, refuting the moral principles that establish citizens' political subordination to monarchical paternalism and, relatedly, children's unquestionable respect to parents. As I show, Thai youth activists are doing so by engaging creatively with transnational discourses such as “democracy” and “children's rights,” while simultaneously drawing on K-pop icons, Japanese manga and Buddhist astrology. In articulating their dissent, these youths are thus bearers of a “bottom-up cosmopolitanism” that channels culturally hybrid, and politically subversive notions of childhood and citizenship in Southeast Asia's cyberspace and beyond. Whatever the outcome of their commitment, Thai youth activism signals the cultural disarticulation of the mytheme of the Father in Thailand, as well as the growing political influence of younger generations in the region.
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Shaliza Ibrahim and Tan Hsiao Wei
Research management has evolved significantly in Malaysia from being part of generic administration into a more specialised yet diverse field. The importance of research and…
Abstract
Research management has evolved significantly in Malaysia from being part of generic administration into a more specialised yet diverse field. The importance of research and innovation in the government’s agenda is reflected in the five-year Malaysia Plans and policies. The GERD percentage of GDP has grown steadily each year since 1996. Business enterprises and non-profit organisations are important players in the R&D ecosystem. Universities record the highest percentage of R&D personnel, including contracted staff and seconded academics for research management. Recognising the importance of professional RMAs led to the formation of the Malaysia Association of Research Managers and Administrators (MyRMA). It provides a platform for the community of practice to develop professionalisation pathways.
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