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Many networks take a small-world structure, with a high degree of clustering and shortcut ties that reduce the path-length between the clusters. It can be argued that small-world networks have benefits that are simultaneously related to network closures and the spanning of structural holes, but research on the network members’ performance is nonetheless inconclusive. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the concept of resource idiosyncrasy can explain the mixed findings. Firm idiosyncratic resources are not easily generalizable across enterprises.

Industries may vary in terms of resource idiosyncrasy, and the paper elaborates how this can moderate shortcut ties’ effect on performance in an inter-firm network.

If resource idiosyncrasy predominates in an industry, the paper proposes that inter-firm shortcut ties may increase performance, whereas shortcut ties may decrease performance if non-idiosyncratic resources predominate.

Applying the concept of resource idiosyncrasy as a moderating variable, the paper aims to explain shortcut ties’ effect on performance in an inter-firm network. The theory advanced here can have practical implications and also motivate future empirical studies to gain further knowledge about small-world networks’ effect on performance.

When using information communication technology (ICT) devices it is easy to be trapped by purely the purpose of their design, how they are marketed, product reviews and noting, or even copying, the behaviour of the younger, Net Generation. The purpose of this column is to argue for encouraging all to contribute to deepening our understanding of fully exploiting technology. This includes encouraging people who may be less techno‐savvy but with a richer life‐world and life‐experience to share their use of devices such as tablets, and to allow all to benefit from the idiosyncrasy in use that should be aimed at a life‐fit with personality, learning style, preferences, etc., and widening information spaces and information horizons.

The column is written against the background of research from information behaviour, and the learning sciences (especially andragogics).

There are many reasons to explore more than the obvious ways in which ICT devices such as tablets can be used, and for encouraging a spectrum of users to share the idiosyncrasies in their use thereof. Library and information (LIS) services should move from merely teaching people information literacy and ICT skills to creating grounds for sharing practices and experiences in using devices such as tablets. The focus should move to exploiting the benefit of exploring idiosyncrasies in ICT use and how to encourage people to reflect their life‐world and life‐experience in their use of ICT devices such as tablets to widen their (and our) information spaces and information horizons.

Although much has been published on ICT in the library and information science literature and more recently in relation to the Net Generation, the author is not aware of publications exploiting idiosyncrasy and the value that can be added by considering the life‐world and life‐experience of people in their choices in using ICT devices such as tablets. This paper sets the background for further reflection.

Purpose – We offer a view of interpersonal justice climate in which the benefits of fair treatment might be stronger within some groups versus others, depending on characteristics of the supervisor, the group, and the organization in which the group is embedded. We further identify a potential silver lining that may be associated with low interpersonal justice climate. Overall, our intent of this chapter is to offer a more nuanced view of the topic to enhance our understanding of interpersonal justice within groups.

Design/methodology/approach – We review literature on status to support our propositions.

Findings – We examine how a supervisor's idiosyncrasy credits, a group's status, and an organization's emphasis on hierarchy will moderate the relationship between unfair interpersonal treatment from a supervisor and the group's perceived interpersonal justice climate. Also, we suggest that low levels of interpersonal justice climate may actually lead to greater affiliation among group members and ultimately enhance perceptions of group cohesion.

Originality/value – Previous literature on justice climate has largely focused on procedural justice, whereas generally ignoring interpersonal exchanges between a group and its supervisor. This chapter contributes to research on justice at the group level by examining the potential moderating effects of status on the generation of interpersonal justice climate. Further, and in contrast to previous research, we offer a potential positive outcome that may result from low interpersonal justice climate.

Drawing on the socially embedded model of thriving and the idiosyncrasy credit model of leadership, this study aims to develop a moderated mediation model to investigate the roles that are thriving at work and leader competency play in the link between leader humility and creative service performance (CSP) of hospitality frontline service employees (FSEs).

To test the moderated mediation model, the authors applied a time-lagged research design and collected multi-source data from locally owned, star-rated hotels headquartered in the capital city of Pakistan. The authors collected the multi-source data at three different points in time from employees and their respective supervisors (N = 52 managers and their 312 immediate employees).

The results denote that leader humility positively impacts CSP, thriving at work mediates this impact and leader competency not only moderates the connection between leader humility and thriving at work but also magnifies the indirect association between leader humility and CSP via thriving at work.

The moderated mediation framework based on the socially embedded model of thriving and the idiosyncrasy credit model of leadership will benefit future researchers and practitioners while exploring the impact of leader humility (LH) on FSEs’ CSP in the hospitality context.

The fundamental contribution of this study is developing and testing a research model that concentrates on the effects of leader humility on FSEs’ CSP. Moreover, by receiving support on the mediating role of thriving, this research further sheds light on how subordinates under the leader with humility demonstrate high CSP. In addition, the moderating role of leader competency found in this study further highlights that leader effectiveness depends on the degree to which employees perceive their leader as competent.

The purpose of this paper is to examine managerial styles of Russian managers in the context of institutional and economic environment of contemporary Russia.

The study is based on a sample of 482 line and middle managers covering eight geographic regions, 14 industries and 80 organizations in Russia.

Employing factor and cluster analyses the paper identifies four distinct managerial styles: paternalistic, exploitative, performance oriented and passive. In addition, the paper analyzes a number of contingent characteristics of these typological Russian managers such as their age, career development, regional, industrial and organizational presence.

The analysis enriches the understanding of managerial style idiosyncrasy, heterogeneity and evolution in Russia. The identified plurality of managerial styles, differentially related to a number of contingency variables, indicates that it pays off for western companies to avoid using stereotypical ideas when dealing with their Russian counterparts and employ conscious strategies when recruiting managers to their Russian operations instead.

The purpose of this paper is to shed more light on the influence of a tourism‐oriented environment on the promotional channel strategies of fast‐moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms.

The study utilises an exploratory, qualitative research design among 14 case studies of FMCG firms operating in the tourism‐oriented environment of Greece.

Findings show that most firms utilise adapted promotional channels due to the influence of structural characteristics of the tourism industry and tourists' modes of behavior.

The outcomes of this qualitative study are limited to the context that is investigated and thus, future researchers are encouraged to investigate similar contexts with the goal of generalising findings.

Findings suggest that firms ought to appreciate the contextual idiosyncrasies of Euro‐Mediterranean countries (as a result of international tourism) and thus, tailor their programs to these idiosyncrasies, which are distinct from other non‐tourism‐oriented environments.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper that investigates the effect of tourism‐induced idiosyncrasies of Euro‐Mediterranean countries on FMCG firms' promotional strategies. In light of the increasing importance of global consumer mobility, such studies are expected to increase.

The paper aimed to explore the underlying work engagement role in transformational leadership and employees' job performance relationships. Moreover, this study also looked at the moderation of leaders' managerial skills in the transformational leadership and work engagement nexus.

The time-lagged data of 360 followers — leader dyads nested in 71 teams were collected from star-rated hotels in Italy and structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was executed.

Based on social learning theory and idiosyncrasy credit theory, the SEM results demonstrate that transformational leadership is significantly and positively linked with job performance and work engagement mediated this relationship. The results also confirmed that leaders' managerial skills strengthen the transformational leadership and work engagement nexus.

Hotel managers should consider hiring individuals with transformational leadership skills and provide training to Polish their managerial skills in order to enhance employee engagement at work, which may result in job performance.

With this study, the researchers emphasize the significance of transformational leadership and work engagement for better job performance in the Italian hospitality industry. Our analysis also provides new evidence that leaders' managerial skills strengthen the transformative leadership and work engagement nexus. The study is one of the first to investigate the boundary conditions of leaders' managerial skills in the transformational leadership and work engagement relationship. Based on the findings, the practical and theoretical contributions are also discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how user-perceived video quality, measured by computer assisted web survey, interacts with content richness (CR) and interactivity (IA). It also analyzes how those internet protocol television (IPTV) idiosyncrasies impacts audience perceptions (perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived resistance (PR)) and actual subscriptions.

A computer assisted web survey was administered in Korea to collect data. A structural equation model and Z-test analyses were conducted to address the research hypotheses.

User-perceived video quality influences audience perceptions (PU and PR) through interaction with CR and IA. Subscriber perceptions have a causal relationship with IPTV subscriptions.

Balanced improvement of the IPTV value chain, from content to technical (platform, network, and terminal) perspectives, are necessary for IPTV diffusion. Also, IPTV providers should establish the diffusion strategies, minimizing the user-perceived restrictiveness as well as maximizing the PU.

This study shows computer assisted assessment of video quality can be applied to behavior science. The research model suggests PR, which has been relatively unnoticed is included in existing technology acceptance theories. The introduced antecedents of IPTV subscriptions can be referred to as key performance indicators regarding new media adoption studies.

The paper critiques a range of theories and evaluates their ability to provide a lens for explaining the idiosyncratic nature of small firms and their e‐business adoption decisions.

This literature review firstly summarises the existing research evidence that shows that small firms are idiosyncratic when it comes to e‐business adoption. It then critiques theories commonly used in the literature in this field to examine the extent to which they take this small firm idiosyncrasy into account when explaining e‐business adoption decisions.

The critical analysis shows that no commonly‐used theory adequately explains small firm adoption of e‐business because each omits important aspects of small firm idiosyncrasy. The analysis suggests that an integrated theoretical framework is needed. Preliminary ideas on this framework are provided.

Existing research generally applies a small number of selected theories and formulates research models of adoption factors. However, there is no systematic analysis of theories in this field and no consensus about theoretical frameworks. This paper addresses this limitation of the literature by critically evaluating the commonly used theories in terms of their individual suitability as lenses for explaining small firm e‐business adoption.

This study aims to present a brief overview of developments in management accounting research and practice in German-speaking countries, locate the contributions of this special issue in historical trajectories and provide an outlook of expected future developments in this area.

This study reviews the literature and draws a critically reflective approach.

A century after Schmalenbach, Germanic management and cost accounting have significantly changed, even though the roots of the cost accounting tradition of the late 19th and early 20th centuries are still visible in practice and teaching, which is true for both organisational practice and research. In both cases, an encroachment of the global on the local can be seen but, paradoxically, as Hopwood (1999) noted, the seemingly globally standardised accounting systems allow for local idiosyncrasies to specifically stand out. The anchoring of management accounting in financial accounting, the country-specific ownership and financing models, the importance of capital and labour markets (e.g. strong codetermination) for companies, regulations on corporate governance and the determination of the tax base are examples of institutions that can shape the behaviour of management and, thus, also idiosyncrasies of management accounting in a country.

The contributions of this special issue provide insight into developments in management accounting research and practice in German-speaking countries and, thus, enhance our understanding of the different historical trajectories and traditions in management accounting. The papers by Weber and Wiegmann and by Gisch et al. demonstrate how specific idiosyncratic practices and understandings of management accounting in German-speaking countries mediate global influences on management accounting in private- and public-sector organisations. The papers by Endenich et al. and by Kreilkamp et al. show that the influence of international developments in management accounting research has become stronger in German-speaking management accounting academia.