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Article
Publication date: 24 March 2020

Abeer Mahrous, Mohamed Ashraf Genedy and Morris Kalliny

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the entrepreneurial marketing (EM) paradigm by empirically investigating the relationship between intra-organizational environment

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the entrepreneurial marketing (EM) paradigm by empirically investigating the relationship between intra-organizational environment, EM intensity (EMI) and organizational performance in an emerging market context. Specifically, the paper identifies the elements of the intra-organizational environment that enhances EMI and also examines the impact of EMI on organizational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from large-sized companies in Egypt. Data were analyzed by using path analysis on Smart-PLS.

Findings

The findings suggest that the characteristics of the intra-organizational environment that support developing and increasing EMI in large-sized companies in emerging markets are cooperative competency, deep locus of planning and institutional support. Also, it was found that the long planning horizon hinders EMI. Finally, it was found that EMI is positively related to organizational performance and competitive advantage.

Practical implications

The study provides guidelines for managers of large-sized organizations, especially in emerging economies, on how to develop the intra-organizational environment to enhance EMI.

Originality/value

The study of EMI received little or no attention in previous research. Also, there is a paucity of empirical research on the impact of the intra-organizational environment on EMI and also on the impact of EMI on the organizational performance of large-sized companies in emerging markets. Therefore, the results of this research are a step toward filling these gaps.

Details

Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, vol. 12 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4604

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 October 2018

A.A. Mahrous and M.A. Genedy

This paper aims to identify the intra-organizational environment factors that affect entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and examine the mediating role of market orientation (MO) in…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the intra-organizational environment factors that affect entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and examine the mediating role of market orientation (MO) in the relationship between and organizational performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is conducted in a less-researched area, Egypt. Data were collected using a survey from 120 large-sized manufacturing firms working in seven industries: engineering and home appliances, communication and information technology (IT), food and beverage, chemicals, furniture and decoration, clothing and smoking. The research framework was examined using partial least square approach of structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

The findings indicate that the intra-organizational environment factors that affect entrepreneurial orientation practices are deep locus of planning, planning flexibility, planning horizon, integration and organizational support. Also, the results show that MO mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance.

Practical implications

The findings provide insights about how to manage the intra-organizational environment of the firm and how to configure strategic capabilities, i.e. entrepreneurial orientation and MO, to enhance the organization’s performance.

Originality/value

This paper provides a holistic approach that identifies the intra-organization environmental factors necessary to create an organizational culture that facilitates and encourages entrepreneurial orientation and MO, as well as examine the role of MO in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and the organizational performance.

Details

Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-4604

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 April 2018

Eloise Grove, Andrew Dainty, Derek Thomson and Tony Thorpe

The intra-organisational relationships of through-life support services providers are complex, especially given the multifaceted nature of the provision required. For example…

3240

Abstract

Purpose

The intra-organisational relationships of through-life support services providers are complex, especially given the multifaceted nature of the provision required. For example, capabilities within the UK highways maintenance arena must support engineering design, routine maintenance and the on-going management of the network. While collaboration in construction projects has formed a major research focus in recent years, there is a paucity of work examining collaboration in-flight.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a micro-practices approach, two contracts delivering highway infrastructure maintenance and renewal services are examined to explore the intra-organisational relationships that determine the quality of service delivered.

Findings

Despite the rhetoric of collaboration and integrated working that pervades the contemporary project discourse, there was a clear focus on addressing immediate technical and commercial concerns, rather than on creating the conditions for integrated working to flourish. On the occasions where the collaborative environment was prioritised, a more integrated service was delivered.

Originality/value

In contrast to other accounts of the ways collaborative working shapes performance, this research reveals an acute need for a sustained collaborative effort; as soon as “collaborative working” was normalised, the level of integration and seamlessness of service was diminished. This questions normative notions of what defines collaborative working in projects and suggests a need for re-framing it as an on-going accomplishment of actors involved. Such a perspective resonates with notions of “organizational becoming”, particularly in that attempts to foster collaboration are themselves constitutive of the unfolding and shifting nature of intra-organisational relationships that emerge in complex contractual arrangements.

Details

Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-4387

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 May 2017

Sujeewa Damayanthi Doluwarawaththa Gamage and Tharusha Gooneratne

The purpose of this paper is to explore how management controls in an organization take shape amidst the tensions between external institutional forces and the internal dynamics…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how management controls in an organization take shape amidst the tensions between external institutional forces and the internal dynamics arising from the different powers and interests of managers as well as from intra-organizational norms, rules and taken-for-granted assumptions.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting an interpretivist stance, this study employs the embedded (nested) case study approach drawing evidence from an apparel group which consists of a head office and four clusters. Theoretically, the paper is informed by institutional theory, and particularly draws on concepts such as organizational field, ceremonials, rational myths, isomorphism, institutional logics and loose coupling. It is further complemented by strategic responses of Oliver (1991), as well as materials and discursive elements in elaborating how external pressures influence control practices of an organization, and how internal actors strategically respond to those pressures in balancing external legitimacy and internal efficiency requirements.

Findings

The field-study findings reveal that management controls of the case-study organization have taken shape amidst external pressures, specifically from customers and internal dynamics such as interests of key actors, who strategically respond to external pressures and head -office specifications.

Research limitations/implications

Situating management controls within external pressures and internal dynamics, the findings of this study have implications for research on organizational heterogeneity, and it offers learning points for managers in formulating management controls by balancing conflicting internal and external pressures.

Practical implications

In reality, practicing managers are faced with conflicting logics arising from external pressures and internal dynamics stemming from different power- and interest-holding managers as well as intra-organizational norms, rules and taken-for-granted assumptions in their everyday encounters in organizations. This study provides some pointers for such practicing managers in designing and implementing management control systems by effectively balancing these opposing influences and formulating systems suited to the circumstances of a particular organization.

Originality/value

Moving beyond the widely held narrow conceptualization of institutional theory akin to (external) isomorphism and organizational conformity, this paper brings out organizational heterogeneity through the active agency of actors in terms of their power, interest and proclivities as well as their use of organizational norms and rules in responding to such external institutions.

Article
Publication date: 3 August 2010

Yen‐Tsung Huang

Facing increasing global competition, firms must ceaselessly acquire new knowledge and enhance their capabilities in response to rapidly changing customer requirements. Amidst the…

2881

Abstract

Purpose

Facing increasing global competition, firms must ceaselessly acquire new knowledge and enhance their capabilities in response to rapidly changing customer requirements. Amidst the varying collaborative relationships that occur between firms, it is particularly important for firms to learn from international joint ventures. However, few existing studies have explored this issue empirically. Rooted in the organizational learning perspective, this study seeks to investigate the learning intent, learning process and learning outcomes of host parent companies taking part in international joint ventures, and to propose and verify a theoretical model of learning for host parent companies.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used Taiwanese firms as research objects and employed the survey method to collect sample data. In total, 64 international joint ventures involving Taiwanese firms were collected and analyzed. The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between latent constructs, such as learning intent, learning process and learning outcome. Thus, the structural equation modeling approach was adopted to test the theoretical model. However, the sample size used in this study was small, so the partial least squares (PLS) method was employed.

Findings

The empirical results showed that a parent company's learning outcome is affected by the interaction between the parent company and the joint venture, as well as the internal knowledge integration capacity of the parent company. The interaction between the parent company and the joint venture will simultaneously drive the parent's intra‐organisational knowledge integration. Moreover, the parent company's strategic intent to learning from the joint venture will affect the parent company's knowledge integration, along with the interaction between the parent company and the joint venture. Likewise, the parent company's learning intent will affect its evaluation of the joint venture's knowledge, while further influencing its intra‐organizational knowledge integration.

Originality/value

The paper combines the perspectives of learning intent, learning process and learning outcomes in order to propose and test empirically a model that explains how the host parents of developing countries enhance their knowledge and capabilities by means of international joint ventures. Thus, the study attends to the deficiency of the literature in addressing the field of learning through international joint ventures. It also provides some insights and suggestions for firms that regard alliance strategy as a learning opportunity for enhancing a firm's knowledge base and organizational capabilities.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 25 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 October 2022

Xiaoyong Zheng

Although social networks play an important role in individual ambidexterity, few studies have examined the impact of salespeople's social networks on sales-service ambidexterity…

Abstract

Purpose

Although social networks play an important role in individual ambidexterity, few studies have examined the impact of salespeople's social networks on sales-service ambidexterity. The purpose of this paper is to explore how salespeople's internal and external social networks affect sales-service ambidexterity.

Design/methodology/approach

The unique data of 331 salespeople from 39 units in retail banking industry and insurance industry were collected, and the hierarchical linear model was adopted to test the hypotheses. Finally, the alternative measure of the dependent variable and the alternative estimation method were adopted for robustness test.

Findings

The results show that the strength of salespeople's internal social networks and the extensiveness of salespeople's external social networks could facilitate sales-service ambidexterity of salespeople separately and synergistically. Salespeople's role breadth self-efficacy partially mediates the influences of internal and external social networks on sales-service ambidexterity, while empowerment climate and transformational leadership positively moderate the aforementioned mediational process by strengthening the relationship between salespeople's role breadth self-efficacy and sales-service ambidexterity.

Practical implications

Practical guidelines are provided for managers to shape ambidextrous salespeople by facilitating salespeople's internal and external social networks, promoting transformational leadership and creating empowerment climate within the unit.

Originality/value

To the best of the author's knowledge, this paper is the first to systematically examine the impact of salespeople's social network on sales-service ambidexterity. Drawing from social cognitive theory and the ambidexterity literature, this research reveals the mechanism of how salespeople's internal and external social networks contribute to sales-service ambidexterity.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 60 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 July 2016

Aino Kianto, Mika Vanhala and Pia Heilmann

This paper aims to propose that knowledge management (KM) could be a way to nurture job satisfaction and examine how KM can increase individual employees’ job satisfaction.

20152

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to propose that knowledge management (KM) could be a way to nurture job satisfaction and examine how KM can increase individual employees’ job satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

A theoretical model concerning the connections between five facets of KM (knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, knowledge creation, knowledge codification and knowledge retention) and job satisfaction is proposed. It is then empirically tested with a structural equation modelling partial least squares analysis of a survey data set of 824 observations, collected from the members of a Finnish municipal organisation.

Findings

Existence of KM processes in one’s working environment is significantly linked with high job satisfaction. Especially intra-organisational knowledge sharing seems to be a key KM process, promoting satisfaction with one’s job in most employee groups. Interestingly, significant knowledge-based promoters of job satisfaction differ as a function of job characteristics.

Practical implications

KM has a strong impact on employee job satisfaction, and therefore, managers are advised to implement KM activities in their organisations, not only for the sake of improving knowledge worker performance but also for improving their well-being at work.

Originality/value

This paper produces knowledge on a type of consequence of KM that has been largely unexplored in previous research, individual job satisfaction. Also, it promotes moving the KM literature to the next stage where the impact of KM practices is not explored as a “one size fits all” type of a phenomenon, but rather as a contingent and contextual issue.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 20 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 September 2008

Terje I. Vaaland, Morten Heide and Kjell Grønhaug

This review article aims to develop an integrating overview of the present status of the theory of corporate social responsibility (CSR) applied in the marketing context and asks…

20126

Abstract

Purpose

This review article aims to develop an integrating overview of the present status of the theory of corporate social responsibility (CSR) applied in the marketing context and asks whether, to what extent and how the discipline of marketing has addressed CSR.

Design/methodology/approach

After clarifying core concepts and proposing a new definition of CSR, 54 articles in leading marketing journals between 1995 and 2005 are analyzed in terms of publication characteristics, research design, variables, sampling, level of analysis, issues raised, and key findings.

Findings

Recommendations include a broadened perspective in empirical research to address CSR in its entirety, expand the focus beyond consumers, include a broader range of samples and conduct more inductive, exploratory empirical studies. These steps will contribute to a multidimensional view of the future customer.

Research limitations/implications

The number and specific choice of journals was subject to a compromise between comprehensiveness and the availability of space for a review.

Practical implications

The way the scholarly marketing literature treats CSR impacts what our students and other constituencies learn.

Originality/value

Given the veritable explosion in CSR research in the recent years, there is a genuine need for the field to take stock of what has been learned so far and what that implies in terms of where researchers should be headed.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 42 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2009

Kirti Ruikar, Lauri Koskela and Martin Sexton

At the heart of knowledge management (KM) are the people – an organisation's important knowledge asset. Although this is widely acknowledged, businesses seldom understand this…

1440

Abstract

Purpose

At the heart of knowledge management (KM) are the people – an organisation's important knowledge asset. Although this is widely acknowledged, businesses seldom understand this axiom in terms of the communities through which individuals develop and share the capacity to create and use knowledge. It is the collective learning that takes place within the social systems, i.e. communities of practice (CoP) that are of particular significance to an organisation from a KM perspective. This paper aims to review, critique, and raise some pertinent questions on the role of CoPs; and with the help of case studies shed light on the “goings‐on” in construction practices.

Design/methodology/approach

After critically reviewing the literature on CoPs and querying some underlying assertions, this research investigates how these issues are addressed in practice. A case study approach is adopted. Three organisations operating in the construction sector are interviewed for the purpose of this paper.

Findings

Case study findings highlight the potential challenges and benefits of CoPs to a construction organisation, the role they play in generating and delivering value to the organisation and their contribution towards the collective organisational intelligence. From the findings, it is clear that the question is not whether communities exist within organisations, but how they deliver value to the organisation. From an organisational perspective, the key challenge is to provide an environment that is conducive to developing and nurturing such communities as opposed to merely creating them.

Practical implications

Challenges and benefits demonstrated through the case studies should be taken in context. The findings are not intended to be prescriptive in nature, but are intentionally descriptive to provide contextual data that allow readers to draw their own inferences in the context of their organisations. They should be applied taking into account an organisation's unique characteristics and differentiators, the dynamics of the environment in which it operates and the culture it harbours within.

Originality/value

Investigating the role of CoPs in the context of case study construction organisations forms the prime focus of this paper.

Details

Construction Innovation, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 January 2023

Inês Lopes Santos and Dina Miragaia

Most adults do not follow the minimum requirements for physical activity despite the benefits such activity can provide toward improving quality of life. On average, an adult…

Abstract

Purpose

Most adults do not follow the minimum requirements for physical activity despite the benefits such activity can provide toward improving quality of life. On average, an adult spends 60% of daily hours in the workplace, making it essential to create working environments that are favorable to avoiding harmful effects on the health of workers. Toward this end, the application of physical activity programs in a work context is one of the possible interventions. This study aims to carry out a systematic review of the literature to identify the impact of physical activity programs applied in the workplace, on employee wellness and organizational productivity.

Design/methodology/approach

The search for reports was carried out in two databases, namely, Thomson Reuters Web of Science and Scopus, according to several inclusion and exclusion criteria. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) was applied to ensure the quality of the study. Microsoft Excel 2016 was used to organize the database to support the data analysis.

Findings

The sample comprised 64 reports published in international journals between 1986 and 2019. From these studies, six thematic clusters were formed: Workplace Physical Activity Interventions, Workplace Wellness, Physical Activity and Organizational Performance, Barriers to Developing Physical Activity Programs in the Workplace, Physical Activity and Sedentary Occupations and Workplace Physical Activity Incentives. The analysis of these clusters confirmed that the implementation of physical activity programs in this context could represent beneficial effects for workers and the organizational system by contributing to a reduction in the rates of absenteeism and presenteeism. However, there are still many organizations that do not implement such programs.

Originality/value

The results of this study are essential for managers of organizations to be able to implement physical activity programs in a work context, similarly to the application of a strategy of corporate social responsibility in an intra-organizational environment. This research may also be useful for professionals in the areas of sports and physical exercise, who want to build their business around physical exercise programs applied to a work context.

Details

International Journal of Workplace Health Management, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8351

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 4000