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The purpose of this study to propose a model that links the following human resource (HR) factors: employee environmental empowerment, employee environmental training, employee environmental teamwork, managerial environmental empowerment and managerial environmental training, to environmental performance as perceived by managers.

A survey was administered to 220 manufacturing organizations in Mexico. The survey instrument was self‐report format with attitudinal variables. Items were adopted from previously published scales. A hypothesized model of the variable relationships with structural equation modelling analysis was tested.

The results suggest that managers perceive that both environmental training and environmental empowerment are important to themselves and employees. In this study, overall environmental training had a stronger relationship with the dependent variables than environmental empowerment. In the case of the employee level, the effects were mediated through environmental teamwork.

This study contributes to both theory and praxis. First, it extends the literature related to environmental management and HR management. Second, it examines managerial perceptions of the HR role within the firm for both manager/supervisors and hourly/direct workers. Third, the study is one of the first to investigate the relationships between HR factors and environmental issues in Mexican manufacturing firms. Finally, the study has important implications for practitioners in the manufacturing sector.

This research examined the effects of meeting leader behavior on organizational meetings. Two studies investigated whether leader behavior that satisfies the psychological needs of meeting attendees, leads to higher levels of meeting productivity and satisfaction. Study 1 used correlational methods, with regression- based mediation analysis, to assess whether satisfaction of attendee needs mediated the association between leader behavior and attendee ratings of actual meetings in a sample of 110 employees. Study 2 involved an analogue experiment with 158 employees to test the effects of leader behavior on ratings of hypothetical meeting scenarios. The studies provide correlational and experimental evidence for the positive impact of needs-focused behaviors, offering organizational leaders practical solutions for improving meetings.

The triple bottom line (TBL) is still commonly explored in research without joint consideration of economic, social and environmental elements of business sustainability (BS). The purpose of this paper is to re-test and validate a BS framework based on the TBL approach.

This study is based on a questionnaire survey consisting of the largest firms in corporate Sweden. A total of 107 usable questionnaires were ultimately received, for a response rate of 36.5 percent.

The findings validate and extend a framework of a TBL-dominant logic for BS. A total of 19 dimensions indicating satisfactory validity and reliability of the BS framework were identified.

The BS framework offers relevant insights to monitor and assess a TBL-dominant logic for BS. It also provides opportunities for further research.

Managers can use the BS framework as a tool to map firm priorities in connection with BS. Each dimension of the BS framework offers insights into how to monitor and assess firms’ efforts in the TBL.

This study contributes to validate and extend the TBL-dominant logic for BS. The BS framework also offers a timely and relevant contribution to both scholars and practitioners engaging in business sustainability.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the role of culture in international business studies, viewed from the perspective of textbooks in the field.

This paper analyses the separate chapters on the role of culture in 19 survey texts in international business at three levels: factual assertions; social and historical interpretations; and application of general theories.

Although all textbooks in international business emphasize the importance of culture, the survey reveals serious weaknesses at all three levels, including straightforward errors of fact, more subtle errors of interpretation, and serious problems with definitions and application of theories of cultural difference. The weaknesses are strikingly consistent, and the paper examines a range of possible common causes. Imbricated in the professional structures of the field, the authors appear to be under pressure from publishers, they share a US‐centred bias, and they appear professionally isolated.

Parallel to theories of nationalism and some postcolonial theorists, it can be argued that the implicit purpose of the texts is not to engage sympathetically with actual cultural differences, but rather to mould the next generation of American managers into a common pattern, by identifying an exotic cultural Other against which students will form their new identity. One of the consequences is that it does not matter greatly to the authors whether other cultures are presented accurately, or not. In practical terms, however, cultural differences are important and are recognized as such in international business studies, and so there is reason to hope that the texts will be improved.

For many of the current leadership theories, models, and approaches, the answer to the question posed in the title, “Is leadership more than ‘I like my boss’?,” is “no,” as there appears to be a hierarchy of leadership concepts with Liking of the leader as the primary dimension or general factor foundation. There are then secondary dimensions or specific sub-factors of liking of Relationship Leadership and Task Leadership; and subsequently, tertiary dimensions or actual sub-sub-factors that comprise the numerous leadership views as well as their operationalizations (e.g., via surveys). There are, however, some leadership views that go beyond simply liking of the leader and liking of relationship leadership and task leadership. For these, which involve explicit levels of analysis formulations, often beyond the leader, or are multi-level in nature, the answer to the title question is “yes.” We clarify and discuss these various “no” and “yes” leadership views and implications of our work for future research and personnel and human resources management practice.

An understanding of the motivation of individual employees to adopt lean practices is fundamental to successful lean implementation. This study aims to investigate the adoption of lean practices and provides an analysis of the individual-level factors necessary for lean implementation. This study presents a method for assessing the impact of individual-level factors in a company deploying lean within a biopharmaceutical manufacturing subsidiary.

The case study explores the attitudes of individuals within a functionally structured organisation undergoing a lean implementation initiative. A quantitative data collection approach was used to capture data from employees in a medical device manufacturing organisation.

The study found that personality and affective organisational commitment positively affects an individual’s intention to adopt lean practices. Employees with greater levels of affective commitment are more likely to partake in lean-related practices. Individuals in functions that directly support the production process, as opposed to those in functions that indirectly support production, are more likely to participate in lean practices. Finally, individuals in supervisory roles are more likely to adopt lean practices than those in non-supervisory roles, and management should involve top performers in lean.

There is a paucity of case study research in the area of individual-level factors for lean practice adoption. The findings of this study offer practical guidance on individual-level factors for lean practice adoption and illuminate new avenues for future research. This analysis also makes a practical contribution to the literature. From a managerial perspective, understanding why certain employees are more willing to adopt lean practices contributes to an overall lean organisational readiness and implementation framework. This insight enables the development of carefully tailored communication and training programs for managing employee motivation for and receptivity to lean.

Identifying the in-built art-based, multi-dimensionally dynamic nature of the Chinese notion of harmony from the philosophical perspective of Yijing, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms among the degree of harmony, employee affective commitment (AC) and compliance behavior at workplace in China.

This paper follows an empirical research design. To reduce extraneous sources of variation and measurement error, this study constrained the sample collection to full-time employees in manufacturing. Regression analysis was used to examine the hypotheses.

Results show that the degree of harmony is positively related to AC and compliance behavior. Findings also confirm the mediation effect of AC on the relationship between the degree of harmony and employee compliance behavior.

The research suggests that firms in China may exploit boosting the degree of harmony in organizations as an effective means to enhance employee AC to and compliance with their employers. It enables non-Chinese managers to gain a better understanding of the importance of creating harmonious environment for Chinese employees.

This study demonstrates the East-West cultural differences on the notion of harmony (art-based vs science-based views), investigating HR-related issues in China through a newer and broader lens, namely a revolutionary view of “East-West” integrative thinking. Using the model decoded by Yijing's eight trigrams to measure organizational harmony, this paper proposes a novel framework illustrating the relationships between a unique Chinese cultural variable (harmony) and two well-established Western measures (AC and compliance behavior), in response to the recent call for analyzing context-specific implications to develop new context-sensitive theories in HRM.

The overall goal of science is to build a valid and reliable body of knowledge about the functioning of the world and how applying that knowledge can change it. As personnel and human resources management researchers, we aim to contribute to the respective bodies of knowledge to provide both employers and employees with a workable foundation to help with those problems they are confronted with. However, what research on research has consistently demonstrated is that the scientific endeavor possesses existential issues including a substantial lack of (a) solid theory, (b) replicability, (c) reproducibility, (d) proper and generalizable samples, (e) sufficient quality control (i.e., peer review), (f) robust and trustworthy statistical results, (g) availability of research, and (h) sufficient practical implications. In this chapter, we first sing a song of sorrow regarding the current state of the social sciences in general and personnel and human resources management specifically. Then, we investigate potential grievances that might have led to it (i.e., questionable research practices, misplaced incentives), only to end with a verse of hope by outlining an avenue for betterment (i.e., open science and policy changes at multiple levels).