Search results

Examines various methods which can be used to improve the writing skills of work study practitioners. Considers the need for organization of ideas, simplicity, clarity, unity, conciseness, cohereness and good grammar. Concludes that the objective of writing is to make messages complete and understandable; that affected, showy writing is inappropriate; and that use of these concepts will result in effective communications.

The Middle East has been overlooked by American companies as a region in which to explore market opportunities. Suggests that this is largely due to ignorance of, and bias towards, the culture and politics of the Middle East. Discusses aspects of Middle East culture and situational determinants which American companies would be wise to assimilate and suggests practices to carry out or avoid when attempting to form business relationships in the Middle East.

The understanding of operational failure (or loss generally) and its role as an imperative for service design is underdeveloped. This paper investigates external and internal loss categories (such as market failure, and unexploited resource development) and their relationship to the loss response; specifically, reactions to loss in the form of ex post loss control via new service design (NSD).

The investigation consists of complimentary theoretical and empirical dimensions and includes the analysis of five service design cases. This analysis deploys a model based upon the extant service design and innovation, resource‐based view and operational risk literatures.

The findings question the universal applicability of extant normative and descriptive models of service design. After arguing that their use should be limited to specific contexts, the paper proposes a new, more general conception of service design modes.

The paper comments on patterns of service design practice not discussed previously. It highlights some dangers inherent in following conventional prescription on design processes, illustrates a positive role for loss in design, and proposes new frameworks for NSD that accommodate loss as a contributor to the process.

This conceptual paper focuses on trust and its context. Previous research indicates the importance of the specific‐situational nature of trust, which is affected by both interpersonal and organizational contextual factors. Hypotheses are formulated, and they revolve around trust and various interpersonal and organizational contextual variables. The interpersonal contextual factors included are the types of trustor‐trustee relationships, ethnicity of the trustors and trustees, perceived inequity, and the importance of a cooperative or noncooperative act to the receiving party. The organizational contextual factors included are politics, ownership structure, and organizational form. In addition to main effects, some of these variables may have interaction effects on trust. Also, the organizational contextual variables mediated by the interpersonal contextual variables may have indirect effects on trust.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review of available research evidence on risk management in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The authors aim to reveal ambiguities, gaps and contradictions in the literature, and to sketch avenues for further research.

The authors follow the tenets of Tranfield et al. (2003) for conducting a systematic literature review. Following a key word search and an assessment of fit for this review, 27 papers were analyzed with respect to bibliographical information, research design and findings.

The review identified various types of risks that may occur in SMEs. In addition, the publication analysis demonstrates the importance of a risk management process in SMEs and that the characteristics of SME owners have a significant impact on their business strategies.

Additional empirical research on risk identification, risk analysis, strategy implementation and control in the SME risk management process is needed.

This paper is the first comprehensive review of the body of literature on risk management in SMEs.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between leadership behaviors (transformational and transactional), satisfaction with the leader, and voluntary turnover intentions. In particular, it aims to investigate the mediation effect of satisfaction with the leader on the relationship between leadership behaviors and voluntary turnover organizational intentions.

Participants were 208 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I softball and volleyball assistant coaches in the USA. Using the multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ – Form 5X) and an organizational turnover intent questionnaire, participants evaluated their head coach's leadership behavior, satisfaction with the leader, and their own organizational turnover intent.

Results revealed a direct negative relationship between leadership behaviors (transformational and transactional) and voluntary organizational turnover intentions. Also, satisfaction with the leader mediated the negative relationship between leadership behaviors (transformational and transactional) and voluntary turnover intentions.

The study was limited by the use of professional associations to contact participants, the timing of the data collection, and the exploration of only one of numerous possible mediating variables. Several management implications are discussed, such as managers recognizing that both leadership behaviors can be the basis for effective leadership of work teams and for mitigating voluntary turnover intentions.

The paper's principal theoretical contribution is the addition of satisfaction with the leader as a mediating variable between transformational and transactional leadership behavior and voluntary organizational turnover intentions.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

This article reports the results of a longitudinal study of some of the earliest quality circle (QC) programmes to be established in the United Kingdom. The 27 companies in question were first contacted in 1981. A second survey, conducted in April/May 1985, aimed to find out how many of the QC programmes have survived the test of time and in what circumstances. Reasons for the termination of individual circles and programmes were also sought. Forty per cent of the programmes unequivocally remain operative in organisations where senior management tend to be committed to the QC concept; the trade unions have been reasonably receptive or indifferent, the working environment is conducive to this type of initiative, and there have been no major crises, such as redundancy or serious retrenchment. The main reasons for QC programme termination were closure of sites or redundancy, and lack of support from senior management. Regarding those organisations in which QCs did not survive, the majority of respondents nevertheless felt that the technique has the potential to make a valuable contribution to British industry, primarily in relation to employee involvement.

The Middle East is a growing and lucrative marketplace. This exploratory study examines retail service in Kuwait and Lebanon, regions with long histories of trade. Retail service, however, has not been well documented in this region. As far as is known, this is the first study that examines customer and salespeople perceptions of service encounters in these countries in light of their culture, religion, and nationalities. As retailers expand into new markets worldwide, such information is vital to their success. Future research directions are discussed.

The onset of the knowledge era has affected all industries. Without exception, the Canadian financial services industry has transformed itself due to the knowledge‐intensive structure it possesses. However, high competition and career‐minded professionals have created a situation in which leading financial services firms are losing key human capital each day – capital that can and will be used against them in the modern, fast‐paced labour market. In the fight for the brightest senior executives, portfolio managers and fund administrators, human resource professionals must pay attention to the investments they are making in their employees through training and development, while monitoring reward and recognition programs, so that loss of intellectual capital is kept to a minimum. This study examines 19 Canadian financial service firms and their current human capital practices. Results show that while human resource managers are effectively managing the people in their organizations through training and development, performance reviews, and the effective management of fluctuating workforce demands. However, this study highlights the need for greater attention to be paid to the leveraging of human capital that exists within their knowledge‐intensive workforce. Furthermore, research findings strongly suggest the need to increase knowledge management behaviours such as the valuation and codification of organizational knowledge assets.