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1 – 10 of over 3000
Article
Publication date: 11 March 2008

Gary Garrison, Michael Harvey and Nancy Napier

This paper examines the role of managerial curiosity as a critical factor in determining the future impact of disruptive information technologies in a global organization…

Abstract

This paper examines the role of managerial curiosity as a critical factor in determining the future impact of disruptive information technologies in a global organization. Specifically, this paper presents curiosity as a managerial characteristic that plays an important role in identifying disruptive information technologies and facilitating their early adoption. Further, it uses resource‐based theory as a theoretical lens to illustrate how managerial curiosity can be a source of sustained competitive advantage. Finally, it examines the individual decision styles that are best suited in assessing disruptive information technologies.

Details

Multinational Business Review, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1525-383X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 July 2014

Leslie E. Sekerka, Lindsey N. Godwin and Richard Charnigo

The purpose of this paper is to focus on an inward drive and commitment toward ethical discovery, which the authors refer to as the competency of moral curiosity. When directed…

1437

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on an inward drive and commitment toward ethical discovery, which the authors refer to as the competency of moral curiosity. When directed toward moral decision making, the authors believe this ability can help managers effectively respond to their ethical challenges and contribute to an organizational environment that supports ethical performance.

Design/methodology/approach

After presenting insights from the literature on curiosity and establishing its relevance, the authors describe a specific experiential learning tool designed to cultivate moral curiosity in organizational settings. The authors conduct a field study using this process to explore how moral curiosity can be strengthened through experiential practice.

Findings

Results from the field study suggest that engagement in balanced experiential inquiry, a process that asks managers to reflect on their salient ethical dilemmas and then engage in both individual and collective meaning making, positively influenced participants’ curiosity toward moral decision making.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include challenges inherent to the field-study design, including lack of a control group and limited ability to predict long-term impacts of the intervention. Despite these concerns, the study has useful implications for managerial training and development. In particular, providing safe spaces where managers can discuss their ethical dilemmas is an important element of supporting their development into morally curious leaders who are interested in pursuing business ethics.

Practical implications

Findings suggest that providing safe spaces where managers can discuss their ethical dilemmas is an important element of supporting their development into morally curious leaders who are interested in pursuing business ethics.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the research literature on ethics training and education for managers. The authors introduce the construct of moral curiosity as a competency that can be developed through experiential practice in organizational settings.

Details

Journal of Management Development, vol. 33 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0262-1711

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2022

Randolph Nsor-Ambala

This study aims to explore the main features of managerial performance reporting (MPR) in Ghana and applied a national social-cultural framework to understanding the MPR practices.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the main features of managerial performance reporting (MPR) in Ghana and applied a national social-cultural framework to understanding the MPR practices.

Design/methodology/approach

It is a qualitative study based on responses from mid-level managerial employees within the top companies in Ghana dubbed Ghana Club 100 (GC100). GC100 includes a balanced mix of companies across varied industry classifications and local and multinational companies (MNCs). This enriches the data and deviates from similar studies that have usually relied on data from multinational companies.

Findings

There is evidence that while MPR practices in Ghana do not significantly deviate from western approaches, the underlying reasons for such managerial practices and actions may defer on national socio-cultural lines. This study discusses how various cultural attributions explain the features and motivations for MPR practices in Ghana, including a difference in expectations about the purpose of an MPR.

Practical implications

MNCs must be guided by the findings of this study in their drive to inculcate standardised practices across organisations. It is also essential for MNCs to appreciate the more than usual reliance on verbal cues and symbols in interpreting the appropriate course of action. Regulators must consider systematic activities that reduce the tension and suspicion between them and business actors to improve information transparency. Whistleblowing schemes, while helpful, may not be effective because organisational agents within MPR practice consider themselves part of an “in-group” and manage their dissonance through categorisation, rationalisation and superficial attention to standards. Because of the excessive use of unwritten cues, auditors must consider visits to the client’s operational premises and other independent observation efforts vital to their evidence gathering process.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is among the first to evaluate MPR practices based on direct responses from “persons close to the MPR action” rather than the current overreliance on secondary data sources such as content analysis.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 August 2020

Jannik Gerwanski

Despite its envisaged benefits, integrated reporting (IR) has yet to achieve its “breakthrough”, especially among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study aims to…

1382

Abstract

Purpose

Despite its envisaged benefits, integrated reporting (IR) has yet to achieve its “breakthrough”, especially among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study aims to discern SME leaders’ attitudes toward IR, and thereby to reveal managerial perceptions of both the potential benefits and the challenges that actually prevent them from embarking on IR.

Design/methodology/approach

This explorative study is grounded on semi-structured interviews with 16 managers of large German SMEs, which yet do not apply IR but are potential candidates to implement it in the future. The engagement with non-preparers is expected to paint a more representative picture of actual reasons for IR (dis-)engagement compared to prior studies that address the few firms that have adopted IR and overcome its challenges. Applying Brown and Fraser’s (2006) conceptual landscape, results are presented analogous to a business case-, stakeholder accountability- and critical theory dimension.

Findings

Contrary to prior studies, which identified stakeholder accountability endeavors as kindling SME managers’ interest in voluntary reporting initiatives, managers regard IR primarily as a business case, serving to achieve legitimacy, improve corporate image, reach out to professional investors and assist in employee recruitment. However, they refrained from actually adopting the novel reporting medium, which suggests that decision-makers might not believe the business case to be as unproblematic as claimed by the proponents of IR. This was traced back to three major impediments that currently inhibit SMEs from reporting in an integrated way, namely, a perceived lack of interest by the relevant publics, infeasibility of the IR concept to meet user needs and preparation costs. These drawbacks resemble those of earlier voluntary reporting experiments, calling into question the “revolutionary” character of IR. The study critically concludes that the future development of IR depends on addressing these barriers.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first explorative study to deliberately engage with IR non-preparers to draw conclusions on impediments to IR. The identification of relevant incentives and disincentives for IR among SME managers at first hand not only adds to the small extant IR research body and provides valuable insights for research, practice and standard setting but also contributes to the contemporary debate about dominant legitimacy-based explanations in the broader domain of social and environmental accounting and reporting.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 27 October 2014

Simonne Vermeylen

This paper proposes to rethink the concepts of relevance and usefulness and their relation to the theory–practice gap in management research.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper proposes to rethink the concepts of relevance and usefulness and their relation to the theory–practice gap in management research.

Methodology/approach

On the basis of the cognitive-linguistic relevance theory or inferential pragmatics, supplemented by insights from information science, we define relevance as a general conceptual category, while reserving usefulness for the instrumental application in a particular case.

Findings

There is no reason to hold onto the difference between theoretical and practical relevance, nor to distinguish between instrumental and conceptual relevance.

Originality/value

This novel approach will help to clarify the confusion in the field and contribute to a better understanding of the added value of management research.

Details

A Focused Issue on Building New Competences in Dynamic Environments
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-274-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 July 2020

Randolph Nsor-Ambala

The purpose of this study is to test various hypotheses regarding if managers' voluntarily prefer honesty in self-reported managerial performance (HPR).

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to test various hypotheses regarding if managers' voluntarily prefer honesty in self-reported managerial performance (HPR).

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses an experimental approach with a data set of 300 Ghanaian employees.

Findings

The results confirm that the current trend where employee contracts are underpinned by the classical agency theory (CAT) is problematic, ineffective and costly because it does not appropriately explain the observed behaviour of honesty and partial honesty in self-reported performance or the dishonesty in reporting performance when there is no financial reward to be gained by employees. Therefore MNCs may benefit from a consideration of wider and alternative perspectives. Additionally, stakeholders must consider a strategy of delaying performance-related bonuses (pay-offs) to improve HPR and avoid capping performance-related pay off with an arbitrary threshold. This is because the setting of arbitrary thresholds reduces the established relationship between effort and reward and introduces gaming into the managerial performance reporting process.

Originality/value

Unlike other prior studies that rely on students as surrogates for employees, this study uses actual employees to test the experimental constructs. Aside from the comparatively large data set, this study is the first exploration of the differential effects of national characteristics on HPR in Ghana.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 70 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1993

S.M. Jameel Hasan

Examines the incongruency between what business schools teach andwhat business organizations actually need. Suggests a need for reform.Explores the American Assembly of Collegiate…

Abstract

Examines the incongruency between what business schools teach and what business organizations actually need. Suggests a need for reform. Explores the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation standards and suggests that this needs much clarification. States that emphasis should be less on the evaluation of “the institutional machinery of business schools” and more on management education′s “impact on society” as an indication of success. Concludes that more innovative action is needed within the management education process.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 December 2018

Nic Robertson and John M. Luiz

This paper aims to explore the delayed, then accelerated, internationalisation of an emerging multinational enterprise (EMNE), with a particular focus on the media technology…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the delayed, then accelerated, internationalisation of an emerging multinational enterprise (EMNE), with a particular focus on the media technology sector, and how it exploited complementarities between emerging markets.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is qualitative in nature and focuses on the expansion of a South African media technology EMNE case study that has a footprint in over 130 countries and has one of the largest market capitalisations of any media company outside the USA and China.

Findings

EMNEs have unique capabilities in navigating uncertain institutional environments in emerging markets and are able to capitalise upon the institutional complementarities between their home and host countries. This may facilitate the recognition of market opportunities and the harnessing of new technologies to meet these opportunities in complementary markets for accelerated internationalisation.

Practical implications

EMNEs must capitalise upon the institutional complementarities between home and host country locations and use this to take advantage of identified market opportunities. This creates the possibility for a process of accelerated internationalisation. New technologies are creating particular market opportunities in emerging markets which can be exploited by EMNEs.

Originality/value

The authors provide a framework which illustrates how an EMNE can exploit complementarities between emerging markets to identify market opportunities, capitalise upon institutional similarities and harness new technologies in the process.

Details

Multinational Business Review, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1525-383X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 July 2023

Christopher Hazlehurst, Michael Etter and Keith D. Brouthers

Digital communication technologies have become ubiquitous for various firm processes related to international business (IB) and global strategy. However, IB and strategy scholars…

1389

Abstract

Purpose

Digital communication technologies have become ubiquitous for various firm processes related to international business (IB) and global strategy. However, IB and strategy scholars lack an encompassing and theory-based typology of these technologies that facilitates analysis and discussion of their uses and effects. Likewise, managers have a large choice of technologies at their disposal making it difficult to determine what technology to use in different IB areas. This paper aims to develop a typology of digital communication technologies based on the synchronicity and interactivity of these technologies and capture their fundamental social and temporal dimensions. This results in four ideal types: broadcasting, corresponding, aggregating and collaborating technologies.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper incorporating theoretical perspectives to theorize about four ideal types of digital communication technologies. A subsequent empirical test of this typology has been provided in the appendix.

Findings

The authors discuss how the typology might be applied in IB decisions and some of the contingencies that impact this choice. Building on that, the authors develop directions for future research to increase their understanding of the use of digital communication technologies to help improve IB functions. Overall, the authors suggest future research explores contingencies about where and when different types of digital communication technologies should be used. Finally, the authors provide implication of having a unified typology for both academics and managers.

Originality/value

The authors offer a robust framework for thinking about and capturing different types of digital communication technologies that can be applied by researchers and used by managers when making decisions related to IB. The authors also provide some initial testing of the typology with a three-country study design helping to determine its validity.

Details

Multinational Business Review, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1525-383X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 August 2017

Maria Sääksjärvi, Tripat Gill and Erik Jan Hultink

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the potentially positive role of rumors in generating curiosity about new products, and further shows how this prior knowledge through…

1000

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the potentially positive role of rumors in generating curiosity about new products, and further shows how this prior knowledge through rumors affects consumer responses to subsequent official preannouncements about these products.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on the seminal work by Rogers (2003) on the innovation-adoption process, the authors examine how two factors – product newness (incremental vs radical) and rumor ambiguity (ambiguous vs unambiguous) shape consumer interest (curiosity) toward new products.

Findings

Study 1 experimentally tests the assumption that incremental and radical new products may benefit from different types of rumors, and shows that radical new products benefit more from ambiguous rumors as compared to incremental new products in terms of increased curiosity toward the product. Study 2 links rumors to preannouncements, and shows that rumors set expectations that become confirmed or disconfirmed by preannouncements. The results show that the curiosity evoked by the rumor has a significant impact on purchase intentions toward the new product, especially when they are confirmed by the preannouncements about the same product.

Originality/value

There is scant research investigating how rumors may shape consumer expectations about new products despite the prevalence of rumors in the marketplace, and this research provides a first outlook on the positive role that rumors play in the marketplace.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 20 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 3000