Search results

This paper aims to offer an original analysis of how three of the largest aerospace and defense (A&D) companies equipped their organizations for merger integration success.

Through a multi-case study, this paper explores the post-merger integration process for large-scale transactions completed over a 25-year period. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with industry executives and leading management consultants. The process involved collection of primary data, analysis of secondary data drawn from publicly available company documents and identification of key factors that led to success.

Five interdependent success factors (Figure 1) support integration teams and capture deal value. Managing the process as a megaproject further facilitates the effectiveness of post-merger integration, enabling leaders to remain laser-focused on integration activity while driving toward a long-term vision for the newly formed organization.

Merger integration has been identified as a primary source of deficiency that prevents acquirers from achieving anticipated results, negatively affecting merger success. Based on the findings of this paper, firms are more likely to create a compelling long-term value creation agenda when five essential factors are combined with a megaproject approach to manage the post-merger integration process.

This study advances current knowledge in the field by responding to requests to further explore the dimensions of merger integration that facilitate success and improve shareholder value, contributing new data to inform extant theories regarding merger integration and megaproject management and adding to the limited research on post-merger integration within the A&D industry.

As a result of the end of the cold war, the US Government’s defence spending has decreased significantly since 1989. Consequently, many aerospace companies in the defence industry have begun the transition to commercial products. Reviews the commercial success strategies of Lockheed Martin, Hughes Electronics and Rockwell. Commercial success strategies discussed include: mergers, derived products, partnerships, consolidation, fresh blood in management, subsidiaries and acquisitions. Examines the negative side‐effects ‐ which include downsizing and less investment in technology research ‐ of the commercial transition.

This study examines employee attraction and retention issues and uses a case study of an Australian regional medium-sized enterprise to highlight the importance of organisational context factors such as place and scale in designing human resource (HR) solutions.

The research presents a qualitative case study, with data drawn from strategic documents, interviews and focus groups, analysed thematically.

A carefully constructed set of HR strategies – including purposeful use of employer branding, synchronising of human resource management (HRM) formality and informality and capitalising on the regional context – are key to employee attraction and retention and in turn the growth and competitiveness of the case study organisation.

The HRM literature acknowledges the tendency to study larger corporations in metropolitan areas, at the expense of more nuanced research related to context. This research contributes to knowledge of attraction and retention through employer branding, with particular attention to scale and place, through study of a medium sized firm in a regional location. It highlights the importance of informality-formality dynamism.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between women on the board of directors and firm performance in a comparative analysis between Italy and Spain.

The generalized method of moment is employed to examine this relationship in a sample of 1,393 firm-year observations.

The results show that the presence of women on the board has a positive impact on the performance of Italian and Spanish firms. However, when the whole sample is divided into Italy and Spain, some results are remarkable. For Spain, the presence of women on the board has a positive influence on firm performance, whereas for Italy the authors find a negative and significant effect on firm performance. This study also finds that the “masculinity” dimension has a negative impact on firm performance.

The results of this study have several practical implications. First, masculinity differences within the countries can have a large impact on firm performance and can explain some differences between similar countries. Second, the legal system of countries might not explain adequately some differences in the decision-making process. Third, cultural values and thinking styles, in terms of masculinity, might better explain why the results on the relationship between female directors and firm performance are mixed. Fourth, the findings suggest that it is very important to promote gender equality, not only by passing laws but also taking action about the educational system.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the relationship between female directors and firm performance between Italy and Spain considering the cultural differences in term of “masculinity.”

el objetivo de este trabajo es examinar la relación entre la presencia de mujeres en el Consejo de Administración y el rendimiento de la empresa, realizando un análisis comparativo entre Italia y España.

Se emplea el método generalizado de los Momentos (GMM), utilizando una muestra de 1.393 observaciones.

los resultados muestran que la presencia de mujeres en el consejo tiene un impacto positivo en el rendimiento de las empresas italianas y españolas. Sin embargo, cuando se analizan por separado ambas submuestras se obtienen algunos resultados destacables. Para España, la presencia de mujeres en el consejo tiene un efecto positivo, mientras que para Italia la influencia resulta negativa. Este estudio también muestra que la dimensión “masculinidad” tiene un efecto negativo en la rentabilidad de la empresa.

Los resultados de este estudio tienen varias implicaciones prácticas. En primer lugar, la diferencia en la masculinidad entre países puede tener un gran impacto en el rendimiento de las empresas y explicar algunas diferencias entre países de características similares. En segundo lugar, el sistema legal de los países podría no explicar adecuadamente algunas diferencias en el proceso de toma de decisiones. En tercer lugar, los valores culturales y el modo de pensar, en términos de “masculinidad” podría explicar mejor el hecho de que los resultados de la relación entre consejeras y rendimiento de la empresa no sea concluyente. En cuarto lugar, nuestros hallazgos sugieren que es muy importante promover la igualdad de género no sólo a través de la aprobación de leyes, sino también actuando sobre el sistema educativo.

Que tengamos conocimiento, este es el primer estudio que investiga la relación entre la presencia de consejeras y rendimiento de la empresa para Italia y España considerando las diferencias culturales en términos de “masculinidad.”

The research takes a comprehensive evaluation of hospitality students’ perceptions towards small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) employment and explores whether the current recession and labour market changes influence hospitality students career-related decisions. Such exploration would provide vital information as to how the new economic environment has modified the nature and context of hospitality students perceptions towards SMEs. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The research focuses on a constructionist philosophy in order to interpret how hospitality students construct of career choice. The qualitative methodology adopts semi-structured interviews in order to explore the socially constructed views of hospitality students’ perception of SMEs employment.

In spite of recessional challenges which particularly affect the graduate labour market, the research confirms the original academic arguments that socially constructed barriers and influencing factors do not highlight SMEs as an attractive first employment destination.

This research recognises the need to reconsider the curriculum for hospitality students to embed the notion of SMEs as a possible career choice.

Socially SMEs have not either historically or in the present day been seen as providing adequate resources for graduates entering the world of work. Such an implication has a considerably impact upon the supply and demand side of SMEs graduate labour market.

The economic downturn now poses a real challenge for new graduates as it is difficult to predict and discuss future labour market issues and trends. The research allows key stakeholders in graduate employment to understand the effects of the economic environment to graduate SMEs perceptions and take measures in improving SMEs-graduate employment in hospitality.

This study aims to explore the role of marketing in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and to consider how amendments can be made to the UK higher education (HE) teaching curriculum to inform marketing teaching and learning around a small business context.

A qualitative, exploratory approach using semi‐structured in‐depth interviews amongst ten owners of SMEs in the East Midlands region of the UK was used.

Marketing in SMEs is centred on customer engagement, networking and word of mouth communication. HE academic institutions should take account of these findings and work towards introducing SME‐specific marketing material in its teaching and learning curricula.

This study uses a small number of SME companies in one region and therefore the generalisability of the findings may be limited. Further research could extend the number of SME companies and to other regions of the UK.

The findings have a bearing on the UK HE marketing curriculum. This study offers insights into how the marketing curriculum in HE needs to be adapted in light of the findings to ensure marketing graduates are equipped to enter SME employment.

Studies aligning how marketing in SMEs is practiced compared to HE teaching curriculum are limited. This research contributes to the body of literature by further exploring the characteristics and marketing activities of SMEs and highlighting the need to align teaching and practice of marketing in UK HE institutions.

Volume-based liquidity ratios suffer from potential measurement bias due to share restriction and may misrepresent actual liquidity. To address this issue, the authors develop two modified metrics, the free-float liquidity and the alternative free-float illiquidity ratios. These measures are well suited to estimate liquidity in the presence of trading constraints, as can be found in closely held/state-owned entities, IPOs/SEOs with lockup restrictions, dual-class share structures and family-owned businesses.

The authors modify the turnover illiquidity ratio, where the number of outstanding shares is scaled by the public free float, and use natural log transformation to normalize free-float liquidity. Our dataset is composed of daily observations for US stocks included in the S&P 500 index over the 2015–2018 period. To test the validity of free-float (il)liquidity ratios, the authors perform a correlation analysis for various liquidity metrics. To examine their empirical efficiency, the authors employ pooled OLS regression models for family firms as a subsample of liquidity-constrained entities, relying on five different identifiers of family-owned businesses.

The authors’ empirical testing indicates that the proposed free-float (il)liquidity ratios compare favorably with other volume-based methods, such as Amihud's ratio, liquidity ratio and turnover ratio. For the subsample of family organizations as a restricted-share setting, the authors report significant coefficients for our free-float measures across all the family firm identifiers used. In particular, as free-float decreases with progressive family influence, the advanced ratios capture an increase (decrease) in perceived liquidity (illiquidity) that is absent in the other benchmarks.

This study allows the authors to inform the ongoing debate on the management and governance of publicly listed companies with various impediments to trade. Traditional measures understate illiquidity (overstate liquidity) as the fraction of free trading shares is limited by design or circumstances. The authors’ proposed free-float metrics offer informational gains for family leaders to aid in their financing decisions and for non-family outsiders to guide their investment choice. As a constrained free float inhibits price discovery processes, the authors discuss how restricted stock issuers may alleviate the attendant negative effects on governance and information opacity.

AccorHotels commenced operations in Brazil in the 1970s. Since then, the company has experienced several economic crises in that country and almost gone bankrupt. Using the dynamic capabilities (DCs) framework, the purpose of this paper is to understand how the company managed to maintain its competitive advantage in such a turbulent and competitive environment over the years. The study sought to identify the main DCs developed in the company between 1974 and 2018 and understand how they were developed based on the analysis of their key microfoundations.

The study adopted a qualitative approach. The data were collected in 22 interviews, including with top management and the founder of the hotel chain in Brazil. The interviews took place in three different years, 2005, 2016 and 2018. The investigation is supported by content analysis of the data.

The four main DCs identified at AccorHotels were capability to innovate; qualification capability; renewal capability; and capability to manage threats and mitigate risks. In addition to shedding light on the origins of the DCs, the importance of microfoundations is discussed.

The model presented in the theoretical framework and results should not be generalized, since this limitation is inherent to qualitative research. On the other hand, there are academic implications relevant to the development of the DCs in the service sector by revealing four capabilities that can enable sustainable competitive advantage.

The results provide business practitioners in the hotel sector with information about DCs and microfoundations to face the external and competitive environment throughout its trajectory. Specifically, it shows the way to develop the capabilities that can collaborate in the exploration of opportunities.

Executives have the responsibility to make appropriate strategic decisions to stay in the market, meeting the expectations of stakeholders. However, the demand is not only financial, employees of tourism businesses are part of family units. Given this context, society gains when studies of this type are developed, because from the socialization of the results obtained from Accor Hotels, leaders can make organizations thrive and foster the professional development of workers, and tourism industry in general.

This is the first study of DCs undertaken with an international hotel chain. In addition, studies on DCs in the tourism industry are still scarce, and Brazil is an environment where hotels have shown steady growth.

The purpose of this paper is to outline the structures of collegial governance in Australian universities between 1945 and the “Dawkins reforms” of the late 1980s. It describes the historical contours of collegial governance in practice, the changes it underwent, and the structural limits within which it was able to operate.

The analysis is based upon the writings of academics and university administrators from the period, with more fine-grained exemplification provided by archival and other evidence from Faculties of Arts and their equivalents in newer universities.

Elements of hierarchy and lateral organisation coexisted in the pre-Dawkins university in ways not generally made explicit in the existing literature. This mixture was sustained by ideals about academic freedom.

By historicising “collegiality” the research problematises polemical uses of the term, either for or against. It also seeks to clarify the distinctiveness of contemporary structures—especially for those with no first-hand experience of the pre-Dawkins university—by demonstrating historical difference without resort to nostalgia.

“Collegiality” is a common concept in education and organisation studies, as well as in critiques of the contemporary corporate university. However, the concept has received little sustained historical investigation. A clearer history of collegial governance is valuable both in its own right and as a conceptually clarifying resource for contemporary analyses of collegiality and managerialism.

States that search conferences originated in the open systems work of Emery and Trist. Covers the following issues: What are search conferences? How did they develop? How do they work? What are the design principles? How do they differ from other large group interventions? Search conferences as learning organizations and for participative strategic planning.