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1 – 10 of 400John Rice, Nigel Martin, Muhammad Mustafa Raziq and Peter Fieger
In this paper, the authors will examine Welch's legacy and aftermaths, both for GE and more broadly within management practice and academic thought. As a complex character, indeed…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors will examine Welch's legacy and aftermaths, both for GE and more broadly within management practice and academic thought. As a complex character, indeed a person of many contradictions, the authors try to avoid polemics in this, instead focusing on his accomplishments and the unanswered questions about his impact.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a historical case using secondary and published materials to assess the case of Jack Welch's leadership of General Electric over the period 1981–2001.
Findings
Welch's proponents suggest he emphasized controlling corporate destiny, being open to new ideas, pursuing quality and low cost, having confidence, a vision founded on reality, a global focus and possessing energy and enthusiasm. However, his short-termist perspective undermined the long-term success of the company and his “win at any cost” mantra predisposed some employees to cutting ethical or environmental corners. As the market capitalization gains evaporated that had been used to justify the “end justifies the means” rationale, little is left of his legacy.
Research limitations/implications
The paper discusses the implications of the GE case for issues associated with corporate governance, financialization and human resource management.
Originality/value
This is a timely reconsideration of the Jack Welch legacy two years after his death. In avoiding polemics and seeking a considered assessment of his positive and negative outcomes, the paper is an important addition to the research on Welch and American management thought.
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Bridget Rice, Kathy Knox, John Rice, Nigel Martin, Peter Fieger and Anneke Fitzgerald
Employee loyalty is generally a very positive trait. However, when loyal employees are confronted with dysfunctionality in the workplace the impact on their well-being can be…
Abstract
Purpose
Employee loyalty is generally a very positive trait. However, when loyal employees are confronted with dysfunctionality in the workplace the impact on their well-being can be significant. The purpose of this paper is to assess the interaction of employee loyalty and employee experience of inter-professional dysfunction in a hospital setting to predict employee job tension.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on the analysis of a cross-sectional attitudinal survey of employees within a hospital setting in Australia. The authors use OLS regression and an SPSS macro (by Hayes, 2013) to assess the regions of significance of the interaction effects.
Findings
The authors find, as anticipated, significant direct effects for employee loyalty and inter-professional dysfunction on employee job stress. The authors further find significant interaction effects that suggest that highly loyal employees who experience inter-professional dysfunction also experience disproportionately high levels of job tension.
Research limitations/implications
The main research implication of this research relates to the confirmation of the presence of an interaction effect between loyalty and inter-professional dysfunction in predicting employee job stress. Further, the zone of significance analysis (following Johnson and Neyman) suggests that this effect is evident at even low levels of inter-professional dysfunction.
Practical implications
Organisations should appreciate employee loyalty but should also be aware that loyal employees are more vulnerable to the negative consequences of organisational dysfunction than are employees with limited organisational loyalty.
Social implications
The paper confirms the importance of managing organisational cooperation between groups in organisations as a precursor to positive employee outcomes.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to investigate this interaction and to apply Johnson-Neyman analysis to confirm the regions of significance for the interaction effects noted.
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Bridget Rice, Peter Fieger, John Rice, Nigel Martin and Kathy Knox
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the manner in which employees’ experience of distributive justice (DJ) moderates the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic values on role…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the manner in which employees’ experience of distributive justice (DJ) moderates the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic values on role engagement (RE). RE is especially important in the healthcare setting (examined here) due to the sector’s complexity, changeability and emotionally challenging nature.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data collected from a survey of employees from a large government health district in Southeast Queensland (Australia), this study examined the determinants of RE among a group of employees working across three hospital locations.
Findings
The focus of the study was on the impact, both directly and in combination, of espoused extrinsic and intrinsic values and perceived DJ on RE. The authors identify strong direct effects from DJ on RE, and complex third-order effects for the combinations of intrinsic (IM) and extrinsic motivation and DJ in predicting RE.
Research limitations/implications
As a cross-sectional and attitudinal survey, care must be taken in relation to common-method variance. Post hoc controls were performed in relation to this.
Practical implications
DJ is important for all, and is a powerful motivator for engagement of employees reporting highly on IM. There is evidence that the most engaged employees are not those most motivated by extrinsic rewards alone, although employees who are motivated primarily by extrinsic rewards alone can be highly engaged when they experience high levels of DJ.
Social implications
For managers seeking to engage their employees, an understanding of the different motivators for intrinsically vs extrinsically inclined employees is important. Taken together, these results suggest that employee RE is driven by a complex set of factors that differ between employees. Managing this complexity is an important consideration for managers.
Originality/value
This is the first empirical study to show these interaction effects using these measures. The healthcare context, generally under researched, also features in this study.
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Bridget Rice, Nigel Martin, Peter Fieger and Taiba Hussain
Demographic changes involving a worldwide ageing population and later retirements produce a gradual ageing of the workforce and major concerns about how ageing may influence the…
Abstract
Purpose
Demographic changes involving a worldwide ageing population and later retirements produce a gradual ageing of the workforce and major concerns about how ageing may influence the workplace. This paper aims to provide evidence relating to older workers in healthcare settings in Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a secondary quantitative dataset, the authors sub-sampled a group of workers in the healthcare sector. We used linear regression arrangement with hypotheses focused on the assessment of the significance of interaction or moderation effects relating to job characteristics and age on employee satisfaction.
Findings
The authors note that older workers' job satisfaction is negatively influenced by poor perceptions of job security and autonomy in how their work is carried out. Ensuring that older workers stay in the healthcare workforce is imperative as the work force ages. This paper shows that managing their job security and offering them work autonomy enhance their job satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
The use of a secondary and cross-sectional dataset has some limitations relating to endogeneity, although these have been managed and assessed. The paper is based on a representative sample of Australian workers, and is thus generalisable within the Australian context, and will be informative elsewhere.
Practical implications
The focus on elements of flexibility for older workers (enhanced autonomy) and clearer job security elements is of practical relevance in the management of older workers.
Social implications
As the overall population ages, supporting older workers in their careers will be of increasing importance. In sectors with a disproportionate share of older workers, like health care, this imperative will come sooner, and the benefits of getting arrangements right be will higher.
Originality/value
No other paper has explored these specific relationships empirically that the authors are aware of. This work is original in terms of its assessment of questions of what second-order effects exist in predicting employee satisfaction among older workers.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges of managing transnational education (TNE) partnerships from the perspective of the home university managers.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges of managing transnational education (TNE) partnerships from the perspective of the home university managers.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a qualitative, “insider researcher” methodology’. It uses a sample set of eight mangers who operate from the home university and 13 “in-country” managers who are seconded to head up the overseas TNE partnerships. The samples are all drawn from UK universities to standardise for other variables (e.g. legislative framework).
Findings
It finds that the managers based at the home campus report a generally negative attitude, emphasising the riskiness and the lack of scalability, sustainably and profitability, as well as the general resistance to TNE from staff on the home campus. The in-country managers, in contrast, experience the same lack of empathy from their peers at home, but this group tends to more closely associate themselves with their local colleagues and to be drawn into building relationships with local stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of this research is that it is based on a sample of managers from the same country.
Practical implications
In practical terms, the findings suggest that universities need to do more to increase awareness and commitment to their TNE partnerships amongst staff at the home campus, while providing better professional development and more frequent rotations for their in-country managers.
Originality/value
This paper extends the very limited literature on the management of TNE partnerships.
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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…
Abstract
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.
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The introduction of a new computerised order processing system at Glaxo Pharmaceuticals made an enormous amount of production data available to the users of on‐line computer…
Abstract
The introduction of a new computerised order processing system at Glaxo Pharmaceuticals made an enormous amount of production data available to the users of on‐line computer systems. To understand and act on this data effectively, it became increasingly evident that a wider understanding of production processes was needed at both a practical and conceptual level. To meet this training need, the MENTOR game was developed in‐house to train staff in the theory and practice of production planning, stock control and materials explosion in a manufacturing environment. The game has also been run with pre‐university school groups in liaison with local and central government educational agencies.
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Nigel Martin and Deborah Hough
Discusses the implications of the advent of open systems, and theeffect which they are having on the logistics industry. Examines thereasons why open systems are appropriate today…
Abstract
Discusses the implications of the advent of open systems, and the effect which they are having on the logistics industry. Examines the reasons why open systems are appropriate today and the various motivations for moving to them. Describes the effects that open systems will have on the structure of the computing industry through the increased competition they are creating: how they will affect computing architectures; and points to consider in the implementation of open systems.
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Nigel Piercy, Martin Evans and Malcolm Martin
Reports the results of a recent survey of curricula of postgraduate diplomas and master's degrees in marketing, and concentrates on the objectives of the course and the detailed…
Abstract
Reports the results of a recent survey of curricula of postgraduate diplomas and master's degrees in marketing, and concentrates on the objectives of the course and the detailed content of the syllabi offered. Suggests that in the present context there may quite reasonably be considerable variety in what is considered relevant to postgraduate marketing specialization, depending on objectives sought. Uses data collected by postal questionnaire with 22 course leaders — nine university and 13 public sector — in the spring of 1979, the response rate was 55 per cent. Proceeds to discuss further: survey methods; course objectives; learning experiences; course content; and assessment procedures. Concludes that analysis suggests strong similarity in the approach to marketing taken by different courses, representing consensus to subject boundaries, syllabus content and appropriate methods of assessment.
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Shirley Gregor, Dennis Hart and Nigel Martin
Drawing on established alignment and architectural theory, this paper seeks to present the argument that an organisation's enterprise architecture can enable the alignment of…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on established alignment and architectural theory, this paper seeks to present the argument that an organisation's enterprise architecture can enable the alignment of business strategy and information systems and technology (IS/IT).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a detailed case study of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), where a high degree of alignment and international recognition of excellence in business and enabling IS/IT performance are documented.
Findings
The ABS enterprise architecture was developed in 1999‐2001 and describes the organisation's physical business and IS/IT elements, and the connective relationships that inform the alignment condition. The ABS architecture is robustly holistic in form, and is characterised by a strong and equal focus on business operations, the deliberate inclusion of an IS/IT governance framework, the structuring and hosting of corporate information for business delivery, and the efficient reuse of IS/IT components.
Originality/value
The ABS case study also examined empirically the social aspects and formal mechanisms of organisational alignment, and shows how a formal enterprise architecture mechanism can integrate into a successful alignment process.
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