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1 – 10 of over 11000Much is being claimed in terms of new forms of trade union networking and co‐ordination at the international level during the past two decades. However, there is a need to ground…
Abstract
Purpose
Much is being claimed in terms of new forms of trade union networking and co‐ordination at the international level during the past two decades. However, there is a need to ground these views in terms of the reality and contexts of trade union activity. This article seeks to argue that tension within the different modes of international labour activity is nothing new. In fact, political and organisational differences in terms of the practices and strategies of the labour movement have been salient features of trade unionism for over a century. The article will map the interest in networking as a form of labour co‐ordination and the question of the emergence of competing international models of network‐based trade union action.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a general and literature review of the debates on labour internationalism supported by insights gained from a variety of research initiatives.
Findings
As noted by a variety of authors, the reality is that there are assorted types of global and international movements within trade unionism, which are based on four dimensions in terms of specific sectoral, ideological, organisational and national factors. There is a need is to understand the tensions between these models, and not just work from a “vertical” view of power based on hierarchies and levels.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is mainly a critical review of debates and discussions.
Practical implications
Network‐based initiatives should not just be contrasted with bureaucracy per se, but be understood in terms of distinct initiatives, meanings and politics. In fact, one could see the signs of emerging “managerialist” modes of labour internationalism.
Social implications
New forms of trade union and worker representation in a global context are engaging with social and political issues – they are engaging with a range of social and organisational activities such as those of non‐government organisations. These represent an important debate on the way work‐related issues are organised around.
Originality/value
The paper indicates how the question of labour networking is a significant academic discussion and needs to be seen from different perspectives.
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José-Luis Rodríguez-Sánchez, Marta Ortiz-de-Urbina-Criado and Eva-María Mora-Valentín
The purpose of this paper is to propose a human resource management model for the integration stage of mergers and acquisitions (M/A) process with four key factors: leadership and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a human resource management model for the integration stage of mergers and acquisitions (M/A) process with four key factors: leadership and integration team; change and restructuring process; human resources (HR) resistance; valuable HR retention.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyze a case study of a multinational company that operates in the mechanical engineering sector.
Findings
The results show the special importance of human resource management in the success of the merger and acquisition process. And, the main actions implemented in HR contributing to the success of this process are identified.
Research limitations/implications
Subsequent investigations could conduct similar analyses for the planning and implementation stages of the merger and acquisition process, with the objective of presenting a complete HR management model in merger and acquisition processes.
Practical implications
The case study allows researchers to learn from professionals and business leaders while also offering a theoretical model that can help managers make decisions and improve the management of these processes.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this study has been to observe how HR are managed in the integration stage of M/A.
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Ayobami Adetoyinbo, Jacques Trienekens and Verena Otter
Much has been written on the effect of fast-moving business environments on organizational and supply chain (SC) management. Yet, empirical findings on the effect of changing…
Abstract
Purpose
Much has been written on the effect of fast-moving business environments on organizational and supply chain (SC) management. Yet, empirical findings on the effect of changing external and internal contingencies on today’s globalized agrifood SC networks and performance are still fragmented into different organizational instruments, with some conflicting results remaining unexplained. This study aims to address these deficiencies by providing a comprehensive research framework to investigate how SC external and internal contingencies jointly influence organizational SC network structures and agrifood performance across mutually dependent tiers.
Design/methodology/approach
Using partial least squares structural equation modeling, the so-called “contingency–netchain–performance” framework, based on contingent resource-based theory and the netchain approach, was empirically tested on data obtained from a standardized survey of 405 artisanal producers and 238 processors in the Nigerian shrimp sector.
Findings
The results provide statistical evidence that supports the path dependency of firm performance from the interplay of vertical, horizontal and lateral relationships and, primordially, from both external and internal contingencies. The findings show that the contingency paradigm of fit among small-scale food producers and processors cuts across tiers and uncover a tendency to adopt relational governance and tighter network structures that result in an organic organization as the best-fitting structure.
Originality/value
The paper presents a new research framework that offers comprehensive empirical explanations for the joint influence of SC external and internal contingencies on organizational SC network structures and performance across mutually dependent agrifood tiers. This study’s conceptual, practical and policy implications for SC management provide a nascent and flexible basis on which to identify the best-fitting organizational strategies that maximize firm performance across agrifood SC tiers characterized by changing business environments.
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Kati Marttinen and Anni-Kaisa Kähkönen
A firm's ability to cascade sustainability requirements further down to lower-tier suppliers might be affected by inter-firm power relations. This study aimed to identify the…
Abstract
Purpose
A firm's ability to cascade sustainability requirements further down to lower-tier suppliers might be affected by inter-firm power relations. This study aimed to identify the power sources of focal firms and first- and lower-tier suppliers and to investigate how they may affect their ability to cascade sustainability requirements along multi-tier supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple case study of 24 companies was conducted to investigate the sources of power in multi-tier supply chains. In total, 42 informants from five focal companies, ten first-tier suppliers and nine lower-tier suppliers were interviewed.
Findings
Differences were found between the sources from which focal firms and first- and lower-tier suppliers drew power. Findings revealed that firms' power sources may increase or impair their ability to cascade sustainability requirements to lower supply chain tiers. Furthermore, multi-tier supply chain-level power sources constitute a significant determinant of firms' ability to disseminate sustainability requirements to lower-tier suppliers.
Practical implications
The results can help companies and purchasing managers understand how their own and suppliers' power may affect their ability to cascade sustainability agendas to lower-tier suppliers. In particular, the results can be useful for supplier selection and the development of supplier relationship management strategies for fostering sustainability in multi-tier supply chains.
Originality/value
This study places traditional power perspectives in the context of multi-tier sustainable supply chain management, broadening the view beyond dyadic relationships that have traditionally been the focus of the supply management literature.
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The past 40 years have been increasingly spentapplying the entire range of the sciencesworldwide to finding solutions to society′sproblems, both technological and economic. It…
Abstract
The past 40 years have been increasingly spent applying the entire range of the sciences worldwide to finding solutions to society′s problems, both technological and economic. It is argued that the result is a two‐tier workforce – the first relatively secure and independent by virtue of its ability to accommodate to the new knowledge, the second lacking the first′s advantages and dependent on it. It is claimed that the incomes of those in the second tier in the US have been falling, and that the children of families from this tier are likely to find themselves being even less advantaged in the future as they become the workers of tomorrow.
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Rodney A. Stewart and Sherif Mohamed
Leading organizations do not stop at the gathering and analysis of performance data; rather, these organizations use performance measurement to stimulate improvement efforts and…
Abstract
Leading organizations do not stop at the gathering and analysis of performance data; rather, these organizations use performance measurement to stimulate improvement efforts and successfully translate strategy into action. In other words, they use performance measurement for managing their organizations. The most commonly used performance evaluation tool, the balanced scorecard (BSC) has been used extensively in the manufacturing, government, banking, retail, insurance and financial services sectors. This paper looks at potential applications and benefits of using the BSC as a framework to evaluate the performance improvement resulting from IT/IS implementation by a construction organization. The paper firstly seeks to adapt the original BSC concept to construction and then attempts to develop a performance measurement framework in the form of a tiered “Construct IT” BSC. The developed framework allows for the measurement of IT/IS performance at three different decision‐making tiers (i.e., project, business unit and enterprise tiers). At each tier, a group of performance indicators are used to describe key aspects of activities that occur frequently enough to warrant meaningful measurement and comparison. The proposed framework applies the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and multi‐attribute utility theory (MAUT) to facilitate aggregating the obtained diverse performance measurements, thus giving rise to an overall IT/IS performance improvement measure (score) at each decision‐making tier. To illustrate the application of the proposed framework, a project tier example is provided.
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Kevin K. Jones, Richard L. Baskerville, Ram S. Sriram and Balasubramaniam Ramesh
The purpose of this study is to show how the presence of change caused a shift in the roles and responsibilities of the internal audit function (IAF).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to show how the presence of change caused a shift in the roles and responsibilities of the internal audit function (IAF).
Design/methodology/approach
The methodological design/approach was constructed by combining specific aspects of widely known management accounting and organizational change frameworks. The theoretical premise was based on the old institutional economics component of institutional theory. As such, this study used the case study method to examine and analyze the impact of this change in eight specific organizations using the new two-tiered organizational change framework.
Findings
This new framework analyzes the multidimensional facets of organizational change in the IAF. From the findings, it was observed that the change can be evolutionary, episodic, continuous and/or teleological, and people, organisms and organizations that are subject to it will react or respond to that change in a myriad of ways.
Practical implications
Moreover, the implications of change can be environmental, socioeconomic and political.
Originality/value
This study makes an intellectual contribution by introducing a new two-tiered organizational change framework to explain the IAF’s response to the environmental change factor of regulation.
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Foreign competition has made the US steel and automobile industries effect decentralization operations to the middle south and west — to rural, low‐paid, non‐unionized labor, and…
Abstract
Foreign competition has made the US steel and automobile industries effect decentralization operations to the middle south and west — to rural, low‐paid, non‐unionized labor, and thus maximising profits and increasing management control. All this has led to a reruralization of the US workforce and by selling off operations, profit levels can be enhanced.
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Liyuan Wang-Mlynek and Kai Foerstl
Multi-tier supply chain risk management (MSCRM) is an evolving and dynamic field, as any defaults or glitches in supply chains can potentially harm the efficiency and…
Abstract
Purpose
Multi-tier supply chain risk management (MSCRM) is an evolving and dynamic field, as any defaults or glitches in supply chains can potentially harm the efficiency and competitiveness of the entire supply chain. This study aims to investigate barriers to MSCRM in the automotive and civil aircraft industries.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts an inductive case study research design. The case analysis includes two parts. First, the within-case analysis develops case profiles and identifies critical categories. Second, the cross-case analysis compares MSCRM patterns across the cases.
Findings
This study argues that narrow information sharing and communication covering only the immediate supply chain partners obstruct the efficiency of MSCRM. Similarly, high dependency on strategic alliances with suppliers hinders efficient MSCRM. Additionally, relying on information and communication technologies (ICT) increases companies' exposure to risks and poses another barrier to efficient MSCRM.
Research limitations/implications
Further research should be pursued to expand generalizability and test the validity of the findings using other forms of data collection and methodologies, such as large-scale surveys, experiments or secondary data across different sectors and typical supply networks.
Practical implications
This study provides empirical evidence on the obstacles faced by companies during the process of MSCRM. These findings can guide practitioners in developing initiatives to overcome these challenges.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to investigate the barriers to MSCRM in the automotive and civil aircraft industries using in-depth case studies across three tiers of the supply chain.
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Pieter-Jan Bezemer, Stefan Peij, Laura de Kruijs and Gregory Maassen
This study seeks to explore how non-executive directors address governance problems on Dutch two-tier boards. Within this board model, challenges might be particularly difficult…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to explore how non-executive directors address governance problems on Dutch two-tier boards. Within this board model, challenges might be particularly difficult to address due to the formal separation of management boards' decision-management from supervisory boards' decision-control roles.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire among non-executive directors provide unique insights into three major challenges in the boardrooms of two-tier boards in The Netherlands.
Findings
The study indicates that non-executive directors mainly experience challenges in three areas: the ability to ask management critical questions, information asymmetries between the management and supervisory boards and the management of the relationship between individual executive and non-executive directors. The qualitative in-depth analysis reveals the complexity of the contributing factors to problems in the boardroom and the range of process and social interventions non-executive directors use to address boardroom issues with management and the organization of the board.
Practical implications
While policy makers have been largely occupied with the “right” board composition, the results highlight the importance of adequately addressing operational challenges in the boardroom. The results emphasize the importance of a better understanding of board processes and the need of non-executive directors to carefully manage relationships in and around the boardroom.
Originality/value
Whereas most studies have focussed on regulatory initiatives to improve the functioning of boards (e.g. the independence of the board), this study explores how non-executive directors attempt to enhance the effectiveness of boards on which they serve.
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