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1 – 10 of over 78000Laurie W. Ford and Jeffrey D. Ford
We have been working together as husband and wife, as management professor and management consultant, and as coauthors for over 30 years. During that time, we have tailored an…
Abstract
We have been working together as husband and wife, as management professor and management consultant, and as coauthors for over 30 years. During that time, we have tailored an operations research–based approach to represent the functional infrastructure of organizations as networks of agreements for the transfer of deliverables, e.g., products, services, and communications, which connect internal organizational units and also their external relations. The network model is useful to understand organizations, support organization change, and develop management practices that improve efficiency, teamwork, and effectiveness. Throughout the application of this approach, we have observed often that “management is missing,” in organizations in general and in organization change management in particular, where managers and change agents may underestimate or fail to recognize the productive relationships at the foundation of performance in organizations, that these relationships are different from authority or social/affinity relationships, and that they require management. In this chapter, we distinguish the network approach that is fundamental to our work and the “missing” elements of management that are recognizable by using that approach. We then examine how “management is missing” in change management and how it might be restored.
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Arie van Sluis, Lex Cachet and Arthur Ringeling
The purpose of this article is to present the findings of research into the impact of a new performance system for the police in The Netherlands.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to present the findings of research into the impact of a new performance system for the police in The Netherlands.
Design/methodology/approach
For this research, the international literature about the effects and side effects of performance steering in the public sector was scanned and more than 150 local stakeholders in five Dutch police regions were interviewed in semi‐open interviews, using a checklist. The study analyzed the specific impact of the results‐based agreements in various branches.
Findings
On the whole, the police do not get isolated as a consequence of the results‐based agreements and they do not disassociate themselves from the societal networks they participated in before. The authors offer several explanations why many of the expected negative effects have not occurred.
Originality/value
Valuable in this article is the focus on the situational context and the implementation context for an adequate assessment of the significance of performance‐based steering of the police in practice. It gives an update of the Dutch state of affairs and recommends another starting point for police performance measurement in the near future.
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Michael O'Donnell and Mark Turner
The purpose of this article is to explore the export of new public management (NPM) to developing countries and to describe and evaluate the introduction of these initiatives in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to explore the export of new public management (NPM) to developing countries and to describe and evaluate the introduction of these initiatives in very different environments from their origins.
Design/methodology/approach
The article traces the introduction of performance agreements into the public service of Vanuatu. Performance agreements are identified as an initiative typically promoted by NPM. The Vanuatu case is set within a review of the origin, use and record of performance agreements in countries such as Australia, the UK and the USA.
Findings
The adoption of performance agreements has been slow and has enjoyed limited success. Among the difficulties encountered are suspicion, lack of incentives, an unreceptive environment, and possible identification as being donor‐driven. It is difficult to see performance agreements in their current form making an impact on performance improvement in the Vanuatu public service.
Practical implications
NPM initiatives must be carefully considered before being transferred to other countries. They may offer benefits but what has worked in one environment will often need considerable modification, certain preconditions and lengthy lead‐in time to be effective in another environment.
Originality/value
There are few case studies of attempts to transfer NPM‐style reforms to developing countries and none on performance agreements, yet many countries in the Pacific and elsewhere are becoming interested in this mode of performance management. This case study helps to fill this gap through description and analysis of the Vanuatu experience and provides practical lessons for others considering policy transfer of NPM initiatives such as performance agreements.
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Peter BeomCheol Kim and Kevin D. Carlson
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether agreement between frontline employee self-ratings and supervisory ratings of service performance functions as an indicator of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether agreement between frontline employee self-ratings and supervisory ratings of service performance functions as an indicator of healthy supervisor-subordination relationships above and beyond what might be indicated simply by either supervisory ratings or self-ratings.
Design/methodology/approach
Research hypotheses were tested using a sample of 220 matched pairs of frontline service workers and their immediate supervisors from nine full service hotels in the USA.
Findings
The results show that higher levels of agreement in service performance ratings between employees and supervisors is associated with higher levels of leader-member exchange (LMX) and organizational commitment.
Practical implications
Senior managers can refer to the level of performance rating agreement between customer service employees and their supervisors in assessing supervisors’ competency to manage their work relationship with their subordinates.
Originality/value
This study examined rating agreement in a service performance context and found rating agreement between subordinates and their supervisor may have a unique effect on service worker effectiveness, producing a unique incremental effect on LMX and organizational commitment. This is important given that few attempts have been made to examine service performance from both subordinates’ and supervisors’ perspectives and the implication that rating agreement may have for improving employee service performance.
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Plus Factors have long played an important role in inferring a price agreement from the totality of the evidence. In response to changes in the case law, economists have proposed…
Abstract
Purpose
Plus Factors have long played an important role in inferring a price agreement from the totality of the evidence. In response to changes in the case law, economists have proposed two alternative paths for the future of price fixing analysis. This paper evaluates the suggested approaches and recommends retaining the enhanced Plus Factor methodology.
Methodology/approach
By carefully defining the Plus Factor concept, three key components of the analysis emerge: (1) information on communications associated with the alleged agreement, (2) economic considerations affecting market competition, and (3) characteristics that serve to differentiate explicit from tacit collusion.
Findings
Developments rationalizing the Plus Factor concept show promise, as the methodology is not more closely related to economic theory. On the other hand, replacement of the Plus Factor methodology with one focused on market performance seems problematic. By abandoning the Plus Factor concept, the economist loses a key institutional constraint on over-aggressive enforcement.
Practical implications
Until advocates can address the difficulties associated with using performance evidence to identify price fixing, the standard Plus Factor concept appears more appropriate. Thus, antitrust analysts should continue to use the Plus Factor methodology to infer agreements in price fixing investigations, as long as the economic rationalization of the specific Plus Factor is clearly presented.
Originality/value
The paper synthesizes a number of recent contributions to the price fixing literature and addresses key issues of interest to the enforcement community. By providing a critique of the proposed policy shift to use performance evidence to infer price fixing liability, the study serves to justify continued application of the Plus Factor methodology.
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Stéphane Brutus, John W. Fleenor and Manuel London
In order to determine the usefulness of multi‐source rating in different types of organizations, this study explored differences among organization types in four areas: leniency…
Abstract
In order to determine the usefulness of multi‐source rating in different types of organizations, this study explored differences among organization types in four areas: leniency, interrater agreement, relationships between these ratings and effectiveness, and the relationship between agreement and effectiveness. Used self, subordinate, peer, and supervisor ratings for 1,080 target managers in six types of organizations: education, military, government, manufacturing, finance, and health. Interrater agreement was measured in three ways: an index of variance, a point‐difference categorization method, and categories of self‐other agreement. Results indicated that a leniency bias was present in educational institutions, after controlling for demographic characteristics. Interrater agreement was lowest in government agencies and highest in education and manufacturing organizations. In private sector organizations, more poor‐performing managers tended to over‐estimate their performance relative to the perceptions of others. Interrater agreement was positively related to effectiveness especially in education and finance organizations. Results suggest that multi‐source feedback may work differently in different types of organizations, and such differences may need to be taken into account by researchers, practitioners, and feedback recipients.
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Glennis Hanley and Loan Nguyen
The diffusion of performance related pay has attracted considerable academic attention over the past decade. While much contemporary debate has focussed on the excesses of…
Abstract
Purpose
The diffusion of performance related pay has attracted considerable academic attention over the past decade. While much contemporary debate has focussed on the excesses of executive remuneration at the “big end of town”, what is not so prominent are the views of unions representing employees at the other end of the remuneration spectrum: this is the purpose of this paper.
Design/methodology/approach
Evidence was gathered at two levels using two sets of research instruments: in‐depth interviews with senior union officials, and primary documentation analysis with specific reference to performance appraisal and performance‐related pay clauses in union Enterprise Bargaining Agreements.
Findings
Document analysis reveals that performance appraisal and performance‐related pay clauses range from mere stipulation of existence to detailed processes and principles of design and implementation. Specific clauses in the white‐collar unions’ agreements suggest that they are not totally opposed. However, the lack of performance appraisal and performance‐related pay clauses in the blue‐collar unions’ agreements illustrate their propensity to restrict pay increases to a job classification structure. Although there were clauses that aimed to ensure a performance‐oriented culture, their agreements seem to be mere sentiments. Overall, only one union supports the notion of performance related pay; the others find performance appraisals difficult to embrace. Negative experiences and consequent problems lead them to argue that the process is complicated and usually puts workers at a disadvantage.
Originality/value
Strands of different explanations account for union opposition, but the principal issue is that performance appraisal has only an evaluative function, that is to link performance to pay. To minimise problems in shaping PRP schemes, the unions advocated the integration of a social dimension; transparency and equality.
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Virginia K. Bratton, Nancy G. Dodd and F. William Brown
This research paper aims to follow a line of research that examines the impact of elements of emotional intelligence (EI), particularly those related to self‐awareness, on…
Abstract
Purpose
This research paper aims to follow a line of research that examines the impact of elements of emotional intelligence (EI), particularly those related to self‐awareness, on self‐other agreement and performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a quantitative study that employs the same methodology as Sosik and Megerian to analyze survey data gathered from a matched sample of 146 managers and 1,314 subordinates at a large international technology company based in North America.
Findings
The analysis revealed that the relationship between EI and leader performance is strongest for managers who underestimate their leader abilities. Underestimators earn higher follower ratings of leader performance than all other agreement categories (In agreement/good, In agreement/poor, and Overestimators). The analysis also suggests that there appears to be a negative relationship between EI and leader performance for managers who overestimate their leader abilities.
Research limitations/implications
Implications of the counterintuitive findings for underestimators as well as the imperative for further study utilizing alternative measures of EI are discussed.
Originality/value
Previous empirical work in this area used an ad hoc measure of EI. This study extends this work by utilizing a larger, business sample and employing a widely‐used and validated measure of EI, the Emotional Quotient Inventory. Results further illuminate the nature of the relationship between EI and self‐other agreement and provide a potential selection and development tool for the improvement of leadership performance.
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Sujatha Perera, Jill McKinnon and Graeme Harrison
This paper uses a stakeholder approach to examine how the role of accounting and the status of accountants changed over a 30 year period (1970 to 2000) in a major Australian…
Abstract
This paper uses a stakeholder approach to examine how the role of accounting and the status of accountants changed over a 30 year period (1970 to 2000) in a major Australian government trading enterprise. Data are gathered from semi‐structured interviews with organizational participants and documentation. The study provides support for the importance of stakeholders in shaping organizational processes and practices, including accounting practices, and for the effects of changes in stakeholder constituency and agenda on such practices. The study also provides evidence of the roles accounting and accountants may play in implementing a stakeholder agenda, including both instrumental and symbolic roles, and how the status of accountants may rise and fall commensurate with those roles.
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Valentina Cucino, Nicola Del Sarto, Alberto Di Minin and Andrea Piccaluga
This paper combines the literature on knowledge transfer and that on organizational behavior to analyze how perceived empowerment and perceived engagement affect knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper combines the literature on knowledge transfer and that on organizational behavior to analyze how perceived empowerment and perceived engagement affect knowledge transfer offices’ (KTOs’) performance, measured in terms of the number of license agreements.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors measured the cognitions which constitute perceived empowerment and perceived engagement through a survey sent to Italian KTOs’ professionals. The authors performed “fuzzy set qualitative analysis” to investigate if this cognition, together or in isolation, may influence KTOs’ management performance, measured by the number of license agreements.
Findings
The results highlight the role of individual cognitions in influencing KTOs’ performance. Furthermore, an important finding from the analysis of the main configurations is that the co-presence of perceived engagement and perceived empowerment leads to more license agreements only in the presence of specific individual cognitions. More precisely, the level of organizational citizenship behavior, the degree to which an individual influences results at work (degree of impact) and the value of a work goal (degree of meaning) are the cognitions which lead to a higher number of license agreements.
Originality/value
Despite the growing interest in the investigation of the determinants of KTOs’ performance, a relevant research gap still concerns the explanation of KTOs’ performance considering individual cognitions such as attitudes, norms, perceived behavioral control and intentions. This study looks at the combined effect of the individual cognition of perceived engagement and perceived empowerment on KTOs’ performances.
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