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1 – 10 of over 75000Ahmed Mohamed Elbaz, Gomaa Mohamed Agag and Nasser Alhamar Alkathiri
This study aims to examine the influence of the three dimensions of travel agents’ manager competencies – ability, motivation and opportunity seeking – on knowledge transfer and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the influence of the three dimensions of travel agents’ manager competencies – ability, motivation and opportunity seeking – on knowledge transfer and travel agents’ performance. In addition, the study investigates how employee’s absorptive capacity moderates the effects of managers’ competencies on knowledge received by the employees and moderates the effects of knowledge received by the employees on travel agents’ performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A positivist research philosophy was adopted with a quantitative approach, in which quantitative data were gathered based on questionnaires to tackle different stages of the study. To test the hypotheses, a self-administrated face-to-face survey of about 42 questions, launched on November 7, 2016, was used to compile response from top and medium management Category A travel agents operating in Egypt.
Findings
Based on a sample of 577 travel agents’ frontline employees, the results showed that the three dimensions of travel agents’ competencies have a positive effect on knowledge received by the employee. Findings further indicated that knowledge received by employee mediates the link between these three competencies and travel agents’ performance. The link between the competencies and knowledge received by the employee was found to be positively moderated by employee absorptive capacity. Moreover, these findings suggested that the relationship between knowledge received and travel agents’ performance is stronger when employees’ absorptive capacity is greater.
Research limitations/implications
This study is bound by certain limitations that also provide fertile grounds for further research. First, the study examined how an employee’s absorptive capacity moderates the effects of managers’ competencies on knowledge received by the employees and moderates the effects of knowledge received by the employees on travel agents’ performance. However, innovation as a dependent variable can be investigated. Second, one limitation is that the study is restricted to Category A travel agents only in Greater Cairo. Third, examining the antecedents of ability, motivation and opportunity seeking to transfer knowledge is also important.
Practical implications
It is important for travel agents, owners, managers and employees to acknowledge absorptive capacity as a critical component for organizations to sustain, grow and compete. Travel agents can also take steps to develop their employees’ absorptive capacity. Doing so would further enhance the success of knowledge, employees and travel agents’ performance. Also, travel agents’ top management has to ensure their employees’ absorbing knowledge, identifying and recognizing external knowledge, processing and understanding it, combining it with existing knowledge and applying the new knowledge to commercial ends. Hence, the development of absorptive capacity contributes to a travel agent’s achievement of competitive advantage.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by expanding the extant literature on knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity by investigating the influence of travel agents’ manager competencies – ability, motivation and opportunity seeking – for knowledge transfer in the Egyptian context. In addition, it investigates the direct effects of the three dimensions of travel agents’ manager competencies – ability, motivation and opportunity seeking – for knowledge transfer. Finally, the paper investigates how employee’s absorptive capacity moderates the effects of managers’ competencies on knowledge received by the employees and moderates the effects of knowledge received by the employees on travel agents’ performance
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Khuram Shahzad, Pia Arenius, Alan Muller, Muhammad Athar Rasheed and Sami Ullah Bajwa
The purpose of this paper is to explore the black box between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and innovation performance in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the black box between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and innovation performance in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Through application of the ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) framework, the study examines the mediating roles of innovation-specific ability, motivation and voice behaviors between HPWS and SMEs’ innovation performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses are tested on data collected through a self-administered questionnaire from 237 SMEs in Pakistan.
Findings
Findings indicate that human capital, motivation and employee voice fully mediate the relationship between HPWS and innovation performance in SMEs.
Research limitations/implications
The cross-sectional research design and self-reported measures warrant caution for the interpretation of findings. Future research may consider a longitudinal research design and objective measures.
Practical implications
SMEs need to invest in the adoption and implementation of HPWS that will develop innovation-specific abilities, motivation and voice behaviors simultaneously among employees that will lead to higher innovation performance.
Originality/value
This is the first study of its kind utilizing an AMO framework to investigate the underlying mechanism through which HPWS affect innovation performance in SMEs.
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Ying Yang, Biao Yang, George Onofrei, Hung Nguyen and Elena Hlaciuc
This study aims to delve into the mechanisms through which managers can enhance employee participation effectively.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to delve into the mechanisms through which managers can enhance employee participation effectively.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) framework to identify the interrelationships among various drivers. Different levels of Continuous Improvement (CI) maturity were also considered to assess the effectiveness of these drivers on employee participation. An in-depth case study was conducted, involving the selection of four business units from a multinational manufacturer in Germany to represent varying levels of CI maturity.
Findings
This study uncovered intermediary variables that mediate the impact of drivers on the high-level MOA variables. It also revealed how the effectiveness of these drivers varies across different levels of CI maturity.
Originality/value
While different facets of CI have been scrutinized, the importance of employee participation stands out as pivotal for achieving enduring and meaningful progress. Despite this recognition, many business organizations continue to grasp with the challenge of motivating their employees to actively engage in CI initiatives. This study extends the applicability of the MOA framework and enriches the CI literature by offering deeper insights into the behavioural perspectives of employees. In practical terms, the findings of this study provide valuable guidance to decision-makers and HR department on staff training and development, enabling them to formulate more effective strategies aimed at fostering and augmenting employee participation in CI endeavours.
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Karen Pak, Dorien Kooij, Annet H. De Lange, Maria Christina Meyers and Marc van Veldhoven
Employees need a sustainable career to prolong their working lives. The ability, motivation and opportunity to work form an important basis for sustainable careers across the…
Abstract
Purpose
Employees need a sustainable career to prolong their working lives. The ability, motivation and opportunity to work form an important basis for sustainable careers across the lifespan. However, over the lifespan of their careers employees are likely to experience several career shocks (e.g. becoming chronically ill or being fired) which might result in unsustainable trajectories. This study aims to contribute to the literature on sustainable careers by unraveling the process through which careers shocks relate to career (un)sustainability and what role perceptions of human resource practices play in the process.
Design/methodology/approach
Thirty-three in-depth retrospective interviews with participants of 50 years and older were conducted and analyzed using a template analysis.
Findings
Results showed that career shocks influence career sustainability through a process of changes in demands or changes in resources, which in turn, relate to changes in person–job fit. When person-job–fit diminished, the ability, motivation and opportunity to continue working decreased, whereas when person–job fit improved, the ability, motivation and opportunity to continue working improved as well. Organizations appear to be able to diminish the negative consequences of career shocks by offering job resources such as HR practices in response to career shocks.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of this study is the retrospective nature of the interviews, which could have resulted in recollection bias.
Practical implications
This study gives HRM practitioners insight into the HR practices that are effective in overcoming career shocks.
Originality/value
This study extends existing literature by including career shocks as possible predictors of sustainable careers.
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Dmitri Sokolov and Elena Zavyalova
While prior research suggests that human resource management (HRM) practices are crucial drivers of a firms' intellectual capital, few studies have tried to deconstruct this…
Abstract
Purpose
While prior research suggests that human resource management (HRM) practices are crucial drivers of a firms' intellectual capital, few studies have tried to deconstruct this relationship and investigate how HRM practices specifically affect intellectual capital resources. Furthermore, prior research treated this relationship as universal and rarely tried to introduce important contingent factors that may alter the mechanisms involved in how HRM practices influence firms' intellectual capital. In this study, the authors examine the relationships between the ability-, motivation- and opportunity-enhancing dimensions of HRM systems and human, social and structural capital and investigate how companies' codification and personalization knowledge management (KM) strategies may alter these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected using a telephone survey of 215 knowledge-intensive companies operating in Russia. The paper utilizes partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS–SEM) to evaluate the measurement model and test hypothesized relationships.
Findings
The findings indicate positive relationships between ability-enhancing practices and firms' human capital between motivation-enhancing practices and firms' human and social capital and between opportunity-enhancing practices and firms' social and structural capital. The authors’ results reveal the limited moderating role of KM strategies in the relationships between HRM and intellectual capital. While a personalization strategy had no impact on any of the proposed relationships, a codification strategy positively moderated the relationship between opportunity-enhancing HRM practices and firms' structural capital.
Originality/value
The study expands the debates in strategic HRM literature by looking “inside” the HRM–intellectual capital relationship. Additionally, the authors’ findings reveal the complexity of the contingent effect that KM strategies of codification and personalization have on the relationship between HRM practices and intellectual capital. Although some of the relationships were not moderated by the KM strategy of the firm, the HRM–intellectual capital relationship cannot be considered fully universal.
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Aneeqa Zreen, Abu Bakar Bin Abdul Hamid, Mohsin Raza, Nagina Kanwal and Rimsha Khalid
This study aims to examine the influence of performance appraisal on Innovative work behavior of employees in public sector universities of Pakistan, by using the Ability…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the influence of performance appraisal on Innovative work behavior of employees in public sector universities of Pakistan, by using the Ability, Motivation, and Opportunity framework.
Design/methodology/approach
A newly developed framework has been created to explore how performance appraisal, self-efficacy, and organizational climate influence employees' innovative work behavior. The study collected data using a self-administered questionnaire from employees who work in public universities in Pakistan.
Findings
The findings of this study revealed a positive correlation between performance appraisal and innovative work behavior. It is observed that self-efficacy mediates the relationship between performance appraisal and innovative work behavior and organizational climate moderates the relationship between self-efficacy and innovative work behavior.
Originality/value
The current study is novel and unique for several reasons. But the main contribution of this study is the validation of self-efficacy's mediating impact on innovative work behavior as well as the validity of the organizational climate as moderating effect in Pakistan’s public sector universities, where a large number of students have been enrolled and they can get advantage from their teacher's improved innovative behavior.
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S. Mahdi Hosseini and Peyman Akhavan
This paper aims to develop a model for selecting project team members. In this model, while knowledge sharing among individuals is maximized, the project costs and the workload…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop a model for selecting project team members. In this model, while knowledge sharing among individuals is maximized, the project costs and the workload balance among employees are also optimized.
Design/methodology/approach
The problem of project team formation is formulated as a fuzzy multi-objective 0-1 integer programming model. Afterward, to deal with uncertainty in the decision-making on the candidates’ abilities and the project requirements, the fuzzy multi-objective chance-constrained programming approach is adopted. Finally, by combining the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II and the fuzzy simulation algorithms, a method is proposed to solve the problem.
Findings
The computational results of the proposed model in a case study of project team formation in a large Iranian company from the shipbuilding industry evidently demonstrated its effectiveness in providing Pareto-optimal solutions for the team composition.
Originality/value
Seemingly for the first time, this paper develops a model to optimize knowledge sharing and improve the project efficiency through the selection of appropriate project team members.
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Achutha Jois and Somnath Chakrabarti
The education services sector faces ever-changing global market dynamics with creative disruptions. Building knowledge brands can push the higher education sector beyond its…
Abstract
Purpose
The education services sector faces ever-changing global market dynamics with creative disruptions. Building knowledge brands can push the higher education sector beyond its geographical boundaries into the global arena. This study aims to identify key constructs, their theoretical background and dimensions that aid in building a global knowledge brand. The authors' research focuses on adapting and validating scales for global knowledge and education services brands from well-established academic literature.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have adopted a mixed methodology approach and a systematic literature review. Authors interviewed 18 subject matter experts as part of content and face validity to arrive at select constructs, dimensions and items. Quantitative methods with random sampling were adopted as the primary methodology. Initially, the survey was administered to 390 students to test preliminary results. The survey was also administered to 5,112 students at a later part of this study. Valid responses stood at 3,244 with a 63% response rate. Further, the authors conducted confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test the reliability and validity of scales. This study analyzed composite reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity to finalize items for scales. The authors also validated the hypotheses based on the discriminant validity assessment scores.
Findings
Authors' key research findings are that academic stimulus, campus infrastructure and student intent play a significant role in campus culture and events design and experience at campus. Authors were able to bring out 16 key constructs and 55 critical dimensions vital to global education services brand building. This study also adapted and validated 99 items that meet construct validity and composite reliability criteria. This study also highlights that constructs such as student intent, academic stimulus, campus infrastructure scalability, selection mechanism, pedagogical content knowledge, brand identity, events experience and campus culture play a vital role in global brand recognition.
Research limitations/implications
The authors' work is fairly generalizable to education services and the higher education sector. However, this study must be extrapolated and empirically validated in other industry sectors. The research implications of this study are that it aided the authors in building theoretical background for student brand loyalty theory, student expectation theory and study loyalty theory. This study adds to the body of knowledge by contributing to theoretical concepts on students, knowledge culture, events, infrastructure and branding. Researchers can adopt the scales proposed in this study to build research models in higher education branding. This study acts as a catalyst for building theories in education services areas. Researchers can delve deep into proposed research aspects of campus infrastructure, knowledge infrastructure, campus knowledge culture, events design and events experience.
Practical implications
This study aids educators and brand managers to develop global education services and optimize their effort and budget. Administrators in the education services sector must focus on practical aspects of student perception, campus infrastructure, culture and events experience. Practically administrators can reorient their efforts based on this study to achieve global brand recognition.
Social implications
This study highlights that students are not customers but are co-creators of value in the education sector. This study provides scales and dimensions needed to build co-creation frameworks and models.
Originality/value
Most research in higher education branding has not covered wider aspects of global brand building. Existing theories proposed in higher education and education services articles cover only narrower aspects of campus infrastructure, culture, events design and branding. This study presents a comprehensive list of critical factors that play a vital role in global knowledge brand building. This study highlights the constructs and scales integral to building a global education services brand.
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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Based on research from the manufacturing industry in Pakistan, the authors find that high-involvement HR practices have a direct positive impact on individual employee functional flexibility and innovative workplace behavior
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
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Nosheen Fatima Warraich, Zoonash Riaz and Irfan Ali
Knowledge is considered an asset for any organization. To distribute knowledge and expertise among stakeholders of an organization, there is a need to develop knowledge sharing…
Abstract
Purpose
Knowledge is considered an asset for any organization. To distribute knowledge and expertise among stakeholders of an organization, there is a need to develop knowledge sharing (KS) culture. However, different factors affect KS. This study aims to identify the influence of trustworthiness (trust, ability, benevolence and integrity) and motivation and reward on KS attitudes and intentions of law students.
Design/methodology/approach
The objectives of the study were achieved by using a quantitative research design. Law students of the colleges affiliated with Punjab University were the population for the present research. The sampling frame of the study was all law colleges, and data was collected through a convenient sampling technique. Data was collected through personal visits to sampled colleges. Questionnaires were circulated among 330 respondents and two hundred valid responses were collected with a 61% response rate. Descriptive analysis was completed using SPSS and path analysis was measured through SmartPLS. The quality of the measurement model was assessed and then hypotheses were tested.
Findings
Findings revealed that there was no impact of trustworthiness (trust, ability, benevolence and integrity) on the KS attitude of students. However, motivation and rewards significantly impacted (ß = 0.590; p > 0.01) the KS attitudes. KS attitude also has a significant impact on KS intentions (ß = 0.560; p > 0.01).
Originality/value
The current study is a valuable addition to the literature by providing the impact of trustworthiness, motivation and reward on law students’ KS intentions and attitudes in developing countries. The present study also provides insights for authorities and decision-makers in making decisions regarding the development of KS among students.
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