2,057 research outputs found
Developing and Harnessing Software Technology in the South: The Roles of China, India, Brazil, and South Africa
Software technology is gaining prominence in national information technology (IT) strategies due to its huge potential for socioeconomic development, particularly through the support it provides in the productive sectors of the economy, delivery of public services and engagement of citizens. In growing numbers of developing countries, software technology is also being leveraged for income generation from digital services and products. For instance, in recent years, India, Chile, the Philippines, Brazil, China, and Indonesia have emerged as important global players in the offshore software services industry, with India and China standing out as leaders. Cooperation between developing countries (south-south) in the area of software technology has also been growing; particularly in the application of software technology to agriculture, public administration and governance (e-governance), transportation and the society (knowledge society). The paper presents the current state of software technology in the south and specifically, the maturity of the software industries in China, India, Brazil, and South Africa (CIBS). It establishes profiles of different regions based on the level of education, quality of research and availability of e-infrastructure and e-applications for determining the potential of these regions in terms of growth and competitiveness in the global software industry. Further complementary analysis of country profiles produced country clusters, helping to identify potential collaboration scenarios for advancing software capacity in the south. Finally, the paper discusses how CIBS can pivot regional or inter-regional cooperation in software technology in the south.software technology, software industry, south-south cooperation, China, Brazil, India, South Africa
Trade Union Effectiveness in the UK Hospitality Sector: A Case Study Approach
This study investigates how union representation, management attitude, union membership, collective bargaining, and technological revolution affect trade union effectiveness in the UK hospitality industry. It specifically explores how internal organisational factors and trade union factors impact the effectiveness of trade unions in the UK hospitality sector, as well as how improvement in such effectiveness can benefit employers and employees in this sector.
An analysis of seven case studies of hotels in the UK was conducted, which included a total of 71 interviews with employees and hotel managers, seven meeting observations, and an analysis of documents from each hotel. All these data were analysed thematically using NVivo 12. Key findings revealed that two hotels were strongly unionised while the rest were weakly unionised. The unionised hotels had strong union representation, bargaining power and an adequate and growing union membership. The weakly unionised hotels had weak bargaining power and declining membership. Workers from weakly unionised hotels began to turn to management efficiency to seek resolutions for their concerns. Conversely, workers from strongly unionised hotels sought union representation to resolve their issues with the management. The study contributes a proposed conceptual framework of trade union effectiveness applied to the
seven case organisations
Identifying causal paths between health and socio-economic status: Evidence from European older workforce surveys
relationship. In addition, such a relationship takes place early in life and keeps on evolving over time so that both oneâs health and SES at a given point in time result from the cumulative effects of this spiral. Thus, only by simultaneously accounting for both pathways as well as for their dynamics would one be able to provide a clear picture of both the process of health accumulation and the dynamics of SES formation. We estimate a structural model where a variety of causal paths between different health dimensions and SES measures as well as their dynamics are simultaneously accounted for. This allows distinction between significant causal paths and insignificant ones, while accounting for endogeneity as well as for cofounders. We use the SOCIOLD survey where the targeted population is that of the older workforce (50 and older) from six EU countries (Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, the Netherlands and the UK). Our results show that (i) reverse causality is indeed a crucial issue: oneâs previous socio-economic status influences current health and previous health influences current socioeconomic status, (ii) there are cumulative effects in the sense that both health and socio-economic statuses depend on their past values and (iii) the results are sensitive to whether simultaneity is explicitly accounted for or not.Health status; Socio-economic status; Causal paths; Asymptotic least squares
Perceptions of Power: A Comparison of Perceptions of the Organizational Power of IT Departments
There is a gap in the literature concerning personal perceptions of one's own
power in organizations. Information Technology (IT) personnel are positioned to be an
excellent target group for researching this subject. Status Construction Theory (SCT),
Mintzberg's model of organizational structures, and Network Exchange Theory (NET)
provide a useful lens for considering the results of this exploratory study. Because power
is a widely contested term, a dimensional view of power was used in this study. Twelve
indicators of power were identified in the literature and used to create a quantitative
survey instrument. Survey participation was solicited online from 350 employees of a
small private university in the southwest with a 33% response rate (N=116). In addition,
qualitative interviews were conducted with 17 IT professionals and compared with the
survey results in a mixed methods approach.
The survey did not work as expected. A factorial analysis was used to examine
the survey results. However, the factors did not match the twelve power indicators as
expected. Also, because of the small sampling size of the survey site, differences between groups were not significant enough for comparison. However, two significant
factors did emerge which were interpreted as representing "respect" and "control",
indicating that IT personnel at the survey site may be respected for what they do and
recognized as having legitimate control of information systems. Even so, these factors of
respect and legitimate control do not translate into a perception of significant power
advantage for IT. The interview responses supported this conclusion.
It was found that for these participants, while IT personnel are in positions to be
more powerful members of their organizations, they typically do not seek out or take
advantage of such power. The predominant concern for IT, however, was not the
exercise of power per se, but rather having the influence to make the organization better.
This was evidenced by IT members feeling left out of key decision-making processes.
SCT, NET, and Mintzberg's organizational model offer several possibilities for
enhancing IT's power and influence by improving their professional status among
organizational members
Regulating work and welfare of the future: Towards a new gender contract?
This paper starts off by briefly considering some of the problems of future studies; it discusses how the origins and principles of the systems of regulation and security have generated different employment systems in Europe. The concept of employment systems allows us to identify how the future of work may well be managed in different ways according to the capacity and constraints of national and European actors. The paper focuses on the characteristics and changes in European regulatory systems of labour and social welfare. Two key developments are identified in these areas. First there are trends to decentralise collective bargaining and to encourage a trade off between labour flexibility and employment security. Second, there have been trends towards a decentralisation and outsourcing of state monopolies and attempts to develop new forms of caring. The prospects these trends imply for regulating the work of the future are discussed in relation to the development of a new social and gender contract. --
Rise and Fall of an Information Technology Outsourcing Program: A Qualitative Analysis of a Troubled Corporate Initiative
Information technology outsourcing (ITO) is a common business practice and a widely studied topic in academic literature. However, far less attention is paid to the implications and social dynamics of executivesâ pursuit of personal career achievement through the implementation of ITO programs. Focused mainly on gaining organizational power for career advancement and accomplishment, executives can create unintended consequences for their employees, their suppliers, their company, their shareholders, and their own careers.
This research focused on a large information technology outsourcing program from its inception to early implementation at a single Fortune 1000 firm. The time span covered was just over five years, which included the two years prior and more than three years of the initiativeâs lifespan. The data for this study included fifty-two interviews conducted with employees and executives over eighteen months as well as my personal observations and field notes. The uniqueness of this study compared to other published research stems from my dual role as both researcher and executive at the firm throughout this work.
The data informed a grounded theory of how and why the ITO initiative unfolded as it did, while giving equal voice to the employees and executives involved. The central theoretical premises of this analysis relied on Pierre Bourdieuâs concepts of habitus, capital, and fields in conjunction with Bruce Lincolnâs taxonomies and anomalies within social structures. The studyâs analysis was further informed by Brown and Duguidâs infocentrism, Erving Goffmanâs dramaturgy, impression management, and moral career, along with Thomas Kuhnâs paradigms within the structure of scientific revolutions, Jackallâs bureaucratic ethic and Harveyâs Abilene Paradox.
Analysis of the data identified the organizationâs habitus as a collection of visible and shadow social practices, mental models, and organizational rules for accumulating power. The habitus shaped employeesâ and executivesâ behaviors toward each other and toward their ITO provider. As this study ended, the ITO initiative was in its fourth year, significantly delayed, and its chances of success doubtful
Post-Implementation Benefits and Challenges of the Balanced Scorecard: Evidence from the Finance and Accounting Outsourcing Sector
The aim of this paper is to evaluate post implementation benefits and challenges of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in the Finance and Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) sector in Sri Lanka. The generic idea of the BSC presented by Norton and Kaplan in the year 1992, may not be universally appropriate to all companies, and as a result there may be challenges faced throughout and after the implementation process of this tool. Hence, this study will focus on specifically examining the benefits and challenges faced by FAO companies in the post-implementation stage and discharge strategies to overcome the identified challenges. The FAO sector is selected since there is a noticeable number of entities that seem to be facing difficulties in the post implementation stage of BSC resulting in either discontinuation of it or using haphazard practices. This study followed a quantitative approach and data were collected through questionnaires and document reviews. The study found that all respondents unanimously agreed on certain benefits, prevalent challenges and strategies to overcome identified challenges, for the success of the BSC. It was noted that while the BSC proves to deliver many benefits through its use, it may only be gained through careful implementation of the same. Also, it is important to consider many challenges prior to, during and after the course of the implementation and ensure that these are overcome through carefully devised strategies. Keywords: Balanced Scorecard, Benefits, Challenges, Strategies, Finance and Accounting Outsourcing, Sri Lanka DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/10-22-10 Publication date: November 30th 201
The Effect of Firm-specific Factors on Firms' Decisions to Invest in Exploration and Exploitation
Prior theoretical and empirical research emphasizes the importance of allocating investment between exploratory and exploitative R&D (March, 1991; Mudambi & Swift, 2014). However, the firm-specific factors that determine exploratory and exploitative R&D investment have remained largely unexplored. We attempt to address this research gap by examining the effects of inter-organizational relationships (innovation collaboration and external information sourcing), R&D personnel educational level and internationalization statuses (exporting and geographic scope) on firm investment in exploratory and exploitative R&D.
Building on the organizational learning theory, we argue that different firm-specific factors generate different effects on firm investment in exploratory and exploitative R&D because they stimulate different learning mechanisms. We empirically test the model by using panel data on more than 4000 firms from Technological Innovation Panel, which is a Community Innovation Survey-based data, for the period 2006-2011. Our findings show that the influence of a determinant on exploratory R&D investment may be different from its influence on exploitative R&D investment, and the determinants of exploratory R&D investment may differ from the determinants of exploitative R&D investment. These findings stress on the need for future research to be careful in extrapolating conclusions from analysis that studies a specific type of R&D investment into studies that analyze on another type of R&D investment or into studies that analyze on the overall R&D investment. The study contributes to organizational learning theory by identifying direct factors and moderators that facilitate firm investment in activities of organizational learning
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