The sources of management innovation: when firms introduce new management practices

Management innovation is the introduction of management practices new to the firm and intended to enhance firm performance. Building on the organizational reference group literature, this article shows that management innovation is a consequence of a firm's internal context and of the external search for new knowledge. Furthermore the article demonstrates a trade-off between context and search, in that there is a negative effect on management innovation associated with their joint occurrence. Finally the article shows that management innovation is positively associated with firm performance in the form of subsequent productivity growth

Performance Measurement Systems in Theatres: The Case of the Municipal Theatre of Ferrara

In recent years, cultural organisations have introduced and tested new management tools to achieve their institutional goals of efficiency, effectiveness and social cohesion. This process has been widely linked to New Public Management for public sector cultural organisations, but the introduction of these tools has been an interesting process in private cultural organisations too. This paper aims at considering more specifically one kind of management tools: performance measurement systems. Their goal is to give to the management a set of information of quantitative and qualitative nature that could guide the strategic choices in the long-term. With this work, we will consider the real possibilities of application of a good performance measurement system in cultural organisations, with a particular focus on theatres. Our research starts with the analysis of the theoretical framework of performance measurement systems and theatres management. The theoretical approach is supported by the analysis of a case study, the Municipal Theatre of Ferrara (Italy). In this way, we will try to verify and discuss opportunities and critical points implied by the introduction of a performance measurement system in theatres.New Public Management; Management Tools; Performance Measurement; Theatres; Municipal Theatre of Ferrara

Visual Performance Management: Does it work in Public Service Organisations?

Visual Performance Management (VPM) has been prominent within Lean manufacturing environments for a number of decades, but its use has only recently started to emerge in service organisations. We consider the transition of VPM approaches to service environments and, utilising a case study method with two public service organisations, we explore four aspects of visual performance implementation. We start by exploring the strategic drivers for VPM adoption, the transparency of VPM, the performance management approach used, and changes in organisational effectiveness resulting from the introduction of VPM. Findings indicate that VPM approaches do work within public service environments, and have a tangible impact on management, but strategic alignment and data integrity are common concerns, and should be considered essential prerequisites

In brief: performance pay for teachers: is it working?.

The introduction of performance-related pay in England's schools has had a generally bad press. But David Marsden and Richard Belfield find that it is starting to have a positive impact both on school management and pupils' academic achievements.

Enhancing IT investments productivity: Integrating network QOS and it indirect costs

Increasing productivity is considered one of the major driving factors for a successful business. From an Information Technology (IT) infrastructure perspective, obtaining an optimised performance of resources is expected to improve productivity. From a technical viewpoint, the introduction of Quality of Service (QoS) models have been perceived to optimise the performance of the organisation network backbone. These models aim to provide an acceptable level of service assurance to the newly introduced applications and services such as voice and video. From a management viewpoint, the proper management of IT investments indirect costs can lead to a reduction of the overall cost portfolio. Consequently, both benefits and productivity increase are likely to be realised. This paper introduces network QoS strategy within the hierarchy of business infrastructure. In addition, it aims to identify the relationship between network QoS and IT indirect costs. Such integration demonstrates how network QoS strategy can be used to control IT indirect costs as well as enhancing network performance

Does professional knowledge management improve innovation performance at the firm level?

The concept of knowledge has gained in interest since industrialized economics have induced a shift in importance from labor, capital and natural resources towards intellectual resources. This study investigates how the management of knowledge influences the innovation performance of a firm. While former studies mainly focused on knowledge management cycles, we distinguish different types of knowledge management techniques. It turns out that there is a difference between three knowledge management techniques and their influence on product and process innovation. The ability to source external knowledge positively affects the firm's introduction of new products and products new to the market. For obtaining cost reductions it is effective to stimulate employees to share knowledge. The availability of a codified knowledge management policy also positively affects the cost reduction possibilities of a firm. These results indicate that it is important for a firm to carefully select the tools of knowledge management in function of the kind of technical innovation it wants to proceed. --Knowledge management,innovation performance

Does professional knowledge management improve innovation performance at the firm level?.

The concept of knowledge has gained in interest since industrialized economics have induced a shift in importance from labor, capital and natural resources towards intellectual resources. This study investigates how the management of knowledge influences the innovation performance of a firm. While former studies mainly focused on knowledge management cycles, we distinguish different types of knowledge management techniques. It turns out that there is a difference between three knowledge management techniques and their influence on product and process innovation. The ability to source external knowledge positively affects the firm’s introduction of new products and products new to the market. For obtaining cost reductions it is effective to stimulate employees to share knowledge. The availability of a codified knowledge management policy also positively affects the cost reduction possibilities of a firm. These results indicate that it is important for a firm to carefully select the tools of knowledge management in function of the kind of technical innovation it wants to proceed.Knowledge management; innovation performance;

Empirical studies of innovation in the knowledge driven economy

This introduction to a special issue of EINT surveys a collection of ten papers that study various aspects of innovation and knowledge management and their impact on performance at the firm level for a number of countries. These studies have been conducted using data drawn from innovation surveys combined with data from a number of other sources. The issue illustrates the value of these surveys in improving our understanding of innovation in firms and raises a number of questions for future work in this area.innovation, knowledge management, knowledge economy, firm performance

The Effect of Employee Involvment on Firm Performance: Evidence from an Econometric Case Study

We provide some of the most reliable evidence to date on the direct impact of employee involvement through participatory arrangements such as teams on business performance. The data we use are extraordinary --daily data for rejection, production and downtime rates for all operators in a single plant during a 35 month period, almost 53,000 observations. Our key findings are that: (i) membership in offline teams initially enhances individual productivity by about 3% and reduces rejection rates by more than 25%; (ii) these improvements are dissipated, typically at a rate of 10 to 16% per 100 working days; (iii) the introduction of teams is initially accompanied by increased rates of downtime and these costs diminish over time. In addition: (iv) the performance-enhancing effects of team membership are greater and more long-lasting for team members who are solicited by management to join teams; similar relationships exist for more educated team members. These findings, which are best interpreted as lower bound estimates of the effects of teams, are consistent with the diverse hypotheses including propositions that: (i) employee involvement will produce improved enterprise performance through diverse channels including enhanced discretionary effort by employees; (ii) various kinds of complementarities accompany many changes in organizational design (such as between teams and formal education); (iii) the introduction of high performance workplace practices are best viewed as investments, though there are significant learning effects; (iv) differences in performance for team members solicited by mangers compared to those who volunteer are consistent with various hypotheses including management signaling and opportunistic behavior by employees, but inconsistent with hypotheses based on Hawthorne effectshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39998/2/wp612.pd

Pedagogy and new power relationships

Changes in the context of Higher Education have led to lecturers being disenfranchised. Both the introduction of new managerialism and developments in pedagogy have contributed to this process. On the one hand, performance management and the introduction of teaching and learning strategies have put issues of pedagogy and curriculum development into the realms of strategic management. On the other, student-centred learning has usurped teacher-centred models of education. In this paper, reviews of both of these trends are presented. Based on these, a benchmarking tool has been developed which enables the identification and monitoring of the way that the locus of control for various teaching-related activities has changed. This tool is then applied to the case of an MBA course that was transformed from a traditional to a distance format. The issues that arise from this case are discussed, and conclusions are drawn about the potential implications of “creeping managerialism ” in the context of Higher Education