Ethics and taxation : a cross-national comparison of UK and Turkish firms

This paper investigates responses to tax related ethical issues facing busines

Operations capability, productivity and business performance: the moderating effect of environmental dynamism

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between operations capability, productivity and business performance in the context of environmental dynamism. Design/methodology/approach – A proposed conceptual framework grounded in the resourcebased view (RBV) and dynamic capability view (DCV) is analysed using archival data from 193 automakers in the UK. Findings – The results show that operations capability, as an important dynamic capability, has a significant positive effect on productivity, which in turn leads to improved business performance. The results also suggest that productivity fully mediates the relationship between operations capability and business performance, and that environmental dynamism significantly moderates the relationship between operations capability and productivity. Practical implications – The research findings provide practical insights that will help managers develop operations capability to gain greater productivity and business performance in a dynamic environment

The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility Activity Toward Customer Loyalty Through Improvement of Quality of Life in Urban Area

The success of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities can create competitive advantage by influencing customer responses to firms’ offering. Customer’s awareness of CSR activity will influence their loyalty through their perception that activity can improve society’s quality of life where the CSR activities were implemented. The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between CSR awareness and loyalty that mediated by CSR Belief, Company Ability Belief, Quality of Life, and Company Reputation using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The result shows little differrences among five firms/brands as the object of the research, that are beverage, soap, car, lubricant, and cigarette. This result has an implication for the firm that CSR activities are not just cost center activities, but also can create reputation, and in the long run can create customer loyalty that contributes to firm’s financial benefit

Resource determinants of strategy and performance: the case of British exporters

This study adopts the RBV of the firm in order to identify critical advantage-generating resources and capabilities with strong positive export strategy and performance implications. The proposed export performance model is tested using a structural equation modeling approach on a sample of 356 British exporters. We examine the individual as well as the concurrent (simultaneous) direct and indirect effects of five resource bundles on export performance. We find that four resources/capabilities: managerial, knowledge, planning, and technology, have a significant positive direct effect on export performance, while relational and physical resources exhibited no unique positive effect. We also find that the firm’s export strategy mediates the resource-performance nexus in the case of managerial and knowledge-based resources. The theoretical and methodological grounding of this study contributes to the advancement of export related research by providing better specification of the nature of the effects – direct or indirect – of particular resource factors on export performance

Prior Experience and Export Performance: The Missing Link of Global Vision

Despite the scholarly interest in the prior experience of entrepreneurs expressed by the field of International Entrepreneurship, empirical investigation linking prior experience with international performance leads to inconclusive and conflicting results. Based on the concept of human capital and resource-based theory, this study provides a supplementary explanation by integrating global vision —the cognitive capital of the entrepreneur related to an international orientation— into this relationship. The study hypothesises that there is no direct relationship between entrepreneurs’ prior experience and export performance; rather, this relationship is mediated by an entrepreneur’s global vision. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling, drawing on a sample of 332 early internationalising SMEs in Bangladesh. To overcome the cognitive inertia resulting from prior experiences, entrepreneurs must focus on their cognitive capabilities, in particular the ability to see the world through a global lens. In order to improve export performance, policymakers must also provide additional support to strengthen entrepreneurs’ global vision

Strategic decision-making processes as a mediator of the effect of board characteristics on company innovation: A study of publicly-listed firms in Greece

Based on the Upper Echelons Theory that suggests the demographic characteristics of executives are linked to organisational processes and outcomes, the paper proposes that strategic decision-making processes mediate the relationship between board members’ demographic characteristics and corporate innovation relating to product, process and organization. Based on questionnaires completed by 101 CEOs of Greek listed firms, the findings confirm that reporting and formalization as decision processes mediate the effect of board characteristics on innovation. Sound financial and formal mechanisms encourage Greek executives to take risks and invest in product or service innovation. Findings show that the executives’ educational level is positively associated with financial reporting and rule formalization activities due to the changes that have been occurred in the Greek education system over recent decades. Functional background is found to influence only financial reporting activities. Finally, the managerial implications of this study are discussed

Beginning to Unlock the Black Box in the HR Firm Performance Relationship: The Impact of HR Practices on Employee Attitudes and Employee Outcomes

Theoretical models in strategic human resource management research commonly include employee attitudes and behaviors as key mediating links between human resource practices and firm performance. However, almost all empirical SHRM work to date has ignored the mediating hypothesis and merely examined the direct relationship between HR practices and firm outcomes. The purpose of this study is to test the relationship between HR practices and employee attitudes and behaviors. Using a sample of 174 independent work groups, we examined the relationship between HR practices and collective behaviors (turnover and absenteeism) mediated by collective attitudes (job satisfaction and commitment). Results indicate attitudes partially mediate the relationship between HR practices and employee behaviors. The direct and indirect relationships identified in this study support the notion that attitudes and behaviors play a mediating role between HR practices and firm outcomes. These findings illustrate the varying impacts of HR practices and the importance of utilizing multilevel theory and methods

The Role of Management Practices in Closing the Productivity Gap

There is no doubt that management practices are linked to the productivity and performance of a company. However, research findings are mixed. This paper provides a multi-disciplinary review of the current evidence of such a relationship and offers suggestions for further exploration. We provide an extensive review of the literature in terms of research findings from studies that have been trying to measure and understand the impact that individual management practices and clusters of management practices have on productivity at different levels of analysis. We focus our review on Operations Management (om) and Human Resource Management (hrm) practices as well as joint applications of these practices. In conclusion, we can say that taken as a whole, the research findings are equivocal. Some studies have found a positive relationship between the adoption of management practices and productivity, some negative and some no association whatsoever. We believe that the lack of universal consensus on the effect of the adoption of complementary management practices might be driven either by measurement issues or by the level of analysis. Consequently, there is a need for further research. In particular, for a multi-level approach from the lowest possible level of aggregation up to the firm-level of analysis in order to assess the impact of management practices upon the productivity of firms

Commitment-based HR practices and organizational performance : the mediating role of organizational learning capability and social capital

The main objectives of this study were to investigate (a) the relationship between commitment-based HR practices (e.g. selection, compensation, training and development) and organizational performance, organizational learning capability, and organizational social capital; (b) the relationship between organizational learning capability and organizational performance; (c) the relationship between organizational social capital and organizational performance; and (d) the mediating role of organizational learning capability and organizational social capital on the relationship between commitment-based HR practices and organizational performance. Specifically, this study hypothesized that (a) commitment-based HR practices, organizational learning capability and organizational social capital relationship are positively related to organizational performance and (b) the relationship between commitment-based HR practices and organizational performance is mediated by organizational learning capability and organizational social capital. To test the hypotheses, the Partial Least Square – Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) statistical technique was employed to analyze the survey data collected from 401 Japanese MNCs organizations in Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Johor. The results of the study showed that (a) commitment- based HR practices are positively related to organizational performance, organizational learning capability and organizational social capital; (b) organizational learning capability has no influence on organizational performance; (c) organizational social capital is positively related to organizational performance; and (d) organizational learning capability does not mediate the relationship between commitment-based HR practices and organizational performance, and organizational social capital fully mediates the relationship between commitment-based HR practices and organizational performance. Theoretically, the study contributes to knowledge by providing support for the importance of commitment-based HR practices and the mediating role of organizational social capital which influence the organizational performance of Japanese MNCs in Malaysia. Practically, this study provides guidelines to policy-makers and HR practitioners to understand that business success depends on the organization’s capabilities and abilities to utilize its human resources to achieve its business objectives and goals. The result of this study is able to offer evidence that commitment-based HR practices help promote mutual and long-term relationships in the organization at all levels. Hence, HR practitioners need to institute HR practices that encourage network-building relationships characterized by trust, cooperation and commitment towards the organization