The Viability of Alternative Call Center Production Models

[Excerpt] The central question of this paper is whether a mass customization strategy coupled with high involvement work practices is an economically viable model for service and sales call centers. If so, under what conditions and why? To answer these questions, in the next section, we describe alternative models of call center management. In section III, we present a conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between management practices, workers reactions to those practices, and performance outcomes. We then review empirical evidence on these relationships, focusing primarily on studies of call centers or related service workplaces. In section IV, we draw on evidence from two recent quantitative studies of call centers to examine the performance outcomes of high involvement practices in this context. We close with a discussion and critique of existing evidence and suggestions for future research

THE IMPACT OF STRATEGIC PURCHASING TO THE SUPPLIER INVOLVEMENT THROUGH COMMUNICATION, COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION IN SMAAL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

In recent times, the theory of purchasing and supply operations has been widely studied under a variety of labels and for a number of reasons. Realizing competitive advantage from organizational alignment and relation to materials supply is for a form of backward integration. In the process, the manufacturing organization obeys demands from distributors; purchasing is in turn re-structured and managed to achieve improved customer value for manufacturing; thereafter, the process addresses the suppliers to the organization (external integration) typically involving supplier rationalization and the introduction of supplier evaluation systems. Based on previous research, there was finding that strategic purchasing has been impact to communication, coordination and collaboration with supplier which is increase supplier involvement. According to a survey 100 respondent which was conducted by means questionnaires and 94 completed questionnaires were returned. Six responses were considered incomplete and had to be discarded, and this left 86 valid responses. This study result are strategic purchasing has a positive significant effect to communication is 0.314; positive significant effect to coordination is 0.336; and positive significant effect collaboration is 0.365. Communication and Collaboration directly will bring significant contribution to supplier involvement, but coordination is not directly. Key words: Strategic purchasing, communication, collaboration, coordination, supplier involvement

Internationalization of professional service firms

This chapter examines the internationalization of Professional Service Firms (PSFs), outlining its drivers, varying forms, and organizational implications. It argues that conventional internationalization theory does not apply straightforwardly to PSFs. The authors identify three key sources of PSF distinctiveness—governance, clients, and knowledge—and show how these generate not only differences between PSFs and other types of organizations but also heterogeneity amongst PSFs themselves. Based on this, four different forms of PSF internationalization are identified—network, project, federal, and transnational—and the authors note that scholarly interest has mostly focused on the last two of these. The chapter highlights change towards the transnational model as an underlying theme in PSF research. It finds little convincing evidence that this model has been successfully implemented and it is argued that, in general, PSFs are better understood as federal structures controlled by a few powerful offices than as transnational enterprises

Value creation through HR shared services: towards a conceptual framework

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to derive a measure for the performance of human resource shared service providers (HR SSPs) and then to develop a theoretical framework that conceptualises their performance.\ud \ud Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper starts from the HR shared services argument and integrates this with the knowledge-based view of the firm and the concept of intellectual capital.\ud \ud Findings – We recommend measuring HR SSP performance as HR value, referring to the ratio between use value and exchange value, that together reflect both transactional and transformational HR value. We argue that transactional HR value directly flows from the organisational capital in HR SSPs, whereas human and social capitals enable them to leverage their organisational capital for HR value creation. We argue that the human capital of HR SSPs has a direct effect on transformational HR value creation, while their social and organisational capitals positively moderate this relationship.\ud \ud Originality/value – The suggested measure paves the way for operationalising and measuring the performance of HR shared services providers. This paper offers testable propositions for the relationships between intellectual capital and the performance of HR shared service providers. These contributions could assist future research to move beyond the descriptive nature that characterises the existing literature

The offshoring of financial services : a reassessment

Operating in increasingly competitive market environment, financial services companies are engaged in international re-engineering of business processes mirroring developments in manufacturing over the past four decades. Drawing upon interviews conducted with senior managers and partners from two leading international banks, a multinational 'consumables' provider and a leading finance consultancy, as well as extensive published surveys, we examine the distinctive 'anatomy' of offshoring in financial services, and industry which also manifests a high degree of geographical concentration for 'higher order' functions. We conclude that the reality of process re-engineering in the sector has frequently failed to meet business objectives, and has run the risk of creating 'backlash' from employees in both home and host environments

Absorptive capacity and relationship learning mechanisms as complementary drivers of green innovation performance

This paper aims to explore in depth how internal and external knowledge-based drivers actually affect the firms\u2019 green innovation performance. Subsequently, this study analyzes the relationships between absorptive capacity (internal knowledge-based driver), relationship learning (external knowledge-based driver) and green innovation performance. This study relies on a sample of 112 firms belonging to the Spanish automotive components manufacturing sector (ACMS) and uses partial least squares path modeling to test the hypotheses proposed. The empirical results show that both absorptive capacity and relationship learning exert a significant positive effect on the dependent variable and that relationship learning moderates the link between absorptive capacity and green innovation performance. This paper presents some limitations with respect to the particular sector (i.e. the ACMS) and geographical context (Spain). For this reason, researchers must be thoughtful while generalizing these results to distinct scenarios. Managers should devote more time and resources to reinforce their absorptive capacity as an important strategic tool to generate new knowledge and hence foster green innovation performance in manufacturing industries. The paper shows the importance of encouraging decision-makers to cultivate and rely on relationship learning mechanisms with their main stakeholders and to acquire the necessary information and knowledge that might be valuable in the maturity of green innovations. This study proposes that relationship learning plays a moderating role in the relationship between absorptive capacity and green innovation performance

The institutional character of computerized information systems

We examine how important social and technical choices become part of the history of a computer-based information system (CB/SJ and embedded in the social structure which supports its development and use. These elements of a CBIS can be organized in specific ways to enhance its usability and performance. Paradoxically, they can also constrain future implementations and post-implementations.We argue that CBIS developed from complex, interdependent social and technical choices should be conceptualized in terms of their institutional characteristics, as well as their information-processing characteristics. The social system which supports the development and operation of a CBIS is one major element whose institutional characteristics can effectively support routine activities while impeding substantial innovation. Characterizing CBIS as institutions is important for several reasons: (1) the usability of CBIS is more critical than the abstract information-processing capabilities of the underlying technology; (2) CBIS that are well-used and have stable social structures are more difficult to replace than those with less developed social structures and fewer participants; (3) CBIS vary from one social setting to another according to the ways in which they are organized and embedded in organized social systems. These ideas are illustrated with the case study of a failed attempt to convert a complex inventory control system in a medium-sized manufacturing firm

HRM in Service: The Contingencies Abound

[Excerpt] Despite the rapid growth in the diversity of service consumers—both abroad and domestically—theoretical developments regarding this diversity in the service world have lagged far behind those that have characterized the world of manufacturing. With regard to international services, Knight (1999) conducted a review of the literature and concluded that there is an alarming paucity of research on international services management despite the importance of services in the global economy. A large proportion of the research that has been conducted on international services has focused on marketing issues rather than human resource management (HRM) issues. This means that little is known about the cross-cultural applicability of service HRM theories, which have hitherto been developed and tested almost exclusively within the West (mostly within the U.S. context). Similarly, there has been little research on the HRM implications of the growing diversity of service consumers within the U.S. domestic market. Again, much of the research focuses on the challenges associated with simultaneously marketing services to a multicultural customer base, with little or no work focusing on the implications of these challenges for HRM in service firms. Thus, the purpose of our chapter is to introduce a preliminary discussion of the HRM implications of both increased internationalization and domestic diversity for service firms. We begin by presenting a brief synthesis of the services management literature that has been established to date. Readers will note in the synthesis that a number of contingencies with regard to HRM practices have already been introduced especially via definitions of what constitutes service and the role of customers in service production and delivery. We then discuss the potential cross-cultural applicability of these services management principles abroad, and when doing so, we focus primarily on the aspects of services management theories that are laden with Western cultural principles. Next, we discuss parallel challenges faced by service firms as a result of increased diversity within the domestic marketplace and we conclude with some thoughts about the necessity to more explicitly explore the contingent nature of HRM practices

Increasing the effectiveness of mergers and acquisitions within the management consulting industry

School of Managemen

Labor and Urban Crisis in Buffalo, New York: Building a High Road Infrastructure

With inequality growing and competitive market forces on the march, can unions play a constructive role in solving the problems of capitalist economic development? Should they try? In this study of coalition building in Buffalo, New York we find that regular procedures of problem solving involving multiple coalition partners – what we call a high-road social infrastructure – have developed in the city. We discuss the progression of union approaches to economic development, including in-plant and regional labor-management partnership, community coalitions and the creation of labor-led nonprofit organizations. In response to long-term economic and social crisis, a group of union leaders has begun carrying out projects to help attract investment from outside the region and improve the quality of jobs in the region. Coalition-building, however, is hampered by uncertainty about the best union strategy, enmity from some business and political elites, and the scale of the region’s long-term structural problems