Understanding Outsourcing Commitment—An Integrated Model Combining The Resoruce-Based View And Knowledge Management

The understanding on how a service provider’s (SP) process capabilities, in terms of aligning and adapting resources to deliver value to its service recipient (SR) in business process outsourcing (BPO), affect its commitment is limited. To address this, building on a strategic perspective and related theories such as the resource-based view and knowledge management, we develop a theoretical model and test it empirically. Specifically, we posit that a SP’s process capabilities, in terms of process alignment, offering flexibility, and partnering flexibility, positively affect its SR’s commitment and the above relationships is negatively moderated by the SR’s behavior control. Besides, we also examine the influence of interaction effect between antecedents of process capabilities on commitment, such as how does process alignment interact with its partnering flexibility and offering flexibility to affect commitment. Finally, we assess whether process capabilities are influenced by the SR’s absorptive capacity and the SP’s task-knowledge coordination. We test our model using survey data collected from 183 firms, supporting most proposed hypotheses. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of how to increase the value offered to a SR by levering resources, in terms of process capabilities and knowledge management

Factors affecting logistics service competencies: an empirical study of logistics service providers in China

Despite the growing literature on logistics service providers (LSPs), efforts to investigate the causal links between routine business processes and standard operations procedures (BP&SOPs), human resource management (HRM) practices, and logistics and supply chain (L&SC) competencies are limited. Responding to this challenge, this research explores the effects of three BP&SOPs and three HRM practices in nurturing three specific L&SC competencies against the backdrop of a structurally fragmented Chinese logistics service industry. Drawing on responses from 117 logistics firms to a questionnaire survey of LSPs in China conducted in 2009, this study developed a research model and formulated 36 hypotheses, linking three sets of BP&SOPs (i.e., processes for performance benchmarking, increasing responsiveness, and increasing flexibility) and three sets of HRM practices (i.e., performance management, training & development and reward management) to three distinctive L&SC competencies (i.e., positioning, distribution support and agility). The model also tested the moderating effects of Guanxi and information and communication technology (ICT) support on the relationships between the three sets of BP&SOPs and the three L&SC competencies. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to establish constructs representing dependent and independent variables. The formulated model was tested using hierarchical multiple regression analysis, controlling for the effects of firm size, physical resources and ICT. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis confirmed 10 of the hypotheses, but did not support the remaining, unveiling some unexpected insightful information on the relationships between BP&SOPs, HRM practices and L&SC competencies. Among the three BP&SOP variables examined, only processes for increasing responsiveness (PIR) was found to have a significant positive effect on all three L&SC competencies. Processes for increasing flexibility (PIF) have a significant positive relationship only with positioning competency, while processes for benchmarking performance (PBP) have no effect on the three L&SC competencies. For the three HRM practice variables, only training and development emerged as a significant positive predictor for all three L&SC competency variables. Reward management shows a significant positive effect only on distribution support, while performance appraisal was found to be negatively related to distribution support. The hierarchical regression analysis also found that Guanxi does not moderate the relationships between BP&SOPs and L&SC competencies. However, it revealed that ICT support has a significant positive moderating effect on the relationships between PBP and distribution support, and between PBP and agility, but imposes a negative moderating effect on the relationship between PIR and agility, and between PIF and distribution support. The unexpected effects of BP&SOPs as well as HRM practices on the three L&SC competencies suggest that despite over three decades of open-door policy and economic reform, and ascension to the World Trade Organization, China continues to present a distinctively unique market environment. The ingredients for operational success differ vastly from those of the developed economies. Equally, the insignificant moderating effect of Guanxi, and the contrasting effects of ICT support on the relationships between BP&SOPs and L&SC competencies also defy established reasoning. While notable contributions made to the literature on the Chinese logistics market, these findings open up fruitful avenues for further research

Privatisation and trade unions' mobilisation : a comparative study on the privatisation of the electricity industry in UK and Argentina : a test for mobilisation theory

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Landscapes of deracialization : power, brokerage and place-making on a South African frontier

This thesis deals with the politicized struggles for land in South Africa’s Limpopo Province. With land having been an essential part of colonial and apartheid segregation policies and practice – with 87% of land appropriated by whites –, a land reform programme was imperative after the African National Congress came to power in 1994. One of the three branches of the land reform programme, land restitution, is a key focus of this thesis. It is particular in its goal to do justice to victims of past land dispossessions who lost land rights as result of racially-discriminatory laws by compensating them for this past loss of land and livelihoods. Where compensation for lost rights involves the government buying and redistributing land to groups with historical rights to land, such land deals present particular challenges around the ideal of restorative justice and what is means to ‘bring the past into the present’

Understanding Outsourcing Commitment—An Integrated Model Combining The Resoruce-Based View And Knowledge Management

[[abstract]]The understanding on how a service provider’s (SP) process capabilities, in terms of aligning and adapting resources to deliver value to its service recipient (SR) in business process outsourcing (BPO), affect its commitment is limited. To address this, building on a strategic perspective and related theories such as the resource-based view and knowledge management, we develop a theoretical model and test it empirically. Specifically, we posit that a SP’s process capabilities, in terms of process alignment, offering flexibility, and partnering flexibility, positively affect its SR’s commitment and the above relationships is negatively moderated by the SR’s behavior control. Besides, we also examine the influence of interaction effect between antecedents of process capabilities on commitment, such as how does process alignment interact with its partnering flexibility and offering flexibility to affect commitment. Finally, we assess whether process capabilities are influenced by the SR’s absorptive capacity and the SP’s task-knowledge coordination. We test our model using survey data collected from 183 firms, supporting most proposed hypotheses. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of how to increase the value offered to a SR by levering resources, in terms of process capabilities and knowledge management

The evaluation of training and development of employees: The case of a national oil and gas industry

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonDespite the fact that oil and gas companies invest heavily in training, there are considerable evidences to show that evaluation of the training is seldom undertaken, which leads to failure in determining the effectiveness of training. Kirkpatrick‘s four levels model (1959) sets out to be the key evaluation criteria to measure the effectiveness of training which has been used for more than 50 years to assess training effectiveness. This study focuses on the evaluation and improvement of Kirkpatrick‘s four levels model. It argues that Kirkpatrick‘s four levels model (1959) fails to account for factors such as work environment, individual factors, training characteristics, and their impact on training effectiveness. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the moderating variables of training characteristics and evaluate their subsequent impacts on Kirkpatrick‘s four training outcomes (reaction, learning, behaviour and results) and on intention to transfer learning. The objective of this study is to identify those training variables (pre-training interventions and activities, trainee readiness, training environment, training methods, trainer performance and behaviour, training content and objectives) and their effect on improving employee performance. In this study, training characteristics are referred to as pre-training interventions and activities, trainee readiness, training environment, training methods, trainer performance and behaviour, training content and objectives. To achieve the aim of this study, quantitative research was adopted. The study was conducted at three separate times (pre-training, immediately after completion and post-training 2-3 months). The hypotheses were tested by selecting a sample of n1 = 406, n2 = 402, n3 = 391 trainees in health and safety training working in national oil and gas companies located in Oman by using convenience sampling. Structural equation model (AMOS) software is used to validate the research model. The study has contributed to the field of training evaluation by developing Kirkpatrick‘s four levels model through an the examination of the impact of training characteristics on Kirkpatrick‘s four levels (reaction, learning, behaviour and results) and on intention to transfer learning in the national oil and gas industry in Oman before and after training was completed. The findings indicated that pre-training intervention and practices were positively and significantly related to expectations of training outcomes, and only trainee readiness was found to be positively and significantly related to the expectations of training environment and expectations of trainer performance and behaviour. The result confirmed the positive and significant correlation between reaction and learning, and between behaviour and results. Moreover, the results indicated that trainer performance and behaviour were positively and significantly related to the two training outcomes: reaction and learning; and in addition, training environment had a strong and positive impact on learning. Training content and objectives were positively and significantly related to behaviour. ii Nevertheless, pre-training interventions and activities had an insignificant effect on expectations for the training outcomes. Further, trainee readiness had an insignificant effect on expectations for the training environment and on expectations of trainer performance and behaviour. Learning had an insignificant effect on intention to transfer learning. The training environment and training methods were not found to be positively and significantly related to reaction. Training methods were not found to be positively and significantly related to learning. Further, the training characteristics, such as the training environment, training methods and trainer performance and behaviour had an insignificant impact on intention to transfer learning. The findings did not support that training characteristics had a moderating role on the relationship between training outcomes. This research has empirically investigated the moderating effects of training characteristics on the relationship between reaction, learning, intention to transfer learning, behaviour and results. This study has contributed to the literature empirically by showing that pre-training interventions and activities were the strongest factor contributing to expectations of the training environment, as well as to expectations of trainer performance and behaviour. Trainee readiness was the strongest factor contributing to expectations of the training outcomes. Furthermore, this study has contributed to the extant literature empirically by showing that trainee reaction is related significantly to trainee learning. This study has contributed to the literature by showing that trainer performance and behaviour was the strongest factor contributing to reaction. Furthermore, the training environment (followed by trainer performance and behaviour) was the strongest factor supporting learning. This study has further contributed to the extant literature empirically by showing that behavioural change is related significantly to results. This study also shows that training objectives (followed by training content) was the strongest factor affecting behaviour. From a practical perspective, the findings of this research have significant and practical implications for instructors, training designers, managers and supervisors when creating effective training programmes. In addition, this study contributes a framework for the practice of evaluating training effectiveness.Omani Ministry of Man Power and the Omani Cultural Burea