73 research outputs found
Empowerment in the Public Sector: Testing the Influence of Goal Orientation
Empowerment has emerged as an important new issue in the public sector organization setting in the wake of mainstream new public management (NPM). Nevertheless, few studies in this frame have combined structural (managerial) and psychological (individual) approaches in an integrative study of empowerment. There is also a need to examine the moderating variables involved in this relationship, as well as to extend research on work motivation in public management. This study explores the effect of structural empowerment on psychological empowerment, and it also draws on goal orientation (GO) theory to examine the moderating role of employees’ GO in this link. The model is tested on a sample of 521 Spanish local authority employees. The results do not confirm the direct link between structural and psychological empowerment, but show that learning GO has considerable moderating power in this relationship, and its interaction with structural empowerment affects employees’ psychological empowerment levels
Understanding employees’ intrapreneurial behavior: a case study
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a deeper insight into the organizational factors and
personal motivations of intrapreneurs that may foster intrapreneurial behaviors of employees in a new
technology-based firm (NTBF).
Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes a qualitative approach to explore organizational
and individual antecedents of employees’ intrapreneurial behavior. A single case study was conducted
on the basis of semi-structured interviews with the founders and top managers of the firm and with
intrapreneurial employees.
Findings – Results show that intrapreneurial projects may arise in firms whose top managers support
corporate entrepreneurship (CE) in a non-active manner. Intrapreneurial behaviors of employees can emerge
despite the lack of time and limited resources available for undertaking projects. Moreover, work discretion
and mutual confidence and the quality of the relationship between employees and top managers are the most
valued factors for intrapreneurs.
Practical implications – Based on the intrapreneurial projects studied, this paper helps to contextualize
intrapreneurs’ perception of organizational support and the personal motivations for leading projects within
an NTBF.
Originality/value – Traditionally, the literature has mainly focused on the top-down implementation of
entrepreneurial projects within large firms. This paper contributes to the understanding of the combination of
firm- and individual-level factors that facilitate intrapreneurial behaviors of employees. It also illustrates the
contextual conditions and the firms’ orientation on CE within an NTBF
Examining nonlinear relationships between quality management and financial performance
Purpose
A thorough analysis of nonlinear relationships between quality management (QM) and organizational outcomes has largely been ignored in the current empirical QM literature, which can have profound theoretical and managerial implications. The existence of nonlinear relationships implies taking a contingent view in that QM practices are more effective depending on their level of implementation in an organization. The purpose of this paper is to focus on this possibility and undertake an in-depth study of the sparse nonlinear relationship suggested by the literature.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors introduce an empirical study carried out on a sample of 168 service firms belonging to sectors experienced in QM and, through polynomial regression analysis, identify the nature of the relationship between QM and financial performance (return on assets).
Findings
The results, by showing an S-shaped curve, support a nonlinear association between these two variables. The presence of this functional form provides a satisfactory solution to the growing debate among researchers who, from a linear perspective, defend the positive effects of QM on organizational outcomes, those who find no significant effect, and still others who claim that QM has a negative effect.
Originality/value
The results show that in organizations with a low level of QM implementation, managers should increase investment in QM, even though this increase will not be correspondingly beneficial in the same proportion. In contrast, in organizations with a high level of QM implementation, managers are advised to reflect on undertaking projects that represent an additional investment in QM, with the aim of finding their optimal level
Un análisis empÃrico de las relaciones entre la Dirección de la Calidad, las competencias distintivas y distintos tipos de resultados
Este trabajo ha sido seleccionado y obtenido el Accésit Premio Estudios Financieros 2002 en la Modalidad de contabilidad y administración de empresas.
El propósito de este trabajo es analizar, desde el Enfoque basado en las Competencias (EBC), la medida en que la introducción de la Dirección de Calidad (DC) repercute sobre los resultados. Para ello, por una parte, hemos procedido a la delimitación conceptual de la DC, a partir de la cual hemos diseñado un instrumento de medida del grado de introducción de la DC que contempla tanto los principios que conforman esta opción estratégica, como las prácticas utilizadas en su implantación. Por otra parte, desde el EBC, los efectos de la DC sobre los resultados se explican gracias a las competencias que la introducción de esta iniciativa permite desarrollar o potenciar. AsÃ, hemos analizado la medida en que la introducción de la DC en la organización es capaz de generar o mejorar la gestión de las competencias con las que cuenta la empresa para la consecución de sus objetivos. El trabajo utiliza una metodologÃa y un diseño de investigación basados en la elaboración de modelos de ecuaciones estructurales, la estimación de los cuales confirma el papel mediador de las competencias distintivas en la relación entre la DC y los resultados de calidad, resultados operativos y resultados financieros
The relationship between EFQM levels of excellence and CSR development
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) development, in accordance with the dimensions of Maon et al.’s (2010) model, which could be achieved when organisations adopt the EFQM model, as well as how the EFQM model can foster this CSR development.
Design/methodology/approach
The research method chosen was a qualitative methodology involving multiple case studies. The empirical research relies on an in-depth study of four cases of organisations recognised by the EFQM model in Spain.
Findings
The findings show that, although a higher commitment to the EFQM model implies a greater level of CSR development, with the knowledge and attitudinal dimensions more developed than others, organisations still have to make CSR an internalised management ideology.
Research limitations/implications
The very nature of the process of EFQM assessment does not ensure uniformity in all aspects of management. Limitations that are inherent to case studies: factors that can be chosen by the researcher, such as geographical location, size, sector and ownership, can have an influence on the characteristics of the CSR practices that are found.
Practical implications
This study contributes to the literature on excellence by approaching the EFQM model as a tool to integrate CSR issues into management.
Social implications
A relationship between commitment to excellence and CSR development does exist.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous analysis has been performed to address the potential relationship between CSR development in accordance with Maon et al.’s (2010) model and commitment to excellence
Drivers and internalisation of the EFQM excellence model
Purpose
Although the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model has been widely adopted throughout Europe, a thorough examination of the factors that contribute to the internalisation of the model (i.e. a substantive adoption) has been neglected in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to present a model that analyses the drivers of the real internalisation of the EFQM excellence model, with a focus on the role of motives for adoption, and appraisal and compensation systems.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical study was carried out based on a sample of Spanish organisations that had been awarded EFQM recognition. Structural equation models, cluster analysis and ANOVA were used to examine the research questions.
Findings
Internal motives concerning the creation of a participative style are the main driver of internalisation. Moreover, having an appraisal system-oriented towards the development of employees helps the substantive adoption of the EFQM model. These findings reinforce the importance of the soft elements of the EFQM model.
Originality/value
This study enhances evidence about the motives for adoption and their influence on the internalisation of the EFQM model. It analyses internalisation in a novel context, EFQM recognised organisations, and contributes to the debate about the efficacy of the EFQM model to performance improvement, by unveiling the factors that could foster the internalisation of the model within the organisational routines
Employees' proactive behavior and innovation performance. Examining the moderating role of informal and formal controls
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the degree to which employees’ proactive behavior
contributes to innovation performance in firms operating in high-technology sectors. Despite the benefits of
these behaviors for individuals and organizations, few studies have analyzed the contextual conditions that
enable firms to capture their value in order to improve innovation performance. Drawing on the interactionist
perspective, the authors also examine the extent to which informal and formal controls, such as perceived
support for innovation and innovation process formalization, can facilitate the contribution of proactive
behaviors to improve innovation performance (product and process innovation).
Design/methodology/approach – Based on an empirical study with a sample of 173 firms operating in
chemical and information technology service sectors, hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the
relationship between employees’ proactive behavior and innovation performance, and the moderating effects
of informal and formal controls.
Findings – The results reveal a positive and significant association between proactive behaviors and
product and process innovation performance. Both control mechanisms positively moderate the association
between proactive behavior and product innovation, but no moderating role was found for process
innovation. Moreover, rather than inhibiting innovation performance, innovation process formalization is
positively associated with innovation. More specifically, a curvilinear relationship was found, which implies
that when the level of formalization is high, it is able to improve product and process innovation.
Practical implications – The findings suggest that managers should consider proactive behavior in
selection processes and performance management, and should cultivate a climate to support innovation and
establish formal controls for innovation as a way to channel employees’ initiatives into product innovation.
Originality/value – This study contributes to the theoretical and managerial understanding of the extent to
which proactive employees and organizational controls are able to enhance innovation in a technologically
dynamic context
Structural empowerment and organisational performance: the mediating role of employees’ well-being in Spanish local governments
We extend the ‘black box’ picture of public management and the ‘balanced view’ of HRM
literature to explore, in the public context, the impact of structural empowerment on
organisational performance and the mediating role of three employee outcomes: job satisfaction
and affective commitment as attitudinal variables related to eudaimonic well-being, and job
anxiety as an employee health variable related to hedonic well-being. Using multilevel
methodology on a sample of 103 local authorities, results show that structural empowerment is
positively associated with organisational performance, both directly and indirectly, via
employee health. This evidence supports the mutual gains perspective, but not as intensely as
expected (empowerment does not affect attitudinal variables) and differently to the traditional
perspective, since empowerment contributes to reduce job anxiety in Spanish local
governments
The link between Quality Management and Innovation Performance: A content analysis of survey-based research
Previous contributions have reported contradictory findings about the effects of Quality
Management (QM) on innovation performance. The purpose of this paper is to critically
appraise methodological issues in the literature concerning the link between QM and innovation
performance, in order to reveal possible differences in the research design which may explain
the heterogeneity of the findings. Through a content analysis of peer-reviewed journal articles
on this topic from 1994 to 2016, the authors compare the research designs used, and identify the
most prevalent practices in conducting survey-based research. In addition, cross-tabulations are
used to analyze the relationships between methodological issues and type of findings. The main
findings can be summarized as follows: some papers report incomplete information about
methodological issues; they focus on the organizational level of analysis and see higher
managers as common informants; there is a lack of research which combines surveys with other
methods, as well as of longitudinal designs; and the way QM and innovation performance are
measured conditions the findings obtained in the articles reviewed. The characteristics revealed
in this analysis provide a platform to assist scholars in developing future stances in this and
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