The social construction of market relationships in the British temporary work industry

Inter-firm relationships between temporary work agencies and clients have recently been under academic scrutiny due to the problems associated with their construction and governance. The problems centre on imbalances of power within the supply chain. Clients are now imposing new forms of contracting on agencies that appear on the surface to advantage agencies but in reality advantage clients. Using a socio-constructionist lens, the article theorises that small to medium sized agencies can alter market forces using outcome, cultural and normative controls and competence trust. The aim of the control attempt is to improve agency performance. The article theorises that market forces are malleable to the actions of weak small to medium sized firms. These conceptual findings are encapsulated in a testable model for future researchers

Logistics and performance in the shipping industry

This paper conceptually investigates the effects of Strategic Human Resources Management on the performance of shipping firms within the global shipping industry. The paper's conceptual findings show that all three components of strategic HRM, i.e. selection and recruitment, retention and staff termination, have a positive effect on the operational performance of shipping firms. However, implementation of each aspect of strategic HRM is important. The employee must be placed at the centre of the implementation process. Ignoring the employee’s needs can have a negative effect on operational performance

Tutoring executives online: what drives perceived quality?

Studies of learning and student satisfaction in the context of online university programmes have largely neglected programmes catering specifically to business executives. Such executives have typically been away from higher education for a number of years, and have collected substantial practical experience in the subject matters they are taught. Their expectations in terms of both content and delivery may therefore be different from non-executive students. We explore perceptions of the quality of tutoring in the context of an online executive MBA programme through participant interviews. We find that in addition to some of the tutor behaviours already discussed in the literature, executive students look specifically for practical industry knowledge and experience in tutors, when judging how effective a tutor is. This has implications for both the recruitment and training of online executive MBA tutors

A study on attendance and academic achievement

In this study we attempt to answer Romer’s (1993) question: “Should attendance be mandatory?” Contrary to many existing studies, we conclude that in the case of business and management programs the answer is ‘no’. In a study of over 900 undergraduate strategy students, spanning four academic years, we examine the link between attendance and exam results. Unlike prior research on this topic, our findings show that attendance is not the best determinant of student performance. We find instead that the best determinant of student performance for third year bachelor students is their over-all degree classification, which we see as a proxy for academic ability. We suggest that attendance may simply be a reflection of student conscientiousness, engagement and motivation. We also challenge the assumptions about gender differences found in prior research on student attendance and student performance. We do not find such differences to be consistently significant in our study

Can the performance effect be ignored in the attendance policy discussion?

Should universities require students to attend? Academics disagree. One side in the discussion of university attendance policies has tried to dismiss any association between attendance and student performance, insisting that students have a fundamental right to choose what and when to attend. By merging student record data and course attendance data for three cohorts of final-year undergraduate students at a London-based university, we are able to isolate attendance effects for 674 students, giving us a large sample, without the inherent weaknesses of more traditional survey methods. We provide fresh empirical evidence for the positive association between attendance and exam performance, and argue for a more balanced view in the attendance policy discussion. Politicians and higher education policies are increasingly focused on employability, student retention, and completion indicators. Carefully crafted attendance policies can have positive effects on pass and completion rates, primary policy targets of higher education funders and policymakers. Attendance effects therefore cannot be ignored

Short term strategic alliances: a social exchange perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a social exchange perspective of planned short-term dyadic strategic alliances. Design/methodology/approach – The article adopts a conceptual approach drawing on social exchange theory to elicit innovative conclusions about short-term dyadic strategic alliances. Findings – Finds that planned short-term dyadic strategic alliances are difficult to manage, limit social control mechanisms, limit reciprocal activity and interrupt the development of trust. Practical implications – The article can help managers and analysts working in investment banking to understand the underlying causes of alliance instability and/or failure in their industry. Originality/value – The article offers practical insights into the functioning and management of short-term dyadic alliances which will be of interest to both researchers and practising managers

Incorporating the emotional climate into inter-firm relationship health

A recent study reported the potential loss of one million B2B salesmen in the United States between now and 2020 to self-service e-commerce. In light of these alarming claims this paper examines a new approach to the measurement of the health of inter-firm business relationships comprising problem solving/interactive skills, organisation and structure and the emotional climate which is something not often discussed in inter-firm relationships. Using US survey panel data of 500 inter-firm business relationships we build on previous research by exploring the relationship between a new measure of inter-firm relationship health (BRHI) and analyse its relationship with espirit de corp, relationship satisfaction, relationship trust, relationship commitment and inter-firm relationship performance. The results of the model confirm a strong direct positive relationship between healthy inter-firm relationships and explain 60 % of relationship performance. The BRHI contributes three times as much to relationship performance than does relationship satisfaction thus indicating its potential usefulness as a relationship monitor. What is also clear is that the emotional climate in a B2B interfirm relationship also has a significant part to play in the overall health of an inter-firm relationship and whilst not as important as the problem solving/interaction skills is deemed to be as nearly as important as the organisational aspects of the inter-firm relationship. Both buyers and suppliers can now easily measure at either a point in time or over time, the health of their B2B relationship using the BRHI. The BRHI can assist relationship managers to prioritise investments in the B2B landscape based on the nature of their relationship and the extent to which that relationship constitutes the most important part of their target market