The mediating role of individual readiness for change

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel UniversityThis study investigates the mediating role of Individual Readiness for Change (IRFC) in the relationship between Organisational Culture (OC) and Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation. Despite the substantial body of literature examining the influence of OC on TQM implementation, there has been limited research investigating the mechanics of the link between OC and TQM implementation. In particular, an extensive review of the literature revealed that a contribution to knowledge would be derived from the investigation of the role of IRFC as one possible mechanism through which an organisation‘s culture comes to have an impact on TQM implementation. However, there is a gap in the TQM literature in not investigating the mediating role of IRFC on the relationship between OC and TQM implementation. The aim of this research study is to examine the influence of OC on TQM implementation and the mediating role of IRFC in the OC-TQM implementation relationship in Syrian Manufacturing Organisations (SMOs). The research methodology began with conducting a systematic review of the relevant literature, which led to the development of a theoretical framework. In the present study, an integrative framework was developed to combine the direct effect of OC on TQM implementation and the mediating role of IRFC in the OC-TQM relationship within a single framework. To validate this framework, empirical research was conducted. The empirical study was carried out in a new cultural context: Syria, and more specifically amongst SMOs. Following a hypothetico- deductive approach, primary data was collected through questionnaires from 350 middle managers in SMOs. The findings of this study indicate that the characteristics and values of group culture and adhocracy culture positively affect the implementation of TQM, however, IRFC was found to act as a mediator and possible mechanism to attenuate these positive relationships. This in turn highlights the critical role of IRFC in the formation of OC-TQM implementation link. Therefore, this study provides a refined and deeper understanding of the relationships between OC types and TQM implementation. With an improved comprehension of the relationship between OC and TQM, organisational leaders and managers can implement TQM more effectively and efficiently in their organisations. Consequently, this would assist SMOs in achieving higher levels of global marketing effectiveness. This research contributes to knowledge in several ways. Most importantly, it extends the existing literature on the link between OC and TQM implementation. Unlike previous studies about the direct influence of OC on TQM implementation, this research is one of the few empirical studies that examine the mediating role of IRFC as one of the mechanisms through which an organisation‘s culture comes to have an impact on TQM implementation. This research makes a further innovative contribution by providing empirical evidence leading to advancement of the understanding of the relationship between all four OC types of the Competing Values Framework (CVF) and IRFC. Furthermore, this research study adds value via its contextual originality. It is believed that this study is one of the few studies that examine the Syrian cultural context empirically. Hence, it contributes to the scarce body of literature on the relationship between OC, IRFC, and TQM implementation specifically in developing countries

Design of a Statistics Lecture for Multidisciplinary Postgraduate Students Using a Range of Tools and Techniques

Teaching statistics is a critical and challenging issue especially to students from multidisciplinary and diverse postgraduate backgrounds. Postgraduate research students require statistics not only for the design of experiments; but also for data analysis. Students often perceive statistics as a complex and technical subject; thus, they leave data analysis to the last moment. The lecture needs to be simple and inclusive at the same time to make it comprehendible and address the learning needs of each student. Therefore, the aim of this work was to design a simple and comprehendible statistics lecture to postgraduate research students regarding ‘Research plan, design and data collection’. The lecture adopted the constructive alignment learning theory which facilitated the learning environments for the students. The learning environment utilized a student-centered approach and used interactive learning environment with in-class discussion, handouts and electronic voting system handsets. For evaluation of the lecture, formative assessment was made with in-class discussions and poll questions which were introduced during and after the lecture. The whole approach showed to be effective in creating a learning environment to the students who were able to apply the concepts addressed to their individual research projects

An empirical investigation of the influence of organizational culture on individual readiness for change in Syrian manufacturing organizations

Purpose - While few recent studies have paid attention to the relationship between Organizational Culture (OC) and Individual Readiness for Change (IRFC), there is still a lack of systematic and empirical studies regarding the influence of all OC types on the IRFC components within the change management literature. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature by empirically examining the influence of all four organizational culture types of the Competing Values Framework (CVF) on the components of IRFC regarding TQM implementation, within the context of manufacturing organizations operating in Syria. Design/methodology/approach - A total of four hypotheses were proposed for testing. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to 350 Syrian Manufacturing Organizations (SMOs) in order to measure the level of IRFC and to identify the cultural profiles and characteristics of these organizations. Findings - The analysis of the collected shows that certain types of organizational culture are conducive to fostering IRFC. In particular, the findings of an empirical investigation revealed that group culture and adhocracy culture are the most supportive culture types for IRFC. Originality/value - This paper contributes to the existing literature of change management by providing empirical evidence leading to advancement of knowledge and the understanding of the relationship between OC types and IRFC components. Furthermore, the paper adds value via its contextual originality; being the first study that empirically examined the Syrian cultural context, and hence contributing to the scarce body of literature of both OC and IRFC, and in particular the developing countries

Hegemony of network capabilities, frugal innovation and innovation strategies: The innovation performance perspective

The emergence of advanced technologies has brought new challenges and opportunities for all kinds of business organizations. In a technologically advanced era, innovation plays a dominant role for the successful operation of the commercial landscape. Therefore, the current study was conducted to investigate the impact of network capabilities (NC) and frugal innovation (FI) on innovation performance (IP). Furthermore, the mediating role of FI and moderating role of innovation strategies has also been tested on the link between NC and IP. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) registered with small and medium enterprises development authorities (SMEDA) were approached for the completion of the current study. Only 509 owner/managers agreed to participate. A quantitative research design was employed for the current study. During the two–three months process of data collection only 387 complete responses were received from the SMEs working in Pakistan’s big cities. Correlation, regression and bootstrap methods were applied to test the study hypotheses. The findings revealed that NC positively affect FI and IP. Furthermore, the findings also confirmed the mediating effect of FI between NC and IP link. The performance of SMEs working in emerging economies is largely based on their innovative activities. In this dynamic scenario SMEs’ survival is attached to continuous IP in their products and services

Dividend policy in the banking sector in G-7 and GCC countries: A comparative study

YesDividend policy has been a puzzling question for many years. This study attempts to identify the key factors affecting it in the financial sector that have been neglected in the literature. Using panel data on 621 Group of Seven (G-7) banks and 68 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banks, five main factors namely, banks’ size, profitability, growth, leverage, and last year’s dividend were empirically tested regarding their impact on dividend payout ratios. In addition to comparing the two economies descriptively, the researchers employed panel data analysis using multiple regression with random effects. The findings revealed that the dividend payout ratio for the GCC countries is higher than G-7 countries in every year of the examined period (2010-2015). Furthermore, for both G-7 and GCC banks, profitability and last year dividend had a significant positive influence while banks’ leverage had a significant negative influence on the dividend payout. It was found also that banks’ size is an important dividend determinant in the G-7 countries only

Enhancing Information Technology for Value Added Across Economic Sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study investigates how enhancing information and communication technology (ICT) affects value added across sectors in 25 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa using data for the period 1980-2014. The empirical evidence is based on the Generalised Method of Moments. The following findings are established. First, the enhancement of mobile phone and internet penetrations respectively have net negative effects on value added to the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.Second, enhancing ICT (i.e. mobile phone penetration and internet penetration) overwhelmingly has positive net effects on value added to the service sector. From an extended analysis, enhancing ICT in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors should exceed certain thresholds for value added, notably: 114.375 of mobile phone penetration per 100 people for added value in the agricultural sector and 22.625 of internet penetration per 100 people for added value in the manufacturing sector

Influence of CSR and leadership style on sustainable performance: moderating impact of sustainable entrepreneurship and mediating role of organizational commitment

Nowadays, sustainable performance (SP) has become an obligation of every organization globally, which captures the attention of recent researchers and policymakers. Following the green theory, this study aims to examine the impact of corporate social responsibilities (CSR), transactional and transformational leadership on the SP. Besides, examining the moderating role of sustainable entrepreneurship and mediating role of organizational commitment among the nexus of CSR, transactional and transformational leadership, and SP is another target of this research. This study adopted the questionnaires to collect the data from the respondents of the internet services industry in China, and structural equation modeling (SEM)was employed to analyze the data. This research revealed that CSR, transactional, and transformational leadership have a positive effect on SP. Secondly, this study also indicated that sustainable entrepreneurship significantly moderates among nexus of transactional and transformational leadership to SP. Besides, our results show that organizational commitment positively mediates the links between CSR, transactional leadership, transformational leadership, and the SP. The conclusion of this research signifies that organizational leadership strongly influences the adoption of green and sustainable operations, which further influences the SP. These results help the regulation-making authorities make new policies related to CSR, leadership, entrepreneurship, and SP

Economic and ecological complexity in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from 60 countries

The coronavirus disease 2019 is a deadly disease that globally infected millions of people. It enormously increases economies national healthcare bills and death tolls that deprive the global world. The negative environmental externality further strains the country’s healthcare sustainability agenda, causing to decline in global income. The study evaluates the different socio-economic and environmental factors to assess ecological complexity in a large, cross-country data set that includes 60 countries. The study used the following variables for estimation, i.e., coronavirus cases, cost of carbon emissions, per capita economic growth, foreign direct investment inflows, and population growth. Markov Switching Regression, VAR Granger causality and variance decomposition analysis applied on the given dataset. The results show that the COVID-19 cases have a rebound effect on environmental quality. Economic activities started after a lifted lockdown, and unsustainable production and consumption led to a deteriorating natural environment. The U-shaped relationship is found between carbon pollution and per capita income. On the other hand, the inverted U-shaped relationship is found between coronavirus cases and carbon pollution. The foreign direct investment inflows and population density increases carbon pollution. The study concludes that stringent environmental policies and incentive-based regulations help to minimize coronavirus cases and mitigate carbon pollution

The Influence of Institutional and Conductive Aspects on Entrepreneurial Innovation: Evidence from GEM Data

YesPurpose – The main purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of how different aspects of the national institutional environment may influence the level of innovative entrepreneurial activity across countries. Several institutional and conductive factors affecting a country’s capacity to support innovative entrepreneurship is explored. Design/methodology/approach – Institutional theory is used to examine the national regulatory, normative, cognitive, and conducive aspects that measure a country's ability to support innovative entrepreneurship. A cross-national institutional profile is constructed to validate an entrepreneurial innovation model. The impact of country-level national institutions on innovative entrepreneurial activity as measured by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data is assessed through structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings – Knowledge about the influence of specific institutional aspects on innovative entrepreneurship, and hence of institutional structures within and across countries, is enhanced. For new innovative enterprises, conductive and regulatory aspects seem to matter most. All conductive factors have a significant and positive impact on entrepreneurial activity rates. Research limitations/implications – Results could support policy makers and practitioners in evaluating government policies’ effect on innovative entrepreneurship. Interventions should target both individual attributes and context. Future research could include longitudinal designs to measure the direction of causality. Practical implications – Aspects such as regulatory institutions, and conductive factors such as ICT use and technology adoption, are important for innovation entrepreneurship development.The full text will be made available when the article is officially published

Ocena strategii ochrony lasów pod kątem przywracania różnorodności biologicznej i zrównoważonego rozwoju: globalna analiza porównawcza

The escalating rate of deforestation presents significant challenges to the global economy, including the loss of habitats for endangered species and a decline in biocapacity reserves. This situation also raises concerns about overcrowding and excessive production, which can undermine conservation efforts. Addressing this issue, Sustainable Development Goal 15 of the United Nations emphasizes managing forest resources, preventing habitat loss, combatting desertification, and expanding biodiversity reserves. Its contributions have played a pivotal role in wildlife conservation, mitigating rural-urban migration and preserving land resources. Given the relevance of this problem, this study examines the consequences of ongoing tropical deforestation on the loss of endangered species habitats while controlling for biocapacity reserves, urbanization, economic growth, and industrialization across a large sample of 159 nations, further categorized into low-, middle-, and high-income countries. The findings from cross-sectional and quantile regression analyses reveal that higher deforestation rates, increased rural-urban migration, and greater industrialization threaten endangered species habitats. Conversely, increased biocapacity reserves and economic growth contribute to wildlife restoration. Granger causality estimations highlight unidirectional relationships between deforestation and biodiversity loss (as well as biocapacity reserves), while deforestation and industrialization exhibit bidirectional causality. The results further indicate that sustained economic growth leads to deforestation, biocapacity reserves, and urbanization, while urbanization contributes to deforestation. This underscores the role of deforestation as the primary driver of habitat loss for endangered species and the depletion of biocapacity, thereby fostering mass production. Urbanization and economic growth are shown to be causally linked to deforestation across countries. The study underscores the urgent need to safeguard forest reserves against large-scale land conversion for infrastructure development, industrialization, and settlement of overpopulated urban areas, as these factors contribute to habitat degradation and biodiversity loss. Conserving, restoring, and promoting sustainable utilization of ecosystems are essential measures to address natural uncertainties and advance Sustainable development goals.Rosnące tempo wylesiania stwarza poważne wyzwania dla gospodarki światowej, w tym groźbę utraty siedlisk zagrożonych gatunków i spadek rezerw pojemności biologicznej przyrody. Sytuacja ta budzi również obawy związane z przeludnieniem i nadmierną produkcją, co może zniweczyć wysiłki na rzecz ochrony przyrody. Odnosząc się do tej kwestii, Cel Zrównoważonego Rozwoju nr 15 Organizacji Narodów Zjednoczonych kładzie nacisk na zarządzanie zasobami leśnymi, zapobieganie utracie siedlisk, zwalczanie pustynnienia i poszerzanie rezerwatów różnorodności biologicznej. Jego realizacja odgrywa kluczową rolę w ochronie dzikiej przyrody, łagodzeniu migracji ze wsi do miast i ochronie zasobów gruntów. Biorąc pod uwagę znaczenie tego problemu, w niniejszym badaniu zbadano wpływ ciągłego wylesiania tropikalnego na utratę siedlisk zagrożonych gatunków, przy jednoczesnym kontrolowaniu rezerw pojemności biologicznego, urbanizacji, wzrostu gospodarczego i industrializacji na dużej próbie 159 krajów, podzielonych dalej na kategorie o niskim, krajach o średnich i wysokich dochodach. Wyniki analiz przekrojowych i regresji kwantylowej pokazują, że wyższe wskaźniki wylesiania, wzmożona migracja ze wsi do miast i większa industrializacja zagrażają siedliskom zagrożonych gatunków. I odwrotnie, zwiększone rezerwy pojemności biologicznej i wzrost gospodarczy przyczyniają się do odbudowy dzikiej fauny i flory. Szacunki przyczynowości Grangera uwydatniają jednokierunkowe związki między wylesianiem a utratą różnorodności biologicznej (a także rezerwami pojemności biologicznej), podczas gdy wylesianie i industrializacja wykazują dwukierunkową przyczynowość. Wyniki wskazują ponadto, że trwały wzrost gospodarczy prowadzi do wylesiania, rezerw pojemności biologicznych i urbanizacji, podczas gdy urbanizacja przyczynia się do wylesiania. Podkreśla to rolę wylesiania jako głównego czynnika powodującego utratę siedlisk zagrożonych gatunków i wyczerpywanie się pojemności biologicznej, co sprzyja masowej produkcji. Wykazano, że urbanizacja i wzrost gospodarczy są powiązane przyczynowo z wylesianiem w różnych krajach. Badanie podkreśla pilną potrzebę zabezpieczenia rezerwatów leśnych przed przekształcaniem gruntów na dużą skalę w celu rozwoju infrastruktury, industrializacji i zasiedlania przeludnionych obszarów miejskich, ponieważ czynniki te przyczyniają się do degradacji siedlisk i utraty różnorodności biologicznej. Ochrona, przywracanie i promowanie zrównoważonego wykorzystania ekosystemów to podstawowe środki pozwalające zaradzić naturalnym niepewnościom i osiągać zrównoważony rozwój