Identifying and Differentiating Key Employees from Owners and Other Employees in SMEs

This research examines how to identify and differentiate key employees from small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) owners and other employees and how their characteristics influence firm success factors. Interviews are conducted with 14 matched pairs of entrepreneurs and key employees operating Canadian SMEs. The study develops a profile whereby the key employee typically (1) corresponds to the key success factors of the SME, (2) is willing to undertake a moderate amount of risk, and (3) differs in education and experience from the entrepreneur/owner. Although employees are important to firm strategy and culture, this is one of the first to examine key employees in small business

Can managers use handheld technologies to support salespeople?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose that sales managers use mobile technologies in the working environment to communicate and supportively monitor sales person performance. Design/methodology/approach – A model of supervisor monitoring using mobile technologies is conceptualized that specifies the types of behaviours that promote high-quality working relationships, how mobile technologies increase the likelihood of work-to-nonwork role spill-over that may damage the relationship and why perceptions of supervisor fairness are critical. The paper concludes by presenting strategies for testing hypotheses and for researching mobile technology use by sales managers using qualitative and quantitative methods. Findings – Mobile technology use, supervisory monitoring, and relationship development co-exist in the current workplace. This research heightens awareness of how work-to-nonwork spillover may influence important outcomes of mobile technology usage. Perceptions of quality supervisor-employee relationships are important to retaining and motivating employees. As the workforce ages and skilled workers become more scarce, it is expected that this theoretical examination and ensuing future research will be interesting and important to the twenty-first century manager. Originality/value – This paper aligns research in the areas of leadership, monitoring and ubiquitous or mobile technologies. Previous leadership researches have questioned whether or not the use of different electronic monitoring tools affects the leader\u27s ability to influence others. However, few researchers have examined performance-based monitoring using mobile technologies, although mobile technologies make it easier for sales managers to monitor non-traditional work arrangements (i.e. off-site or contracted work). Furthermore, past research has been inconsistent in explaining how employees view information-gathering or monitoring by their managers

Student perceptions of workplace communications during co-operative workterm experiences

Co-operative education gives students the opportunity to observe important interpersonal skills while applying their technical knowledge. Eighty students on their second and third co-op work terms described communication incidents in face-toface,mobile text, and mobile voice situations perceived to have shaped relationships with their managers. Richness is provided by a qualitative analysis that asks students to express their feelings about how they are talked to by their supervisors. Results identify some apparent themes with respect to the use of message content and tone, media selection and message timing. They also show that students appear to value face-to-face communication and reveal that social extra-role relationships are important to student feelings of selfefficacy and attributions of manager effectiveness. These connections may form the basis for student development of their own communication styles. The results lead to suggestions of how to make the learning of communication skills more tangible within co-op programs

Taking an Active Approach in Entrepreneurial Mentoring Programs Geared Toward Immigrants

Immigrants face significant challenges that impair their ability to access resources that can develop their entrepreneurial potential. Using an action research and case-based approach, we highlight the challenges experienced by immigrant entrepreneurs and in turn discuss practical measures to resolve these challenges through mentoring programmes for nascent entrepreneurs. We profile a unique multi-disciplinary programme involving both business and law students who coordinate and deliver workshops for course credit. Established entrepreneurs and professionals also volunteer their time as mentors. We develop a balanced scorecard to assess and improve the programme. Study results provide a model to enable universities and others to reach out to nascent immigrant entrepreneurs

Characteristics of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and their Involvement in International New Ventures

We studied 561 young firms in Australia to understand the involvement of immigrant entrepreneurs (IEs) in international new ventures (INVs). We found that IEs are overrepresented in INVs and have many characteristics known to facilitate INV success, including more founders, university degrees, international connections, and technical capability. Our study has implications for immigration policy and economic policy and the efficient use of a nation\u27s human capital. This research challenges a necessity-based stereotype of immigrant entrepreneurs by identifying areas in which immigrant entrepreneurs have natural competitive advantages over native entrepreneurs (NEs). This research makes a contribution to the theory of immigrant entrepreneurship by identifying the significant role of immigrant entrepreneurs in INVs and the suitability of immigrant entrepreneurs for the development of INVs. We inform diverse streams of research in transnational and immigrant entrepreneurship with broader strategic work on the creation of INVs. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This research was partly funded by an Australian Academy of Social Sciences research grant. A previous version of this paper was presented at Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC), 2011, Syracuse

Internal stakeholder views of a market orientation strategy: Implications for implementation

The market orientation literature focuses upon external stakeholders as the content or target of a market orientation strategy. This is problematic for understanding the successful implementation of a market orientation strategy because internal stakeholders provide the link between strategy‐makers and external stakeholder targets. Anchored in market orientation, dynamic capabilities, and stakeholder research, the study describes how internal stakeholders in a market orientation process can impede or encourage the achievement of market‐oriented objectives by a market‐oriented company. Focus groups were conducted with both management and non‐management employees of a large market‐oriented financial services organisation that recently introduced a market‐oriented agency call program. The extent to which the company is market‐oriented was determined through preliminary interviews with senior executives and distributor/customers. Results highlight: (1) program antecedents related to employee disposition and control; (2) potentially competing program objectives (relationship and knowledge acquisition); (3) issues of role conflict, time constraints; and (4) the need to confirm program value through feedback solicited from other stakeholders

Using the I-MARKOR scale to identify market-oriented individuals in the financial services sector

Purpose – Extant studies of the market orientation of service firms rarely consider the contribution of individual employees to the realization of this orientation. Existing scales that measure market orientation reveal the perceptions of a key informant about the dominant orientation within the firm. These scales do not measure the willingness of employees to act in a market-oriented way. This paper aims to report the development of a multi-dimensional scale of individual market-oriented behavior. Design/methodology/approach – The scale development process included identification of items from focus groups with employees of a major Canadian financial services firm and the market orientation literature. A pretest with marketing practitioners and academics helped to purify and reduce the number of items. Finally, a sample of North American financial services employees responded to the items in a web-based questionnaire. Findings – Confirmatory factor analysis of the responses confirmed the presence of a single latent construct with three dimensions: information acquisition, information sharing and strategic response, measured by 20 items. Research limitations/implications – Although scale validation included both qualitative and quantitative tests that triangulated the opinions of multiple stakeholders in the service delivery chain, future research must also test the predictive validity of this scale. Practical implications – Such research is important to increase understanding of how service organizations foster market orientation. The I-MARKOR augments the organizational scorecard approach with individual level measurement. Originality/value – The scale provides a method to assess differences between individuals within an organization, enabling empirical research on differences between departments, roles, training and other characteristics that may influence the extent to which an individual performs market-oriented behaviors

Transitioning Ageing Healthcare Workers from Paid to Unpaid Work through Social Exchange

Resource constraints and retention issues associated with an ageing workforce have challenged non-profit institutions. Human resource management professionals in these organisations can stem the loss of organisational learning by developing strong social exchanges that encourage employees to pursue post-retirement volunteering. This paper developed a conceptual model that described how ageing workers may evaluate and connect the quality of the relationships they build at work through social exchanges to their fit with the organisation, workgroup and vocation. Alignment of fit may create an intention to volunteer upon retirement, although we argue that this will be strengthened if the organisation is perceived to value volunteering activities. This value is also shaped through social exchange and might include attitudes toward the extra-role activities of both employees and volunteers in the current organisation

Individual-level antecedents to market-oriented actions

Although often assessed at an organizational level, a market-oriented culture is supported by the attitudes and actions of the organization\u27s employees. A firm cannot develop a market orientation strategy without each employee\u27s active understanding, willingness, and ability to perform in a market-oriented fashion. Therefore, individual employees must experience a responsibility to gather and assess the value of market information, and a willingness to share it with other employees. We surveyed a cross-section of employees at many levels and roles in different North American financial services organizations. This research identified important individual-level antecedents that organizations must account for when attempting to stimulate company-wide market-oriented behaviors. These include the fostering of high-quality and matched psychological contracts, modeling of learning strategies by agile learners, and increased opportunities and time to develop personal ties between customers and employees in diverse roles within the firm