Search results for "operations management"
showing 10 items of 239 documents
Corporate entrepreneurship and human resource management: theoretical background and a case study
2011
Purpose: This article aims to review varying concepts of entrepreneurship and different contributions to human resource practices, establishing a theoretical framework that allows for the analysis of the firm Montalt-Valencia (Spain), a Ford-Spain car dealer, and leader in its sector. Design/methodology/approach: The paper, according to the literature, establishes a theoretical framework on entrepreneurship and human resource management through which one can observe and research the Montalt-Valencia case study. The case study is confirmatory, from the theoretical background, and at the same time inductive from the observation of its non-expected details and deeds. Findings: The firm Montalt…
The Role of External Environment in Upper Echelons Theory
2014
Upper echelons research has largely focused on the antecedents and consequences of top management teams (TMTs) from the team and firm levels of analysis. This paper reviews empirical research on TMTs with a specific emphasis on the role of the external environment. Applying institutional and industrial organization theories, a cross-level conceptual model outlining the direct, mediating, and moderating effects of the external environment on upper echelons is developed. This review distinguishes between industry and institutional levels of analysis and three types of environmental characteristics: stable, dynamic, and transformational. The paper further explains the relationships between ea…
Substitution of hazardous substances for health and environment: lessons and experiences from European projects
1999
This paper deals with substitution of hazardous substances in production processes for environmental and health and safety reasons, with special reference to experiences of substitution of volatile organic compounds in paints and in concrete mould release agents. Substitution in this context is seen as a particular kind of technological transfer, in which the main value of the technology lies in its environmental and health and safety performances, as a contribution to industrial sustainability. The authors identify the main actors of the substitution process (industry, trade unions, NGOs, etc.), the role they play in such a process (promoter, target group, ally or opposer) and the scene i…
Work characteristics in long-term temporary workers and temporary-to-permanent workers: A prospective study among Finnish health care personnel
2011
In this study, the authors seek to account for possible transitions from temporary to permanent employment in relation to perceived psychosocial work characteristics, i.e. job insecurity, workload, job control and organizational communication. The study compared three groups of Finnish hospital workers utilizing a two-wave design with a two-year time lag: (1) workers who were temporarily employed at Time 1 but permanently employed at Time 2 (temporary-to-permanent workers; n = 25); (2) workers who were temporarily employed at Time 1 and at Time 2 (long-term temporary workers; n = 45); and (3) a reference group of workers who were permanently employed at Time 1 and Time 2 (permanent workers…
Individual Performance in Turbulent Environments: The Role of Organizational Learning Capability and Employee Flexibility
2015
Organizational learning capability (OLC) and employee flexibility help firms navigate the challenges faced by organizations operating in turbulent environments. OLC includes dimensions such as experimentation, risk taking, openness, dialogue, and participative decision making. Employee flexibility is considered a crucial tool for strategic human resource management in tackling environmental turbulence. Accordingly, we pose the following research question: how, and to what extent, is individual performance enhanced by OLC and employee flexibility in turbulent environments? The major impact that environmental turbulence has on change and flexibility requirements suggests that employee flexibi…
Towards a methodology to assess organizational learning capability
2011
PurposeThe present study aims to revalidate a measurement scale for organizational learning capability in the context of university faculty members. This is a particularly relevant context because it deals with knowledge‐intensive services. Following Chiva et al., organizational learning capability was conceptualized as a second factor construct including five dimensions: experimentation, risk taking, interaction with the external environment, dialogue and participative decision making.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, a leading university in Costa Rica. The survey was addressed to faculty members. A total of 795 valid questionnaire…
Patterns of psychological contract and their relationships to employee well-being and in-role performance at work: longitudinal evidence from univers…
2016
AbstractThis study identified patterns of psychological contract (PC) and examined how these patterns were related to employee well-being and in-role performance over time (T1–T3). PC was measured at T1 based on cross-sectional data and well-being and performance longitudinally in two consecutive years (T1−T3) among university employees. Latent profile analysis revealed six different patterns of PC at T1. These were labelled (1) strong and balanced (n = 131), (2) average and balanced (n = 382), (3) employer-focused (n = 79), (4) employee-focused (n = 59), (5) balanced transactional (n = 224) and (6) employee-focused relational (n = 322). The longitudinal findings showed that the employees i…
Measuring organisational learning capability among the workforce
2007
PurposeThe present study sets out to propose and validate a measurement scale that aims to capture the organisational capability to learn, based on a comprehensive analysis of the facilitating factors for learning. The organisational learning capability scale consists of 14 items grouped into five dimensions: experimentation, risk taking, interaction with the external environment, dialogue, and participative decision making.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from eight Spanish ceramic tile manufacturers. The survey was addressed to shop floor workers. A total of 157 valid questionnaires were obtained, representing a response rate of 61 per cent. Using confirmatory factor analysi…
Probabilistic Fuzzy Approach to Evaluation of Logistics Service Effectiveness
2014
Received: 9 September 2014 Abstract Accepted: 11 October 2014 Logistics service providers offer a whole or partial logistics business service over a certain time period. Between such companies, the effectiveness of specific logistics services can vary. Logistics service providers seek the effective performance of logistics service. The purpose of this paper is to present a new approach for the evaluation of logistics service effectiveness, along with a specific computer system implementing the proposed approach – a sophisticated inference system, an extension of the Mamdani probabilistic fuzzy system. The paper presents specific knowledge concerning the relationships between effectiveness i…
Differentiation in knowledge‐creating organizations
2007
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on the analysis of the influence of organizational design variables on the creation of knowledge within the organization. The impact that enablers have on knowledge creation has been widely demonstrated and established in the relevant literature. Using this assumption as a starting‐point, the main aim of this study is to consider and explore the role of differentiation – horizontal and vertical – in knowledge creation using enablers as mediator variables.Design/methodology/approachThe paper has created a model of relations of the design variables that correspond to differentiation – horizontal job specialization, vertical job specialization and n…