The consensus between Italian HR and sustainability managers on HR management for sustainability-driven change – towards a ‘strong' HR management system

By sustainability-driven change, we mean the transformation of a company into an active agent of broad sustainable development. This paper focuses on two key features of this transformation: (i) the key role played by the company's human resource (HR) management system within that process; and (ii) the fact that the transformation involves a variety of agents and that, among others, HR and sustainability managers are pivotal to the success of the process. Gaining consensus between them on those aspects of the HR system that support sustainability-driven change is a key success factor, as it results in a ‘strong' HR management system that sends coherent messages to the organization. In addition, consensus between the two managers can be critical in preparing a compelling business case for sustainability for the senior management of the organization. This paper explores the level of consensus between the HR and sustainability managers using a survey of 89 managers in Italian companies committed to sustainability. The results of our research indicate which elements of an HR management system are seen as important for sustainability-driven change by both the HR and the sustainability managers and what differences in perception exist between them. Based upon our findings, implications for HR practice and research are then advanced and discussed.     

Strategic operations management decisions and professional performance in U.S. HMOs

Professional service organizations are becoming an increasingly important segment of the service sector in the U.S. but little attention has been paid to the management of these organizations, particularly in relation to technical performance. This paper reports the findings of a survey of managers of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) which related operations management decisions about organization, workforce management, quality management and planning and control, to clinical process and outcome performance.This research demonstrates that managerial decisions do affect clinical performance in HMOs. These findings have implications for both researchers and practitioners. For researchers, the study provides a framework for future research on the important link between management decisions and technical performance in professional service organizations. For practitioners, this study suggests that technical performance will be enhanced when professional work is appropriately managed.     

Managing Consultants in a Small Firm: A Case Study

There remains a paucity of research on Japanese investment in Asia, especially on Japanese management practices in China. The paper draws predominantly on interviews with Chinese managers in 31 Japanese wholly owned and joint-venture manufacturing plants. In order to account for any differences in the perception of operations between Japanese and Chinese managers, interviews were conducted with Japanese managers in three case-study plants. The purpose was to examine the structure and pattern of managerial control in different locations and industries, and with different patterns of share ownership, size and age of investments. The paper argues that the patterns of control in Japanese manufacturing investment in China are not unique, and as a consequence call into question much of the current conventional wisdom concerning the internationalization of Japanese management practices. Instead of Japanese seeking to maintain strong control over overseas plants and attain high degrees of 'Japanization' (a term used to indicate the dynamics of the transfer process), a complex and varied array of patterns of control are identified. On the one hand, production appears highly Japanized, but personnel management is not. On the other hand, Japanese multinationals make investment decisions that necessitate ceding a high degree of control to local managers. Moreover, it is shown that such 'localization' of control is willingly ceded, if not actively sought, by Japanese multinationals     

Management Control of Project Portfolio Uncertainty: A Managerial Role Perspective

This article presents empirical results on different managers’ viewpoints regarding the sources and management of project portfolio uncertainty. As a key result, this study demonstrates the versatility of uncertainties experienced by managers, the limited degree of perceived control over them, the use of an almost complete management control package in managing uncertainties, and the necessity of managers’ cooperation in the skilled use of the management control package when managing uncertainties. In addition, a further research agenda is proposed.     

Transferring management practices to China: a Bourdieusian critique of ethnocentricity

This paper provides a critique of the emergent theories of human resource management in China with a view to generating new theoretical insights with particular reference to Pierre Bourdieu's social theory. It reassesses the relevance of the orthodox critique of ethnocentricity and the coherence of approaches embedded in Chinese culture. With reference to six case studies of the largest retail firms, we identify two key challenges: the reliance on headquarter human resource practices that reflect an ethnocentric ethos, i.e. country-of-origin bias, and the failure to empower local managers and the problems this creates for managers expected to implement ethnocentric practices. We examine how Bourdieu's social theory sheds light on the processes by which these firms realise their strategic objectives through the complicity of local managers whose scope for resistance is constrained by the use of normative control and in part through attractive remuneration and career prospects that generate Bourdieusian capital for these managers. We conclude with some suggestions for further research.     

科技计划项目管理信息系统研制与应用

科技计划项目管理信息系统是基于J2EE体系标准研制的一套管理软件,该软件采用了多层构架技术、CBA组件技术、统一门户技术和XML数据交换技术,具有可维护性、扩展性和较高的稳定安全性等特点。为科技计划项目管理者提供了一个高效、快速、集成化信息处理系统;使项目管理者可以对资源进行优化管理,实现各类数据流的传输和各种业务的协调合作,及时掌握、管理、控制项目的进展情况。     

Managing the Managers: Japanese Management Strategies in the USA

One of the greatest difficulties Japanese multinationals have had is managing American managers in their US subsidiaries. The reason for this is fundamental and profound: Americans and Japanese conceive of management very differently and have strikingly different conceptions of themselves as managers and of correct management practice.
We do two things in this paper. First, borrowing from social psychology, we explore the idea of the 'management self'. Second, we report our research on management self-conception and style in Japanese-owned factories or 'transplants' in the USA.
The research reports the results of 34 interviews conducted with 19 US and Japanese managers in three electronics transplants. Each factory had adopted different combinations or 'hybridizations' of the management styles of the two countries. The three factories had very different characters. One was dominated by Japanese management practice, another by American practice, and the third was a hybrid of the two styles. We found four factors critical determinants of management style: the nationality of the general manager, a stated preference (or lack thereof) for bicultural management, control over the budget-setting process, and the strength of the Japanese assignees     

Going global,feeling small: an examination of managers' reactions to global restructuring in a multinational organisation

This paper is concerned with examining the reactions of managers to the process of global restructuring in a large, multinational food-processing company. Much extant research concerning globalisation has focused on the wider economic, political and social outcomes. Perhaps surprisingly, relatively little attention has been given to how globalisation is experienced inside organisations. This paper examines how country-level managers have been affected by the move to a new global structure in their organisation. We present evidence of these managers feeling disempowered by global reorganisation and of a largely negative impact on their feelings towards the organisation they work for.     

Management Control as an Employee Resource: The Case of Front‐line Service Workers

ABSTRACT This paper argues that the conception of management control as an employee resource can enhance critical understandings of front‐line service work. The argument is developed first through a critique of the contemporary control literature and its prominent worker images of smiling docility and haggard exhaustion. Seeking to encourage accounts more sensitive to the subjectivity and agency of service workers, the paper calls for more research attention to the question of how these employees experience and evaluate management control in relation to their self‐defined interests. Analysis of the nature of contemporary service work suggests that one such perceived interest is likely to be interactive control, or the capacity of workers to control and influence those parties with whom they directly interact. Based on a close reading of the emerging empirical literature on services, the article explores various ways in which the bureaucratic, technical and normative regulation designed by management to control service workers is used in turn by workers to further their own control and influence over managers and customers.     

Comprehensiveness versus Pragmatism: Consensus at the Japanese–Dutch Interface

abstract    By comparing the views of managers working at the interface of two consensus-oriented societies, Japan and the Netherlands, we show important differences between the consensus decision-making processes as seen by Japanese and Dutch managers. These differences relate to how complete the agreement of opinion should be in order to speak of consensus, with the Japanese managers demanding a more complete consensus than the Dutch. The processes and conditions that Japanese and Dutch managers see as leading to consensus also differ. Japanese consensus is based on a more ordered, sequential process than Dutch consensus. Our respondents differed deeply regarding the role of the hierarchy in their own and the others' consensus processes, with both Japanese and Dutch managers seeing their own consensus process as less hierarchical. Our findings show that the concept of consensus is interpreted quite differently by Japanese and Dutch managers. This is an important warning for companies operating at the interface of these two societies. More in general our research illustrates the usefulness for international management research of detailed comparative studies focusing not on stark contrasts but on more subtle differences between management practices.     

A change management perspective on public sector cutback management: towards a framework for analysis

The financial crisis forces public managers to implement cutbacks within their organization. We argue that adopting a change management perspective contributes to our understanding of cutback management by adding a focus on managerial behaviour regarding cutback-related organizational changes. Relying on change management literature, this paper develops a framework for the analysis of cutback management connecting the context, content, process, outcomes and leadership of cutback-related change. From this it follows that managers can be positioned at the intersection of various imperatives, both externally and internally, such as their political leaders and their own subordinates. A research agenda is proposed.     

Antecedents and consequences of performance management enactment by front-line managers. Evidence from Belgium

Although researchers have extensively stressed the critical role of line managers in the effective implementation of HR practices, little is known about what exactly causes managers to enact these practices. In this paper, we draw from signaling theory, theory of planned behavior and social exchange theory to investigate both the antecedents and the outcomes of front-line management’s enactment of performance management (PM) activities. Results from two Belgian samples of 731 front-line managers and 425 employees show that line management’s beliefs regarding the usefulness of PM activities mediate the relationship between HR support and line management’s implicit person theory, on the one hand, and PM enactment, on the other. This relationship is moderated by the manager’ span of control. Furthermore, line management enactment shows to be positively related to employee engagement and job satisfaction.     

预算管理在企业内部控制中的作用分析

在企业内部管理中,财务预算管理可以更好地配置企业的各项资源,并且可以有效地提高企业的内部控制水平,对企业的发展发挥了重要的作用。基于此,企业的管理者在进行内部控制的过程中,需要重视预算管理的作用。论文重点探讨了在企业内部控制中预算管理的作用,并提出通过预算管理加强企业内部控制的几点对策。     

In Search of Collaborative Public Management

Abstract

This paper describes how managers from disparate organizations collaborated to implement a crime programme through the mechanism of a multi-layered crime partnership. The case is analysed using three theoretical models: collaborative public management (CPM), new public management (NPM) and public administration (PA). A case study research strategy was adopted with eighteen managers from the partnership being interviewed and ten partnership meetings being observed, to enhance understanding of management practice under partnership. This paper provides evidence for CPM, a model of management suited to deliver on the shared outcomes required by government from the varied organizations involved in crime programmes.     

Managing ward managers for roles in HRM in the NHS: overworked and under-resourced

Drawing on case study research in seven NHS Trusts, this article considers the role and management of ward managers and paramedic supervisors, focusing on their human resource management (HRM) responsibilities. In the National Health Service (NHS), these front-line managers are critical to the delivery of effective HRM and thereby strongly influence organisational performance and service delivery. However, despite the mounting literature on leadership and performance in health care, little is known about this body of managers who have been generally neglected by academics and practitioners. This article seeks to address these shortcomings by considering the content and practice of these junior managers' role, their work experiences and factors that influence their ability to deliver effective HRM. The findings reveal that the roles of these managers have been enhanced and extended to include an extensive portfolio of HR duties but is subject to considerable constraint. The multiplicity of roles these managers are required to perform has magnified issues of role conflict and ambiguity, heavy workloads and stress. Fundamentally, however, these managers lacked support from senior managers and the HR function.     

工程项目管理策略探析

工程项目管理是一个复杂的系统过程,是管理者运用系统的理论和方法,对工程项目进行计划、组织、指挥、协调、控制和评价等管理.文章通过分析项目管理的特点和机制,结合项目管理过程中的常见问题阐述工程项目管理的有效策略.     

Repatriation of European female corporate executives: an empirical study

The increased internationalization of business in recent years has made the understanding of international human resource management problems more important for executives in multinational companies. In recent years, researchers have paid considerable attention to the issues of adjustment of managers to international assignments. Interestingly, comparatively little research has been undertaken on the topic of repatriation, i.e. re-entry and readjustment of international managers and their families to their home countries. Despite the growth of women in international management there are very few studies that document the repatriation experiences of female international managers. In particular, very few studies have been conducted outside North America on the topic of repatriation of female corporate executives. This paper reports on the experiences of re-entry to home organizations and home countries by an exclusively senior sample of female international managers in Western Europe. Based on extensive empirical research, the findings establish that the repatriation phase of the international career move may be even more stressful than expatriation. The findings also establish that female international managers experience more difficulties than their male counterparts because of their pioneering roles. Finally, the paper suggests that home-based mentors and access to networks while abroad are important factors in contributing to the successful repatriation of international managers. The research findings make a theoretical contribution, not only to the analysis of gender and international human resource management but, also, to wider debates within the contemporary women in management and career theory literatures.     

The Impact of Managers’ Participation in Costing System Design on Their Perceived Contributions to Process Improvement

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of managers’ participation in costing system design on their perceived contributions to process improvement. Drawing on the literature on business process management, participative decision-making and self-determination theory, we propose that participation in costing system design fosters managers’ perceived contributions to process improvement through their autonomous motivation for cost management and their perceived usefulness of cost information. Questionnaire data obtained from 170 Belgian managers were used to test the proposed model. The results suggest that participation in costing system design increases managers’ autonomous motivation for cost management and enhances their perceived usefulness of cost information. Managers’ perceived usefulness of cost information is, in turn, positively associated with their perceived contributions to process improvement. The effect of managers’ autonomous motivation for cost management on their perceived contributions to process improvement is, however, not significant. Taken together, our findings imply that contributions to process improvement mainly emerge through informational mechanisms rather than motivational mechanisms triggered by the participation process.     

On the manager as principal clerk

Until recently, economic theory and economists treated the management process with benign neglect. Insofar as business enterprises — the firms of economic theory – require managers to oversee their daily operations, these managers are implicitly viewed as fungible ‘principal clerks’. This paper makes this view explicit and considers whether it is valid for a particular class of manager, that of a major league baseball team.     

Managing transformational change: the role of human resource professionals

In the past decade human resource management issues featured prominently in debates over the competitiveness and human resource professionals were expected to ascend to positions of greater influence in corporate strategy making and implementation. Despite numerous calls for a paradigm shift towards a more ‘strategic’ focus for human resource management research, developments in both practice and research fell far short of expectations. Thus, the process of transforming human resource policy into a strategic asset for employees, individual firms or the American economy is not yet complete. The paper suggests that the ‘strategic’ human resource management models of the 1980s were too limited and reactive in character because they depended so heavily on the values, strategies and support of top executives and line managers. A model capable of achieving sustained and transformational change needs to incorporate more active roles of other stakeholders in the employment relationship, including government, employes and union representatives as well as line managers and top executives. The paper starts by reviewing the evidence on innovations in human resource management in the past decade and then outlines the implications of the change model for human resource management and industrial relations theory, policy and practice. Special emphasis is given to the role of human resource professionals as potential change agents or facilitators of the transformational process.