Innovation leadership: Best-practice recommendations for promoting employee creativity,voice, and knowledge sharing

Innovation—the implementation of creative ideas—is one of the most important factors of competitive advantage in 21^st century organizations. Yet, leaders do not always encourage employee behaviors that are critical for innovation. We integrate existing literature on the critical factors that serve as antecedents of innovation, including employee voice and knowledge sharing, which in turn lead to creativity and innovation. Based on existing empirical research, we offer evidence-based recommendations for managers to become innovation leaders by: (1) developing the right group norms, (2) designing teams strategically, (3) managing interactions with those outside the team, (4) showing support as a leader, (5) displaying organizational support, and (6) using performance management effectively.     

In agreement? Leader-team perceptual distance in organizational learning affects work performance

Leaders and their teams often differ in their perceptions of organizational issues, which have been suggested to influence both employee well-being and performance. The present study examined leader-team perceptual distance regarding organizational learning and its consequences for employee work performance. Sixty-eight leaders and their teams from the Swedish forest industry participated in the study. Polynomial regression with response surface analyses revealed that the perceptual distance between leaders and their teams regarding organizational learning was related to lowered work performance, beyond the influence of employee ratings alone. The analyses also indicated that work performance tended to decrease when the leader rated organizational learning as higher than the team. Our findings suggest that it is important for organizations to minimize the perceptual distance between the leaders and their teams and that further research on the construct of leader-team perceptual distance is warranted.     

Big data in an HR context: Exploring organizational change readiness,employee attitudes and behaviors

This research highlights a contextual application for big data within a HR case study setting. This is achieved through the development of a normative conceptual model that seeks to envelop employee behaviors and attitudes in the context of organizational change readiness. This empirical application considers a data sample from a large public sector organization and through applying Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) identifies salary, job promotion, organizational loyalty and organizational identity influences on employee job satisfaction (suggesting and mediating employee readiness for organizational change). However in considering this specific context, the authors highlight how, where and why such a normative approach to employee factors may be limited and thus, proposes through a framework which brings together big data principles, implementation approaches and management commitment requirements can be applied and harnessed more effectively in order to assess employee attitudes and behaviors as part of wider HR predictive analytics (HRPA) approaches. The researchers conclude with a discussion on these research elements and a set of practical, conceptual and management implications of the findings along with recommendations for future research in the area.     

Effective Communications in Growing Pre-IPO Start-Ups

SUMMARY

This study discusses the establishment and evolution of effective internal communications in pre-IPO start-ups, with a focus on 6 variables: employee communications, organizational structure and culture, public relations and communication models, leadership styles, decision-making approaches, and employee motivation. The qualitative study explores how these variables establish effective internal communications in growing pre-IPO start-ups. In addition, the study provides an ideal internal communications model to guide entrepreneurs in establishing start-ups. The findings also emphasize human resources (HR) as a 7th influential variable.     

Exploring the factors influencing the negotiation process in cross-border M&A

This research study provides an empirical examination of the impact of national cultural distance, organizational cultural differences, communication, and planned employee retention on the effectiveness of negotiation process in the cross-border mergers & acquisitions (M&As). We developed and tested a conceptual framework of negotiation process in order to provide a framework for analysis of the key components of the negotiation process in the cross border M&A. The findings indicate that communication positively influence antecedent and concurrent phase of negotiation process. In addition, national cultural distance and organizational cultural differences negatively influence the effectiveness of concurrent phase. We also found that national cultural distance moderates the relationship between communication and effectiveness of concurrent phase of the negotiation process, as such that the positive effect of communication is lower when national cultural distance is higher. Furthermore, we found that planned employee retention positively affect the effectiveness of concurrent phase. Finally, the effectiveness of concurrent phase positively influence the effectiveness of consequent phase i.e. M&A agreement. The contribution of this study lies in providing new insights on negotiation-associated factors for incumbent executives, in order to enable them to better plan and implement cross-border mergers and acquisition deals.     

Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Productivity: Evidence from the Chemical Industry in the United States

We examined cynicism as a mediator of the influence of managers’ mission-congruent communication and behavior about ethical standards (a form of supervisory behavioral integrity) on employee attitudes and intended behavior. Results indicated that cynicism partially mediates the relationship between supervisory behavioral integrity and organizational commitment, but not the relationship between supervisory behavioral integrity and intent to comply with organizational expectations for employee conduct.     

Sustaining Employee Owned Companies: Seven Recommendations

The employee owned company (EOC) might be the ideal blend of capitalism and communitarianism that vitalizes the global economy. EOCs – based on the concepts of employee participation and control – have sprung up in the United Kingdom, some parts of the European Union, the United States, Japan, and the former Eastern Bloc countries. Research has shown that they are able to compete effectively with more traditional companies. However, in addition to the pressures of business competition, EOCs face two other key problems as they strive to survive: (1) degeneration and (2) human nature and the abuse of power. After introducing the idea of the EOC and describing briefly these two key problems, this article presents seven recommendations for sustaining employee owned companies. These recommendations – grounded in sound organizational theory and the writings of experts in the field of employee ownership – are offered as hypotheses to be examined empirically by future researchers.     

Strengthening Identification with the Team in Virtual Teams: The Leaders' Perspective

The number of virtual teams is increasing in today's workplaces. In virtual teams, the members can have different cultural backgrounds, they often work in different countries and are professionals in their own fields. In addition, as such diverse and dispersed teams communicate mainly through communication technology this raises the challenge for the team leader of how to unify the team and get the members to identify themselves with the team. This qualitative study focuses on four virtual team leaders and their attempts to strengthen the team members' identification with the team through computer-mediated communication. The results show four different tactics employed in enhancing identification with the team: catering for the individual, giving positive feedback, bringing out common goals and workings and talking up the team activities and face-to-face meetings. The roles of organizational change and technology in identification with virtual teams are also discussed.     

Linking employee development activity,social exchange and organizational citizenship behavior

The authors examined ‘perceived beneficiary’ of employee development (self, organization) for relationships with employee development activity. Perceived organizational support served as a moderator. The authors conclude that employees may engage in development activities to partly benefit their organization to the extent that a positive exchange relationship exists. Correlational data also show that development behavior is related to organizational citizenship behavior, and this is particularly true for work‐related development activity. This research links employee development with social exchange and organizational citizenship, providing implications for both research and practice.     

Evidence-based recommendations for employee performance monitoring

From security cameras to GPS tracking systems, nearly 80% of organizations use some type of electronic performance monitoring (EPM). EPM uses technology to gather, store, analyze, and report employee behavior (e.g., productivity, use of company time, incivility). The objective, real-time data that EPM systems collect can be used for performance appraisal, training and development, logistical tracking, wellness programs, employee safety, and more. Despite the organizational benefits of EPM, these systems can have adverse effects on employee satisfaction, organizational commitment, fairness perceptions, and employee behavior. Research provides evidence, however, that these downfalls can be mitigated by implementing these systems with employee attitudes and privacy perceptions in mind. Using theory and empirical research evidence, we offer five recommendations for maximizing the positive effects and minimizing the negative effects of EPM: (1) Be transparent with employees about EPM use, (2) be aware of all potential employee reactions to being monitored, (3) use EPM for learning and development rather than deterrence, (4) restrict EPM to only work-related behaviors, and (5) consider organizational makeup when implementing an EPM system.     

Marketing communication and corporate identity: are they integrated?

Although corporate identity was originally defined in terms of the visual representation of a company, later writers employed broader definitions, which have highlighted the importance of the various forms of communication in corporate identity management. Recent models of the corporate identity management process have reflected the importance of communication in the management of corporate identity. Corporate communication has been regarded as being composed of three forms: management, marketing and organizational communication. Most organizations are structured such that management and organizational communication are closely aligned with the corporate identity of an organization. However, the conjunction between corporate identity and marketing communication is less discernible. It has been noted that the interaction between corporate and marketing communication is 'tentative and embryonic in nature'. The authors conducted empirical research, which explored the extent to which corporate identity was integrated into the marketing communication campaigns of these practitioners. The conclusions from this exploratory research suggest that there are substantial barriers to the successful integration of corporate identity with marketing communications. Barriers such as the importance of integration not being accepted by clients, the focus of marketing managers on short-term goals, too many people involved with managing the core message of corporate identity and an ad hoc approach towards marketing communication were important. Further research into structural and behavioural ways of overcoming these barriers could prove to be extremely valuable.     

Spirituality and Performance in Organizations: A Literature Review

The purpose of this article is to review spirituality at work literature and to explore how spirituality improves employees’ performances and organizational effectiveness. The article reviews about 140 articles on workplace spirituality to review their findings on how spirituality supports organizational performance. Three different perspectives are introduced on how spirituality benefits employees and supports organizational performance based on the extant literature: (a) Spirituality enhances employee well-being and quality of life; (b) Spirituality provides employees a sense of purpose and meaning at work; (c) Spirituality provides employees a sense of interconnectedness and community. The article introduces potential benefits and caveats of bringing spirituality into the workplace; providing recommendations and suggestions for practitioners to incorporate spirituality positively in organizations.     

Effects of hospital leadership,organizational systems,and ESWOS on medical error reduction

One of the major elements of care quality provided by health care organizations is the reduction of medical errors. This study empirically examines the effect of leadership, organizational systems, and employee satisfaction with organizational support on medical error reduction. A set of hypotheses is tested based on data collected from 208 medical staff of hospitals with more than 300 beds in South Korea. Data were analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis using SPSS 17.0 and Mplus 5.1. One of the major findings of this study was that medical error reduction could be achieved by effective leadership. Leadership and operational efficiency drive reduction in medical errors in the health care industry. The comparison between large- and small-sized quality assurance teams’ roles indicated that there was a significant difference in their effect on medical error reduction. The results of the study shed light on some practical implications for management professionals in hospitals.     

Team Ethical Cultures Within an Organization: A Differentiation Perspective on Their Existence and Relevance

Studies on the ethical culture of organizations have mainly focused on ethical culture at the organizational level. This study explores ethical culture at the team level because this can add a more detailed understanding of the ethics of an organization, which is necessary for more customized and effective management interventions. To find out whether various teams within an organization can have different ethical cultures, we employ the differentiation perspective and conduct a survey of 180 teams from one organization. The results show that there are significant differences between the ethical cultures of teams. These differences are relevant given the different relationships that were established between high and low clusters of team ethical culture and two outcome variables (i.e., the frequency of unethical behavior and employee responses to unethical behavior). The results also show that the dimensions of ethical cultures among teams have different patterns, which indicates the usefulness of using a multidimensional scale for capturing further differences among team ethical cultures.

     

A meta-analysis of the relationship between perceived organizational support and job outcomes: 20 years of research

Anecdotal comments from practitioners and extant empirical research suggests a tenuous link between perceived organizational support and desired employee outcomes. Accordingly, in this study the authors conduct a meta-analysis examining the effects of perceived organizational support on four employee outcomes: organizational commitment, job satisfaction, performance, and intention to leave. The authors also examine the extent to which these effects are moderated by job type (frontline vs. non-frontline employee). Findings from the study indicate that perceived organizational support has a strong, positive effect on job satisfaction and organizational commitment; a moderate, positive effect on employee performance; and a strong, negative effect on intention to leave. Study findings also indicate that the effects of perceived organizational support are more pronounced for non-frontline employees.     

A model of retail job characteristics,employee role ambiguity,external customer mind-set,and sales performance

Based upon findings from the sales, retailing, marketing, management, and organizational behavior literatures, the authors develop and test a model of retail employee sales performance that differs from previous efforts by utilizing multi-dimensional conceptualizations of potential antecedents as well as a promising yet previously unexamined employee job attitude–external customer mind-set. The results indicate that the characteristics of the retail employee’s work environment, with one exception, are directly associated with enhanced job attitudes and reduced ambiguity. The exception is that greater amounts of job autonomy are associated with increased levels of ambiguity. Retail employee ambiguity regarding customers and external customer mind-set are both associated with sales performance.     

The 11 Questions Every Donor Asks and the Answers All Donors Crave: How You Can Inspire Someone to Give Generously,by H. McKinnon

Organizational learning and customer orientation have been a focus of research for a number of years in both marketing and management literature. Customer learning orientation is conceptualized as three important components: management customer orientation, customer feedback, and employee learning orientation. By drawing from both marketing and organizational research theories, the authors propose a model of customer learning orientation in a public sector organizational setting. Customer learning orientation is hypothesized to have a significant effect on employee attitudes of role ambiguity and self-efficacy, which in turn affects job outcomes of job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviors. Using a sample of 438 employees of a public sector organization, the authors test the model through a structural equation modeling technique. The results provide general support for the model. Implications for managers of public sector organizations and future research are discussed.     

The employee-organization relationship, organizational citizenship behaviors, and superior service quality

This study proposes a model of customer-contact service employee management that examines organizational citizenship behaviors as critical links between aspects of the employee-organization relationship (perceived organizational support, organizational identification) and customers’ perceptions of service quality. In addition, it investigates the role of job autonomy in providing the necessary behavioral discretion for employees to be able to perform citizenship behaviors. The hypothesized model was partially supported. Theoretical and managerial implications are explored.     

Are workplaces with many women in management run differently?

Are workplaces with a high percentage of women in management run differently? This paper uses data from the British 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS98) to analyze empirically the relationship between the percentage of female workplace managers and people-management practices. The results show that workplace management teams with a higher proportion of women monitor employee feedback and development more intensely. Such teams also tend to promote more interpersonal channels of communication and more employee participation in decision-making, although the evidence is weaker for these last two practices. Overall, the findings suggest that the concept of good workplace management practices converges on female leadership styles when the percentage of female managers increases.