Innovation and HRM: Absences and politics

This article analyses the role of HRM practices in the implementation of an innovative cross-functional approach to new product development (concurrent engineering, CE) in Eurotech Industries. Contrary to CE methodology stipulations, and despite supportive conditions, HRM received scant attention in the implementation process. Organizational power and politics were clearly involved in this situation, and this article explores how their play created such HRM ‘absences’. The article builds on a four-dimensional view of power in order to provide a deeper understanding of the embedded, interdependent and political nature of HRM practice and innovation.     

Missing a strategic marketing trick? The use of online social networks by UK charities

• This paper explores the use of online social networks in the charity sector. Twelve major UK charities from a range of sectors and three digital marketing agencies were selected to provide rich interview data on the current adoption of online social networks by UK charities. The empirical findings illustrate the diverse drivers in adopting online social networks including regaining control of a brand, external pressures and gaining new audiences. Levels of usage differed significantly and the resistors consistently cited were the lack of skills and resources. The strategic marketing implications for the development of online social networks are also outlined for the UK charity market. The value provided by this paper stems from exploring the organisational perspective rather than the consumer experience of contributing to social networks, within a context which is often overlooked, the charity sector.

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Leadership for Collaboration

Abstract

‘Leadership’ and ‘collaboration’ are integral to twenty-first century governance and management but, despite a growing literature, understanding about leadership for collaboration is hampered by a lack of specificity and nuance in theory and empirical research. This article responds to these limitations by working within an interpretive framework and employing Q-method to uncover different interpretations of leadership for collaboration operant among public managers in Wales. The article uses the concept of situated agency to explain why public managers offer diverse interpretations of leadership for collaboration despite working within the same governance framework, and to identify challenges to public managers in determining appropriate leadership for collaboration.     

Is what you see what you get? Investigating the relationship between social media content and counterproductive work behaviors,alcohol consumption,and episodic heavy drinking

Abstract

Employers are increasingly using social networking website (SNW) content to screen applicants for employment despite the absence of much empirical support for this practice. The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of using SNW content to predict employee behavior. Specifically, we investigated the relationship between SNW content and counterproductive work behaviors (CWB), occurrence of workplace accidents, alcohol consumption, and episodic heavy drinking. Participants (N = 146 MBA and upper level undergraduate business students) self-reported demographic information and information about workplace counterproductive behavior. Participants also provided access to their SNW profile, which the researchers subsequently accessed in order to assess potentially compromising content. Results indicate SNW profiles are not associated with CWB or involvement in workplace accidents, while SNW profiles containing alcohol and drug content are associated with alcohol consumption and episodic heavy drinking. Our study is among the first to examine the relationship between SNW profile information and CWBs of interest to HRM personnel and provides evidence that practitioners should exercise caution in drawing inferences about workplace behaviors based on SNW profile information.     

Value innovation in business markets: Breaking the industry recipe

The industrial marketing as well as the strategic management literature stresses the importance of “value innovation” in order to create/sustain competitive advantage and to rejuvenate the organization.In the first part of this article the construct of value innovation is operationalized within the context of selected business-to-business markets. We report the results of an ongoing research project; starting from traditional ways of value creation, the study reveals different types of value innovation initiatives undertaken by industry participants. We observe, however, that networks, firms and managers are embedded in industry recipes. These recipes block the creation and realization of value innovation. Some firms are trying to break out of existing frames and their experiences pinpoint to specific ways of markets sensing, strategic marketing and different marketing-mix tools. As such, the research frames value innovation initiatives in the existing industry contexts and managerial frames, and identifies drivers, barriers and perceived success factors for the process of value innovation.The second part of the article then looks at the stages of value innovation and their impact on marketing, organizations and networks. Based on the data analysis, the paper posits propositions which stress the concept of “multilevel absorptive capacity”.     

Medicaid coverage expansions and liability insurance

Do changes in the population covered by health insurance affect liability insurers, who compensate billions of dollars in medical claims each year? We examine this question by exploiting the selective rollout across states of Medicaid expansions under the Affordable Care Act. Using data on insurer losses across a range of insurance lines, and employing a triple‐difference research design that contrasts states, years, and lines of insurance, we demonstrate that coverage expansions reduce auto liability and workers’ compensation outlays by 6–11 percent, but do not measurably impact other lines of insurance. Our analysis provides some of the first evidence regarding the use of the tort system particularized to the low‐income population and is the first to consider the impacts of health insurance on medical professional liability and commercial auto insurance claims.     

Competition and public high school performance

Increasing the level of school competition has been suggested as a way to improve school performance. This study examines one of the most extreme examples of such reform using data from New Zealand public high schools. In the 1990s school zoning was abolished in New Zealand and public schools competed for students, not just with private schools, but also with each other. A categorical Data Envelopment Analysis model using data on school resources and student academic performance, stratified using student socio-economic characteristics, is used to calculate efficiency scores for schools. A regression model is then used to analyse differences in these efficiency scores and their relationship to different levels of competition.     

Moving from basic offerings to value-added solutions: Strategies, barriers and alignment

Commoditization erodes the competitive differentiation of companies and often leads to a profit squeeze. Existing literature recommends the transition from basic product offerings to service-based value concepts in order to regain competitiveness in such a context. This paper explores the concrete efforts of suppliers in the commoditized electro-technical industry to create new non-price-based customer value. In this paper, a taxonomy of efforts is developed which builds on the competitive strategy and strategic marketing literature. Our research identifies barriers to the market introduction of these new value concepts. Observations in this industry lead to a framework that (1) proposes alternative step-by-step strategies for making the transition from basic products to service-based solutions, and (2) offers alignment suggestions for overcoming identified barriers. Migration paths to introducing new service-based value concepts are incremental rather than radical, and managers should complement their market approach with (a) value chain actions to create multilevel industry support and (b) an organizational alignment approach.