AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, MANAGERIAL ROLE EXPECTATIONS AND MANAGERS' WORK ACTIVITIES

Having demonstrated the absence in the literature of an adequate conceptual treatment or empirical examination of the substantive relationship between managerial work, managers' role expectations and forms of organizational structure, the paper reports the findings of a multimethod comparative case study of this relationship in four organizations from the hotel and retail sectors in Zimbabwe. Focusing on the differences between centralized organizations where unit operations are tightly regulated and decentralized organizations where unit operating autonomy is coupled with performance controls, the findings indicate that organizational structure impinges primarily upon the formal management division of labour, more weakly upon the role expectations surrounding unit managers and in only limited ways upon their work activities, with the effect of organizational differences co-existing with and refracted by common work characteristics and inter-industry differences. Although decentralization gave rise to unit manager jobs with more formal autonomy, broader responsibilities, greater pressure to attend to unit performance rather than monitoring work processes, and an obligation to operate in more complex networks, managers were no more free of constraints than were those in more centralized organizations and operated in similar ways, with an emphasis on day-to-day administration and routine staffing matters.     

Managerial telework allowance decisions – a vignette study among German managers

Managers play an important role in the implementation of telework in organizations since they frequently have final approval over employees' requests for telework arrangements. Drawing upon March's (1994) dual-logic theory of decision making, the study examines antecedents of managers' responses to employees' requests for telework. Using a vignette study with a balanced experimental design, we investigated the impact of person-related, task-related and organizational context factors on managerial telework allowance decisions in German organizations. Several person- and task-related factors were found to be significantly related to managers' telework allowance decisions. Organizational context factors, such as a family-supportive organizational culture and formal policies were found to either directly or indirectly influence managers' responses to employees' requests for telework. More specifically, formal telework policies were important in stimulating favorable managerial telework allowance decisions when applicant criticality was low and the organizational culture was family-unsupportive. In line with March's (1994) theory of decision making, the study shows that utility maximization is only one perspective of decision making which managers apply to telework allowance decisions. Rule following and considerations of appropriateness are also taken into account by managers when deciding upon employees' telework requests.     

When unfairness matters most: supervisory violations of electronic monitoring practices

This study examined the effects of different sources of monitoring information, quality of treatment and quality of decision‐making manipulations on perceptions of fairness and satisfaction with monitoring. Drawing on Blader and Tyler's four‐component model of fairness, participants were asked to rate their perceptions of fairness, satisfaction and intentions to comply with electronic performance‐monitoring policies that originated from formal organisational policies or from their direct supervisors. Results indicated that procedural justice violations originating from the supervisor (vs. formal organisational policy) led to lower perceptions of fairness and satisfaction with monitoring. Furthermore, the effect of procedural justice violations on compliance with monitoring was mediated by perceptions of fairness and satisfaction with monitoring. The present research has theoretical and practical implications for the design, implementation and communication of organisational electronic monitoring practices.     

The role of buyers justice in achieving socially sustainable global supply chains: A perspective of apparel suppliers and their workers

The absence of an effective public model (e.g., government regulations and law enforcement) in developing countries has driven clothing brands and retailers to rely on a private voluntary formal model (e.g., compliance and collaboration approaches) to manage suppliers' internal social issues (e.g., poor working conditions). However, this model has been recently criticised for falling short in addressing these issues as it overlooks their main root causes. In this study, we suggest that suppliers' internal social issues can be driven by buyers' unfair practices, and therefore, we propose and examine that buyers' justice can ensure suppliers' internal social performance. We further postulate and investigate that addressing these issues would result in advantages for buyers beyond traditional performance outcomes in the form of reduced supply operational risk. Based on a census of the 117 suppliers comprising the ready-made garment industry in a Middle Eastern country (Jordan), we received survey responses from 97 suppliers and their shop floor workers. The analysis revealed that only buyer’s distributive and procedural justice, but not interactional justice, are positively related to suppliers' internal social performance. We also found evidence that improving suppliers' internal social performance can diminish supply operational risk. This study contributes to the extant research by empirically investigating a new approach to handle the increase in suppliers' internal social issues in a developing country context. It also does by capturing suppliers' internal social performance from the workers' perspective and highlighting the role of improved suppliers' internal social performance on mitigating supply operational risk.     

Tactics of speaking up: The roles of issue importance,perceived managerial openness,and managers' positive mood

Extant voice research has focused mainly on the conditions under which employees speak up, but we have limited knowledge about how employees speak up. This study examines voice tactics or the various ways in which employees express concerns to or share suggestions with their managers. Based on the notion that voice is a deliberative behavior, we draw upon a cost–benefit framework and propose that voice tactics are influenced by messages' characteristics and managers' stable and temporal characteristics. Specifically, we examine the joint effects of issue importance, perceived managerial openness, and managers' positive mood on employees' public (vs. private) and formal (vs. informal) voice tactics. Across two independent studies, our findings demonstrate that employees tend to use public channels and formal procedures only when three conditions are met simultaneously: (a) the issue is important, (b) managers are perceived as being open to employees' voice, and (c) managers are in a positive mood at the time of voicing. In addition, we found that speaking up via public channels or formal procedures is positively related to the success of voice.     

Human resource control in MNCs: a study of the factors influencing the use of formal and informal control mechanisms

This study tests the effects of different internal and external factors on Multinational Corporations' (MNCs) use of formal versus informal mechanisms to control their human resources. Responses to a survey of 74 General Managers (GMs) of US subsidiaries in Mexico were used to test the hypotheses. The use of formal and informal mechanisms of control was associated with the extent to which the MNC had a global strategy as well as with the strength of localization forces such as local dependence and local regulations. Level of employee education, a subsidiary characteristic, also predicted the extent to which MNCs used informal control mechanisms. Most importantly, the results suggest that, even though they share some antecedents, each type of control mechanism, namely formal and informal, has a different set of internal and external antecedents. Indeed, our data hint that informal and formal control mechanisms are not mutually exclusive and that, on the contrary, they can fruitfully co-exist because they satisfy different internal and external demands.     

Neo-pluralism as a theoretical framework for understanding HRM in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper discusses the 'social' nature of employment management problems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). 'Applied' Western HRM is largely based on unitarist conceptions of organizational reality. Where conceptions suggest a 'stakeholder' perspective, they tend to follow orthodox formulations of pluralism. In that regard, notions of 'stakeholding' refer to the divergent internal organizational interests (mainly economic) of labour and management. In the SSA context, however, the broader social and moral issues of the wider community have a decisive influence on the employment relationship. And internal employment relations structures, such as trade unions, do not constitute the main representative channels for employee grievances. Consequently, established Western employment frames of reference do not represent suitable theoretical frameworks for analysing all the relevant social factors that influence the SSA employment relationship. This paper proposes a modified version of Ackers' (2002) 'neo-pluralist' theoretical framework as the basis for understanding and resolving some of issues involved in HRM in SSA. From this analysis, it proposes a model of HRM that attempts to institutionalize some elements of the 'African social system' into formal HRM policies and strategies.     

Antecedents of employee's preference for knowledge-sharing tools

This study examines individual antecedents of employees' preference for formal or informal knowledge-sharing tools. We propose that the preference for different tools is determined by the combined effects of willingness to share knowledge, trust and role breadth self-efficacy (RBSE). The findings of the empirical study, which was conducted at a medium-sized Chinese company (N = 860), revealed that willingness to seek knowledge was related to the usage of both formal and informal tools. Furthermore, the willingness to give knowledge was significantly related to the usage of formal tools. RBSE had a significantly positive impact on both formal and informal knowledge-sharing tools' usage, while its effects on formal tools' usage were stronger than those on informal tools. Affect-based trust had a significantly positive impact on the usage of informal knowledge sharing, which was also stronger than its impact on formal tools' usage. Cognition-based trust positively moderated the relationship between willingness to seek knowledge and the usage of formal tools, and the relationship between willingness to share knowledge and informal tools' usage.     

Would You Barter with God? Why Holy Debts and Not Profane Markets Created Money

Attempting to revitalize the substantive approach to economics in the tradition of K. Polanyi, this paper revives the neglected substantive theory of money's origins by Bernhard Laum and thus disputes the formal approaches that see the origins of money in the context of trade. A wide range of evidence, from archeological to etymological, is utilized to demonstrate that relations between men and God, carried out through the intermediary of state‐religious authorities, played a causal role in the genesis of the ox‐unit of value and account, and, further, in the origins of money, and, subsequently, coinage. The substantive state‐religious approach presented in this paper is also compared and contrasted to the Chartalist perspective on money's origins. It is concluded that the substantive approach presented in this paper differs from the more formal approaches (e.g., Metallism) because it does not rely upon a projection of modern institutions and habits of thought (e.g., a medium of exchange; monetary taxation) into ancient societies.     

Why does formal mentoring matter? The mediating role of psychological safety and the moderating role of power distance orientation in the Chinese context

Formal mentoring programs continue to gain popularity within various organizations due to their positive impact on protégés' career successes. However, to date, relevant research has focused on the benefits of informal mentoring relationships. To narrow the literature gap, this study was conducted to examine whether, how and when the amount of formal mentoring provided by mentors influenced protégés' work attitudes. Based on 208 formal mentor–protégé dyads from the People's Republic of China, we found that the amount of formal mentoring provided by mentors related positively to protégés' affective commitment and related negatively to turnover intention. Furthermore, perceived psychological safety of protégés partially mediated the relationship between the amount of formal mentoring and affective commitment, whereas it completely mediated the relationship between the amount of formal mentoring and turnover intention. Finally, protégés' power distance orientation moderated the relationship between the amount of formal mentoring and perceived psychological safety. Additionally, implications for research and practice from our findings are discussed.     

The Ambiguous Terrain of Rights: Civic Stratification in Italy's Emergent Immigration Regime

In a period marked by heightened interest in the domain of rights, this article focuses on the delivery of rights with respect to cross‐national migrants and, in particular, on the position of non‐EU migrants in Italy. Italy is chosen as a special case, having moved quickly and recently to establish a regime of both rights and controls with respect to migration, culminating in its 1998 legislation. The article considers the emerging picture of rights, alongside impediments to their realization, and a set of associated ambiguities related to delivery and implementation. The outcome is viewed as a pattern of stratified rights – or ‘civic stratification’– which operates along both formal and informal dimensions. Underpinning this picture is a hybrid system whose chief characteristics are: a bureaucratized framework of rights and controls; the permeation of this formal system with informal practices; and the continuing presence of irregular migrants. For them, reasonable chances of clandestine employment and last‐resort provisions are the basis of a survival existence not rooted in formal rights, but subject to minimal formal control. Dans une période marquée par un regain d'intér? t dans le domaine des droits, cet article s'attache à la signification de ceux‐ci auprès des migrants transnationaux et, notamment, à la situation des migrants non‐ressortissants de l'UE en Italie. Ce pays est choisi comme cas particulier puisqu'il est passé rapidement et récemment à un régime de droits et de contrôles vis‐à‐vis de la migration, aboutissant à la législation de 1998. L'article examine le tableau des droits qui se dessine, parallèlement aux obstacles à leur concrétisation, tout en étudiant un ensemble d'ambiguïtés connexes liées à leur signification et leur mise en application. Il dépeint les droits comme un motif en couches – ou ‘stratification civique’– fonctionnant à la fois dans le sens officiel et officieux. Etayant cette représentation, se trouve un système hybride dont les principales caractéristiques sont un cadre bureaucratisé de droits et de contrôles, l'infiltration dans ce système officiel de pratiques officieuses, et la présence persistante de migrants irréguliers. Ces derniers se fondent sur des chances raisonnables de trouver un travail clandestin et de bénéficier de dispositions de dernier recours pour une survie qui ne s'appuie pas alors sur la légalité, mais dépend d'un contrôle officiel minimal.     

Becoming a Slum: From Municipal Colony to Illegal Settlement in Liberalization‐Era Mumbai

This article argues that the transformation of a Mumbai neighborhood from municipal housing colony into illegal slum has been facilitated by the politically mediated deterioration and criminalization of its water infrastructure in the context of liberalization‐era policy shifts. These policy shifts hinge upon a conceptual binary that posits the unplanned, illegal and informal ‘slum’ as the self‐evident conceptual counterpoint to a planned, formal, ‘world‐class’ city. The story of Shivajinagar‐Bainganwadi problematizes this assumption by evidencing the deeply political and highly unstable nature of this binary — and thus insists upon an account of the shifting political and economic stakes imbued in these categories. The case of Shivajinagar‐Bainganwadi reveals that the neighborhood's emergence as an illegal slum has been mediated by the liberalization‐era politics that have come to infuse the neighborhood's water pipes — dynamics that have produced the illegality/informality of the neighborhood as a discursive effect.     

Are internal manufacturing and external supply chain flexibilities complementary capabilities?

Manufacturing flexibility is often viewed as a strategic capability that enables firms to more effectively meet heterogeneous market demands arising, in part, from increased product proliferation. However, recent studies suggest that the operational challenges associated with meeting this objective may be heavily dependent not only upon a firm's internal modification, mix, and new product flexibilities, but also upon the flexibility of its inbound and outbound supply chain partners. Drawing upon the theory of Complementarity, we examine if simultaneous utilization of both internal and external flexibilities does in fact create synergies that can improve a firm's delivery performance. Based on a sample of 158 U.S. manufacturing plants, we find that the extent to which performance enhancing synergies are generated is primarily dependent upon the type of internal flexibility that is paired with supply chain flexibilities. Additionally, we find that when synergies do exist, external supplier and logistics flexibilities generally tend to enhance the scope of flexible response, while internal flexibilities generally tend to enhance the achievability of a flexible response. Taken together, our findings suggest that the ability of firms to actually reap the synergistic benefits of an integrated system of supply chain flexibility is much more complex and nuanced than previously believed or expected.     

Structuring residual income and decision rights under internal governance: results from the Hungarian trucking industry

The paper offers a property rights and monitoring cost explanation for the allocation of residual income and decision rights between the carriers and truck drivers under internal governance. First, by applying the property rights theory, we argue that the structure of residual income rights depends on the importance of noncontractible (intangible) assets of the truck driver to generate residual surplus. The more important the truck driver's intangible knowledge assets, the more residual income rights should be transferred to him. Second, we controlled for the monitoring costs as an additional explanatory variable of the allocation of residual income rights. According to agency theory, the variable proportion of the driver's income should be higher where monitoring costs are higher. Third, we investigate the relationship between residual income and residual decision rights under internal governance. If the contractual relation is governed by an employment contract, residual decision and residual income rights may be substitutes because, under fiat, a certain incentive effect of the governance structure may result either from the allocation of high‐powered incentives or the transfer of residual decision rights to the driver. These hypotheses were tested by using data from the Hungarian trucking industry. The data provide partial support for the hypotheses. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A gap model of purchasing's internal service quality: Concept,case study and internal survey

Traditionally, the monitoring of a purchasing department's performance is primarily focused on cost analysis and the evaluation of suppliers rather than on internal service aspects. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to develop an instrument for the measurement of the internal service quality of purchasing departments. Based on the SERVQUAL and the general gap model of service quality, a specific gap model regarding purchasing's internal service quality was developed. Similar to previous research, both the perceptions of the actual service and the internal customers’ expectations of the service quality were included. In addition, the model contains a self-evaluation by contrasting the views (expectations and perceptions) of the internal customer with those of the purchaser. The application of this instrument in a large company demonstrates the general usefulness of this instrument. Statements of 145 internal customers and 36 purchasers were available for statistical analysis. The results of this analysis can be helpful in detecting weak points and sources of internal customers’ dissatisfaction.     

最低工资对正规部门、非正规部门工资和就业的影响

本文根据是否遵守最低工资标准,将劳动部门分为正规部门和非正规部门。利用中国健康与营养调查（CHNS）微观数据,运用固定效应模型和Multinomial Logit模型,本文实证研究了2004年以来,最低工资对正规部门和非正规部门工资和就业的影响。研究发现：最低工资每提高1%,正规部门工资会增加0.5%,非正规部门平均工资下降统计不显著,而处于最低工资线附近的非正规部门劳动者工资下降0.77%;最低工资提高使得失业者向非正规部门流动,而非正规部门劳动者向正规部门流动,最终将有利于劳动者在正规部门就业。因此,政府在制定最低工资制度时应全面考虑最低工资标准作用效果的部门差异。     

企业数字化转型与高管薪酬契约有效性

以2008—2020年沪深A股非金融类上市公司为研究对象,实证检验企业数字化转型对高管薪酬契约有效性的影响。结果显示,企业数字化转型显著降低了高管薪酬-业绩敏感性,并增加了企业高管的超额薪酬。机制检验发现,企业数字化转型赋予了管理层集中的决策自主权,弱化了外部对管理层经营管理行为的监督力度,增强了管理层利用其高度集中的权力影响董事会薪酬契约制定的能力,获得了更多与企业业绩不匹配的私有收益,从而降低了高管薪酬契约有效性。异质性分析发现,在内部控制质量或信息披露质量较高的企业,企业进行数字化转型对高管薪酬契约有效性的负面效应会得到抑制。研究结论为全面认识企业数字化转型的经济后果提供了经验证据,同时也为数字化转型公司高管薪酬契约的制定提供了一定的参考。     

Corporate Capital Budgeting Decisions and Information Sharing

Firms must overcome agency and information asymmetry problems to make efficient corporate capital budgeting decisions; this is particularly true for firms with multiple units dispersed across geographic locations. Internal communication and coordination may therefore be crucial in reducing information asymmetry and achieving efficient resource allocation. We examine the relationship between corporate capital budgeting decisions and the degree of internal information sharing using a dataset of 342 U.S. firms from 1993 to 2002. Information sharing is measured by the internal linkages observed in firms’ research and development activities worldwide. The efficiency of a firm's capital budgeting decisions is measured by the deviation of the firm's estimated marginal q from the theoretical tax‐adjusted benchmark. We observe a significant relationship between value‐enhancing capital budgeting decisions and stronger internal linkages. Specifically, corporate overinvestment is significantly reduced with better information sharing across units. All results are robust to firm‐ and industry‐level controls.     

Perception of organization's value support and perceived employability: insights from self-determination theory

Perceived employability (PE; i.e. the worker's perception about available job opportunities) is portrayed as the upcoming resource for workers and organizations. However, organizations might particularly want to stimulate perceptions of job opportunities on the internal labor market (i.e. internal PE). In contrast, they may be hesitant in stimulating perceptions of job opportunities on the external labor market (i.e. external PE), as this might foster workers' voluntary turnover. The contextual influences adding to these different types of PE are relatively unknown. Building upon self-determination theory, we argue that the organization's support of intrinsic (e.g. personal growth) and extrinsic (e.g. status) values may play a critical role. In line with expectations, the results reveal a positive association of the perceived organization's support of intrinsic work values and a negative association of the perceived extrinsic value support with internal PE, both in terms of a similar job (i.e. internal lateral PE) and a better job (i.e. internal upward PE). Unexpectedly, perceived organization's support of extrinsic values did not relate negatively to external PE. These results show that employers can invest in the workers' employability without disadvantaging the organization. To arrive at a flexible workforce, the support of intrinsic values is of key importance.