Strategic talent management: A review and research agenda

Despite a significant degree of academic and practitioner interest the topic of talent management remains underdeveloped. A key limitation is the fact that talent management lacks a consistent definition and clear conceptual boundaries. The specific contribution of the current paper is in developing a clear and concise definition of strategic talent management. We also develop a theoretical model of strategic talent management. In so doing we draw insights from a number of discreet literature bases. Thus, the paper should aid future research in the area of talent management through (1) helping researchers to clarify the conceptual boundaries of talent management and (2) providing a theoretical framework that could help researchers in framing their research efforts in the area. Additionally, it aids managers in engaging with some of the issues they face with regard to talent management.     

Supervisor-subordinate guanxi: A meta-analytic review and future research agenda

The present research focuses on supervisor-subordinate guanxi (SSG) – a non-work or personal tie that reflects the relationship between a subordinate and their supervisor. Although SSG has received considerable attention, results are mixed. Further, how the Eastern conceptualization of SSG differs from the Western conceptualization of leader-member exchange (LMX) remains nebulous. We meta-analyzed 71 samples that contain 238 effect sizes. We found that: (1) SSG has a strong overlap with LMX (ρ̅̂ = 0.56); (2) SSG has small magnitude relations with its correlates (age, gender, education, and tenure); (3) SSG demonstrates smaller relative weights than LMX in predicting outcome variables (task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention, subordinates' perceived distributive justice, subordinates' perceived procedural justice, and trust in supervisor); and (4) SSG contributes statistically significant, yet very small (ranging from 0.00 to 0.04), incremental validity above and beyond LMX in predicting all of the aforementioned outcome variables except for subordinates' perceived distributive justice. We conclude with a discussion of future directions for research on SSG.     

Enabling supply chain analytics for enterprise information systems: a topic modelling literature review and future research agenda

ABSTRACT

This paper provides a literature review of the research within the framework of 1) analytics,2) supply chain management, and 3) enterprise information systems, and relate the findings to competitive enablers. The findings are used to construct a future research agenda. The methodology is a systematic two-stage approach, based on a Smart Literature review framework using topic modelling. The research agenda proposes future research within the themes of 1) context, 2) cross-functional analytics, 3) cross-planning level analytics, 4) implementation and assimilation of analytics in EIS, 5) analytics and big data for SCM, 6) managerial aspects of analytics, and 7) data and system heterogeneity.     

Boards of directors in SMEs: a review and research agenda

This paper aims at reviewing research and presenting a research agenda on boards of directors in SMEs. While most publications about boards in SMEs focus on the lack of research in the area, this paper presents some of the work that has been conducted. Publications on boards of directors during the 1990s in outlets for SME research are reviewed. Boards of directors in small and medium-sized companies are getting increased attention, but the knowledge about boards in such companies is still fragmented. This paper presents research challenges based on a holistic model of directorates in SMEs that is elaborated from previous research about directorates. The papers selected for this special issue on boards of directors in SMEs are presented in this framework.     

Understanding politics in PSM teams: A cross-disciplinary review and future research agenda

Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) decisions, such as make-or-buy or vendor selections, are highly dependent on the cooperation of several functions in decision-making teams in order to make more holistic and effective decisions. However, members of cross-functional PSM teams often also pursue diverse goals rooted in functional incentive structures that may lead to misalignment and competition. One of the resulting problems are so-called “organizational politics”, being self-serving influence attempts among functional representatives. Examples can be nondisclosure of information, coalitions, or lobbying to protect unidimensional functional interests that potentially obstruct effective PSM decision making. So far, PSM scholars have made exploratory and inductive inquiries in team politics while the larger body of research on politics exists outside the PSM scope. Thus, as PSM scholarship transcends toward deductive theory testing designs on team politics, the fields is at risk taking isolated perspectives and failing to deduce from the extant disaggregated “general management” literature on politics. In response to this emerging trend, we review 91 contributions to the organizational literature on politics at the individual, team or group, and dyadic (individual-individual) level to build a future research framework on politics in real-world cross-functional PSM decision-making teams. To do so, we distinguish thematic areas of interest and derive future avenues for research in light of ongoing PSM debates on human resource management in PSM, leadership in PSM teams, and top management support of PSM. Furthermore, we derive epistemological, instrumental, and theoretical guidance on how to approach politics in cross-functional PSM teams.     

The HR ecosystem: Emerging trends and a future research agenda

Human resource leaders are experimenting with new approaches to organizing and utilizing workers that are not limited to the traditional boundaries of the firm, but rather expand to an ecosystem of work and organization. This special issue introduction article introduces a set of papers from management scholars discussing the ecosystem of work and organization and offers a roadmap for future research on HR ecosystems. An ecosystem perspective invites us to rethink our current frameworks to better link theory to practice. It also challenges us to shift our level of analysis from the organization to the ecosystem, asking: how is work organized and conducted within this complex and evolving context? These papers uncover trends related to (1) technological mediation, (2) impermanence and adaptation, and (3) shared governance. Our hope is that by framing these trends found within the research in this special issue that scholars will be provided a better road map in moving forward with their own research on the role of HR within the ecosystem of work and organization.     

From curse to cure of workplace ostracism: A systematic review and future research agenda

Workplace ostracism is mistreatment in disguise that has spread its roots deep into organizations. This research has a threefold purpose. Firstly, to shed light on its seriousness by highlighting its personal, relational, and organizational impacts. Secondly, to identify buffering mechanisms that nullify its damaging impacts. Finally, to offer novel avenues for future research. The systematic review of 89 articles reveals workplace ostracism causes significant damages to employees, their personal and professional relationships, and organizations. It also reveals that employees' traits, abilities, skills, psychological states, job-related factors, support, culture, and religiousness cushion against ostracism's adverse impacts. Perhaps this is the first review that highlights workplace ostracism's relational impacts and systematically and comprehensively summarizes its buffering mechanisms as the cure to its curse. This review identifies literature gaps and proposes a future research framework and other future research directions for scholars to address them. It concludes with a discussion of practical implications.     

Workplace contextual supports for LGBT employees: A review,meta‐analysis,and agenda for future research

The past decade has witnessed a rise in the visibility of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. This has resulted in some organizational researchers focusing their attention on workplace issues facing LGBT employees. While empirical research has been appropriately focused on examining the impact of workplace factors on the work lives of LGBT individuals, no research has examined these empirical relationships cumulatively. The purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive review and meta‐analysis of the outcomes associated with three workplace contextual supports (formal LGBT policies and practices, LGBT‐supportive climate, and supportive workplace relationships) and to compare the relative influence of these workplace supports on outcomes. Outcomes were grouped into four categories: (a) work attitudes, (b) psychological strain, (c) disclosure, and (d) perceived discrimination. Results show that supportive workplace relationships were more strongly related to work attitudes and strain, whereas LGBT supportive climate was more strongly related to disclosure and perceived discrimination compared to the other supports. Our findings also revealed a number of insights concerning the measurement, research design, and sample characteristics of the studies in the present review. Based on these results, we offer an agenda for future research.     

Flexible global working arrangements: An integrative review and future research agenda

The topography of global mobility within multinational enterprises (MNEs) is evolving where we now have a portfolio of flexible global working arrangements (FGWAs) including: international business travellers, flexpatriates, short-term international assignees, international commuters, and rotational assignees. The need for more agile structures and more efficient mechanisms to transfer globally dispersed knowledge are two key enablers in this evolution. With increased interest, this paper offers the first systematic, integrative review of 100 articles on FGWAs. The review indicates that these forms of global work appear to be a somewhat overlooked double-edged sword in that they may confer significant but unrealised value for MNEs alongside hidden, adverse consequences for individuals. Notable was the lack of insight into the HR function's input or oversight at either a strategic or operational level. We find that there is a distinct lack of strategic linkages to global mobility and/or HR functions. We propose a research agenda that centres on better understanding the international HR function's role and responsibility in providing a more strategic and sustainable perspective of these increasingly common FGWAs alongside virtual work. The COVID-19 pandemic may offer a critical juncture point in which there is greater strategic consideration on the utilisation and support of such arrangements.     

Two decades of XBRL: a science mapping of research trends and future research agenda

eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is a software standard of significant importance in the current shift in financial reporting. This new standard is representative of the dramatic developments in how financial information is presented and reported. Over the past 20 years (2000–2020), we have witnessed how information systems and technology advancement have continued to shape current practices in accounting, which has resulted in an increasing trend toward Internet reporting, and thus the XBRL adoption. This study investigates the current trends and various characteristics of worldwide research on XBRL using bibliometric analysis, subsequently presenting a plausible future research direction. The Scopus database was searched for articles indexed under the terms “XBRL*” or “Digital Financial Reporting*” or “Internet Financial Reporting*” or “Web financial reporting*”, which yielded a total of 661 documents from the years 2000–2020. We analysed a total of 621 documents as our final sample after excluding those not related to the interest of the study. Our analysis discovered six (6) main research clusters related to XBRL, which are financial reporting, development of XBRL, decision making, XBRL adoption, corporate governance and disclosure, and financial analytics. We also proposed a future research direction within XBRL-related research.

     

Making sense of different perspectives on career transitions: A review and agenda for future research

Although scholars across numerous disciplines have studied specific types of career transitions, there has been no examination of the career transitions literature as a general phenomenon since Louis' seminal article was published four decades ago. Much has changed in the career landscape in the last forty years, including the number and types of career transitions being made by individuals. Using an inductive approach, the five major theoretical perspectives of career stage, decision-making, adjustment, relational, and identity emerged from our analysis of 242 publications. In this paper, we summarize research on each of these major perspectives on career transitions, recognizing emerging trends and research gaps. Based upon an analysis across these perspectives, we recommend seven major avenues for future research on career transitions.     

Talent management of skilled migrants: propositions and an agenda for future research

This paper unpacks the dominant conceptualizations of talent management (TM) in contemporary academic publications, and considers these in relation to the increasingly important workforce population of skilled international migrants. It postulates that TM approaches are generally built from a relatively narrow human capital-based perspective wherein organizations focus on readily accessible and immediate skills, ignoring the longer term strategic potential of the international workforce of skilled migrants, particularly for multinational enterprises and other international organizations. Through a series of propositions, the paper highlights how organizations, in strategically using a more comprehensive TM lens rather than a human capital lens in approaching the TM of skilled migrants, could benefit from improved HRM performance over time. It also proposes a research agenda, by which future studies might test, explore, and further develop understanding on a more strategic utilization of skilled migrants in organizations.     

Small company purchasing: A research agenda

The small company attracts increasing attention from academia. However, research on purchasing in small companies is still limited, despite the recognised dependence of small companies on external resources. At the same time small companies operate under circumstances that pose different purchasing challenges compared to the large firm. Hence, this article proposes a new research agenda on small company purchasing. A review of the purchasing and small company literatures demonstrates limited interest in this hybrid theme and few cross-literature synergies. In addition, the paper reports on 16 interviews with small company owners. These empirical data complement the theoretical review and provide a basis for formulating the research agenda. Nine research questions are derived from the investigation, emphasising supplier relationship management and the effects of owner behaviour on purchasing as promising future research areas.     

Advancing the field of employee assistance programs research and practice: A systematic review of quantitative studies and future research agenda

The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated the critical role of organizational support for the workforce. An employee assistance program (EAP) represents an inclusive strategy which organizations adopt to provide supportive and empathic care to help employees overcome undesirable situations. To date, we have limited knowledge of what EAP issues have been researched from the human resource management (HRM) perspective and what theoretical underpinning these studies have used. This article systematically reviews quantitative empirical studies on EAPs. Drawing upon 115 articles from 72 journals across 40 years (1981–2020), we trace the evolutionary trend of the construct of EAP and shed light on the internal link of EAP with HRM. After summarizing research themes, methods, theories, and approaches to the evaluation of EAPs, we identify pitfalls in the current research and contribute to extending the field by proposing several research agendas for future investigation.     

Charity advertising: A literature review and research agenda

The authors present an overview of the academic literature on charity advertising. Through systematically reviewing 63 empirical studies on charity advertising, a synthesis of the body of work is framed in a general model. Predominant antecedents in the charity advertising literature include various appeal tactics and victim portrayals. Research streams on moderators and mediators include various ad characteristics and audience characteristics. The audience's intentions to donate were the most used outcome variable. Recommendations for continuing theoretical advancement in the field are presented. Managerial implications are also presented. This literature review contributes a knowledge base to guide future charity advertising research.     

Routine dynamics and paradox: A revised research agenda

This comment reflects on the paper by Rosales et al. (2022) and discusses the role and contribution of paradox theory for our understanding of routine dynamics. Whilst the authors claim that routines serve as rubber bands that enable practitioners to manage the paradoxical relationship between stability and change, in this commentary I want to challenge some of the core assumptions around stability and change in this paper and propose a revised understanding. It is a central tenant of routine dynamics studies that stability and change are mutually enabling – a duality – and hence not contradictory categories. As I outline in this comment this has significant consequences for the way routine dynamics are studied. Furthermore, I propose some areas in which paradox theory and routine dynamics studies may fruitfully be combined to address novel research questions.     

Mapping sexual orientation research in management: A review and research agenda

Attitudes, norms, and laws regarding sexual orientation are undergoing a worldwide revolution. Managers and HR professionals play a key role in responding to these changes, and managing issues related to sexual orientation diversity in organizations. As such, the amount of management scholarship on sexual orientation has been rapidly growing to help inform practice. However, at present, the literature is fragmented across management specialty areas. This makes it difficult to have an overview of what has been learned to date, and detect research opportunities. Thus, this article aims to provide the first integrative review of sexual orientation research across the management field over 23 years. We use bibliometric techniques to (a) systematically identify and map 111 topics in this literature (map downloads from: https://bit.ly/SOTopicMap ), (b) identify topic trends and topic citation rates, and (c) derive an inductive taxonomy of major topic clusters. We then identify key theories and relationships in the literature, review key findings for scholars and practitioners, and identify future research directions. Among these, we highlight the need to incorporate sexual orientation as a standard demographic question in management research, and highlight best practices for doing so from other scientific fields.     

Intentions resurrected: a systematic review of entrepreneurial intention research from 2014 to 2018 and future research agenda

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal - Entrepreneurial intentions represent a frequently adopted theoretical construct implemented in ambition to help explicate an...     

Gender and leadership: A criterion-focused review and research agenda

There is a large and growing body of work on gender on leadership, but this literature remains fragmented and incomplete, due in part to insufficient attention paid to nuances of the criterion variable of leadership. To provide a broader perspective on this literature, we draw upon Campbell, McCloy, Oppler, and Sager's (1993) theory of job performance as a framework to organize our review. First, we position gender as an indirect determinant of leadership and summarize prior work on (a) gender differences in leadership outcomes (i.e., emergence and effectiveness), (b) gender differences in leader behaviors, (c) gender differences in direct determinants of leader behaviors (i.e., declarative knowledge, skill, and motivation), and (d) potential mediated or indirect relationships between gender and these leadership criteria. Second, we explore gender as a moderator of both interpersonal (i.e., leader behaviors → leadership outcomes) and intrapersonal (i.e., direct determinants → leader behaviors) leadership processes. Throughout our review, we highlight new directions for future research to advance the study of gender and leadership.     

Theories of economic and social exchange in entrepreneurial partnerships: an agenda for future research

Entrepreneurship research tends to focus on individuals and their actions. However, some entrepreneurial activities are borne and maintained through the efforts of several parties in entrepreneurial partnerships such as franchisor-franchisee relationships. Due to their very nature, these partnerships include economic and social exchanges. Such exchanges received limited attention in entrepreneurship literature. To address this omission, this study first delves into the theories of economic and social exchange to illuminate their relevance for entrepreneurial partnerships. Next, this paper puts forward an agenda for future research agenda based on the tenets of interdependent reciprocal exchange in entrepreneurial partnerships. This research effort has a potential to spur future studies on the use reciprocity in other areas of entrepreneurship such as social entrepreneurship and international entrepreneurship.