Working capital management and corporate performance： Case of Malaysia

Working capital always being disregard in financial decision making since it involve investment and financing in short term period. However, it is an important component in firm financial management decision. An optimal working capital management is expected to contribute positively to the creation of firm value. To reach optimal working capital management firm manager should control the trade off between profitability and liquidity accurately. The intention of this study is to examine the relationship between working capital management and firm profitability. Cash conversion cycle is used as measure of working capital management. This study is used panel data of 1628 firm-year for the period of 1996-2006 that consist of six different economic sectors which are listed in Bursa Malaysia. The coefficient results of Pooled OLS regression analysis provide a strong negative significant relationship between cash conversion cycle and firm profitability. This reveals that reducing cash conversion period results to profitability increase. Thus, in purpose to create shareholder value, firm manager should concern on shorten of cash conversion cycle till optimal level is achieved.     

Financial reporting of cash flow： Arbitrary items and management preferences

The international financial reporting standard for cash flow statement （IAS 7） provides options for the classification of certain cash flow items （arbitrary items）. Therefore, business firms may classify the arbitrary items using the option that would maximize their own interest. This reduces the comparability of financial statements amongst business firms. This study aims to investigate the factors explaining management preferences in the selection of financial reporting practices on the arbitrary cash flow items. It concludes that managers tend to magnify the CFO reported in order to maximize the shareholders＇ wealth, which in turn would maximize their compensation. Managers of business firms with a relatively smaller size of CFO tend to classify interest paid and dividends paid as non-CFO in order to magnify their CFO. They also tend to classify interest received as CFO in order to inflate their relatively smaller size of CFO up to expectation. Similarly, managers of business firms with a relative larger size of dividends paid would classify the dividends paid outside CFO.     

Gainsharing and knowledge sharing: the effects of labour–management co-operation

We compare patterns of employee knowledge sharing in the form of suggestions for reducing costs and improving productivity submitted as part of a gainsharing reward system in two organizations. Combining insights from recent studies that use employee risk sharing and organizational learning frameworks to understand how gainsharing programmes work, we propose that employees' willingness to share high-risk (second-order-learning) knowledge with management is affected by the degree of labour–management co-operation and trust. Specifically, we hypothesize that union support and involvement in gainsharing affects employee knowledge sharing by increasing employees' initial acceptance of the compensation risk associated with gainsharing and by facilitating employee willingness to take on additional compensation and employment risk over time. We test these hypotheses using time series data on employee suggestions and gainsharing performance at two locations with similarly structured gainsharing plans but different levels of labour–management co-operation. The results generally support our hypotheses. We conclude by considering the implications of these results for gainsharing design and implementation as well as the broader implications of the effect of HR practices on employee knowledge sharing and knowledge management in organizations.     

Does total quality management affect applicant perceptions of recruitment and selection processes?

145 job seeking engineers were surveyed to determine whether applicants who interviewed at Total Quality Management (TQM) organizations perceived any differences in the way they were recruited or selected as compared with those who interviewed at non-TQM firms. TQM firms were identified in two ways: “explicit TQM” (where applicants were specifically told that the firm was a TQM employer) and “inferred TQM” (where TQM was inferred on the basis of specific reported practices). Results showed that there were significant differences between TQM firms (regardless of classification) and non-TQM firms, and between explicit TQM firms and inferred TQM firms. For example, explicit TQM firms screened more stringently, whereas inferred TQM status was predictive of positive applicant reactions to the people met during the site visit. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Integration of strategy, budgetary management and internal control system： A case of Sinochem Corporation

How budgetary management as a tool for planning and controlling of business operations is aligned with strategy and internal control system may not be problematic to American firms but is the most challengeable to large corporations in China. The case of Sinochem Corporation demonstrates the ways that budgetary management is linked with 3-year strategic planning at corporate level via yearly operating plans at business levels, and that budgets are integrated with internal control system into a device of task control to monitor whether business operations are on the track toward strategy. It is learned from the case that Chinese corporations have initiated different practices than American firms in solving the same issues.     

Co-alignment of supplier quality management practices and cognitive maps – A neo-configurational perspective

Much of the previous research on the ‘purchasing practice–performance link’ rests on the notion of “net effects,” which assumes that specific practices independently of each other impact outcomes. This study challenges this core tenet by adopting a neo-configurational perspective, exploring how different combinations of factors (called “configurations”) affect outcomes. Another limitation of extant studies on the ‘purchasing practice–performance link’ is the narrow focus on practices; more recent behavioral supply management research finds the behavior of managers to be critically influenced by cognitive maps—the lenses through which managers perceive, simplify, and interpret the world. Focusing on supplier quality as a core aspect of the broader ‘purchasing practice–performance link’, this study explores how configurations of different supplier quality management (SQM) practices and SQM-related cognitive maps help firms to manage supplier quality. It uses fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify SQM configurations and a cognitive-linguistic approach for the computerized text analysis of purchasing managers’ cognitive maps in the context of Western companies sourcing from Chinese suppliers. The configurational fsQCA analysis identifies four different configurations associated with overcoming barriers to SQM in emerging markets. SQM-related cognitive maps prove to be a critical component in these four configurations.     

Fostering societal impact and job satisfaction: the role of performance management and leader–member exchange

ABSTRACT

Performance management (PM) can alienate employees from experiencing societal impact. This is problematic since societal impact influences employees’ job satisfaction. To avoid such unintended effects, we investigate two conditions under which PM could instead benefit the societal impact and job satisfaction of employees: consistency and leader-member exchange. Results show consistent PM fosters job satisfaction, mediated by societal impact and moderated by leader–member exchange. Public organizations should streamline expectations communicated through PM and constructive leader relationships could reinforce this process. By examining the conditions under which PM can avoid unintended effects on employees, we add to the debate on PM effectiveness.     

Does the professionalism of management practices in nonprofits and for-profits affect job satisfaction?

This paper examines workers' satisfaction related to the level of professionalism of managerial practices in the French services sector. The data used are from the original survey conducted by the French Institute for Demographic Research and include both workers' responses on their satisfaction level, individual characteristics, job conditions, etc. and employers' responses on managerial practices implemented. We construct an index of workers' overall satisfaction and an index of ‘managerial professionalism’. In our model of workers' overall job satisfaction, the index of managerial practices is treated as an endogenous variable using two-stage least squares regressions. We show that the index of managerial practices is strongly and positively associated with workers' overall workplace satisfaction. Overall workplace satisfaction is found to be strongly associated with wages and individuals' perceptions about work environment. Finally, working in nonprofits is positively associated with greater overall job satisfaction.     

Stock Repurchase and the Role of Signaling： A Comparative Analysis between U.S. and China

This paper compares different methods used for stock repurchase and examines the role of signaling in the U.S. and China＇s capital markets. We find that the ways to buyback stocks are very different in the two countries. Most U.S. stocks are repurchased through open market and the signals sent to the market through open market repurchase are getting weaker. Even though stock repurchases are at their early stage in the Chinese stock market and the dominated way to buyback is through a negotiated repurchase agreement for non-floating shares, the power of signaling seems much stronger. Examining stock prices pre- and post-repurchase, we find that stock repurchase records an average abnormal return of 3.42% on the announcement date and 3.24% on the date of actual renurchase.     

“Every person in an organization is involved in some elements of management accounting.”

Praxis / ArtikelTitelthema

“Every person in an organization is involved in some elements of management accounting.” Interview with AN Raman, Central Council Member of the Institute of Cost and Work Accountants of India     

Terminology：Improving understanding of envionmental management vocabulary

A new terminology standard from ISO is expected to help users of the ISO 14000 series of standards save time and money and， at the same time， avoid any ambiguity,in environmenta1 management terminology.     

Redefining the field of European human resource management: A battle between national mindsets and forces of business transition?

This article examines the conflict between cultural heritage and the current forces of global competition in Europe. The nature of management in European organizations is in a state of transition, influenced by competing forces of economic, social, and political integration or disintegration. A review of European research is used to question the idealistic picture of the Single European Market as a unifying force that will simplify international human resource management in multinationals. Taking a comparative rather than international human resource management perspective, the paper identifies the factors that have created national patterns of HRM within Europe. A dynamic and comparative ‘force field framework’ of HRM is developed in order to understand the managerial frames of reference that are currently guiding the field. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The relationship between employee performance management and civil servants’ turnover intentions: a test of the mediating roles of system satisfaction and affective commitment

In search of maximizing efficiency, public organizations found solace in the adoption of employee performance management (EPM) systems. While research supports that managing employees’ performance has favourable outcomes, it is still unclear why and under which conditions. Moreover, EPM systems might even create additional pressures and therefore increase turnover intentions and undermine public organization’s quest to maximize efficiency. We argue that when EPM systems are carried out consistently (i.e. internal consistency) and when they link civil servants’ individual goals to the organization’s strategic goals (i.e. vertical alignment), civil servants will be less likely to leave the organization. Hierarchical linear regression analysis shows that internal consistency relates to increased satisfaction with the EPM system and affective commitment to the organization. Vertical alignment relates to lower levels of turnover intentions. This relationship was mediated by EPM system satisfaction and affective commitment. These findings that contribute to our understanding of EPM systems can lead to favourable outcomes.     

The intellectual structure of human resource management research: a bibliometric study of the international journal of human resource management, 2000–2012

The purpose of this study is to analyze the existing literature on human resource management (HRM) from all the research papers published in The International Journal of Human Resource Management between 2000 and 2012. The authors apply bibliometric methods to identify the main research lines within this scientific field; in other words, its ‘intellectual structure’. Social network analysis is also used to perform a visualization of this structure. The results of the analysis allow us to define the different research lines or fronts which shape the intellectual structure of research on HRM.     

Strategy rhetoric in city management: How the presumptions of classic strategic management live on?

This article focuses on the cultural and textual (re)production of the taken-for-granted assumptions of orthodox strategic management in city management practice. It is suggested that in order to make sense of the persistence of some of the classic difficulties of strategic management we need to study not only the strategy processes, but also the language practices of the dominant strategy models. By performing a detailed textual analysis of the rhetoric of one particular strategy document, the article shows how strong strategic leadership and hierarchical relationships persist. In addition the analysis illustrates how a paradox called `participation by command’ is produced by combining the classic top-down strategy rhetoric with the new strategy discourse focusing on empowerment, networks and cooperation.     

Convergence and divergence issues in strategic management – Indonesia's experience with the Balanced Scorecard in HR management

Globalization pressures escalate competitiveness and, in response, global companies tend to adopt a handful of Western management practices. One of these is the Balanced Scorecard. However, empirical evidence assessing the transferability and effectiveness of Western best practices into Asian countries is scarce. In particular, empirical evidence relating to the effectiveness of Balanced Scorecard implementations is limited, as is the impact of Asian Balanced Scorecard contextual variables. This article contributes to this gap through the study of a Central Bank of Indonesia (BI) Balanced Scorecard implementation within a conceptual framework that explores convergence and divergence of global management practices. The lessons learned discuss how divergent factors such as national culture, leadership styles, organizational culture and human resource management practices can influence Asian context Balanced Scorecard implementations.     

The two faces of Nordic management? Nordic firms and their employee relations in the Baltic States

This study examines Nordic management styles in union and non-union industrial enterprises in the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) through case studies of nine Nordic subsidiary companies, based on on-site interviews with management and employees.1 1. Here, I refer to ‘Nordic’ countries denoting Denmark, Finland and Sweden, for the companies chosen for research are from these three countries and for the sake of common social and economic characteristics among these three countries, basing on the varieties of capitalism (VoC) literature. That is why Norway, a country seen usually in the composition of the Nordic countries, is left out of this investigation. The entity ‘Baltic States’ or ‘Baltic countries’ refers here to the three countries on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea: Estonia (population 1.4 million), Latvia (2.3 million) and Lithuania (3.4 million). This analysis construes the ‘Nordic model’ of management style as ‘bargained constitutional’ or ‘sophisticated consultative’, following Purcell and Ahlstrand's (1994) matrix of management styles in the highly unionized countries of origin, characterized as coordinated market economies. The case studies reveal that in the Baltic liberal-market environment, Nordic employers exhibit a variety of management styles, ranging from sophisticated human relations or paternalistic relations styles in non-union contexts, to an adversarial bargained style or modern paternalistic style in unionized subsidiary firms. The Nordic model's ‘bargained constitutionalism’ only occurs in those cases in the sample in which Soviet-era trade union structures survive, or where an in-firm union has fought for recognition and collective bargaining.     

The role of leaders in generating management innovation†

Abstract

This study provides an empirical insight into the level of management innovation in Australian service organisations, conceptualising management innovation using an integrative framework of management innovation which encompasses four dimensions, new managerial practices, processes, structures and techniques. In addition, the study contributes to the contingency-based literature by examining the role of leaders, in respect to both leadership style (initiating and consideration styles) and the use of controls (diagnostic and interactive use), as drivers of management innovation. Data were collected through a mail questionnaire distributed to 445 middle level managers. The findings show that leadership style influences management innovation with a more initiating style associated with the extent of use of new managerial techniques. Management innovation was also influenced by the use of controls with a more interactive (diagnostic) approach associated with the extent of use of new managerial processes and techniques (practices and structure). In line with the Competing Values Framework, the findings highlight the tension involved in the role of leaders in generating management innovation.     

Can computerization of linen management save real dollars?

Software designed for linen management is readily available to linen managers. Each has a variety of features and benefits. It is important that the linen manager discover a system that will return the type of information he or she is looking for and deliver it with minimum effort and maximum efficiency. Software systems can, indeed, prove beneficial to linen managers in bringing a new level of control to circulating linen at the hospital facility.