Boundaries on the Move. The Impact of Cultural Values and Language on Organizational Design and Communication within an Organization in Thailand

Multinational organizations cross national boundaries in their search for higher profits. As national boundaries are becoming less significant, new boundaries emerge within multination organizations. This paper will explore the interrelations between culture, organizational design and business language within such an organization. It is based on extensive fieldwork in a Thai–Western organization in Thailand. In accordance with Thai law, this organization has both Thai and Western employees. Several of these employees have been interviewed and surveyed about their perceptions of the organization, the management and the effectiveness and efficiency of the management policies. This anthropological approach revealed rather divergent perspectives of two very different groups working together in one organization. The paper will discuss the impact of the management approach on the studied organization, which determines the way cultural boundaries are dealt with. Furthermore, it will demonstrate that the influence of the chosen business language on the studied organization was very strong. A close interrelation between business language, organizational design and power relations impacted on the Thai–Western relations within the organization.     

Milieu as a pertinent unit of analysis in project marketing

The purpose of this article is to shift gear from the purely economic to the socioeconomic level in project marketing and consequently to demonstrate that project marketing consists, to a certain extent, in the management of a firm's relationships to a local network of business and non-business actors, named the milieu. This networking action forms the basis of a proactive approach aiming at anticipating bids and at maximizing the firm's chances of success on on-going projects.     

Conceptualizing and managing service supply chains

The supply chain management (SCM) literature is dominated by studies in industrial markets and studies that deal with the supply chains of manufactured goods. This paper develops a framework for conceptualizing and managing the supply chains of services. The few studies that deal with services' supply chains either focus on a particular business service sector or they adopt an unvaried approach to the management of different service supply chains. The paper draws insights from the existing frameworks for SCM and takes into account the peculiar characteristics for the production and delivery of services across several service industries. Based on the analysis of several processes, areas of concern for supply chain managers are identified, and a research agenda for services SCM phenomena is proposed.     

Author’s Biographies

Leadership has become a more popular term than management, even though it is understood that both phenomena represent important organizational behaviors. This paper focuses on empathy in leadership, and presents the findings of a study conducted among business students over the course of 3 years. Finding that empathy consistently ranked lowest in the ratings, the researchers set out to discover the driving motives behind this invariable trend, and conducted a second study to obtain opinions about possible underlying factors. The paper presents the findings of both studies, as well as literature reviews on the differences between management and leadership, a historical overview of leadership, a reflection of 21st century leadership, the ongoing debate on the effects of corporate psychopaths on ethical performance, and scholars’ perception on empathy in corporate leadership. The findings indicate the need for a paradigm shift in corporations as well as business schools in regards to leaders’ required skills, and suggest a proactive approach from business faculty to change the current paradigm.     

The impact of knowledge management on innovation and entrepreneurship in the biotechnology and telecommunications industries

In the resource-based view approach, the knowledge frontier rests on the understanding of the process of creating and recreating distinctive competences. Moreover, in spite of the importance of knowledge assets, how innovation distinctive competences are generated in organizations is still an unknown factor. This research studies the effect of introducing knowledge management programs in the development of innovation distinctive competences, using two knowledge intensive industries. We establish a conceptual delimitation of knowledge management as a directive system through a set of principles and practices. The theoretical relationships we propose are tested in an empirical study carried out in 222 firms from the Spanish biotechnology and telecommunications industries.      

Capabilities, Proactive CSR and Financial Performance in SMEs: Empirical Evidence from an Australian Manufacturing Industry Sector

Proactive corporate social responsibility (CSR) involves business strategies and practices adopted voluntarily by firms that go beyond regulatory requirements in order to manage their social responsibilities, and thereby contribute broadly and positively to society. Proactive CSR has been less researched in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) compared to large firms; and, whether SMEs are ideally placed to gain competitive advantage through such activity therefore remains a point of debate. This study examines empirically the association between three specified capabilities (shared vision, stakeholder management and strategic proactivity), proactive CSR and financial performance in SMEs. Using quantitative data collected from a sample of 171 SMEs in the machinery and equipment sector of the Australian manufacturing industry, we find that all specified capabilities are positively associated with adoption of proactive CSR by SMEs, and that proactive CSR is, in turn, associated with an improvement in firm financial performance. Evidence of a fully mediating role for proactive CSR on the association between capabilities and financial performance presented in this study aligns with RBV theory that suggests adoption of value-creating strategies that make the most effective use of a firm’s capabilities is essential to financial success. The study contributes to the CSR literature by demonstrating a case for SMEs being able to maximise financial returns whilst proactively making progress towards CSR.     

Quality function deployment in failure recovery and prevention

This paper presents a strategic model for proactively recovering and preventing service failures; it employs an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to measure the severity of failure categories and ultimately employs quality function deployment (QFD) to identify the execution order of proactive recovery and prevention strategies. Questionnaires on AHP and QFD were used to collect data. The results show that the three most important strategies, ‘Educational training of employees,’ ‘Managerial level professional expertise and leadership,’ and ‘Staff appraisal, reward, and punishment systems,’ are within the purview of human resources management. Human resource management plays a key role in service failure and recovery management. For individual failure categories, business managers can select those that are most severe and execute proactive recovery and failure prevention strategies. We propose a methodology for designing service recovery systems and that addresses the gap in academic research on proactive recovery and service failure prevention.     

Differentiation value through services in a manufacturer's delivery chain

The delivery of industrial goods includes various possibilities for service business. Previous research has concentrated on third-party logistics (3PL) providers' perspective on service opportunities. This study takes the manufacturer's perspective in inter-organizational relationships and investigates the potential for differentiation value though services associated with the delivery of industrial goods. Field observation was carried out on three high-volume construction component deliveries, to uncover differentiation value drivers and the emergence of service opportunities in a manufacturer's delivery chain. The results complement earlier 3PL-centered goods delivery research by showing that the manufacturer's unique product and process competences, and activities in the delivery chain drive differentiation value, enable new service opportunities. The findings, thereby, draw attention to manufacturers and their competences as sources of added-value service in the delivery of industrial goods. Manufacturing firms have various options for differentiation and centrality in the inter-organizational network through cooperation with third parties. The results reveal that third parties can be hidden sources of added customer value in the goods delivery chain. The differentiation value for different firms in the industrial goods' delivery chains can emerge when firms begin to develop and offer services to each other, and therefore a proactive and in-depth analysis of their customers' differentiation-oriented value hierarchies is required.     

Learning for environmental adaptation and knowledge-intensive services: the role of public networks for SMEs

Small and medium-sized firms are suffering increasing pressure related to environmental adaptation because they cannot create the required technological and organizational competences and there is not a sufficient and appropriate supply of advanced business services for green management in their surroundings. Research results illustrate the usefulness of a cooperative platform based on information technologies, with public support, in providing knowledge-intensive services correcting the inefficiency of the environmental consultancy market and its failure to provide public goods. This research also establishes a relationship between the operation of a reticular model and firm environmental learning by illustrating the improvements in environmental and economic performance that the dissemination and absorption of knowledge can create. We are focusing our attention on an environmental website developed by a Spanish regional network, a project in which good green practices come through virtual inter-organizational cooperation. Empirical analysis is based on the study of the network case and a survey of 348 partner firms over a period of 4 years (2002–2005). An analysis of quantitative and qualitative information tested the validity of the measurements and results with data triangulation.     

Cultural interpretations of destructive acts and trust in Japanese supply channel relationships

This paper investigates the way culture influences Japanese inter-firm exchange processes, arguing that isomorphism (e.g., due to macro-force flux and convergence) is eroding traditional Japanese management practices and increasing heterogeneity. The role of culture in the development of routines and relationship capabilities across firm boundaries is particularly important in Japanese firms. Traditional Japanese business values engender confidence in a business partnership's conformity and harmony. However, cultural erosion is shifting Japanese attributions of and responses to destructive acts in channels relationships, which has implications for appraising and sustaining trust and success. Based on a qualitative investigation of Japanese subsidiaries’ supply relationships, our study furnishes academics and practitioners with a set of research propositions on culturally influenced destructive act cognitions and behavioural responses. These provide novel insights into the modern face and unfulfilled promise of inter-firm relationships with the Japanese.     

DEFINING SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

A management construct cannot be used effectively by practitioners and researchers if a common agreement on its definition is lacking. Such is the case with the term “supply chain management”—so many definitions are used that there is little consensus on what it means. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the existing research in an effort to understand the concept of “supply chain management.” Various definitions of SCM and “supply chain” are reviewed, categorized, and synthesized. Definitions of supporting constructs of SCM and a framework are then offered to establish a consistent means to conceptualize SCM. Antecedents and consequences of SCM are identified, and the boundaries of SCM in terms of business functions and organizations are proposed. A conceptual model and unified definition of SCM are then presented that indicate the nature, antecedents, and consequences of the phenomena.     

Expatriates’ international opportunity recognition and innovativeness: The role of metacognitive and cognitive cultural intelligence

International opportunity recognition has become increasingly important in both the international business and international entrepreneurship fields. While previous international entrepreneurship research has suggested a wide variety of innovation-inducing factors, it has neglected the role of cross-cultural competences and the expatriate as a potential actor. Building on the experiential learning theory and a model of opportunity recognition, we argue how and why metacognitive and cognitive cultural intelligence are important cross-cultural competences that stimulate and enable expatriates to discover international opportunities and be innovative. We use a mixed method approach to analyze differences in the innovativeness of expatriates.     

The anthropology of the supply chain: Fiefs,clans, witch-doctors and professors

Organizations in the West have learned the importance of organizing their businesses into cross-functional teams, focused on key business processes. In the future, even this will not be enough. Successful businesses will create value by implementing innovations across organizational boundaries: ‘cross-functional’ teams will become ‘cross-organizational’ teams. Supply chain management will need to nurture successful innovation within these cross-organizational teams. The fundamental challenges are social rather than technical, involving issues of trust, co-operation, power and politics. As a result of this, the roles and relationships required for best practice supply management are changing. This paper introduces new models that have been developed in order to understand the cultural context of customer-supplier relationships, and the roles and relationships needed for successful innovation in supply chains.     

MBA Teaching Challenges in a Changing Political and Economic Environment: A Case Study of MBA Teachers and Students in Poland

Master of Business Administration (MBA) education was introduced to Poland in the early 1990s with the purpose of preparing business practitioners for effective management and leadership in a market economy and increasingly globalizing marketplace. Due to individual, institutional, and national factors; adjusting teaching to address the complex needs of business professionals has proved to be challenging and often problematic for Polish faculty. The purpose of this paper is to examine these challenges in the context of Poland's nondegree MBA programs and to explore potential solutions. The main conclusion of this paper is that adjusting teaching is a slow and complex process that cannot occur without substantial changes in values as well as proactive leadership and collaboration at the individual, institutional, and national levels.     

A Cross‐Disciplinary Examination of Firm Orientations’ Performance Outcomes: The Role of Supply Chain Flexibility

Although market orientation (MO) has long been considered an important business philosophy, the examination of MO outside the firm's boundaries has been rather limited. To address this, this study explores how supply chain orientation and operational flexibility (FLX) facilitate the implementation of MO. Although the positive impact of MO on firm performance has been well established, this study highlights that such benefits are enhanced by the development of supply chain related capabilities. Results indicate that market‐oriented firms are more likely to realize the strategic importance of managing the supply chain when operating under conditions of high environmental munificence, dynamism, and complexity. This provides a better understanding of the complex relationship between the demand and supply sides of the firm. This study highlights the importance of marketing theory and concepts to supply chain management scholars, and vice versa. This further accentuates the importance of eliminating the disconnect between supply and demand‐management processes, also described as the “Great Divide” (Drucker 1973; Esper et al. 2010a,b). A number of key managerial implications are offered as well.     

Context-based Cooperation in Mobile Business Environments

Realistic requirements of mobile business applications often exceed the capabilities of their respective local environments. In order to overcome such restrictions of specific mobile devices, services, and resources, this contribution introduces the concept of context-based cooperation. It is based on mobile processes which enable applications to cross boundaries of individual systems and thereby allow combining both mobile and stationary resources in order to realize highly dynamic individual applications. This contribution presents an approach for realizing context-based cooperation built upon on a respective context management infrastructure and execution environment. It also identifies specific requirements and proposes related enhancements for mobile business applications.     

A Note on the Use of Survey Research Firms to Enable Empirical Data Collection

This forward thinking article examines the risks and rewards of using survey research firms to enable empirical data collection, and issues a cautionary note about its application. An exposition and discussion of this form of data collection in supply chain management is relevant today, due to the “survey‐fatigue” among the population of business professionals from whom we seek a response. While this approach has some history in other disciplines, it is still relatively new among supply chain management researchers. To help supply chain management scholars assess the appropriateness of this type of data collection method, this forward thinking article provides invaluable guidance as derived from the authors' recent experiences with the approach. As such, we share our observations and lessons learned. The conclusion is that the use of survey research firms for empirical data collection can be a viable, alternative approach to self‐administered surveys. However, care should be taken in its application.     

The efficacy of talent management in international business: The case of European multinationals

The focus of this study is on the efficacy of talent management (TM) practices to the performance and operations of international businesses. There are relatively limited dedicated studies on the value and effectiveness of TM as an identifiable international practice and its contribution to international business. Anecdotal research and consultants' reports have argued for an increase in the return on investment where TM practices are aligned with the business strategy. Conceptually, human capital theory is adopted to explain investment in high potentials in addition to the resource‐based view, which help explain the development of internal sources of competitive advantage, which are rare, inimitable, nonsubstitutable, and valuable. This article builds on knowledge by qualitatively examining managerial experiences of TM practices within 17 European internationally operating businesses with employees ranging from 800 to 200,000. An exploratory qualitative approach is adopted, with semistructured interviews as the main data collection tool. Findings accentuate the significance of developing the most valuable source of competitive advantage—people. We argue that, if TM is effectively implemented can result in the development of unique competences, which can ease the burdens of cross‐border business challenges and lead to sustainable competitive advantage.     

服务供应链的结构创新模式——一个案例研究

服务供应链管理是近年来国际供应链管理研究领域中一个较为新型的课题。本文以陕西鼓风机有限公司（陕鼓）为研究对象,运用案例研究的方法,探索服务供应链的结构模式与创新特点。通过对比制造供应链和服务供应链的不同点,提出服务供应链的整体结构包括网络结构、业务流程和管理成份三部分。在此理论基础上结合案例研究,总结出服务集成商成功的关键要素,即高层次的信誉资产和能力、寻求整合机会和综合效益、建立良好的社会资本、控制和结合产品供应链以及重视融资和资金管理。由此,充分验证了服务供应链这一创新模式,并进一步指导了服务集成商的运作与管理。     

Corporate Responsiveness to Social Pressure: An Interaction-Based Model

The study introduces an interaction-based model that illustrates the iterative process of corporate responsiveness to social pressure. The model is then applied to a recent case of international relevance. The study implies that corporate management can apply three types of management approaches when managing relations with society, depending on their perception of social pressure: tactic, strategic or no action. This is then reflected in their practice of public relations (PR). Ethical leadership is considered to be manifested by the proactive practice of PR, which aims at mutual understanding between the organisation and the stakeholders. The firm??s interaction with the stakeholders does not guarantee that social pressure would actually be relieved. Rather, PR fails in its task of establishing and maintaining favourable relationships if it does not meet stakeholders?? expectations. Identifying emerging issues, relevant publics and preferable communication methods within a given context is the precondition for strategic, proactive management of stakeholder relations. This is especially relevant in the international business environment where the firm is challenged with increased institutional distance and pressure.