The role of task-related antecedents for the development of turnover intentions in temporary project teams

Abstract

High turnover can cause serious problems in organizations. Yet, previous research confirmed that HRM practices are useful to influence the development of turnover intentions. Existing studies have revealed a variety of factors that drive individuals to leave permanent organizations (POs) but almost no research has considered turnover in temporary organizations (TOs). Yet, TOs, such as project teams, have become increasingly prevalent and exhibit several characteristics that are distinct from POs. Hence, the antecedents of turnover intentions in TOs may also differ from those in POs. However, empirical evidence for this proposition is still lacking. In order to address this research gap, this study examines task-related antecedents of turnover intentions in temporary organizations (TITO) using a sample of 253 employees working in project teams. The results show that inter-role conflict is the most influential antecedent of TITO. Unlike suggested by extant literature, members of TOs seem to be willing to accept down-cuts in job autonomy and meaningfulness of their work, without developing turnover intentions while working for TOs. Furthermore, the results confirmed a direct relationship between TITO and turnover intentions from the permanent organization (TIPO). Members of TOs that want to, but cannot leave their project team seem to develop TIPO.     

The effects of virtualness on teamwork behavioral components: The role of shared mental models

Virtual teams are an essential part of work organizations. They help organizations utilize skills and expertise regardless of where they are located. The virtual team literature suggests that these teams often experience process losses compared to their face-to-face counterparts. In this paper we propose that as virtualness increases, a team's shared mental models become more complex; this limits the effectiveness of particular teamwork behaviors: mutual performance monitoring, backup behavior and adaptation. We identify specific factors that are reflected in increased mental model complexity of virtual teams. Further we examine the moderating role that the accuracy and similarity of these shared mental models as well as the level of virtualness has on the relation between complexity and teamwork behaviors. Finally, we examine the effects of training inventions on mental model accuracy. To this end, we review the existing literature to develop a model and specific propositions.     

Effects of control on the performance of information systems projects: The moderating role of complexity risk

Control of projects is a core issue for organizations. Successful projects, such as information systems projects, enable organizations to develop a superior supply network and enhance the capability of operations management. A few studies have investigated the effects of control on project performance; however, complexity risk has not been integrated into the relationship between control and performance. Limited evidence has been provided concerning whether modes of control differ in their effectiveness in the presence of a single risk factor. Based on quantitative data obtained from 128 information systems projects, behavior, outcome, clan, and self-control are empirically determined to be positively associated with the system performance of projects. However, complexity risk generates a mixed moderating effect on the relationship between control and performance. In the presence of a high complexity risk, the effects of behavior and self-control on performance are low, whereas the effectiveness of outcome and clan control increases. This finding implies that complexity risk is a double-edged sword with regard to control. Each control mode exhibits different characteristics and effectiveness under high complexity risk. Therefore, appropriate control modes should be carefully selected, and highly effective control modes, such as outcome and clan control, should be prioritized in managing complex system projects.     

The effects of sustainability orientation on research and teaching efficiency in German universities

Academic research increasingly focuses on environmental sustainability as a specific societal mission to be addressed. However, the effects of the increasing sustainability orientation on output generation in public research organizations are largely unexplored. In this paper, we analyse the effects of the increasing importance of sustainability-oriented research topics on research and teaching efficiency in German universities in 2018. Our results are mixed. On the one hand, we find that a higher share of publications related to sustainability increases research efficiency. On the other hand, it decreases teaching efficiency. The latter negative effect seems to relate primarily to a notion of teaching efficiency associated with quantity rather than the quality of teaching output. We conclude that the tendency to focus academic research on challenge-driven sustainability orientation can have non-trivial effects on the efficiency of output generation and therefore needs to be considered ex-ante by policy-makers, administrators and university managers.     

International best practice,quality management anf high performance: inferences from the Australian automotive sector

The adoption of international ‘best practice’ (IBP) has been presented widely as a strategy for organizations to improve productivity and competitiveness. The most prominent best practices include total quality management, continuous improvement programmes and just-in-time (JIT) production. Two key measures of competitiveness are quality and efficiency, and we examine those IBPs that lead to high levels of quality and efficiency in the Australian automotive industry. Our findings are based on a survey of the Australian automotive industry, and they suggest that the successful implementation of JIT and continuous improvement programmes can influence efficiency; this corresponds with recent discussions of IBP. However, our analyses also indicate that certain areas of human resource management, such as performance appraisals, performance-related pay, welfare schemes and testing during selection, can have an important influence on efficiency and quality and should also be considered as important forms of best practice.     

The effects of group decision-making process and problem-situation complexity on implementation attempts

The effects of group problem-solving method and problem-situation complexity on attempts at implementing group solutions were investigated in a laboratory-field setting. Group members were supervisory nurses from various organizations, who were randomly assigned to three groups in a balanced research design which included three group decision-making processes and three levels of problem-situation complexity in implementation. The dependent variable was the number of attempts at implementing group-derived solutions in home organizations. The results showed that structure in group decision-making processes led to increased rates of implementation attempts at all levels of problem-situation complexity. There was a significant complexity-by-process interaction effect among the decision-making processes, which supports the conclusion that the type of group decision-making process and the problem-situation complexity should be considered in order to optimize the number of implementation attempts.g     

Transparency of nonprofit organizations: An integrative framework and research agenda

Over the past 20 years, as the study of transparency has evolved into a burgeoning multidisciplinary field, nonprofit scholars have developed an impressive body of research on the antecedents and outcomes of the transparency of nonprofit organizations (NPOs). From both theoretical and practical purposes, it is necessary to develop an overall picture of such antecedents and outcomes, to allow scholars and NPOs to understand why, when, and how transparency should be implemented. Current studies provide a fragmented view, focused on specific elements of NPO transparency; with a systematic literature review of 76 articles, this article offers both an integrative framework of the antecedents and outcomes of NPO transparency and an agenda for research, based on a critical analysis of the integrative framework. Four relevant research orientations emerge: (1) direction of NPO transparency, (2) distinguishing actual from perceived transparency, (3) the dark side of NPO transparency, and (4) NPO transparency contingency factors. Research along these four orientations could add nuance to existing knowledge of transparency and provide key insights with regard to why, when, and how transparency works.     

非营利组织治理结构:特征分析与框架构建

非营利组织治理效率的高低取决于对非营利组织治理结构的厘清程度,由此也就取决于其治理结构基本框架的构建.文章回顾了非营利组织治理结构研究的相关文献,在此基础上对非营利组织结构特征进行分析,并致力于构建我国非营利组织治理结构的基本框架.     

The effect of quality management and participation in decision-making on individual performance

The major objective of the study was to analyze the effects of total quality management (TQM) on improvement efforts and individual performance. Employee response to quality management (QM) and the perceived degree of participation in decision-making (PDM) were considered the major factors affecting employee improvement efforts. The improvement effort factor was expected to influence employee performance. Subjects were 208 employees in three industrial organizations applying TQM in Israel. Three causal models were suggested and tested by means of structural equation modeling using lisrel. The results supported the proposed model. The findings revealed that the influence of PDM on improvement efforts is considerably higher than that of QM. This finding suggests that PDM is the most important component of the TQM process that affects improvement efforts and individual performance. Therefore, ISO 9000 that does not include PDM may not impact individual performance.     

Relevant and Preferred Public Service: A study of user experiences and value creation in public transit

When public service success is dependent upon creating value that attracts users, public managers can benefit from adopting private sector principles. This article draws on the theory of attractive quality and strategic management research to focus on the theoretical and managerial implications of how organizations’ resource allocations affect user experiences. The present study shows how public transit organizations’ achievement of twenty-five different service requirements affected their offerings’ relevance and preference among 930 users. This article increases the understanding of how strategic choices and prioritization between various service requirements affect both the effectiveness and efficiency of (public) service offerings.     

TECHNOLOGY AND SPAN OF CONTROL: WOODWARD REVISITED

This study of production operations in 95 New Jersey manufacturing firms explains the widely replicated curvilinear relationship between first line supervisory span of control and Woodward's technological complexity scale. Revisiting Woodward led to the initial proposition that the relationship was a by-product of the differing degree of task variability among the major types of production operations. A subsequent literature review of administrative requirements suggested the importance of size, complexity and automaticity on supervisory span of control. Our data indicate that variations in the span of control of production operations classified according to Woodward's scale are attributable to the underlying effects of size and task complexity. Technology, whether operationalized as Woodward's production types or automaticity of machinery explained little variation in the span of control of first line supervisors.     

Lean management as a countermeasure for “Normal” disruptions

The academic and practitioner literature offer numerous examples of firms that have achieved significant performance improvement as a result of implementing lean management. Lean firms consistently apply well-defined tools and the relationship between implementation of these tools and improved performance is well-established in the literature. Many lean practices, such as standardized work and visual cues, reduce variability, increase productivity, and make problems more visible which can create a culture where disruptions occur less often. Although there is evidence that lean implementation leads to reduced disruptions, a question that remains unresolved is why these lean management tools lead to fewer disruptions and whether conditions such as the level of complexity and inventory in the system predict the successful application of these lean practices. Because many of the firms that adopt lean management can be characterized as complex work systems, we draw insights from literature on complex organizations operating in environments that are inherently perilous. Two constructs that are addressed in this literature are fundamental to the concept of lean management – interactive complexity and tight coupling or organizational slack. We argue that theory that applies to complex organizations provides a lens for viewing how lean management firms avoid disruptions and conclude that the theoretical basis for lean management lies in understanding how to overcome the complexity inherent in these systems to achieve disruption-free performance.     

Professionalisierungs- und Entwicklungsstrategien für ein innovatives Personalmanagement

Based on the fact of an increasing dynamic and complexity of environmental changes organizations are confronted with huge challenges not least concerning Human Resource Management (HRM). Therefore the present paper deals with the concrete arrangement of the HRM of organizations in a situation like those described. Starting with the results of an empirical study, different orientations of HRM could be discovered in the organizations reviewed. Three types of organizations were found. Depending on these types HRM instruments are emphasized differently as to competency development inside the organization. The types can be described as follow: 1^st the personal appraisal type, 2^nd the personnel planning type and 3^rd the personnel selection type. Taking this differentiation as a starting point, divergent preferences in the frequencies of usage and the evaluation of HRM instruments can be assessed. Potentials and thresholds of organizational learning in HRM are discussed finally against the background of this knowledge.     

Management in social enterprises: the influence of the use of strategic tools in business performance

If social enterprises are to be competitive in the marketplace, they must use Strategic Management tools to improve efficiency, while maintaining their effectiveness levels. They can achieve this goal by introducing new management methods that make use of innovation. The aim of the current study was to analyze the effect of the use of management tools in social enterprises, referred to here as Social Management, on the effectiveness and efficiency levels of these enterprises. From a sample of 129 work integration social enterprises (WISEs), this study shows the existence of a statistically significant relationship between the application of Strategic Management tools, more commonly found in for-profit organizations, and the effectiveness and efficiency of WISEs in the social economy. The influence of the use of these tools was found to be positive in the case of social effectiveness (improving the employment rate) but negative in the case of economic effectiveness (profitability).     

Creating an Innovative Culture

Four types of mutually exclusive cultures are described in Cameron and Quinn's (2011) Competing Values Framework, but only one is described as innovative. Each culture requires a certain type of leadership approach, values, concept of effectiveness, and quality improvement strategy. Brief interviews were conducted with leaders of four types of organizations to help determine the type of industries that align with these cultures and to consider how to create innovation in each.     

A resource orchestration view of supply chain traceability and transparency bundles for competitive advantage

The literature has mostly examined supply chain (SC) traceability and SC transparency separately, ignoring the mutually constitutive relationship of these two related constructs. We draw on the resource orchestration theory and the causal complexity perspective to conceptualize and validate SC traceability and SC transparency as interrelated organizational capabilities that may mutually enhance or compensate each other for competitive advantage. We constructed an original sample from two sources to empirically test this conceptualization using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Our empirical results reveal that the ability of firms to leverage SC traceability for a high financial performance is contingent upon creating a transparency perception of SC with a wide range of stakeholders. Our results also identified the firm size and its international presence, as having a significant bearing on the ability of firms to leverage SC traceability and SC transparency capabilities for a competitive advantage.     

Effectiveness and Efficiency of Cross-Border Knowledge Transfer: An Empirical Examination

abstract    Based on a sample of 102 US organizations, this study examines the impact of knowledge characteristics, recipient learning intent, source attractiveness, and relationship quality on the effectiveness and efficiency of knowledge transfer from the international business affiliates of these organizations. Findings indicate that recipient learning intent and source attractiveness positively impact the effectiveness of knowledge transfer. In addition, recipient learning intent was found to have a positive effect on knowledge transfer efficiency. In particular, results highlight the strong positive impact that the quality of the relationship between the source and the recipient has on both the efficiency and effectiveness of cross-border knowledge transfer. The study also indicates that knowledge value is positively associated with recipient learning intent and that knowledge value, rarity and non-substitutability influence source attractiveness. Finally, findings suggest that the relationship between knowledge characteristics and knowledge transfer is partially mediated by recipient learning intent and source attractiveness.     

Asymmetric information as a barrier to knowledge spillovers in expert markets

This paper investigates barriers to effective knowledge spillovers for markets in which the product can be characterized as a credence good, i.e. its complexity impedes the evaluation of quality by customers both ex-ante and ex-post. We focus on the German market for energy efficiency consultants, as an emerging and subsidized sector in which the service offered has strong credence good properties. Based upon in-depth interviews with stakeholders, we analyze the determinants and barriers to knowledge spillovers. We find that the incentive to foster spillovers to increase suppliers’ knowledge is limited by the difficult commercialization of additional capabilities. The implementation of a public certification scheme has failed to increase the sectoral knowledge spillovers. By contrast, the participation in formal knowledge networks has been more effective in prompting companies to foster knowledge spillovers, which has also led to a higher degree of specialization. We conclude that access to certification schemes should be further restricted to increase market transparency and private networks should be supported to achieve the aim of increasing knowledge spillovers.     

Addressing social-business tensions in hybridized nonprofit organizations: The contribution of strategic human resource management

Nonprofit hybridization represents the adaptive response to a turbulent external and internal environment leading to tensions between contradictory goals (e.g. social and business goals). Although research has provided insights into the strategies for addressing the tensions stemming from hybridization, it has paid less attention to how strategic human resource management (SHRM) may play a role in managing these social-business tensions. Given the increasing complexity nonprofit organizations (NPOs) face, this hybrid context presents a valuable opportunity to examine the concept of SHRM “fit” in terms of different stakeholder demands, diverse and competing goals and resulting tensions. This article aims to conceptualize and contextualize SHRM fit in hybridized NPOs to gain a better understanding of how organizations can orientate their systems and practices to manage competing demands stemming from hybridization. Hereby, we use SHRM fit to illustrate the opportunities for and limitations on practice within a hybrid context. Bringing the nonprofit and hybrid literature together, we develop a typology of nonprofit hybridization that distinguishes NPOs according to their financial and social orientation and specify the tensions and management approaches that dominate these types. Drawing on the concept of SHRM fit, we advance a framework and propositions on how the management approaches in each of the types result in different configurations of vertical and horizontal fit that address social-business tensions. Hereby we extend current debates in the hybridization literature on tensions between opposing goals and research on SHRM approaches in NPOs and contribute to a theoretically-informed understanding of the implications of tension management approaches in variants of hybrid organizations.