Hard,soft or ambidextrous? Which influence style promotes managers’ task performance and the role of political skill

Abstract

Ambidexterity at the manager level focuses on the crucial, but underexplored, role of managers’ knowledge, skills, and behaviors to address competing demands and promote organizational ambidexterity. As such, to successfully complete their assigned duties, managers need to employ the appropriate interpersonal style and calibrate their behavior to different contextual demands. This study highlights the role of the individual in the ambidexterity process by introducing the concept of influence tactic ambidexterity, to denote the frequent use of both hard and soft influence and investigating its role on task performance. Drawing on the literature on ambidexterity and HRM, we analyze data from a sample of 172 middle managers and their corresponding 68 supervisors working for multinational organizations, and provide evidence that influence tactic ambidexterity relates to higher levels and less variation in managers’ task performance compared to the sole use of either hard or soft tactics. Our findings also show that political skill positively moderates the relationship between influence tactic ambidexterity and a manager’s task performance. Therefore, this study suggests that influence tactic ambidexterity and political skill can be considered valuable HR assets for managers.     

A computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) approach in teaching research methods

The aim of this study is to evaluate the extent to which the engagement of hospitality students in computer-mediated asynchronous discourse in a postgraduate research methods course results in higher-order thinking. In order to identify their overall behavioural engagement in the discourse elements of the course, quantitative data from running the course in WebCT was obtained using the “track students” function. The threaded discussions were converted into text files and loaded in NVivo for content analysis. In addition, the students’ course evaluation questionnaires were used to assess their perceived benefits from the asynchronous discourse on research methods. This study shows that computer-supported collaborative learning allows students to become active and reflective learners by engaging in high order thinking activities. The results of this study highlight the options that hospitality management educators may consider as part of their teaching and learning strategies.     

Facebook Content Strategies and Citizens’ Online Engagement: The Case of Greek Local Governments

This paper analyzes the communication strategies used by Greek local governments through the utilization of Web 2.0 technologies, specifically Facebook, and the effectiveness of these strategies in relation to citizens’ online engagement. More specifically, it examines Facebook communication strategies and levels of citizens’ engagement. For this purpose, we conducted a content analysis on the active and official Facebook pages of local municipalities in Greece from January 2017 until the end of September 2017. Our results suggest a rise in the percentage of active Facebook pages maintained by local governments in comparison to our 2014 study. Our results also show that local governments in Greece are using Facebook in a predominantly top-down manner to promote events organized by the municipality and to push one-way information to citizens about their services and actions. Local authorities have, however, made significant progress in relation to posts that support transparency and accountability and that enhance or mobilize citizens’ participation. Our evaluation of local government Facebook strategies indicates that marketing the municipality to external public, such as tourists, and providing information about services are effective strategies that drive citizens’ online attitude expression (liking), engagement (commenting), and advocacy behavior (sharing). According to our analysis, local governments in Greece prefer the strategies that we found to be the least engaging. In addition, our study provides interesting details of how specific characteristics and modes of Facebook messages (photos, videos, URLs, hashtags, and mentions) impact on citizens’ engagement. Finally, our results provide valuable insights for social media managers in local government who aim to increase the impact of their municipal Facebook pages.     

The Technology Fair: a project-based learning approach for enhancing problem solving skills and interest in design and technology education

This paper presents an innovative way in which university education can help pre-service teachers become better problem-solvers. The central idea is to use the “Technology Fair” as a means for promoting pre-service teachers pedagogical content knowledge about technological problem solving skills. This innovation is supported with results from a study carried out in autumn 2004. The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of a procedure of working with primary school children to complete and present a technology fair project, on the educational value and meanings attached to problem solving skills by pre-service teachers. Pre-tests, mid-test and post-tests were administered to the pre-service teachers before, during, and after the preparation of the technology fair, respectively. A number of pre-service teachers were selected and interviewed after the completion of the technology fair. Data were also collected from reflective diaries kept by the pre-service teachers during the preparation phase of the technology fair. Analysis of the results indicates that the technology fair contributes to the development of positive values and attitudes in technology education and has a significant influence on improving pre-service teachers understanding and application of problem solving strategies within the domain of technology.     

Contract Choice: Efficiency and Fairness in Revenue‐Sharing Contracts

We present a simple principal–agent experiment in which the principals are allowed to choose between a revenue‐sharing, a bonus, and a trust contract, to offer to an agent. Our findings suggest that a large majority of experimental subjects choose the revenue‐sharing contract. This choice turns out to be not only the most efficient but also, at the same time, fair. Overall, the distribution of earnings is only mildly skewed towards the principal. We conclude that, under revenue‐sharing contracts, concerns for fairness can be closely associated with the use of monetary incentives.     

Dynamics of communication protocol diffusion: the case of multipath TCP

During the last decade the Internet has faced an architectural stagnation due to lack of wide scale adoption of new communication protocols. A significant reason for non-adoption is that the conflicting interests of networked stakeholders involved in the diffusion process are not understood or taken into account during the protocol development. This paper increases understanding of the dynamics of communication protocol diffusion and provides feedback to protocol development by studying the case of Multipath TCP (MPTCP). Firstly, we introduce a protocol development process which builds on the existing diffusion of innovation theories. Secondly, a quantitative analysis using system dynamics is provided to evaluate the criticality of the factors affecting the MPTCP diffusion. The diffusion of communication protocols is found to follow three adoption models differentiated by the basis of adoption decision. The key finding is that unintentional adoption, alongside device acquisitions or operating system updates, adds a new dimension to the diffusion of innovations theory and may have a significant impact on protocol diffusion. The cross-side network effects between different adopter groups play also an important role and may lead to either market pull or technology push type of diffusion depending on which stakeholder starts to adopt first. Although MPTCP is used as an example protocol, the findings can be also applied to the diffusion studies of other communication protocols.     

Exploring TQM awareness in the Greek national business context: between conservatism and reformism cultural determinants of TQM

This paper develops the theoretical understanding of the application of Total Quality Management (TQM) in business environments that differ from those from where it emerged. Business systems that are less developed tend to adopt more ‘sophisticated’ and formal strategic initiatives. The adoption of TQM by Greek organizations is a prime example. However, less has been said about the understanding of TQM or its cultural determinants in such environments. This paper, based on the results of 73 semi-structured interviews conducted with managers working in Greek public and private organizations, argues that there are two antithetical business-cultural ‘forces’ – conservatism and reformism – that seem to substantially affect the awareness and application of total quality concepts. Both features create pressures in the system, either restraining or promoting TQM implementation. In this context, the tension between traditional business culture and a modernization logic is the key to understanding the development of TQM.     

Assessing the Vulnerability to Price Spikes in Agricultural Commodity Markets

We examine empirically the predictability of conditions associated with a higher probability of a price spike in agricultural commodity markets. We find that the forward spread is the most significant indicator of probable price jumps in maize, wheat and soybeans futures markets, a result which is in line with the ‘Theory of Storage’. We additionally show that some option-implied variables add significant predictive power when added to the more standard information variable set. Overall, the estimated probabilities of large price increases from our probit models exhibit significant correlations with historical sudden market upheavals in agricultural markets.     

Testing for persistence in mutual fund performance and the ex-post verification problem: evidence from the Greek market

The present study examines a series of performance measures with the aim of solving the ex-post verification problem. These measures are employed to test the performance persistence hypothesis of domestic equity funds in Greece, during the period 1998–2004. Correctly adjusting for risk factors and documented portfolio strategies explains a significant part of the reported persistence. The intercept of the augmented Carhart regression is proposed as the most appropriate performance measure. Using this measure, weak evidence for persistence, only before 2001, is documented. The growth of the fund industry, the direction of flows to past winners and the integration in the international financial system are suggested to be the reasons for the absence of performance persistence.