Data-based negotiator allocation management

Negotiation abilities are difficult to assess, and negotiation outcomes are difficult to predict. This leads to possible deficiencies in resource allocation for negotiation tasks. In this article, we discuss the merits of a data-based approach for the allocation of negotiators to negotiation tasks. We provide a framework for negotiation allocation management that includes a method for assessing negotiator strength. The negotiator strength measure compares observable negotiation outcomes relative to similar outcomes in similar situations. We provide examples for using our framework and show evidence for its appeal when using industry data. We discuss implications for managers and provide key takeaways.     

Language and market inclusivity for women entrepreneurship: the case of microfinance

Inclusive markets are key to fostering female entrepreneurship, and the microfinance sector has recognized and acted on this. Existing research has studied how institutions and organizational factors facilitate the process by which microfinance and other financial intermediaries tackle gender-based financial exclusion. But while the role of cultural institutions has been recognized as important, little research has systematically integrated culture in the study of gender-based financial exclusion. We posit that language is a cultural institution that influences the extent to which financial intermediaries are successful in outreaching women and supporting female entrepreneurship. Inspired by a performativity approach, we develop a set of hypotheses that delineate how a specific feature of language, gender marking in grammar, moderates the role of institutional (state capacity) and organizational (NGO status and global ties) factors in shaping microfinance outreach to women. Using the ratio of female to male borrowers in 2361 microfinance organizations from 115 countries during the period 1995–2015, we confirm that market inclusion of women depends on organizational and institutional factors, and that gender marking in grammar influences those relationships.     

When do Dynamic Capabilities Lead to Competitive Advantage? The Importance of Strategic Fit

Recent studies suggest the relationship between dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage may be jointly affected by organizational and environmental factors. We enrich this nascent perspective by developing a configurational theoretical framework – underpinned by the mechanism of strategic fit – wherein dynamic capabilities lead to a competitive advantage when they support a strategic orientation appropriate for the levels of dynamism and munificence in the environment. Results of a fuzzy‐set Qualitative Comparative Analysis using primary data show that dynamic capabilities lead to a competitive advantage in dynamic, munificent environments by enabling the combination of differentiation and low‐cost orientations. In stable, non‐munificent environments, dynamic capabilities are effective in support of a low‐cost orientation. The central insight of this study is that the relationship between dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage is contingent upon the strategic fit between organizational and environmental factors, contributing to a more rigorous and configurational dynamic capabilities view.     

Mapping knowledge management and organizational learning in support of organizational memory

The normative literature within the field of knowledge management has concentrated on techniques and methodologies for allowing knowledge to be codified and made available to individuals and groups within organizations. The literature on organizational learning, however, has tended to focus on aspects of knowledge that are pertinent at the macro-organizational level (i.e. the overall business). The authors attempt in this paper to address a relative void in the literature, aiming to demonstrate the inter-locking factors within an enterprise information system that relate knowledge management and organizational learning, via a model that highlights key factors within such an inter-relationship. This is achieved by extrapolating data from a manufacturing organization using a case study, with these data then modeled using a cognitive mapping technique (fuzzy cognitive mapping, FCM). The empirical enquiry explores an interpretivist view of knowledge, within an information systems evaluation (ISE) process, through the associated classification of structural, interpretive and evaluative knowledge. This is achieved by visualizing inter-relationships within the ISE decision-making approach in the case organization. A number of decision paths within the cognitive map are then identified such that a greater understanding of ISE can be sought. The authors therefore present a model that defines a relationship between knowledge management (KM) and organizational learning (OL), and highlights factors that can lead a firm to develop itself towards a learning organization.     

The right stuff ... meeting your customer needs

Meeting (and exceeding) your customers' needs is a requirement for competing in the current business world. New tools and techniques must be employed to deal with the rapidly changing global environment. This article describes the success of a global supply chain integration project for a division of a large multinational corporation. A state-of-the-art ERP software package was implemented in conjunction with major process changes to improve the organization's ability to promise and deliver product to their customers.