Organising purchasing in a competitive environment

Purchasing started out as a clerical support function. Over time, with changes in the business world, it has evolved to become a crucial component of the business entity, especially in high technology industries. This article reports the results of a study which investigated how the electronic industry in Singapore organised its purchasing function in a dynamic and competitive environment.     

Critical Success Factors of Total Quality Management

The past decade has seen many firms focusing on Total Quality Management (TQM) as a means of improving profits, market share and competitiveness. Although TQM is a proven approach for success in manufacturing, services and the public sector, several organizations failed in their campaigns because of many reasons like lack of top management commitment, ignoring customers etc. This paper presents a study on certain specific factors that impact the success of the TQM implementation purely based on the secondary research. The research points out that, though most organizations start TQM efforts for their success, they are frequently exposed to the factors which may cause their TQM efforts to delay or even fail. TQM is a sure bet to reverse poor performance, but when it did not yield the expected results, it was deemed a failure. The review has been done to identify the common problems that lead to the failure of TQM implementation in the organization and has pointed out the critical success factors of TQM. Nevertheless, the overall results of this research imply that the understanding of the elements that cause failure to the TQM implementation can provide needed help for companies involved in long-term continuous improvement efforts. If the advanced TQM approach is properly followed, it will help the companies to achieve organizational excellence.     

How relevant is the MBA: A revisit

The master of business administration (MBA) is the centerpiece of management education and holds the promise of systematically preparing its graduates for their managerial roles. However, there is escalating criticism that MBA programs are losing their relevance based on empirical evidence that competencies indicated by managers to be most critical are least represented in core MBA curricula. The authors re-examine the evidence and argue that the misalignment appears to be overstated. Consideration for relevance in preparing graduates for managerial roles needs to consider not only curricula, but also actual learning, social capital from the alumni network, and the signaling effect of graduating from an MBA program.     

The interaction of the financing and investment decisions: Preliminary results in the Australian context

This paper investigates the presence of the interaction of investment and financing decisions in Australian firms. Using simultaneous equations incorporating the variables of investment, dividend, and new debt issue, interactive effects are found for two sub-periods.     

SYSTEMATIC RISK IN A PURELY RANDOM MARKET MODEL: SOME EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FOR INDIVIDUAL PUBLIC UTILITIES

A minimum norm quadratic (MINQU-) type of OLS estimator is derived. The estimator is used to test if the betas of the single factor market (SFM) model are random for a sample of utilities for two contiguous periods. The estimated betas for individual utilities vary considerably over time. The statistical significance of such nonstationarity depends on both the utilities and period studied. The relative reduction in the mean square error (MSE) from using a GLS (and not OLS) estimator of beta, when beta is purely random, can be substantial for some utilities but is modest on average.     

How High‐Commitment HRM Relates to Engagement and Commitment: The Moderating Role of Task Proficiency

In a multisource field study, we examine the relationship between employee perceptions of high‐commitment human resource management (HRM), task proficiency, work engagement, and organizational commitment. Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, we first propose that work engagement mediates the relationship between high‐commitment HRM and organizational commitment. Second, we propose a mediated moderation model in which employees’ task proficiency moderates the relationship between high‐commitment HRM and work engagement, which in turn affects organizational commitment. Results indicate that the relationship between high‐commitment HRM and organizational commitment was fully mediated by work engagement. Results also supported the mediated moderation model. A significant indirect effect was found from high‐commitment HRM to commitment via engagement for low task proficiency, but not for high task proficiency. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The influence of oil price uncertainty on stock liquidity

Using high-frequency intraday data, this study provides strong empirical evidence that elevated oil price uncertainty has a significant and negative influence on stock liquidity. More specifically, the results suggest that large oil-related corporations are most affected, followed by small-listed firms more generally. Further analysis reveals that liquidity providers widen the bid-ask spreads to protect themselves during periods of high oil price uncertainty for large-listed firms, particularly those in the oil industry. These findings are robust to various measures of oil price uncertainty, different market conditions, structural break analysis and show the influence of oil price movements extends to stock liquidity.     

The HR ecosystem: Emerging trends and a future research agenda

Human resource leaders are experimenting with new approaches to organizing and utilizing workers that are not limited to the traditional boundaries of the firm, but rather expand to an ecosystem of work and organization. This special issue introduction article introduces a set of papers from management scholars discussing the ecosystem of work and organization and offers a roadmap for future research on HR ecosystems. An ecosystem perspective invites us to rethink our current frameworks to better link theory to practice. It also challenges us to shift our level of analysis from the organization to the ecosystem, asking: how is work organized and conducted within this complex and evolving context? These papers uncover trends related to (1) technological mediation, (2) impermanence and adaptation, and (3) shared governance. Our hope is that by framing these trends found within the research in this special issue that scholars will be provided a better road map in moving forward with their own research on the role of HR within the ecosystem of work and organization.