Business Commons^™

Contextual Influences On Human Resources Development: Considerations And Evaluations On The Various External And Internal Factors That Shape And Influence Hrd In Organisations, Charles Alves De Castro

Articles

This article aims to briefly understand and evaluate the main external and internal factors that impact directly on human resources development area within the organisations, mainly related to multinational companies. Also, it discusses the various aspects and influences on HRD-(Human Resources Development) such as societal, organisational/local, global, that impacts on costs, environment, regulations, policies, culture, beliefs, technology and values. This research was carried out by way of a literature review. This is important to demonstrate, explain and evaluate the current existent literature about this specific theme covered in this article. Furthermore, through this review we compared previous research on HRD. …

Design As Entrepreneurship: Towards A Design-Specific Entrepreneurship Framework, Con Kennedy

Conference papers

Current thinking on entrepreneurship states there is no specific link between the entrepreneur and their enterprise. Design is an individual creative act; therefore, the practitioner is not separate from their idiosyncratic process. The Designer is the product offering. Designers form Design Enterprises, meaning that with this aspect of inseparability, the Design Entrepreneur is a different kind of entrepreneur than currently discussed. The literature on the topic discusses design as a creative output, not as entrepreneurship output. Like any enterprise, Design Enterprises must be profitable. There are many entrepreneurship processes, none of which seem to address the needs of the Design …

The Persistence Of Omniscience In Knowledge Management: Implications Or Future Research, Conor Horan, Conor P. Horan, John Finch

Conference papers

Abstract: This paper demonstrates the persistence of omniscience in Knowledge Management (KM) research. Omniscience as a concept has two dimensions ubiquity and utility. This idea of ubiquity is more prevalent when the management goal focuses on processing or transferring pre-existing knowledge efficiently to those who can make use of it. Ubiquity assumes that knowledge is freely available within the firm i.e. is omnipresent, waiting for it to be processed or transferred. The idea of utility assumes that knowledge and its relevance is fully understood by the firm. The firms and its managers are assumed to know the value and quality …

Competitive Strategies In Small And Medium Sized Enterprises (Sme's): A Cross- Case Analysis Of Irish Construction Professional Service Firms, Oluwasegun O. Seriki, Roisin Murphy

Conference papers

Strategy formulation aims to attain strategic fit between an organisation and its business environment in pursuit of competitive advantage. Although competitive strategy research is long established within industries such as manufacturing, financial services and IT, strategy within construction is still under-investigated by comparison. For construction professional service firms (CPSFs), the dearth of academic inquiry is even more apparent, partly due to the intangible nature of their service offerings, highly customised nature of their services and reliance on intellectual capital. The Irish construction sector is experiencing stable growth since following a prolonged recession, thus understanding the strategy process within professional service …

Operationalizing Learning From Rare Events: Framework For Middle Humanitarian Operations Managers, Amr Mahfouz, Ashraf Labib, Sara Hadleigh-Dunn, Marco Gentile

Articles

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the learning from rare events and the knowledge management processinvolved, which presents a significant challenge to many organizations. This is primarily attributed to the inability tointerpret these events in a systematic and “rich” manner, which this paper seeks to address. We start by summarizing therelevant literature on humanitarian operations management (HOM), outlining the evolution of the socio-technical disasterlifecycle and its relationship with humanitarian operations, using a supply chain resilience theoretical lens. We then out-line theories of organizational learning (and unlearning) from disasters and the impact on humanitarian operations. Subse-quently, we theorize the …

External And Internal Networks And Access To Hrd Resources In Small Professional Service Firms, Ciara Nolan Dr, Thomas Garavan

Articles

A key challenge facing small professional service firms (PSFs) in the context of implementing human resource development (HRD) is access to resources. The use of external and internal networks represents an important means of identifying and acquiring needed resources. We utilize resource dependency and network theories to explore the types of networks used by owner-managers to acquire HRD resources and the types of resources that are acquired. We investigate these issues utilizing three case study organizations located in the Republic of Ireland and interview data from owner-managers and employees. We found that small PSFs derived resources from both coercive and …

"Out Of The Frying Pan … A Conversation. Changing Lives, Changing Careers?.", Paul Doyle

Other

No abstract provided.

Segmentation Of Quantity Surveying Professional Services For Focus Strategy And Diversification, Michael Adesi, De-Graft Owusu-Manu, Frank Boateng

Articles

Purpose – Notwithstanding that numerous studies have focused on strategy in quantity surveying (QS) professional service firms, there is a paucity of investigation on the segmentation of QS professional services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the segmentation of QS services for diversification and a focus strategy formation.

Design/methodology/approach – This study adopts the positivist stance and quantitative approach in which a simple random sampling technique was used to select participants. In total, 110 survey questionnaires were administered to registered professional QS, out of which 79 completed questionnaires were returned for analysis.

Findings – The paper identifies three …

A Post-Brexit Transportation Scenario Analysis For An Agri-Fresh Produce Supply Chain, Amr Mahfouz, Declan Allen, Amr Arisha, Ralf Elbert, Michael Gleser

Conference papers

The ever-increasing demand for fresh and healthy products initiated an urgency for effective planning for Agri-Fresh Produce Supply Chains (AFPSC). However, AFPSC faces many challenges, including product vulnerability to market disruption and limited shelf-life. In case of a no-deal Brexit (i.e., the UK leaving the EU without an agreement), trade between Ireland and the UK will most probably be subjected to customs control. In effect, transportation delays and products deterioration rates will increase. Based on interviews with an Irish AFPSC forwarder, a simulation model was developed to investigate different systems' dynamics and operating rules under different delay patterns on the …

Emotional Intelligence And Conflict Management Styles, Helen Chen, Xuemei Xu, Patrick Phillips

Articles

Purpose – This paper aims to use a multi-level approach to examine the effects of emotional intelligence (EI) components on conflict management styles of Chinese managers when the respondents were in conflicts with their subordinates, peers or superiors.

Design/methodology/approach – The primary research was conducted in Dalian, China, via a personal survey resulting in 885 usable observations for analysis. EI was measured using the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS; Wong and Law, 2002), which is made up of 16 questions measuring four dimensions. The conflict management component was measured via Rahim’s (1983) five conflict management styles, which are …

From Dreaming To Believing: A Review Of Consumer Engagement Behaviours With Brands’ Social Media Content Across The Holiday Travel Process, Dean Creevey, Etain Kidney, Glenn Mehta

Articles

This paper reviews social media user engagement behaviours with brands and proposes a new stage within the travel process. Specifically, the pre-trip stage is examined and investigation into a two sub-stage split is proposed; pre-purchase and post-purchase. Dubbed the Believing phase, this paper calls for research into the patterns of engagement behaviour towards hotel brands’ content at this currently under-researched stage. Current social media-focussed research examines influence on purchasing decisions of users, social media usage on-site, and post-trip evaluation. There remains a conceptual gap highlighting the behavioural patterns of users during the period between initial purchase and subsequent departure.

Using Drawings To Understand Perceptions Of Civic Engagement Across Disciplines: ‘Seeing Is Understanding’, Sharon Feeney, John Hogan

Articles

In this article, we wish to investigate if disciplinary differences exist among students when considering the topic of civic engagement. We use freehand drawing to create a learning environment in the classroom wherein students can seek to develop meaningful associations with civic engagement. The drawings examined here, produced by three different class groups, provide insights into how young adults perceive their society and their place in it, and thus communicate their understanding of civic engagement. Freehand drawing, in bypassing cognitive verbal processing routes, leads students to produce clearer and more holistic images. It allows them to put into visuals a …

Researching Pure Digital Entrepreneurship – A Multimethod Insider Action Research Approach, Kisito Futonge Nzembayie, Anthony Paul Buckley, Thomas M. Cooney

Articles

Knowledge production in Pure Digital Entrepreneurship (PDE) needs to reflect the non-linear nature of a journey defined by digital artifact and platform creation. Accordingly, this paper proposes and offers practical guidance on the use of Multimethod Insider Action Research (MIAR) as a suitable research design for studying the entrepreneurial journey in this context. It argues for integrating first-person Reflective Practice, second-person Collaborative Inquiry and Design Research for third-person knowledge production that balances rigour and relevance. While calls for such forms of longitudinal process inquiry have largely gone unanswered due to identified challenges, this paper uses a case narrative to illustrate …

The Moderation Effect Of Social Factors On Marketing Factors In Consumer Research, Xiaochuang Wu, Helen Chen, Xiaohong Li

Articles

Consumer research tends to isolate the impact of marketing and social factors. Little has been done to include both. This paper aimed to find out what would happen when these two sets of factors are included. Two models were built in this paper, Model I with the marketing factors only and Model II with both the marketing and social factors. Data was collected in Ireland among more than 1473 transition year students in a personal survey regarding their willingness to learn Chinese. Data were analysed by using structural equation modelling (SEM). Results showed the two social variables, acculturation and intergenerational …

Challenges And Opportunities Brought To The Chinese Economy By Brexit And The New Us Administration, Lucia Morales, Bernadette Andreosso-O’Callaghan

Articles

The impact of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump as the 45th US president in the context of stock market reactions and economic policy uncertainty (EPU) within three key zones in ‘the Greater China Region’ (Hong Kong, Taiwan and China Mainland) are examined in this article. The chosen research period is from January 2014 to June 2017, and the EPU Index in the USA and the UK is used as a proxy to measure political uncertainty in two of the world major economies and how they impact on the Chinese stock market. The main contribution of the article can …

Ex-Post Service Contract Performance Management, Brian Forbes, Malcolm Brady

Articles

This paper highlights how contract incompleteness can threaten the performance of public procurement facilities management contracts during their implementation stages, based on a multiple case study comprising five public procurement services contracts. The paper takes a principle-agent view and with the unit of analysis being the contract itself. The paper shows that contract contingencies are almost inevitable and may stem from the written contract or from the participating organisations. Written and unwritten contract management mechanisms were used in practice to deal with contingencies as they arose in the services case studies examined. The paper found that written contracts do not …

Expanding University Entrepreneurial Ecosystems To Under-Represented Communities, Emma O'Brien, Thomas M. Cooney, Per Blenker

Articles

Purpose – Entrepreneurship education has moved from an elitist view focussing on a start-up and picking-the-winners philosophy towards a broader enterprising behaviour approach; recognising entrepreneurship as an activity of relevance for everybody. The purpose of this paper is to extend this development and identify how university entrepreneurial ecosystems can be expanded to support communities that are under-represented in entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach – Based on an integrative literature review (Torraco, 2005), this paper draws together and synthesises literature from the field of entrepreneurship, higher education studies and under-represented communities in an integrated fashion, leading to the development of a new conceptual model. …

Fifty Years Of The Strategic Trade-Offs Model: In Memory And Honor Of Wickham Skinner, Roberto Sarmiento, Garvan Whelan, Matthias Thürer, Francisco Arturo Bribiescas-Silva

Articles

In 1969, Professor Wickham Skinner, whom many consider as “the father of manufacturing strategy,” published a seminal paper entitled “Manufacturing-Missing Link in Corporate Strategy.” Among the many interesting insights outlined in that article, Skinner is particularly careful to explain the importance of acknowledging the existence of specific trade-offs in the design of production systems. For example, he warns that a failure on the part of executives to recognize the limitations and compromises that are inherent to all technology and human based systems will inevitably result in a diminished ability of firms to compete successfully in the marketplace. Fifty years after …

The Same But Different: Understanding Entrepreneurial Behaviour In Disadvantaged Communities, Thomas M. Cooney, Michelle Licciardi

Books/Book Chapters

While entrepreneurship is widely viewed as being equally accessible in all contexts, it could be questioned if potential or nascent entrepreneurs from minority and disadvantaged communities experience entrepreneurship in a similar manner to the mainstream population. This chapter examines immigrant, people with disability, youth, gay and unemployed communities to explore how their entrepreneurial behaviour might differ from the practices of mainstream entrepreneurs. What emerges is that marginalised communities can frequently find it difficult to divorce business from social living. This can have both positive and negative connotations for an entrepreneur, plus they face additional and distinctive challenges that mainstream entrepreneurs …

Cooking A Corporation Tax Controversy: Apple, Ireland And The Eu., Ciara Graham, Brendan O'Rourke

Articles

Given the centrality of corporations in distribution of income and wealth studies, discursive constructions of corporate taxation are essential to understanding the production of inequality. The focus of this study is an interview with Apple’s Chief Executive Tim Cook on the Irish state broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann’s (RTÉ) flagship news programme, Morning Ireland, following the ruling by the European Commission (EC) on the corporation tax arrangements between Apple Inc. and Ireland. Drawing on a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach, a frame analysis is provided. The significance and extent of the EC’s ruling has potential implications for corporation taxation policy, within …

The Impact Of Firm Characteristics On Speed Of Adjustment To Target Leverage: A Uk Study, James Fitzgerald, J. Ryan

Articles

Responding to the need to investigate heterogeneity in the speed of adjustment (SOA) to target leverage in a manner that reflects the fractional nature of leverage, we estimate SOA across sub-samples of UK firms using the Dynamic Panel Fractional (DPF) estimator. Using firm characteristics to identify firms subject to varying costs of deviation from and adjustment to target leverage, we find significant evidence of heterogeneity in the speeds at which UK firms adjust to target leverage. Our results show that small, high growth and low dividend paying firms adjust to target leverage faster than their large, low growth and high …