Business Commons^™

Thinking About Leadership By Nanerl Keohane (Featured Publication & Author Interview), Susan R. Madsen

Susan R. Madsen

Our guest interviewer this month is Susan R. Madsen. Susan is an associate professor of management at Utah Valley University and an independent leadership and change consultant. She interviewed author Nannerl O. Keohane is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Distinguished Visiting Professor of Public Affairs and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University and former president of Wellesley College and Duke University. She is the author of Higher Ground: Ethics and Leadership in the Modern University and Philosophy and the State in France: The Renaissance to the Enlightenment.

Virtual Collaborative R&D Teams In Malaysia Manufacturing Smes, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Salwa Hanim Abdul Rashid, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

This paper presents the results of empirical research conducted during March to September 2009. The study focused on the influence of virtual research and development (R&D) teams within Malaysian manufacturing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The specific objective of the study is better understanding of the application of collaborative technologies in business, to find the effective factors to assist SMEs to remain competitive in the future. The paper stresses to find an answer for a question “Is there any relationship between company size, Internet connection facility and virtuality?”. The survey data shows SMEs are now technologically capable of performing …

Human Resource Development And 'Casualisation' In Hotels And Resorts In Eastern Australia: Getting The Best To The Customer?, Grant Cairncross, Stephen Kelly

Adjunct Professor Stephen J Kelly

This paper provides an analysis of human resource development and knowledge capital management relations practices used by hotels and resorts in 2007. The study examined the employment instruments used, methods of employee recruitment, selection, staff turnover trends, remuneration policies, attitudes to knowledge capital and the application of service quality measurement. The findings indicate that larger foreign-owned organisations have adopted more innovative approaches than smaller Australian-owned hotels and resorts, while skill shortages and generational attitude changes have driven more inventive retention strategies in both groups. It was also found that in spite of the adoption of more enlightened human resource strategies, …

Using Servqual As A Management Tool In The Provision Of Welfare Services, Stephen Kelly, Karen Mcfadyen, Jennifer Harrison

Adjunct Professor Stephen J Kelly

No abstract provided.

Reframing Strategic Thinking: Emergence Beyond The Box, Stephen Kelly, Alexander Kouzmin

Adjunct Professor Stephen J Kelly

No abstract provided.

Moral Hazards, Crisis, Bail Outs And E-Scads, Judy Johnston, Alexander Kouzmin, Kym Thorne, Stephen Kelly

Adjunct Professor Stephen J Kelly

No abstract provided.

Refocusing Corporate Strategy: Creating A Profit Orientation, Alan Preston, Stephen Kelly

Adjunct Professor Stephen J Kelly

The structure and effectiveness of a profit segmentation method designed to enhance a business’ understanding of the profit impact of strategic plans is investigated in this study. It is argued that a profit-centric segmentation-orientation is more effective in aligning organization resources for profit optimization than a simplistic fixation on market share, as it provides insight and direct correlation with two critical dimensions of organizational performance; the complex relationship between sales revenue and profitability and the architecture of market share and corporate profitability. Results from research that examined outcomes from the broad based adoption of this method by a large industrial …

Business Realtionships And Perceived Environmental Uncertainty: Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now?, Jennifer Harrison, Stephen Kelly

Adjunct Professor Stephen J Kelly

No abstract provided.

Planning: The Nexus Between Proactiveness And Innovation, Jennifer Harrison, Stephen Kelly

Adjunct Professor Stephen J Kelly

No abstract provided.

Strategy Beyond The Box: An Editorial Prologue, Stephen Kelly, Alexander Kouzmin

Adjunct Professor Stephen J Kelly

No abstract provided.

Virtual R&D Teams: A Potential Growth Of Education-Industry Collaboration, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Introduction: With the advent of the global economy and high-speed Internet, online collaboration is fast becoming the norm in education and industry [1]. Information technology (IT) creates many new inter-relationships among businesses, expands the scope of industries in which a company must compete to achieve the competitive advantage. Information systems and technology allow companies to coordinate their activities in distant geographic locations [2]. IT is providing the infrastructure necessary to support the development of new collaboration forms among industry and education. Virtual research and development (R&D) teams represent one such relational form, one that could revolutionize the workplace and provide …

Supply Chain Contract Evolution, T. Coltman, K. Bru, N. Perm-Ajchariyawong, T. M. Devinney, G. R. Benito

Tim Coltman

This paper draws together theories from organisational and neo-institutional literatures to address the evolution of supply chain contracts. Using a longitudinal case study of the Norwegian State Railways, we examine how firms move through the stages in an inter-organisational process of supply chain contract evolution and how they can cooperate to ensure efficiency and equity in their contractual relationship. The findings suggest that inefficient and inequitable initial contracts can occur in part, because of the cognitive shortcomings in human decision-making processes that reveal themselves early in the arrangement before learning and trust building can accumulate. We then reveal how parties …

Virtual Teams And Management Challenges, Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Zahari Taha

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Introduction: Collaboration is becoming increasingly important in creating the knowledge that makes business more competitive. Virtual teams are growing in popularity [1] and many organizations have responded to their dynamic environments by introducing virtual teams. Additionally, the rapid development of new communication technologies such as the Internet has accelerated this trend so that today, most of the larger organization employs virtual teams to some degree [2]. A growing number of flexible and adaptable organizations have explored the virtual environment as one means of achieving increased responsiveness [3]. Howells et al. [4] state that the shift from serial to simultaneous and …

Impact Of Human Capital On The Organization Performance, Philadelphia University

Philadelphia University, Jordan

No abstract provided.

Beacon Hill Village In Boston: Ein Erfolgreiches Beispiel Einer Mitgliederorganisation Auf Quartiersebene, Philipp Osl, Alain Benz, Hubert Oesterle

Hubert Oesterle

Beacon Hill Village erbringt und koordiniert als Intermediär ein breites Spektrum von Dienstleistungen für ältere Menschen in Boston. Durch Kombination professioneller Dienstleister und Freiwilligenarbeit sowie alternative Preismodelle für finanzschwache Mitglieder ist es der Organisation gelungen, ein an den Kundenbedürfnissen orientiertes Angebot für (fast) alle Menschen zugänglich zu machen. Der Beitrag stellt das Geschäftsmodell von Beacon Hill Village vor und diskutiert die Umsetzbarkeit in Deutschland.

Business Ethics - University Of New Mexico, Robert Phillips

Robert Phillips

No abstract provided.

Teaching Business Ethics - University Of New Mexico, Robert Phillips

Robert Phillips

No abstract provided.

How To Conduct A Literature Review, Nader Ale Ebrahim

Nader Ale Ebrahim

No abstract provided.

Can Culture Shape The Identity Of A Sport? A Case Study On Lifesaving Sport - Surf Lifesaving Australia And Lifesaving/Sauvetage Canada, Winston Wing Hong To

Winston Wing Hong To

Sport is an important marker of our country's culture and identity. Citizens within a country will cheer and support their sport teams if they are successful, or criticize and judge if they are doing poorly. The importance of culture within sport is an important indicator of a country's success or failure within international competitions; such as the Olympics and World Championships. However, can culture shape the identity of a sport within a country?

Lifesaving is a vital aspect of a country's swim program, as it focuses on reducing injury and death in, on, or around the water. Within Lifesaving, there …

Corporate Change Management In Asian Business - A Comparison Between Chinese-Educated And English-Educated Chinese Entrepreneurs In Singapore, Thomas Menkhoff, Ulrike Badibanga, Yue Wah Chay

Thomas MENKHOFF

Against the background of a rapidly changing business environment, the article examines the organizational change management behavior of the owner-managers of small and medium-sized enterprises in Singapore. The analysis of survey data is aimed at ascertaining whether there are any differences between Chinese and English-educated small (Chinese) businessmen in terms of Change Management (CM), a dichotomy that is of great historical and politico-cultural significance in Singapore. The survey data show that there are indeed differences between the subgroups (e. g. with regard to the initiation of a more participatory people management style) but these variations turned out to be far …

Innovation Rules : A Step By Step Approach Towards Identifying New Innovation Opportunities., Arcot Desai Narasimhalu

Arcot Desai NARASIMHALU

This book is organized in three sections. The first section introduces twenty five innovation rules that reflect how innovations have progressed over time. The second section explains how the innovation rules can be used to identify possible innovation opportunities. The third section explains how to choose innovations for commercialization. Pay sufficient attention to each of the Innovation Rules when you read the first section. Each rule captures the introduction and evolution of successful innovations. Each rule is listed on one page and its description on the opposite page. Rules have more than one stage, the initial stage followed by one …

Redefining Medical Tourism, Arcot Desai Narasimhalu

Arcot Desai NARASIMHALU

No abstract provided.

Purposeful Engagement Of First-Year Division I Student-Athletes, Keith Harrison

Dr. C. Keith Harrison

This study examined the extent to which transitioning, first-year student-athletes engage in educationally sound activities in college. The sample included 147 revenue and nonrevenue first-year student-athletes who were surveyed at four large Division 1-A universities. Findings revealed that revenue and nonrevenue first-year student athletes differed regarding their academic and athletic identities. Transitioning revenue student-athletes rated themselves as having slightly higher athletic identities, yet lower academic identities compared to their nonrevenue counterparts. The findings from this study also indicated that the kinds of effective educational practices that first-year student-athletes engage in have a positive influence on their academic self-concept. These findings …

Hospitality Leadership, Dissatisfaction And Intent To Leave Among Multigenerational Groupings, Thomas A. Maier

Thomas A. Maier

This study examines generational similarities and differences in terms of; perceptions hospitality employees have of leadership, dissatisfaction and intent to leave within their organization.

Extending A Systems Analysis Method For Business Professionals, Steven Alter

Steven Alter

Despite having been explored, described, theorized, and measured in hundreds of IS research articles, frequent difficulties related to user participation and business/IT communication persist in relation to project management, specification of requirements, implementation in organizations, business/IT alignment, and IS failures. We report on an extension of a long term design sci-ence research project that previously demonstrated a possible path toward ad-dressing these longstanding problems by empowering business professionals to analyze systems in business terms rather than in formalisms for IT specialists. Previous research demonstrated that most of 75 working business professionals with extensive business experience were able to use the …

Making A Science Of Service Systems Practical: Seeking Usefulness And Understandability While Avoiding Unnecessary Assumptions And Restrictions, Steven Alter

Steven Alter

This book’s theme is “The Science of Service Systems,” yet there is substantial question about whether the definition and nature of service systems have been articulated adequately. This paper examines definitions of service and service system that could frame or otherwise influence future developments in service science and could have implications for what should and should not be included within service science. It argues that the initial development of service science should use straightforward definitions that are understandable, useful, broadly applicable, and teachable. It proposes a definition of service system that is different from the definition proposed in this book’s …

Using Work System Theory To Achieve Greater Business Value From Erp By Exploring Alternative Design Spaces, Steven Alter

Steven Alter

This paper explains how various aspects of work system theory (WST) can be applied to achieve greater business value from ERP by assuming that the underlying "design spaces" encompass much more than the features, configuration, and limitations of ERP software. It uses WST concepts to identify directions for achieving business value that might not be considered thoroughly in ERP implementations that focus primarily on converting from legacy software to ERP software. This paper starts by summarizing basic premises concerning the relationship between work systems and ERP. Focusing on the context of ERP usage, it explains the elements of the two …

Reconciling The Social/Human And Technical/Material In Is Research Without Trying Too Hard, Steven Alter

Steven Alter

This contribution to the SIGPHIL workshop on reconciling the social and technical in IS research proposes a sociotechnical approach that addresses many issues related to the long-standing duality of the social/human versus the technical/material. It shows that a sociotechnical approach based on work system concepts 1) highlights and potentially bypasses extremely basic ontological stumbling blocks in IS research, 2) incorporates many of the topics and concerns of the original sociotechnical school, 3) illuminates issues related to the duality of the social/human versus the technical/material, and 4) addresses these topics using concepts and terminology that are much easier to understand than …

The Work System Method: Systems Thinking For Business Professionals, Steven Alter

Steven Alter

No abstract provided.

Legal And Ethical Challenges Of Corporate Social Networking, Gundars Kaupins, Susan Park J.D.

Susan Park

Many corporations have embraced online social networking to supplement their marketing programs and communications with employees, customers, vendors, and others. Corporations also use social networking to discover inappropriate employee behavior, encourage productivity, recruit individuals, and investigate job applicants and current employees.