Business Commons^™

Human Resource Management Practices, Workforce Alignment, And Firm Performance, Christopher Collins, Jeff Ericksen, Mathew Allen

Christopher J Collins

Small business leaders are charged with delivering high levels of company performance. There is no shortage of potentially fruitful investments available for consideration; these include developing new products or services, improving product or service quality, and enhancing marketing and sales. Another possible investment - improving the way a company manages its people - tends to receive less attention. This is somewhat surprising, however, when one considers that the human resource management practices a company uses can dramatically impact the bottom-line. One study of large publicly traded firms, for example, found that companies using "high performance" human resource practices have market …

Earnings Management And The Effect Of Earnings Quality In Relation To Stress Level And Bankruptcy Level Of Chinese Listed Firms, Feng Li, Indra Abeysekera, Shiguang Ma

Indra Abeysekera

This paper investigates the link between earnings management and earnings quality for the Chinese firms listed in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2003 to 2007. The earnings quality is measured by four separate earnings attributes: accruals quality, earnings persistence, earnings predictability, and earnings smoothness. We find that the stressed/bankrupt firms prefer opportunistic earnings management; the non-stressed/non-bankrupt firms are more likely to choose more efficient earnings management than the stressed/non-bankrupt firms. We find that earnings management performs better than earnings quality in predicting future profitability. We also find that the earnings quality has deteriorated over the sample period; the …

The Politics Of Human Resource Management In Implementing Process Innovation, Michael Zanko, Richard Badham, Maren Schubert

Michael Zanko

This paper analyses a longitudinal case study of organizational and human resource management (HRM) dimensions in the implementation of an approach to product development (concurrent engineering (CE)) in a multinational firm engaged in defence electronics. Most aspects of managing product development in CE are linked to people management. Yet in this case, other than project team structure, prescriptive HRM dimensions of CE received little attention in the implementation process. This failure to address the 'formal' prescribed HRM issues is explained by a multilayer analysis of the play of power and political lobbying among 'stakeholders' over time: the HRM function, key …

Interorganizational Dynamics In Collaboration In University-Industry Research Projects: Context, Politics And Social Construction, Michael Zanko, Richard Badham, Karin H. Garrety

Michael Zanko

University-industry partnerships (UIPs) are widely viewed as essential in leveraging research capability and economic performance in organizations and the nation as a whole. In Australia, as in many other countries, the national government commits significant funds to such ‘strategic’ collaborations. Despite this interest, there is still a relatively poor understanding of the interorganizational dynamics of these industry and university partnerships and their projects. This paper examines such dynamics by focusing on a management-related research project we were involved in negotiating and undertaking with industry partner managers over a four-year period. Of particular relevance was the complex interplay between UIP politics, …

Interorganizational Dynamics In Collaboration In University-Industry Research Projects: Context, Politics And Social Construction, Michael Zanko, Richard Badham, Karin H. Garrety

Karin Garrety

University-industry partnerships (UIPs) are widely viewed as essential in leveraging research capability and economic performance in organizations and the nation as a whole. In Australia, as in many other countries, the national government commits significant funds to such ‘strategic’ collaborations. Despite this interest, there is still a relatively poor understanding of the interorganizational dynamics of these industry and university partnerships and their projects. This paper examines such dynamics by focusing on a management-related research project we were involved in negotiating and undertaking with industry partner managers over a four-year period. Of particular relevance was the complex interplay between UIP politics, …

Teaching With The Situation: Jersey Shore As A Popular Culture Example In Information Literacy Classes, Amy Springer

Amy Springer

No abstract provided.

The Road Of Trials: Management Concepts In Documentary Film Production In Australia, M. L. Jones, Christina Kirsch

Michael L Jones

New technologies affecting work and organizational design, unclear work functions and roles, communication problems, cross-cultural management problems, lack of knowledge transfer and industrial disputes - the catalogue of problems that affect the Australian film Industry (AFI) in general reads like a curriculum in the management discipline. Management and organizational studies have obviously neglected the film production industry and only few established management research programs tackle the film industry (Blair 2000, Cunningham 2002, Starkey, Barnatt & Tempest 2000). This project investigates projects in the AFI from a management perspective, with the objective to develop a theoretical framework and evaluate various management …

Diversity Management In Australia And Its Impact On Employee Engagement, Pat Skalsky, Grace Mccarthy

Grace McCarthy

Diversity, defined as differences relating to gender, ethnicity, age, religion, sexual orientation, physical ability or any other source of difference can have a major impact on employee engagement. In this article, the authors examine the results of a recent survey and uncover how diversity is managed in Australia.

[Review Of The Book Labour History And The Labour Movement In Britain], George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

[Excerpt] While this volume contains some important pieces, it is uneven in quality, and several of the papers, in my opinion, should have been omitted. Given the very high price of the book, the fact that it omits Pollard's important papers on factory discipline and his chapter from the Cambridge Economic History of Europe, and the ready availability in journals of the best papers, I cannot recommend it to anyone but librarians who happen to have unlimited sources of money. One can only hope that in the future Ashgate or another publisher will reprint, at reasonable prices, Sidney Pollard's excellent …

Intellectual Capital Statement (Ics) As A Method Of Measurement And Management Of Knowledge Assets, Anna Ujwary-Gil

Anna Ujwary-Gil

The article describes empirical verification of an interesting model – Intellectual Capital Statement (ICS). ICS is an example of a method which emphasizes the European contribution into the developing trend of intellectual capital (IC) measure and evaluation, with particular attention paid to the SME sector (a strong presence of Scandinavian countries and the USA is noticeable here). ICS is presented here as a tool enabling us to manage and evaluate IC of a company and to demonstrate the dynamics of its changes. The article contains a case study of a company operating in the construction sector in Poland. It also …

Business And Non-Profit Organizations Facing Increased Competition And Growing Customers' Demands (Vol. 11), Anna Ujwary-Gil

Anna Ujwary-Gil

The monograph focuses attention on the description and analysis of new phenomena and processes for commercial and non-commercial organizations. Valid conditions are pointed out for the functioning of both commercial and non-commercial organizations and an attempt is made to explain their impact on these organizations. The analysis also examines the strategies used by organizations in the face of fierce competition and increasing consumer demands in their effort to gain and maintain a competitive edge. This case study below is segmented into four areas of interest: • commercial and non-commercial organizations as an object of research, • commercial and non-commercial organizations …

Future Trends In Strategic Management, Chris D. Bellamy

Dr. Chris D. Bellamy

In today’s business environment the top down approach to management has fundamentally disappeared. Baby boomers, gen x and gen y managers bring different management styles and thinking to global organizations. This paper identifies eight current research articles (published within the past five years) that synthesize and apply four trends in strategic management that are crucial for the field in the future. The four trends are ranked 1-4, with 1 being most important. The ranking are justified.

Wisdom From Warren Buffett, Todd A. Finkle

Todd A Finkle