This paper argues that individual small firms just like large firms, place differing emphasis on strategy-making and may employ different modes of strategy-making. It offers a typology of the different modes of strategy-making that seem most likely to exist in small firms, and hypothesises how this typology relates to performance. It then describes the results of an empirical study of the strategy-making processes of small firms. The structural equation analysis of the data from 477 small firms with less than 100 employees indicates among other results that the simplistic, adaptive, intrapreneurial and participative modes of strategy-making exist in these small firms. Of these modes, the simplistic mode exhibits the strongest relationship with firm performance.

Dynamic capabilities (DCs) are organizations' ability to integrate, build, and reconfigure competences, on which they draw to adapt to changes. Despite a significant stream of literature exploring DCs, the following question remains: how do dynamic capabilities allow organizations to adapt to changes and succeed? To fill this gap, this paper outlines a theory of DCs, based on an analysis of strategic behavior (micro)formation at the individual and collective levels. This theory conceptualizes an evolutionary paradigm in which the intentions of organizational agents are intertwined with environmental influences. It defines DCs as ‘instruments able to entrepreneurially solve problems of evolutionary fitness of organizations.’ In doing so, it advances theoretical conceptualization of DCs and their microfoundations to provide insights into how an entrepreneurially led organization may confront and solve problems and ultimately prosper.

The influence of corporate governance on a firm's performance has recently been studied in industrial enterprises in developed countries, but not in services such as banks with a dual board system in Asia's newly-industrialized economies (NIEs). This research examines the effects of board structure and ownership on a bank's performance using a sample of 41 commercial banks in an Asian NIE (Taiwan). Results showed that board size, numbers of outside directors, and family-owned shares are positively associated with bank performance, whereas the number of supervisory directors has a negative influence on performance. The findings provide empirical support for corporate governance, which improves the performance of banks with a dual board system in Taiwan.

The study investigates demographic diversity, cognitive diversity and internal diversity within Islam among top-level management of firms and their impacts on the financial performance of Malaysian-listed companies. In addition, Muslim and non-Muslim women and Islamic religious diversity on corporate boards are investigated. Even though numerous organisations desire to be socially diverse, the significance of diversity for organisational performance remains uncertain. Are profitable companies inclined to improve board diversity or do other characteristics of the company contribute to firm performance? Does the participation of Muslim and non-Muslim women on corporate boards affect firm performance? Does internal diversity within Islam affect firm performance? Data from 330 Malaysian-listed companies in eleven full fledged sectors were used for the period from 2009 to 2013. This study employed econometrics methodology from panel data analysis to fill the research gap in the current management literature. This study used the interaction approach to examine empirically diverse corporate boards and their impacts on firm performance. This discussion included: (1) a combination of gender diversity and ethnic diversity and (2) a combination of gender diversity and foreign participation. The findings suggest that demographic, cognitive and internal diversity within Islam are significant predictors of a firm’s financial performance. Ethnic women on boards have a significant and negative impact on firm performance. Hence, companies having high profits are more accountable for encouraging diversity among top-level management.

Few writers have examined the contextual determinants of intuitive decision-making and none has examined the differential contribution to explaining intuition made by different perspectives on context. This study seeks to supply what is absent by examining the overall impact of combinations of variables representing three different perspectives (decision, environment and firm) on the use of intuition when making strategic decisions. The results indicate that the characteristics specific to the firm and to the environment appear to be more significant to intuition than does the nature of the decision; and that the impact of the contextual variables varies from one dimension to another. The research limitations are discussed and suggestions for future research are also offered.

This paper investigates the effects on knowledge creation of network size and partner diversity formed through alliance relationships. These effects are tested empirically in the biotech industry setting, which is representative of industries that emphasize external collaboration. Using patent count as a proxy of knowledge creation, Poisson regression was employed to test our predictions empirically. The statistical results show an inverted U-shaped relationship between network size and knowledge creation. In addition, a negative relationship was observed between partner diversity and knowledge creation. This research suggests that small biotech firms should strive to achieve a balanced network size. Knowledge creation is better promoted in these firms through alliances with firms of similar organizational type. The value of this research lies in the fact that it provides new insight into properties of alliance networks by highlighting potentially negative consequences of having an oversized alliance network and partner diversity.

Affective organizational commitment is theorized and empirically tested as a key mediator between authentic leadership and desirable employee outcomes. The results of a two-wave survey of 830 business people in Australia support a serial mediation model of authentic leadership efficacy. Followers' perceptions of authentic leadership behavior influence their personal identification and affect-based trust in the leader, which in turn are mediated by affective organizational commitment to positively influence their work engagement and job satisfaction. These findings reinforce previous work that positions personal identification and affect-based trust as the two primary mediating mechanisms of authentic leadership. This paper extends prior research by demonstrating the important role of followers' affective bonds with their organization in the operation of authentic leadership, moving beyond the dyad in our understanding of follower outcomes.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) represents behaviors that have increasingly strategic importance to many companies. CSR has been defined as a company's commitment to minimizing or eliminating any harmful effects on society and maximizing its long-term beneficial impact (Mohr, Webb, & Harris, 2001). The purpose of this paper is (a) to improve our understanding of how North American professional sport league executives view CSR and (b) to consider how CSR activities contribute to these leagues. Interviews with four senior league executives provide perspective as to the role and relevance of social responsibility in North American professional sport. The paper discusses the impact of leadership on CSR and relates the topics covered from institutional, strategic, and stakeholder perspectives.

This paper examines the mobility paths taken by Chinese coursework graduates who studied abroad chiefly in business (Chinese ‘foreign’ graduates) and the consequences for their careers. A model is developed that focuses on the two major interconnected paths of repatriating and remaining abroad, and looks at the influence of pull–push forces. The model suggests the career consequences for repatriates, and their reactions to re-entry to China, in contrast to the career consequences for stayers and their reactions to the host country. The career capital the business graduates acquired while studying is developed. Adverse career consequences and reactions may lead to further mobility, including re-expatriation abroad by repatriates and repatriation by stayers. Overall, Chinese foreign business graduates may be caught in a dilemma when selecting the best path for their career and lifestyle. Implications for future research and management of Chinese foreign business graduates in host countries and China are assessed.

For some years now there has been growing enthusiasm amongst practitioners, managers and some academics about the value of promoting fun at work, resulting in a substantial body of managerial literature. As a result, the authors believe that fun at work deserves further research attention. In this paper the authors critically review the large body of practitioner and management literature promoting fun at work. We find this literature dependent on a number of untheorised, untested assumptions about the nature of fun, its desirability and usefulness to business. Utilising Schein’s organisational theory, alongside ethnographic research into fun at work, we highlight the complexity of implementing fun at work initiatives in practice. Drawing on organizational psychology we also make a short case study of the current use of fun at work as a job marketing tool by recruitment agencies in New Zealand. Our discussion does make it possible to come to some conclusions about fun at work. However, we also pose a series of research questions that emerge from our discussion that will provide a framework for ongoing research.

This study focuses on to explore the impact of social power on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and the role of OCB as a mediator of the relationship between social power and personal and organizational effectiveness. Data were collected by administering self rated questionnaires to male middle-level executives (N = 250) in face to face conditions from motor cycle manufacturing organisations based in northern India. The mediator analysis (by using AMOS) showed that all the fit indexes were in the acceptable range which indicates that OCBs have mediated significantly between social power and effectiveness. Other results as analyzed through multiple regression analysis showed the significant impact of social power on the dimensions of OCB and effectiveness as it was hypothesized. The study suggests the potential benefits of using positive forms of social power by supervisors as part of their managerial style in order to enhance OCBs and in turn increase personal and organizational effectiveness. This study advances the research on the concept of OCB and social power in an Indian work context.

Although research has shown that business model innovation (BMI) is an effective means to remain competitive in the digital age, many firms do not respond appropriately and often fail to exploit new digital opportunities. In this study, we adopt a microfoundational approach to understand the role and effects of dynamic capabilities (DCs) on BMI in the context of digitalization. Furthermore, we test how this relationship is influenced by contextual factors. Our results from a survey of German manufacturing firms demonstrate the importance of building strong DCs for effective BMI in the context of digitalization. We also highlight the advantages of an entrepreneurial leadership and mindset in this context. The study further suggests that environmental turbulence in the digital context acts as an antecedent to DCs and BMI, rather than moderating their relationship. While strategic factors indirectly affect BMI as antecedents of DCs, we found no evidence of an influence of the organizational structure.

In recognition of middle managers as influential strategists we collected 654 responses from South African middle managers detailing their spontaneous and unguided descriptions of their strategic roles in the organisation they represent. The results show that middle managers generally associate their strategic role strongly with the traditional perspectives on the roles as implementers of strategies and communicators linking their subordinates and higher levels of management. We add the roles of ‘advocacy’ and ‘improving operational performance’ to the conventional elements of strategy implementation, and the roles of ‘managing performance’ and ‘driving compliance’ to the role of downward influence. Focus group discussions contextualised and authenticated these roles within the South African private and public sectors.

We explore the impact of gender, individualism–collectivism on individual’s propensity to trust. The study draws on data from three groups of individuals in the United Arab Emirates: students; (n=370); small business owners/operators (n=324), and employed individuals (n=376). Three main hypotheses are tested. We develop and explore three main hypotheses. Statistical results reveal that females are generally more collectivist and less trusting than their males counterparts. Further analysis revealed that small business/operators are generally more trusting than the other cohorts of respondents. Propensity to trust was also found to be strongly associated with collectivist (rather than individualist) aspirations. Implications for future research and management practice are discussed.

Using organizational justice literature, the current study aimed to examine the relationship between three dimensions of organizational justice (distributive, procedural, interactional justice) and affective commitment, and to explore the moderating effect of group cohesion on the relationship between the three dimensions of justice and affective commitment in a collegiate team sport context. Data were collected from 253 college student-athletes of two Football Bowl Subdivision institutions in the Southeastern United States. Results of three hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that all three dimensions of justice were positively and significantly related to affective commitment. In regard to the moderating effect, group cohesion significantly moderated the distributive justice–affective commitment and the interactional–affective commitment relationships. Specifically, the two significant relationships were significantly stronger for student-athletes who reported high levels of group cohesion than their counterparts. Strategies by coaches to improve athletes’ perceptions of fairness and group cohesion and suggestions for future researches were discussed.

This paper explores the concept of knowledge networks in order to disclose how firms are able to increase innovative performance as a result of network structure and network content, which concern how firms connect with network partners (network structure), what the essence of exchange is for firms to acquire knowledge in the network (knowledge heterogeneity), and why firms need to cooperate with others (knowledge cognition). By using a sample of 144 high-technology firms in Taiwan’s science parks to test the hypotheses, the results of this study show that, while network structures do impact on a firm’s innovative performance, access to heterogeneous knowledge and increasing a firm’s knowledge in terms of defining and recognizing novel knowledge should be considered, since both play critical roles in facilitating innovative performance. These findings suggest that knowledge flow through a firm’s relationships must be understood in terms of network structure and content.

In today’s global business environment teams are fast becoming the norm. Collaboration is an essential factor in leveraging team effectiveness, and organizations are looking for strategies to increase collaboration among their teams. In this study, we administered an eSurvey to 308 professionals working in face-to-face and virtual teams to investigate emotional intelligence and strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results as strategies to support the collaborative process. Results found the regression of collaboration on emotional intelligence (controlling for age, ethnicity, and education) was significant (p<.01). Results also found a significant indirect effect between emotional intelligence and collaboration as mediated by strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results (β=0.110, Z=2.444). We focus on understanding the effect of emotional intelligence on team collaboration as mediated by strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results. Recommendations are provided for increasing emotional intelligence and strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results among team members. Our research has important implications for teams and their pervasive use in business.

Although an increasing amount of the leadership literature argues that leader humility is beneficial to team learning, few studies have examined this effect directly and, as such, little is known about why leader humility has such important effects or when these effects can be amplified or attenuated. Utilizing a survey of 305 employees on 89 teams, we found a positive relationship existing between leader humility and team learning. The results also indicated that a shared mental model was an important mechanism revealing why leader humility could stimulate team members to learn. In addition, we found that the learning effect stimulated by leader humility was much stronger on teams having a high collective promotion focus instead of a high collective prevention focus. Theoretical implications and managerial practices were also discussed.

This paper investigates the impact of leader feedback on followers’ knowledge-sharing behavior through a regulatory focus theory perspective. Data were collected through an experiment with 129 college students. Results showed that compared with leader’s prevention feedback style and negative feedback valence, promotion style and positive feedback valence inspire employee knowledge-sharing behavior better. These two positive relationships are mediated by promotion situational regulatory focus. The negative relationship between prevention leader feedback style and knowledge sharing is mediated by prevention situational regulatory focus, while negative leader feedback valence has its negative effect on knowledge sharing directly.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become increasingly significant for a wide range of organisations and for the managers that work within them. This is particularly true in the sport industry, where CSR is now an important area of focus for sport organisations, sport events and individual athletes. This article demonstrates how CSR can inform both theoretical debates and management practice within sport organisations. It does so by focusing on stakeholder theory, which overlaps considerably with CSR. In this article, stakeholder theory is used to examine three major CSR issues: stakeholder definition and salience, firm actions and responses, and stakeholder actions and responses. These three issues are considered in the context of the UK football industry. The article draws on 15 semi-structured qualitative interviews with senior representatives from a number of different organisations. These include the director of a large professional football club; a chief executive of a medium-sized professional football club in addition to the supporter-elected director; and the vice-chairman of a small professional football club. Additional interviews were undertaken with five representatives from national supporter organisations, two board members at two large supporter associations, two representatives from the Football League, one representative from the Independent Football Commission, and a prominent sports journalist. The analysis of the interview data illustrates ways in which CSR can be implemented by sport organisations through stakeholder management strategies. The article concludes that stakeholder theory has both conceptual and empirical value and can be used to illuminate key issues in sport management.