This study examined the individual and combined effects of the organisational-level variables of climate and task design, and the group-level variables of group citizenship behaviour (GCB), market orientation, group self-efficacy (GSE), and group climate for innovation (GCI) on work group service innovativeness. Specifically, this study theorised that work group service innovativeness is a product of both organisational (organisational climate and task design) and work group (GCB, market orientation, and GSE) contexts. Drawing upon the theories and literature, six hypotheses were derived. Data were collected through a 64-item questionnaire using a 7-point Likert scale from four hotels in Melbourne, Australia. Results indicated that organisational climate, task design, GCB, group self-efficacy, and group climate for innovation were significant predictors of work group service innovativeness, while market orientation was not. Limitations, future directions, managerial and research implications are explored.

This paper provides empirical evidence of family firm corporate governance structures, by examining a set of corporate governance characteristics of 132 non-financial Spanish listed firms. Results show that family firm boards present differential characteristics and that different patterns of family ownership configurations do not affect family firm corporate governance structures. We find that Spanish family firm boards are smaller than those in non-family firms. Family firm directors own a larger fraction of firm shares and have longer Chairman tenure than non-family firms, and family firms use fewer voluntary board committees – such as nomination and remuneration committees and executive committees. Besides, family firm boards and committees are biased towards insiders. Whether these differential characteristics affect other minority non-family shareholders negatively remains an open question.

Flexible work practices (FWPs) give employees some control over when and where they work. Using boundary theory and role balance theory, this study proposes and tests a mediation model focusing on how the relationships between FWPs usage and employee outcomes (i.e., wellbeing and turnover intention) are mediated by work−life balance (WLB). It also tests the moderating role of employee age on the relationship between WLB and employee outcomes using socioemotional selectivity theory. The model was tested using survey data from 293 employees of an Australian for-profit organization. The findings indicate that FWPs usage is positively associated with WLB, WLB is positively associated with wellbeing and negatively with turnover intentions, and WLB partially mediates the relationships between FWPs usage and employee outcomes. The results provide partial support that employee age moderates the relationship between WLB and turnover intentions. Theoretical, research and practical contributions are discussed.

This research examines the characteristics of the age demographic of a top management team (TMT) as drivers of a firm's environmental management (EM) strategy comprising compliance-only and beyond-compliance initiatives. Using a matched sample of publicly listed firms in Kinder, Lydenberg, and Domini and Bloomberg, panel data regression techniques on a unique dataset of 3,251 firm-year observations suggest that a link does exist. Driven by a desire for legacy and a preference for risk-averse decisions, aging TMTs will support beyond-compliance initiatives. On the other hand, age diversity is expected to enhance the innovative potential of a TMT for solving pressing compliance-related environmental issues. The study finds that aging TMTs support beyond-compliance as compared to compliance-only EM strategies. TMT age diversity, though helpful in developing compliance-only initiatives, is not instrumental in driving beyond-compliance initiatives. The study highlights the challenges in developing a comprehensive EM strategy suggesting paths for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to: (a) offer rationale for the importance of an increasingly important organizational management topic – the wisdom of top managers – what we call executive wisdom; (b) develop a theoretical framework for the construct, including core components and outcomes, and (c) provide implications for practice. The research in several related literatures is reviewed and synthesized to provide the foundation for the development of this theoretical framework. Applying the extant literature on wisdom to the specific context of a top-level business manager, we argue that there are four foundational characteristics of executive wisdom: (1) Knowledge, developed by prior learning and experience, (2) moral maturity, (3) reflective strategic decision-making, and (4) ability to manage uncertainty. Executives possessing such characteristics are: (a) able to make enlightened strategic judgments that are (b) implemented as principled actions. The effectiveness of such implementation is contingent upon, among other moderators, the executive's leadership skills. We view each of the characteristics as necessary but not sufficient to possess and benefit from executive wisdom. The principled actions undertaken by those possessing executive wisdom will, when compared to other executives, have a greater likelihood of leading to valued outcomes indicative of organizational effectiveness, including enhanced stakeholder trust and loyalty, reputational capital, and stronger financial and social performance. We believe that the main arguments developed in this paper will help improve managers’ understanding of how to become a wise executive and to realize the benefits of doing so. From a theory perspective, this paper adds to the growing body of literature in a new and increasingly valued area of research.

This study focuses on firms’ search behavior with regard to corporate R&D investment. Building on Cyert and March's (1963) behavioral theory of the firm, we develop specific hypotheses about how firms adjust their R&D investment in response to performance discrepancies, and how this adjustment varies for two types of slack resources. Moreover, by utilizing institutional logic, we also hypothesized that the firms’ search behaviors in response to performance feedback may differ between business-group affiliated and unaffiliated firms. Empirical evidence from panel data coving 274 Taiwanese electronics firms listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange over the period 1999–2008 is consistent with our theoretical predictions. In particular, we find that firms will increase R&D investment when they faced discrepancies in performance, but will decrease R&D spending when close to bankruptcy. Moreover, our results show that unabsorbed and absorbed slack have different impacts, positively and negatively affecting R&D investment, respectively. In addition, we find that both business group-affiliated and unaffiliated firms will increase R&D investment in response to negative performance feedback, but only business group-affiliated firms will increase R&D activity when facing positive performance feedback. Furthermore, we also find that only business group-affiliated firms have a greater inclination to invest in R&D when there is unabsorbed slack. Our findings extend the claims of behavioral theory in newly industrialized economies, and identify the important factors that need to be considered in future studies.

This study positions perceived organizational culture's (OC) as an important internal contextual factor that influences employee reactions to change. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and organization theory research, we analyze the mechanisms through which employee perceptions of OC generate its effect on employee responses to organizational change. Data from a field study of 171 employees in Kurdistan Region of Iraq's public school teachers showed that employee perceptions of developmental culture were positively and directly related to their change-supportive intentions (CSIs) and, as suggested by the TPB, its effects are simultaneously mediated by change-related attitude (CRA), subjective norm and perceived behavioral control. However, our findings demonstrated that hierarchical culture was only indirectly related to employee CSIs; this relationship was mediated only by CRA and subjective norm. This study is important because it broadens the remit of OC's role as change agent and provides valuable insight into how OC influences employee responses to change efforts in public organizations.

Mentoring received by protégés has been shown to play an important role in relieving protégés’ job-related stress. However, literature on the relationship between mentoring and job-related stress has yielded mixed and inconclusive results. Our research seeks to reconcile the conflicting implications by examining protégés’ individual traditionality and trust in mentor as moderators on the relationship between mentoring and job-related stress. We tested the hypotheses with data from a sample of 210 protégés from a large company in China. Results of our two-way and three-way interaction effect tests revealed that: (1) traditionality moderated the negative relationship between mentoring and job-related stress in such a way that the relationship was stronger for protégés with higher rather than lower traditionality; (2) the influence that mentoring had on job-related stress was strongest for protégés with both high traditionality and a high level of trust in mentor.

As a source of competitive advantages for firms, innovation has boosted scholars’ interest in the identification of its main determinants from the perspective of organizational culture. However, there is a lack of research on innovation cultures in the context of emerging markets. Based on survey data from 433 manufacturing firms (331 Chinese firms and 102 Vietnamese firms), this study addresses this research gap using a hierarchical regression analysis to explore the impact of organizational innovation culture on firms’ new product performance and to examine the moderating effects of institutional environments and organizational cohesion on this relationship. We find that there are positive relationships between organizational innovation culture and firms’ new product performance. In contrast to recent research on organizational cohesion, we report that organizational cohesion has both a direct, positive effect on new product performance and a positive moderating role in organizational innovation culture and firms’ new product performance. Furthermore, regarding the institutional environment in the context of emerging markets, we find that the effects of organizational innovation culture on firms’ new product performance are stronger in China than in Vietnam. Therefore, this paper enriches organizational culture research by providing a multidimensional theoretical framework and extends institutional theory in the context of emerging markets by examining the moderating effect of institutional environments on the relationship between organizational innovation culture and firms’ new product performance in both China and Vietnam.

Research has demonstrated the growing prevalence of sexual harassment (SH) across continents, industries and occupations as well as the associated negative outcomes (Glomb et al. 1999). Not surprisingly, job satisfaction is one of the job-related variables that is frequently investigated in the SH literature, with Lapierre et al. (2005) meta-analytically establishing that SH significantly diminishes job satisfaction. Other studies have argued, however, that ‘satisfied’ employees do not necessarily perform to the best of their abilities (Crossman & Abou-Zaki 2003) and that work engagement is a better construct to understand what makes employees ‘go the extra mile’ (Hallgerg & Schaufeli 2006; Buckingham & Coffman 1999). This study, conducted in Australia, adopted the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (Schaufeli et al. 2002a), as an empirical gauge of the construct ‘work engagement’ and the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (Fitzgerald et al. 1988) to measure SH. A strong negative relationship was established in addition to significant differences in the SH experiences of men and women.

This study aims to examine the mediating role of work engagement in the effect of work interfering with the family (WIF) and family interfering with the work (FIW) on employees' employee-rated and supervisor-rated contextual and task performance, drawing on Job Demands and Job Resources model. The sample of the study consisted of 432 healthcare employees and 61 supervisors working for public hospitals in Turkey. We found support for a mediational model such that the relationship between FIW and employee-rated job performance (contextual and task) was mediated by work engagement. Although some studies examined how work–family conflict affects job performance, our knowledge on how these relationships can be mediated through work engagement is still limited. This study further investigates the underlying mechanism in the relationship between WFC and job performance.

The purpose of this paper is to explore factors that have an impact on information technology (IT) specialists' concealment of knowledge from their supervisors. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 118 IT specialists from a large Polish software company. The data analyses were conducted using partial least-squares path modelling. The results revealed that perceived work overload (PWO) is positively related to perceived job insecurity (PJI), and that PJI is positively related to vertical knowledge withholding (VKW). Contrary to expectations, no significant relation was found between PWO and VKW. Moreover, there is a negative relationship between supervisor support (SS) and VKW. This study introduces the concept of VKW and places it in the context of the relationship between subordinates and superiors. Managers can use the results to limit knowledge withholding among IT specialists. To confirm achieved results, future research can use larger samples and be conducted in different sectors.

Based on the conservation of resource theory, this study investigated a moderated mediation model in which perceived co-worker support moderated the mediation of supervisory feedback avoidance between abusive supervision and help-seeking behaviour. Data from matching dyads of 220 house officers and 86 postgraduate medical staff were collected from several hospitals in Pakistan. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses supported the hypothesized model that abusive supervision first positively led to supervisory feedback avoidance, which in turn positively led to help-seeking from co-workers. Moreover, the mediating effect of supervisory feedback avoidance was stronger at the high value of co-worker support than that at the low value of co-worker support. This study contributes to the recently emerged notion in abusive supervision research that supervisees’ perception of abusive supervision may not always lead to abundantly reported negative work behaviours; instead, it may also lead to positive work behaviours, such as help-seeking behaviour that is highly beneficial for both supervisees and the organization.

Workgroup relationships are characterized by interdependence and intensity and can produce powerful norms that shape how work is performed. This study focuses on the effect of workgroup accord, defined as positive exchange, cooperation, and consensus among workgroup members, on change-oriented behavior in public service organizations. Change-oriented behavior denotes discretionary corrective or creative initiatives on the part of employees, and workgroup accord is hypothesized to increase change-oriented behavior both directly and indirectly via organizational commitment. The theoretical model is operationalized using survey data collected from employees of the Australian Public Service. The results of regression analysis are consistent with the hypothesis that workgroup accord positively influences organizational commitment, which in turn facilitates change-oriented behavior. However, a negative direct effect renders the total effect of workgroup accord on change-oriented behavior non-significant. Additionally, the findings suggest that innovation climate and employee performance agreement efficacy each positively moderate the negative relationship between workgroup accord and change-oriented behavior.

As work teams have increasingly become the cornerstone of the post bureaucratic organization, there have been calls for a greater understanding of collective thought and action. Such understanding is deemed important for the design and management of teamwork. Theory suggests that feelings of ownership manifest themselves at the collective level, and positively affect team performance effectiveness. This study illuminates the role played by teamwork complexity and team self-management in the emergence of the psychological processes that are associated with the manifestation of job-focused collective psychological ownership (CPO). In addition, employment of serial mediation suggests that both teamwork dimensions put employees on two routes (intimate knowing of and the collective investment of the team members' selves into the job) that lead to the emergence of a collective sense of ownership, and together these two route variables and CPO sequentially mediated a positive relationship between teamwork design and team performance effectiveness.

This paper reports on an exploratory investigation into the concept of managerial wisdom. Six senior managers from diverse and large organisations in New Zealand were interviewed about their conception of managerial wisdom. The findings show that senior managers have a practical and positive conception of wisdom consisting of four factors: experience and knowledge, emotional intelligence, mentorship, and deliberation and consultation. The findings show that concepts of ‘spirituality’, ‘religiosity’, and, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, ‘ethics’, are all absent from the participants’ descriptions of wise managers. A tentative definition of managerial wisdom is proposed based on these findings as well as an explanation for the absence of ethics. As interest in wisdom and management continues to grow, this exploratory empirical research serves as a base for further research on the understanding and place of wisdom in management.

A firm's collaborative context can represent an important source of knowledge for sustaining its entrepreneurial outcomes. Drawing on entrepreneurship and resource-based view literature, we study how the acquisition of knowledge from inter-firm ties affects the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance, distinguishing between two types of knowledge, market and technological, and between two types of entrepreneurial orientation, radical and incremental. The results of the study on a sample of 203 Spanish small businesses from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector suggest that knowledge acquisition plays different roles, depending on the type of entrepreneurial orientation developed and also on the type of knowledge exchanged. In particular, market and technological knowledge acquisition positively moderate only the relationship between radical entrepreneurial orientation and performance, while in the case of incremental entrepreneurial orientation we find only a direct positive influence of market knowledge acquisition on performance.

The relationship between managerial change and strategic change is a complex issue that challenges our understanding of how firms react to their business environment. In this study, we analyse the influence of the management team and more specifically their knowledge and capabilities in the process of strategic change. To do so, we delve deeper into the relationship between managerial change and strategic change by identifying the sequence of these changes. Using qualitative methodology, we analyse 10 companies listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange over an extensive period to formulate our propositions. Our analysis shows that managerial change precedes strategic change. Top management team reorganization, even without Chief Executive Officer succession, was a sufficient condition for strategic change to take place. Moreover, we identified key modifications that took place whenever strategic change occurred. Our results provide meaningful insights into the processes of strategic change within firms that broaden our theoretical knowledge in this area.

How organizations utilize capabilities to achieve competitive advantage and improve performance has received an abundance of scholarly attention. Both ordinary and dynamic capabilities (DC) enable organizations to achieve higher performance when leveraged appropriately and under favorable conditions. The complexity of an organization's motives for why and how different capabilities are acquired drives us further to explore what complementarities organizations might achieve and under what contexts. Specifically, we explore how firms engaging in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to acquire dynamic and/or ordinary capabilities experience different market reactions and levels of short- and long-run value creation given environmental uncertainty. Our results support the acquisition of ordinary capabilities for predicting positive short-term market reactions and of DC for longer-run firm performance post-M&A, with uncertainty factors moderating these relationships. We discuss both the theoretical and practical implications of uncertainty and acquisitions of these capabilities and offer suggestions for future research.

Based on the Job Demands Resources Model (JD-R), this study investigates the mediating role of meaningful work and work engagement in the association between job resources and employees' intention to stay. A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey of 217 employees from different organizations in Puerto Rico. We examined a serial mediation analysis through structural equation modeling. The results indicate that job resources are positively related to meaningful work, while meaningful work is positively associated with work engagement. Further, job resources are indirectly associated with the intention to stay through meaningful work and work engagement. This study contributes to understanding the role of meaningful work and engagement in the JD-R model's motivational-driven process and how these mechanisms promote positive work outcomes in terms of the retention of human capital. Designing jobs and strategies at the workplace to develop meaning and engagement seems crucial to retain employees.