This article focuses on a thus far insufficiently explored theme within management sciences, specifically the direct supervision of frontline workers, that is, frontline command. Frontline command can be defined as making decisions in the frontline and ensuring that frontline workers carry out these decisions accordingly. Scholarly knowledge on frontline command is still fragmented and the associated implications for frontline commanders have not yet been described or discussed in depth. This contribution aims to make up for that deficiency. For this purpose we brought together existing insights derived from research into Naturalistic Decision Making and other relevant research which we subsequently present using the FADCM model. This model sets out frontline command in five steps, already described in scholarly literature, and provides, per step, recommendations for frontline command. Finally, we provide associated examples derived from the Dutch firefighting practices.

After nearly three decades of corporate restructurings and reorganizations, the modern firm has continued to resort to reduction-in-force (RIF) strategies. This article presents an overview and a brief historical analysis of some of the most popular RIF concepts that have been adopted by companies and governmental agencies on a global scale since the late 1970s. The research found that most RIF tools have their root in the core-periphery model. While some of the more ‘classic’ RIF strategies have remained popular, the paper showcases two contemporary practices, the traditional (non-selective) layoffs and stealth layoffs, that currently impact the corporate landscape. A discussion of modern-day restructuring and RIF practices is timely given the high levels of layoffs currently occurring in the global automotive, retail, and finance-related industries. In this paper, a particular focus is placed on presenting practical implications of the conduct of RIF for the firm, the managers, and the individual employees.

The growing trend towards IT outsourcing within the United Kingdom (UK) public sector is analysed. Factors influencing the degree of success experienced in a range of IT outsourcing deals are detailed, and then used as a framework for analysing and discussing two case histories — of selective and large-scale IT outsourcing — drawn from different parts of the public sector. Both examples demonstrate how distinctive public sector contexts influence the direction and degree of outsourcing. At the same time, they highlight a range of managerial and organisational issues raised by moves towards contractual, core competence forms of organising. Selective outsourcing is revealed as effective provided key decisions and actions are taken. The large-scale outsourcing case raises a number of critical issues not just for how it can be conducted in public sector contexts, but also about the efficacy of such arrangements in terms of cost savings, possible over-dependence on a few suppliers, and ability to respond flexibly to changing political requirements and legislation.

Technology that develops rapidly has profoundly affected the business field and reshaped some behaviours of corporations, and the discussion on startup risk-taking behaviour in the new era is still insufficient. Based on social network theory and social capital theory, this article studies how social networks and entrepreneurial ecosystems support startup risk-taking behaviour. This article cuts into this issue through the perspective of coopetition. Based on 737 responses, this article employs regression and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to explore the relationships between networks, ecosystem coopetition, and risk-taking behaviour. Results indicate that networks and coopetition may stimulate startup risk-taking behaviour, and coopetition may weaken the impacts of networks. There are replacement effects between different characteristics of networks, and there are several configurations, which may lead to high-level risk-taking. This article may help us understand startup risk-taking behaviour in the digital era and the positive impacts of ecosystems.

This study seeks to explore the effects of interdepartmental conflict on bonding social capital within a department and bridging social capital between departments. Two-period data were collected from 213 respondents in 71 high-tech and manufacturing firms in Taiwan. These respondents work in research and development departments and cooperate with marketing departments. The results indicate that intergroup task and emotional conflicts promote bonding social capital within the research and development department. Up to a moderate level, task conflict subsequently promotes the development of structural and relational bridging social capital; however, an increase in task conflict above a moderate level becomes detrimental to structural and relational bridging social capital. Intergroup emotional conflict does not influence bridging social capital. Furthermore, intergroup conflict is unrelated to cognitive bridging social capital. The results provide insights into intergroup interactions, offering a novel means for managers to increase group social capital using the levels of conflict that naturally occur between departments.

In this study, I propose supervisors’ upward leader–leader exchange relationships as an important boundary condition for the relationship between average leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships and a climate for innovation support at the group level. Specifically, I argue that the effect of resource spillover to poor-LMX subordinates within a work group is an important mechanism that leads to the development of a climate that supports innovation. I test the hypothesized moderated-mediation model by using multisource and multiwave data collected from 590 employees and 75 supervisors. The findings indicate that the indirect effect of team LMX relationships on team effectiveness via a climate for innovation support is more positive under high conditions of leader–leader exchange, whereas the effect is less positive under low conditions of leader–leader exchange. Implications and limitations relevant to developing research around LMX and innovation are addressed.

The present research aims to examine the role played by perceived similarities between the workgroup and the organization in the relationships between workgroup identification, organizational identification, and affective organizational commitment. Using two different samples, we found that when perceived similarities were high, workgroup identification was more strongly related to organizational identification and that this relationship carried over to affective organizational commitment. These results were obtained with both a global measure of perceived similarities (Study 1) and a more narrow measure operationalizing perceived similarities in terms of value congruence (Study 2), confirming the generalizability of our results.

Allowing employees to work at home for at least part of the week is a management concept said to be rapidly gaining popularity. There is evidence that employees working at home are more productive, satisfied and committed, and that homeworking allows organisations to reduce office overheads, recruit from a wider pool, and retain valued workers. This paper examines the spread of homeworking and its telecommunications-based variant teleworking in Australia. A survey of human resource managers in Western Australia shows that, while 28 percent of large organisations have homeworkers, they are generally few in number and permitted only on an informal basis. Factors inhibiting use of homeworking include a lack of awareness and support amongst senior and middle managers, concerns over issues such as security and occupational health, and unsupportive organisational cultures. It is concluded that, contrary to media reporting, home-working and teleworking are not likely to become widespread in Australia in the near future.

On-demand and gig economy are names commonly used when discussing issues related to labor in the collaborative economy. Some of the specific digital platforms in this economy, including Uber and TaskRabbit, and Upwork are quite popular. The term digital labor market has been suggested to distinguish the work mediated by these platforms from that of the traditional labor market. The theoretical work conditions and characteristics of this digital labor market are similar to those of negative nonstandard work arrangements. However, more empirical evidence is required because most of the findings about work conditions are based on anecdotal evidence and the analysis of the platforms’ rules. This study collects the characteristics commonly attributed to the digital labor market and analyzes them based on data about 465 workers extracted from two important digital labor platforms. Our results confirm and refine some of the beliefs found in the literature.

Studies up to great extent have focused on investigating the possible consequences of supervisor incivility in organizations; however, surprisingly very little research has concentrated on its antecedents. Drawing on affective event theory, the aim of this study is to identify how role overload may cause the supervisor behavior uncivil toward their subordinates in the project environment by examining the mediating role of emotional exhaustion and moderating effect of time consciousness. Data were collected from both supervisors and their immediate subordinates from project-based organizations of Pakistan. After data consolidation, the final sample was 296 supervisor–subordinate dyads. The results revealed that supervisor role overload and emotional exhaustion is positively related with supervisor incivility and emotional exhaustion mediates this relationship. Time consciousness moderates the link between supervisor role overload and emotional exhaustion. The practical and theoretical implications of our findings are provided.

Building on prior research on management fashion, this paper seeks to understand how management consultants respond to the boom-to-bust cycles of competing management fashion trends. Specifically, we examine how US management consulting firms offering total quality management (TQM) services responded to the rise and fall of the rival management practice, business process reengineering (BPR), with an empirical focus on the adoption of BPR services. We find that a consulting firm offering TQM services was more likely to adopt BPR services if the firm’s organizational capabilities and institutional environments were more connected to BPR’s principles than to TQM’s principles. This suggests that management fashions are not simply bandwagon phenomena, but involve resource- and identity-based decision making. We also find that the significance of organizational capabilities increased while that of network influences decreased as BPR’s boom turned to bust. The reversal of well-established institutional accounts of innovation diffusion is explained by reference to the characteristics of management fashion.

Two gaps appear in the theory of ‘expertise’: expert work as an individual endeavor; and, researchers and managers understanding little of expert practice. To bridge these gaps, ‘collective expertise’ can describe ways of organizing professional expert work in collective settings. This study analyzes ‘collective expertise’ in three Scandinavian cases using ethnographic methods: a product development process at Volvo; a description of computer programmers' work; and an analysis of nano physicists' organizing practices. The empirical results are used to build a ‘collective expertise’ theory, based on seven factors identified as contributing to collective expertise: concrete work routines, minimal structure, generosity and gift giving, narratives and story-telling, aesthetic capabilities, room for individuality, and mixed practice zone.

In the Australian healthcare sector, many changes in the public sector have affected nurse management and thereby, nurses. Yet it is unclear whether such efficiency measures, based on private sector business models, have impacted private sector nurses in similar ways. This paper examines four important issues for nurses: supervisor–subordinate relationships; perceptions of autonomy; role clarity in relation to patients; and job satisfaction. The paper uses an embedded mixed methods research design to examine the four issues and then compares similarities and differences between public and private sector nurses. The findings suggest supervisor–subordinate relationships, patient role clarity and autonomy significantly predict job satisfaction. The private sector nurses reported more satisfaction than public sector nurses with their supervisor–subordinate relationships, plus higher perceptions of patient role clarity and autonomy, and hence, higher levels of job satisfaction. The findings raise questions about whether present management practices (especially public sector) optimise service delivery productivity.

This paper uses a strategy—structure—performance-based model of marketing channel relationship structure to conduct an empirical examination of the involvement of four external stakeholder groups in manufacturing firms' product innovation. The results show that firms' stakeholder orientation (strategy), involvement of stakeholders in product innovation (structure) and quality of stakeholder relationships (performance) are intrinsically linked. Also, the way in which multiple stakeholder groups were involved in manufacturing firms' product innovation was more similar than different.

In business processes, gaining customer satisfaction is vital for online retailing. In this way, it is necessary to identify the important factors for attracting and retaining customers in online retailing. Many factors are involved in efficient customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Their efficient implementation needs a deep focus on key customers, proper organization, knowledge management, technology, market, sales, ordering, support, and many other factors. Therefore, this paper examines the effective factors (including innovation management, market knowledge, competitive intelligence, entrepreneurship management, stakeholder management, project management, and business project management) on the efficiency of the CRM systems for online retailing. The data were collected from Digikala employees in Iran. Based on Morgan's table (Table A2 (Appendix)), 248 samples were randomly selected, and questionnaires were sent to employees, where 234 were fully answered. Research data and assumptions were evaluated using SPSS and PLS software. Research findings showed that innovation management (ß = .390, t = 6.426, p < .001), market knowledge (ß = .296, t = 4.864, p < .001), and competitive intelligence (ß = .115, t = 2.190, p < .005) directly impact the efficient CRM systems for online retailing. Stakeholder management (ß = .283, t = 9.713, p < .001), project management (ß = .229, t = 5.458, p < .001), and business project management (ß = .544, t = 11.351, p < .001) are also effective through the mediator variable of entrepreneurial management (ß = .143, t = 2.314, p < .005) on the efficient CRM systems for online retailing.

The fundamental nature of humility and prosocial motivation entails transcending self-interest to enact behaviors that benefit others. We theorize that leader humility may enact a self-transcendent contagion effect that will manifest in enhanced follower prosocial motivation. Due to the fundamental nature of humility, this construct holds great promise in understanding how contextual signals (i.e., leader behaviors) shape prosocial motivation in followers. In this study, we find that leader humility impacts follower prosocial motivation through followers' perception of work meaningfulness. Specifically, we found that leader humility is positively related to prosocial motivation. We also found that this relationship is mediated by followers' perception of work meaningfulness, and that this mediation is moderated by followers' perception of relational vitality. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Medium Enterprises (MEs) are significant contributors to global economic development. Integrating sustainability practices in their business can support MEs worldwide to become more sustainable, improving companies’ performance and stakeholders’ expectations. Nevertheless, few MEs adopt sustainable practices. Following Behavioral Decision Theory and Behavioral Strategy literature, we argue that this can be associated with their managers’ decision-making processes – apart from not possessing considerable resources like large companies. Via a mixed-method research design involving 277 Italian ME managers, we investigate the cognitive biases that hinder the development of a sustainable performance management system (SPMS) in MEs. We found the most prominent biases influencing SPMS development. Then, we developed a ‘SPMS de-biasing funnel’ framework. We propose some corrective actions to reduce the impact of the most critical cognitive biases that influence SPMS development, allowing related beneficial potential outcomes.

The current study examined the use of biographical data to predict errors, tardiness, policy violations, overall job performance, and turnover among nurses. The results of the study indicate that biodata measures are valid selection devices for nurses and effective at predicting nurse errors, tardiness, policy violations, and overall job performance, but the instrument was not an effective predictor of turnover, voluntary or involuntary. Additionally, examination of group differences revealed that White subjects scored significantly higher on the biodata instrument compared to Black subjects but produced group differences considerably smaller than typically found with measures of cognitive ability. Future research directions and implications for practice are discussed.

As family shareholder support is essential for the ongoing viability of the business as a family business, multi-generation family businesses which allow ‘the ownership tree’ to grow need to monitor the attitudes and expectations of the expanding number of family member shareholders. This paper reports on a case study of a multi-generation family business where the shareholder group had grown to 50 individual shareholders. The study explored the shareholders' views about the business and particularly their attitudes to stewardship and whether and under what circumstances, they would hold their shareholdings, pass them to the next generation of family or possibly consider relinquishing their holdings. Data was obtained from a semi-structured questionnaire and follow-up interviews. While respondents indicated that they had immense pride in being a shareholder of the family business, they admitted that their knowledge of that business was less than optimal. Financial returns were viewed as important, but the intangible rewards relating to the heritage of forebears were more so. While they were keen to pass on their shares to their children, they were uncertain about the level of commitment the next generation members would have. Lessons from this case study are discussed for other multi-generation family businesses focusing on shareholders' responsibilities as owners and the board's need to ensure timely transfer of knowledge to the wider shareholder group.

Large Australian and Swiss banks have been trimming their workforces since the mid-1990s. With further rounds of downsizing activities predicted, this study sought to identify, examine, and compare the adopted organizational downsizing implementation strategies. The primary purpose of this cross-cultural study was to determine how large Australian and Swiss banks implemented downsizing in their most recent endeavors. The research has revealed three key findings. First, Australian banks primarily adopted workforce reduction strategies, whereas Swiss banks employed a mixture of organization redesign, workforce reduction, and systemic strategies. Second, Australian banks had considerable depth in their downsizing, whereas Swiss banks had more breadth in their overall strategies. Third, Australian banks favored reorientation approaches, whereas Swiss banks embraced reinforcement approaches. It remains unclear as to why large Australian and Swiss banks differed in the selection of implementation strategies and why they diverged in their overall approaches to downsizing. Further research is required to explore aspects that are likely to influence the adoption of downsizing strategies in both Australia and Switzerland.