This study examines the efficacy of the smiling curve, and clarifies the relationship between downsizing strategies (advertising, marketing, and research and development, respectively) and firm performance specifically in an economic downturn. This study tests hypotheses using 1996–2010 data from the Taiwan Economic Journal on 436 listed Taiwanese companies. The results indicate that the benefits for firms to follow the smiling curve may not occur in the short term and that downsizing strategies may not always be the appropriate strategy to improve firm performance. During an economic downturn, downsizing strategies do not appear to enhance firm performance, that is, the smiling curve should not frown during an economic downturn to enhance firm performance.

Although individuals have different kinds of defensive strategies towards identity threat, the relationship between identity threat and unethical behavior is still unclear. In the current study, according to identity threat and self-affirmation theory, we propose and test the role of publicness of identity threat in determining whether identity threat will lead to unethical behavior. One online experiment with 197 participants (mixed design) and one laboratory experiment with 86 participants (between-subject design) are used to test our hypotheses. Our findings reveal that when individuals' identity threat is from the public sphere, it will increase their unethical behavior, but when such a threat is from the private sphere, it will reduce their unethical behavior. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Information asymmetry about the employee's state of health means that workers may decide to work (or not) when they are sick, which turns presenteeism into a principal-agent relationship. From this new perspective, presenteeism can be explained by some distinct and original factors such as implicit incentives related to motivation and a sense of autonomy (empowerment, job usefulness, and recognition) and explicit incentives given by wages and other non-economic benefits (training and career prospects). In a sample of European workers using multilevel (by country) Tobit models, we find that short-term incentives and workers' empowerment increase presenteeism, while long-term incentives reduce it. As expected, supervision is ineffective in controlling presenteeism, while relationships based on trust have a positive impact. Finally, we propose several practices related to incentives, training, monitoring, occupational health and safety and job design specifically intended to manage presenteeism and its consequences in six areas of the human resources function.

We employ the concept of stupidity to address why more has not been done to address climate change and sustainable development. While the ‘new’ science of stupid has long existed in organizational studies, academicians have been too polite to call it that and organizational researchers historically labeled it the ‘threat-rigidity effect.’ With Alvesson and Spicer’s ‘stupidity-based theory of organizations’ management researchers overcame this reluctance. In this work we explore what we will call the ‘stress-stupidity system.’ Building on the threat-rigidity effect, we outline the elements of the stress-stupidity system and look at how we may be able to ‘fix stupid’ to address issues of sustainability.

Previous research suggests that innovation is heavily informed by strategic management theories and that there is little engagement with practice-based approaches. A case study of a public sector organization identified as doing something innovative is presented. Four main themes emerged. Two themes, the ‘importance of a mandate’ and the ‘development of trust’, had their foundations in traditional management practices. The others, ‘capacity to challenge the norms’ and ‘boundary spanning’, emerged from practice. It is suggested that a managerial approach that developed a supportive setting for innovation enabled the development of practices whereby innovation was effectively recognized, nurtured and sustained.

Innovation researchers have typically focused on either the adoption or the implementation phase of organizational innovation. In the present study, we propose that four agents of innovation (i.e., top management, external environment, innovation, and employees) play distinct roles in the adoption and implementation stages, and that, together, they predict innovation outcomes. We test the phase-dependent process of organizational innovation using data drawn from intensive interviews with 40 executives of a consumer product company. A path analysis of 94 innovations introduced to the organization over the past 20 years indicates that there is a significant level of stability in innovation-driving dynamics. Particularly, top management and employees tend to remain heavily involved in the implementation of an innovation if they played an important role in adopting it. The four agents of innovation play different roles in accruing benefits from the innovation. The results also suggest that employees tend to produce positive innovation outcomes when they have been involved in the innovation from the very beginning and are thus responsible for its adoption. The present study makes a distinct contribution to the literature by exploring the multi-stage, unfolding processes of organizational innovation.

This study examined the impact of situational and individual characteristics on sales representatives' propensity to lie or to tell the truth. The situational elements were the honesty of the organisation climate and its formal rules about lying to customers. The individual elements were the participants' degree of Machiavellianism and tolerance for ambiguity. The results indicated that more Machiavellian people were more likely to lie and that they were less guided by the rules than people who were low in this trait. In addition, rules and climate work together for people with a high tolerance for ambiguity in a complex manner.

The literature on capability development has focussed on either the content or process of capability development. Such a partial explanation of the capability development phenomenon has created some flaws in the literature. This paper argues that integrating the content and process of capability development is the way ahead in theorising in this field. Analysis of the methodological development in parallel to theory development reveals the critical role of microprocesses in such integration. To develop an integrative view of capability development we propose a conceptualisation of capability development processes through internal and external strategic fit and emphasise the role of knowledge and innovation processes. We also argue that a critical realism approach is of high relevance to researching such an integrative view.

Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory and self-determination theory, this study examines the subjective social status (SSS) of employees and how it moderates the two-way interaction effect of job insecurity and perceived organizational politics on the types of silence (i.e., acquiescent, and defensive silence [DS]). Using data of about 350 employees in South Korea, it was found that the relationship between job insecurity and employees' acquiescent silence (AS) was stronger for individuals who perceived their organizations as highly political. The results also indicated a three-way interaction between job insecurity, perceived organizational politics, and employees' SSS on employees' AS, such that in a highly political work environment, the relationship between job insecurity and employees' AS was stronger especially for employees with low social status. However, the same pattern did not exist between job insecurity and DS.

Policymakers, academics, and practitioners are increasingly discussing non-financial reporting (NFR) initiatives, i.e., reporting initiatives that are related to environmental and social matters. The implementation of NFR initiatives in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is a key topic. Based on a systematic literature review, this article first synthesizes what we know about the mechanisms underlying NFR initiatives implemented by SMEs. A thematic analysis led to the identification and examination of drivers, enabling factors, and challenges for NFR initiatives. Relevant drivers include legitimacy-based motivations, competitive advantage, and stakeholder engagement. Enabling factors include specific guidelines and tools for NFR. Lack of capabilities and lack of standardization are significant challenges. Second, drawing on the thematic analysis and on what we do not know about NFR in the context of SMEs, a novel conceptualization of NFR as a process characterized by three main phases is presented. Last, this article suggests future research opportunities.

Drawing on the configuration argument of strategic fit – i.e., an effective alignment of a firm's strategy with its environment, internal structures, and processes – and the resource-based view, this paper clarifies the impact of alliance strategy, alliance management resources, and alliance management capabilities on innovation performance in collaborative ventures. This study of 441 collaborative ventures in the electronics industry offers empirical support for the configuration argument. First, greater alliance strategy formalization influences innovation performance directly and indirectly. Alliance management capabilities – that reflect organizational routines to implement an alliance strategy – partially mediate this effect. Second, alliance management capabilities leverage alliance management resources in that the effect of the former on innovation performance is moderated by the latter. Furthermore, greater innovation strategy formalization affects innovation performance and moderates the direct effect of alliance strategy formalization on innovation performance; an effect that increases with technological uncertainty.

Perceptions of employee entitlement are reported to be increasing in organizations and have been linked to negative outcomes at work. Employee entitlement is an employee’s belief in deserving preferential treatment or reward without regard to performance. Arguments, however, are emerging that entitlement may also be linked to positive behaviors. In this article, we outline a study that examines the moderating effect of self-monitoring on the relationship between employee entitlement and organizational citizenship behavior and affective organizational commitment. Based on survey data collected from 167 individuals, we found that self-monitoring moderated the relationship between the specific subscales of employee entitlement and organizational citizenship behavior but had no relationship to commitment. Although previous studies have addressed entitlement perceptions as a negative outcome for the organization, in this article we outline the potential for positive outcomes. Limitations and future research directions are outlined.

We revisit predictions about the relationship between gender diversity and firm productivity using data on 1,082 manufacturing firms from six Sub-Saharan African countries: Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Kenya. Recent evidence suggests that a gender-diverse workforce opens up a firm to a vast range of talent, knowledge and perspectives critical to enhancing innovation and problem solving, and thereby, increasing firm productivity. Given the importance of manufacturing for employment and structural transformation in Africa, we test the gender diversity–productivity proposition by exploring structural differences (heterogeneity) across manufacturing firms using the Industry without Smokestacks (IWOSS) classification. We find that while gender diversity promotes firm productivity at lower levels, this effect is displaced with further increases. Our results did not show that IWOSS firms do any better in promoting the diversity–productivity link. Implications of this finding and areas for future studies are also discussed.

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.

With rising unpredictability of the business environment, the strategy–structure–performance construct is being questioned afresh. But cutting edge research evidence is still difficult to come by. One of the possible reasons is that few researchers are adopting new and innovative methodologies. This paper carries out a paradigmatic and methodological review of research on the topic for the last 10 years after classifying published research into three broad categories of enquiry. The study finds that contrary to expectations, the logical positivistic/empiricist paradigm of enquiry into the one way linear causality in the strategy–structure–performance relationship was still the favorite among researchers and may explain the lack of breakthrough contribution of recent research. This paper makes a case for more research on the challenging two-way causality using innovative designs and archival data, and suggests some future directions for research.

The recent Karpin Committee report once again focused attention on managerial skills and competencies, as it prognosticated on the skills and knowledge required by current and future Australian managers, and the kinds of educational experiences necessary to foster them. In doing so, the report made critical assumptions about the kinds of functions and behaviours that can be properly called ‘managerial’. Indeed, leadership is elevated as the conspicuous task of managers (leaders?). But is this what managers should be doing?

Closer examination of the Karpin model of ‘management’, in the broader context of the literature on management and managerial behaviour, shows that the Karpin view is narrow and partial — it ignores or devalues key managerial functions while promoting others. This is due, in part, to the fact that the committee's approach is devoid of any theoretical framework for designating particular behaviours as ‘managerial’. If the Karpin recommendations are to steer management education into the third millennium, the result will be, in turn, a narrow and partial educational experience.

This paper argues for an approach to management education driven, not by a populist vision of managers simply as entrepreneurial leaders, but by an appreciation of the necessarily broader range of managerial functions and the way in which they are integrated. It proposes such an approach, derived from management theory and elaborated in the context of Australia and the Asia-Pacific region in the 1990s and beyond.

This research investigates whether the importance of information scope for decision making mediates the relations between dimensions of strategic orientation, perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) and organisational effectiveness in the retail pharmacy industry. Data from a survey of NSW pharmacies was analysed using structural equation modelling. Although two dimensions of strategic orientation – product-market development and market scope – were positively associated with information scope, the direct organisational benefits and mediating role of broad scope information were disconfirmed and no link between information scope and PEU was found. The results suggest the need for rethinking theoretical models of information scope. Implications for retail pharmacies and organisations interested in the effectiveness of those businesses are discussed.

The debate on how firms govern their inter-organizational relationships to foster their business performance is far from being settled. While several arguments suggest both transactional and relational mechanisms may act as complementary or substitutive forces, this paper explores and demonstrates how both mechanisms can be jointly exploited to enhance performance. Adopting the context of the US equity underwriting market, this paper reveals that an issuer adopting a transactional governance mechanism to manage its inter-organizational relationships with underwriters obtains a lower cost offering (cost performance) but may not entail price premium (price performance) of that offering. In contrast, an issuer taking a relational governance mechanism has superior price performance but worse cost performance. Nevertheless, this paper uncovers that an issuer adopting a synthesized mechanism obtains better cost performance and price performance by leveraging the advantages from both of the transactional and relational mechanisms.