E-leadership: Implications for theory, research, and practice

In this article we review literature to build a broad understanding of what constitutes e-leadership in organizations. We propose a framework based on Adaptive Structuration Theory that could be used to study how Advanced Information Technology could influence and is influenced by leadership. According to our framework, the effects of Advanced Information Technology emerge from their interaction with organizational structures of which leadership is a part. Furthermore, organizational structures, including leadership, may themselves be transformed as a result of interactions with Advanced Information Technology. We use our Adaptive Structuration Theory–based framework to pool relevant results and suggestions from a diverse array of literature to provide recommendations for developing a research agenda on e-leadership.     

Bottleneck management: theory and practice

Advocates of TOC believe that bottleneck resource restricts an operation's ability to make money, and the best way to maximise income is to fully exploit the bottleneck resource. Almost all TOC literature focuses on situations where 100% bottleneck utilisation is applied. Based on the implementation experience, the finding is that the optimal level of bottleneck utilisation should be less than 100% and any attempt to increase utilisation beyond the optimal level brings disastrous results for a door manufacturing plant. In order to improve and maintain the performance of the plant effective bottleneck management is critical. The experience provides a deeper understanding of how to design such plants, which could be beneficial for practising managers and academics working with TOC concepts.     

社会化运作管理:一个正在兴起的研究领域

在信息化、智能化程度日益发达的社会环境中, 参与者之间的信息交互与社会行为开始显著影响整个运作管理系统.而随着与运作管理息息相关的社会经济活动的日益革新, 社会互动行为和社会因素的影响正在得到广泛的关注, 逐渐形成了一个新兴研究领域——社会化运作管理.社会化运作管理是指考虑人的社会性特征及社会影响因素的运作管理.本文从社会互动、社会价值观多元化及新经济形态的发展三个方面分析了运作管理中社会化现象产生的原因及影响, 阐明了研究和发展社会化运作管理的必要性和迫切性, 继而剖析了社会化运作管理的实现途径.在此基础上, 本文从社会学习、社会比较及社会影响等方面对社会化运作管理的理论研究进行了评述, 同时从社会化商务和共享经济角度对应用研究进行了分析, 并结合最新研究成果提出未来可行的研究方向.     

行为运作管理:一个正在显现的研究领域

从制造、服务到供应链以及产品研发的绝大多数运作中,人都是系统的重要组成部分.人类行为可能会大大影响运作系统,并对管理措施做出反应.在已有文献的基础上,总结了传统运作管理的研究范式,提出了行为运作管理的定义、运作管理与行为研究的结合方式以及行为运作管理的研究范式,分析了人员试验作为研究方法来揭示人类行为影响的研究现状,并结合人力资源管理,提出了行为运作管理未来研究的基本思路.     

Leadership in small-scale societies: Some implications for theory,research, and practice

Leadership studies concentrate on large-scale societies and organizations with formal hierarchies, large power differences, and diverse membership. Much less is known about leadership in small-scale, homogeneous, and relatively egalitarian societies in which humans have spent most of their existence. We summarize the anthropological literature on leadership from traditional, small-scale societies in terms of (1) the functions and roles of leaders; (2) the traits and behaviors conducive to leader emergence and effectiveness; and (3) the motivations and incentives to assume leadership positions. We address how studies of leadership in small-scale societies inform theory development. By viewing leadership and followership in light of our evolutionary history in small-scale societies, we shed new light on outstanding questions in leadership research and on challenges for leadership practice.     

End-to-end process management: implications for theory and practice

The term ‘end-to-end’ process management is now commonplace in the language and practice of operations. Managers are encouraged to migrate from functional process management to end-to-end process management to realise a range of performance improvements. However, these improvements are often elusive; the specific challenges associated with such a migration are under-researched. This paper uses a cross-sector study to identify the challenges of end-to-end process management and to generate practical managerial guidance. Three areas are identified that demand particular managerial attention: the need to move beyond process mapping, the role of IT in process management and maintaining the process infrastructure as a strategic asset. More significantly, the findings highlight the need for greater conceptual clarity regarding the end-to-end concept itself. The existing literature suggests that scope is the primary differentiator of the end-to-end process – the requirement to manage an extended boundary from customer order through to customer fulfilment. However, this research suggests that the end-to-end concept is more complex, comprising of three core constructs with seven dimensions: scope (boundary conditions, sequence/flow and controls); scale (resources and input/output transformation) and complexity (interrelationships and orientation). End-to-end process management involves much more than an extended boundary. It requires a systemic perspective and clarity regarding controls and transforming resources.     

盈余管理、金融市场化与公司超额银行借款

公司在获取银行信贷的过程中会通过盈余管理以满足会计业绩审核要求的行为已得到学者们的关注, 但现有文献尚未研究公司在获得一定的银行借款后是否会继续进行盈余管理以获得超额银行借款.本文基于该问题, 以2003年～2016年中国A股上市公司为研究对象, 从应计盈余管理和真实盈余管理两个维度, 考察了盈余管理行为与公司超额银行借款之间的关系.研究结果表明, 应计盈余管理和真实盈余管理均与公司超额银行借款正相关;进一步, 在考虑地区金融市场化程度之后, 发现金融市场化弱化了应计盈余管理与公司超额银行借款的正相关关系, 但增强了公司通过真实盈余管理获得更多超额银行借款的行为.本文从公司超额银行借款行为出发, 同时结合金融市场化程度, 拓展了会计信息质量与信贷资源配置的研究视角.     

A grounded theory research approach to building and testing TQM theory in operations management

Total quality management (TQM) has continued to develop as a strategic business improvement approach in organisations and within the Operations Management literature. Strategic TQM is a dynamic phenomenon, reflecting the complexity and technology development in the business environment. Therefore, this conception of TQM has led to significant challenges with regards to developing suitable models and research methodology where traditional, and normative research data, includes survey responses associated with deductive theory and testing. Such data, and its use, is often premised on cause and effect rationality and fails to supply deep rich data to address meanings, phenomena and complex socio-political events, which is a feature of strategic TQM.     

HRD research and practice: Strengths,weaknesses, opportunities and threats

Since academics in business schools teach others about management it might be expected that these schools and their parent universities would make considerable use of this in-house expertise in managing their own activities. There is little evidence that this takes place. This paper examines why this might be so - putting forward nine hypotheses. While some of the hypotheses seem to have limited explanatory power, others, principally those concerned with the motivational structures within universities, seem to provide more plausible explanations.     

医疗运作管理: 新兴研究热点及其进展

近几十年来,随着人们对健康问题关注度的日益提升,医疗保健服务得到了快速发展, 随之而来的诸多有别于其他服务的运作问题吸引了众多学者浓厚的研究兴趣,并逐渐形成了一个新兴研究热点———医疗运作管理． 医疗运作管理旨在运用运作管理的思想、方法和技术对医疗保健服务各个运作环节进行精细研究,为医疗保健服务的有效实施提供系统的科学指导． 文章介绍了全球医疗服务业的发展形势以及医疗运作管理的研究进展,说明了该领域研究的有效性、必要性和迫切性; 全面回顾了运筹管理顶级期刊和医疗运作领域的重要期刊,按照研究对象进行分类组织,详细介绍了医疗运作管理研究的关注热点,并结合当今最新的研究成果分析了潜在发展趋势．     

Nanotechnology risk perceptions and communication: emerging technologies, emerging challenges

Nanotechnology involves the fabrication, manipulation, and control of materials at the atomic level and may also bring novel uncertainties and risks. Potential parallels with other controversial technologies mean there is a need to develop a comprehensive understanding of processes of public perception of nanotechnology uncertainties, risks, and benefits, alongside related communication issues. Study of perceptions, at so early a stage in the development trajectory of a technology, is probably unique in the risk perception and communication field. As such it also brings new methodological and conceptual challenges. These include: dealing with the inherent diversity of the nanotechnology field itself; the unfamiliar and intangible nature of the concept, with few analogies to anchor mental models or risk perceptions; and the ethical and value questions underlying many nanotechnology debates. Utilizing the lens of social amplification of risk, and drawing upon the various contributions to this special issue of Risk Analysis on Nanotechnology Risk Perceptions and Communication, nanotechnology may at present be an attenuated hazard. The generic idea of "upstream public engagement" for emerging technologies such as nanotechnology is also discussed, alongside its importance for future work with emerging technologies in the risk communication field.     

Chemicals,companies, and countries: The concept of diffusion in management research

In the field of organizational behavior, the term “diffusion” has come to be implicitly paired with the concept of innovation and a peculiar set of conceptual choices. We explore how this came about, and examine the evolution of the concept “diffusion” from its inception in the English language through its use in the natural and social sciences to its current meaning in organizational research. A sensemaking perspective on researchers’ cognition helps us explain the changing meaning of the concept, and alerts researchers to the subtle but far-reaching effects of revisions in a field's conceptual language. Even though the field of organizational studies ostensibly treats diffusion as a neutral phenomenon, it implicitly narrates diffusion as a mechanical and positive process that should be welcomed and encouraged. The implications of this reframing become even more important with the increasing focus on innovation in recent diffusion studies. The diffusion of new products among consumers and the diffusion of market institutions around the world are things of a rather different nature and consequence, but treating them as implicitly equivalent “innovations” that “diffuse” naturalizes and hence legitimates them. We conclude by noting implications of our findings for exploring the evolution of meaning for other concepts, and their utilization in research on organizations.     

Chinese expatriate management in emerging markets: A competitive advantage perspective

Recent research draws attention to the large number of expatriates sent abroad by Chinese multinational corporations (CMNCs), especially to emerging markets. It is generally assumed that their large number, and any competitive advantage this generates, relate predominantly to their low cost, compared to other MNCs' expatriates and/or locally available labour. Our research uses an integrative perspective drawing on the resource-based view (RBV), international human resource management (IHRM) and “country of origin” literature and extensive case-study research on 27 CMNCs in 12 emerging markets. This reveals that the competitive advantage created by Chinese expatriates is closely related to the use of expatriates at both managerial and operational levels. It is achieved through human resource management that exploits their relatively lower cost, higher productivity and hardship tolerance (compared to host or third country counterparts) and their knowledge/resource reconfiguration capability, through a centralised and collective expatriation management system. These together enhance CMNCs' competitive advantage through not only offering cost effective and differentiated products but also transferring the reconfiguration knowledge. This study enhances understanding of the competitiveness of emerging market multinationals (EMNCs) by showing how the competencies, combination and management of their expatriates create a distinct source of competitive advantage. It also advances IHRM research on expatriates by investigating their use from a competitive advantage perspective.