Does task-related conflict mediate the board gender diversity–organizational performance relationship?

The board gender diversity–organizational performance relationship has been criticized for the absence of tests of the underlying mechanisms of this relationship. This study aims to empirically investigate whether task-related conflict – one of the prime theorized mechanisms of board diversity – indeed mediates this relationship. Consistent with the literature, we theorize how board gender diversity affects task-related conflict, and how task-related conflict in turn affects organizational performance. We test our hypotheses in the Dutch water authority sector 2009–2014, where we have access to the detailed board meeting minutes of 27 organizations. Our results find support for a partial mediating effect of task-related conflict in the board gender diversity–organizational performance relationship. We conclude by discussing the implications for the board gender diversity literature.     

Influence of Environmental Factors and Prior Changes on the Organizational Adoption of Changes in Products and in Technological and Administrative Processes

This research studies how organizational adoption of three different types of change – change in products, in technological processes and in administrative processes – is influenced by environmental factors such as industry regulation and market concentration and by the prior adoption of different types of change. We tested our hypotheses in the service sector, examining a sample of bank holding companies in the USA for the period 1975–1995. We found that (1) environmental factors influence rates of change in products, in technological processes and in administrative processes differently; (2) changes in products are followed by changes in both technological and administrative processes; and (3) the three types of change exhibit momentum, as firms are more likely to implement changes similar to those they have recently undertaken. We discuss the implications of our findings for the theory and management of change in organizations.     

The value of a firm’s engagement in ESG practices: Are we looking at the right side?

Firms allocate many resources to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues and to growth options as if they were independent sources of value. Challenging this view, this paper explores the interplay of a firm's engagement in ESG practices and growth options in determining its total value. We draw upon real options reasoning to explain how ESG practices can carry two opposite (trust-enhancing and risk-reducing) forces, driving an inverted U-form relationship between ESG performance and growth options value. Moreover, we argue that ESG performance and growth options are likely to build substitutive insurance mechanisms which might exert a negative moderating effect of growth options on the relationship between ESG performance and a firm's total value. Empirical analyses of ESG scores and growth options values on a panel of U.S. firms from 2009 to 2018 provide substantial support for our hypotheses. Our results show that the inverted U-form relationship between ESG performance and growth options value becomes stronger for the environmental and social pillars. Our evidence on the moderating effect of growth option values also provides valuable insights for interpreting prior conflicting empirical evidence on the association between ESG performance and a firm's total value.     

Firm-level correlates of emergent green supply chain management practices in the Chinese context

Greening the supply chain is increasingly a concern for many business enterprises and a challenge for logistics management in the 21st century. Of particular concern is how to arouse organizational environmental awareness and put environmental activities into practice in the logistics activities of their supply chains. This paper investigates the correlation of two major factors, organizational learning and management support, with the extent of adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices in Chinese manufacturing firms, where their inbound and outbound logistics activities are potential polluters to the environment. Organizational and operational learning was derived from the firm's experience with programs such as total quality management and environmental management systems. Management support included support for GSCM ideas and practices from top and middle-level management and cooperation across organizational functions. We find significant positive relationships between organizational learning mechanisms, organizational support and the adoption of GSCM practices, after controlling for a number of other influences including regulations, marketing, supplier, cost pressures, industry levels of the relevant practice and organizational size. Implications of our findings on logistics management are discussed.     

组织支持感与工作投入的曲线关系及其边界条件

作为一种工作资源,组织支持感是员工工作投入的重要预测变量。但是,基于社会交换理论,组织支持感也可能增加员工角色外的投入、减少对工作角色的投入。在一定条件下,组织支持感与工作投入可能存在非线性的关系。采用302名证券行业员工问卷,考察组织支持感与工作投入的曲线关系,进一步探索情感承诺对该曲线关系的调节作用。在检验共同方法偏差的基础上,采用多项式回归对研究假设进行检验。研究结果表明,在控制员工的情感承诺后,组织支持感与工作投入呈显著U形曲线关系。情感承诺显著调节组织支持感与工作投入的曲线关系,即情感承诺高的员工,组织支持感与工作投入呈U形曲线关系;而情感承诺低的员工,组织支持感与工作投入呈显著线性关系。总体而言,研究结果进一步支持组织支持感对工作投入潜在的负面影响,尤其是具有高情感承诺的员工其感知到的组织支持只有超过一定水平后才会对工作投入产生积极的影响。     

Adjustment and work outcomes of self-initiated expatriates in the United Arab Emirates: Development and testing of a model

Drawing upon anxiety/uncertainty management (AUM) theory and organization support theory (OST), we developed and tested a model on how globally mobile talent – in this instance, self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) - stay and perform well in the organization. We collected data from 276 superior-subordinate dyads, which were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Our results suggest that role clarity mediates the influence of perceived organizational support and work adjustment. Furthermore, we found that work adjustment mediates the influence of role clarity on task performance and organizational citizenship behavior. We draw out the implications for advancing theory and practice in expatriate management.     

ISOMORPHISM IN REVERSE: INSTITUTIONAL THEORY AS AN EXPLANATION FOR RECENT INCREASES IN INTRAINDUSTRY HETEROGENEITY AND MANAGERIAL DISCRETION

DiMaggio and Powell (1983) argued that organizations, in their quest for legitimacy, are subjected to isomorphic pressures which produce increasing similarity among peer organizations over time: “Once an organizational field becomes well established ... there is an inexorable push toward homogenization.” Yet, in contradiction to this “iron cage” hypothesis, many industries became more heterogeneous, not more homogeneous, in their profiles during the latter decades of the twentieth century, particularly between about 1980 and 2000 (at least on the American landscape). Why didn’t “inexorable homogenization” occur? We argue that DiMaggio and Powell were correct about the forces that give rise to isomorphism but failed to anticipate several major macrosocial trends that caused those forces all to move in directions that diminished, rather than accentuated, isomorphism. For example, DiMaggio and Powell argued that ambiguity about goals will propel isomorphic change; but the goals for publicly-traded U.S. corporations became less ambiguous. They hypothesized that the fewer the alternative organizational models in a field, the faster the rate of isomorphism; but the array of organizational models increased significantly. We empirically illustrate the increased heterogeneity that occurred within American industries by tracing the trend toward divergence – on several dimensions of strategy and performance – within the steel industry. An analysis of 18 additional industries similarly yields far more evidence of increased heterogeneity than of increased homogeneity over the latter decades of the twentieth century. We go on to argue that reduced isomorphic pressures not only engendered greater intraindustry variety, but also increased managerial discretion, which contributed greatly to the romanticization of CEOs that occurred during the period 1980–2000.     

The Contingent Effects of Role Ambiguity and Role Novelty on Expatriates' Work‐related Outcomes

Research on work stress has highlighted its negative outcomes for both individuals and their employers. Overseas assignments are more stressful than domestic assignments, and their relatively high failure rates are well documented. We suggest, however, that certain types of stress can positively affect expatriate performance. Based on role theory and the distinction between hindrance and challenge stressors, we develop hypotheses regarding the influence of role ambiguity and role novelty on expatriate success. We also conceptualize and empirically investigate the moderating influence of expatriates' perceptions of organizational support and supervisor support. Our hypotheses are tested using a sample of 125 Japanese expatriate managers in Germany. We find that role ambiguity is a hindrance stressor and negatively affects job satisfaction and work adjustment, while role novelty acts as a challenge stressor and positively affects job satisfaction, task performance and work adjustment. Our findings also show that perceived organizational support attenuates the negative effects of role ambiguity on work adjustment and strengthens the positive effect of role novelty on job satisfaction. We also find that supervisor support positively moderates the positive effect of role novelty on job satisfaction and work adjustment.     

CEO duality and firm performance: The moderating roles of other executives and blockholding outside directors

This study examines how the effect of CEO duality on firm performance is affected by two internal governance forces – namely other executives in the top management team and blockholding outside directors. Results based on a longitudinal dataset from the U.S. computer industry were consistent with my hypotheses. Specifically, I found that the effect of CEO duality was negative when the CEO had dominant power relative to other executives and when the board had a blockholding outside director, but was nonsignificant otherwise. This study enriches our understanding of the effect of CEO duality, and helps reinforce the call for the nonduality structure as the default choice and put the burden of proof on those who wish to justify otherwise on special grounds.     

A Matter of Learning: How Human Resources Affect Organizational Performance

Recently, a number of studies have tried to examine the processes that explain the influence of high performance work systems (HPWS) on company performance, in an attempt to understand which variables mediate this relationship and to what extent they do so. The importance of the organizational learning capability (OLC) construct has traditionally been outlined as being essential for a company's survival and effective performance. Thus, it seems important to establish whether HPWS can be considered an antecedent of OLC, and consequently to confirm whether OLC acts as a mediating variable in the HPWS–company performance linkage. Bearing in mind that HPWS represent a ‘bundle’ of mutually reinforcing, overlapping and synergistic individual human resource practices, this positive connection between HPWS and OLC seems reasonable. We tested our hypotheses by applying a structural equation methodology to a sample of 163 Spanish companies. Our findings show that the effects of HPWS on organizational performance are mediated by OLC.     

From Entrepreneurial Orientation and Learning Orientation to Business Performance: Analysing the Mediating Role of Organizational Learning and the Moderating Effects of Organizational Size

Following the organizational learning theory and the knowledge‐based view approach, this contribution aims to study the influence of entrepreneurial orientation and learning orientation on organizational learning, considering the latter as a mediating variable in the relationships between both antecedent cultural values and business performance. We also analyse the moderating role of organizational size on these previous relationships. The hypotheses proposed in our research model are tested on a sample of 140 Spanish industrial companies, applying variance‐based structural equation modelling: partial least squares. In order to assess the moderating effects of organizational size, we adopt a multi‐group approach using two subsamples with large firms and small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Our findings indicate that organizational learning partially mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance and fully mediates the link between learning orientation and performance. Likewise, the results reveal that the relationship established between entrepreneurial orientation and organizational learning is more intense for the group of large firms than for the group of SMEs. Moreover, the influence of learning orientation on organizational learning is greater in SMEs than in large firms.     

The ambivalent effect of complexity on firm performance: A study of the global service provider industry

Prior literature is ambivalent about whether organizational complexity has positive or negative effects on firm performance. Using rich data on global service providers, we explore this ambivalence by disentangling performance consequences of different types of organizational complexity. We show that complexity arising from the coordination of different services and operations negatively influences profit margins through increased coordination costs, whereas complexity coming from the sophistication of particular services may positively influence margins through informational advantages. We also investigate the moderating effects of process commoditization and client-specific investments. Our findings point to critical performance dilemmas facing global service providers in a highly competitive industry, and they help better differentiate performance effects of complexity at different organizational levels.     

CEO grandiose narcissism and firm performance: The role of organizational identification

This study reconciles the positive and negative sides of CEO grandiose narcissism by examining the role that CEO organizational identification plays in moderating the effect of CEO grandiose narcissism on top management team (TMT) behavioral integration. We first distinguish between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism and we then draw on upper echelons theory and executive personality research to hypothesize and test a model in which CEO grandiose narcissism is positively related to TMT behavioral integration when CEOs are high in organizational identification. The relationship is expected to be negative when CEOs do not identify strongly with their organizations. TMT behavioral integration, in turn, predicts subsequent firm performance. Findings based on multi-source data from a sample of 97 CEOs and their firms supported the hypotheses. These results highlight the complex nature of CEO grandiose narcissism – namely, that the construct has both positive and negative aspects as it relates to top management team dynamics and firm performance and that the relationship is affected by CEOs' identification with their organizations.     

Dynamic capabilities and high-tech entrepreneurial ventures’ performance in the aftermath of an environmental jolt

This paper contributes to studies on dynamic capabilities (DCs) by showing that a neglected environmental contingency – i.e. the occurrence of a jolt – shapes the DCs–performance relationship. We focus on high-tech entrepreneurial ventures because these are the firms that jolts affect most; in so doing, we also advance the understanding of DCs in the entrepreneurship field. We argue that, in the aftermath of an environmental jolt, the high-tech entrepreneurial ventures that use internationalization and new product development capabilities to modify their resource configuration and regain environmental fit enjoy better performance. Econometric estimates on a sample of 340 Italian high-tech entrepreneurial ventures confronting the consequences of the global economic crisis that began in 2008 confirm that separately using these two DCs has a positive performance effect. This effect is stronger for relatively smaller ventures. Interestingly, despite synergies should arise from the combined use of the two DCs, we do not detect any superadditive effects.     

The physical office work environment and employee wellbeing: Current state of research and future research agenda

Despite the awareness that employees spend at least half of their awake time at work, knowledge about how the physical office work environment (POWE) shapes employee wellbeing remains fragmented, inconsistent and scattered across disciplines. We provide a narrative review of the empirical literature to summarise the current state of the science and lay the groundwork for advancing a more holistic and nuanced theoretical understanding of the mediating mechanisms underlying the POWE-wellbeing relationship. To do so, we propose an updated taxonomy of POWE features, incorporating a new dimension – exposure to nature, and use this extended taxonomy to examine the evidence base on the relationship between POWE features and five dimensions of wellbeing: affective, physical, social, cognitive and professional. Based on our findings, we extend a meta-theoretical model which identifies three distinct theoretically-driven mediating pathways – relatedness, energy and functional discomfort – through which POWE features differentially influence wellbeing dimensions. In doing so, we integrate the organizational behaviour theory of Job Demands-Resources and the environmental psychology framework of POWE functions to argue that POWE functions can be both demands and resources-generating, and can, therefore, have simultaneous positive and negative consequences for employee wellbeing. We conclude with a critical examination of theoretical, methodological and practical implications for future research.     

A juggling act: CEO polychronicity and firm innovation

This study examines a unique CEO temporal characteristic—polychronicity (the extent to which CEOs prefer to engage in multiple projects simultaneously and believe that this is the best way of doing things). I propose that CEO polychronicity is a double-edged sword for firm innovation and that this relationship is contingent on the environmental and organizational contexts. Specifically, CEO polychronicity is positively related to firm innovation when firms operate in more dynamic environments, are relatively large and have poor past performance, but is negatively related to firm innovation when firms operate in less dynamic environments, are relatively small and have good past performance. Results based on survey data from 111 Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) largely support my hypotheses. This study makes contributions by being an initial attempt to examine CEO polychronicity and by identifying essential boundary conditions of the effect of CEO polychronicity on firm innovation.     

Teamworking and organizational performance: A review of survey‐based research

This paper presents a review of recent survey‐based research looking at the contribution of teamwork to organizational performance. In particular, it focuses on empirical studies in which both teamwork and performance are directly measured in a quantitative way. The paper begins by identifying four interrelated dimensions of teamwork effectiveness: attitudinal, behavioural, operational and financial. The first two represent transmission mechanisms by which organizational performance can be improved. The latter two provide direct measures of organizational outcomes. The review shows that teamworking has a positive impact on all four dimensions of performance. It also reveals that, when teamwork is combined with structural change, performance can be further enhanced. The paper concludes by highlighting some important research gaps that future studies could address.     

Assigning migrants to customer contact jobs: a context-specific exploration of the business case for diversity

Ethnic diversity of both their labor forces and customer bases presents a challenge for companies and fuels debate on the business case for diversity: the view that diversity positively impacts firm performance. This study enriches the business case debate by focusing on a particular organizational activity, customer contact. It combines theory from strategic human resource management (SHRM), research on diversity, and research on marketing to analyze what drives companies to assign migrants to customer contact jobs and which performance impacts ensue. We test our hypotheses in data from 338 German business companies. Companies that recognize the value in ethnic diversity and seek to respond to customer diversity are especially likely to assign migrants to customer contact jobs. The analyses reveal a positive impact of migrants in customer contact jobs on company profitability. This impact is enhanced by a broad range of equality and diversity practices and a supportive works council. These moderators have stronger effects than two other moderators related to business strategy: the market served by a company, and its competitive strategy. The paper contributes to SHRM research in general and diversity research in particular through its original examination associating the business case for ethnic diversity with the role of equality and diversity practices and institutions. The study findings can help managers to decide whether to leverage staff ethnic diversity and show that collaboration between HR management and marketing functions is useful to achieve a strategic fit among practices.     

Top management team diversity and ambidexterity: The contingent role of shared responsibility and CEO cognitive trust

Earlier research has suggested that diversity is a double-edged sword when achieving organizational ambidexterity. While it may contribute to the development of new combinations of exploration and exploitation, it may also lead to disagreements and potential conflict within top management teams (TMTs). To improve our understanding of the effectiveness of diversity in ambidextrous organizations, we develop a synergistic perspective on TMT diversity and examine how two types of diversity – functional and age diversity – affect the achievement of organizational ambidexterity. We also identify shared responsibility and CEO cognitive trust as important contingencies that may complement the effects of diversity within TMTs in terms of resolving potential conflicts and managing tensions between exploration and exploitation effectively. Based on multisource data, our study shows that CEO cognitive trust and shared responsibility moderate the relationship between different types of diversity and ambidexterity. Our study has important implications for research on organizational ambidexterity, diversity, and senior leadership.