Governance dynamics in inter-organizational networks: A meta-ethnographic study

Governance has been a pervasive theme in the discussions of strategy and management in the context of inter-organizational networks. To date, network researchers call for a dynamic theory of governance to deal with increased uncertainty in the network environment. In response to this call, this study aims to generate a better understanding of how and why governance in inter-organizational networks can change over time and what implications these governance dynamics have for the network and its members. A meta-ethnographic analysis of 15 longitudinal case studies reveals that network actors can combine relational and formal governance in different ways over time, thereby constituting three governance patterns: the relational celebration pattern, the competitive protection pattern, and the forced facilitation pattern. The relational celebration and competitive protection patterns can generate favorable outcomes for the network and its members if disagreement about the formal governance terms is eliminated by revising these terms and/or repeating the pattern with a subset of the network members. In the case of the forced facilitation pattern, favorable network outcomes emerge if different types of relational governance are balanced. By detailing how and why governance patterns emerge and can generate favorable outcomes for the network and its members, the present research creates a better understanding of governance dynamics for researchers, business practitioners, and policymakers.     

Civic capacity: Building on transformational leadership to explain successful integrative public leadership

An emerging stream of work has been investigating the leadership processes necessary to guide public multi-sector collaborations. This stream of work argues that new leadership theory about integrative public leadership is needed because the context is different from that traditionally investigated by leadership researchers. In this paper, we advance the study of integrative public leadership by arguing that transformational leadership theory does apply to multi-sector collaborations, but needs to be augmented with an additional construct called “civic capacity.” We elaborate on this construct and suggest that it consists of three components: civic drive, civic connections, and civic pragmatism.     

Stemming the downturn: How ambidexterity and public policy influence firm performance stability during economic crises

A key question confronting policy makers during economic crises is how they can support firms to maintain their performance levels until the economic storm has passed. The present study bridges insights from the ambidexterity and public policy literatures to examine how firm-internal responses (that is, ambidexterity) and external public policy incentives (that is, demand-pull policies) affect the stability of firms’ performance in a recessionary economic context. Using data from private German renewable energy firms at a time following the global financial crisis, we find that only firms with low ambidexterity achieve performance stability in light of demand-pull policies. This research draws attention to the relevance of stability as a policy-relevant performance measure during times of economic crises. Further, we suggest that greater insight into the interplay of managerial and political factors is necessary to enable policy makers to support the stability of certain industries during crises.     

Innovation management in context: environment, organization and performance

Several decades of research into innovation management have failed to provide clear and consistent findings or coherent advice to managers. In this paper, I argue that this is because innovation management 'best practice' is contingent on a range of factors, and that we need better characterizations of the technological and market contingencies which affect the opportunity for, and constraints on, innovation. I review research on innovation together with relevant studies from organizational behaviour and strategic management, and develop a model which may help to guide future innovation research on the relationships between environmental contingencies, organization configurations and performance. I identify uncertainty and complexity as the key environmental contingencies that influence organizational structure and management processes for innovation.     

怎样才能做一名优秀的领导干部

做一名优秀的领导干部,从来就没有一个固定的模式,也不存在标准答案。要成为一名称职的、优秀的领导干部,很大程度上靠自身素质。一名干部的基本素质、综合素质是否适合当领导,能不能胜任领导的职责,是一个非常重要的问题;而能不能干好,并且可持续地走好,也是至关重要的。同时,还要看自身的实践活动,因为领导活动说穿了还是一项实践活动,要靠在实践当中总结、提升、磨砺。现在市面上关于领导科学、领导力方面的书籍林林总总、五花八门,希望通过阅读一些书籍、听一些这方面的讲座就成为一名优秀的领导干部,那是不现实的,近乎神话。原因是,当…     

信息技术治理影响分销渠道敏捷的机理研究

如何获取供应链敏捷是信息系统和运作管理领域共同关注的热点和前沿问题。然而,当前研究主要关注供应链流程柔性或信息技术柔性对于供应链敏捷形成的作用,忽视了供应链环境中如何通过IT治理来实现供应链的分销渠道敏捷。基于IT治理和IT-商务战略匹配理论,本文构建了一个有调节的中介模型来实证研究IT治理、企业间电子商务战略匹配(知识匹配和运作匹配)和环境动荡性影响渠道敏捷的机理。通过对209家被调查企业的数据分析发现:IT治理通过知识匹配和运作匹配对渠道敏捷产生积极正向影响;环境动荡水平越高,运作匹配所发挥的中介作用越强;环境动荡性在IT治理和知识匹配之间存在负向调节作用,而在知识匹配和渠道敏捷之间存在正向调节作用。本文通过融合IT治理和IT-商务战略匹配理论,揭示了焦点企业和渠道伙伴的IT治理对渠道敏捷的作用机理,为供应链敏捷理论贡献新知。     

Governance and performance of MFIs: the Cameroon case

The main challenge of microfinance institutions and social economy firms remains their survival, and to meet this challenge, MFIs need to be competitive. The poor performance of MFIs is usually attributed to their decision-making and operational processes. The governance of MFIs is therefore identified as one of their main risks. Despite this, governance is still little explored in these organizations and empirical studies find a weak relationship between classical governance mechanisms and MFI performance, especially for the MFIs situated in Africa (Thrikawala et al. in Asian J Financ Account 5(1):160–182, 2013a). In this study, we examine whether the effect of governance mechanisms on the performance of MFIs differs according to their legal status in the Cameroonian context. On the one hand, our empirical results show that there is a significant relationship between some specific governance mechanisms and MFIs’ performance. On the other hand, adjusting the governance mechanisms according to the MFIs’ legal status improves their efficiency. The analysis of the impact of the governance mechanisms on the performance of MFIs requires not only an approach that is specific to this sector but also an approach that is adapted to their legal status. Moreover, from a managerial point of view, it would be desirable to adjust the governance mechanisms, depending on the legal status of the MFIs, to make them more efficient from the social as well as the financial standpoint.     

Product architecture,global operations networks,and operational performance: an exploratory study

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationships between product architectures and global operations networks and their impact on operational performance, based on survey data from 82 Swedish manufacturers. We find that modular and integral product architectures are associated with different characteristics of the global operations network, and that global operations network designs are characterised by three dimensions: network, plant and supply chain. The key aspects are network structure (configuration as well as coordination), plant focus (scale or scope) and the locus of supply chain capabilities (internal or external).     

Making planning relevant to public agency management

The special considerations of planning in the public area have exercised many minds during the last decade. In this article the author reports on the particular experience of the (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from the initiation of a new planning system in 1972 to 1975. The lessons learned and the conclusions drawn from this experience are described in the article, many of which will have relevance to public sector planning in other environments.     

How leader humility helps teams to be humbler,psychologically stronger,and more effective: A moderated mediation model

We hypothesize that (a) the level of humility expressed by leaders predicts team performance through, serially, team humility and team PsyCap, and (b) the strength (i.e., consensus within the team) of the leader humility, team humility and team PsyCap moderates the paths of that hypothesized model. A sample comprising 82 teams (82 leaders; 332 team members) was collected. Team members reported leader humility, team humility and team PsyCap. Leaders reported team performance. To handle the risks of common method bias, each mediating path of the hypothesized model is based on data from two different subsamples within each team. Our model's most novel theoretical contribution is the (moderated mediated) connection between leader humility, collective humility, and team PsyCap, and this was consistently supported in our data. Our inconsistent findings dealing with the relationship between team PsyCap and performance is well established in the literature and our results in both sub-samples were in the theorized direction. The study contributes to understand why, how and when humble leaders are more effective.     

基于联立方程模型的公司治理溢价研究——兼谈如何检验公司治理评价指标的有效性

公司治理溢价研究可以揭示公司治理与企业价值之间的互动机理,不仅有助于深化和丰富公司治理理论,为上市公司优化公司治理指明方向和重点,而且有助于投资者全面评估企业价值.而对公司治理的客观评价是公司治理溢价研究中的关键问题,本文在以往研究成果基础上,以上证公司治理板块的评选结果为参照样本,给出了检验公司治理评价指标有效性的科学方法,进而验证了以DEA方法构建的公司治理效率值指标的有效性;在此基础上利用联立方程模型对公司治理溢价进行研究,解决了公司治理与企业价值之间可能存在的内生性问题;以2007年中国沪市578家A股公司为样本对联立方程模型进行估计.结果表明,中国股票市场存在公司治理溢价,公司治理效率值每增加0.1,流通盘市场附加值就会有37.2%的溢价.     

Beyond the Disciplinary Role of Governance: How Boards Add Value to Spanish Foundations

Due to the significant role of non‐profit organizations in the development of modern societies, these organizations must adjust their boardrooms. Since traditional theories of corporate governance appear to be limited in explaining the changing non‐profit world, we propose an extended model of governance that integrates the traditional arguments of agency theory with a cognitive dimension. Based on a sample of Spanish foundations, we present evidence on the effect of the board composition on foundations' organizational efficiency. We show that board size and independence do not have a definitive effect on the entity's efficiency. Instead, the knowledge diversity inside the boardroom and the active character of trustees have a positive influence on resource allocation. The cognitive dimension of the extended model of governance is critical to explaining how boards impact on organizational performance.     

Supply system structure, management and performance: a conceptual model

This paper contributes to the debate within the supply chain management field on the structure, operational management and performance measurement of supply systems. It draws on influential work from these fields in order to support the presentation of a conceptual model. This represents a synthesis of the ideas and concepts discussed, and acts as a focus for subsequent discussion. After presentation and explanation of the model, the structure of supply systems is considered. The relationships are explored between this and both the type of product that is exchanged and the nature of the demand profile. Conclusions are drawn that suggest that the architecture of the supply network should be determined once those factors are clarified and understood in the context of specific supply situations. The role of intermediary organizations within supply systems is discussed. It is then argued that a number of key variables influence the success of the management of the supply system and of its performance. Issues relating to these variable classes are discussed. Conclusions are drawn that highlight directions for further research.     

How Governance Misalignment and Outsourcing Capability Impact Performance

Notwithstanding the popularity of outsourcing as a business strategy, the performance benefits realized through outsourcing efforts are observed to be mixed in practice. This leads to important unresolved questions regarding why some firms are able to derive substantial value from their outsourcing initiatives while other firms are left disappointed. This study joins an emerging literature integrating transaction cost economics and capabilities‐based perspectives to develop a deeper understanding of the drivers of outsourcing performance. I develop a theoretical model that examines the independent and joint influence of governance misalignment (i.e., deviation from transaction cost's predicted mode of governance) and a firm's outsourcing capability on the performance of outsourced processes. I test the theoretical model using a dataset of 172 outsourced and 156 in‐house processes. The finding that governance misalignment corresponds to inferior process performance supports transaction cost's discriminating alignment hypothesis. Interestingly, I also find that a retained technical expertise (TE) and outsourcing knowledge management routines (OKMR; both contributors to a firm's outsourcing capability) positively influence outsourcing performance both directly and via their relationship with governance misalignment. While a retained technical expertise and outsourcing knowledge management routines each positively influence outsourcing performance, they do so in distinctive ways. These findings have important managerial implications and make a significant theoretical contribution. Specifically, this study demonstrates that the notion of a governance misalignment is firm‐specific, conditional on the governance capabilities of the organization. This insight underscores the value of integrating transaction cost logic with capabilities‐based perspectives.     

去留街道办

【策划人语】原本低调的铜陵市社区综合体制改革,因为直指街道办事处的撤销,近期骤然升温,并引发诸多讨论:街道办是撤还是留?社区能否去行政化?如何平衡改革中各方利益关系?铜陵模式可否复制……诸如此类问题,促使我们对社区综合体制改革的观察,具有了多维视角。由此,本刊把关注点聚焦在改革源头——铜官山区。作为全国第一个、也是目前唯一的社区管理和服务创新实验区,发端于铜官山区的社区综合体制改革值得关注。     

Just in time,total quality management,and supply chain management: understanding their linkages and impact on business performance

In recent years, numerous approaches have been proposed to improve operations performance. Three in particular, just in time, supply chain management, and quality management, have received considerable attention. While the three are sometimes viewed and implemented as if they were independent and distinct, they can also be used as three prongs of an integrated operations strategy. This study empirically examines the extent to which just in time, supply chain management, and quality management are correlated, and how they impact business performance. Results demonstrate that at both strategic and operational levels, linkages exist between how just in time, total quality management, and supply chain management are viewed by organizations as part of their operations strategy. Results also indicate that a commitment to quality and an understanding of supply chain dynamics have the greatest effect on performance.