Employer brand building for start-ups: which job attributes do employees value most?

Although attracting talented personnel is one of the biggest challenges for start-ups, little is known about how nascent ventures can successfully build an employer brand. This study investigates which distinctive job attributes start-ups can use for their employer branding. We identify the unique job attributes distinguishing entrepreneurial firms from large firms and calibrate the relative value of these job attributes from the potential employees’ perspective. Using conjoint analysis we demonstrate that a communal team climate and the early assignment of responsibilities are a start-up’s most attractive job attributes for prospective applicants. We contribute to the entrepreneurial marketing literature by bringing forward the concept of entrepreneurial employer branding, by examining entrepreneurial firms’ unique and attractive job attributes, and by discussing how start-ups can make use of these attributes in their recruiting and employer branding activities.     

Conflict Management of Cooperative Organizations in Contemporary Iran: A Review Analysis

Emergence of conflicts-of-interests and of disputes in organizations, especially within and among work team systems, is inevitable. Cooperatives are self-governing organizations with democratic characters aimed at meeting the members’ needs and promoting social equity. Yet, internal organizational conflicts arise as conflicts-of-interests develop. Such conflicts can cause serious damages to the parties involved as well as harm the reputation of cooperatives as social and economic entities that tend to pursue social justice and fair distribution of income in society. This paper addresses conflict management in contemporary cooperative organizations. It is based on a preliminary research performed on factors causing conflicts in various types of cooperatives in Iran by analyzing 253 complaints made in 224 housing, consumer, transportation, producer procurement, and credit cooperatives within the central province of Tehran. It also offers some suggestions to improve conflict management within cooperative organizations.

The management of offshore resources—Some implications of the 200-mile limit

This article examines in depth the strategic implications for those States who have recently declared 200 mile off-shore resource management zones. The authors, in a comprehensive and stimulating paper, examine the implications of so-calling a nation's offshore limit. It is an appropriate name for a nation's offshore limit since the primary reason for many nations declaring a 200 mile limit has been the abundance of resources which have often been found within those limits either in the sea or the sea bed itself. This paper reviews the current background of off-shore resource management and outlines suitable roles for adoption by the coastal States in the management of their off-shore renewable and non-renewable resources. Furthermore, it examines the contentious but nonetheless central issue of the benefits and costs which accrue through coastal state jurisdiction. The authors also examine an appropriate resource management process and the implications of resource use conflicts within the off shore limit as well as defining these conflicts on the basis of ‘stakeholder’ interests and introduces a new concept of the maximization of economic equity amongst competing stakeholders. The problem remains that the measurement of economic equity perhaps leaves the States concerned within a situation of only having defined the problem; the political process has then to deal with any reallocation measures that may be deemed appropriate.     

面向客户的项目管理过程

客户关系作为项目管理过程中的重要方面需要引起项目实施团队的高度重视,面向客户的项目管理过程是在项目实施中管理客户关系的有效方法。本文探讨了客户关系在项目过程中的重要性,根据客户在项目实施过程中的角色及项目过程中项目团队与客户间的常见冲突,结合项目实施的五大管理过程提出在项目实施过程中进行客户关系管理的主要工作。     

Financial performance and global start-ups: the impact of knowledge management practices

This paper investigates how knowledge management (KM) practices improve the financial performance of global start-ups (GSs). Using a database of 114 global innovative Italian start-ups, this study is based on the principal component analysis – data envelopment analysis (PCA-DEA) method. In particular, a survey was conducted to investigate KM practices and secondary data was used to evaluate financial performance. This research highlights that the adoption of different knowledge management practices (i.e., acquisition, documentation, creation, transfer and application) has a positive impact on the financial performance of global start-ups. The study contributes to the literature on international entrepreneurship, shedding light on the consequences of KM practices for global start-ups' financial performance, and provides guidelines for business owners, enabling them to understand better how knowledge management can facilitate the achievement of high levels of financial efficiency.     

Why Total Quality Management Programs Do Not Persist: The Role of Management Quality and Implications for Leading a TQM Transformation*

Top‐down total quality management (TQM) programs often fail to create deep and sustained change in organizations. They become a fad soon replaced by another fad. Failure to institutionalize TQM can be attributed to a gap between top management's rhetoric about their intentions for TQM and the reality of implementation in various subunits of the organization. The gap varies from subunit to subunit due to the quality of management in each. By quality of management is meant the capacity of senior team to (1) develop commitment to the new TQM direction and behave and make decisions that are consistent with it, (2) develop the cross‐functional mechanisms, leadership skills, and team culture needed for TQM implementation, and (3) create a climate of open dialogues about progress in the TQM transformation that will enable learning and further change. The TQM transformations will persist only if top management requires and ultimately institutionalizes an honest organizational‐wide conversation that surfaces valid data about the quality of management in each subunit of the firm and leads to changes in management quality or replacement of managers.     

Company Law and Corporate Governance of Start-ups in Germany: Legal Stipulations,Managerial Requirements,and Modification Strategies

Two topics which currently receivesubstantial interest are corporate governanceand start-up companies in the new economy.However, research combining both subjects israre. The present study aims to fill in thisgap because corporate governance is assumed toinfluence start-ups' performance. Sincepeculiarities of start-up companies exclude asimple application of extant governance wisdom,we develop propositions about corporategovernance structures of start-up companies inGermany – a country which has the most activestart-up scene in Europe but is also known forits far-reaching regulations of company law.This regulatory impact is most significantlyassociated with the choice of a legal form ofbusiness organization. While a certain legalform can provide some important advantages, itcan require at the same time corporategovernance structures which could imposeproblems on managing high-tech start-ups.Focussing the increasingly prevalent stockcorporation, we argue that this form, on theone hand, is advantageous for gaining resourcesand for the comprehensiveness of strategicdecision making. On the other hand, regulationsas the obligations to have collectiveresponsibilities in the management board and toset up a supervisory board can be expected todecelerate decision making and thus to putfirms at a disadvantage in high pacedindustries. We suggest that start-ups,therefore, make hidden modifications in orderto design effective corporate governanceconfigurations. The implementation of thesemodifications is facilitated by socialrelationships. First empirical insights intothe governance modalities of German start-upsare offered for illuminating our proposals.Thus, our study contributes to understandhow start-ups try to reconcile the governancedemands of both their business and their legalenvironment.     

Part 2, Conflict management. Managing low-to-mid intensity conflict in the health care setting

Physician executives face low to mid-level intensity conflicts, day-to-day issues and problems associated with pressures and changes in the health care environment. Such conflicts can be sorted on the basis of relationship, duration, and intensity. The authors apply the five major modes of conflict management--competition, avoidance, compromise, accommodation, and collaboration--to specific scenarios taken from their work in health care and suggest guidelines for managing conflicts with peers, supervisees, and authority figures. Thorough preparation and a portfolio of skills build flexibility through the conflict management process. In part 1 of this article series, the authors presented the conflict management checklist, a diagnostic tool for assessing conflict in organizations.     

MBA学生团队学习效果及影响因素研究

团队学习是管理教育中普遍存在的教学方式。以158名M BA学生组成的35个学习团队为样本,侧重探讨团队内部的认知活动和人际互动的质量对团队学习效果的影响。研究结果发现:团队成员间的沟通质量影响团队共享心智模型的建立,从而影响团队学习效果;团队成员中搭便车的行为会对团队成员的满意度产生消极影响,并降低团队学习效果;团队成员在学习中沟通和人际互动的质量会影响到学习之外的友谊关系。     

Inside Management Teams: Developing a Teamwork Survey Instrument

This article reports the development of a measure of teamwork for use with management teams. A five‐stage process was followed. First, a model of teamwork including team processes was generated through empirical research involving the elicitation of 600 team performance constructs from members of management teams and from theoretical considerations. Second, items were written to operationalize the model. Third, data from 220 members of management teams working in private‐ and public‐sector organizations were factor analysed in order to establish the scale structure of the instrument. Fourth, data from a second sample of 16 complete management teams were collected in order to assess within‐team properties of the instrument. Lastly, convergent and criterion‐related validity were assessed. The resulting ‘Teamwork Survey’, is a 7‐scale, 36‐item general‐purpose questionnaire that can be used in further research and in consulting interventions.     

Bewusster Umgang mit Übertragungsphänomenen als Management Soft Skill

The author presents the psychological concept of transference and it’s relevance for daily management life in companies. This aspect can above all be found in hierarchical working relationships were the transference of unsolved and repressed conflicts of collaborators coming from their personal biography appear rather frequently. But also the dynamics within teams may be influenced by transference phenomena. Explanation is given how these transference-based conflicts can develop counterproductive dynamics. Based on three case examples the author illustrates these dynamics. He finally comes to the conclusion that the knowledge of the transference phenomena and how to deal with them consciously is an important management soft skill that improves manager’s and leader’s efficiency.     

David and Goliath: causes and effects of coopetition between start-ups and corporates

Coopetition (collaboration between competitors) among young firms (i.e. start-ups) and larger, more established firms (i.e. corporates) may be beneficial for both partners as each party typically has something to offer that is missing in the other. Start-ups often develop innovative ideas, are flexible and agile, willing to take risks, and aspire to achieve high growth, but they tend to lack the required resources, capabilities, and knowledge due to their newness and smallness. Corporates have resources, routines, and experience that enable them to work efficiently but lack a certain innovation capability. Research has suggested that coopetition represents an opportunity for start-ups facing restrictions in resources, while corporates benefit from start-ups’ innovative ideas. However, it is yet unknown whether start-ups and corporates engage in coopetition with each other and, if so, how and why they do this. This study seeks to fill this void by exploring the motives of coopeting start-ups and corporates, how they manage their coopetitive relationship, and what implications occur including potential benefits and risks. We present a multiple case study based on qualitative data collected through 70 interviews with Austrian-based start-ups and corporates representing 35 coopetitive partnerships. Discussing the findings based on our data, we propose relationships concerning coopetition and its role to enlarge resource- and technology-bases as well as its role in the development of dynamic capabilities.     

Using strategic planning to drive strategic change

This article describes a case history of strategic planning, learning and change within a major division of Dowty plc. At Dowty CASE, a telecommunications company, the management team used strategic planning as a structured learning process to generate strategic change. There are many lessons which academics and practitioners alike can learn from this case of strategic planning and change in action.     

基本医疗保险中共谋问题的研究与防范

本文首先讨论了在我国当前实行的基本医疗保险体系中患者和医疗机构为了共同的利益,利用信息优势,形成共谋来欺骗医疗保险机构的可能性。然后在建立基本医疗保险体系的简单模型的基础上,分析了医患共谋产生的情况,详细讨论了有效防止医患共谋的保险合同的设计问题,并且得出了此类保险合同所具有的一系列基本特性。     

Using input—output models for planning in groups with considerable inter-company trading

In any group where a lot of inter-company trading takes place and where the member companies are allowed a degree of autonomy, conflicts of interest will arise. Actions taken by individual companies in their own best interest will, on occasion, be detrimental to the group as a whole. Furthermore, the accounts relating to a particular company will tell head office management very little about the through-group profitability of the products concerned. Nor will the usual accounts and statistics throw much light on the extent to which individual companies or processes depend on the group's main end markets, since in many cases these companies will be largely or partly concerned with supplying other members of the organization.It follows that in such groups an information system is needed which will not reflect the organizational structure of the enterprise—as do individual company accounts—but which will provide top management with an overall group view. It should also make a contribution, both towards resolving any conflicts of interest which might occur, and to improving the overall return on group assets employed.This article examines the role of the micro input–output model in this situation with particular reference to its application in areas where conflicts of interest between the group and its member companies are likely to arise.     

拍卖中卡特尔的两种合谋机制研究

投标者合谋损害了拍卖者的利益、破坏了社会资源的配置效率.本文通过建立教学模型,研究具有货币补偿支付"强"卡特尔的两种典型合谋机制.发现在卡特尔内部预拍卖中.不同的利益分享机制其成员的汇报价不同.进一步地.当合谋人数等于投标总人数时.第二密封价格的公开拍卖比第一密封价格拍卖更有利于卡特尔的合谋,此时,拍卖者采用隐藏保留价的第一密封价格拍卖,是占优策略.而当卡特尔成员数小于投标总人数时,拍卖者不公布保留价.卡特尔第一价格合谋机制就没有效率,卡特尔第二价格合谋机制在卡特尔代表的估价高于预拍卖第二高价时,合谋非效率.     

大股东与经营者合谋行为及法律约束措施

大股东侵害中小股东利益的行为是一种大股东与经营者合谋牟取私下收益的行为,在合谋状态下,大股东的监督检查强度高于非合谋状态.大股东与经营者的合谋行为导致中小股东收入水平下降,它不仅把中小股东应得的利益转移到大股东手中;而且还会降低公司的收入水平.要求大股东承担诚信义务是规范大股东行为的最主要法律措施.     

The Impact of Insider Power on Fraudulent Financial Reporting

This study examines the relationship between top management team duality and the decision to release false financial information. Using a matched sample of 103 firms that were convicted of issuing fraudulent financial statements in the period from 1992 to 1996, the results show that this form of illegal corporate behavior is more likely to occur when there is a concentration of power in the hands of insiders. For these firms, insiders control the top management team and the Board of Directors by simultaneously occupying the key managerial positions of clout within the firm while also sitting on the Board (duality), and through their ownership interest in the firm.     

Top management team constellations and their implications for strategic decision making

Two major themes in the upper echelon decision making literature are the efficacy of the CEO and the composition of the top management team (TMT). Little research has examined their intersection. This study addresses the call to reveal the social processes within TMTs, by focusing on CEO-TMT member interaction in decision making. Drawing on video ethnographic data of two TMTs, we explore the patterns of interactions between CEOs and TMT members in their strategic decision making meetings. Through an analysis of 20 issue discussions, we identify five “constellations”, a team level construct capturing the core relational dynamics that are created through mutual CEO-TMT member influence during a team's discussion of a strategic issue. We explain how these constellations unfold and their implications for the processes and outcomes of TMT strategic decision making. We then elaborate how our findings contribute to the TMT and upper echelon literatures, as well as our understanding of team politics.