All on board? New evidence on board gender diversity from a large panel of European firms

Using a unique database of over 20 million firms over two decades, we examine industry sector and national institution drivers of the prevalence of women directors on supervisory and management boards in both public and private firms across 41 advanced and emerging European economies. We demonstrate that gender board diversity has generally increased, yet women remain rare in both boards of firms in Europe: approximately 70% have no women directors on their supervisory boards, and 60% have no women directors on management boards. We leverage institutional and resource dependency theoretical frameworks to demonstrate that few systematic factors are associated with greater gender diversity for both supervisory and management boards among both private and public firms: the same factor may exhibit a positive correlation to a management board, and a negative correlation to a supervisory board, or vice versa. We interpret these findings as evidence that country-level gender equality and cultural institutions exhibit differentiated correlations with the presence of women directors in management and supervisory boards. We also find little evidence that sector-level competition and innovativeness are systematically associated with the presence of women on either board in either group of firms.     

The Organization of Interdisciplinary Research: Modes,Drivers and Barriers

Although the role and management of interdisciplinary research in knowledge development has received plenty of attention in recent years ambiguity remains, often hindering management efforts. To address this issue, this paper provides an integrated review of extant literature on interdisciplinary research. It focuses on integration processes and the main drivers and barriers to different modes of collaborative interdisciplinary research. The authors propose a different approach to considering interdisciplinary integration, based on two factors: the type of knowledge integration; and the durability of the context of that integration. As a result, four modes of interdisciplinary integration are characterized. The authors then consider how different groups of drivers of, and barriers to, interdisciplinary research affect those types of integration. Overall, the paper provides an integrated perspective for researchers, managers and policy‐makers concerned with understanding the organization of interdisciplinary research.     

How Provider Selection and Management Contribute to Successful Innovation Outsourcing: An Empirical Study at Siemens

It is becoming increasingly common to involve external technology providers in developing new technologies and new products. Two important phases involved in working with technology vendors are vendor selection and vendor management. Because for both steps theory development of key decision guidelines is still immature, we use detailed case studies of 31 innovation outsourcing projects at Siemens to develop grounded theory on provider selection criteria and on project management success drivers. A selection criterion often associated with successful outsourcing is the provider's “track record” or previous experience. Our cases suggest that there is no standard “track record” for success but that a “match” between the client firm's outsourcing motivation and the provider's strengths appears to be a necessary condition for a successful outsourcing collaboration. As to the second phase—managing the vendor—we identify a number of operational project success drivers. There seems to be no universal checklist, but the most important drivers seem to be contingent on the type of vendor chosen and on the maturity of the technology. We compare five provider types—universities, competitors, customers, start‐up companies, and component suppliers—and find that some success drivers are common to all providers, while others are relevant only for certain types of provider. Moreover, drivers in the case of a mature technology are more focused on successful transfer to manufacturing than on development itself. Our findings offer guidelines for innovation managers on how to select innovation providers and how to manage them during the project.     

Sustainable Supply Network Management

This article presents an overview of current practices in managing sustainability (social, ethical, environmental) issues in supply networks. It is based on an examination of eight economic sectors in Europe and North America, including utilities, transport, information and communication technology (ICT), retail, tourism and leisure, construction, chemicals and the public sector. It was found that for the vast majority of organisations, the incorporation of sustainability issues is a new area of activity and many have yet to begin managing them in their supply networks. Of those that are active, most have so far only focused on environmental issues. This is largely due to the presence of external environmental drivers, such as legislation, market pressure and media attention, and a lack of external pressures for social and ethical issues in most sectors. So far, tools and strategies have predominantly focused on the procurement process and the management of corporate risk. However, cutting edge organisations are exploring partnership approaches for sharing knowledge, solving shared problems and harnessing opportunities for competitive advantage.     

基于多目标加权灰靶决策模型的节能服务公司选择研究

用能方对节能服务公司（Energy Service Company，ESCO）的选择关系到合同能源管理（Energy Performance Contracting，EPC）能否顺利实施。从用能方的角度，采用灰色系统理论中的多目标加权灰靶决策模型，对存在多决策目标的ESCO选择问题进行研究。通过层次分析法确定ESCO的11个决策目标的决策权数，根据综合效果测度值的比较，最终实现最优对策的选择。本文为用能方的ESCO选择问题提供了一种新的思路。     

The Affordability of Flood Risk Property-Level Adaptation Measures

The affordability of property-level adaptation measures against flooding is crucial due to the movement toward integrated flood risk management, which requires the individuals threatened by flooding to actively manage flooding. It is surprising to find that affordability is not often discussed, given the important roles that affordability and social justice play regarding flood risk management. This article provides a starting point for investigating the potential rate of unaffordability of flood risk property-level adaptation measures across Europe using two definitions of affordability, which are combined with two different affordability thresholds from within flood risk research. It uses concepts of investment and payment affordability, with affordability thresholds based on residual income and expenditure definitions of unaffordability. These concepts, in turn, are linked with social justice through fairness concerns, in that, all should have equal capability to act, of which affordability is one avenue. In doing so, it was found that, for a large proportion of Europe, property owners generally cannot afford to make one-time payment of the cost of protective measures. These can be made affordable with installment payment mechanisms or similar mechanisms that spread costs over time. Therefore, the movement toward greater obligations for flood-prone residents to actively adapt to flooding should be accompanied by socially accessible financing mechanisms.     

Japan's drive for the European car market—Lessons from U.S. experience

This article reviews the three strategic stages of Japanese automobile manufacturers' strategy within the United States, and, from this, forecasts likely developments in Europe. It considers the implications of future Japanese initiatives from three perspectives—that of the European automobile competitors, of national governments, and of the wider European community.     

Defining and Dimensionalising Diversity:: Evidence from Corporate Websites across Europe

The corporate ‘diversity statement’ is a new tool increasingly used by large companies to promote diversity management policies on their websites. Through an examination of these on-line texts, we identify how companies construct the meaning of ‘diversity’ through its dimensions. Few companies actually define diversity. However, dimensions of diversity cover a wide-ranging set of individual differences, not just gender and race but other visible and less visible differences that might lead to discrimination in the workplace. By comparing statements from 241 top companies in eight countries (Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK), we reveal how the definition of ‘diversity’ and its dimensions as used on websites varies across Europe.     

Reinvigorating Research on Gender in the Workplace Using a Positive Work and Organizations Perspective*

Gender inequality is a widespread organizational challenge, however, research on gender in the workplace suffers from stagnation in mainstream management research. A positive work and organizations perspective has the capacity to augment problem‐focused gender research with new approaches to boosting gender equity. Yet, contributions that utilize such a perspective are sparsely spread across nearly two decades’ time and dozens of journals with differing disciplinary foci. This paper aims to reinvigorate gender research in management research by consolidating insights that have emerged through the application of a positive perspective. Therefore, we systematically review articles published in 21 management and psychological journals between 2001 and 2016. Four main themes emerged as drivers of gender research from a positive perspective: performance, social integration, well‐being, and justice/moral matters. The contributions within these themes highlight pathways to organizational flourishing through positive diversity and inclusion behaviors and practices. Thus, this paper provides a conceptual map for navigating and planning further research.     

线上线下融合模式下考虑战略顾客行为的供应链协调研究

在移动电商高速发展和移动支付日益便捷的时代,线上线下融合商务模式正日益成为传统零售、电子商务甚至快递物流企业转型升级的重要方向,影响着供应链运营管理及其优化决策。线上线下融合模式下的战略顾客行为不同于传统模式,其对于供应链运营管理及其优化决策的影响也不同于传统模式。基于O2O运作模式特征,运用战略顾客行为理论、供应链优化与协调理论,本文分别构建了"线上下单+线下体验+线下支付+自行提货"O2O模式1、"线上浏览+线下体验+线上购买+线下配送"O2O模式2、纯线下模式和纯线上模式下考虑战略顾客行为的供应链集中决策模型和契约协调模型,并进行了相应的数值分析,在此基础上,提出了相应的管理启示。研究结果表明：（1）无论是"线上下单+线下体验+线下支付+自行提货"O2O模式1还是"线上浏览+线下体验+线上购买+线下配送"O2O模式2,收益分享契约机制可以有效地实现战略顾客行为下的供应链协调。（2）对比两种O2O模式和两种非O2O模式,O2O模式1和O2O模式2能给供应链及其成员带来更多的利润,而纯线上模式和纯线下模式能给战略顾客带来更高的效用。（3）O2O模式下,制定较高的自提补贴和较低的折扣价格,有利于提高供应链及其成员的运营绩效。（4）O2O模式下,增强产品及其相关服务的实际体验效用,有利于提高供应链整体及其成员的运营绩效,有利于提高战略顾客的净效用。     

The Duality of an Atypical Leader in Diversity Management: The Legitimization and Delegitimization of Diversity Beliefs in Organizations

An atypical leader is often celebrated as an individual who is likely to support workforce diversity in organizations. Yet the verity of the assumption that an atypical leader will invariably promote workforce diversity remains underexplored. In this paper, we question this assumption and demonstrate the dualities of an atypical leader in legitimizing and delegitimizing workforce diversity. We define and examine the concept of atypicality among leaders, in terms of how they emerge, who they are (dispositions), what they say (discourses) and what they do (performative acts). We introduce a conceptual framework that maps out the emergence and constitution of an atypical leader, as well as their impact on diversity management within an organization. Our analysis incorporates the concept of habitus (class‐specific and reflexive), in order to reveal the dualities of an atypical leader which determine the management of diversity within an organization and cause continuity and change in diversity beliefs.     

Nurturing life-science knowledge discovery: managing multi-organisation networks

Advancement of knowledge is the seed of the innovation process. As innovations have become more complex, organisations are driven by an increased need to collaborate in order to combine specialist capabilities to meet emerging market needs. The life sciences are one sector where collaborative innovation is highly evident. This article examines the phenomenon of knowledge-generating networks within the life sciences. The study explores the drivers of collaborative endeavours and investigates how knowledge networks linking the capabilities of public research centres and commercially focused pharmaceutical organisations can be managed to deliver the required synergistic benefits for partnering organisations. Three case studies of functioning university–industry knowledge networks are analysed and a model reflecting their network's life-cycle phases is presented. The discussion identifies the specific challenge posed at each of the network's development stages, together with the management process required to secure sustainable knowledge creation and effective transfer of this knowledge into innovation-generating R&D.     

Innovation in family firms: an empirical analysis linking organizational and managerial innovation to corporate success

Family firms play a significant role in national economies worldwide, accounting e.g. for 85% of all enterprises in the OECD countries as well as for the majority of companies in Central Europe. Previous scholarly research on family firms has mostly focused on the question of how they differ from public corporations, describing family firms as being more conservative, less risk-raking, or reluctant to grow—in sum, as being less entrepreneurial than their non-family counterparts. Similarly, the existing literature often criticizes the lack of innovation in family firms. But since innovation has long been discovered as one of the key drivers to company success, it is surprising that its role in family firms has been mostly neglected in existing academic research so far. The aim of this article is therefore to study the role of (managerial and organizational) innovation in family firms compared to non-family firms on the basis of an empirical survey of 533 companies from Finland, using structural equation modelling (MPlus) for the statistical analyses.     

A Multi‐layered Exploration of the Diversity Management Field: Diversity Discourses,Practices and Practitioners in the UK

This paper presents a multi‐layered exploration of the diversity management field in the UK. In doing so, it aims to address two problematic tendencies in the current diversity research: the focus on single‐level explorations, and the polarization between critical and mainstream approaches. Using Bourdieu's concept of field, I develop a theoretical framework that conceptualizes the field of diversity management in three constituents: diversity discourse, diversity practice and diversity practitioners. The framework is used to analyse empirical evidence generated through semi‐structured interviews with 19 diversity managers of large private‐sector companies. This study reveals the presence of a gap between the diversity discourse and practice, and the absence of any standard set of qualifications and skills requirement for practitioners. The findings demonstrate the twofold role of discourse in drawing the boundaries of the diversity management field. First, it is instrumental in constructing diversity management as distinct from equal opportunities. Second, the use discourse functions as a mechanism to control the entry of practitioners into this field, which otherwise has low entry barriers. The paper offers a contribution to management research in general and equality and diversity research in particular through its original use of Bourdieuan sociology in an empirical study.     

The how and why of a firm’s approach to CSR and sustainability: a case study of a large European company

This paper aims to analyse “how” and “why” a company engages in CSR and sustainability. The “how” concerns the features of the firm’s CSR and sustainability approach, defined in terms of a firm’s strategy (implemented issues, initiatives and activities) and organization (organizational structures and roles and managerial systems adopted). The “why” refers to the key determinants, both internal and external, of CSR and sustainability. Finally, how the firm’s CSR and sustainability approach evolves over time and the relation between CSR determinants in various stages of the CSR evolutionary path are also investigated. The research method is based on the longitudinal analysis of a case study concerning a large multinational company operating in the telecommunications industry in Europe. The analysis of the case study shows that sub-cultural differences in the approach to CSR and sustainability may occur across hierarchical levels and functional units. Moreover, embedding CSR and sustainability principles doesn’t follow a linear and continuous process, made by sequential stages. Indeed, it can be characterized by an up and down evolutionary path, based on different stages with a changing emphasis given to CSR and sustainability issues. Finally, we find that the firm CSR and sustainability approach is not an autonomous choice, but it is a consequence of the contingent role played by both the external and the internal drivers and by their relative importance during the company’s CSR history.     

Harnessing Diversity and Collective Action in the Top Management Team

Diversity has become an important issue at all levels of the company from the boardroom to the back office. It is increasingly apparent that diversity is vital to productivity, with academic research indicating an important link between diverse top management team (TMT) composition and corporate performance. However, the nature of this link remains elusive, as there is little accessible research that can help top teams to evaluate how diversity impacts on their strategic capacity. This paper seeks to fill this gap by developing a conceptual framework, illustrated with case examples, to explain the relationships between TMT diversity and TMT collective action. As collective action is difficult to attain from top teams that are high in diversity, six practical processes are developed from this framework for establishing and exploiting top team strategic capacity. The paper concludes by outlining the theoretical implications of the framework.

It is the range of skills and attributes acquired through a diversity of experiences and backgrounds that combine to create a cohesive and effective board.¹

     

Reflections on the distinctiveness of European management scholarship

Management scholarship and the journal publication process has been increasingly criticised for being overly elitist and largely irrelevant to the needs of business. There is some justification for such criticisms. Yet, paradoxically, university business schools must resist the urge to be superficially relevant in order to be genuinely useful. I argue here that the very best of management research scholarship relies on a ‘scholarship of common sense’ that actively mirrors the very best of business and management practices. Artistic rigour, much more than technical rigour is needed. Openness, empirical sensitivity and the capacity for achieving ‘flying leaps’ of imagination, are to be preferred to procedural adherence in the research process. This alternative understanding of academic rigour and the intellectual richness and diversity of perspectives associated with it is clearly more evident in the British and European intellectual traditions. Such a European-styled management scholarship can help in actively reshaping the intellectual landscape, priorities and parameters of management research by encouraging the kind of scholarly contributions that is not simply technically rigorous, but imaginatively interesting and often counterintuitive.     

Work and rest in the long-distance road transport industry in Australia

Abstract

To date management of fatigue in professional drivers has largely focused on strategies that limit the amount of time spent on the job. These approaches have, however, not taken into account the well-documented effect of time of day. Consequently, the likely impact of the pattern and timing of work and rest has received little attention. The results revealed that the group of drivers who did the shortest trips and worked the shortest weekly hours were the lowest reporters of fatigue, although longer hours were not always associated with the highest reporting of fatigue. In contrast, the shortest working hours were associated with earliest onset of fatigue. For all drivers, the influence of circadian rhythms was evident in the occurrence of fatigue, with better management of the problem evident among drivers who were able to arrange the timing of rest to more closely coincide with periods of fatigue. Thus, time of day appeared to be a more important influence in determining effective rest than did period of work. These findings raise questions about the validity of the assumption underlying work hour regulations for long-distance drivers which, currently, are universally based on duration of work.     

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.     

Antecedents and consequences of diversity and equality management systems: The importance of gender diversity in the TMT and lower to middle management

Strategic human resource management theory suggests that diversity and equality management (DEM) systems provide a firm with a competitive advantage, leading to superior performance. This study proposes and tests a moderated mediation model focusing on antecedents (i.e. top management team gender diversity) and consequences (i.e. performance) of DEM systems in the context of lower through middle management (LTMM) gender diversity. The model was tested in 248 medium-to large-sized organizations using time-lagged survey and archival data. The findings provide full support for the hypothesis that a gender-diverse top management team is positively associated with DEM systems. The results provide partial support for the following hypotheses: DEM systems are positively associated with performance and this relationship is moderated by LTMM gender diversity; and DEM systems mediate the relationship between TMT gender diversity and performance. We discuss theoretical, research and practical implications.