We use attribution theory to show that firms that make more internal attributions to positive performance outcomes engage slack resources more freely for corporate entrepreneurship (CE) than firms that make fewer of such attributions. In addition, we show that the way in which companies make external attributions to performance outcomes moderates this relationship. To examine this empirically, we explore how top management teams discuss the factors that contribute to firm performance. Specifically, we look at attributions provided in the Management's Discussion and Analysis section of the annual reports of 144 pharmaceutical firms over a 2-year period. In line with our predictions, we find that greater internal attribution to positive performance outcomes leads to increased use of slack resources for CE. Furthermore, we find that this effect is stronger when firms make more external attributions to negative performance outcomes than positive performance outcomes.

This study investigated the role employees may play in making themselves targets of supervisor incivility. Drawing from Victim Precipitation Theory, and Conservation of Resources Theory, I hypothesized that engaging in presenteeism will be positively associated with experienced supervisor incivility, and that presentees’ experienced productivity loss will mediate this relationship. Furthermore, I hypothesized that presentees’ self-efficacy and perceived control (personal and condition resources, respectively) will each operate as boundary conditions of the presenteeism–productivity loss relationship such that presentees high in each resource will be less likely to experience supervisor incivility. I found that experienced productivity loss mediates the positive relationship between presenteeism and experienced supervisor incivility. Additionally, self-efficacy was found to moderate the presenteeism–productivity loss relationship; however, the relationship was stronger for low self-efficacy presentees, which increased the likelihood of experiencing supervisor incivility. Perceived control did not moderate the presenteeism–productivity loss relationship. I discuss the study’s implications for theory and practice.

We explored the interactive role of an organization's sector prototypicality (the extent to which the organization embodies the prototype of its market sector) and employees' identification with their organization in buffering crises' negative effects on perceived organizational performance. We propose (1) that highly prototypical organizations are perceived as more able to cope with organizational crisis, because of their capacity to reduce the threat associated with crisis, and (2) that this effect is augmented when employees more strongly identify with their organization, presumably because of a higher trust in the organization's capacity to efficiently cope with crisis. Findings from two studies confirmed the hypotheses, by manipulating (study 1) and measuring (study 2) organizational crisis and the organization's sector prototypicality, and by focusing on potential employees (study 1) and on employees of a company facing a financial crisis (study 2). Theoretical and applied implications of results are discussed.

Challenged by the effects of organisational flexibility and high corporate real estate costs, organisations are increasingly seeking flexibility and operational efficiency in their office spaces. To date, the literature relating to flexible office spaces has focused mainly on their physical characteristics. The full effects of such spaces on human reactions and the corporate culture of organisations are less understood. The objective of this paper is to examine the influence of introducing activity-based working (ABW) on existing organisational culture. It was addressed from the perspective of the management of large corporate organisations. A mixed-method research that included a qualitative approach followed by a quantitative approach was adopted. The first stage included semistructured interviews with 19 large organisations who had introduced flexible layouts. The second stage involved a questionnaire survey of 32 organisations which had experienced office layout changes. Findings identify that the nature of workplace designs has a considerable impact on the corporate culture of an organisation and can be used to leverage and change its culture. Workplace designs directly influence culture by supporting the systems, symbols, engagement/motivation and behaviours of the organisation and employees. However, some differences between the perceptions of public and private organisations were identified. In conclusion, office layouts are artefacts that can either support, or change, the existing organisational culture. Therefore, the critical achievement of workspace design is to integrate the cultures, values and behaviours of organisations to meet their ultimate goals.

The circular economy (CE) has gained increasing attention as a means towards sustainable development. Entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises are regarded as key custodians in the transition to a CE. Opportunity identification is the cornerstone of entrepreneurship and has been extensively studied in traditional venturing; however, research on circular opportunity identification is limited. This paper addresses this gap by exploring (1) how entrepreneurs identify opportunities in the CE, underpinned by an adaptation of a sustainable opportunity identification conceptual model and (2) how CE principles are reflected in the identified opportunities, through the lens of the ReSOLVE CE framework. Nine in-depth interviews were conducted with circular entrepreneurs from three European Union member states with high, medium, and low Resource Efficiency Scoreboard rankings. The findings shed light into the black box of circular opportunity identification and indicate that the ReSOLVE levers constitute a useful framework to advance knowledge on circular entrepreneurship.

This paper examines how national culture informs the sourcing of management knowledge through external consultancy. First, it hypothesises and compares the relationship between quantitative measures of Hofstede's cultural indices with adjusted expenditure on consulting in nine countries. Two cultural indices are found to correlate with consulting use – power distance (negatively) and individualism (positively). However, the disparity between our findings and prior research suggests limitations of generalisation in studies solely employing quantitative cultural indices to understand the purchasing of business knowledge. We therefore propose the use of supplementary, qualitative data with sensitivity to local contexts and briefly apply this by using secondary sources to provide historical narratives for two countries – the UK and Japan. Overall, we find and tentatively explain significant statistical relationships between Hofstede's cultural indices and adjusted expenditure on consultancy. We then draw attention to wider implications for consulting research and for practitioners involved in this context.

A previous meta-analysis of dimensional structure research published during the latter half of the 20th century revealed significant intercorrelation among structural dimensions inspired by Max Weber's bureaucratic ideal type, providing support for continued research on dimensional structures and for the bureaucratic structural model that served as its theoretical foundation. A new meta-analysis reported in this article, motivated by questions regarding the continued applicability of bureaucratic dimensional models in the later era of new organization forms, indicates that many of the interrelationships among five structural dimensions (formalization, standardization, specialization, vertical differentiation, and decentralization) have weakened since the time of the earlier meta-analysis. The results of this study, conducted using a sample of 346 correlations from a collection of 155 published articles, are interpreted as failing to provide consistent evidence supporting a central tenet of the bureaucratic structural model, therefore, as indicating that dimensional structural research now lacks a viable theoretical foundation.

With a conceptual basis in conservation of resources theory, this paper investigates the relationship between employees' career plateau beliefs and their voice behavior, using parallel arguments that reflect resource-conservation versus resource-acquisition logics. The career plateau beliefs–voice behavior link, whether negative or positive, might be invigorated when employees encounter adversity in the workplace, such as due to work pressures (work overload and work–family conflict) or because of how their organization makes decisions (organizational politics and organizational underperformance). Survey data from employees in the Canadian information technology sector provide empirical support for the resource-acquisition logic: career plateau beliefs enhance employees' propensity to offer ideas for organizational improvement, particularly if they suffer from excessive workloads or conflicting work–family demands, perceive organizational decision making as political, and are unhappy about their organization's performance. These novel insights point to the critical role of a stagnated career in triggering, instead of dampening, proactive voice behaviors.

The purpose of this study aims to explore the relationships between business portfolio reconfiguration and firm performance in developing countries as well as the moderating roles played by organizational slack, capabilities and ownership structure. By using the perspectives of dynamic capabilities, resources-based view and social network, this study proposes that there is a U-shaped relationship between business portfolio reconfiguration and firm performance. Furthermore, while R&D capability, marketing capability and foreign ownership are expected to positively moderate this U-shaped relationship, organizational slack, state and domestic ownership may potentially make this U-shaped relationship less pronounced. We draw our observations from Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges in China from 2008 to 2017, and obtain 26,151 firm-year observations, which are consisted of 3,508 publicly traded companies. The results generally support our hypotheses, and some theoretical and practical implications are extracted from this study.

This paper reflects on the latent organisational process that leads tothe scarcity of women in senior positions. Utilising characteristics of legitimisation, institutionalisation and self-determination theories the paper observes how women manage upward mobility. Subsequently, it was important to investigate the mid-level cohorts, as there lies the critical question triggering the anomaly. Focusing on the public sector with an interest in gendered organisations, the study examines law enforcement. Conversely, the aim of this paper is to focus on why there is a continued dearth in the number of policewomen at top level positions in USA and Australia. A qualitative study with a phenomenological approach is applied. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with 40 policewomen in mid-management positions in American and Australian law enforcement. It further aims to explore the linkages of the ongoing paucity of gendered leadership in organisations, questioning how these will influence women's ability to advance to higher-level positions.

The environmental pollution caused by Advanced Semiconductor Engineering in October 2013 in Taiwan highlighted the fact that foreign investors tend to support the classical economic ideas of arbitrage and shareholder wealth maximization, which is in conflict with the fact that institutional investors in the current global capital market lean towards the stakeholder theory in ethical investments. Will local investors’ decision-making also be influenced by differences in the perceived ethics of negative environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR)? Compared to the remedial measures implemented by British Petroleum for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, another international corporation, decided to not respond to any news regarding the toxic wastewater incident. In contrast, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering only made clearer promises after extreme public pressure. This study investigated whether remedial measures for negative ECSR are an important factor influencing investors’ decisions. The purpose is to clarify the interactions among perceived moral intensity of negative ECSR, the implementation of remedial measures, and the intention of ethical investment. An experimental design was employed to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that perceived moral intensity has a significant negative impact on the intention of ethical investment. The implementation of remedial measures for negative ECSR affects investors’ intent to invest. Finally, positive ECSR remedial measures also serve as a key moderating variable in the relationship between perceived moral intensity and the intention of ethical investment. This study clarified whether the provision of remedial mechanisms can effectively recover or maintain investor investment intent when companies experience negative ECSR.

Writing from an autoethnographic perspective, in this paper I re-visit Erving Goffman's ideas to examine impression management tactics used by staff from a large Brazilian mining company. The analysis is based on a 6-week fieldwork trip to Brazil in 2008 for the purpose of gathering qualitative data for a study on corporate social responsibility in the extractivist sector. Post-fieldwork reflections prompted the insight that during the data gathering phase of my research, I was subject to a series of impression management ‘performances’ by my corporate informants, carried out to foster a positive image of their company. In the paper I juxtapose data obtained during fieldwork and my personal reflections with selected excerpts from Goffman's The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.

This research examined the validity of Performance Environment Perception Scales (PEPS), a new instrument designed to assess performance-relevant aspects of the work environment. A sample of 156 employees of an Australian university completed PEPS and their supervisors rated their task and citizenship performance. Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed PEPS to have a valid factor structure, and PEPS were found to be significantly correlated with citizenship performance, but not with task performance. Although this finding is consistent with theoretical predictions, PEPS are apparently the first measures of work environment perceptions that have confirmed this. Thus PEPS show promise as measures for use in future research and organizational development projects that focus on relationships between the work environment and performance. Limitations of the research and implications for the validity of PEPS, as well as for future research and practice, are discussed.

A review of the strategy literature suggests there have been five phases in the evolution of the field since the Second World War. The present paper discusses each of these phases, drawing on developments in each decade to determine the key lessons for managers and researchers. In particular, it is suggested that ongoing concerns with the effectiveness of strategy implementation in the 1980s and 1990s have led the field to pay greater attention to managers' thought processes, the use of technology, organisational learning, organisational politics, organisational culture and group dynamics. It also appears that a debate has evolved as to whether strategy should be practiced as art, a science or a combination of both.

In this case study we address the issue of CEO succession drawing directly on the experience of the board of directors of Air New Zealand. Despite extensive literature on CEO-board relations, there has been a scarce number of studies on managing the processes of CEO succession and appointment from the board perspective. Drawing on documentary sources as well as in-depth interviews with all board members and CEOs appointed in the period 2002–2013, we shed light on this important governance process primarily for teaching purposes. We emphasise the board’s role in the context of the transformation of the airline into an award-winning, financially performing company in a highly competitive and mature industry. The case study examines how the board developed, implemented, and managed a succession process for three CEOs that was sound in design and achieved its desired benefits. By focusing on board leadership and board processes our case study provides evidence that independent boards can shape a specific combination of governance practices which contribute to successful CEO transitions.

The literature highlights two main approaches to designing an effective complaint management system: the mechanistic and the organic. The mechanistic approach emphasizes the establishment of guidelines for the correct processing, attention and resolution of complaints received. In contrast, the organic approach relies on creating a supportive internal environment for correct customer attention, made possible through training and empowering employees responsible for complaint management and by promoting extra-role behaviour among them. The present research aims to study the antecedents of adopting these two approaches. From a strategic perspective, we analyse the influence of organizational culture variables (the extent to which the firm is customer and innovation oriented) and the nature of the objectives pursued by complaint handling (defensive vs. improvement objectives). The proposed model is tested on a sample of 140 manufacturing firms. Findings indicate these antecedents shape the complaint management system in a diverse and significant manner.

Research on top management team (TMT) diversity suggests that diverse backgrounds improve technological exploration. However, this diversity may also cause demographic faultlines that break a team into subgroups and undermine team performance, and the status difference between CEO and top managers may change inter-subgroup dynamics. We predicted that TMT faultline had an inverted U-shape relationship with technological exploration. Further, we predicted that the effects of TMT faultline were more prominent when the CEO is in the minority subgroup than when the CEO was in the majority subgroup. Using a longitudinal sample from the US IT services industry, the results found that TMT faultline exhibited an inverted U-shape relationship with technological exploration only when the CEO was in the minority subgroup, and such relationship disappeared when the CEO was in the majority subgroup.

To better manage our work demands and family demands, we often erect mental or physical ‘boundaries’ to help manage our experiences. However, preferences for preserving these boundaries differ across individuals (e.g., some individuals may prefer to segment work/family roles, while others may prefer to integrate these roles) and employees may not always have similar preferences/values as their supervisors. Applying a resource framework from the job demands-resources model (JD-R; Bakker & Demerouti, 2007), we explicate the process through which supervisor–employee value congruence reduces work–family conflict, when supervisors provide valuable emotional and instrumental resources through family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB). Furthermore, we find evidence that supervisors can demonstrate adequate FSSB even when having incongruent values with employees by fairly allocating and individually tailoring family-support. With a diverse sample of 815 staff members from four southern US universities, we conduct mediation and moderation analyses to test our hypotheses.