Employee agility and enterprise social media: The Role of IT proficiency and work expertise

Enterprise social media (ESM) is an emerging technology that is widely adopted by organizations as a digital platform for facilitating employee communication. However, very few studies explore ESM, and those that examine the technology show mixed findings about the outcomes of ESM in organizations. This study addresses this issue by investigating how ESM usage in organizations is related to employee agility. Two-wave research data are collected from 306 employees in different Chinese organizations that employ ESM in the workplace. Drawing on information processing theory, we propose the moderating role of information technology (IT) proficiency and work expertise in the relationship between ESM usage and employee agility. Findings confirm the positive relationship between ESM usage and employee agility, and work expertise strengthens the positive relationship between ESM usage and employee agility. However, IT proficiency is not a significant moderator in this study. Furthermore, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Subsidiary Interdependencies and International Human Resource Management Practices in German MNCs

• Using the resource-based view, this paper links the degree of interdependence that exists between subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs) to the use of various International Human Resource Management (IHRM) practices.
• We assume that in many MNCs this interdependence has increased the need for cross-border coordination.
• We analyze to what extent MNCs use IHRM practices in order to enhance their coordination capability across national borders.
• We present a framework that addresses these effects and empirically test it using data from a questionnaire survey among 142 majority-owned overseas subsidiaries of German MNCs.
• The findings show that the degree of interdependence is related to the level of international experience of staff employed in subsidiaries, the use of third-country nationals, the provision of training, the use of cross-cultural management teams, and the choice of employee evaluation and reward methods.
• We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for IHRM practitioners and scholars as well as the limitations of our study.

     

Industry Agglomeration,Sub-National Institutions and the Profitability of Foreign Subsidiaries

This study investigates the impact of industry agglomeration and its interaction with sub-national institutions on the profitability of multinational enterprises (MNEs) subsidiaries operating in an emerging economy. We argue that in an emerging economy like China, competition in product and factor markets is more intense between foreign firms than between foreign and domestic firms owning to market segmentation. Consequently, industry agglomeration with other foreign firms has negative impact on the profitability of foreign subsidiaries. In contrast, foreign firms agglomerating with domestic firms may reap gains owning to less competition and improved access to local resources and knowledge. We find that these effects are more pronounced to domestic-market-oriented foreign firms. Furthermore, sub-national institutions moderate the relationships between industry agglomeration and the profitability of foreign firms. Our arguments are supported by the empirical analysis based on a comprehensive dataset of foreign firms operating in China over the period from 1999 to 2005.     

伦理型领导对员工任务绩效的影响

目的本研究旨在探究伦理型领导对员工任务绩效的影响机制。方法采用伦理型领导、员工影响力、同事支持以及任务绩效问卷,在企业进行两轮问卷调查,共收集了201名企业员工的两个时间点配对的调查问卷数据。结果通过多层线性回归分析,结果表明同事支持对伦理型领导与员工任务绩效之间的关系具有中介作用,员工影响力负向调节伦理型领导与同事支持之间的关系,以及员工影响力负向调节同事支持在伦理型领导与员工任务绩效之间的中介作用。结论伦理型领导可以通过增加同事支持来影响员工任务绩效,以及此影响路径效果受到员工影响力水平的约束。     

Subsidiary Initiatives in the Institutional Environment

We study subsidiaries of a MNC and research why they implement initiatives that deviate from organizational values of headquarters. Initially we relied only on the concept of institutional duality and expected that pressures in the institutional environment and values of headquarters explain the agency of the subsidiaries. But the results of our extensive participatory observation showed that the organizational values of subsidiaries (rather than those of headquarters) helped explain the subsidiaries’ actions. In conclusion, we find that there are limits to the predictive power of the concept of institutional duality. Our study shows that a distinction between values of headquarters and values of subsidiaries is necessary in order to understand the agency of subsidiaries. We suggest a concept of ‘institutional trinity’ that distinguishes between these two values as well as pressures in the institutional environment. Our research demonstrates that an MNC can benefit from a subsidiary that develops its own organizational values. If headquarters is subsequently ready to adopt some of these subsidiary values, it may be able to adapt more easily to a changing institutional environment.     

Antecedents and Innovation Performance Implications of MNC Political Ties in the Chinese Automotive Supply Chain

The development of political ties represents a non-market strategy, which may substitute for formal contracts in safeguarding against transaction risks of innovation processes in emerging markets with weak institutions, such as China. Previous work has largely ignored the role political ties play in product innovation, and especially with respect to subsidiaries of foreign multinational corporations (MNCs). This study investigates the antecedents and role of political ties in relation to the innovation performance of foreign subsidiaries supplying automotive parts in China. Our analysis is based on survey data from 170 foreign MNC supplier firms in China. A partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach is employed to examine relationships through a ‘soft-modelling’ analysis, using SmartPLS 3. The results empirically confirm the positive impact of political ties, in terms of enhancing foreign MNCs’ product innovation performance in China. Furthermore, it is found that the extent to which foreign suppliers invest in and maintain political ties is driven by a mix of organizational and environmental factors, namely protection orientation, relationship-specific investment, technological dynamism and competitor opportunism. The paper contributes to the understanding of the antecedents and the implications of political ties with respect to the innovation performance of foreign MNC subsidiaries in emerging economies.     

Market Orientation, Embeddedness and the Autonomy and Performance of Multinational Subsidiaries in an Emerging Economy

• This paper develops a conceptual framework for market orientation, embeddedness, autonomy and performance of multinational subsidiaries in an emerging economy.
• We argue that internal and external embeddedness has different performance implications for export- and local market-oriented multinational subsidiaries.
• Our results, based on a sample of 233 multinational subsidiaries from China, indicate that while external embeddedness has a positive impact on specialized resources of both types of subsidiary, such resources only positively affect the performance of local market-oriented subsidiaries. By contrast, internal embeddedness has a negative impact on specialized resources of both types of subsidiary.
• Managerial and policy implications are discussed.

     

The impact of quality practices and employee empowerment in the performance of hospital units

Healthcare is a unique services environment with increasing demand for services coupled with widely diverse patient needs. In addition, hospitals are under increased pressure to provide quality care yet simultaneously decrease associated costs. This study examines how the use of quality practices and employee empowerment impact hospital unit outcomes. Specifically, the sociotechnical theory is used to explain the relationship of quality practices and employee empowerment in respiratory care services. Utilising data from 101 different hospital units, survey responses from managers and physicians within the same hospital units are used to test the impact on quality and cost of care performance metrics via path modelling. The results show the social side of improvement programs, i.e. employee empowerment, may be a critical component to true quality improvement in hospital units. Furthermore, while respiratory care managers feel that employee empowerment reduces costs of patient care, physicians felt that there was no impact on costs. The implications of these findings and differing perspectives are discussed.     

Relationship with Headquarters and Divestments of Foreign Subsidiaries: The Hysteresis Perspective

This paper examines the conditions under which foreign subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNCs) are less prone to divestments. In the study, we examine the importance of foreign subsidiaries to MNCs based upon (1) product-level vertical integration, (2) human capital investments, and (3) technological investments in the subsidiaries. Given that we examine the probability that a subsidiary divestment will occur under the condition that all other subsidiaries are also at risk during the same time period, we employ a Cox proportional hazard rate model as a commonly used statistical method in the event history analysis. For empirical testing, we utilized a sample of Korean 439 MNCs and its 5306 foreign subsidiaries over a period of 1990–2011. We find that even under hostile host market demand conditions, MNCs are less likely to divest their foreign subsidiaries when those subsidiaries are vertically integrated with their headquarters, benefiting from a top management team dispatched from their headquarters or other affiliates, or possessing technological knowledge shared by their headquarters. These findings imply that relationship-specific investments with headquarters cause a hysteresis effect that deters these subsidiaries from being divested, even during times when divestments seem most likely because of unfriendly economic conditions in their host countries.     

Integrated manufacturing,employee and business performance: Australian and New Zealand evidence

This article reports on a large field study of Integrated Manufacturing (IM), consisting of Total Quality Management (TQM), Just in Time (JIT) and Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT). The relationship between these facets of Integrated Manufacturing and performance was examined empirically, including measures of employee performance and manufacturing performance. There was a significant correlation between employee performance and manufacturing performance. While all three facets of Integrated Manufacturing were relatively strongly connected with employee performance, manufacturing performance was significantly but less strongly connected to the intensity of TQM and JIT than employee performance, and not connected with the intensity of Advanced Manufacturing Technology. Some second-order interactive effects between the facets of Integrated Manufacturing and performance were found. Further, by partitioning the large data set into three using the AMT factor as a cutting variable, it was found that the stronger the AMT environment, the stronger the explanatory power of TQM and JIT on both employee and manufacturing performance. The interactive impact of AMT and TQM was significantly positively related to both employee and manufacturing performance.     

The effectiveness of the ISO 9001 quality management system and its influential critical factors in Greek manufacturing companies

The purpose of the study is firstly, to empirically validate the conceptual structure of the effectiveness of the ISO 9001 quality management system (QMS) in manufacturing companies and secondly, to determine the critical factors that have a significant impact on the QMS’s effectiveness. A research study was carried out through a structured questionnaire in a sample of 163 ISO 9001 certified Greek companies. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses are applied to extract and validate latent constructs, while their relationships are determined through structural equation modelling. The analyses confirm the conceptual factorial structure of the ISO 9001 QMS’s effectiveness which consists of three dimensions – the ISO 9001 objectives (prevention of non-conformities, continuous improvement and customer satisfaction focus). The analysis also confirms the five dimensions of the critical factors for ISO 9001 QMS effectiveness identified in the literature (internal motivation, external environment pressure, company attributes, employee attributes and quality system attributes). However, only the company internal motivation, company attributes and employee attributes have a significant impact on the ISO 9001 QMS’s effectiveness.     

Are you a tech-savvy person? Exploring factors influencing customers using self-service technology

The main purpose of this research is to study the relationship between servicescape and the intention to use self-service technology (SST) using core service and employee service as the moderators and attitude as mediator. The subjects of this research were customers using self-service facilities at banks in Guangzhou, China. Convenience sampling was utilized to survey customers in the bank service outlets; 485 questionnaires were collected. The results show that servicescape has a significantly positive impact on intention to use SST. Attitude toward using SST plays a mediating role in the relationship between servicescape and intention to use SST, while employee service negatively moderates the impact of servicescape on attitude toward using SST. Also, core service negatively moderates the impact of attitude toward using SST on the intention to use SST. This research extends the literature on SST and provides practical information for service enterprises adopting SST.     

Economic Inequality,Cultural Orientation and Base-of-Pyramid Employee Performance at the MNC Subsidiary: A Multi-Case Investigation

Research to date on economic inequality and how it affects organizational employee performance is both sparse and generic in scope. Multinational corporations—in particular—can benefit from an extension of empirical inquiry which looks at economic inequality in conjunction with cultural orientation in order to understand the behavior of their cross-border subsidiary employees. To this end, we report on an exploratory, multi-case study using data drawn from interviews, observation and company information with frontline, base of the organizational pyramid employees at the Thai subsidiaries of Anglo-US MNCs. Our findings detail the manifestations of high economic inequality and low worker status, as well as the adverse implications for subsidiary service delivery (e.g., absenteeism, moonlighting, deficient-communication) and broader corporate reputation concerns. We also detail the specific role of vertical-collectivist cultural norms and values in both exacerbating and mitigating the adverse effects observed. Finally, we discuss the implications for international business managers seeking to address (and prevent) subsidiary performance suppression due to economic inequality, focusing on the development of ‘social embeddedness’ as a key competence in the engagement and nurturing of base-of-pyramid employees in emerging Asia.     

Self-regulation and social media addiction: A multi-wave data analysis in China

Based on social cognitive theory (SCT), the present study aimed to investigate the impact of social media addiction (SMA) on employee strain and task performance through work-technology conflict and self-esteem. Furthermore, this study hypothesizes that the moderating influence of self-regulation may buffer the impact of SMA on work-technology conflict and self-esteem. The final sample of this study was 282 employees of Chinese information technology companies from southwest China's Guizhou province. Results demonstrated that SMA significantly affects task performance via work-technology conflict and self-esteem. This study presents some distinctive results by showing that the mediating role of self-esteem is found to be insignificant in the association between SMA and strain. Self-regulation reduces the increased impact of SMA on work-technology conflict and self-esteem. Moreover, this study provides useful insights for practitioners, managers, and future researchers to understand the impact of SMA on employees' mental health and task performance.     

Collaboration in Innovation Between Foreign Subsidiaries and Local Universities: Evidence from Spain

Collaboration between foreign subsidiaries and universities is relevant for multinational companies (MNCs) that aim at absorbing knowledge from abroad, as well as for universities and policy-makers attempting to maximize the spillovers associated with foreign direct investment (FDI). In this paper, we explore how MNCs collaborate with universities in the foreign countries where they locate and provide new empirical evidence for Spain as a host country. Using a probit model with panel data comprising 9,614 firms for the period 2005–2011, we explore differences between the propensity to collaborate with universities of foreign subsidiaries and Spanish firms. Subsequently, building on a new survey to 89 foreign subsidiaries and on a more detailed analysis of five case studies, we discuss the variety of motivations that drive collaboration with universities and relate the scale and scope of such collaborations with the dynamic mandates of foreign subsidiaries in global innovation networks.     

How Do the Normativity of Headquarters and the Knowledge Autonomy of Subsidiaries Co-Evolve? Capability-Upgrading Processes of Chinese Subsidiaries in Belgium

To successfully compete with advanced market multinationals (AMNEs), emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) have to access higher innovation capabilities from their autonomously operating advanced economy subsidiaries. There are two competing schools of thought on how EMNE subsidiaries obtain capability-upgrading autonomy from their headquarters. The first school of thought embraces a knowledge-based, boundedly rational perspective on headquarters’ delegation of capability-upgrading autonomy. The second argues that normative stakeholder priorities pervade headquarters’ capability-upgrading logic, with a “headquarters knows best logic” standing in the way of knowledge-based subsidiary autonomy. This paper adopts a process perspective to understand how EMNE headquarters’ logics and subsidiaries’ mandate for capability-upgrading co-evolve over time. Drawing on the case of Chinese multinational subsidiaries (CMNEs) in Belgium we find that subsidiary managers’ ability to challenge normative expectations is a condition to headquarters acting in a knowledge-based manner. We contribute to the literature on EMNE capability-upgrading by developing several propositions on how autonomy negotiation processes between headquarters and subsidiary evolve over time; depending on the historical imprinting of home success values, the socialisation in how to respond to failure and the emergence of constructive conflict.     

The Effect of Corporate Political Activity on MNC Subsidiary Legitimacy: An Institutional Perspective

MNC subsidiaries engage in a variety of corporate political activities to gain legitimacy in the host country. Based on institutional theory, our study examines five types of strategies that MNC subsidiaries pursue to gain legitimacy in foreign markets. Using data from Australian subsidiaries of MNCs operating in different industries, and whose parents originate from 28 different countries, we find that mimetic isomorphism strategy has the strongest effect whereas information strategy has no effect on subsidiary legitimacy. The other three strategies, namely, financial, constituency building and relational have strong to moderate effects on subsidiary legitimacy. In addition, we show that multiple CPA strategies are essential and work together synergistically to contribute to the legitimacy of MNC subsidiaries. Our paper provides empirical support to the widely recognized need for MNC subsidiaries to engage in different types of CPA to legitimize their operations in diverse institutional contexts across the globe.     

Dual-Option Subsidiaries and Exit Decisions During Times of Economic Crisis

• This study examines the dual implications of dual-option subsidiaries on exit decisions during times of economic crisis. Retaining dual-option subsidiaries in crisis-stricken countries means leaving a shadow option open for future growth once a crisis ends. However, MNCs may encounter problems pursuing either option due to challenges in managing dual-option subsidiaries with clashing strategic mandates.
• The equivocal nature of dual-option subsidiaries points to the possibility of another factor playing an important moderating role in exit decisions—subsidiary performance—which has been rarely considered in the MNC real options literature. Our primary argument is that lower subsidiary performance increases the influence of shadow option value embedded in dual-option subsidiaries.
• Analyzing a sample of 703 Korean overseas manufacturing subsidiaries in Asian countries, we find that when profitability falls, subsidiaries with dual options are less likely to be exited than those with single options.

     

Product and employee development in advanced manufacturing: Implementation and impact

As competitive intensity increases and the need for rapid, responsive and efficient production rises, manufacturers need to develop effective strategies that lever all a firm's resources into a competitive weapon. One challenge managers face in today's dynamic global economy is to choose appropriate manufacturing practices and then to integrate them into a cohesive value-added strategy that will yield enhanced competitive performance. The sheer number and range of manufacturing 'strategies' that have emerged over the past 20 years exacerbate the challenge. The goal of this study is therefore to look at four highly publicized manufacturing strategies and then examine their interrelationships and impact on firm performance: (1) integrated product development, (2) employee development, (3) just-in-time manufacturing and (4) manufacturing automation. The responses of 158 managers from randomly selected US manufacturing firms were used to develop a covariance matrix to facilitate the use of a structural equations model via LISREL. The analysis indicates that employee and product development strategies are important antecedents of just-in-time and automation strategies. All four advanced manufacturing practices have significant, positive impacts on organizational competitiveness.