The impact of employment relationships on firm sustainability

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Rincon-Roldan ◽  
Alvaro Lopez-Cabrales

PurposeThe aim of this study was to analyse the influence of different employment relationships (ERs) on the sustainability results of cooperatives. The authors approached the type of ER comparing the inducements offered by the firm with the contributions that the manager expects from employees. In this way, the authors study how the orientation toward the employment relationship influences the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the firm.Design/methodology/approachThis article presents a theoretical and empirical research model about the relationship between ERs and sustainability. The necessary information was obtained through a questionnaire that was completed by the human resource (HR) managers and chief executive officers (CEOs) of 124 cooperative companies, and structural equation modelling was applied to evaluate the relationships between the proposed constructs, using the partial least squares technique (PLS-SEM).FindingsThe obtained results suggest that mutual investment and overinvestment ERs favour economic, social and environmental sustainability, whereas quasi spot contract and underinvestment ERs have a negative influence on all three types of sustainability. Therefore, it is confirmed that the type of ER adopted can condition the sustainability of the company, either favouring or worsening it.Originality/valueThis work contributes to covering the lack of studies about which ERs impact the sustainability of organisations, and it provides information on the role of ERs in the search for a more sustainable organisation, demonstrating that the type of employment relationship developed by the firm has a relevant impact on its sustainability.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Mohammad Ali Fahimi ◽  
Grzegorz Zimon ◽  
Saeid Homayoun

Purpose This study aims to analyze the literature on knowledge management on intellectual capital, social capital and its contribution to Iranian companies’ innovation. Design/methodology/approach To investigate knowledge management’s relationship on intellectual capital, social capital and innovation, using structural equation modeling based on data collected from 205 chief executive officers, production managers and marketing managers of Iranian companies. The research instrument is a standard questionnaire consisting of 109 questions in which 5 of them are demographic questions, 26 questions were asked to reveal the knowledge management process, 40 questions for intellectual capital, 21 for social capital and 17 for innovation. Findings The results show that knowledge management has a positive and significant relationship between intellectual capital and social capital. Knowledge management did not have a significant effect on innovation. However, intellectual capital and social capital have a significant effect on innovation. On the other hand, knowledge management mediated by intellectual capital and social capital has a positive and significant indirect effect on innovation. Originality/value The paper includes the implications for developing knowledge management and intellectual, social capital leading to innovation in manufacturing companies. Knowledge management can improve the innovation performance of a company if it is shared and applied effectively. This study addresses an important subject and the findings may be used by professionals and managers or another person interested in advancing knowledge management that leads to innovation.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pyemo Afego ◽  
Imhotep Alagidede

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore how citizen protests against perceived acts of racial injustice impact on share prices of companies who weigh in on the protests. In particular, corporate statements that directly address the issues around the protests are identified and possible mechanisms underlying how these may impact shareholder value are discussed. Design/methodology/approach The authors first use a qualitative research approach of content and sentiment analysis to track how companies or their chief executive officers (CEOs) present their stance against racial injustice, as represented by their use of linguistic markers. Then, the authors use an event study methodology to assess the response from stock market participants. Findings The findings suggest that CEOs primarily convey their stance using language that is emotive and empathic. In addition, shareholders earn a significant abnormal return of 2.13%, on average, in the three days following the release of the statements. Research limitations/implications This study considered only US-listed companies. The sample size, also, is relatively small. Institutional and cultural differences across countries may also vary. Thus, future research could explore the extent to which the findings generalize to other contexts. Practical implications Results provide insights to top managers who communicate with various stakeholders on emotionally charged social issues. Findings also offer insights on the timing of trades for investors and arbitrageurs. Social implications Findings contribute to the understanding of corporate behaviour in times of social upheaval. Insights from the study may also be used to inform corporate communication decisions about important social issues. Originality/value This study brings into focus the role that affective appeal and moral emotion can play in evoking motivation for corporate activism, and the impact that this has on investor opinions’ formation process.


This chapter provides important perspectives from key informants about their experiences of the impact of public policy on small social enterprises. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the 10 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), 8 HR managers, and 46 operational managers working in small third sector social enterprises in four UK regions to ascertain how government policy framework poses challenges and/or encourages small third sector social enterprises growth and success. There is clear evidence that changes in public policy have had some challenging effect on services development and in several regions, with core services, training and employment support and preventative services are showing a net deterioration.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 706-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Su ◽  
Bin Li ◽  
Chen Ma

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of corporate dispersion on tax avoidance from geographical and institutional dispersion perspectives by using evidence from China. Design/methodology/approach Using a panel data of Chinese listed firms during 2003-2015, this paper estimates with correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. Findings Both geographical and institutional dispersion are negatively associated with the degree of corporate tax avoidance. Furthermore, corporate governance mechanisms and female chief executive officers can mitigate the negative relation between corporate dispersion and tax avoidance. The results also indicate that ineffective internal control is one of the channels through which corporate dispersion reduces tax avoidance. Originality/value This is the first paper about the impact of firm dispersion on the degree of tax avoidance, complementing the research content of diversification and corporate decision-making.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 200-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjeld Harald Aij ◽  
René L.M.C. Aernoudts ◽  
Gepke Joosten

Purpose – This paper aims to assess the impact of the leadership traits of chief executive officers (CEOs) on hospital performance in the USA. The effectiveness and efficiency of the CEO is of critical importance to the performance of any organization, including hospitals. Management systems and manager behaviours (traits) are of crucial importance to any organization because of their connection with organizational performance. To identify key factors associated with the quality of care delivered by hospitals, the authors gathered perceptions of manager traits from chief executive officers (CEOs) and followers in three groups of US hospitals delivering different levels of quality of care performance. Design/methodology/approach – Three high- and three low-performing hospitals were selected from the top and bottom 20th percentiles, respectively, using a national hospital ranking system based on standard quality of care performance measures. Three lean hospitals delivering intermediate performance were also selected. A survey was used to gather perceptions of manager traits (providing a modern or lean management system inclination) from CEOs and their followers in the three groups, which were compared. Findings – Four traits were found to be significantly different (alpha < 0.05) between lean (intermediate-) and low-performing hospitals. The different perceptions between these two hospital groups were all held by followers in the low-performing hospitals and not the CEOs, and all had a modern management inclination. No differences were found between lean (intermediate-) and high-performing hospitals, or between high- and low-performing hospitals. Originality/value – These findings support a need for hospital managers to acquire appropriate traits to achieve lean transformation, support a benefit of measuring manager traits to assess progress towards lean transformation and lend weight to improved quality of care that can be delivered by hospitals adopting a lean system of management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Korak Bhaduri ◽  
Shivendra Pandey

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) development and terrestrial and marine protection on the economic and environmental sustainability of small-island tourism countries. The current study expands the smart specialisation literature in the context of small-island tourism nations. It also proposes sustainable future growth strategies for these countries. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopted structural equation modelling using the data of 14 island nations between 1995 and 2014. The selection of countries was based on a set of criteria borrowed from literature. Findings The results indicate that the development of ICT infrastructure was not only associated with a higher inflow of tourists and a higher GDP per capita but also with a higher carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. Results also suggest that higher protection of terrestrial and marine areas has no impact on tourist inflows in tourism countries. Also, higher protection decreases the dependence of the total output on the tourism sector. Research limitations/implications A limitation of this study is the lack of available macro data on some other relevant variables for the countries studied. Social implications Following the findings of this study, the governments of these countries should make stringent environmental regulations and relax the telecom regulations for sustainable smart specialisation. Originality/value This study presents a novel insight into the sustainability challenge of island nations through the lens of smart specialisation. It also contributes to the literature on ICT and development.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jibriel Elsayih ◽  
Rina Datt ◽  
Ali Hamid

Purpose Research suggests that chief executive officers (CEOs) play an important role in enhancing a firm’s legitimacy with regard to environmental performance. The purpose of this paper is to use the upper echelons theory and stakeholder theory to investigate whether the characteristics of CEOs are associated with carbon performance (CP). Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a sample of 128 firm-year observations from Australian companies that participated in the carbon disclosure project from 2011 through 2014. Findings Two-stage least squares estimation reveals that CEO executive experience and CEO duality are positively associated with CP. By contrast, CEO tenure, CEO functional background experience and CEO industry experience are negatively related to CP, and CEO ownership is not related to CP. Practical implications The results might provide evidence for investors, policymakers and regulators with respect to the effectiveness of CEO characteristics for addressing carbon risks and possible linkages between CEO characteristics and carbon emission levels. In addition, the results give support CEO accountability regarding the carbon emissions. Originality/value This study provides the first empirical evidence of the impact of CEO characteristics on CP. Furthermore, this study contributes to the existing literature by showing how the characteristics of CEOs can impact corporate CP and provides a more in-depth understanding of whether such characteristics play important roles in determining corporate carbon action.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irfan Hameed ◽  
Hamid Hussain ◽  
Kamran Khan

PurposeConsumer's environmental awareness and friendliness have been growing, and consumers are increasingly concerned about the impact of hotel operations on the environment. This study evaluated the effect of green practices on the customer's green word-of-mouth (GWOM) intention for hotels with environment-friendly operations.Design/methodology/approachThe data have been collected from tourists by using the judgmental sampling technique, and a usable sample size of 257 respondents has been achieved. The data analysis has been performed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsThere is a strong relationship between green practices adopted by hotels and the green image of hotels. This study also found that the green image of a hotel positively impacts consumer green satisfaction and green trust, and these two variables have significant influence over the GWOM.Practical implicationsThe study can be helpful in the promotion of environmentally sustainable consumer behavior in response to a stimulus being generated by the marketers and policymakers.Social implicationsThis study will further help society to share and discuss favorable information about environmental sustainability through GWOM.Originality/valueThe study investigated the effect of green hotels on GWOM approximately after one year of the COVID-19 outbreak. Hence, the results can ascertain to be the basis of the new policies of the hotels in post-COVID world.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Sánchez-González ◽  
Irene Gil-Saura ◽  
Maria-Eugenia Ruiz-Molina

PurposeThe present research aims to analyse the retailer's commitment to sustainable development (RCSD) perceived by the consumers and how it contributes to store equity creation through image, perceived quality and loyalty.Design/methodology/approachA primary research was conducted through a structured questionnaire to analyse the relationships between the variables included in the proposed model. The fieldwork was conducted in 2019, obtaining responses from 617 retail consumers from four cities in Ecuador – Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca and Machala – obtained. A structural equation model is estimated with the partial least squares technique.FindingsThere is evidence in favour of the contribution of sustainability to store equity. The positive influence of RCSD on perceived quality and the impact of the latter, together with store image, contribute to loyalty, which emerges as a critical construct in building store equity.Research limitations/implicationsSome limitations of the present study – geographic scope limited to Ecuador, analyses restricted to food retailers and pre-COVID-19 data collection – may open new research opportunities replicating the study in other regions for other retail activities and in the post pandemic context.Practical implicationsThe retailer's actions demonstrate a commitment to economic, social and environmental sustainability. As a result of this, the establishment's perceived quality improves, which is of interest to academics and retail management professionals.Originality/valueThe present research provides evidence on the chain of effects that explains the positive contribution of RCSD to store equity creation in grocery retailing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 1023-1035
Author(s):  
Abdullah M. Aljafari ◽  
Tom J. Brown

Purpose This paper aims to understand the process of initiating ingredient/component (IC) branding from the supplier's perspective. It proposes modeling entrepreneurial orientation (EO) as an antecedent factor and differentiation abilities (functional and reputational) as mediators. Investigating IC branding from the supplier's perspective is critical given the cost and risk associated with implementing such a strategy. Design/methodology/approach A total of 5,254 manufacturing companies were screened to identify IC supplier firms that meet certain criteria. Survey data were collected from 77 top managers (Chief Executive Officers or Chief Marketing Officers) of IC supplier firms. The paper uses partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and SPSS in analyzing data. Findings The results indicate that IC branding is a complex strategy – one involving a number of steps that need to be taken in a specific order. More specifically, results indicate that IC branding starts with EO exerting a positive influence on IC functional differentiation ability (FDA). FDA facilitates reputational differentiation ability (RDA), which in turn encourages the supplier to initiate IC branding. Originality/value This paper addresses an important gap by studying the process through, which suppliers initiate IC branding.


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