Factors determining hotel activity outsourcing. An approach based on competitive advantage

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 2006-2026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomás F. Espino-Rodríguez ◽  
Juan Carlos Ramírez-Fierro
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Strategic Positioning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Activity Performance ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the levels of the main hotel outsourcing activities to identify the factors that determine the use of external suppliers for these activities. Design/methodology/approach A model was developed that analyzes the relationship between competitive advantage and outsourcing and how the relationship between competitive advantage and activity performance is affected by whether an activity is outsourced or not. Moreover, the study builds a matrix called “outsourcing and competitive advantage” where each of the activities can be placed. The study was carried out with a representative sample of hotels in a tourist destination, analyzing 12 activities from different departments in the hotels. Findings The study results indicate that there is a positive relationship between the competitive advantage of an activity and its outcome. In addition, the findings show that the relationship between competitive advantage and activity performance is stronger when the activity is developed internally than when it is outsourced. The study supports a negative relationship between the degree of outsourcing an activity and its competitive advantage. In addition, the findings showed that a change in the way of managing the outsourcing is determined by its performance. Practical implications This study aims to help managers make decisions about outsourcing by considering the perspective of the competitive advantage. Each hotel can situate the activities in the matrix created and compare itself to the sector mean for a strategic positioning of the outsourcing. Originality/value Most studies analyze asset specificity as a key variable; however, the competitive advantage has not been used in previous studies, in spite of being a better defined variable in the literature. This study classifies the activities into core and non-core and establishes their relationship with outsourcing. It also studies how the way of managing an activity (outsourcing or in-house) moderates the relationship between competitive advantage and performance. These aspects have not been analyzed in the literature..

A meta-analytic examination of the relationship between family firm generational involvement and performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 971-987
Author(s):  
Vasiliki Kosmidou
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Universal Family ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between family firm generational involvement and performance. Although researchers have studied this relationship extensively, a complete understanding of its true magnitude and sign is still lacking. Design/methodology/approach This meta-analysis sheds new light on this relationship, integrating the findings of 43 studies with 51 independent samples and 18,802 family firms. Findings The results reveal a small and negative relationship indicating that later-generation family firms perform worse compared to first-generation ones. The authors also show that the relationship is stronger for younger than older and for private than public firms. Finally, the measurements of both variables influence the relationship yielding critical research implications. Research limitations/implications This study suggests that future researchers examining the effects of generational involvement on family firm performance should conduct their analysis using multiple measures of both variables to ensure the accuracy of their results. It also highlights the need of family business scholars to converge to the use of a universal family firm definition, as findings differ significantly in strength and direction depending on which definition is used. Practical implications From a practitioners’ perspective, the findings imply that owners of young and private family firms should consider professionalizing and adopting a balanced top management team composition consisting of both family and non-family members as a way to mitigate the negative effects of “familiness” on performance. Originality/value This study empirically demonstrates the importance of adopting a generational perspective when examining differences in family firm performance.

scholarly journals Pragmatic impact of workplace ostracism: toward a theoretical model

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amer Ali Al-Atwi
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Workplace Ostracism ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend the ostracism literature by exploring the pragmatic impact of ostracism on performance. Design/methodology/approach Ostracism workplace, social relations and empowerment structures are discussed. The paper then develops a theoretical framework that explains why and under what conditions workplace ostracism undermines employees’ performance. The author proposes that empowerment structures mediate the link between ostracism and in-role and extra-role performance. In addition, it was proposed that relational links buffer the negative relationship between ostracism and empowerment structures on performance and weaken the negative indirect effect of ostracism on performance. Findings The theoretical arguments provide support for the model showing that empowerment structures mediate the relationship between ostracism and performance, and the mediation effect only occurred when external links were high but not when external links were low. Originality/value The author has expanded the extant literature by answering recent calls for research exploring the pragmatic impact of workplace ostracism where past research has typically focused solely on the psychological impacts such as psychological needs.

Gratitude in franchisor-franchisee relationships: does personality matter?

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-144
Author(s):  
Sara Quach ◽  
Scott K. Weaven ◽  
Park Thaichon ◽  
Brent Baker ◽  
Chase Jeremiah Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Emotional Stability ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Relationship Length ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the emerging relevance of gratitude within a contracted, long-term business-to-business context. Specifically, the authors examine the relationships between personality, gratitude and performance in franchisor–franchisee relationships. Design/methodology/approach A self-report survey was used to collect data from a sample of 225 franchisees drawn from across 28 franchise systems. Findings The results reveal that extraversion had a negative relationship with gratitude, while agreeableness and emotional stability were positively related to gratitude. Gratitude was also positively related to performance and mediated the relationship between extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability and performance. Moreover, the results confirm that relationship length moderated the relationship between conscientiousness and gratitude. Research limitations/implications The study shows that an individual’s personality is a factor in determining the onset of perceived gratitude, which acts as a mediating mechanism between personality and performance. This extends current research into the relational sentiment of gratitude, which has, to date, only examined the traits of the benefactor within the context of perceived benefits. Practical implications It is proposed that the knowledge of franchisees’ personal characteristics can be used to develop and maintain on-going interpersonal relationships between franchisees and franchisors. Moreover, the authors suggest that franchisors’ relationship strategy should be revised over time to maintain its effectiveness. Originality/value This paper represents the first empirical examination of the influence of personality on an individual’s proclivity to experience felt gratitude in a franchisor–franchisee relationship. This addresses one of the major issues in franchising research, which often overlooks the role of individual dispositional personality traits.

Debt policy and firm performance of family firms: the impact of economic adversity

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabete Simões Vieira
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Minority Shareholders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Debt Policy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between debt policy and performance among family firms (FF), providing evidence on whether FF differ from non-family firms (NFF). It also focusses on the possibility of asymmetrical debt policy impact on performance between periods of stability and economic adversity. Design/methodology/approach The paper employs panel data regression, considering a sample of Portuguese listed firms for the period between 1999 and 2014. Findings Overall, the author find evidence that debt contributes negatively to firms’ performance, which is consistent with the pecking order prediction, and that the relationship between debt and performance do not differ significantly between FF and NFF. After addressing the endogeneity issue, the author conclude that firms’ performance is negatively influenced by both short- and long-term debt. Considering the total debt, the negative relationship between the two variables differs from family and non-family companies. The results show that age and size influences positively, and the independence of the board directors influences negatively the firms’ performance. The empirical findings suggest that under economic adversity, the firms’ performance is negatively affected. Finally, the author conclude that return on assets appear to fit better than return on equity or MB when you want to relate debt and firm performance. Research limitations/implications A limitation of this study is the small size of the Euronext Lisbon that results in a small sample. Originality/value This paper offers some insights on the relationship between debt policy and firm performance from a country with weak protection of minority shareholders, concentrated ownership and a significant family control. It also gives the opportunity to analyse whether firm performance differs according to market conditions.

scholarly journals Moderators of the personality-performance relationship

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 474-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Muldoon ◽  
Jennifer L. Kisamore ◽  
Eric W. Liguori ◽  
I.M. Jawahar ◽  
Joshua Bendickson
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Citizenship ◽  
Organizational Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Emotional Stability ◽  
Citizenship Behavior ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Results ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Curvilinear Relationships ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether job meaning and job autonomy moderate the relationship between emotional stability and organizational citizenship behavior. Design/methodology/approach In total, 190 supervisor-subordinate dyads completed three surveys. Linear and curvilinear analyses were used to assess the data. Findings Results indicate emotionally stable individuals are more likely to perform OCBOs in low autonomy and/or low job meaning situations than are employees low in emotional stability. Conversely, individuals who have high autonomy and/or high meaning jobs are likely to engage in OCBOs regardless of personality. Research limitations/implications As a survey-based research study, causal conclusions cannot be drawn from this study. Results suggest future research on the personality-performance relationship needs to more closely consider context and the potential for curvilinear relationships. Practical implications Managers should note that personality may significantly affect job performance and consider placing individuals in jobs that best align with their personality strengths. Originality/value This study sheds light on factors which may have led to erroneous conclusions in the extant literature that the relationship between personality and performance is weak.

The reflexive turn in key account management

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 2071-2104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Vanharanta ◽  
Alan J.P. Gilchrist ◽  
Andrew D. Pressey ◽  
Peter Lenney
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Key Account Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Account Management ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Key Account ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – This study aims to address how and why do formal key account management (KAM) programmes hinder effective KAM management, and how can the problems of formalization in KAM be overcome. Recent empirical studies have reported an unexpected negative relationship between KAM formalization and performance. Design/methodology/approach – An 18-month (340 days) ethnographic investigation was undertaken in the UK-based subsidiary of a major US sports goods manufacturer. This ethnographic evidence was triangulated with 113 in-depth interviews. Findings – This study identifies how and why managerial reflexivity allows a more effectively combining of formal and post-bureaucratic KAM practices. While formal KAM programmes provide a means to initiate, implement and control KAM, they have an unintended consequence of increasing organizational bureaucracy, which may in the long-run hinder the KAM effectiveness. Heightened reflexivity, including “wayfinding”, is identified as a means to overcome many of these challenges, allowing for reflexively combining formal with post-bureaucratic KAM practices. Research limitations/implications – The thesis of this paper starts a new line of reflexive KAM research, which draws theoretical influences from the post-bureaucratic turn in management studies. Practical implications – This study seeks to increase KAM implementation success rates and long-term effectiveness of KAM by conceptualizing the new possibilities offered by reflexive KAM. This study demonstrates how reflexive skills (conceptualized as “KAM wayfinding”) can be deployed during KAM implementation and for its continual improvement. Further, the study identifies how KAM programmes can be used to train organizational learning regarding KAM. Furthermore, this study identifies how and why post-bureaucratic KAM can offer additional benefits after an organization has learned key KAM capabilities. Originality/value – A new line of enquiry is identified: the reflexive-turn in KAM. This theoretical position allows us to identify existing weakness in the extant KAM literature, and to show a practical means to improve the effectiveness of KAM. This concerns, in particular, the importance of managerial reflexivity and KAM wayfinding as a means to balance the strengths and weaknesses of formal and post-bureaucratic KAM.

Exploring privacy and trust for employee monitoring

2015 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuchih Ernest Chang ◽  
Anne Yenching Liu ◽  
Sungmin Lin
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Employee Monitoring ◽  
Communication Privacy ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate privacy boundaries and explores employees’ reactions in employee monitoring. Design/methodology/approach – The research used the metaphor of boundary turbulence in the Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory to demonstrate the psychological effect on employees. The model comprised organizational culture, CPM, trust, and employee performance in employee monitoring to further investigated the influence exerted by organizational culture and how employees viewed their trust within the organization when implementing employee monitoring. Variables were measured empirically by administrating questionnaires to full-time employees in organizations that currently practice employee monitoring. Findings – The findings showed that a control-oriented organizational culture raised communication privacy turbulence in CPM. The communication privacy turbulence in CPM mostly had negative effects on trust in employee monitoring policy, but not on trust in employee monitoring members. Both trust in employee monitoring policy and trust in employee monitoring members had positive effects on employee commitment and compliance to employee monitoring. Research limitations/implications – This research applied the CPM theory in workplace privacy to explore the relationship between employees’ privacy and trust. The results provide insights of why employees feel psychological resistance when they are forced to accept the practice of employee monitoring. In addition, this study explored the relationship between CPM and trust, and offer support and verification to prior studies. Practical implications – For practitioners, the findings help organizations to improve the performance of their employees and to design a more effective environment for employee monitoring. Originality/value – A research model was proposed to study the impacts of CPM on employee monitoring, after a broad survey on related researches. The validated model and its corresponding study results can be referenced by organization managers and decision makers to make favorable tactics for achieving their goals of implementing employee monitoring.

“Knowledge management practices” as moderator in the relationship between organizational culture and performance in information technology companies in India

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Shea ◽  
Syed Aktharsha Usman ◽  
Sengottuvel Arivalagan ◽  
Satyanarayana Parayitam
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Information Technology Companies ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this study is to empirically examine knowledge management (KM) practices as a moderator in the relationship between organizational culture and performance. The effect of four types of organizational culture on organizational performance was studied. In addition to direct effects, most importantly, KM practices as a moderator in strengthening the culture-performance relationship were empirically examined. Design/methodology/approach A carefully crafted survey instrument was distributed and data was collected from 1,255 respondents from 10 information technology companies in India. After checking the psychometric properties of the instrument, this paper performs hierarchical regression to test hypotheses. Findings The results reveal that: cooperative culture, innovative culture, consistent culture and effectiveness culture were all positively and significantly related to organizational performance; KM practices were positively and significantly related to organizational performance, KM practices moderate the relationship between various dimensions of organizational culture and organizational performance. Research limitations/implications As with any survey-based research, the present study suffers from the problems associated with self-report measures. These are common method bias and social desirability bias. However, this study attempts to minimize these limitations by following appropriate statistical techniques. Practical implications This study contributes to both practicing managers and the literature on KM and organizational culture. The study suggests that managers use KM practices, which are all-pervasive and very important for improving organizational performance. The results highlight the importance of implementing KM practices in organizations. Originality/value This study provides new insights into the importance of KM practices in achieving sustained competitive advantage by achieving organizational effectiveness. To the knowledge, the importance of KM practices is underemphasized in organizational culture research.

From corporate social responsibility activities to financial performance: role of innovation and competitive advantage

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahnoor Zahid ◽  
Hina Naeem ◽  
Iqra Aftab ◽  
Sajawal Ali Mughal
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the effect of corporate social responsibility activities (CSRA) of the firm on its financial performance (FP) and analyze the mediating role of innovation and competitive advantage (CA) in the relationship between CSRA and FP in the manufacturing sector of an emerging country, i.e. Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach Data has been collected through an electronic structured questionnaire from 300 middle-level and top-level managers by surveying different manufacturing firms of Gujranwala, Pakistan. The study’s hypotheses have been checked by analyzing the reliability and validity of data and applying confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling through statistical package for the social sciences and analysis of moment structures. Findings Outcomes of this study supported the hypothesized model. It has been found that the CSRA plays a significant positive role in determining the FP of the firm. Furthermore, the CA and innovation have been proved as significant mediators between CSRA and FP. Originality/value The first time examining the intermediation of innovation and CA in the relationship between CSRA and FP is the primary input of this study to the literature. Practically, this study’s findings will help strategy makers of manufacturing firms in emerging countries develop better strategies for implementing CSRA, enhancing innovation, seeking CA and improving FP.

How does reverse factoring affect operating performance? An event study of Chinese manufacturing firms

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongyi Shou ◽  
Jinan Shao ◽  
Weijiao Wang
Keyword(s):  
Event Study ◽  
Cost Efficiency ◽  
Operating Performance ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Performance Effect ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Operating Margin ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeAs a popular supply chain finance (SCF) strategy, reverse factoring has been widely adopted by buyer firms. However, the extant literature provides scant empirical evidence on the performance effect of reverse factoring. The purpose of this study is to seek to narrow this gap by empirically examining the relationship between reverse factoring and operating performance and the contingency conditions of this relationship.Design/methodology/approachBased on a sample of 167 announcements of reverse factoring implementation made by publicly listed Chinese manufacturing firms between 2014 and 2018, this paper employs a long-term event study approach to analyze the operating performance effect of reverse factoring as well as the moderating effects of production and innovation capabilities.FindingsThe event study results indicate that reverse factoring has a positive effect on buyer firms' operating performance in terms of cost efficiency and operating margin. In addition, both production and innovation capabilities positively moderate the relationship between reverse factoring and operating margin. However, neither of them moderates the relationship between reverse factoring and cost efficiency.Originality/valueThis is the first study that empirically examines the impact of reverse factoring on operating performance based on secondary data. Furthermore, it sheds light on the SCF literature by providing insights into the contingency effects of production and innovation capabilities, which also extends our understanding of the application of extended resource-based view in SCF research.

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