Towards a model of the right-hand person

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 520-539
Author(s):  
Yina Mao ◽  
Ching-Wen Wang ◽  
Chi-Sum Wong

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a model explaining the roles of right-hand person and the factors contributing to the successful relationship between the top executive and the right-hand person. Design/methodology/approach – In-depth qualitative case studies are conducted. Longitudinal observations, interviews with six right-hand persons and the top executives in three organizations are conducted to test the propositions of the model. Findings – Results indicate that different types of congruence between the top executive and the right-hand person are required when the right-hand person is performing the roles of an implementer and joint decision maker. Research limitations/implications – This study extends the leadership literature by investigating the phenomenon of right-hand person of the top executive, which has seldom been studied systematically or scientifically. It provides insights and serves as a stepping stone for future research in this area. One key limitation is that it is a qualitative study with limited samples under investigation. Practical implications – Practical implications concerning how to build up a successful relationship between the top executive and the right-hand person can be drawn from the proposed model. Insight concerning how to collaborate between the top executive and the right-hand person can be drawn from the in-depth case analyses. Social implications – The phenomenon of right-hand person is not limited to business organizations. The collaboration between the key decision maker and his chief assistant should be applicable to other contexts such as non-government organizations. Originality/value – To the best of the knowledge, this is the first paper that investigates the right-hand person phenomenon in the literature. As the right-hand person of the top executive can have important influence on organizational performance, the study may serve as the stepping stone for further understanding of this important phenomenon.

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Ann Castelli

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe, examine and discuss scholarly literature on reflective leadership, a topic gaining momentum as a result of globalization. Despite the growing popularity of reflective leadership techniques, current and aspiring leaders are struggling to find ways in which to effectively practice reflection as a consequence of a lack of tangible available guidance. Design/methodology/approach – Scholarly literature on reflective leadership was examined and presented in this paper. Discussion on the potential efficacy of reflective leadership is also included as the available literature on the topic is scarce in comparison to other more established leadership techniques. Findings – Reflective leadership has been shown to improve organizational performance. The advent of globalization further intensifies the need for an effective approach leaders may deploy when assessing the long-term consequences of their actions and decisions. Therefore, methods to extend the theory and effective practice of reflective leadership are necessary to enable the future development of leaders. Practical implications – This paper provides leaders with strategies for improving their leadership effectiveness. Practical techniques for utilizing reflective leadership are offered. Originality/value – This paper describes the challenges faced by leaders when adopting reflective leadership as a way to improve organizational performance. A universal framework is presented for the effective practice of reflective leadership. This framework provides a basis for future research to test the efficacy of the model.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 286-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanadi Buarki ◽  
Bashaer Alkhateeb

Purpose This paper aims to find out how people use hashtags as a medium of information retrieval and dissemination, and how they are used in social media tools, such as Instagram. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative question estimated the participants’ use of the hashtags during the workshop. Statistical data of the participants and their posts were collected from social network analysis tools. The posts that included the workshop’s designated hashtags were retrieved, recorded, coded and analysed to collect qualitative data. Findings In total, 74 (46 per cent) participants used the workshop’s hashtags to share posts, the retrieval of the hashtags declined by time and Google search engine retrieved the maximum results. It was found that a hashtag would be common when associated with descriptors, and that its use depends on its popularity, followers and its survival time. Finally, hashtags connect people, allow them to express their enthusiasm to reveal common interests and networks them through social media tools such as Instagram. Research limitations/implications The research limitations were in relation to the participants’ demographic information, the non-identification of their gender and hashtags being misspelt. Practical implications The research project summarises the experiences that social media has made connecting easier through the right use of hashtags by providing 24/7 free feedback, the possibility to exchange ideas and by their involvement in promoting and organising events. It also indicates interaction among people sharing the same interest by retrieving subject-based hashtags. Originality/value When retrieving information related to hashtags, it is recommended that multi-retrieval systems, social media tools and search engines should be consulted and not depend on a solo system or tool. Future research is recommended in search for a multi-retrieval social media and search engine tool that standardises the use of hashtags and will retrieve information from different platforms.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 129-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Ingham ◽  
Dave Ulrich

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide answers to four questions on building a better human resources (HR) department: why?, who?, what? and how? Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on the accumulated experience of the co-authors. Findings The paper finds that better HR departments create better organizations and will often do this by enabling better relationships between the people working in them. Developing the right relationships is also an increasingly important part of creating an effective HR organization. Research limitations/implications Much attention has been spent on developing HR professionals. The authors also want to make HR departments better. This paper steers future research on HR effectiveness in this direction. Practical implications Senior HR leaders charged with improving their HR department may do so with the roadmap offered by the authors. Originality/value For businesses to receive full value from HR, it is very important to upgrade the quality of HR professionals. It is even more important to upgrade HR departments. This paper suggests how this can be done.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosileia Milagres ◽  
Ana Burcharth

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on knowledge transfer in interorganizational partnerships. The aim is to assess the advances in this field by addressing the questions: What factors impact knowledge transfer in interorganizational partnerships? How do these factors interact with each other? Design/methodology/approach The study reports results of a literature review conducted in ten top journals between 2000 and 2017 in the fields of strategy and innovation studies. Findings The review identifies three overarching themes, which were organized according to 14 research questions. The first theme discusses knowledge in itself and elaborates on aspects of its attributes. The second theme presents the factors that influence interorganizational knowledge transfer at the macroeconomic, interorganizational, organizational and individual levels. The third theme focuses on the consequences, namely, effectiveness and organizational performance. Practical implications Partnership managers may improve and adjust contracts, structures, processes and routines, as well as build support mechanisms and incentives to guarantee effectiveness in knowledge transfer in partnerships. Originality/value The study proposes a novel theoretical framework that links antecedents, process and outcomes of knowledge transfer in interorganizational partnerships, while also identifying aspects that are either less well researched or contested and thereby suggesting directions for future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Greta Ontrup ◽  
Pia Sophie Schempp ◽  
Annette Kluge

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how positive organizational behaviors, specifically team proactivity, can be captured through digital data and what determines content validity of these data. The aim is to enable scientifically rigorous HR analytics projects for measuring and managing organizational behavior.Design/methodology/approachResults are derived from interview data (N = 24) with team members, HR professionals and consultants of HR software.FindingsBased on inductive qualitative content analysis, the authors clustered six data types generated/recorded by 13 different technological applications that were proposed to be informative of team proactivity. Four determinants of content validity were derived.Practical implicationsThe overview of technological applications and resulting data types can stimulate diverse HR analytics projects, which can contribute to organizational performance. The authors suggest ways to control for the threats to content validity in the design of HR analytics or research projects.Originality/valueHR analytics projects in the application field of managing organizational behavior are rare. This paper provides starting points for choosing data to measure team proactivity as one form of organizational behavior and guidelines for ensuring their validity.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 692-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijay A. Ramjattan

Purpose – Expertise in English language teaching (ELT) is determined by being a white native speaker of English. Therefore, ELT is a type of aesthetic labour because workers are expected to look and sound a particular way. As nonwhite teachers cannot perform this labour, they may experience employment discrimination in the form of racial microaggressions, which are everyday racial slights. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what types of microaggressions inform several nonwhite teachers that they cannot perform aesthetic labour in private language schools in Toronto, Canada. Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilizes a critical race methodology in which several nonwhite teachers told stories of racial microaggressions. Findings – The teachers were told that they lacked the right aesthetic through microaggressions involving employers being confused about their names, questioning their language backgrounds, and citing customer preferences. Research limitations/implications – Future research must find out whether nonwhite teachers experience discrimination throughout Canada. Other studies must investigate how intersecting identity markers affect teachers’ employment prospects. Practical implications – To prevent the discrimination of nonwhite teachers (in Canada), increased regulation is needed. The international ELT industry also needs to fight against the ideology that English is a white language. Originality/value – There is little literature that examines language/racial discrimination in the Canadian ELT industry and how this discrimination is articulated to teachers.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 398-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colette Darcy ◽  
Jimmy Hill ◽  
TJ McCabe ◽  
Philip McGovern

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider organisational sustainability in the small- to medium-sized enterprises (SME) context focussing on a resource-based view. The paper overlays two contrasting perspectives: those of the SME and human resource (HR) perspectives to allow for the development of a composite model of organisational sustainability for SMEs. Design/methodology/approach – The paper overlays four models of Carson’s (1985, 1990) small firm evolution and unique characteristics of SMEs; Wright et al.’s (2001) pertaining to the application of the resource-based view of the firm perspective to strategic HR and Boudreau and Ramstad (2005) model of effectiveness, efficiency and impact of talentship. The paper, in particular, considers the human resource management (HRM) perspectives pertaining to the overlay and considers how these might impact organisational sustainability. Findings – An outcome of the paper is the development of a composite model to the SME and HR perspectives of organisational sustainability and its applicability to the SME context. Research limitations/implications – The paper suggests a number of emergent areas for future research. Future research should focus on the intangible aspects and softer elements of the organisational resource base. The majority of work in this area is grounded in the positivist paradigm. Future research should consider a pluralists perspective and draw on traditions of the post-positivist paradigm, for example, social constructionism. Practical implications – SME-support agencies and consultants who work with SMEs need, therefore, to work with them in assessing their competency spectra and then to help them develop the talent pools required to effect continued growth and success. In doing so SMEs need to be guided towards a better understanding of the traditional temporal cycle of recruitment; in essence, they need to ensure that they have the right competency set in situ in the early stages of the firms’ development. Originality/value – This paper is unique in its approach to the examination of sustainability within the context of SMEs and, in particular, the HRM aspects which contribute towards organisational survival, growth and sustainability.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 14-16

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings While it may seem obvious that business strategies are able to help improve organizational performance, not all research in this field has been conclusive or even positive. Different models have yielded different results. Overall, however, it can be seen that an appropriately constructed business strategy that fits the specific needs of an organization, when adopted in the right way, can improve performance. The key, however, is the integration of aspects of employee behavior. Practical implications The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arian Razmi-Farooji ◽  
Hanna Kropsu-Vehkaperä ◽  
Janne Härkönen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to understand data management challenges in e-maintenance systems from a holistically viewpoint through summarizing the earlier scattered research in the field, and second, to present a conceptual approach for addressing these challenges in practice. Design/methodology/approach The study is realized as a combination of a literature review and by the means of analyzing the practices on an industry leader in manufacturing and maintenance services. Findings This research provides a general understanding over data management challenges in e-maintenance and summarizes their associated proposed solutions. In addition, this paper lists and exemplifies different types and sources of data which can be collected in e-maintenance, across different organizational levels. Analyzing the data management practices of an e-maintenance industry leader provides a conceptual approach to address identified challenges in practice. Research limitations/implications Since this paper is based on studying the practices of a single company, it might be limited to generalize the results. Future research topics can focus on each of mentioned data management challenges and also validate the applicability of presented model in other companies and industries. Practical implications Understanding the e-maintenance-related challenges helps maintenance managers and other involved stakeholders in e-maintenance systems to better solve the challenges. Originality/value The so-far literature on e-maintenance has been studied with narrow focus to data and data management in e-maintenance appears as one of the less studied topics in the literature. This research paper contributes to e-maintenance by highlighting the deficiencies of the discussion surrounding the perspectives of data management in e-maintenance by studying all common data management challenges and listing different types of data which need to be acquired in e-maintenance systems.


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Gradín ◽  
Olga Cantó ◽  
Coral del Río

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the different dynamic characteristics of unemployment in a selected group of European Union countries during the current Great Recession, which had unequal consequences on employment depending on the country considered. Design/methodology/approach – The paper follows Shorrocks’s proposal of a duration-sensitive measure of unemployment, and uses cross-sectional data reported by Eurostat coming from European Labour Force Surveys. Findings – The results add some evidence on the relevance of incorporating spells’ duration in measuring unemployment, finding remarkable differences in unemployment patterns in time among European countries. Research limitations/implications – In this paper unemployment is analyzed for all the labor force. Future research should investigate patterns across specific groups such as young people, women, immigrants or the low skilled. Practical implications – It is generally accepted that the negative impact of unemployment on individual welfare can be very different depending on its duration. However, conventional statistics on unemployment do not adequately capture to what extent the recession is not only increasing the incidence of unemployment but also its severity in terms of duration in time of ongoing unemployment spells. The paper shows an easy and practical way to do it in order to improve the understanding of the unemployment phenomenon, using information usually reported by statistical offices. Originality/value – First, the paper provides a tool for dynamic analysis of unemployment based on reported cross-sectional data. Second, the paper demonstrates the empirical relevance of considering spells’ duration when assessing differences in unemployment across countries or in unemployment trends. This is usually neglected or only partially addressed by most conventional measures of unemployment.


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