National citizenship as a mediator of organizational innovation

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 482-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Priscilla Goby ◽  
Abdelrahman Alhadhrami
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
Arabian Gulf ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Citizenship Status ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Citizenship ◽  
Citizen Leaders ◽  
Big Picture

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report an initial investigation into the role of national citizenship status in relation to leadership and organizational innovation in the context of the United Arab Emirates, an Arabian Gulf country with a workforce in which migrants far outweigh the number of locals.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use grounded theory methodology to gather initial data and reveal potentially appropriate theory for further research into the role of national citizenship as it correlates with organizational innovation.FindingsThe dominant themes that emerged were that citizen leaders display high levels of willingness to deviate from organizational schemata to respond to new situations; a preference for focus on the big picture; and low monitoring of subordinates. These findings indicate that citizen leaders experience greater ease in diverging from organizational schemata, suggesting that national citizenship status may afford a freedom that enhances the potential to contribute to organizational innovation.Research limitations/implicationsThe issue of national citizenship is clearly one of increasing significance in the global workplace and, therefore, must be added to the academic research agenda given the combination of more frequent worldwide professional migration and the growing imperative of organizational innovation. To this end, the authors suggest potentially useful frameworks for further study.Originality/valueThis pioneering research has applicability to other geopolitical regions with high numbers of migrants in their workforces.

An investigation into the role of enterprise information systems in enabling business innovation

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 771-790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luay Anaya ◽  
Mohammed Dulaimi ◽  
Sherief Abdallah
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Enterprise Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Enterprise Information Systems ◽  
Business Innovation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to articulate clear understanding about the role of enterprise information systems (EIS) in developing innovative business practices. Particularly, it aims to explore the different ways that make EIS enables innovation development. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopted exploratory case study, based on qualitative approach. Investigations included two case studies each involved interviewing a number of senior information technology staff, working at these cases. Findings – The paper provides empirical insights about the EIS role in enabling innovation. The analysis of the case studies revealed that integrating an EIS with other system(s) or with digital devices can provide new practices that could not be easily available without these technologies. The study also found that applying data analytics tools into data accumulated from EIS, to extract new insights, lead to innovative practices. Practical implications – The study provides a set of recommendations for organizations interested to maximize the benefits from their investments in EIS. Originality/value – The paper provides evidences from cases in United Arab Emirates for the EIS role in enabling business innovation.

Revisiting the concept of a competitive “cash advantage”

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 38-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Calandro, Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Corporate Strategy ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Cash Holdings ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cash Reserves ◽  
Changing Role ◽  
Viable Method ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to profile how ample cash holdings can serve as a competitive advantage by first mitigating the risk of becoming a forced seller during times of distress, and then positioning a firm to take strategic advantage of forced selling and other forms of distress-generated opportunities. Design/methodology/approach – The author reviews the changing role of cash over time in corporate strategy, and how inadequate cash has caused or contributed to corporate failures. Findings – The findings of this paper, which are supported by historical and contemporary examples, are that ample cash reserves can be a powerful source of comparative advantage. Practical implications – This article supports earlier work published in Strategy & Leadership that shows how Graham-and-Dodd-based analysis is a viable avenue of academic research and a viable method with which to assess and formulate corporate strategic initiatives such as mergers and acquisitions, share buy-backs, risk management and, in this case, the strategic uses of cash. Originality/value – This paper offers leaders and financial executives a practical explanation of how ample cash holdings can serve as a competitive advantage.

The impact of self-development on the tendency toward organizational innovation in higher education institutions with the mediating role of human resource agility

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Narenji Thani ◽  
Ebrahim Mazari ◽  
Somaye Asadi ◽  
Maryam Mashayekhikhi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
The Self ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Nonacademic Staff ◽  
Self Development ◽  
Development Approach ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeConsidering innovation and its improvement as an essential strategy to enable organizations to continue their lives in the new competitive environment leads to a focus on employees' self-development as a factor that affects human resource agility (HRA) and the tendency toward organizational innovation. Consequently, the purpose of the study was to explain the impact of self-development on the tendency toward organizational innovation with the role of the mediator, HRA in higher education institutions as one of the most important and vital organizations in any society.Design/methodology/approachThe study was an applicable one with the quantitative approach using the descriptive–correlative method. The population consisted of 477 nonacademic employees of Kharazmi University among whom 214 ones were selected as the sample group, using a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through the self-development, HRA and the tendency toward organizational innovation questionnaires and then analyzed using the structural equation modeling approach.FindingsThe study findings revealed a positive impact of self-development on the HRA (γ = 0/79) and HRA on the tendency toward organizational innovation (β = 0/6). Also, self-development with mediating HRA impacts the tendency toward organizational innovation (β = 0/58). Finally, self-development had no direct impact on the tendency toward organizational innovation.Research limitations/implicationsTaking the circumstances of doing this research into consideration, if there were the opportunity to do the research on the staffs of more than one university simultaneously and categorize the university staff into executives, managers and experts, more favorable results could be achieved. Also, considering group and organizational factors with the attention to the self-development approach and its factors would provide more awareness-training information on the higher education system in Iran. For future researches, both the individual and group factors are suggested to be surveyed and compared, to assess the weight and impact of these factors all together and to provide an adequate clarification of the role of the group and the organization. Finally, in future studies, it is also recommended that a qualitative approach be used to reach deeper clarifications on the aspects of these variables in the context of higher education.Practical implicationsThese findings have major practical implications concerning the higher educational settings. The findings of this study must give significant and practical insights for policymakers of universities and other higher education stakeholders, as well as recommendations to the academic community for further research in this area. First, they should recognize that nonacademic staff members are professional employees who contribute to improving organizational innovation. Higher education must focus on designing and implementing successful mechanisms and a well-planned self-development program that can help and promote the self-development approach among all staff. If the above-mentioned programs are designed based on the employees' needs analysis, they will get trained in a way to enhance mental and behavioral flexibility. The programs with such an approach can result in the proactive, adaptive, resilient behavior and agility of HR.Originality/valueThe model for this study has integrated and prioritized the key innovation drivers that would help universities design, adopt and implement policies and practices that facilitate and encourage improvements and adaptation to a fast-paced environment. Furthermore, the convincing reason for the significance of the current research is that although several types of research have been carried out on each of these three variables in different contexts separately, very few studies, like this, have directly examined the correlation between these three variables among the non-academic staff in higher education institutes. So, given the importance of the issue and rare availability of evidence in this regard, the authors were intrigued to discover whether the self-development through the mediation of HRA could reinforce and strengthen the tendency toward organizational innovation and whether HRA could be an appropriate mediator of the relationship between self-development and the tendency toward organizational innovation among the nonacademic staff of Kharazmi University as one of the most prestigious and celebrated universities in Iran.

University as a vehicle to achieve social innovation and development: repositioning the role of the university in the society

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lwando Mdleleni
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The University

Purpose This paper aims to explore the role of university in promoting, generating and sustaining social innovation (SI). It aimed to understand how higher education institutions have extended their contribution beyond the traditional function of teaching and research to perform in socio-economic problem-solving. It looks at the kinds of contributions which universities potentially make to SI processes, and the effects that this has on the direction and magnitude of SI, and by implication social development. This was done by drawing lessons from a SI project that the University of the Western Cape has been involved in, i.e. Zenzeleni Networks Project. Design/methodology/approach To address the research question with this framework, the author adopted an exploratory research design using a case study. This research is qualitative, exploratory and descriptive, based on a case study built with secondary data. Findings This paper submits that universities can potentially function as key role players in promoting SI initiatives and fostering social transformations. Universities contribute with different kinds of resources and inputs to foster new SI ideas. Originality/value The paper suggests that socially innovative university projects may contribute to community social sustainability maintaining social cohesion by increasing social capital and providing resources for the empowerment of the marginalised communities. In so doing, they contribute to overcome social exclusion and promote more sustainable forms of development at community level. More research is needed on how universities can build community networks with local community partners, who can use the insights of academic research to replicate interventions and move to scale.

Organizational structure and innovation performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alisher Tohirovich Dedahanov ◽  
Changjoon Rhee ◽  
Junghyun Yoon
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
Innovation Performance ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Innovative Behavior ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
The Republic

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of innovative behavior on the relationships between organizational structure, such as centralization, formalization, integration, and organizational innovation performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected data from 140 functional managers of manufacturing organizations in the Republic of Korea. The authors used structural equation modeling procedure to evaluate the validity of proposed hypotheses. Findings The results suggest that innovative behavior mediates the links among centralization, formalization, and organizational innovation performance. However, the findings indicate that innovative behavior does not mediate the relationship between integration and organizational innovation performance. Originality/value This work is the first to examine the mediating role of innovative behavior on the associations among centralization, integration, and organizational innovation performance.

Entrepreneurial mindset and the role of universities as strategic drivers of entrepreneurship

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fauzia Jabeen ◽  
Mohd. Nishat Faisal ◽  
Marios I. Katsioloudes
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Economic Incentives ◽  
Entrepreneurial Success ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Employment Choice ◽  
Strategic Factors ◽  
Modelling Methodology ◽  
The Government

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the factors that influence the mindset of youth in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in choosing entrepreneurship as their future employment. It also suggests the pathway to improve the role of the universities as strategic drivers in inducing an entrepreneurial mindset. Design/methodology/approach An exhaustive literature review of extant research followed by an exploratory study was conducted. Furthermore, to understand factors influencing the role of universities, interpretive structural modelling methodology is applied to evolve a hierarchy-based relationship among the strategic factors. Findings The results of empirical research suggest that young people in the UAE rank entrepreneurship as their first employment choice. However, most of them have not attended any formal entrepreneurship-related course in school or in college. The study also suggests that individual and environmental factors influence the entrepreneurial mindset of both males and females in the UAE. The structural model developed in the study indicates that to give an impetus to the entrepreneurial mindset, the government must create a supporting environment with UAE universities playing the role of a catalyst. Practical implications Professional entrepreneurship instruction is seen as a strategic tool to stimulate financial and societal growth. The results could provide insights for both entrepreneurship educators and policymakers and will boost their commitment to promote the entrepreneurial mindset within UAE society by enhancing and developing traits associated with entrepreneurial success. The results support recognition of the factors that induce educational programmes and economic incentives targeted at the development of sustainable entrepreneurial culture and ventures in the UAE. Originality/value The study is an effort to highlight the role of higher education in envisaging and cultivating entrepreneurs in a fast-growing developing country through a survey and a hierarchy-based model.

Is top-management remuneration influenced by board characteristics?

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastien Deschenes ◽  
Hamadou Boubacar ◽  
Miguel Rojas ◽  
Tania Morris
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Management Compensation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Board Characteristics ◽  
Good Corporate Governance

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to examine if certain board characteristics have an impact on the total remuneration of top management and the ratio of stock-based remuneration to total top-management remuneration. Design/methodology/approach – The study draws on data from the largest public Canadian companies, the constituents of the TSX/60 index. The study controls for firm size and profitability. Findings – The authors concludes that total remuneration of top management is directly linked to board-member total remuneration and the board average number of director-tenure years. The study also shows that the ratio of stock-based to total top-management remuneration is positively affected by the percentage of independent directors, total remuneration of board directors, the ratio of stock-based remuneration of directors to their total remuneration and the average number of tenure years of the board of directors. Practical implications – If regulators are determined to curb the excesses in top-management remuneration by means of promoting boards with certain characteristics, they should implement measures facilitating the control of directors’ remuneration and tenure, to discourage cronyistic behavior. Good corporate governance requires that the board act as a counterbalance to top management, ensuring that a substantial percentage of top-executive total compensation is variable, and not fixed. According to our findings, the boards that are the most likely to hold managerial avoidance of variable pay in check are those favoring director independence, variable director remuneration and longer director tenures. Social implications – The present article examines specifically the latter aspect, namely, the role of board characteristics (independence, size, compensation, board director ownership and tenure, etc.) in the determination of top-management compensation. This relationship is important because it allows us to further the analysis of corporate governance. If the above-mentioned traits of boards have a meaningful relationship with the compensation of the top management, one might conclude that certain practices in the composition of boards could influence good corporate governance practices. This is relevant for regulatory agencies, for investors and for corporations. Originality/value – The article adds to the extant literature in a number of ways. Firstly, it considers the role of the traits of the board in the determination of the compensation of the top-management teams, and not only of the chief executive officer, as is the focus of previous literature. Secondly, the article focuses on the power interplay between boards and managers, and, more particularly, on the ability of boards to be an effective mechanism of corporate governance. Finally, the article examines the potential impact of board traits in the determination of top-management compensation in the context of Canadian firms, a subject that has received less attention from academic research, which has mostly concentrated on analyzing the issue in the US context.

Towards a better understanding of organizational buying behavior across cultures: empirical evidence from the Arabian Gulf

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1521-1532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Anatolievich Bachkirov
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Arabian Gulf ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Buying Behavior ◽  
Large Power ◽  
Content Type ◽  
World Region ◽  
Organizational Buying

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine, through the lens of the buying center concept, a theorized link between organizational buying behavior (OBB) and a national culture of collectivism, large power distance, particularism and a wasta practice. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative methodology was used to gain better understanding of OBB in an under-researched business environment of the Arabian Gulf. The data come from 41 organizational practitioners who reported on the industrial buying processes in their organizations with reference to the buying center framework. Findings The study developed a model of the buying center for the emerging markets governed by socio-political institutions. Research limitations/implications The data were obtained only from one culturally specific world region. Practical implications To attain efficacious results in culturally distant business environments, industrial marketers should complement home country experience with a thorough understanding of how national cultures affect the dynamics of OBB. Originality/value The study updates the conceptualization of the buying center’s organizational actors (OAs) for business contexts beyond traditional, mature markets. It reveals the typology of decisional influencers, introduces and defines the role of advisers and clarifies the role of the gatekeeping bureaucracy and differing perceptions thereof by OAs.

The role of facilities management in green retrofit of existing buildings in the United Arab Emirates

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Mawed ◽  
Vinay Tilani ◽  
Karima Hamani
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Facilities Management ◽  
Existing Buildings ◽  
Actual Case ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Green retrofitting is acknowledged as an essential strategy toward achieving long-term sustainability in the built environment. To implement this strategy successfully, the role of facility managers cannot be ignored. The purpose of this paper is to investigate present practices that are used in managing the existing facilities, to highlight the elements that govern the process of green retrofitting, and discuss the efforts and contribution of facility managers in enhancing the environmental performance of the existing facilities stock in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach This study suggests that an adequate level of awareness of the benefits of green retrofit amongst owners and decision-makers is mostly dependent on facilities management (FM) professionals, who must establish effective communication channel with senior management. FM professionals in the UAE are well equipped and competent in greening existing buildings and can simultaneously lead a building to the path of achieving green building certification. Findings To examine the role of FM in a green retrofit and its current status in the UAE built environment, a two-step qualitative method was adopted. The study started by conducting semi-structured interviews with FM professionals and then assessing the insights obtained from the interviews against an actual case study of a LEED Existing Building certified facility. Research limitations/implications Interviews were limited to FM professionals in the private sector and the results from one case study should be considered cautiously. Originality/value This paper emphasizes the primordial role of FM professionals in promoting green retrofit in the UAE.

Beyond metrics

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber N. Welch ◽  
Krystal Wyatt-Baxter
Keyword(s):  
Human Ecology ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Mission Statement ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Mission Statements ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Assessment Plans ◽  
History Of

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe an approach to developing a makerspace assessment plan. This approach focuses on connecting organizational and service point mission statements with outcome-based assessment plan goals, strategies, methods, and success measures. Design/methodology/approach This paper will outline the steps taken by an academic research library to design an outcomes-based assessment plan that monitors the human ecology of a makerspace. The paper includes a history of the space, the role of the library within the campus makerspace environment, the connection between mission statements and assessment plans, and how that connection can facilitate and drive space and service design. Findings Designing assessment plans that are centered on a makerspace mission statement can ensure that progress toward fulfilling the mission, values, and goals of the space is constantly monitored. Originality/value Academic library makerspace assessment literature is still in its infancy. This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on academic library makerspace management and stewardship.

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