scholarly journals Matching middle and top managers: Do gender and tenure similarities between middle and top managers affect organizational performance?

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0249246
Author(s):  
Kornelis F. van den Oever
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Middle Management ◽  
Strategy Implementation ◽  
Relational Demography ◽  
Strategy Formation ◽  
Top Managers ◽  
Demographic Performance ◽  
Organizational Tenure

This paper studies whether demographic similarities between middle and top managers with different tasks (strategy formation and strategy implementation) impacts organizational performance. By drawing on relational demography theory, we investigate the effect of similarity in gender, organizational tenure, and in both these demographics on the overall costs of Dutch municipalities. The main findings of this paper show that the similarity effects are interrelated: when middle and top managers diverge on only one demographic, performance is increased. Also, when leaders are similar on both demographics, performance is impaired. We conclude by discussing the implications for the literature on middle management, relational demography, and strategy formation and implementation.

scholarly journals We Trust You! A Multilevel-Multireferent Model Based on Organizational Trust to Explain Performance

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 4241
Author(s):  
Marisa Salanova ◽  
Hedy Acosta Antognoni ◽  
Susana Llorens ◽  
Pascale Le Blanc
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Organizational Trust ◽  
Organizational Practices ◽  
Return On Assets ◽  
Top Managers ◽  
Psychological Mechanism ◽  
And Performance

This study tests organizational trust as the psychosocial mechanism that explains how healthy organizational practices and team resources predict multilevel performance in organizations and teams, respectively. In our methodology, we collect data in a sample of 890 employees from 177 teams and their immediate supervisors from 31 Spanish companies. Our results from the multilevel analysis show two independent processes predicting organizational performance (return on assets, ROA) and performance ratings by immediate supervisors, operating at the organizational and team levels, respectively. We have found evidence for a theoretical and functional quasi-isomorphism. First, based on social exchange theory, we found evidence for our prediction that when organizations implement healthy practices and teams provide resources, employees trust their top managers (vertical trust) and coworkers (horizontal trust) and try to reciprocate these benefits by improving their performance. Second, (relationships among) constructs are similar at different levels of analysis, which may inform HRM officers and managers about which type of practices and resources can help to enhance trust and improve performance in organizations. The present study contributes to the scarce research on the role of trust at collective (i.e., organizational and team) levels as a psychological mechanism that explains how organizational practices and team resources are linked to organizational performance.

The Impact of Strategy And Structure On The Organizational Performance of Restaurant Firms

1988 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliza Ching-Yick Tse ◽  
Michael D. Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Strategy Implementation ◽  
Management Literature ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Restaurant Firms ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

There is an increased emphasis in the management literature on the use of strategic management as the primary means of adapting organizations to their changing environments. for firms in the maturing hospitality industry to survive and succeed, they will have to depend upon their ability to strategically align themselves with the turbulent environment and select appropriate strategies to create defendable competitive positions. Success in strategy implementation depends partly on a proper match between strategy and organizational structure and this match is expected to have a positive impact on financial performance. This study was conducted to explore the relationships among strategies of restaurant firms, their organizational structure and financial performance. The top management team in 296 American multi-unit restaurant firms were surveyed. Results regarding relationships posited among strategy, structure and performance are presented.

scholarly journals The politics of sensemaking and sensegiving at work

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathrine Filstad
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Style ◽  
Middle Managers ◽  
Middle Management ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Top Managers ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate how political activities and processes influence sensemaking and sensegiving among top management, middle management and employees and to examine its consequences for implementing new knowledge. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected in a Norwegian bank using in-depth interviews with middle managers and financial advisers. Observations of meetings, informal conversations and verbatim notes were also used in data collection among top managers. A practice-based approach was used as an analytical lens. Findings – Top managers' political activities of excluding others from the decision process affect their sensemaking and resulted in sensegiving contradictions between spoken intent and how to change practice. Middle managers' political activities were to accept top managers' sensegiving instead of managing themselves in their own sensemaking to help financial advisers with how to change their role and practice. As a result, middle managers' sensemaking affects their engagement in sensegiving. For financial advisers, the political processes of top and middle managers resulted in resistance and not making sense of how to change and implement new knowledge. Research limitations/implications – A total of 30 in-depth interviews, observations of five meetings and informal conversations might call for further studies. In addition, a Norwegian study does not account for other countries' cultural differences concerning leadership style, openness in decisions and employee autonomy. Originality/value – To the author's knowledge, no studies identify the three-way conceptual relationship between political activities, sensemaking and sensegiving. In addition, the author believes that the originality lies in investigating these relationships using a three-level hierarchy of top management, middle management and employees.

Configurations of control in product development

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Bellora-Bienengräber
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Cluster Method ◽  
Strategy Formation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Interactive Control ◽  
Causal Nature ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Levers Of Control ◽  
Specific Control

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how the emphases given to the levers of control when monitoring product development (PD) are combined with each other, with the type of PD strategy formation and with the degree of innovativeness experienced by the firm. Moreover, the paper aims at identifying those configurations that are equifinal and superior to others in terms of PD and organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach Data (n = 468) are collected through a structure written questionnaire and analyzed through cluster analysis. Robustness tests investigate the stability of the results across different cluster method choices. Findings The paper unravels three configurations: A framing firms cluster, a fatalist firms cluster and a meticulous firms cluster. The first and the third cluster outperform the second cluster in terms of performance. Research limitations/implications Limitations of the paper relate to the possible response bias, the measurement of the variables, the subjectivity in cluster method choices and the static and non-causal nature of results. Future studies are called to validate the findings. Practical implications Firms with a partially intended and partially emergent PD strategy formation process and high innovativeness should place high emphasis to the PD beliefs and boundary systems. Firms with a prevailing intended PD strategy formation and a medium innovativeness should emphasize diagnostic and interactive control systems for PD. Originality/value In contrast to previous studies, this paper addresses the peculiarities of one specific control problem, i.e. the conflicting control demands that management has to address in PD.

The determinants and performance consequences of CEO strategic advice seeking

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 232-242
Author(s):  
Alex Vestal ◽  
Rebecca Guidice
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Strategic Leadership ◽  
Upper Echelons Theory ◽  
Advice Seeking ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Ceo Age ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Strategic Advice ◽  
Organizational Tenure

Leveraging insights from research on strategic leadership, this article theorizes that CEOs’ personal characteristics predict the extent to which CEOs seek strategic advice from executives at other organizations. Further, seeking strategic advice from executives at other organizations is argued to improve organizational performance. The hypotheses are tested with survey data from 287 CEOs of nonprofit agencies in Florida and archival data on organizational performance. Results indicate that CEOs with longer organizational tenure and a higher need for cognitive closure (NFCC) seek less advice from executives at other organizations. Results also show that organizations with CEOs that seek more strategic advice have better performance. These findings contribute to the strategic leadership literature in two general ways. First, through the lens of upper echelons theory, the study highlights three attributes of CEOs that help to explain their advice-seeking behavior: CEO age, CEO organizational tenure, and CEO NFCC. Second, grounded in network theory, the study draws attention to the beneficial effect of CEO advice seeking on organizational performance (i.e. growth in financial donations).

The relational model of entrepreneurship and knowledge management toward innovation, strategy implementation and improving Islamic boarding school performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 662-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rofiaty Rofiaty
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Boarding School ◽  
Boarding Schools ◽  
Strategy Implementation ◽  
Innovation Implementation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Competitiveness ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The influence of entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge management on innovation, the influence of knowledge management on the implementation of strategies and the influence of entrepreneurial orientation, knowledge management, innovation, implementation of strategies to organizational performance, where the organization referred to is an Islamic boarding school. Design/methodology/approach This research applied quantitative causal design and was an explanatory research. It was conducted at an Islamic boarding school in Malang in the period of April to December 2017. The population of this study included the managers of the pesantren, teachers and employee representatives making strategic decisions. The unit of analysis in this study consisted of Pondok Pesantren Ar Rohmah Putra, Pondok Pesantren Ar Rohmah Putri, Pondok Pesantren Al Izzah, Tazkiyah IIBS, Pondok Pesantren Darul Maghfirroh, Pondok Pesantren An Nur Putra, Pondok Pesantren An Nur Putri, PSBB MAN 3 Malang, Pondok Pesantren Ar Rifa’i Putra and Pondok Pesantren Ar Rifa’i Putri. Findings First, entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge management have a significant and positive impact on the improvement of innovation. This means that the higher the entrepreneurial orientation and knowledge management by Islamic boarding schools, the better the innovation in business competitiveness. Second, knowledge management positively affects the strategy implementation. This means the better the knowledge management, the better the strategy implementation of within the framework of business competitiveness of Islamic boarding schools. Third, entrepreneurial orientation, knowledge management and strategy implementation have a significant effect on the improvement of performance of Islamic boarding schools. The higher the entrepreneurial orientation, knowledge management and strategy implementation, the better will be the performance of Islamic boarding schools. Originality/value This study is one of the few studies that examine the influence of entrepreneurial orientation, knowledge management on innovation, implementation of strategies and the impact on organizational performance.

The effect of organizational learning and Web 2.0 on innovation

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (9) ◽  
pp. 2060-2072 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shouzhen Zeng ◽  
Joaquin Gonzalez ◽  
Clemente Lobato
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Sustainable Competitive Advantage ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Top Managers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationships between Web 2.0 adoption, innovation, organizational learning and organizational performance in the hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of four and five-star hotels provides the data. The fieldwork took place between February and June 2013. The questionnaire was sent to top managers of Chinese hospitality firms that provide their e-mail addresses on the main Chinese tourism web pages. The final sample comprises 278 hotels. This percentage of responses yields a sample error of 6.9 per cent for a 95 per cent confidence level. The authors followed a two-step approach for structural equation modelling, using EQS 5.7 software to conduct the tests. Findings – Results suggest that competitive advantage in the hotel industry requires firm strategies focusing on Web 2.0, innovation capacity and organizational learning. This finding contributes to the strategic management field by offering an explanation of the differences in firm performance within a particular industry. Therefore, the findings mark an important contribution to the literature, introducing a new variable that mediates the relationship between Web 2.0 and firm performance. Originality/value – The results hold that Web 2.0 adoption is crucial for enhancing innovativeness, which is a fundamental source of sustainable competitive advantage. In addition, organizational learning also has a positive effect on innovativeness. Innovation, which is the essence of competitive advantage, is a key concept for firms nowadays.

DOES PERCEPTUAL ACUITY MATTER? — AN INVESTIGATION OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION, PERCEPTUAL ACUITY, AND FIRM PERFORMANCE

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (01) ◽  
pp. 79-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
ZHI TANG ◽  
SANDRA ROTHENBERG
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Organizational Effectiveness ◽  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Top Managers ◽  
Accurate Perception ◽  
Perceptual Mode ◽  
Perceptual Acuity

One critical proposition in normative strategic management research is that an accurate perception of the environment by top managers is a prerequisite to attaining better organizational performance. However, recent entrepreneurship studies suggest that entrepreneurs are often leading or even causing environmental changes, and thus they may perceive greater industrial instability than there actually is. In this project, we examine if an over-perception of industrial instability exists among entrepreneurs. If it does, which perceptual mode (accurate perception versus over-perception) will benefit firm performance? We conducted the study in a highly volatile environment — China — and found that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) had an inverse U-shape relationship with perceptual acuity of industrial instability, indicating that a greater level of EO indeed led to an over-perception of industrial instability. However, we found that although perceptual acuity of industrial instability improved firm sales, it was negatively associated with organizational effectiveness evaluated by top managers. Additional analyses were conducted and implications were provided in the end.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document