Making a journey in knowledge management strategy

This paper reports results from an ongoing project examining what managers think about knowledge management in the context of their organisation. This was done in a facilitated computerassisted group workshop environment. Here we compare the outcomes of workshops held for two relatively large UK organisations, one public sector and the other private. Our conclusions are that there are relatively few differences between the perceptions of these two groups of managers, and that these differences stem more from the stage of the knowledge management life cycle that the two organisations have reached, rather than from the difference in context between public and private sector. © iKMS & World Scientific Publishing Co.

Using grounded theory for theory building in operations management research:a study on inter-firm relationship governance

Purpose – Qualitative theory building approaches, such as grounded theory method (GTM), are still not very widespread and rigorously applied in operations management (OM) research. Yet it is agreed that more systematic observation of current industrial phenomena is necessary to help managers deal with their problems. The purpose of this paper is to provide an example to help guide other researchers on using GTM for theory building in OM research. Design/methodology/approach – A GTM study in the German automotive industry consisting of 31 interviews is followed by a validation stage comprising a survey (110 responses) and a focus group. Findings – The result is an example of conducting GTM research in OM, illustrated by the development of the novel collaborative enterprise governance framework for inter-firm relationship governance in the German automotive industry. Research limitations/implications – GTM is appropriate for qualitative theory building research, but the resultant theories need further testing. Research is necessary to identify the transferability of the collaborative enterprise governance concept to other industries than automotive, to other organisational areas than R&D and to product and service settings that are less complex and innovative. Practical implications – The paper helps researchers make more informed use of GTM when engaging in qualitative theory building research in OM. Originality/value – There is a lack of explicit and well-informed use of GTM in OM research because of poor understanding. This paper addresses this deficiency. The collaborative enterprise governance framework is a significant contribution in an area of growing importance within OM.

'Between a rock and a hard place':towards a theorisation of the role of gender in junior management

This paper seeks to theorise the role that gender plays in the careers of junior female managers. We do this by drawing upon two separate empirical studies, firstly a largescale study based on interviews with female managers in the West Midlands (UK) is used to explore the growth of female participation in junior managerial roles with reference to the notion of managerial careers as seduction. We explore the routes the women have taken into junior management careers and the barriers that exist to progression toward more senior roles. Secondly, a small-scale ethnographic study of a large service-based organization, also based in the West Midlands, is documented in an attempt to theorise the organizational role of female junior managers. While the dominance of masculine values and practices in organisations is explored, we also argue that growing female participation at junior managerial levels can only partly be explained by female managers adopting, or appearing to adopt, masculine behaviours. We seek to contribute to a fuller explanation by drawing attention to the way in which senior managers in the case study sought to employ female junior managers particularly for their perceived feminine skills. Significantly, however the ethnography reveals the ambiguously gendered construction of female junior managers roles through an exploration of the enactment of both masculine and feminine practices during the ‘doing’ of management.

Being female doing gender:narratives of women in education management

The paper explores gender relations in academia and discusses how gender is constructed within academic institutions. It is based upon the study of a business school, part of a British university. The construction of gender relations within this institution was of special interest because the majority of managerial roles were occupied by women. All female academic managers (dean, associate deans and heads of department) and a random selection of female and male academics were interviewed. The process of construction of gender relations is investigated through the analysis of the discrepancy between the ‘masculine culture’ of high education institutions and the dominance of women managers within this organization. It is suggested that the numerical dominance of women managers may create tensions between their individual identities as women and their managerial identities, due to the predominance of masculine practices and values within the organization. Additionally, it emerged that the maintenance of masculine ideals and practices is also associated with downplaying women’s achievements.

Teacher participation in school management : an analysis of some major issues, background factors, and the use of an attitude scale to study and compare teacher attitudes to participation

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Introduction:thought leadership in brand management

This special issue contains eight articles developed from presentations at the fourth annual Thought Leaders' International Conference on Brand Management, held in Birmingham, UK in April 2008. Following a blind reviewing process, 65 papers were accepted and presented at the conference and all authors had the opportunity to revise their papers for possible inclusion in this special issue. A further round of double blind reviewing resulted in the selection of these eight articles. This introduction presents an overview of this thought-leading research into brand management.

"Ignorance was bliss, now I'm ignorant and that is far more difficult":transdisciplinary learning and reflexivity in responsible management education

Purpose – The collapse of world economic systems brought the interconnectedness between business and global events sharply into focus. As Starkey points out: “leading business schools need to overcome their fascination with a particular form of finance and economics […] to broaden their intellectual horizons […] (and to) look at the lessons of history and other disciplines”. The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence from three years of research on the Aston MBA suggesting that an emphasis on developing capabilities within a far broader, connected and reflexive business curriculum is what business students and practitioners now recognise as an essential way forward for responsible management education. Design/methodology/approach – This research paper examines the reflective accounts of 300 MBA students undertaking a transdisciplinary Business Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability core module. Findings – As Klein argues, transdisciplinarity is simultaneously an attitude and a form of action. The student reflections provide powerful discourses of individual learning and report a range of outcomes from finding “the vocabulary or the confidence” to raise issues to acting as “change agents” in the workplace. Originality/value – As responsibility and sustainability requires learners, researchers and educators to engage with real world complexity, uncertainty and risk, conventional disciplinary study, especially within business, often proves inadequate and partial. This paper demonstrates that creative and exploratory frames need to be developed to facilitate the development of more connected knowledge – informed by multiple stakeholders, able to contribute heterogeneous skills, perspectives and expertise.

Managing supply networks:organizational roles in network management

This paper describes research findings on the roles that organizations can adopt in managing supply networks. Drawing on extensive empirical data, it is demonstrated that organizations may be said to be able to manage supply networks, provided a broad view of ‘managing’ is adopted. Applying role theory, supply network management interventions were clustered into sets of linked activities and goals that constituted supply network management roles. Six supply network management roles were identified – innovation facilitator, co-ordinator, supply policy maker and implementer, advisor, information broker and supply network structuring agent. The findings are positioned in the wider context of debates about the meaning of management, the contribution of role theory to our understanding of management, and whether inter-organizational networks can be managed.

Introduction : thought leadership in brand management

This JBR Special Issue contains ten articles developed from presentations at the Seventh Annual Thought Leaders' International Conference on Brand Management, held at Universitá della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, Switzerland in March 2011. The conference organizing committee received submissions and following a double blind reviewing process papers were accepted for presentation at the conference. After the conference all authors wishing to submit papers for this Special Edition had the opportunity to revise their papers and submit them. A further round of rigorous double-blind reviewing resulted in the selection of ten articles. This introduction presents an overview of this thought-leading research into brand management. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

Introduction:thought leadership in brand management

This special issue contains fifteen articles developed from presentations at the sixth annual Thought Leaders' International Conference on Brand Management, held at Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, Switzerland in April 2010. The conference received 154 submissions and following a double blind reviewing process, a little under half of these, 75 papers, were accepted and presented at the conference. The authors of the accepted conference papers had the opportunity to revise their papers after the conference and submit them for possible inclusion in this special issue. A further round of rigorous double-blind reviewing resulted in the selection of these fifteen articles. This introduction presents an overview of this thought-leading research into brand management. © 2011.

Procedural justice in procurement management and inclusive interorganizational relations:An institutional perspective

This paper applies the concept of procedural justice to one of the most important focal points of interorganizational relations: the purchaser-supplier relationship. The few extant studies of the concept in the purchaser-supplier domain have overlooked an important aspect of this key relationship: that is, inclusiveness in procurement. This is despite the fact that interest in the specific empirical context of supply chain links between large purchasing organizations (LPOs) and ethnic minority suppliers (EMSs) from disadvantaged communities proceeds apace on both sides of the Atlantic. Institutional theory is used to examine the form that procedural justice takes in eight case studies of LPOs from the private and public sectors, which actively engage with inclusive procurement management initiatives in England. The guiding question is twofold: 'What may LPO approaches to installing procedural justice in procurement management entail?' and 'How are these approaches shaped?' This paper identifies specific approaches to installing procedural justice for inclusive procurement and submits theoretical propositions about how these are shaped. The study contributes to a macro-level assessment of procedural justice, i.e. interorganizational procedural justice, as a significant aspect of inclusive interorganizational relationships, which is a domain in need of theoretical development.

Theoretical perspectives in operations management:an analysis of the literature

Purpose - It is important to advance operations management (OM) knowledge while being mindful of the theoretical developments of the discipline. The purpose of this paper is to explore which theoretical perspectives have dominated the OM field. This analysis allows the authors to identify theory trends and gaps in the literature and to identify fruitful areas for future research. A reflection on theory is also practical, given that it guides research toward important questions and enlightens OM practitioners. Design/methodology/approach - The authors provide an analysis of OM theory developments in the last 30 years. The study encompasses three decades of OM publications across three OM journals and contains an analysis of over 3,000 articles so as to identify which theories, over time, have been adopted by authors in order to understand OM topics. Findings - The authors find that the majority of studies are atheoretical, empirical, and focussed upon theory testing rather than on theory development. Some theories, such as the resource-based view and contingency theory, have an enduring relevance within OM. The authors also identify theories from psychology, economics, sociology, and organizational behavior that may, in the future, have salience to explain burgeoning OM research areas such as servitization and sustainability. Research limitations/implications - The study makes a novel contribution by exploring which main theories have been adopted or developed in OM, doing so by systematically analyzing articles from the three main journals in the field (the Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, and the International Journal of Operations and Production Management), which encompass three decades of OM publications. In order to focus the study, the authors may have missed important OM articles in other journals. Practical implications - A reflection on theories is important because theories inform how a researcher or practicing manager interprets and solves OM problems. This study allows the authors to reflect on the collective OM journey to date, to spot trends and gaps in the literature, and to identify fruitful areas for future research. Originality/value - As far as the authors are aware, there has not been an assessment of the main theoretical perspectives in OM. The research also identifies which topics are published in OM journals, and which theories are adopted to investigate them. The authors also reflect on whether the most cited papers and those winning best paper awards are theoretical. This gives the authors a richer understanding of the current state of OM research.