Human resource management and organizational performance:evidence from the retail banking sector

Underpinned by the resource-based view (RBV), social exchange theory (SET), and a theory of intrinsic motivation (empowerment), I proposed and tested a multi-level model that simultaneously examines the intermediate linkages or mechanisms through which HPWS impact individual and organizational performance. First and underpinned by RBV, I examined at the unit level, collective human capital and competitive advantage as path-ways through which the use of HPWS influences – branch market performance. Second and-, underpinned by social exchange (perceived organizational support) and intrinsic motivation (psychological empowerment) theories, I examined cross and individual level mechanisms through which experienced HPWS may influence employee performance. I tested the propositions of this study with multisource data obtained from junior and senior customer contact employees, and managers of 37 branches of two banks in Ghana. Results of the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that (i) collective human capital partially mediated the relationship between management-rated HPWS and competitive advantage, while competitive advantage completely mediated the influence of human capital on branch market performance. Consequently, management-rated HPWS influenced branch market performance indirectly through collective human capital and competitive advantage. Additionally, results of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) tests of the cross-level influences on the motivational implications of HPWS revealed that (i) management-rated HPWS influenced experienced HPWS; (ii) perceived organizational support (POS) and psychological empowerment fully mediated the influence of experienced HPWS on service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), and; (iii) service-oriented OCB mediated the influence of psychological empowerment and POS on service quality and task performance. I discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

The impact of learning outcomes in business education: assessing value, relevance and graduate ability in a multi-country study of employers and business graduates

This paper discusses critical findings from a two-year EU-funded research project involving four European countries: Austria, England, Slovenia and Romania. The project had two primary aims. The first of these was to develop a systematic procedure for assessing the balance between learning outcomes acquired in education and the specific needs of the labour market. The second aim was to develop and test a set of meta-level quality indicators aimed at evaluating the linkages between education and employment. The project was distinctive in that it combined different partners from Higher Education, Vocational Training, Industry and Quality Assurance. One of the key emergent themes identified in exploratory interviews was that employers and recent business graduates in all four countries want a well-rounded education which delivers a broad foundation of key business knowledge across the various disciplines. Both groups also identified the need for personal development in critical skills and competencies. Following the exploratory study, a questionnaire was designed to address five functional business areas, as well as a cluster of 8 business competencies. Within the survey, questions relating to the meta-level quality indicators assessed the impact of these learning outcomes on the workplace, in terms of the following: 1) value, 2) relevance and 3) graduate ability. This paper provides an overview of the study findings from a sample of 900 business graduates and employers. Two theoretical models are proposed as tools for predicting satisfaction with work performance and satisfaction with business education. The implications of the study findings for education, employment and European public policy are discussed.

Justice source and justice content:evaluating the fairness of organizational career management practices

This article presents part of the findings of a multi-method study into employee perceptions of fairness in relation to the organisational career management (OCM) practices of a large financial retailer. It focuses on exploring how employees construct fairness judgements of their career experiences and the role played by the organisational context and, in particular, OCM practices in forming these judgements. It concludes that individuals can, and do, separate the source and content of (in)justice when it comes to evaluating these experiences. The relative roles of the employer, line manager and career development opportunities in influencing employee fairness evaluations are discussed. Conceptual links with organisational justice theory are proposed, and it is argued that the academic and practitioner populations are provided with empirical evidence for a new theoretical framework for evaluating employee perceptions of, and reactions to, OCM practices.

Optimization of physical distribution problem in logistics management

Physical distribution plays an imporant role in contemporary logistics management. Both satisfaction level of of customer and competitiveness of company can be enhanced if the distribution problem is solved optimally. The multi-depot vehicle routing problem (MDVRP) belongs to a practical logistics distribution problem, which consists of three critical issues: customer assignment, customer routing, and vehicle sequencing. According to the literatures, the solution approaches for the MDVRP are not satisfactory because some unrealistic assumptions were made on the first sub-problem of the MDVRP, ot the customer assignment problem. To refine the approaches, the focus of this paper is confined to this problem only. This paper formulates the customer assignment problem as a minimax-type integer linear programming model with the objective of minimizing the cycle time of the depots where setup times are explicitly considered. Since the model is proven to be MP-complete, a genetic algorithm is developed for solving the problem. The efficiency and effectiveness of the genetic algorithm are illustrated by a numerical example.

Audit fees, non-audit fees and auditor going-concern reporting decisions in the United Kingdom

The accounting profession has come under increased scrutiny over recent years about the growing number of non-audit fees received from audit clients and the possible negative impact of such fees on auditor independence. The argument advanced is that providing substantial amounts of non-audit services to clients may make it more likely that auditors concede to the wishes of the client management when difficult judgments are made. Such concerns are particularly salient in the case of reporting decisions related to going-concern uncertainties for financially stressed clients. This study empirically examines audit reports provided to financially stressed companies in the United Kingdom and the magnitude of audit and non-audit service fees paid to the company’s auditors. We find that the magnitude of both audit fees and non-audit fees are significantly associated with the issuance of a going-concern modified audit opinion. In particular, financially stressed companies with high audit fees are more likely to receive a going-concern modified audit opinion, whereas companies with high non-audit fees are less likely to receive a goingconcern modified audit opinion. Additional analyses indicate that the results are generally robust across alternative model and variable specifications. Overall, evidence supports the contention that high non-audit fees have a detrimental effect on going-concern reporting judgments for financially stressed U.K. companies.

Innovation management using logical framework in hospital-based healthcare units

Innovation is part and parcel of any service in today's environment, so as to remain competitive. Quality improvement in healthcare services is a complex, multi-dimensional task. This study proposes innovation management in healthcare services using a logical framework. A problem tree and an objective tree are developed to identify and mitigate issues and concerns. A logical framework is formulated to develop a plan for implementation and monitoring strategies, potentially creating an environment for continuous quality improvement in a specific unit. We recommend logical framework as a valuable model for innovation management in healthcare services. Copyright © 2006 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Re-engineering materials management: a case study on an Indian refinery

Materials management function is always a major concern to the management of any industrial organisation as high inventory and an inefficient procurement process affect the profitability to a great extent. Problems multiply due to a very current business environment in India. Hence, existing materials planning and procurement processes and inventory management systems require a re-look with respect to a changing business environment. This study shows a radical improvement in materials management function of an Indian petroleum refinery through business process re-engineering (BPR) by analysing current processes, identifying key issues, deriving paradigm shifts and developing re-engineered processes through customer value analysis. BPR has been carried out on existing processes of “materials planning and procurement” and “warehousing and surplus disposal”. The re-engineered processes for materials management function trigger a few improvement projects that were identified by the group of executives who took part in the re-engineering exercise. Those projects were implemented in an integrated framework with the application of the state of art information technology tools.

Integrated approach to healthcare quality management:a case study

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to develop an integrated quality management model, which identifies problems, suggests solutions, develops a framework for implementation and helps evaluate performance of health care services dynamically. Design/methodology/approach - This paper uses logical framework analysis (LFA), a matrix approach to project planning for managing quality. This has been applied to three acute healthcare services (Operating room utilization, Accident and emergency, and Intensive care) in order to demonstrate its effectiveness. Findings - The paper finds that LFA is an effective method of quality management of hospital-based healthcare services. Research limitations/implications - This paper shows LFA application in three service processes in one hospital. However, ideally this is required to be tested in several hospitals and other services as well. Practical implications - In the paper the proposed model can be practised in hospital-based healthcare services for improving performance. Originality/value - The paper shows that quality improvement in healthcare services is a complex and multi-dimensional task. Although various quality management tools are routinely deployed for identifying quality issues in health care delivery and corrective measures are taken for superior performance, there is an absence of an integrated approach, which can identify and analyze issues, provide solutions to resolve those issues, develop a project management framework (planning, monitoring, and evaluating) to implement those solutions in order to improve process performance. This study introduces an integrated and uniform quality management tool. It integrates operations with organizational strategies. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

A hybrid genetic algorithm for the multi-depot vehicle routing problem

The distribution of finished products from depots to customers is a practical and challenging problem in logistics management. Better routing and scheduling decisions can result in higher level of customer satisfaction because more customers can be served in a shorter time. The distribution problem is generally formulated as the vehicle routing problem (VRP). Nevertheless, there is a rigid assumption that there is only one depot. In cases, for instance, where a logistics company has more than one depot, the VRP is not suitable. To resolve this limitation, this paper focuses on the VRP with multiple depots, or multi-depot VRP (MDVRP). The MDVRP is NP-hard, which means that an efficient algorithm for solving the problem to optimality is unavailable. To deal with the problem efficiently, two hybrid genetic algorithms (HGAs) are developed in this paper. The major difference between the HGAs is that the initial solutions are generated randomly in HGA1. The Clarke and Wright saving method and the nearest neighbor heuristic are incorporated into HGA2 for the initialization procedure. A computational study is carried out to compare the algorithms with different problem sizes. It is proved that the performance of HGA2 is superior to that of HGA1 in terms of the total delivery time.

Multi-criteria decision making approaches for supplier evaluation and selection:a literature review

Supplier evaluation and selection problem has been studied extensively. Various decision making approaches have been proposed to tackle the problem. In contemporary supply chain management, the performance of potential suppliers is evaluated against multiple criteria rather than considering a single factor-cost. This paper reviews the literature of the multi-criteria decision making approaches for supplier evaluation and selection. Related articles appearing in the international journals from 2000 to 2008 are gathered and analyzed so that the following three questions can be answered: (i) Which approaches were prevalently applied? (ii) Which evaluating criteria were paid more attention to? (iii) Is there any inadequacy of the approaches? Based on the inadequacy, if any, some improvements and possible future work are recommended. This research not only provides evidence that the multi-criteria decision making approaches are better than the traditional cost-based approach, but also aids the researchers and decision makers in applying the approaches effectively.

The UK productivity gap in the service sector: do management practices matter?

Purpose – This paper aims to contribute to the debate on the drivers of the productivity gap that exists between the UK and its major international competitors. Design/methodology/approach – From the macro perspective the paper explores the quantitative evidence on the productivity differentials and how they are measured. From the micro perspective, the article explores the quantitative evidence on the role of management practices claimed to be a key determinant in promoting firm competitiveness and in bridging the UK gap. Findings – This study suggests that management practices are an ambiguous driver of firm productivity and higher firm performance. On the methodological side, qualitative and subjective measures of either management practices or firm performance are often used. This makes the results not comparable across studies, across firms or even within firms over time. Productivity and profitability are often and erroneously interchangeably used while productivity is only one element of firm performance. On the other hand, management practices are multi-dimensional constructs that generally do not demonstrate a straightforward relationship with productivity variables. To assume that they are the only driver of higher productivity may be misleading. Moreover, there is evidence of an inverse causal relationship between management practices and firm performance. This calls into question most empirical results of the extant literature based on the unidirectional assumption of direct causality between management practices and firm performance. Research limitations/implications – These and other issues suggest that more research is needed to deepen the understanding of the UK productivity gap and more quantitative evidence should be provided on the way in which management practices contribute to the UK competitiveness. Their impact is not easily measurable due to their complexity and their complementary nature and this is a fertile ground for further research. Originality/value – This paper brings together the evidence on the UK productivity gap and its main drivers, provided by the economics, management and performance measurement literature. This issue scores very highly in the agenda of policy makers and academics and has important implications for practitioners interested in evaluating the impact of managerial best practices.

Management processes in marketing planning

There has been concern in the literature about the adequacy of the traditional model of marketing planning, which focuses on what decisions should be made and not on how to make them. The aim of this article is a new conceptualisation that proposes key management processes about how marketing planning decisions are made in a dynamic context. The motives for this conceptualisation are to contribute to understanding by advancing the traditional model of marketing planning, to stimulate academic and practitioner debate about how marketing planning decisions are made, and to initiate new directions in marketing planning research. Two new competing models of marketing planning are developed, which address key management processes about how marketing planning decisions are made in a dynamic context, and research directions are proposed.