Emerald | International Journal of Organizational Analysis | Table of Contents

THE USE OF TEMPORARY SKILLED MIGRATION IN AUSTRALIAN ORGANISATIONS

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Roslyn Cameron, Jennifer Lee Harrison) — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The spread of economic global integration in the last fifty years has resulted in the recent emergence of global labour markets. Ageing populations and skill shortages have placed significant pressure upon Australia’s economic sustainability and survival in a global economy. The global race for talent has seen the emergence of skilled migration as a key element in Australia’s strategy to address major human capital trends and issues and to source pools of talent considered highly skilled or in demandDesign/methodology/approach - This paper draws together research on skilled migration in the Australian context and the factors that explain use of Australia’s 457 visa scheme by organisations for attracting and recruiting talent. Data from a survey of members of the Australian Human Resources Institute (n=1045) is analysed using logistic regression. Findings - The results show that larger, goods producing, organisations with skills shortages are more likely to employ skilled migrants, while not-for-profit and regional organisations are less likely. Sponsorship of 457 visa workers for permanent residency is more likely in larger, regional organisations willing to pay above market rates to fill long term vacancies and seeking to attract international skills and knowledge but less likely in public organisationsResearch limitations/implications - The study has limitations related to the fact the sample is limited Australian members of a human resource professional body.Originality/value - There is very little literature on the use of temporary skilled migration by organisations from a HRM perspective. The findings shed light upon the extent of employer sponsored temporary skilled migration as a talent sourcing strategy in a range of industries and organisations across Australia.

Going Global - a trajectory of individual and organizational development

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Tonje Cecilie Osmundsen) — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - This paper shows how the internationalization process of a Multinational Corporation (MNC) is shaped and formed by actors engaging in collaborative inquiry. Faced with a centralized strategy grounded in Scandinavian organizational solutions, leaders of foreign subsidiaries reinterpret their local institutional frameworks in creating new organizational practices. Their ability to create acceptance for these practices both locally and with the central management determines which practices prevail. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on a qualitative comparative study of organizational units in Norway, Sweden, Mexico, the US, South Korea and Poland. Over a four-year period, 165 interviews were conducted with both employees and management. Findings - Through a perspective on learning, this article shows how organizational members make use of their institutional environment as they mutually attempt to build shared ideologies for conducting their business. To view organizational change as a learning process allows for explaining how both actors and structures intertwined represent the dynamic for change. Cultural-cognitive institutions are seen here as active living phenomena which are created and enacted by individuals in their historical and geographical contexts.Originality/value - Much research on MNCs has focused on explaining the development of such organizations either as a result of experiential learning (i.e. the Uppsala model), systematic planning (economic rationality) or contextual factors (contingency perspectives). This study provides a closer and more detailed look at how these organizations develops through the action and interaction of people in one MNC.

Business organizations' knowledge-production processes: An autopoietic approach

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Kaj Untamo Koskinen) — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to explore the potential of autopoiesis theory to open up new ways to understand knowledge production in business organizations.Design/methodology/approach - Initially essential theoretical information is presented, by reviewing the concept of knowledge-based competitive advantages in business organizations, and describing the notions of autopoiesis as a basis for the understanding of knowledge production in organizations, and micro-macro problem within the companies’ structure and production. After that follows the main content of the paper, namely descriptions of processes influencing to knowledge production in business organizations.Findings - Knowledge is embedded in social practices and a local setting and it is very much tacit in nature providing then a basis for creating a sustainable competitive advantage for business organizations. A business organization’s memory and production are mutual media for one another in autopoietic recursive processes.Originality/value - Finding a viable perspective and approach with which business organizations can understand how their knowledge-production takes place is an important issue. It is claimed in this paper that the idea of autopoiesis can potentially provide a new understanding for business organizations’ knowledge production.

A Civil Contingencies Agency Management System for Disaster Aid: Qualitative Validation of an Empirically Grounded Model

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The aim of this article is twofold: (1) validation of a theoretical model of a civil contingencies agency management system, and (2) methodological development by employing qualitative means for analysis.Design/methodology/approach - The theoretical model to be validated serves as a starting point for a qualitative reanalysis of logic-deductive character, aimed at verification of the pre-existing theory that is already discovered and developed. Data from three previously published case studies were used as a frame of reference. Findings - The theoretical model of a civil contingencies management system for disaster aid is validated in most respects. The qualitative testing for high trustworthiness proves reasonable with regard to selected reference studies. Research limitations/implications - Qualitative testing techniques will not attain equally large-scale samples as quantitative methods. The process of model validation provides an alternative to more traditional quantitative approaches.Practical implications - The model validation contributes to evidence-based knowledge concerning critical factors for success when managing large and complex aid and rescue operations. Originality/value - The theoretical model of a civil contingencies agency management system for disaster aid was mostly confirmed and partly modified when being compared to empirical data and models from three previous case studies. Also, the qualitative approach to validating the theoretical model is, to the best knowledge of the authors, new.

Private Firms, Public Entities, and Microeconomic Incentives: Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Australia and the United States

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Barry P Keating, Maryann Keating) — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) centralize decision making into a hybrid type of firm, consisting of a government entity with a private firm, that is either a profit-seeking or nonprofit entity, that initiates, constructs, maintains, or provides a service. The PPP model recognizes that both the public and the private sectors have certain comparative advantages in the performance of specific tasks. PPPs, grounded in cost/benefit analysis, have been used in Australia for decades and are presently being introduced in the United States as a form of innovate contracting. This paper evaluates PPPs as a potentially transferable model for the delivery of public services. PPP firms are evaluated in terms of capital asset management, productive and allocative efficiency, transfer of risk between the public and private sectors, rights to the residual, and the public interest. A case study comparison of Fremantle Ports (Australia) and the Indiana Toll Road (United States) is employed to demonstrate PPP design and function. JEL: L22, L24, L32, L33 Design/methodology/approach - A description and evaluation of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) is presented and two original and primary case studies are reviewed.Findings - A PPP functioning as a monopoly provider of a common pool public asset approximates economic efficiency when user fees cover virtually full cost. Identifying optimal output and quality assessment is more challenging in the case of social goods in which the public goal is subsidy minimization and clients cannot assess quality. Best practices are helpful; they guarantee the PPP process, but not the outcome. All PPPs, in whatever country or industry, are vulnerable to bureaucratic expansion whenever they are given access to subsidized loans underwritten by taxpayers.Research limitations/implications - This research was made possible by a 6 month assignment in Western Australia by the authors. One of the case studies is Fremantle Ports in Fremantle, Western Australia. The other case examined is near the stateside home of the authors in South Bend, Indiana (i.e., the Indiana Toll Road).Practical implications - The PPP model for innovative public service delivery that evolves in the U.S. will not be as standardized as those found in Australia or Europe. Practices will vary from state to state and between industries through trial and error. It is also likely that PPPs in the U.S. will operate in a more litigious environment. Both factors have the potential of safeguarding the public interest. It is to be desired, in addition, that the political environment in PPP formation be open to international expertise as well as foreign and domestic private capital. Yankee ingenuity in creating brands and trademarks may reassert itself in effective public and private partnerships.Originality/value - The two case studies in this paper are 100 percent original; they were examined in person by the authors and the managers of the two entities were interviewed in Indiana (USA) and Fremantle, Western Australia.

Organizational Climate and Managerial Effectiveness:An Indian Perspective

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - Research on organizational climate has shown a significant upward trend in the recent past. The present study proposes a conceptual model that empirically examines the relationship of dimensions of organizational climate with managerial effectiveness in Indian organizations. Design/methodology/approach - A data set of 245 managers/executives was collected from Indian organizations through a survey instrument. The collected responses were subsequently tested by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Further, the hypothesized model was tested by employing five stages of hierarchical multiple regressions. Findings - The findings suggest that organizational climate dimensions i.e., organizational process, altruistic behaviour, role clarity and communication, results-rewards orientation and certain aspects of interpersonal relationships play a significant role in increasing managerial effectiveness. Research limitations/implications - The results indicate ways in which organizations might develop supportive climates in order to reinforce effectiveness of the organizational members. Originality/value - The role of organizational climate on employee effectiveness is currently under-researched in the Indian context. The present study is an earnest effort in this direction to analyze link of organizational climate with managerial effectiveness.

Relationships between Environment, Culture, and Management Control Systems

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (LUCIANE REGINATO, REINALDO GUERREIRO) — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between external environment and organisational culture, and the subsequent relationship of organisational culture with the adoption of management control systems in large Brazilian companies. Design/methodology/approach - The research involves 109 of the ‘Best and Biggest’ companies in Brazil, as designated by the Brazilian financial magazine Exame. Data are collected by a research questionnaire distributed electronically to senior managers of the sample companies. The data are analysed by multivariate structural equation modelling and a qualitative approach.Findings - The results show that a significant relationship exists between the constructs of ‘external environment’ and ‘organisational culture’, thus indicating that the environment exerts a significant influence on planning, execution, control elements, and managers’ characteristics and skills. The results also show a significant relationship between the constructs of ‘organisational culture’ and ‘management controls’, thus indicating that organisational culture has a strong influence on the choice of management control systems in practice in the companies. Originality/value - Whereas there are few empirical studies that examine associations of the three analyzed constructs (external environment, organizational culture and management control systems), the major contribution of this work is to strengthen the theoretical knowledge and specialized academic literature on this topic. In addition, these results contribute more specifically to identify variables that are most important within each construct when explaining the level of association of the constructs. It is also possible to recognize the behavior of each element of the culture featured in the surveyed companies, at what level these elements are associated with the variables of the external environment and types of management control systems adopted by them. One should also consider that this type of study is seminal in the context of Brazilian companies