European Management Journal最新文献

The challenges of female entrepreneurship are magnified in constrained contexts where they lack the same rights and resources as men. Although past research suggests that institutional support may help contribute to female entrepreneurs’ success, it is still unclear how this support affects post-founding entrepreneurial processes and outcomes in constrained contexts. Using a unique sample of Iranian female entrepreneurs, our moderated mediation analysis shows that institutional support moderates the effect of entrepreneurial actions on new venture performance through entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Thus, even though female entrepreneurs face significant challenges in constrained contexts, institutional support can enable them to translate their entrepreneurial action into higher self-confidence and better venture outcomes. Post-hoc comparisons with an American sample of female entrepreneurs suggest that institutional support varies between constrained and less constrained contexts. In sum, these results indicate that institutional support helps female entrepreneurs succeed after the venture founding stage by strengthening the entrepreneurial action – self-efficacy relationship. We discuss theoretical contributions and elaborate on practical implications for a broader investigation of minority entrepreneurship in constrained environments.

We investigate how managers trade off the benefits of delegating authority to their employees with the risk of loss of control. Organizational economics theory identifies specific knowledge of subordinates and monitoring possibilities for the manager as determinants of delegation. Social learning theory predicts that when unit managers are themselves granted more authority, they will pass this on to their employees. This cascading of authority reduces the fear of loss of control associated with delegation. Using a survey among 215 unit managers in professional services firms, we find that managers delegate more authority to employees in their unit when those employees have more specific knowledge, when there are more exceptions in employee tasks, and when monitoring costs are lower. We also find support for the cascading effect: decentralization to the manager is positively related to autonomy granted to employees, while it moderates the effects of specific knowledge and monitoring costs.

This “Reflections on Europe” marks the end of the tercentenary of Adam Smith's birth as an opportunity to consider the relevance of his work beyond the epithet of “founding father of Economics.” Recognising the limited attribution his analysis has had thus far – at least explicitly – in modern management commentary, we discuss three themes in his work – labour relations, business ethics, and inequality – that are also germane to contemporary organizational thinking. In exploring how a Smithian lens affords a generative opportunity for advancing insight and debate around European management thought, we invite future scholars and practitioners to further engage with his ideas as a means of understanding business as inextricably economic, social, political, and moral.

This paper explores the underlying reasons for and develops a richer understanding of how value may be co-destructed within online collaborative networks (OCNs). Drawing on 36 semistructured interviews with members of two OCNs, Stack Overflow and GitHub, we outline 11 themes, categorized into three sets—pre-existing themes, themes that occur during the collaboration process, and postprocess themes—which lead to value co-destruction (VCD). Our research contributes to the co-destruction literature and illustrates co-destruction perspectives on OCNs. Our findings provide practical implications through raising awareness of the negative facets of actors' collaboration and help to increase value formation by addressing sources of co-destruction.

In an era of emerging service work robotization, this article investigates how workers perceive job diversity in robotized work, and how those perceptions relate to job satisfaction and the perceived meaningfulness of a job. The study used a nationwide Quality of Work Life survey (QWLS) data collected in Finland in 2018 (N = 4110), and its subsample of salary earners working in a robotized workplace at the time of the study (n = 535). The data were analyzed using a correlative cross-sectional study design, descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and OLS regression analysis. Against a common belief and previous studies, the findings show that intrinsic job satisfaction at work is on the average lower in robotized workplaces than in nonrobotized workplaces. The aggregate higher job satisfaction and perceived meaningfulness of work were mostly associated with perceived task diversity depending on whether, or how extensively, the employee worked with robots. The study contributes to the scientific robotization discussions with unique empirical evidence of job diversity and well-being. Moreover, the study produces information for working life, organizations, and change management by disclosing the importance of maintaining job diversity in and after implementing technological changes.

This paper serves to deepen the understanding of how inconsistencies between feeling, thinking, and doing are managed by decision-makers in emergency settings. We use a practice approach and investigate the emergency physicians in an Emergency Department (ED), by means of 200 h of observations, 12 in-depth interviews, and organizational documentation. Data are analyzed using an abductive template-based approach. The configuration of three different decision-making modes, namely an experiential-based mode, an ostensive-based mode, and an action-based mode, provide an eight-fold typology of emergency physicians' decision-making praxis. “Weak” signals are the starting point for clinical assessment, and inconsistencies among the modes are strategically used and surprisingly often associated with positive treatment outcomes. The praxis perspective used in this article bridges literature on choice and interpretation—processes usually separated in organizational and decision-making literature. Inconsistency between the modes allow physicians to create an action space where decision-making is about more than providing the “right” answer. Making use of the eight-fold typology helps physicians identify “blind spots”, improve practice in both mundane and medically rare cases, as well as aid in revision of existing routines. This awareness also provides for high-quality care, an increased acceptance of inconsistencies by the public, with a potential to reduce litigation issues.

Focus

The transformative power of today's big data (BD) has allowed many companies, i.e., decision-makers, to evolve at an unprecedented pace. With regard to decision-making, artificial intelligence (AI) takes task delegation to a new level, and by employing AI-assisted tools, companies can provide their HR departments with the means to manage the existing data and HR altogether.

Objectives

To determine how HR managers assess whether BD management is facilitated by AI, and how they frame the changes necessary to meet the trends related to AI and its implementation, namely their willingness to master its implementation and to meet the possible challenges.

Methodology

Content analysis was conducted on interviews held with a sample of 16 HR practitioners from a spectrum of areas, and the findings were analysed using the big data maturity model (BDMM) framework. Domains covered by this model allow the study of decision-making trends, in terms of preparedness and willingness to tackle disruptive technology with the aim of improving and gaining the competitive edge in decision-making.

Findings

The central potential of AI lies in faster data storage and processing power, thereby leading to more insightful and effective decision-making. This article contains closer insights into the challenges underlying the implementation of AI in decision-making processes, specifically in terms of strategic alignment, governance, and implementation. The results reflect the notions regarding the nature of AI – in assisting HR – and lay out the path that precedes the extraction of BD, through the delivery of advantageous intelligence, to augment decision-making in HR.