British Journal of Management最新文献

As businesses and society navigate the potentials of generative artificial intelligence (GAI), the integration of these technologies introduces unique challenges and opportunities for human resources, requiring a re-evaluation of human resource management (HRM) frameworks. The existing frameworks may often fall short of capturing the novel attributes, complexities and impacts of GAI on workforce dynamics and organizational operations. This paper proposes a strategic HRM framework, underpinned by the theory of institutional entrepreneurship for sustainable organizations, for integrating GAI within HRM practices to boost operational efficiency, foster innovation and secure a competitive advantage through responsible practices and workforce development. Central to this framework is the alignment with existing business objectives, seizing opportunities, strategic resource assessment and orchestration, re-institutionalization, realignment and embracing a culture of continuous learning and adaptation. This approach provides a detailed roadmap for organizations to navigate successfully the complexities of a GAI-enhanced business environment. Additionally, this paper significantly contributes to the theoretical discourse by bridging the gap between HRM and GAI adoption, the proposed framework accounting for GAI–human capital symbiosis, setting the stage for future research to empirically test its applicability, explore its implications on HRM practices and understand its broader economic and societal consequences through diverse multi-disciplinary and multi-level research methodologies.

This research examines whether prosumer-generated (vs. firm-generated) content fosters consumer engagement through content relevance and perceived content sponsorship. Four between-subjects experiments (N = 1048) show that prosumer-led (vs. firm-led) conversations, mediated by perceived content sponsorship and content relevance, generate higher engagement. Furthermore, consumer engagement increases significantly when prosumers share hedonic content and disclose information about their identity. A fifth study, a qualitative investigation with brand managers and marketing practitioners, further validates and extends these findings, providing nuanced insights in the form of four prosumer-led engagement strategies for consumer engagement. These strategies have practical implications for companies seeking to leverage prosumers in social media marketing. Together, the current work broadens the research scope of prosumers from content co-creators to drivers of brand engagement, while revealing the factors that increase the effectiveness of prosumer-led social media content. Specifically, this research suggests that content type and authenticity are fundamental criteria for choosing a prosumer to engage social media brand followers. From a managerial viewpoint, the findings indicate that companies should identify, connect, and engage with online prosumers, as they will actively contribute towards improving consumer engagement levels.

This study investigates the influence of corporate governance on firms’ transition into and out of zombiness. We underscore the beneficial role of external members in the corporate governance structure and long-tenured chief executive officers (CEOs) in facilitating access to the external resources that firms need to be successful. Using a sample of European listed firms over the period 2008–2018, we adopt a dynamic view of zombiness by identifying shifts in the state from zombie to non-zombie and vice versa. The results show that board independence is a twofold panacea against zombies, prompting zombie recovery and preventing healthy firms from becoming zombies. By contrast, leadership independence, materialized by separating the CEO and chairperson roles, hampers the recovery of zombies, probably because the cost of lacking unified leadership may exceed the benefits of external dependence minimization. Finally, the results suggest that longer CEO tenure helps healthy firms avoid zombiness. When considering a broader array of stakeholders, government bailout programmes impair zombie recovery, and stronger trade unions help healthy firms escape zombiness. Overall, this study brings a ray of hope to the zombie problem and provides a better appraisal of when supporting zombies might be worthwhile vis-à-vis saving promising firms and bringing them back to life.

This study investigates how the specificity of a university business model supports the dominance and persistence of a handful of elite non-profit universities, while considering the implications this phenomenon has on social responsibility. Despite their longstanding positions at the top of academia for over four decades, these universities often struggle to actively embrace social mobility, diversity and inclusion. The existing literature on business models lacks a comprehensive conceptualization that captures the ability of some institutions to establish and maintain their domination within non-economic fields, such as higher education. Drawing on Bourdieu's framework and a unique dataset comprising 192 private non-profit American universities, the study uncovers two fundamental mechanisms of accumulation and conversion of forms of capital (economic, social, cultural and symbolic) behind the perpetuation of dominance among non-profit universities. This research contributes to both business model and higher education studies by introducing a novel conceptual tool for investigating the business models of non-profit universities. Important managerial and social implications, including a call for leading non-profit universities to enact socially responsible and diversifying measures, follows.

The metaphor of the glass cliff is used to describe patterns whereby women are more likely to be selected for challenging leadership positions that have a higher risk of failure. This paper explores how the glass cliff metaphor contributes to a narrative of woman's fall that individualizes a leader's responsibility to avoid risks that may lead to failure. As an alternative, we introduce the leadership of refusal as a feminist resource for remaking the narrative of woman's fall. Refusal is understood as an embodied political and ethical stance that declines to recognize, rather than resists or simply opposes, masculine leadership norms. Through analysis of how three women leaders were represented by the media, former Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, former Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, and climate change activist, Greta Thunberg, we analyse key moments of refusal where these leaders breached the masculine order through their embodied performances. We argue that leadership of refusal enables an understanding of how women leaders exercise power in agentic, non-sacrificial ways. We therefore urge leadership researchers to position refusal centrally, because first saying no in order to take risks towards achieving transformative action is, we suggest, a defining feature of leadership.

This paper examines the importance of sustainability within firms’ strategic goals and its links with innovation in the context of micro-businesses. Micro-businesses provide an appropriate context for investigating this relationship because, while they tend to prioritize social and environmental goals, they are also more likely to confront resource constraints that can restrict their capability to innovate. Building on goal-setting theory and the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, we explore under what conditions established micro-businesses that prioritize sustainability goals are more likely to innovate. Using novel survey data on 4649 established micro-businesses in the UK, we examine the enabling role of digital technologies. Our results suggest that owner-managers who prioritize sustainability goals are significantly more likely to generate new product and process innovations. Moreover, we find that this effect is stronger when micro-businesses adopt digital technologies. Digital technologies enhance the capabilities of micro-businesses, strengthening the connection between sustainability goals and product and process innovation.