The effects of organizational culture and environmental pressures on IT project performance: A moderation perspective

Linking responsible leadership with financial and environmental performance: determining mediation and moderation

Purpose

Drawing upon the institutional theory, this study examines the influence of responsible leadership on firm performance. Furthermore, this research investigates environmental management practices (EnvMP) as an underlying mechanism and institutional pressures as boundary condition between responsible leadership and firm performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Time-lagged data were collected using survey-questionnaire from 385 mid-level employees of construction industry in Pakistan. Partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data.

Findings

Results demonstrate that responsible leadership impacts firm performance (financial and nonfinancial) directly and through EnvMP. Furthermore, institutional pressure moderates the link between responsible leadership and EnvMP. However, moderated mediation effect of intuitional pressures was found insignificant.

Practical implications

This study suggest that EnvMP is a key process through which responsible leadership influences firms' financial and nonfinancial performance and shed lights as to when responsible leaders matter most in terms of firm performance through low or high institutional pressures.

Originality/value

This paper is an early attempt which contributes to the body of literature on responsible leadership by investigating mechanisms (how) and boundary condition (when) through which responsible leadership influences firms' financial and environmental performance.

Goal clarity as a link between humble leadership and project success: the interactive effects of organizational culture

Purpose

Using the lens of conservation of resources (COR) theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of humble leadership on project success by integrating the mediating role of goal clarity. The authors also argue that organizational culture moderates these direct and indirect relationships through goal clarity.

Design/methodology/approach

Time-lagged data were collected from 329 employees in the civil construction sector of Pakistan.

Findings

The results indicate that humble leadership enhances project success through mediating and moderating mechanisms.

Research limitations/implications

The present research ends with an argument, managerial consequences, limits and guidance for future research.

Practical implications

The results influence a project-based organization on the selection and promotion of humility among project managers.

Originality/value

This research answers the following research question, which has been ignored in the literature: What are the suggested mechanisms for humble leadership in promoting project success?

An Integrated Organisational Culture for Sustainable Environmental Performance in the Nigerian Context

To remain competitive within the present inherent business environment, there is a demand for organisations to embrace an integrated culture-behaviour for performance that enables them to adopt a critical engine for a more sustainable working environment. Organisational culture, which is a reflection of predominant valued beliefs, is expected to influence a sustainable environmental performance. Evidence abounds of several organisational activities with adverse impacts on humans and the environment. The study examines an organisation’s processes that can be incorporated as a culture to ensure a more sustainable working environment. This paper proposes the use of six organisational culture practices (core value, reporting system, task performance, clarity of roles, careful deliberations, and distinctive identity) to find out organisation values, as well as individual preferences in enhancing an immediate sustainable environment. The study selected 480 employees of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) firms who are active in their organisational work processes; 358 responded, and as such, was deemed as a valid research sample. The empirical analysis was carried out using a variance-based Structural Equation Modelling with partial least squares for the path-modelling (PLS-SEM), both for the Algorithm Model, and the Bootstrapping Model with β and p-values obtained from the findings. The findings provide empirical evidence that there is a significant level of influence of organisational culture on environmental performance. However, among the organisational practices, task performance has the least influence on environmental performance. This implies that organisations should invest more in the dimensions of organisational culture with higher performance-importance, while adequate attention should be given to variables with the least influence on the target construct of environmental performance.

Connections between organisational culture and financial performance in Estonian service and production companies

Purpose

This paper elaborates on connections between organisational culture (OC) and financial performance in production and service companies in Estonia.

Design/methodology/approach

This cross-sectional study analyses the organisational culture of 19 SMEs and large service and production companies with 2,256 respondents. The questionnaire based on the Competing Values Framework (CVF) was used to map organisational culture. Six different performance indicators from annual reports in the Estonian Business Register database were used over a four-year period. A confirmatory factor analysis and non-parametric Spearman rank correlation were applied in the study.

Findings

The authors found that OC types are connected to each other and theoretical opposites in the CVF are not mutually exclusive. Strong correlations exit between Clan and Adhocracy cultures, also confirmed by previous studies. Surprisingly, Market and Hierarchy types correlated more strongly in our sample compared to previous studies. As expected, Clan–Adhocracy and Market types exhibited a strong positive correlation with financial indicators, but contrary to the authors’ hypothesis, the Hierarchy type also had positive connections to performance indicators. The Market culture was only significantly related to performance in years when the Hierarchy type was also positively correlated with performance. Correlations that were positive in some years under investigation became insignificant in other years.

Originality/value

First, The authors use multiple objective financial performance indicators to reveal relationships between OC and performance. Second, this study did not only rely on the managers' opinion of OC, but the sample also consists of respondents from all levels of the organisational hierarchy. Third, the authors expand on existing research into the link between OC and performance by exploring a country from the former Soviet Union (FSU), where the number of similar studies is low, but where the specific context has an impact on connections between OC and financial performance of the firms.

Auditory findings associated with Zika virus infection: an integrative review

INTRODUCTION

Possible associations between Zika virus infection and hearing loss were observed during the epidemic in the Americas.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the auditory alterations, pathogenesis and recommendations for follow-up in individuals with prenatal or acquired Zika virus infection.

METHODS

Bibliographic research conducted in March/2018-April/2019 at the main available databases. Article selection, data extraction and quality evaluation were carried out by two independent reviewers. Studies containing auditory evaluation of patients with congenital or acquired Zika virus infection; and/or hypotheses or evidences on the pathophysiology of auditory impairment associated with Zika virus; and/or recommendations on screening and follow-up of patients with auditory impairment by Zika virus were included.

RESULTS

A total of 27 articles were selected. Sensorineural and transient hearing loss were reported in six adults with acquired Zika virus infection. Of the 962 studied children, 482 had microcephaly and 145 had diagnostic confirmation of Zika virus; 515 of the 624 children with auditory evaluation performed only screening tests with otoacoustic emissions testing and/or automated click-stimuli auditory brainstem response testing. Studies in prenatally exposed children were very heterogeneous and great variations in the frequency of altered otoacoustic emissions and automated click-stimuli auditory brainstem response occurred across the studies. Altered otoacoustic emissions varied from 0% to 75%, while altered automated click-stimuli auditory brainstem response varied from 0% to 29.2%. Sensorineural, retrocochlear or central origin impairment could not be ruled out. One study with infected mice found no microscopic damage to cochlear hair cells. Studies on the pathogenesis of auditory changes in humans are limited to hypotheses and recommendations still include points of controversy.

CONCLUSION

The available data are still insufficient to understand the full spectrum of the involvement of the auditory organs by Zika virus, the pathogenesis of this involvement or even to confirm the causal association between auditory involvement and virus infection. The screening and follow-up recommendations still present points of controversy.

Leadership and Organizational Culture in the Sustainability of Subsistence Small Businesses: an Intellectual Capital Based View

The concept of leadership is complex and has been studied from multiple approaches, especially from the psychological field and from the field of management. Small businesses created as way of subsistence for the entrepreneur and their family present a limited leadership. The cultural traditions of the forestry industry are based on the culture and indigenous know-how of the territory, especially affecting small timber businesses, the small businesses working in timber activities. This paper analyzed the interrelation between culture and leadership in the process of generating performance from sustainable competitive advantages using partial least squares (PLS) techniques. The results show that culture and leaderships are sources of competitive advantage in subsistence small businesses, but culture does not generate competitiveness directly; an organizational culture needs to act through entrepreneurial leadership.

The interrelationships among organizational culture and service quality under different levels of competitive intensity

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the interrelationships among organizational culture and service quality by applying the SERVQUAL instrument under different levels of competitive intensity in the shipping industry context.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used the questionnaire investigation method to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. The authors utilized widely accepted and validated instruments as identified in the literature to measure the constructs under examination. The sample consisted of 684 shipping organizations located in Greece. The factorial structures of the constructs were identified through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, while the examined relationships were established through regression analyses.

Findings

The findings argue in favor of a parsimonious three-dimensional structure of the SERVQUAL instrument in the shipping industry context, illustrate the associations among the different types of organizational culture and the dimensions of service quality and explicate how the former impacts the latter. Moreover, the findings showed that the above-mentioned interrelationships are conditioned by the varying levels of competitive intensity.

Originality/value

Although much research and writing has occurred on the topics of service quality and organizational culture, relatively less is known about their interrelationships, that is how a company’s culture relates to the service quality offered especially under different levels of competitive intensity. Thus, the current study aims to fill in this gap in the literature and empirically address the need to look at the interrelationships among the theoretical constructs under examination.

Attitudes toward supplier integration: the USA vs China

Purpose

Studies show the benefits of supplier integration, yet negative attitudes toward supplier integration exist that research fails to explain. The purpose of this paper is to investigate managerial attitudes toward supplier integration and how intra-firm processes and culture affect the formation of such attitudes. In particular, the paper aims to examine the differing influences between the USA and China.

Design/methodology/approach

Using multi-group structural equation modeling, the authors re-analyzed the data collected by Nahm et al. (2004) and Li et al. (2014) comprised of responses from 224 US and 117 Chinese manufacturing managers.

Findings

The study finds that managerial attitudes toward supplier integration depend on the degree to which a collaborative organizational culture and synchronous manufacturing practices exist within a firm. Moreover, in the Chinese context, the influence of a collaborative organizational culture is lower than the influence of synchronous manufacturing practices. The opposite is found in the US context.

Practical implications

The results suggest that overcoming negative attitudes of supplier integration requires more than simply espousing the benefits of supplier integration; looking deeper into an organization’s internal characteristics and situational context is required. In particular, if the country context already emphasizes the collaborative culture, the organization should focus on synchronous manufacturing practices in order to form a positive attitude toward supplier integration.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to examine how managerial attitudes toward supplier integration are formed. The work is novel because the authors suggest that the formation of managerial attitudes toward supplier integration inter-firm management can be affected by intra-firm management in the minds of managers, which are influenced by country contexts.

Investigating the moderating effects of organizational culture and leadership style on IT-adoption and knowledge-sharing intention

Purpose

In light of the important roles of organizational culture and leadership style in IT-adoption intention and knowledge-sharing intention, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among IT involvement, IT-adoption intention, and knowledge-sharing intention, as well as the moderating effects of organizational culture and leadership style on IT-adoption intention and knowledge-sharing intention.

Design/methodology/approach

This study begins with a literature review followed by the use of a questionnaire method and statistical analytical techniques (hierarchical regression analysis) to investigate the relationships among IT involvement, IT-adoption intention, knowledge-sharing intention, organizational culture, and leadership style.

Findings

The result showed that IT involvement has a significant and positive influence on IT-adoption intention, which further affects the knowledge-sharing intention. Moreover, organizational culture and leadership style have moderating effects on the IT adoption and knowledge-sharing intention.

Research limitations/implications

This research applied a purposive sampling method and obtained a slightly inadequate number of respondents. Therefore, it is suggested that future research should apply random sampling method to collect more responses and increase the generalizability of the findings.

Practical implications

This research suggests that organizations which adopt servant leadership or charismatic leadership, as well as organizations with clan or hierarchy cultures should work on enhancing staff’s knowledge-sharing intention by first raising their IT-adoption intention.

Originality/value

If an enterprise would like to encourage its staff to be more proactive at adopting IT and more willing to share knowledge, then it should first examine its current leadership style and organizational culture in order to propose concrete and effective methods to achieve this, and at the same time, this can help stimulate organizational learning and generate new ideas and knowledge.