Innovation seems to be a fundamental requirement for the growth and sustainability of small businesses. While previous research revealed a strong correlation between intellectual capital and ...performance, the role of intellectual capital in facilitating the innovativeness and performance of a firm has not been thoroughly examined in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) context. This study examines the role of innovativeness in the intellectual capital and organizational performance relationship using a sample of small firms. The results of a survey conducted on 460 small business owners indicate a positive relationship between two components of intellectual capital, human capital and organizational capital, and organizational performance. Further analysis finds that innovativeness partially mediates the relationship between intellectual capital and organizational performance. Our findings indicate that efficiently and effectively organized firms can leverage well skilled and innovative employees to achieve the best performance through innovation.
Prior research suggests that small firms often struggle with human resource management, and limited research indicates that high performance work systems (HPWS) may assist firms in boosting their ...level of performance via the construction of intellectual resources for the firm. However, exploration of these phenomena in the small firm context is limited. We examine the mediating role of intellectual capital on the relationship between HPWS implementation levels and firm performance and find that a mediating impact is present for sales growth, profit growth, and perceived performance. Results suggest that HPWS implementation enhances small firm performance via intellectual capital building.
Despite increases in female labor force participation, women remain substantially under represented in most scientific and technical fields. The small number of women in engineering, physics, ...chemistry, computer science and other similar fields has variously been attributed to discrimination, differences in ability or choice. This paper uses a unique data set containing information on vocational interests to examine the determinants of entry in to Information Technology occupations. We show that men and women differ systematically in their interests, and that these differences can account for an economically and statistically large fraction of the occupational gender gap.
How entrepreneurial orientation (EO) as a strategy manifests into entrepreneurial behaviors like innovation, is an important research topic but not well understood. There is a gap in the examination ...of EO and entrepreneurial behavioral outcomes. Since mediators exist (see Rauch, Wiklund, Lumpkin, & Frese, 2009; Wales, 2016; Wales, Patel, Parida, & Kreiser, 2013) additional research is needed to uncover these potential relationships. Research suggests that management controls systems (MCS) may serve as a mediator between strategy and innovation outcomes. There is, however, conflicting evidence regarding the impact and use of management control systems (MCS) in the small firm context. As such, we examine the relationship between an individual-level measure of EO (IEO) and innovation level and explore the mediating role of financial and nonfinancial MCS on that relationship. Results suggest that nonfinancial MCS partially mediate the relationship between IEO and innovation, while financial MCS do not.
Since the early 1970s the issue of gender stereotypes and leadership characteristics has been a much researched topic in the management literature. However, much of the research used to create this ...knowledge foundation was conducted using a questionable base. This, in turn, has led to at least three divergent views on the effects of gender and gender roles and leadership development, all of which can be found in current educational materials. This paper looks at the consequences of this shaky foundation and its long lasting impact on leadership development education. Although this paper focuses on gender issues in leadership development, this cautionary tale could be applied to many issues in management research when researchers fail to periodically re-examine the bases of any research stream. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
This article describes the results of a survey of professional workers that was designed to explore the underlying reasons for the widely documented underrepresentation of women in information ...technology (IT) jobs. Our analysis suggests that it is different occupational personalities between men and women rather than the demanding nature of IT work that is largely responsible for the relatively few women in IT occupations. We discuss the implications these results have for policies that are designed to create greater gender equity in the rapidly growing IT industries. (JEL J08, J24, J70)
This study uses data from a group of 441 working professionals to begin to analyze the differences between two types of turnover, employer change and career change. A large structural equation model ...was developed that analyzed the impact of 19 different variables on both employer change intention and career change intention. Based on the analysis, a comprehensive model is developed for career change intention which shows that job satisfaction, work stress, and career tenure play a very large role in an individual's intention to make a career change. In addition, this study looks simultaneously at many variables that previously have been shown to impact employer change. Job satisfaction, employer tenure, career resilience, and work stress were all shown to heavily influence an individual's intention to change employer. Overall, this research shows that although career change and employer change are somewhat similar constructs (r = .64), meaningful differences do exist between them. Job satisfaction, life satisfaction, career resilience, career identity, work stress, core self-evaluations, and agreeableness were statistically significant influences on both employer and career change intentions. In addition, children in the home, career tenure, age, and conscientiousness influence career change intention while employer tenure influences employer change intention.
This article describes the results of a survey of professional workers that was designed to explore the underlying reasons for the widely documented under representation of women in information ...technology jobs. Our analysis suggests that it is different occupational personalities between men and women rather than the demanding nature of IT work that is largely responsible for the relatively few women in IT occupations. We discuss the implications these results have for policies that are designed to create greater gender equity in the rapidly-growing IT industries.
It is commonly understood that the IT work force lacks gender diversity. In 1983 women made up approximately 43% of the IT work force according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population ...Survey. By 2008, while the total IT work force had more than doubled, the female percentage had dropped to 26%. Encouraging more women and minorities to choose IT careers would help raise the numbers in the field. Beyond this, however, increasing the diversity of IT will produce additional benefits by ensuring that IT professionals have a broad range of experience and interests. To shed light on how men and women make career choices the author conducted four in-depth focus groups with IT professionals in the greater Kansas City area, and then collected detailed information from a sample of over 500 IT and non-IT professionals. Participants in the survey were solicited from employees at several large organizations with offices in the central US and from business school and computer science alumni of a large Midwestern university.
