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Showing papers in "Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management in 2006"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relations between four cultural values (i.e., collectivism, power distance, familism, present time orientation) and job choice preferences and found that collectivism was positively related to the importance of coworkers and working in a diverse organization.
Abstract: Using data from 184 employed Hispanic‐American and Anglo‐American participants in the United States, the present study examined the relations between four cultural values (i.e., collectivism, power distance, familism, present time orientation) and job choice preferences. Results revealed that (1) collectivism was positively related to the importance of coworkers and working in a diverse organization, (2) familism was related to preferences for jobs with personal time off, and (3) power distance was related to the importance of organizational reputation and promotion opportunities. In addition, the findings revealed that, relative to Anglo‐Americans, Hispanic Americans felt that organizational reputation, flexible work hours, bonuses, and diversity were more important job choice factors. Implications are offered for conducting future research on job choice and developing recruitment practices in multicultural organizations in the United States.

33 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual framework of multiple and fluid national culture focused on the contemporary Brazilian context is proposed. But the authors do not consider the potential future shifts of the Brazilian cultural texture along these two extremes, and make the case for culture research focused further on the study and depiction of multiple national cultures.
Abstract: This paper puts forth a conceptual framework of multiple and fluid national culture focused on the contemporary Brazilian context. Drawing from recent criticism on the excessive determinism and simplicity of typical cross‐cultural depictions, the study (1) analyzes Brazilian contemporary culture from a historical perspective; (2) summarizes prevailing Brazilian cultural depictions in the literature; (3) proposes a conceptual framework centered on the dynamics between cultural differentiation and homogeneity, putting forth predictions on the potential future shifts of the Brazilian cultural texture along these two extremes; and (4) makes the case for culture research focused further on the study and depiction of multiple national cultures, and on their fluidity over time, rather than on monolithic and stable national cultures.

28 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the determinants of the main phases of the innovation process in Portuguese manufacturing firms are analyzed using an interactive model, on which empirical tests are carried out, making use of tobit and probit models and simultaneous equation systems.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyze the determinants of the main phases of the innovation process in Portuguese manufacturing firms. The analysis will adopt as its main frame of reference an interactive model of the innovation process, on which empirical tests will be carried out, making use of tobit and probit models and simultaneous equation systems. It is broadly concluded that the relationships shown between the main variables that are typical of the innovation process in the context of Portuguese manufacturing firms are tenuous and unsystematic.

25 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For example, the authors found that Latin American countries present significant differences in the way firm employees respond to situations where cultural traits are at stake, such as the treatment and place of women in the workplace, attachment or detachment to formal rules, formal organizational hierarchies and structured business planning, in addition to varying levels of tolerance to invasion of privacy.
Abstract: Drawing from our current original research on cultural trends in Latin America‐based multinational firms, this paper challenges the stereotypical perception of Latin America as a homogeneous region and explores the cultural distances among groups of multinational employees. After collecting surveys from 733 employees across eight multinationals in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, we establish that, much like it happens in other lumped‐together regions of the globe, such as “East Asia” and “Africa”, Latin American countries present significant differences in the way firm employees respond to situations where cultural traits are at stake. By researching these countries, we recorded significant variation in aspects such as the treatment and place of women in the workplace, attachment or detachment to formal rules, formal organizational hierarchies, and structured business planning, in addition to varying levels of tolerance to invasion of privacy. Implications of the study include the need to develop methodologies that adequately capture cultural differences within large geographic blocs and business practices that prepare the expatriate, the international manager, and the policy maker for the different realities they are bound to encounter in different countries.

23 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the ways in which global HRM rhetoric meets Portuguese reality and find that the gap between rhetoric and reality is not a specific human resource management (HRM) feature, the disconnection between discourse and action seems to have reached unusual stages.
Abstract: Although the gap between rhetoric and reality is not a specific human resource management (HRM) feature, the disconnection between discourse and action seems to have reached unusual stages in this case. Not much is known about HRM in Portugal, but it is clear that Portuguese academics and practitioners have extensively adopted the global HRM rhetoric. With an environment apparently unfavorable to the HRM normative model, this paper examines the ways in which global HRM rhetoric meets Portuguese reality.

14 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the problem of governance in a cooperative is twofold and consists in designing mechanisms and setting up institutions that (1) encourage workers to define a goal that maximizes workers' welfare and (2) induce managers to pursue and internalize such a broad goal.
Abstract: This paper builds upon recent advances in the corporate governance framework to extend and complement the economic literature on producer cooperatives. We argue that the problem of governance in a cooperative is twofold and consists in designing mechanisms and setting up institutions that (1) encourage workers to define a goal that maximizes workers’ welfare and (2) induce managers to pursue and internalize such a broad goal. When compared to capital‐controlled firms, the agency problems become more complex and harder to solve in the cooperative framework. As empirical evidence of this problem and its corresponding solution, we illustrate the case of the Mondragon cooperatives, explaining in detail the incentive system and the control mechanisms now in place in this successful business group. The study of the governance architecture of Mondragon may help us to propose solutions to traditional problems of the cooperative firm and to reach a better understanding of both the governance of cooperatives and corporate governance in general.

12 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors empirically examine the strategic responses of Argentine business groups and propose refinements to this theory, arguing that such a strategy process is moderated not only by differences in market forces set out by policy reforms across different economic segments but also by the path dependency of resources and capabilities as well as management decision-making style of individual business groups.
Abstract: Conventional economic and management theories explain that business groups facing market liberalization policy reforms (i.e., competitive shocks) would have incentives to reduce corporate portfolios and increase internationalization. We empirically examine the strategic responses of Argentine business groups and, through an inductive theory building process, propose refinements to this theory. We argue that such a strategy process is moderated not only by differences in market forces set out by policy reforms across different economic segments but also by the path dependency of resources and capabilities as well as management decision‐making style of individual business groups. We discuss implications for theory and practice.

7 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that management and organization studies differ if we consider them from an Anglo-centric point of view or if we look at them from the hybrid modernity of countries such as Mexico.
Abstract: The paper demonstrates that management and organization studies (MOS) differ if we consider them from an Anglo‐centric point of view or if we look at them from the hybrid‐modernity of countries such as Mexico. The argument will be developed as follows. First, the relatively small attention traditionally given to MOS in Mexico is shown, and also noted is the recent change in this situation because of modernization process. Second, the paper recognizes the transformations of the organization and operation of the world under globalization and neoliberalism considering the generalization of an organizational imperative expressed in new practices and a new mode of rationality. Then the paper characterizes the recent development of MOS explaining its paradigmatic explosion and increasing fragmentation to those changes already discussed. The argument concludes by recognizing the Anglo‐centric condition of MOS and its inability to consider other realities from a decentered point of view. This condition places the urgency of a reencounter with the main agendas of MOS in countries such as Mexico in order to demonstrate the challenges faced by the discipline in a globalized but differentiated world.

6 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze the heterogeneity of acquisition integration processes, starting from the integration types laid down by Haspeslagh and Jemison (1991), and describe integration processes in terms of their integration level and their integration style.
Abstract: In this paper, we analyze the heterogeneity of acquisition integration processes. Starting with the integration types laid down by Haspeslagh and Jemison (1991), we describe integration processes in terms of their integration level and their integration style. We analyze the postacquisition consequences of integration choice in terms of organizational management analysis, employee turnover, and communication and socialization problems. In a sample of 74 Spanish acquisitions, we demonstrate that management choices about integration level and integration style explain the more relevant consequences of the integration process. They have different consequences in terms of organizational management analysis, employee retention, and communication and socialization.

5 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper showed that the effect of diversification on performance is not homogeneous across industries, as previously assumed in the literature on diversification in strategy and finance, and provided empirical evidence that some industries are more friendly environments for diversified firms than for specialists, and vice versa.
Abstract: In this paper, we argue that the effect of diversification on performance is not homogeneous across industries, as previously assumed in the literature on diversification in strategy and finance. We provide empirical evidence that some industries are more friendly environments for diversified firms than for specialists, and vice versa. The implications of this qualification for the diversification‐performance relationship are investigated in this study. The results show that the number of specialists in an industry is an important moderator of the diversification‐performance relationship, and it determines the existence of a positive, negative, or curvilinear relationship. Diversification has a more negative impact on performance as the number of specialized firms in the industries in the sample increases. Although we find clear evidence of the curvilinear relationship between diversification and performance frequently found in strategy research, the relationship seems to be the result of not accounting for the relative dominance of diversifiers versus specialists in the industries in the sample.

5 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the linkages between managerial methods used by institutions to increase their jurisdiction or their "authority to speak" and the processes of isomorphism, and explore the way in which professional associations and, hence, institutional actors pursue their own professional projects within a context of political legitimacies and illegitimacies.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose an understanding of what personnel professionals consume when they “adopt” black‐box management initiatives (Scarbrough, 1995; Wilson, 1992). Second, we explore the way in which professional associations and, hence, institutional actors pursue their own professional projects (Abbott, 1988) within a context of political legitimacies and illegitimacies. Thus, in a double move, we seek to explore the linkages between managerial methods used by institutions to increase their jurisdiction or their “authority to speak” (Foucault, 1972) and the processes of isomorphism.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce a multidimensional framework that includes both institutional and cultural elements to address the particular national features that distinguish the Argentinean national context from others, in order to answer the following questions: To what extent have the unique characteristics of the national context shaped indigenous businesses in Argentina? And, how have the national business characteristics affected the way indigenous businesses organize themselves, transform, and respond under competitive pressures?
Abstract: Organizational studies have often omitted the importance of national differences as shapers of the organizational action of firms. This study aims to address the particular national features that distinguish the Argentinean national context from others. To do so, we introduce a multidimensional framework that includes both institutional and cultural elements. In so doing, we were able to begin to answer the following questions: To what extent have the unique characteristics of the national context shaped indigenous businesses in Argentina? And, how have the national business characteristics affected the way indigenous businesses organize themselves, transform, and respond under competitive pressures? The result of the analysis shows the importance of three major aspects in understanding organizational action: the role of the state, the role of financial institutions, and the role of national culture as shapers of organizational action.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used longitudinal data over a 132-month period collected from 500 employees of the Spanish subsidiary of the German BSHG Corporation to predict outcomes of work teams on manufacturing performance.
Abstract: Using longitudinal data over a 132‐month period collected from 500 employees of the Spanish subsidiary of the German BSHG Corporation, this paper builds upon the growing research on high‐performance work systems (HPWS) to provide a model to predict outcomes of work teams on manufacturing performance. We suggest that this issue is not exclusively dependent on having an HPWS environment. We suggest other contingent factors, such as technology and work organization, history, culture and values; and, at the same time, it is necessary to consider aspects related to attitudinal and behavioral performance.