Management Support (management + support)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Kinds of Management Support

  • senior management support
  • top management support


  • Selected Abstracts


    Senior Management Support in the New Product Development Process

    CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2001
    Jorge Gomes
    This paper studies the relationship between senior management support to new product development activities by means of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of questionnaire and interview data collected in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The quantitative analysis showed that there is a small to medium association between senior management support to new product development and project performance in the dimensions of time, cost, and end product quality. The qualitative analysis suggests that these weak links could be explained by separating the influence of senior management support on new product development activities into direct and indirect effects. Direct effects include issues such as the use of multifunctional senior teams and process champions, whereas indirect effects include issues such as organization mission and goals, and learning and knowledge management systems. [source]


    Technological Innovativeness as a Moderator of New Product Design Integration and Top Management Support

    THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2000
    Morgan Swink
    Many war stories, as well as a number of empirical research studies, point to the value of design integration and top management support in new product development (NPD) efforts, where design integration is conceptualized as the coordination of product and process design activities performed by various organizational groups. However, some emerging evidence suggests that these aspects of program management are not equally valuable in all NPD contexts. Furthermore, the benefits of these approaches may not extend to all dimensions of NPD performance. This article addresses these issues as they relate to technological innovativeness. The author reports the results of a research study designed to (1) assess the direct contributions of design integration and top management support to several dimensions of NPD performance, and (2) identify potential moderating influences of technological innovativeness on these direct effects. A survey of 136 NPD projects drawn from firms representing most of the major U.S. manufacturing industries provides data for the study. The overall goals of the study were to amplify our understanding of management's role in NPD and to further the development of contingency theory explaining new product success. The results indicate that design integration is positively associated with higher design quality in NPD, but it is not significantly linked with better financial performance. In addition, design integration appears to be an important influence on achieving NPD time goals, but only in cases of high technological innovativeness. This result suggests that increased design integration produces its greatest impacts when development processes are full of uncertainty. Top management support is positively associated with better time-based performance, design quality, and financial performance on the whole. However, a significant interaction effect suggests that high levels of top management support are ineffective in securing good financial performance in high technologically innovative environments. Other forces appear to be at work in these circumstances, making top management support less important. The article discusses the implications of these findings for management practice, a contingency-oriented view of NPD processes, and future research. [source]


    Creating a Shared Formulary in 7 Critical Access Hospitals

    THE JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 3 2010
    Douglas S. Wakefield PhD
    Abstract Purpose: This paper reports a case study of 7 Critical Access Hospitals' (CAH) and 1 rural referral hospital's successful collaboration to develop a shared formulary. Methods: Study methods included document reviews, interviews with key informants, and use of descriptive statistics. Findings: Through a systematic review and decision process, CAH formularies ranging in size from 667 to 1,351 items were compared, rationalized, and consolidated resulting in an 803-item shared formulary. While the individual CAHs were generally expected to list and stock the same 803 items in the shared formulary's pharmacy information system, they could individually determine the amount to be stocked for each item, as well as stock additional items not included on the shared formulary to reflect local provider preferences and services provided. Final stocked formulary items ranged from 592 to 786 items among the 7 CAHs. Major challenges and lessons learned in the course of developing a shared formulary related to: Meeting Logistics, Facilitator to Manage the Process, Organizing the Review Process, Management Support, Stakeholder Participation, Working Collaboratively, Decision-Making Process, Clarity of Charge, Meeting the Needs of Unique Services, Communicating with Providers, and Adjusting to a Shared Formulary. Conclusions: Collaborating in the development of a shared formulary allows for a greater range of decision-making expertise, shared workload, and an improved formulary. An organized and well-managed group decision-making process is essential to a successful collaboration. [source]


    Management Support for Portfolio Companies of Venture Capital Firms: An Empirical Study of German Venture Capital Investments

    BRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2001
    Michael Schefczyk
    To date, there is a dearth of research on strategic antecedents and consequences of management support activities which German venture capital firms (VCFs) provide for the portfolio companies (PCs) they have invested in. This article provides insights regarding such support practices, their main determinants and impacts on the economic performance of PCs. Hypotheses were derived regarding usage of various types of management support, typical functional foci of management support and the influence of VCF and PC characteristics on management support practice. Hypotheses also cover relationships between type, intensity, and frequency of management support and PC performance. Data for 103 PCs of 12 German VCFs indicate the VCFs can improve the performance of their PCs by providing consultative management support, including active involvement in key functional decisions. [source]


    Critical success factors for corporate social responsibility: a public sector perspective

    CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2010
    Shirish Sangle
    Abstract Managers in the public sector consider corporate social responsibility (CSR) as strategically important for their organizations. A positive correlation between CSR and financial performance is well established in the literature. However, little research has been done to understand which factors lead to the positive correlation between CSR and business performance. This study aims to empirically analyze critical success factors (CSFs) for CSR in the Indian public sector. It seeks to evaluate the factors that make CSR successful. The research results show that ability to integrate CSR with other functional strategies is the most critical success factor for CSR. Other critical success factors are ability to manage stakeholder groups, ability to evaluate benefits of CSR and top management support. Based on the research findings, the study proposes some important managerial implications with respect to CSFs for CSR. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source]


    Senior Management Support in the New Product Development Process

    CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2001
    Jorge Gomes
    This paper studies the relationship between senior management support to new product development activities by means of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of questionnaire and interview data collected in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The quantitative analysis showed that there is a small to medium association between senior management support to new product development and project performance in the dimensions of time, cost, and end product quality. The qualitative analysis suggests that these weak links could be explained by separating the influence of senior management support on new product development activities into direct and indirect effects. Direct effects include issues such as the use of multifunctional senior teams and process champions, whereas indirect effects include issues such as organization mission and goals, and learning and knowledge management systems. [source]


    Benchmarking Innovation: A Short Report

    CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2000
    Zoe Radnor
    A project is reported that benchmarked ,best practice' mature organisations, with a base in the United Kingdom, on the processes and practices that they perceive underpinned successful innovation projects. The majority of organisations had director level personnel involved in the innovation process but only three had active involvement of the top management. However, the majority saw the greatest level of innovation being obtained through the use of cross-functional teams. Five key innovation supports were identified during the benchmarking exercise. These were top management support for, and involvement in the process; the appointment of an innovation champion or sponsor; rewards for innovative behaviours and ideas; and finally a positive attitude to building on creative ideas, irrespective of their source. It is suggested that benchmarking can play a role in identifying best-practice innovation structures and procedures. [source]


    Success of activity management practices: the influence of organizational and cultural factors

    ACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 1 2007
    Kevin Baird
    M40 Abstract This study examines the success of activity management practices and the organizational and cultural factors affecting success at each of Gosselin's (1997) three levels of activity analysis (AA), activity cost analysis (ACA) and activity-based costing (ABC). Data were collected by survey questionnaire from a random sample of managers of Australian business units. The results indicate that activity management is moderately successful in Australian organizations, with greater use associated with higher levels of success. Two organizational factors (top management support and link to quality) were associated with success at each of Gosselin's three levels, whereas training was associated at the AA and ACA levels. The cultural factor of outcome orientation was associated with success at each level, with attention to detail important at the ABC level. Organizational factors were more strongly associated with activity management success than cultural factors. [source]


    Technological and organizational influences on the adoption of activity-based costing in Australia

    ACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 3 2004
    David A. Brown
    The present paper examines one set of potential reasons for the paradox as to why so few firms have adopted activity-based costing (ABC) despite the demonstrated benefits of this costing system. A cross-sectional survey of Australian firms is used to examine the influence of seven technological and organizational factors on firms' initial interest in ABC and their decision to adopt it or not. The organizational factors of top management support, the support of an internal champion, and organizational size were shown to be associated with initial interest in ABC. The decision to adopt or reject ABC had one organizational factor associated with it, the support of an internal champion. [source]


    Comparing senior executive and project manager perceptions of IT project risk: a Chinese Delphi study

    INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 4 2010
    Shan Liu
    Abstract The success rate for information technology (IT) projects continues to be low. With an increasing number of IT projects in developing countries such as China, it is important to understand the risks they are experiencing on IT projects. To date, there has been little research documenting Asian perceptions of IT project risk. In this research, we examine the risks identified by Chinese senior executives (SEs) and project managers (PMs), and compare these two groups. The importance of top management support in IT projects is well documented. Prior research has shown that from the perspective of IT PMs, lack of support from SEs is the number one risk in IT projects. Surprisingly, senior executives' perceptions towards IT project risk have never been systematically examined. One reason why lack of support from senior executives continues to represent a major risk may be that senior executives themselves do not realize the critical role that they can play in helping to deliver successful projects. In this study, we use the Delphi method to compare the risk perceptions of senior executives and project managers. By comparing risk factors selected by each group, zones of concordance and discordance are identified. In terms of perceived importance ascribed to risk factors, PMs tend to focus on lower-level risks with particular emphasis on risks associated with requirements and user involvement, whereas SEs tend to focus on higher-level risks such as those risks involving politics, organization structure, process, and culture. Finally, approaches for dealing with risk factors that are seen as important by both SEs and PMs are provided. [source]


    A model of information systems development project performance

    INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 4 2000
    Philip Yetton
    abstract. Performance in information systems development (ISD) projects can be critical to business success. But, while project performance has been the subject of much debate, there has been little empirical research into its determinants. A survey of IS projects in the UK and New Zealand is analysed to test hypotheses concerning performance in terms of both project completion and budget (time-cost) variances. Subsequently, a secondary analysis of the findings is used to build a more complete empirical model of project performance. The paper helps to develop the theory of IS development project performance and also has significant implications for practice. Discussion of the findings highlights the importance of project team dynamics, risk management, senior management support for strategic projects and user participation in ensuring successful IS project performance. [source]


    The Relationship between Internal Audit and Senior Management: A Qualitative Analysis of Expectations and Perceptions

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AUDITING, Issue 3 2006
    Gerrit Sarens
    This study, based upon Belgian case studies, provides a qualitative assessment of the relationship between internal audit and senior management, analysing the expectations and perceptions of both parties. We found that senior management's expectations have a significant influence on internal audit and that internal audit, generally, is able to meet most of these expectations. Senior management wants internal audit to compensate for the loss of control they experience resulting from increased organisational complexity. Senior management expects internal audit to fulfil a supporting role in the monitoring and improvement of risk management and internal control, and wants them to monitor the corporate culture. Furthermore, they expect internal audit to be a training ground for future managers. On the other hand, internal audit expects senior management to take the first steps in the formalisation of the risk management system. They are looking for senior management support, as this benefits their overall acceptance. [source]


    Barriers to implementing e-learning: a Kuwaiti case study

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2008
    Ghadah Essa Ali
    The paper reports on a research project that encompasses two key objectives: (1) finding out about the barriers affecting or preventing e-learning from being adopted by companies as an integral part of their workforce's training and learning processes and (2) establishing a comparison between the barriers and the e-learning implementation models found in Kuwait and in the practice of Western companies. The practices from Western countries are used as a benchmark for the Kuwaiti experience. The collection of the primary data was carried out through the use of semi-structured questionnaires with human resources managers as well as IT managers in charge of the e-learning of 11 of the largest companies in Kuwait. The research results show that the key implementation barriers in Kuwait are (1) lack of management support; (2) language barriers; (3) IT problems; and (4) workload and lack of time. From these, two are common to Western countries (technology and time). The remaining two (management support and language barriers) are specific to Kuwait. Regarding the comparison between the two implementation models, the key finding was that the usual e-learning development cycle (plan,design,integrate,improve) was not followed in Kuwait. The planning, designing and improving stages were largely ignored, with the emphasis resting almost completely on integrating the e-learning tools and processes in the rest of the organization. This finding was found to be in line with barrier number one , lack of management support. The key lesson learned from this research is that the problem of e-learning implementation in Kuwait is not so much one of knowing what the barriers are but one of knowing what the appropriate management processes should be for companies to achieve business success. The paper also provides recommendations for an e-learning development plan to fit the current business environment in Kuwait. [source]


    Delivering ,Gold Standards' in end-of-life care in care homes: a question of teamwork?

    JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 12 2009
    Alistair Hewison
    Aim., This paper reports findings from a study which investigated the introduction of the Gold Standards Framework for improving end-of-life care into care homes in England. Background., The Gold Standards Framework was developed in primary care to improve the care provided for people at the end-of-life. Following its successful introduction to this setting it was adapted and implemented in care homes. Design., A case study approach was appropriate for this study of a care programme into a ,real life' setting. Method., Fourteen managers participated in an initial telephone interview. Ten of these homes participated in the case study phase and 61 staff participated in individual or group interviews. Seven residents and three relatives participated in face to face interviews. Qualitative data were analysed in line with the template approach. Survey data were also analysed and a validated Teamworking Questionnaire was used. Results., It was found that teamwork is central to the successful introduction of the Gold Standards Framework in Care Homes. Good staffing levels and management support were also perceived to be key factors in homes where the Framework became established. Conclusion., Effective teamwork was necessary for changes in end-of-life care to be achieved in the care homes. If end-of-life care and other improvements in practice are to continue, teamwork will need to be supported and developed. Relevance to clinical practice., Effective teamwork appears to be a pre-requisite for successful implementation of new programmes of care. Organisations wishing to implement such programmes should assess the quality of teamwork and may need to address this first. [source]


    Performance excellence through activity value management

    JOURNAL OF CORPORATE ACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 3 2003
    Brian Higgins
    This article introduces a new way to think about managing information. This approach, known as "activity value management," focuses on improvement methods and uses a coordinated approach to integrating information. This is necessary because improvement initiatives are often suboptimized simply because of a lack of coordination. When,as frequently happens,these programs are sponsored by various organizational silos, they often have to compete for resources, funding, management support, and commitment. Because no overarching structure exists to link the outcomes of these various improvement efforts, the overall strategic vision of the enterprise often goes unmet. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


    Nurses' experiences of practice and political reform in long-term aged care in Australia: implications for the retention of nursing personnel

    JOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2007
    LORRAINE VENTURATO PhD
    Aim, The aim of the study was to explore registered nurses' experiences in long-term aged care in light of the political reform of aged care services in Australia. Background, In Australia, the aged care industry has undergone a lengthy period of political and structural reform. Despite reviews into various aspects of these reforms, there has been little consideration of the effect these are having on the practice experiences and retention of nursing staff in long-term care. Methods, In this critical hermeneutic study, 14 nurses from long-term care facilities in Australia were interviewed about their experiences during the reform period. Results, The data revealed a sense of tension and conflict between nurses' traditional values, roles and responsibilities and those supported by the reforms. Nurses struggled to renegotiate both their practice roles and values as the reforms were implemented and the system evolved. Nursing management support was an important aspect in mediating the effect of reforms on nursing staff. Conclusion, This research highlights both the tensions experienced by nurses in long-term aged care in Australia and the need to renegotiate nursing roles, responsibilities and values within an evolving care system. This research supports a role for sensitive and proactive nursing management during periods of industry reform as a retention strategy for qualified nursing personnel. [source]


    A survey-based exploration of the impact of dyslexia on career progression of UK registered nurses

    JOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2007
    DAVID MORRIS MSc RGN RCNT RNT DipN CertEd
    Aim, To explore the effects of dyslexia on the practice and career progression of UK registered nurses (RN). Background, Literature suggests dyslexia can have a negative impact in the workplace and may pose particular difficulties for nurses, where accuracy in information processing activities is essential for practice. Methods, A questionnaire was used to survey RNs with dyslexia (n = 116) and results analysed using content analysis. Findings, Dyslexia provided a challenge to the everyday work of RNs, which was often met successfully using a range of individualized strategies. Career progression was achievable but compared with peers, was perceived to take longer. Disclosure of dyslexia to work-colleagues was selective and dependent on the perceived benefits. Informal support mechanisms were commonly utilized with formal management support less well defined. Conclusion, Dyslexia appears to have a negative impact on working practices and career progression, but remains a poorly understood and often hidden disability. [source]


    Customer-Driven Product Development Through Quality Function Deployment in the U.S. and Japan

    THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2000
    John J. Cristiano
    Quality Function Deployment is a tool for bringing the voice of the customer into the product development process from conceptual design through to manufacturing. It begins with a matrix that links customer desires to product engineering requirements, along with competitive benchmarking information, and further matrices can be used to ultimately link this to design of the manufacturing system. Unlike other methods originally developed in the U.S. and transferred to Japan, the QFD methodology was born out of Total Quality Control (TQC) activities in Japan during the 1960s and has been transferred to companies in the U.S. This article reports on the results of a 1995 survey of more than 400 companies in the U.S. and Japan using QFD. The research questions investigated in this study were developed both inductively from QFD case studies in the U.S. and Japan and deductively from the literature. The reported results are in part counterintuitive. The U.S. companies reported a higher degree of usage, management support, cross-functional involvement, use of QFD driven data sources, and perceived benefits from using QFD. For the most part, the main uses of QFD in the U.S. were restricted to the first matrix ("House of Quality") that links customer requirements to product engineering requirements and rarely was this carried forward to later matrices. U.S. companies were more apt to use newly collected customer data sources (e.g., focus groups) and methods for analyzing customer requirements. Japanese companies reported using existing product data (e.g., warranty) and a broader set of matrices to a greater extent. The use of analytical techniques in conjunction with QFD (e.g., simulation, design of experiments, regression, mathematical target setting, and analytic hierarchy process) was not wide spread in either country. U.S. companies were more likely to report benefits of QFD in improving cross-functional integration and better decision-making processes compared to Japanese companies. Possible reasons for these cross-national differences as well as their implications are discussed. [source]


    Technological Innovativeness as a Moderator of New Product Design Integration and Top Management Support

    THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2000
    Morgan Swink
    Many war stories, as well as a number of empirical research studies, point to the value of design integration and top management support in new product development (NPD) efforts, where design integration is conceptualized as the coordination of product and process design activities performed by various organizational groups. However, some emerging evidence suggests that these aspects of program management are not equally valuable in all NPD contexts. Furthermore, the benefits of these approaches may not extend to all dimensions of NPD performance. This article addresses these issues as they relate to technological innovativeness. The author reports the results of a research study designed to (1) assess the direct contributions of design integration and top management support to several dimensions of NPD performance, and (2) identify potential moderating influences of technological innovativeness on these direct effects. A survey of 136 NPD projects drawn from firms representing most of the major U.S. manufacturing industries provides data for the study. The overall goals of the study were to amplify our understanding of management's role in NPD and to further the development of contingency theory explaining new product success. The results indicate that design integration is positively associated with higher design quality in NPD, but it is not significantly linked with better financial performance. In addition, design integration appears to be an important influence on achieving NPD time goals, but only in cases of high technological innovativeness. This result suggests that increased design integration produces its greatest impacts when development processes are full of uncertainty. Top management support is positively associated with better time-based performance, design quality, and financial performance on the whole. However, a significant interaction effect suggests that high levels of top management support are ineffective in securing good financial performance in high technologically innovative environments. Other forces appear to be at work in these circumstances, making top management support less important. The article discusses the implications of these findings for management practice, a contingency-oriented view of NPD processes, and future research. [source]


    Management Support for Portfolio Companies of Venture Capital Firms: An Empirical Study of German Venture Capital Investments

    BRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2001
    Michael Schefczyk
    To date, there is a dearth of research on strategic antecedents and consequences of management support activities which German venture capital firms (VCFs) provide for the portfolio companies (PCs) they have invested in. This article provides insights regarding such support practices, their main determinants and impacts on the economic performance of PCs. Hypotheses were derived regarding usage of various types of management support, typical functional foci of management support and the influence of VCF and PC characteristics on management support practice. Hypotheses also cover relationships between type, intensity, and frequency of management support and PC performance. Data for 103 PCs of 12 German VCFs indicate the VCFs can improve the performance of their PCs by providing consultative management support, including active involvement in key functional decisions. [source]


    Constraints to organizational change processes regarding the introduction of organic products: case findings from the Swiss food industry

    BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 2 2001
    Simone Maier
    The combination of the power dimension with the cognitive dimension on the basis of Giddens' theory of structuration provides a powerful concept for analysing constraints to organizational change. In the case of the introduction of organic products to Swiss food processing companies, four interacting and mutually re-enforcing factors could be identified to constrain organizational change for a successful introduction of organic products: the organic products' low share of overall turnover (resources), missing top management support (power), missing adjustment of the collaborators' performance assessment criteria (norms) and missing collaborators' acceptance for the organic ideology (interpretative schemes). The strategies to overcome these constraints must be designed carefully according to the specific situation of the organization. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment [source]


    Understanding the role of managerial agency in achieving business benefits from ERP systems

    INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 3 2010
    Lorraine Staehr
    Abstract Previous enterprise resource planning (ERP) research has identified ,top management support' as an important factor in implementation success. However, most studies are short on the detail of exactly how and why ,top management support' contributes to ERP success. Moreover, although ,improved management decision-making' is often claimed as a business benefit of ERP systems, there is little evidence in previous ERP research of it having actually occurred. This paper examines the role of managerial agency at all levels in four Australian manufacturing organizations in achieving business benefits from ERP systems during the post-implementation period. The research contributes to current understanding of the role of managerial agency in achieving business benefits from ERP systems by providing theoretically based, detailed and interesting insights from four interpretive case studies. [source]