Management and Marketing - Theses
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ItemHow do organisations align human resource management with information technology: an exploratory study of four Australian firms( 2003)While there is significant evidence to suggest that the alignment of Human Resources (HR) and Information Technology (IT) has a positive impact on firm performance, there is little discussion on how to achieve alignment. Literature in both the HR and IT disciplines provides confirmation of the need to identify and address the people management issues in order to realise the expected returns from IT investments. This research will contribute to these discussions with insights into how an organisation with alignment between IT and HR might appear, who should be responsible for the alignment, and how enabling and inhibiting factors impact the alignment process. The Reich & Benbasat (2000) model of social alignment distinguishes between intellectual planning intentions and executives' understanding of the implications and actions required to implement those intentions. The latter, defined as social alignment provided a useful lens through which to examine the alignment between HR and IT. The social alignment framework, originally designed to investigate executives' understanding of the alignment between IT and business strategies, has been adapted and extended to provide a useful tool to analyse the relationship between IT and HR. Four Australian firms were examined using case study methodology in order to gather and analyse the richness of the data in a field with little prior research. Findings support the view that shared domain knowledge and history of IT and HR implementation success impact on the communication and planning activities that ultimately determine levels of social alignment. Executives interviewed understood that alignment between HR and IT was important to achieving the firm’s strategic goals. Examples were identified and discussed where lack of attention to the IT/HR relationship resulted in outcomes that fell short of expectations. Shared domain knowledge of the business and the IT and HR function, was likely to have a significant impact on the communication and planning connections between the HR manager and the CIO. Similarly, past experiences of working together either in general business projects or in function specific projects such as the HRIS affected the willingness of the HR manager and CIO to collaborate. Management of the alignment process by line or project executives was likely to limit people management considerations to short term implementation issues without reference to longer term strategic directions. As a result of this research the social alignment model has been adapted to provide a valuable tool for the assessment of the alignment process between HR and IT in firms. Two additional factors have been added: responsibility and accountability, and power and influence as contributing factors that are important for management to understand so that they might develop and enhance strategic communication and connections between HR and IT.
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ItemManagement practices that enhance innovation intensity and performance in biotechnology firms( 2006)Globalization and the exponential growth of information on genetics and DNA have led to major changes in the management practices and strategies in biotechnology organizations and in governments throughout the world. These changes include: • The growing recognition by organizations of the strategic importance of innovation management as "the engine of growth" and the key to long-term sustainability; • Increasing awareness by biotechnology organizations of the need to form strategic alliances in order to capitalise on market opportunities such as treatment of AIDS, Hepatitis C, and the growth of aged-related illnesses in industrialised countries; • The need to attract venture capital and large scale investment to fund the complex and lengthy clinical trial phases associated with the development of new drugs and treatments; and • The recognition by organisations of the growing importance of managing knowledge and intellectual capital as valuable strategic assets in a global marketplace which is highly competitive for skilled and experienced knowledge workers. Although there are many biotechnology organizations where the above management strategies have been successfully implemented, there is still considerable misunderstanding of the innovation process. There is also a widespread failure by the private and public sectors to recognize that the innovation process needs to be managed ‘from idea to market’. Some managers apply traditional short-term strategies to address the long-term challenges posed by the development of new drugs and treatments in the biotechnology industry. This is commonly referred to as "short-termism". The problem of short-termism becomes compounded because biotechnology is an emergent and disruptive technology undergoing rapid change and convergence with other technologies such as information technology. Anecdotal evidence and the limited number of empirical studies on management practices in the biotechnology industry suggest a lack of awareness and perception of innovation management and the requirements for developing innovation intensity as a prerequisite to effective innovation performance at the organizational level. The purpose of this research is to identify those management practices and strategies which enhance the innovation intensity and performance in biotechnology organizations. This was achieved by investigating the relationships between management practices and strategies with innovation intensity and performance. A model was developed as part of this research using a framework of constructs based on extensive research of the literature. This model was tested to identify the constructs and variables (comprising those constructs) which had a significant and positive relationship with innovation intensity and performance in biotechnology firms. Therefore, the model used in this research has been developed based on well grounded analytical techniques, established theory and multiple methodologies. Hypotheses were developed to test the relationships between the independent variable constructs, specific independent variables within the constructs, and the dependent variable construct (innovation intensity). The relationships were tested using a database consisting of 102 completed responses from Australia and 68 responses from Europe. Survey responses which were only partially completed were deleted from the database. The responses from Australia were mainly from Victoria and Queensland with a small number of responses from other States. The European responses were from 3 leading biotechnology countries in Europe namely Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands. Biotechnology firms and biotechnology associations in other European countries were invited to participate in the survey but did not respond. The hypotheses were further explained by utilising six case study firms. These companies were recognized by their peer groups and biotechnology industry associations as "success stories" because of their reputation for implementing management practices and strategies as a strategic part of their innovation performance programs. A major finding was that the constructs of the model provided a valid and reliable model for measuring and predicting the relationship between management strategies and practices and innovation intensity. For example, dimensions such as management support, project management and commercial orientation had a significant and positive effect on innovation intensity. The second major finding was that Organisational Climate had a positive but insignificant effect on innovation intensity. However, removal of the organisational climate construct from the model weakened its predictive power in relation to innovation intensity. This finding, from the quantitative analysis, was qualified by the case study research thus highlighting the benefit of using multiple methodologies. The most significant finding, and contribution to the theory, was the identification of management practices which had a positive and significant effect on the variables comprising innovation intensity. This finding was also qualified by case study research. The study concluded that a long-term strategic approach to new product development (radical innovation) is critical to innovation performance in biotechnology firms. Continuous improvement (incremental innovation) is also important for companies to improve their existing products and organisational capacity to meet customer needs. The constructs of the model such as Management Support, Organisational Climate, Project Management, Commercial Orientation and Innovation Intensity complement each other as part of a broader strategic approach to innovation management and performance. The limitations of the study and the implications of the research findings for managers and policy makers are reviewed along with directions for future research into innovation management in biotechnology firms.
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ItemContractual joint ventures in China: formation, operation, and performance( 2002)Most of the academic literature on foreign direct investment (FDI) in China has focused on equity joint ventures (EJVs) and wholly foreign owned enterprises (WFOEs). Contractual joint ventures (CJVs) have been neglected. However, CJVs were the major form of FDI in China until the mid-1980s, and have remained one of three principal forms available for foreign investors throughout the reform era from 1979 to 1999. In south China province of Guangdong, Hong Kong manufacturing firms and their local Chinese partners have relied on CJVs as the most important form of investment. Unlike EJVs that have a separate legal entity from parent firms, CJV may or may not be a legal entity. CJV contracts also vary from one situation to another as long as the arrangement is acceptable to both parties. International business scholars often find it difficult to study CJVs because of the ambiguity of their legal status and flexibility of their contractual arrangements. This thesis analyses the complex character of CJVs between Hong Kong firms and their local partners in Guangdong. Drawing on data from 73 structured interviews for 65 Hong Kong-Guangdong CJVs, the thesis studies the nature of CJVs as a relational subcontracting arrangement, lying between quasi-market type processing and assembling (P&A) arrangements and internalised EJVs and WFOEs. CJVs are hybrid contractual arrangements that possess aspects of both long-term subcontracting and an equity-based hierarchy. This thesis demonstrates CJVs' advantages in reducing the costs of contracting compared to EJVs and P&A contracts, including flexibility, quick return on investments and low adjustment costs to market changes or technical upgrading. For Hong Kong firms the CJV allowed high levels of managerial control analogous to a WFOE. CJVs were analysed as a path dependent dynamic process, which remained an efficient governance structure over time with increases in asset specificity of the subcontracting operation. The thesis shows how trust, learning and dispute resolution strategies had a positive role in maintaining the efficiency of CJV contracts under changing circumstances. In this pioneering study, the complex character of CJV partnerships is revealed and the managerial behaviour of CJVs analysed.