Alexandros Papalexandris

From task‐based to competency‐based

Purpose – Organizational effectiveness today depends largely on the ability to activate, share and transform the intellectual capital of the company into sustainable and difficult‐to‐imitate competitive advantage. This paper seeks to develop a competency typology that integrates previous definitions and frameworks from the literature and to propose a methodology for identifying competencies to aid the transition from a task‐based to a competency‐based logic for human resource management.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a longitudinal research project. The paper outlines a methodology and presents the findings from the implementation of a competency model in two case companies. It illustrates how the systematic use of the identified competency categories can support the identification and coding of competencies, which will facilitate the critical organizational transformation from a task‐based to a competency‐based approach.Findings – The experience from the deployment offers potential c...

Measuring Political Will in Organizations: Theoretical Construct Development and Empirical Validation:

Political will is widely recognized as an important, yet profoundly underinvestigated, construct that lacks conceptual clarity and valid measurement. To address this lack, we conducted four studies encompassing six samples (N = 925) from three countries (United States, Greece, and United Kingdom) that establish the psychometric properties and nomological network of the Political Will Scale. We demonstrate that the scale exhibits both convergent and discriminant validity with several conceptually related constructs while also determining that political will positively relates to influence and work-related behaviors. As an extension of our findings, political will seems to explain variance over and above political skill in relation to influence tactics, status, and career growth potential. The theoretical implications of this new scale are discussed in relation to organizational politics, leadership, and social change.

A Socio‐Psychological Perspective on Team Ambidexterity: The Contingency Role of Supportive Leadership Behaviours

In addressing the notion of team ambidexterity, we propose that socio-psychological factors (i.e., team cohesion and team efficacy) may help team members to resolve paradoxical challenges and to combine exploratory and exploitative learning efforts. In addition, we theorize that senior executives may play an important role in facilitating the emergence of ambidexterity at lower hierarchical levels. In doing so, we develop a multilevel contingency framework and propose that the effectiveness of teams to achieve ambidexterity is contingent upon supportive leadership behaviours at the organizational-level. Using multilevel, multisource, and temporally separated data on 87 teams within 37 high-tech and pharmaceutical firms, we not only reveal how team cohesion and efficacy may matter for the emergence of team ambidexterity but also show that the effectiveness of supportive leadership behaviours from senior executives varies across cohesive and efficacious teams.

The role of political tactics on the organizational context–career success relationship

Drawing from the norm of reciprocity, signal theory, and psychological contracts, we argue that the use of different types of political tactics, based on their social desirability, can be reciprocal behavioral reactions to contextual cues (i.e. perceptions of organizational support and politics) that can predict career success. Using a sample of 117 middle managers, our findings suggest that the use of sanctioned political tactics partially mediates the relationship between perceptions of organizational support and career success, while non-sanctioned political tactics suppress the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and career success.

Hard, soft or ambidextrous?:which influence style promotes managers' task performance and the role of political skill

Abstract Ambidexterity at the manager level focuses on the crucial, but underexplored, role of managers’ knowledge, skills, and behaviors to address competing demands and promote organizational ambidexterity. As such, to successfully complete their assigned duties, managers need to employ the appropriate interpersonal style and calibrate their behavior to different contextual demands. This study highlights the role of the individual in the ambidexterity process by introducing the concept of influence tactic ambidexterity, to denote the frequent use of both hard and soft influence and investigating its role on task performance. Drawing on the literature on ambidexterity and HRM, we analyze data from a sample of 172 middle managers and their corresponding 68 supervisors working for multinational organizations, and provide evidence that influence tactic ambidexterity relates to higher levels and less variation in managers’ task performance compared to the sole use of either hard or soft tactics. Our findings also show that political skill positively moderates the relationship between influence tactic ambidexterity and a manager’s task performance. Therefore, this study suggests that influence tactic ambidexterity and political skill can be considered valuable HR assets for managers.

Implementing a balanced scorecard at a software development company

In this paper, the authors develop a specific balanced scorecard (BSC) model, and present the experiences from its real-life implementation at a large software development company. The proposed approach is based on the Kaplan-Norton model, and takes into account the particularities of the software industry. Via the discussion of the actual implementation in a technology driven and oriented company, they illustrate the effect that the dynamic environment and the increased concerns about intellectual capital have on business strategy and the performance metrics inherent in the BSC model. In this context, the authors also identify and evaluate some critical success factors and shortcomings of the particular project in order to derive guidelines for similar implementations.

Putting Competencies into Action in Greek shipping: Implementing a competency typology as a unique source of competitive advantage

Competencies present the means for creating distinctive competitive advantages. This paper presents a holistic framework for developing practically relevant and theoretically grounded firm specific competencies. It also presents the experience from the implementation of this competency framework at a large international maritime company based in Greece. In this context, the main steps and the critical success factors that characterize such projects are discussed, and relevant examples of findings are analyzed.