Andrew Myers

Adoption of E-Commerce by SMEs in the UK Towards a Stage Model

Research has shown that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are rapidly adopting the Internet and e-commerce. However, there is little systematic research into how such companies are adopting this new technology. This study addresses the research gap by seeking to understand how SMEs in the UK are adopting e-commerce, through an exploration of their level and sequence of adoption. The research, which was carried out by means of a mailed questionnaire, found four distinct clusters of adoption. These formed a set of sequential stages, through which firms appear to pass during the adoption of e-commerce. The firms in the first cluster are currently developing their first e-commerce services; the second adoption cluster are using e-mail to communicate with customers, suppliers and employees. Those at the third level of adoption have information-based websites operating and are developing on-line ordering facilities. The most advanced adopters have on-line ordering in operation and are developing online payment capabilities. The association of the adoption stage currently reached by a firm with contextual variables both at an industry and an organizational level is investigated and discussed.

Entrepreneurial Networks: Their Emergence in Ireland and Overseas

SUE BIRLEY IS PROFESSOR OF management at Imperial College, London, England, Stanley Cromie is professor and director of the Centre for Management Education at the Ulster Business School, Ulster University, Northern Ireland, and Andrew Myers is with the Cranifield School of Management, England. This paper discusses the need for information in organisations and the particular relevance of non-documented data which is gathered by managers from a network of personal contacts. It examines some of the issues involved in assessing the characteristics of personal networks and proposes that network activiety, density and diversity are the crucial features of business networks. The paper suggests that personal networking is a particularly appropriate mechanism for information gathering by owners/managers of small organisations, examines the personal networks of 274 business proprietors and compares the findings of this study with similar ones conducted in the United States of America, Sweden and Italy. Results indicate that entrepreneurial networks in Northern Ireland are smaller than elsewhere and that little zeal is displayed in increasing their size. However, considerable energy is devoted to maintaining existing networks and they are of relativly high density. Northern Irish networks are quite heterogenous with business associates, family, friends and professionals to the fore but the dearth of owner/managers and employees in the personal contact networks is quite surprising.

Demographics and Leadership Philosophy: Exploring Gender Differences.

Leadership philosophy is explored through gender and other demographic characteristics in the Australian Public Service (APS), at the federal government level. Leadership philosophy is conceptualised as the leader’s attitudes, values and behaviour. Gender differences in characteristics of leaders (executives and middle managers) are examined in terms of strategic behaviour, management style, work‐related values, adoption of information technology, perceived organisational morale, family/work conflict and personal, work and family satisfaction. The gender differences are investigated using questionnaire responses from a sample of 750 respondents, of which 569 were male and 145 female. The APS findings are compared with a Cranfield study conducted in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), where gender differences are explored in terms of management and strategic orientation. A sample of 515 chief executives, medical, clinical, HR and financial directors, chairpersons and other non‐executive directors, consists of 406 male and 108 female respondents. The APS study reveals that there are no significant gender differences in the majority of measured characteristics. Similarly in the NHS Trusts study, no significant gender differences are found in terms of management and strategic orientation. The conclusion reached is that other demographic characteristics are influential in forming leadership philosophies, namely job and organisational tenure and experience of senior management responsibilities, thus highlighting the importance of organisational demographics and their impact on leadership attitudes and practice.

Boardroom skills for Europe

Based on a survey of top managers and top teams of medium- to large-size companies in Europe, Andrew Kakabadse and Andrew Myers categorise four distinctly separate boardrooms styles of thinking, feeling, and behaving, which they term inspirational, elitist, consensual and directive. Clearly, differences of nationality and culture exist. Recognising that the national/cultural frontier exists in Europe has a particular application in European boardrooms. The authors observe five areas of best practice across European boardrooms, and point out that top management can most sucessfully manage cultural diversity by finding workable solutions to it, not accentuating differences.

Leadership and the public sector: an internationally comparative benchmarking analysis

In this article the concept of leadership is explored. Particular attention is given to examining the dynamics of individual and team leadership, as it is postulated that the impact of top people and top teams is crucial to the running of todays organizations. The results of an extensive survey conducted across the departments of the Civil Service of a European country government will be presented. These results will be benchmarked against the results of a worldwide survey of business leaders, spanning 12 countries and the responses of top managers in National Health Service (HNS) Trusts, UK. Emphasis will be given to the necessity of conducting effective team leadership through high quality dialogue and through cabinet responsibility in order to successfully lead and maintain the organization on its agreed path. Finally, approaches to the development of leadership for those already in top positions and for those entering into such challenging positions, will be discussed.

Qualities of top management: comparisons of European manufacturers

A European‐wide survey of 957 top managers of manufacturing companies spread across eight countries identifies considerable differences on five key dimensions: job satisfaction, orientation to discipline, general management orientation, team orientation and organizational orientation. Further identifies that French, Australian, Finnish and Irish manufacturers report the greatest number of concerns requiring attention. British, German and Swedish manufacturers report the least number of concerns needing improvement. Particular management and organizational development initiatives are identified as vehicles for improvement. Attention is paid as to which developmental approaches are better suited to meet the needs of manufacturers from particular countries.

Are national stereotypes discriminating

Much of the work on stereotypes has focused on discrimination for women and minorities in the workplace. Stereotypes, however, can also exist among managers, potentially influencing their judgement when undertaking business deals with counterparts from other countries. Paul Burns, Andrew Myers and Andrew Kakabadse present results from a survey that was carried out by the 3i/Cranfield European Enterprise Centre at Cranfield. Over 1,000 managers from SMEs in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom responded to the survey. Each manager scored their country and the remaining countries on a number of criteria, the key ones being trust, punctuality, humour, competence and reliability. The survey highlights a number of differing perceptions that managers have of managers from other nations. For example, British managers rate themselves highly on competence, whereas other European managers, notably from Italy and Spain, do not rate them as high. Such perceptions could lead to discrimination when choosing a European supplier for example.

Issues and Dilemmas Facing Organizations in the Effective Implementation of BPR

Business process re-engineering (BPR) is a recent change phenomenon that has grabbed the attention of those working in public sector and private sector organizations. In the organizational sense BPR is identified as a key strategic initiative for achieving business improvement in the 1990s. The failure rate of such initiatives once undertaken, however, is reported to be quite high. Why should that be? This article provides some evidence as to why this could be the case. It draws on current literature which centres on three key issues, namely: classifying, planning and managing a BPR initiative. Each of these issues is discussed. There is also a lack of empirical evidence of the importance of these issues and the difficulties organisations face when undertaking a BPR initiative. It is all very well indicating a methodology should be followed for such an initiative, yet there is no indication as to how difficult it is to implement each stage of the methodology. Hence, the Information Systems Research Centre, based at Cranfield School of Management, wished to address these issues. The Centre undertook a survey of managers working in the public and private sector attending a symposium on BPR. Five success factors were identified as key to the successful implementation of a BPR initiative, namely: (1) induction; (2) providing skills; (3) commitment to the project; (4) changing roles and systems; and (5) changing culture, attitudes and behaviour. The relative importance, difficulties and implications of these are discussed.

Effectiveness of French management: analysis of the behaviour, attitudes and business impact of top managers

Bases its findings on the results of a survey of 168 top level managers in French organizations. Demographic variables, behavioural characteristics and measures of business impact have been linked in order to discover whether organizational infrastructure concerns, educational achievements of top management, or the behaviour of top management, or a combination of these, influence the business performance of French private sector organizations. The results show that the level of qualification attained does not indicate whether French senior managers will perform effectively, nor is the configuration of organization structure significant for effective management. Crucial, however, are the attitudes and behaviour of senior managers, who are identified as significantly impacting on group and organizational performance. Considers that four areas of management development are pertinent to the continued growth and development of French senior managers, namely enhancing the ability to respond positively to feedba...

Correlates of internal and external leadership of top management teams

Presents a study of correlates of divergent vision within, and sensitivity to internal issues by, top management teams across an eight‐country sample of 2,514 top managers. The outcome reveals their importance as well as remarkable similarities. Findings relate, among others, to organizational issues ignored, business consequences, and satisfaction. These highlight the “culture‐free” importance of both the internal and external roles of top management.