Antonio Giangreco

Are we doing the right thing?: Food for thought on training evaluation and its context

Purpose – This paper aims to advance the debate regarding the use of training evaluation tools, chiefly the Kirkpatrick model, in reaction to minimal use of the tools reported in the literature and the economic changes that have characterised the industrialised world in the past 20 years.Design/methodology/approach – The main argument – the need to design new evaluation tools – emerges from an extensive literature review of criticism of the Kirkpatrick model. The approach is deductive; the argument emerges from extant literature.Findings – The main findings of the literature review show that the major criticisms of the Kirkpatrick model, though rigorous, are not relevant in todays post‐industrial economy. Issues of complexity, accuracy and refinement, which are relevant in stable industrial organisations, must be revised in the new economic world.Research limitations/implications – This paper is based on a literature review and presents a call for new research. As such, it is not grounded in original emp...

Gaining insight into student satisfaction using comprehensible data mining techniques

As a consequence of the heightened competition on the education market, the management of educational institutions often attempts to collect information on what drives student satisfaction by e.g. organizing large scale surveys amongst the student population. Until now, this source of potentially very valuable information remains largely untapped. In this study, we address this issue by investigating the applicability of different data mining techniques to identify the main drivers of student satisfaction in two business education institutions. In the end, the resulting models are to be used by the management to support the strategic decision making process. Hence, the aspect of model comprehensibility is considered to be at least equally important as model performance. It is found that data mining techniques are able to select a surprisingly small number of constructs that require attention in order to manage student satisfaction.

War outside, ceasefire inside: An analysis of the performance appraisal system of a public hospital in a zone of conflict

Our study examines the use of the performance appraisal system at Hebron Public Hospital (Palestine) during the second intifada, started in 2000. The aim of the article is to shed light on the reasons behind the use of performance appraisal systems in organizations operating in zones of conflicts, an area relatively neglected by HR scholars. To create the theoretical fundament we draw on mainstream literature on performance appraisal, contextualizing it to the Middle-Eastern context. From the literature analysis, we identify five guiding logics for the implementation and use of performance appraisal systems (Appendix A). We use a multi-method approach, qualitative and quantitative, to analyze the longitudinal performance evaluation data over the period 2000-2002 for about 250 individuals. These data are complemented with interviews and observations in the field. Our analysis shows that the trends evidenced in the quantitative analysis are similar to trends evident in Western contexts. However, these trends were not the consequence of the same five Western logics found in the literature. The qualitative study allows us to identify two additional logics for making sense of the performance appraisal system at Hebron Public Hospital: the need to find peace within the organization (organizational peacefulness logic); and the need to maintain order through the acceptance of the status quo (dominance logic). These results allow us to draw conclusions for theory and practice of HR management and to identify useful criteria for doing research in areas of conflicts.

Performance Appraisal Systems in the Middle East: Moving Beyond Western Logics

This paper critically examines the logics behind performance appraisal systems in Western contexts in an effort to better understand their applicability in the Middle East (ME). We present a literature review that investigates the major justifications and uses of Performance appraisal systems (PASs) articulated around five main logics: control, continuity, formality, information and motivation. On the basis of this literature review and exemplified through a case study, we show that research on PAS in the ME cannot be conducted assuming the same logics. The evaluation of success and failure of PAS in the ME should therefore be preceded by a study of the logics existing in the specific context. Our findings allow us to pose key questions for future PAS research in the ME as well as general non-Western contexts characterized by prolonged critical external conditions.

Business Intelligence System Design and its Consequences for Knowledge Sharing, Collaboration, and Decision-Making: An Exploratory Study

This exploratory study analyses the effects of the technical and organisational characteristics of business intelligence systems BIS on knowledge sharing, collaboration, and decision-making processes. The authors conducted a two-phase multi-method investigation. First, we surveyed 30 enterprises using BIS on a regular basis; then, we engaged in an in-depth case study with one of the respondent companies. Our results show that, on average, the technical and organisational characteristics of the BIS are positively associated with an increase in knowledge sharing, leading to an improvement in internal collaboration that subsequently brings improvement in the quality of decision-making. This case study adds that the way the BIS is designed and appropriated in organisations is important in obtaining such results is. A BIS being designed so that it can be appropriated by the general employee base is key in obtaining the desired organizational impacts. This suggests some requirements for BIS design that we will discuss in terms of theoretical and managerial implications.

Show Me the Money! Pay Structure and Individual Performance in Golden Teams

Using the Italian Serie A football league as an example, we analyse the unresolved relationship between pay structure and individual performance in organizational golden team settings, namely, groups of interdependent high‐skilled, high‐paid employees. We contribute to existing compensation literature by focusing on individual (rather than collective) performance, considering both absolute and relative (within team‐within role) pay structures, and investigating the moderating role of pay dispersion in the relationship between pay level and performance. Our analysis confirms the complexity of the understanding of the effects of pay structures on individuals. Specifically, both (absolute and relative) pay level and pay dispersion have a positive impact on the individual performance. However, when absolute and relative pay levels are jointly considered, only the latter displays a significant impact. Moreover, because of its direct positive relationship with individual performance, absolute (and relative) pay dispersion shows to have a partial substituting effect on the impact of absolute (and relative) pay on individual performance. The theoretical and managerial implications of our results and the issue of the extendibility of the findings to non‐sport organizations are discussed.

Who knows what? Reconfiguring the governance and the capabilities of the supply chain between physical and digital processes in the fashion industry

Abstract On the basis of an exploratory multiple-case qualitative longitudinal study in the fashion industry, this article describes how digital technologies enabled choices among different types of supply chain governance. In doing so, this study responds to calls for governance-oriented longitudinal explorations and suggests an alternative path of governance choices in which the digital technologies become the platform that allows a dynamic discourse between outsourcer and outsourcee. Our results show that, when firms decide to leverage their performances through the adoption of information technology, they need to define their knowledge transfer capacities in order to adopt the appropriate type of governance model. With this article, we contribute to the global value chain literature adding to the knowledge transfer dimension.

The Value of Devolving HRM to Line Managers: An Evidence-based Review and Research Agenda

The devolution of HRM responsibilities to line managers has generated a rich body of scholarly work in the last several decades. However, questions remain on whether devolution is a value-adding en...

The Role of IT in Organizational Networks, Individual Networks, and in Bridging These Two Levels

In this paper, we seek to understand the role of technology at the nexus between the two network levels: as outcome of the decision process at the organizational level and as object of use and performance at the individual level. We aim to capture the role of IT in bridging the individual practices in the context of the larger network system [22]. To do so, we draw on a longitudinal case study of the development and diffusion of a software for the operation and management of nursing homes.

The Pursuit of Happiness: The Virtuous Circle of an IT Tool for its Users and Beneficiaries

This study analyzes the modernization process of an Italian nursing home driven by the development and usage of software developed in-house. To clarify contradictory results regarding information technology performance in healthcare settings, this study points at the benefits gained by both the users of the software and the guests of the nursing home. This is done collecting both qualitative and descriptive quantitative data regarding the quality of life of the guests and the way operators are affected as result of the new tool adopted. Our study shows that bottom-up participatory design with autonomy, user friendliness and job simplification, and orientation toward guests, were the elements that concurrently generated a virtuous circle for the guests, the users and therefore the organization as a whole.