Eleni Stavrou

Securing the Future of the Family Enterprise: A Model of Offspring Intentions to Join the Business:

In this study, the authors have tested empirically a model that investigates intergenerational transitions in family firms. Through the model, the authors have explored the aspirations of 18 to 28-year-old university students in taking over the family business and the reasons for which they would join or not join the business.

The Configurational Approach to Linking Strategic Human Resource Management Bundles with Business Performance: Myth or Reality?

Strategic human resource management has been linked to competitive advantage and in turn to organizational performance. This linkage has been viewed from a universal, a contextual or a configurational perspective. Adopting the latter perspective, the authors of the present study investigate the possible Strategic HRM Bundles of competitive advantage within the EU and the extent to which these bundles are linked to business performance. The exploration revealed fifteen bundles: six of which have a positive and one has a negative relation to performance. These results raise theoretical as well as practical implications about the extent to which HRM is viewed strategically within the EU business context.

Flexible Work and Turnover: An Empirical Investigation Across Cultures

We explored the relationship between three bundles of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) and turnover for two of GLOBEs societal clusters, namely Anglo and Nordic. We collected data through a large-scale international survey and found significant differences in the FWA–turnover relationship between the two clusters. Specifically, as unsocial hours (overtime, shift work, weekend work) and part-time arrangements (part-time and job-sharing) increase in the Anglo cluster, so does turnover. Further, as schedule flexibility (telework, work from home and flexi-time) increases in the Nordic cluster, turnover decreases. The results raise issues about the universal applicability of FWA policies and practices among nationally and internationally operating organizations.

Human resource management and firm performance in Europe through the lens of business systems: best fit, best practice or both?

This study uses the lens of Business Systems theory to explore the importance of geographic context on the link between human resource management and organizational performance. Basing the analysis on ‘HRM bundles of competitive advantage’, drawing evidence from a large-scale survey of European private sector businesses, and using multiple methodologies, we find three distinct geographic regions and 21 ‘HRM bundles of competitive advantage’. Of those bundles 10 were significantly related to performance in one or more regions. The results raise issues about the universal applicability of HRM-performance research and have implications for the standardization of HRM policies and practices within internationally operating organizations.

Human resource management and performance: A neural network analysis

Abstract This study utilizes an innovative research methodology (Kohonen’s Self-Organizing Maps) to explore a subject relatively understudied in Europe. It focuses on the connection between human resource management as a source of competitive advantage and perceived organizational performance in the European Union’s private and public sectors. While practices in these two sectors did not differ significantly, three diverse but overlapping HRM models did emerge, each of which involved a different set of EU member states. Training & Development practices were strongly related to performance in all three models and Communication practices in two. These results show the usefulness of an innovative technique when applied to research so far conducted through traditional methodologies, and brings to the surface questions about the universal applicability of the widely accepted relationship between superior HRM and superior business performance.

Leadership Personality and Firm Culture during Hereditary Transitions in Family Firms: Model Development and Empirical Investigation

The present study is the first to propose a theoretical framework for an exploration of the relationship among organizational culture, leader personality, and the success of hereditary transitions in family businesses. Using Dyers cultural framework and Jungian personality concepts, the authors test empirically this framework among family businesses in Cyprus. In turn, they identify certain common dimensions of leader personality and firm culture in relation to the success of a transition, which could serve as the basis for further research on the subject.

Training and firm performance in Europe: the impact of national and organizational characteristics

This study focuses on the relationship between training and development and performance. It expands existing research on the subject by combining national and organizational factors through a hierarchical linear model to explore the training and development and performance relationship in 14 European countries. The main findings point out the importance of cultural, institutional and organizational factors in analysing the relationship between training and development and performance.

Leadership Succession in Owner-Managed Firms through the Lens of Extraversion

Succession in owner-managed firms is rarely planned. Furthermore, it rarely occurs during the lifetime of the owner-manager. Even when it does, it is often ineffective. Although the literature cites various explanations as to the problems associated with succession in owner-managed firms, these explanations lack a coherent and encompassing theory to explain its dynamics. The author proposes that the issue of succession in owner-managed firms be viewed under the prism of extraversion, a psychological attitude that may help clarify successions most fundamental features and explain the factors underlying its process.

Human resource management practices and the HRM-performance link in public and private sector organizations in three Western societal clusters

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to explore HRM practices and HRM-performance (HRM-P) link in public and private sector organizations across three societal clusters: the Anglo, the Germanic, and the Nordic European. Design/methodology/approach – The article is based on international Cranet HRM survey data collected from large private and public organizations. Findings – According to results, HRM is more advanced in private companies than in public sector organizations, even across three societal clusters. Instead, the analyses related to HRM-P link in private and public organizations refer to interesting similarities but also differences between organizational sectors (public versus private) and societal clusters. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation is retaining in those performance indicators that are applicable in both private and public organizations: subjective measures of productivity and service quality, only. Performance measures relevant especially in the public sector (e....

Support for part-time work as a channel to female employment: the moderating effects of national gender empowerment and labour market conditions

Using a multi-source data set collected across eight European countries, this article examines how characteristics of both the organizational environment and the larger national context relate to the organizational-level variable of womens employment. Our study revealed that, in countries that were high in gender empowerment measure (GEM), establishments that were more supportive of part-time work options also employed a higher proportion of women. One reason for this relationship may be that in high-GEM countries offering part-time employment is a way for an organization to signal its support for work–life balance, something that makes it more attractive to women. In countries with low GEM, an establishments greater support for part-time work was associated with employing a greater proportion of women only when establishments experienced recruitment difficulties. Key differences in gender empowerment between countries are discussed.