Harald Bergsteiner

Organizational climate and performance in retail pharmacies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address an important gap in the literature by investigating the relationship between organizational climate and performance in small businesses.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 100 retail pharmacies in Sydney, Australia where a manager and up to three staff members and three buying customers were interviewed in each pharmacy.Findings – Supportive climates tend to be associated with higher organizational performance (i.e. financial performance, staff satisfaction, customer satisfaction) in small retail pharmacies, and may reduce staff turnover.Practical implications – The results suggest that managers should consider creating warm and supportive organizational climates to enhance business performance, employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and increase employee tenure.Originality/value – This paper is among the first to empirically establish a direct link between organizational climate and the performance of small businesses,...

Sustainable leadership : honeybee and locust approaches

1. Sustainable Enterprises 2. Elements of Sustainable Leadership 3. Foundation Practices 4. Higher-level Practices and Key Performance Drivers 5. Performance Outcomes as Leadership Practices Interact 6. Epilogue: After the Global Financial Crisis

A theoretical responsibility and accountability framework for CSR and global responsibility

Purpose – Responsibility and accountability are central to much of what managers do, but in the literature these complex social science concepts are confused. The paper aims to bring theoretical rigour, structure, consistency and parsimony to this field, using as an example the subcategories of responsibility referred to as corporate social responsibility (CSR) and global responsibility.Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper analyses and identifies overlaps, redundancies, gaps, limitations and flaws in current constructs of responsibility and accountability. Using this as a base, we propose a responsibility and accountability matrix comprised of eight constructs, which in turn underpin a process model in which responsibility precedes accountability.Findings – The eight constructs are shown to be sufficient and necessary to explain: the nature of the obligation that one party has to another (role, legal, ethical and moral responsibility); the responsibilities and accountabilities that arise fr...

The twin-cycle experiential learning model: reconceptualising Kolb's theory

Experiential learning styles remain popular despite criticisms about their validity, usefulness, fragmentation and poor definitions and categorisation. After examining four prominent models and building on Bergsteiner, Avery, and Neumanns suggestion of a dual cycle, this paper proposes a twin-cycle experiential learning model to overcome identified problems and integrate the experiential learning field. In the model, an initial response to a learning stimulus or intent occurs at the intersection of a concrete/active/primary learning cycle and an abstract/passive/secondary cycle. The model accommodates four classes of variables that describe six broad learning activity types (engage in, write about, observe, hear/see, read, hear), the three senses these activities predominantly engage (kinaesthetic, visual, aural), six learning modes (concrete, active, primary, abstract, passive, secondary) and four learning stages. Importantly, instead of assigning learning modes to stages of learning as Kolb does, the model assigns them to the two cycles as a whole.

The Relationship between leadership paradigms and employee engagement

Purpose – This study investigated whether the direct supervisors leadership style affects employee engagement using Averys classical, transactional, visionary, and organic leadership paradigms as the theoretical framework. The study also investigated how many and which components of employee engagement (“say”, “stay” and “strive”) contribute to the construct. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 439 retail sales assistants in Sydney, Australia, responded to a mixed-mode questionnaire survey. Factor analysis, independent t-tests, analysis of variance and structural regression models were used in the data analysis. Findings – Both research questions were supported. Results showed that the visionary and organic paradigms are likely to enhance employee engagement, whereas classical and transactional styles negatively affect employee engagement. Furthermore, the data confirmed that the three behavioral-outcome factors all do contribute to the employee engagement c...

Enhancing multiple dimensions of performance in small professional firms through leader-follower trust

This study reports a range of positive effects of trusting relationships between leaders and followers on multiple measures of performance in small professional service firms. Six performance measures were used: financial outcomes, staff and customer satisfaction, productivity, and staff and manager tenure. Predictions that firms with high levels of manager–follower trust would outperform their low-trust peers were supported on all measures. Importantly, the findings indicated that retaining managers and staff in small firms is associated with high levels of manager–follower trust.

Do follower characteristics moderate leadership and employee engagement

Purpose – This study aims to, given that most research focusses on leaders and ignores the influence of follower characteristics on either leadership or engagement, investigate whether employee characteristics moderate the relationship between perceived leadership styles and employee engagement. Recent research has shown that visionary and organic leadership paradigms positively influence employee engagement, compared with classical and transactional leadership environments (Zhang et al., 2014). Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaire data from 432 sales assistants, collected from retail shopping malls in Sydney, Australia, were analyzed. Findings – Structured regression analysis confirmed that the employee characteristics of need for achievement, equity sensitivity and need for clarity moderate the relationship between four leadership paradigms and employee engagement. The nature of the moderation varies in complex ways. Research limitations/implications – There is scope to confirm this study in diff...