Matias Ramirez

Does management development improve organizational productivity? A six-country analysis of European firms

Management development (MD) is widely regarded as a key element in a strategic approach to human resource management, yet there is still little empirical evidence that it actually contributes significantly to superior firm performance. In a study of 179 European firms across six countries, organization size explained some variance in productivity. However, the degree of variance explained is considerably enhanced when variables are introduced which capture the way MD is conceived and implemented. Specifically, line manager perceptions of the importance given to MD distinguish high- from low-performing companies when measured against an objective measure of firm productivity derived from a financial database.

Creating and Capturing Value from External Knowledge: The Moderating Role of Knowledge Intensity

integration with and adaptation to internal capabilities and the exploitation of these novel combinations to create and capture value in new ways. However, studies focusing on the relationships among capabilities, BMI and firm performance are rare. In this paper, we adopt broader measures of internal and external knowledge, which include codified intangibles such as patents and copyrights, and examine the effects the combinations and interactions have on sales growth based on a dataset of 310 firms from four European countries. Using the broader measure of knowledge, we find support for the curvilinear relationship reported in studies using research and development-intensity as a proxy. However, we also find that firms with low levels of internal knowledge benefit most from an ‘optimal’ investment in externally generated knowledge, but the influence on sales growth is very sensitive to the degree of external knowledge acquired. By contrast, knowledge-intensive firms are relatively freer in defining their knowledge sourcing strategy. We discuss the implications for exploiting knowledge and complementary assets in BMI.

Services Innovation and the Transformation of Work: The Case of UK Telecommunications

Current transformations in technologies and industrial structure of UK telecommunications have important implications for skills and work organisation. This is examined in different divisions of a large UK telecommunications firm: call centres, customer service centres, engineering sectors and the R&D department. The effect of these transformations on the development of firm competences is discussed.

Comparing European approaches to management education, training and development

The problem and the solution. Does national context play a significant role in determining management training and development practices? With the growing influence of multinational corporations and the opening of world markets, this article summarizes the arguments in favor of and against convergence in the European continent and analyzes the latest evidence from six European countries. It concludes by suggesting that individual firm-level training strategy needs to be coherent with diverse national institutions to maximize investment in training.

Learning and sharing in a Chinese high-technology cluster: a study of inter-firm and intra-firm knowledge flows between R&D employees

This paper highlights a new emerging division of labour among Chinese Research and Development (R&D) workers in Beijings Zhongguancun Science Park, which emphasises learning through external networks. Such learning relies on the ability to develop common practices and ‘translate’ external knowledge to the firm. The discussion highlights the significant costs that can be associated with developing and establishing such skills and the underlying practices that can support this process.

A labour market perspective on management training and development in Europe

This paper uses recent survey data to undertake a comparative analysis of management development across six Western European countries. Unlike most studies that compare management development practices, we rely on an institutional labour market perspective to compare managerial skills development and training. We suggest that, while there are few differences in terms of the priority firms from different countries give to developing managers, the methods that are used and skill profiles can differ considerably. Furthermore, institutional change may also challenge some conventional views of how managers are being developed. We conclude by distinguishing four country systems that reflect a series of common characteristic strengths and weaknesses of national managerial training systems.

Intermediaries and capability building in 'emerging' clusters

Increasing attention has begun to focus on the important role that organisations undertaking intermediary functions can play in supporting emerging clusters of small producers. In contrast to most studies of intermediaries that focus on governance and filling information gaps, in this paper we examine how the organisational skills of intermediaries evolve as firms in the cluster assume a broader range of practices. Through a purpose-built typology and a detailed case study, the argument is made not only that intermediaries act to facilitate the diffusion of knowledge but also that their scope of activities, extending into coordinating joint actions and new investment initiatives, places them at the centre of the network of organisations. This growing influence of intermediaries has implications for producer firms, especially in aspects such as inclusion of smaller producers and network formation.

Redefining firm competencies, innovation and labour mobility: a case study in telecommunication services

The search amongst large high‐technology firms to generate flexible competencies has been paralleled by growing interest in establishing flexible employment relationships with “knowledge workers” and greater labour mobility as a means of meeting the organizations growing diverse strategic requirements. This paper argues that while greater labour mobility may well aid greater flexibility, the consequent break down of internal labour markets as attractive career options for knowledge workers may also lead to the weakening of essential firm competencies. The discussion suggests, that rather than relying exclusively on labour mobility, large firms involved in innovation activity are developing novel employment practices to broaden their scope of knowledge while enhancing internal capability.

Comparing the Impact of Intra- and Inter-regional Labour Mobility on Problem-solving in a Chinese Science Park

Ramirez M., Li X. and Chen W. Comparing the impact of intra- and inter-regional labour mobility on problem-solving in a Chinese science park, Regional Studies. Labour mobility of skilled employees is argued to have a positive impact on clusters, yet few studies have investigated how this might be influenced by diverse geographic patterns of mobility. Using evolutionary and institutional theory in geography, this paper argues that regional institutions and the existence of local tacit routines mean that the benefits of mobility to local firms may be enhanced if this mobility is local rather than inter-regional. This proposition is tested using regression and social network analysis on a unique survey of research and development employees working in information and communication technology firms based in Zhongguancun Science Park (ZGC) in Beijing, China.

Innovation, network services and the restructuring of work organisation in customer services

The information and communication technology revolution has had important qualitative effects on the manner in which the output of new products and services is managed. This is in part associated with leveraging the knowledge of a broader group of employees. Through a case study of customer services in a major telecommunications firm, it is shown that integrating broader groups of employees into the innovation process can be vital. However a case is made that transforming work-related institutions in the firm has proved a challenging process, particularly when management are required to broaden the powers of decision making granted to employees, allowing greater discretion at the workplace and changing the manner in which work tasks are enforced.