Paresha N. Sinha

Researching the trainability of transformational organisational leadership

Findings about the effectiveness of leadership training vary. This research tests for the effectiveness of transformational leadership training, using the Full Range Leadership Development (FRLD) programme, upon leader behaviours and interactions. The impact of transformational leadership upon organizational performance has already been established. Quasi-field experiment research was conducted, resulting in an increase in the display of all five transformational leadership factors and contingent reward behaviour. There was a reduction in the display of passive transactional leadership behaviour as a result of the training. The extra effort of followers was increased. Goal-setting was found to be effective. Implications are discussed for practitioners and for future research.

What motivates manufacturing SMEs to outsource offshore in China?: Comparing the perspectives of SME manufacturers and their suppliers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the motivations for offshore outsourcing encountered by manufacturing small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and their suppliers in China. The paper explores the motivations and challenges encountered by SMEs choosing to outsource their manufacturing activities and why their suppliers engage with them.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative case study method was utilized. The authors obtained perspectives of SME managers as well as the suppliers for each of the cases, conducting in‐depth interviews in order to obtain comprehensive information about their outsourcing activities. Then, cross‐case analysis was carried out using content analysis techniques to identify key themes for the motivations to undertake offshore outsourcing.Findings – The results showed that the first rationale for offshore outsourcing relates to increasing efficiency and labor cost reduction while holding quality constant. The second rationale is to maintain flexibility in res...

Sustainable environmental practices in the New Zealand wine industry: An analysis of perceived institutional pressures and the role of exports

The focus of this article is to use institutional theory to provide a better understanding of environmental issues facing New Zealand wineries. Findings from a survey of New Zealand wineries indicate that institutional pressures do not fully explain the adoption of sustainable environmental practices in the New Zealand wine industry. The authors found that firms with a higher commitment to exports will adopt one of the environmental practices identified to a greater degree. The authors present explanations for these results in terms of the nature of the industry, size of the winery operations, and the higher overall export orientation of this industry.

Being satisfied at work does affect burnout among psychiatrists: a national follow-up study from New Zealand.

Background: Burnout and job satisfaction in psychiatrists has been an area of considerable interest. Longitudinal studies on the subject are lacking, rendering it difficult to establish whether burnout changes with time or whether low job satisfaction may predict high burnout with time in psychiatrists. Aims: This longitudinal study of burnout and job satisfaction in a cohort of New Zealand psychiatrists was conducted to examine if initial scores on the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) predicted scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) three years later and vice versa. Methods: Three questionnaires (a socio-demographic questionnaire, the JDS and the MBI) were sent to all registered psychiatrists in 2008, which included all those who had participated in a study three years earlier. Scores on these three questionnaires were compared for those who had participated in both studies. Results: The overall number of psychiatrists reporting a high level of emotional exhaustion (EE) did not change across the two phases. The number of psychiatrists reporting high levels of depersonalization (DP) increased from 31 (13%) to 45 (20.2%); the mean DP score for the cohort significantly increased by 17.5% (p < .01). Those reporting reduced personal accomplishment (PA) increased from 90 (37.7%) to 98 (43.9%); the mean PA score for the cohort significantly reduced by 14.5% (p < .001). Low scores on skill variety, task Identity, and feedback of the JDS were significantly correlated with high EE scores three years later, whereas low scores on skill variety were significantly correlated with high scores on DP, and low scores on task significance and feedback were correlated with low scores on PA three years later. Conclusions: Paying attention to aspects of job satisfaction may assist us in developing specific interventions for psychiatrists who may score high on different dimensions of burnout.

A Burkean Inquiry into Leader–Follower Identification Motives

The primary goal of this paper is to develop a rhetorically based understanding of the dynamics of the identification process between transformational or charismatic leaders and their followers. We bring to bear Burke’s theory of identification in an effort to provide a finely nuanced and deeply rooted conceptualization of follower identification that we perceive to be a weakness of the transformational/charismatic leadership discourse. A secondary goal is to evaluate leader–follower identification motives to reveal the potential for ‘questionable’ motives on the part of both leaders and followers. A dramaturgical model is utilized to reveal the dramatic struggle that underlies the leader–follower identification process. We suggest that Goffman’s views on morality and manipulation can provide a useful supplement to Burke’s theory of identification as it highlights the performative aspects of transformational and charismatic leadership.

Production outsourcing offshore in the New Zealand printing, publishing and packaging industries

Purpose – The study aims to investigate the production offshore outsourcing practices of SMEs in the New Zealand printing, publishing and packaging industries. It identifies the techniques SMEs use to organise and manage their offshore outsourcing activities. The authors then develop a managerial framework to assist SMEs in their future offshore outsourcing ambitions.Design/methodology/approach – The study takes a qualitative approach; obtaining data from a sample of 22 New Zealand SMEs in the printing, publishing and packaging industries that are actively offshore outsourcing production tasks. Data was gathered in the form of semi‐structured interviews with SME managers who have carried out offshore outsourcing.Findings – To mitigate offshore outsourcing costs, SMEs use the internet to locate suppliers and use short‐term reliable contracts that are managed remotely or by intermediaries. Customer involvement was highly important during the entire offshore outsourcing process. Most SMEs developed long‐term...

Migration: A means to create work–life balance?

Abstract In this article, we examine the postmigration work–life balance or conflict experiences of 15 Chinese-born mothers living in New Zealand. Our analysis contributes theoretically to the work–life balance and migration literatures. It does so by revealing that balance and conflict is influenced by the interrelationship between the socio-cultural, work, and family domains; and that this interrelationship has both a complex and nuanced influence on postmigration balance and conflict. Thus, balance or conflict was influenced by the interrelationship between the participants’ unique experiences within the three domains, including experiencing satisfaction in all three domains and through complex processes of negative spillover, compensation, renegotiation and removal. The postmigration experiences highlight the need for a comprehensive and concerted approach by government, tertiary education institutions, and human resource managers to develop responsive policy initiatives that support migrants to settle into all aspects of their lives.

Exploring entrepreneurial finance and gender in an emergent entrepreneurial ecosystem: the case of the Punjab, northern India: A Comparative Analysis

Our exploratory chapter offers contextualized empirical evidence and theory of how entrepreneurial finance supports women-led firms in an emergent entrepreneurial ecosystem within the state of Punjab, in northern India. By emphasizing the social, cultural, and informal aspects, we posit that the Punjab context is an emergent entrepreneurial ecosystem in which informal institutions (social structure, culture, entrepreneurs, households, and lenders) and more formal institutions (such as formalized bank lending and educational establishments) are interwoven and interdependent. Drawing on questionnaires of selected women entrepreneurs located in five districts of the Punjab, we found that women entrepreneurs in emergent entrepreneurial ecosystems possess few overall assets, suffer from weak enforcement of financial rights and the existence of unequal inheritance rights. Consequently, they have limited access to community and social resources. Gender-based obstacles, conventional thinking and socio-cultural values aggravate the difficulties faced by women. Due to their lack of access to formal finance, women must approach informal lenders. For example, a quarter of women interviewed reported incidents of sexual harassment by informal lenders, especially in the rural and semi urban areas. Indeed, one-fifth who were exploited by informal lenders belonged to the scheduled classes or lower castes (Dalits: literally ‘the oppressed’), or so-called ‘untouchables’, illustrating the relationship between their caste and types of treatment and behaviour by these informal lenders.

Resourcing indigenous export ventures through networks: insights from the Sri Lankan tea industry

Entrepreneurial actions need to be financed either through external means or internally by the entrepreneur. However, obtaining debt and equity for a new venture may be extremely difficult for nascent entrepreneurs due to their lack of a track record, lack of experience, and no collateral. In this chapter we look at how entrepreneurs exploit their social capital using a bootstrapping strategy to bridge this resource gap. Using case study methodology we analyse six indigenous tea exporters in the Sri Lankan tea industry to investigate the underlying factors that led to successful exploitation of external social capital to access bootstrap resources. We provide insights into why and how entrepreneurs use social capital as a bootstrapping strategy and what brought the entrepreneurs and external networks together to create new resource configurations.

Entrepreneurial Action Drivers: Building Dynamic Capablities in a Family firm

Using an in depth case study of a large New Zealand based family business manufacturer of farm products we examine the following issue: Which transgenerational ‘values’ or ‘beliefs’ help build the ...