Richard Wolfe

Computer-facilitated Qualitative Data Analysis: Potential Contributions to Management Research

The development of software programs designed to facilitate qualitative data analysis has proltferated recently. Despite their potential to contribute much to management research, very little concerning the use of such programs has appeared in the management literature. The purpose of this paper is to review the current state of computer-facilitated qualitative data analysis [CQDA] in order to contribute to its effective use by management researchers. In an effort to achieve this purpose we discuss why CQDA programs are proliferating, describe the potential of such programs to contribute to management research, address program capabilities and features, describe CQDA applications in management research, and review issues researchers should be aware of in considering the use of C&DA.

The contribution of leadership and human resources to organizational success: an empirical assessment of performance in major league baseball

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to an underdeveloped area within the resource‐based view (RBV) of strategic management. Relatively little work has been carried out concerning the concurrent contribution of leadership and human resources to a given organizations success. We investigated the relative contribution of these two resources to competitive advantage within the context of professional baseball. We found that player resources (defense/pitching and offence/batting) explained 67% of the variance in winning percentage, while leadership explained very little (slightly more than 1%) of the variance. We relate our results to seminal RBV arguments and find these supportive of our findings. We also explore the minimal contribution of leadership in our results. We suggest a number of ways that future research could investigate this further. While we limited the leadership construct to the “field manager,” future studies could expand the construct to include the “management team” (i.e., include coaches) and/or corporate leadership.

Employee Health Management and Organizational Performance

Recent research suggests that well-designed employee health management programs (EHMPs) can enhance employee health as well as a number of important organizational outcomes. The purpose of this article is to further our understanding of EHMPs and their effects on organizations. To do so the authors define EHMPs and discuss their history, examine motivations for organizations establishing EHMPs, review EHMP outcome research, discuss linkages between EHMP and the human resource management (HRM) function, analyze the mechanisms by which EHMPs influence important HRM outcomes, and address EHMP implementation challenges. Recommendations for future research are presented.

Work, Health, and Productivity

This article presents a review of the book “Work, Health, and Productivity,” by Gareth M. Green and Frank Baker.

The nature of innovation in community sport organizations

ABSTRACT Research question: The purpose of this investigation is threefold. First, as indications of the acquisition and creative use of knowledge, this study explores the extent to which community sport organizations (CSOs) are pursuing innovations. Second, these innovations are categorized based on their form, type, and magnitude. Third, the role that the sport context plays in the innovations that CSOs are pursuing is examined. Research methods: Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 42 volunteer presidents (or designates) of CSOs, in curling, soccer, swimming, and Ultimate across Canada. Innovation was operationalized as anything new to the unit of adoption. Participants were asked to identify and discuss ideas and initiatives that were new to their sport club. Results and Findings: CSO presidents identified 188 innovations in their clubs; 55 innovations in 12 curling clubs, 44 innovations in 11 soccer clubs, 49 innovations in 11 swim clubs, and 40 innovations in 8 Ultimate clubs. CSOs are actively involved in the pursuit of innovations, with a general focus on process related, administrative, and incremental innovations. Preliminary patterns were identified based on a comparison of innovation attributes across the four sports. Implications: The findings provide a starting point for acknowledging the variety of innovations being pursued by CSOs and their different forms, types, and magnitude. CSOs need access to existing knowledge, from internal and external sources, or the ability to create new knowledge in order to adopt and implement the innovations.

The Effect of Unionization on Workplace Innovation

Understanding the factors which facilitate or hinder workplace innovation is crucial to the survival of many firms. This study focuses on one such factor workplace unionization. In this study we develop and test a theory of the effect of workplace unionization on innovation which incorporates competing hypotheses from previous studies. The extent to which the unionization-innovation relationship might be generalizable to the influence of other organizational groups on innovation is addressed.