This paper explains how organisational myths and stories are vehicles of communication management (Kaye 1993; 1994). Contemporary scholars (eg Brown 1992; Boje 1991b) have argued that stories and myths are not only important communicative tools for learning within organisations but also powerful media for bringing about changes in people and in the culture of their workplace. People-associated changes include ways in which professional relationships and interpersonal communication are affected. In turn, the effects of mythologising and storytelling on organisational behaviour and communication are likely to have further-reaching consequences in shaping the culture of human systems.

Myth-making in organisations involves the identification of heroic and legendary archetypes. Such archetypes often serve as exemplars or role models for people-in-systems. The telling of stories involving heroic role models can have a marked influence on the shaping of communication between managers and their staff. Often the exploits of heroes become embellished through repeated oral versions. Stories gradually acquire a mythical quality or status. Significantly, the incorporation of stories into an organisation's culture will depend a lot on the credibility of the storyteller. When managers are perceived to have high credibility, they have a powerful means of helping those they supervise to learn, to achieve professional goals, and thus to contribute to the strategic growth of their organisations.

In this paper, myth-making and storytelling are considered to be specialised facets of communicative competence and analysed in terms of the Adult Communication Management Model (Kaye 1993; 1994). Attention is given to the effect of myth-making and storytelling on the covert ‘shadow-side’ culture of human systems. It is argued that the understanding and management of shadow-side communication is an integral component of effective organisational behaviour and survival. It is also proposed that such understanding and the ability to manage shadow-side communication is closely related to managers' awareness of prevailing myths and stories within their organisations. Finally, it is argued that managers who are skilled storytellers have the opportunity to help their staff develop communication abilities in a workplace conducive to learning.

We study the international innovation strategies of Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) firms in the European context, to explain their investment motives, knowledge flows and innovation performance. Our thematic analysis of seven case studies suggests that ANZ investors' motives for innovation in Europe are often both market- and knowledge-seeking and that some are also motivated by diversification and cooperation. While the strategic intent is often for the knowledge to flow in multiple directions among subsidiaries and headquarters (HQ), distance poses challenges to the efficiency of the process. European subsidiaries are often seen as potentially playing a key role in firms' global innovation systems, particularly with regards to radical innovation. However, because of distance and communication bottlenecks (e.g., time zone differences), HQ does not always recognise this potential. We develop a model proposing that HQ–subsidiary trust and strategic motives are moderators in the process of international knowledge connectivity and knowledge creation.

The effects of employee-perceived leadership paradigms on multiple measures of firm performance collected from managers and customers in small businesses were examined. Four leadership paradigms operating in Australian retail pharmacies were assessed against six performance measures – financial outcomes, staff and customer satisfaction, productivity, retaining staff, and manager retention. Structural equation modeling, regression, and analysis of variance were employed to test the hypotheses. Predictions that firms characterized by visionary and organic/distributed leadership would outperform those using classical and transactional leadership were supported on all measures. Furthermore, the emerging organic leadership paradigm outperformed the others on every measure.

This paper extends the boundaries of theories in leadership studies to sub-cultures of a country. The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between the concept of an excellent leader and ethnicity in a multicultural society while formulating ten underlying dimensions for this concept. Data on leadership behaviour were gathered from 292 managers in Malaysia and were subjected to factor analysis, MANOVA analysis, regression analysis and structural equation modelling. The results suggest that, in Malaysia, strategic orientation acts through operational behaviours, producing excellence in leadership. However, the study demonstrates that there are significant ethnic differences in regard to the dimensions that relate to excellence in leadership. Studies such as this are useful in extending the understanding of the dimensions of leadership in pluralistic societies where the cultural frameworks of workers may not be the same. Most studies have looked at the leader from a mono-cultural perspective and this study addresses this deficit.

The paper used a social exchange lens to explore the impact of the quality of the relationship between supervisors and service employees on individual and organisational outcomes. The findings provide further evidence that the quality of the relationship between supervisors and service employees is a significant factor - in this case explaining almost half of the reasons as to why employees accepted or rejected organisational changes. Using the social exchange lens, the theory argues that the same characteristics evident in high quality leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships (effective levels of information, feedback and respect) are also likely to provide the ideal conditions for employees' to address their fears and answer their questions about potential organisational changes. As a result, service employees are more likely to accept the organisational changes. In addition, this study suggests that approximately half of job productivity and satisfaction is affected by the way LMX firstly affects employees' satisfaction with organisational communication processes, and secondly, their acceptance of organisational changes within SMEs.

Given the growing demand for aged residential care facilities in Western industrialised economies, the adequate staffing of these facilities is a growing concern. Increasingly migrant care workers are being employed to fill the local labour shortfall. In this paper we present findings of a qualitative study exploring how managers of aged residential care facilities work to ensure consistent delivery of quality care through their migrant care workers. The issues raised by the 16 managers cluster around three themes: communication and language barriers; racism by residents, families and managers; and underemployment of tertiary qualified migrant care workers. In addition to issues of quality care delivery, concerns around migrant employee well-being are seen to be difficult to avoid.

Organizational control is conventionally – from a critical stance – viewed as a negative and restrictive phenomenon, which in one way or another subjugates workers. In this theoretical paper, we argue that organizational control is often based on a particular understanding of power; an understanding that views power as repressive, equating it with domination and subjugation while paying little attention to its productive function. We question what the implications for understanding organizational control would be if we were also to see power as productive. We contend that the Foucauldian notions of pastoral power, disciplinary power, and governmentality can be used together through the concept of regime of practices to enrich our understanding of the workings of organizational control. We thus delineate an analytical framework for the study of organizational control based on an open-ended investigation of the regimes of control in local settings.

This study investigated how cross-functional teams can influence their business model innovation and firm performance through team learning, consisting of multiple modes of within-team, cross-team, and market learning. Using a matched dyadic data set from a study of 330 cross-functional team members and their supervisors sampled from 165 electronics and information industries in China, the empirical results clearly indicate that within-team, cross-team, and market learning can improve business model innovation and firm performance. The results of the mediating model show how the business model innovation mediates the relationship between team learning and firm performance.

While it is well known that person–organization fit is an important antecedent of behavioral outcomes, little is known about needs–supplies fit in this relationship. In this way, we first want to extend our knowledge about defining and assessing work-related needs derived from employment quality indicators as the basis for needs–supplies fit. Second, following the Cognitive and Affective Personality System theory, we test the mediating role of organizational identification to better understand how needs–supplies fit is related to task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors. Data were collected in two companies: sample 1 (N=525) and sample 2 (N=525). Results show (a) that a specific needs–supplies fit perception (i.e., based on 12 work-related needs derived from employment quality indicators) is positively related to a global needs–supplies fit perception (i.e., based on an overall job perception), suggesting that needs–supplies fit may be a multidimensional concept and (b) the full mediating role of organizational identification in the relationship between needs–supplies fit and performance measures.

The present study is aimed at investigating the impact of strategic leadership on the affective commitment of Gen Y employees working in the Indian IT industry. Also, the link between organizational learning and affective commitment is examined alongwith the effect of competency development in mediating the relationship between them. A primary data were collected from a sample of 356 Gen Y employees (born between 1980 and 2000) from IT industry in Delhi, NCR India. Data analysis was carried out using CFA and an SPSS macro named PROCESS. Findings reveal that organizational learning has a direct influence on the affective commitment of Gen Y employees and competency development mediates the relationship between the two; also strategic leadership positively moderates the linkage of organizational learning and competency development. This study contributes to the literature on strategic leadership, organizational learning, competency development, and affective commitment.

The aim of this paper is to determine whether Australian SMEs could be characterised as ‘deliberate’ or ‘emergent’ in their strategic approaches. More specifically, surveying 1230 Australian SMEs, this paper focuses on answers to the following questions: What is the nature and prevalence of strategic practices in Australian SMEs? and to what extent does firm size differentiate the patterning and prevalence of strategic practices? The findings add to the little empirical research showing the principal activities and tools that comprise the strategic practices undertaken in Australian SMEs. Overall, and in both small and medium enterprises respectively, strategic thinking and action seem to be undertaken with the use of a framework of a written business plan which is in line with the ‘deliberate’ approach; however few sophisticated strategy making techniques were employed. Researchers and practitioners may find it valuable to develop tools that will naturally suit SME firms so that these tools can be of more value. Academics and tertiary institutions will be well advised to develop strategic management courses which also specifically focus on more emergent approaches designed for smaller firms including specially developed techniques and tools that are less time-consuming and expensive to use and more suited to smaller firms. This would enable SMEs to expand the range of strategy making tools they employ.

Leaders are widely exhorted to employ visions, yet surprisingly little research has been conducted on what constitutes an “effective” vision. A research model is proposed for investigating relationships between vision components, and business unit performance as measured by employee and customer satisfaction. The model, expressed both graphically and as three propositions, proposes that vision attributes of brevity, clarity, abstractness, challenge, future orientation, stability, and desirability, plus vision content relating to employee and customer satisfaction, can directly affect performance. However, the model also predicts indirect effects on performance mediated by six realization factors and two intervening variables.

The purpose of this paper was to examine ways that corporations can make a greater contribution to civic and community development through strategic ties to a city's development agenda surrounding the hosting of sporting events. Using the perspective of Corporate Community Involvement (CCI), we draw upon data collected as part of a larger study on sporting events and community development to explore how cities and corporations can make socially responsible contributions to communities. The guiding principles of community involvement in decision-making, full public disclosure and transparency, and grassroots legacy planning underscore the importance of community-based strategies for CCI. We offer three related strategies: comprehensive social and community impact assessments, facilitation of local knowledge capital and providers, and cross-sectoral management event programming as ways for corporations to begin to engage in CCI activities related to events. These strategies offer opportunities for organisation to use sport to make a valuable contribution to communities and community development activities.

This paper adds to extant research by examining the relationship between employees’ fear of coronavirus disease 2019 and their suffering from insomnia. It specifically proposes mediating roles of employees' economic concerns and psychological distress and a moderating role of mindfulness in this process. The research hypotheses are tested with survey data collected through two studies among Pakistani-based professionals: 316 in study 1 and 421 in study 2. The results pinpoint a salient risk for employees who experience fear during a pandemic crisis, in that the associated economic and psychological hardships make the situation worse by undermining their sleep quality, which eventually could diminish the quality of their lives even further. It also reveals how organizations can mitigate this risk if employees can leverage pertinent personal resources, such as mindfulness.

Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystem development is not addressed in research. We define and characterise Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystems and their evolution based on a qualitative study comparing Indigenous entrepreneurship in Chile and in Aotearoa New Zealand. We draw on interviews with 10 Mapuche entrepreneurs in Araucanía and 10 Māori entrepreneurs in the Bay of Plenty, observation, and a literature review to address the question – how does an Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystem develop along with the social, economic, and political development of mainstream society? We find that Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystems evolve with the economic and social environments of their countries because of an internal imperative towards cultural continuity and the resilience of culture to change. We find that mature Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystems are associated with higher states of development and support a broader range of business models. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.

The paper aims to investigate the relationship between strategy and structure in the high-technology enterprises. The study attempts to ascertain how chief executive officers perceive the impact of strategy on organizational structure, and likewise impact of structure on strategy, at two phases in the innovation process: the phase of innovation exploration; and the phase of innovation exploitation. The research was conducted in 61 high-technology companies based in Poland that operate either in Poland or in the global marketplace. The results show that, during the exploration of innovation, chief executive officers consider that the impact of organizational structure on strategy is stronger than the impact of strategy on structure. During the exploitation of innovations, the impact of strategy on structure is stronger.

This study explores the relationships of negative affectivity with two frequently studied outcome variables job performance and turnover intentions. Conventional wisdom holds that negative affectivity has a harmful impact on both job performance and intentions to leave; however, we propose a more nuanced perspective using empirical and theoretical arguments (e.g., self-regulation theory) to highlight the functional effects of negative affectivity. To test our hypotheses, we collected self-reported and supervisor-reported data from seven organizations in Pakistan. The findings based on data collected from 280 employees show that while negative affectivity is detrimental for job performance, this effect is mitigated as negative affectivity increases. It further shows that the linear negative main effect of negative affectivity on job performance is more pronounced when employees experience less time-related work stress. Finally, the curvilinear relationship between negative affectivity and turnover intentions is moderated by time-related work stress. The relationship has a U shape at high levels of time-related work stress, whereas at low levels it has an inverted U shape. A discussion of the limitations, future research, and implications for theory building and practice conclude the article.

The concept of psychic distance has had a long but problematic history in the academic study of international business. Although inherently appealing, attempts to empirically validate the theoretical frameworks proposed by early psychic distance scholars have provided mixed results. This has led a number of academics to question the usefulness of the concept. Theoretical advances have been made in recent times with the introduction of revised definitions, but there is still the need for a conceptual framework of psychic distance that unambiguously identifies the determinants of psychic distance and demonstrates the relevance of this concept at the national, firm, and individual level. The present paper proposes a revised definition of psychic distance and posits a conceptual framework of psychic distance that addresses these needs. It then concludes by putting forward a research agenda arising as a consequence of the new conceptual framework.

Existing research on a board-of-director–sustainability performance relationship have largely examined inside directors, outside directors, and gender diversity – yet empirical results have yet to offer any definitive answers. I posit that this previous research lacks a thorough examination of the role of boards and the means and mechanisms by which they influence performance. Drawing on the board capital perspective and the role of boards, this paper develops a model that highlights the influence of board capital on the future sustainability performance of firms. The model takes into account specific types of human and social capital of outside directors which have previously been unexamined. Beyond the board capital perspective, an argument is put forth that values are largely neglected in the examination of boards of directors, but are necessary in the study of sustainability because of its normative implications. I therefore account for the value attunement concept as a moderating variable in the model. The paper draws on corporate governance and business ethics' literature to generate propositions and offer original insight into the drivers of sustainability performance in organizations.

Introduction: Healthy work environments are essential in determining improved well-being of Australians. Job stress has been identified as a significant factor in psychological distress. This study evaluated the effect of introducing a systems-based workplace wellness programme using mindfulness in the workplace. Methods: The programme ‘Be Well’ was introduced as part of a systems-based approach to workplace health promotion, and evaluated using sick leave as a proxy for workplace stress, and the stress satisfaction offset score to determine the degree of change in stress and satisfaction. Results: There was significant reduction in sick leave (2014 vs. 2012) (p<.001), and significant improvement in stress satisfaction offset score (p<.05). Logistic regression analysis identified the programme components most predictive of reduced stress and higher job satisfaction. Conclusion: The impacts of a systems-based mindfulness workplace wellness intervention, show significant improvements in workers’ sick leave and changes to stress and satisfaction scores. This study has implications for sector-wide policy change in the workplace.