Issue 17(1)

2018

Publication date: 05.04.2018

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Editorial team

Editor-in-Chief Ewa Bogacz-Wojtanowska

Issue content

Strategizing Corporate Entrepreneurship for Value Creation and Value Capture

Wojciech Dyduch, Mariusz Bratnicki

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 7 - 26

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.001.8380

The purpose of this paper is to look at the sources of value creation in organizations. The

paper specifically seeks to determine the relations between strategic potential of the organizations, corporate entrepreneurship and value creation. We present a theoretical framework for understanding the link between strategic processes stimulating innovation and entrepreneurship that we see as the sources of value creation and value capture. We test part of this framework through a survey carried out among enterprises in Poland. The research results suggest, that while strategic potential of organizations and the level of corporate entrepreneurship are strongly correlated, there might be some other mechanisms explaining value creation, than just strategic potential nurturing innovation, or corporate entrepreneurship itself. We address the future research intent by offering a broader framework looking at the contextual factors, and specifically the notion of value creation and value capture as mediators between corporate entrepreneurship and performance.

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Moderating Effect of Organizational Slack on Organizational Renewal: The Dynamic Capabilities Approach

Bartłomiej J. Gabryś

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 27 - 43

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.002.8381

Background. The idea behind the paper is to reconceptualise organizational renewal as a dynamic capability to reinterpret technologies, practices, beliefs in order to seize strategy by integrating, building and reconfiguring internal practices, processes, structures and systems as distinct organizational phenomenon. Proposed moderator – organizational slack seem to be relatively new concept when organizational renewal and organizational effectiveness are considered.

Research aims. Purpose of this article is to redeploy concept of organizational renewal to direct researchers’ interest toward somehow neglected organizational phenomenon. Author believe that there is a critical gap in the previous studies, that have left opened door to new area for research by answering following research questions: What is an organizational renewal and how does it matter for organizational effectiveness? How indicated moderator – organizational slack – influence that process?

Methodology. Based on critical literature review new working definition of organizational renewal is proposed. Following inductive way of reasoning (Sprogoe & Elkjaer, 2010) for new theory development four propositions were formulated based on the logic of predictive validity framework.

Key findings. Author integrates and systematizes disparate ideas to develop a cohesive theory of organizational renewal as dynamic capability with organizational slack as a moderator.

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Organizational Citizenship Behaviors in Public and Private Sector

Aldona Glińska-Neweś, Dawid Szostek

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 45 - 58

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.003.8382

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are voluntary behaviors of organization members, going beyond their job descriptions, which aim at assisting coworkers and/or taking care of an organization and its operations. Since 1980s’ many researchers contributed to the explanation of their nature, dimensions as well as antecedents, however, less attention has been paid to differences in OCB scale and frequency caused by an organization type. In the paper we verify the hypothesis that employees of for-profit private organizations engage in OCBs more frequently than employees of the public sector. The hypothesis is verified on a basis of a quantitative study conducted among 280 employees of the private sector and 244 employees of local government units. The analysis of the data brings contradictory results. In general, employees of the public sector organizations perform OCB more frequently than employees of the private sector. However, their OCBs are people-oriented. OCBs supporting an organization are more frequent among employees of the private sector.

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The Use of Action Research in Diagnosing and Improving Cooperation Between an Enterprise and Its Suppliers

Monika Jedynak

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 59 - 75

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.004.8383

Background. One of the key success factors in the activities of the modern organization is working with suppliers. In some cases, the content of this cooperation is codified in the form of formalized procedures. This is when the organization introduces a standardised quality management system in compliance with ISO 9001. Diagnosis and improvement of cooperation with the suppliers in this kind of organizations can be based on a methodological approach known as action research. In the article an attempt of illustration the possible use of action research as an approach to science on the one hand and on the other – practical solutions supplier relationship management problems.

Research aims. The objective of this article is to present possibilities of using action research as a research approach useful in diagnosing and designing a path of cooperation between a business enterprise and its suppliers.

Methodology. The article is based on a review of the carefully selected literature on the genesis, essence, and characteristic features of action research. Additionally, it includes an exemplification of the specific use of the action research process and techniques in diagnosing as well as a proposed procedure for improving cooperation with suppliers in a business enterprise representing the heat generation sector.

Key findings. The research results include the following: presenting the genesis of action research, identifying the ways of defining action research, mapping the most important features of this approach, as well as showing its usefulness in solving a particular business management problem arising out of cooperation with suppliers within the context of the binding requirements specified in the standard ISO 9001:2015. The results of the literature research are of a universal character. Because the empirical research was conducted in just one enterprise representing a specific industry sector, its results cannot be generalized uncritically. Simultaneously, it should be noted that the methodological approach used in the research as well as the organizational and technical tools can be a source of inspiration for research concerning other problems and organizations.

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The Concept of the Ambidextrous Organization: Systematic Literature Review

Andrzej Lis, Barbara Józefowicz, Mateusz Tomanek, Patrycja Gulak-Lipka

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 77 - 97

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.005.8384

Background. Organizational ambidexterity is listed among up-to-date concepts recommended for managers to cope with turbulence and multidimensionality of the business environment. The idea of combining both evolutionary and revolutionary organizational changes seems to be very attractive but challenging to implement. Although it has been widely discussed in the management-related literature for more than twenty years, it has not been explored thoroughly and it still remains an interesting topic for further research.

Research aims. The aim of the paper is to analyze the literature contribution to the development of the ambidextrous organization concept as well as to identify the key problems and trends in research output. The research process is oriented to responding to the following questions: (1) What are the key contributions of the literature in the field to the development of the concept? (2) What are the key research topics and trends in the field?

Methodology. Systematic literature survey is the applied methodology. The Scopus database is used as a source for the sampling process.

Key findings. The analysis points out the following main areas of research interest in the field: (1) ambidexterity and ambidextrous organization conceptualization, (2) organizational management context (including managers) where these assumptions are embedded and studied, (3) innovations, organizational learning processes and creativity, and (4) strategic management aspects.

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Game Developers’ Business Models – The Key Activities Exploration

Patrycja Klimas

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 99 - 117

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.006.8385

Following the increasing popularity of business model canvas, we are exploring one of its components, i.e. key activities in order to identify their types and specific activities undertaken within them. As an empirical background a video game industry is used.

The research investigation follows a qualitative approach using semi-structural interviews. The research was carried out on thirteen Polish video game developers. Given that video game developers do differ in terms of adopted monetization models (i.e. premium, freemium, or hybrid) the investigation considers key activities depending on the type of adopted monetization model.

The research results reveal fourteen key activities and more than thirty actions within these key activities. The vast majority of them refer to relational aspects, e.g. customers’ retention, customer relationship management, or gaming community management. However, the specific types of both differ regarding the type of the adopted monetization model. For instance, only developers applying premium model show at key activities related to strategic management and human resource management. At the same time, only developers with freemium model identify key activities related to “selective” customer relationships management, while those with hybrid model the most often point out the key activities related to intra-industry networking.

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The Relationship Between the Form of Employment and Employee Training and Developing Opportunities in Organizations

Magdalena Kot-Radojewska

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 119 - 136

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.007.8386

In modern organizations, the importance of employee training and development is increasingly emphasized because as it allows them to improve their qualifications and develop new competencies and attitudes useful for the organization. On the other hand, the flexible forms of employment, which are less permanent than indefinite period employment contracts, are increasingly used in organizations. The aim of the paper is to present the relationship between the form of employment and employee training and developing opportunities in organizations. The paper presents the results of research conducted by means of a diagnostic survey, with the use of a questionnaire among 569 employees of the Province of Silesia. A research process was conducted on the basis of grounded theory, and statistical analysis was conducted using the SPSS for Windows, assuming the level of significance at 0.05. In order to compare people with different forms of employment, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used. The research results indicated that there are certain relationships between the form of employment and employee training and development opportunities in the organization. Statistically significant differences were shown between the form of employment and the assessment of employee development opportunities, the form of employment and the assessment of employee promotion opportunities in the organization and the form of employment and the assessment of employee professional development opportunities.

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Sub-Disciplines in Management Sciences: Review of Classifications in Polish and Worldwide Research Practice

Remigiusz Kozłowski, Marek Matejun

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 137 - 156

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.008.8387

One of the features of management sciences is their strong sub-disciplinary nature which results in distinguishing specific research specializations. This process is a consequence of the eclectic character of management and is associated with the dynamic emergence of new research areas and practical applications. Taking this into account, the aim of the paper is to identify and assess the scope, characteristics and development prospects of selected classifications of sub-disciplines in management sciences in Polish and worldwide research practice. The aim is realized on the basis of the research encompassing 13 selected classifications and opinions of 31 experts representing the scientific community from Poland and China. The results indicate a wide variety of the analyzed classifications which are characterized by different application goals, scope, characteristics and classification logic.

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Organizational Politics and Change: A Conceptual Model and Empirical Testing

Monika Kulikowska-Pawlak

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 157 - 177

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.009.8388

Firms increasingly embed organizational politics in their change management but struggle to effectively manage it. To better understand how they do so, I have built and tested a conceptual model using data from 158 small and medium-sized Polish enterprises. The results show relationships between organizational politics, change management, and organizational effectiveness. The findings extend and specify the understanding of organizational politics as a driver of organizational change success.

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Profiling and Mapping the Contexts of the Case Study Research in Business, Management and Accounting

Andrzej Lis

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 179 - 196

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.010.8389

Background. The increasing need for highly contextualized studies in the field of management results in the growing interest of researchers in qualitative methods, and case study methodology in particular. Case study analysis seems to be one of the most suitable research approaches to explore research problems in a given context. Due to the growing popularity of using case study analysis, there is a need to explore the body of knowledge and identify research fronts within.

Research aims. The aim of the paper is to profile and map the contexts of research related to case study methodology in Business, Management and Accounting. The analysis is oriented to answering the following study questions: (1) How is the research output in the field distributed among countries, institutions, source titles (journals etc.) and authors? (2) What are the core references referring to or using case study methodology? (3) What are the key topics in publications using case study methodology? (4) What are the key geographical and business area contexts, which the case study research is embedded in?

Methodology. The method of research profiling is applied to categorize the research output referring to and using case study analysis. Research profiling is categorized among bibliometric descriptive studies. The focus is given to general publication profiling (including profiling for countries, institutions, source titles and authors) and some components of topic profiling (i.e. identifying key research topics and research contexts with the technique of keywords analysis). Scopus is used as a source of data for bibliometric analysis.

Key findings. Among studied references two streams can be distinguished: methodology-oriented and empirical papers. The former analyzes the aspects of case study methodology in various contexts, the latter uses case study analysis as a research method to conduct inquiries in their respective topical areas. The key research topics where case study methodology is applied encompass: (1) innovation and information/knowledge management; (2) sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR); (3) strategic management. In regard to the geographical context, case studies most often are focused on such countries as: China, Australia, the United States, India, the United Kingdom and Malaysia. In regard to the business area, case study methodology is most often used in various industrial sectors, but there are also some other highly represented areas such as: commerce, education, tourism and agriculture.

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Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure in Polish Organisations

Jolanta Maj, Liliana Hawrysz, Piotr Bębenek

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 197 - 215

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.011.8390

Background. Studies suggest, that organisations tend to a selective disclosure of non-financial information, which may depend on the organisations characteristics, general and internal contextual factors. Furthermore it is believed that CSR disclosure is country-variant.

Research aims. Therefore the main goal of this paper is to verify, whether selected variables: the size of the company, the issue of operating on foreign markets and financial performance influence the detail of disclosed non-financial information.

Methodology. For this purpose CATI research with 102 companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange has been conducted. The obtained results have been analysed using V Cramer contingency measure.

Key findings. The conducted research and analysis have shown that in most cases a statistically significant correlation between the analysed variables could not been determined. A statistically important correlation has been determined between i.e. the size of the company and the disclosure of social and employee related information towards internal stakeholders, between operating on foreign markets and the disclosure of social and employee related information towards external stakeholders and between financial performance and disclosure towards external stakeholders in regards to three dimensions.

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Coopetition in the Operating of the Trade Fairs Market

Anita Proszowska

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 217 - 232

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.012.8391

Background. Polish trade fairs organizers are looking for new methods to optimize achieved results and more effective methods of development. Coopetition as a management strategy is used in many areas of the economy. Enterprises applying this strategy achieve better financial performance, and are able to more flexibly respond to market changes. Therefore, the question whether it is possible to apply the coopetition strategy on the Polish exhibition market becomes appropriate today.

Research aims. The aim of this paper is to assess the legitimacy of applying the coopetition strategy on the trade fairs market in Poland and to identify potential areas of cooperation between the trade fairs organizers as part of this strategy.

Methodology. The research took the form of a case study of selected trade fairs organizers, during which analyses the content posted about them on the Internet and other secondary information about their activities.

Key findings. In the research process the group of the trade fairs organizers performing a vital role on the Polish exhibition market was extracted. It was found that there are potential areas of coopetition on the trade fairs market and it is reasonable for organizers of trade fairs to look for opportunities to cooperate with one another. Coopetition should help pay attention to trends that appear on the trade fairs market and allow early adaptation to them. This will give the organizers the chance to increase the competitive advantage of companies outside the agreement. Analysis results of cooperation between organizers of trade fairs should help identify activities that will be satisfactory for all partners of the agreement.

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Thriving in Mono- and Multicultural Organizational Contexts

Małgorzata Rozkwitalska

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 233 - 247

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.013.8392

Background. Thriving, composed of learning and vitality produces many positive outcomes for organizations. Yet, there is a lack of studies on thriving which is embedded in social interactions that juxtapose the two types of organizational contexts, i.e. mono- with multicultural ones.

Research aims. The aim of the paper is to compare the level of thriving (i.e. learning and vitality) in mono- and multicultural work contexts. The author posits that the multicultural work environment has unique demands conducive to thriving to a larger extent than the monocultural one.

Methodology. The cross-sectional study was conducted in domestic companies and multinational corporations (MNCs) that represent mono- and multicultural workplaces, respectively. The samples comprised 259 employees having only monocultural interactions and 238 individuals involved in intercultural interactions.

Key findings. The research reveals that the subjects employed in the multicultural organizations experienced a higher level of thriving than those working in the monocultural ones. The results support the notion that social contacts, including intercultural interactions, are needed to trigger thriving in organizations. As the paper is concerned with individuals’ positive growth, it contributes to the Positive Organizational Scholarship studies.

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Corporate Social Responsibility as an Employer Branding Tool: The Study Results of Selected Companies Listed on GPW

Magdalena M. Stuss

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 249 - 267

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.014.8393

For listed companies, employer branding is nowadays not only a choice within the framework of personnel strategies, but a business necessity addressed to the current employees of enterprises, and the future ones. The employer brand is a tool which is effective for the purpose of building a competitive advantage. It makes it possible to treat employees as internal clients, but also confirms the image of the organization as a desired place to attract the most talented candidates. A large percentage of enterprises follow a standard approach to corporate social responsibility tools, while differences result from diverse industries and organization sizes, but the overall strategy is similar.

The objective of this article is to present the results of research corporate social responsibility tools which significantly support employer branding in companies listed on GPW (The Warsaw Stock Exchange). The applied research procedure combines the analysis of the literature with empirical research and is based upon searching for the answer to the questions about the relationship between corporate social responsibility and employer branding in the selected listed companies belonging to WIG 20.

The studied enterprises have a corporate social responsibility strategy and they have apply employer branding but separately. There is no common strategy in both management areas.

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Exploring Failure Among Social Entrepreneurs – Evidence From Poland

Martyna Wronka-Pośpiech

International Journal of Contemporary Management, Issue 17(1), 2018, pp. 269 - 286

https://doi.org/10.4467/24498939IJCM.18.015.8394

Entrepreneurial failure and exit are critical components of the venturing process of social entrepreneurs. Failing and abandoning the pursuit of opportunities that seek to create social good affect also multiple stakeholders, whose well-being depends on the (public/social) value that the social enterprise provides. Given the nature of social entrepreneurship, this type of entrepreneur may present essential dissimilarities with their traditional counterpart in the way they cope with potential failure and exit. Because of the fact that researching failure in the context of SE is rather new, this paper uses a qualitative approach and bases on semi-structured interviews as a research method. With a lack of academic and case-based research on social enterprises that have failed, the goal of this research paper is to investigate and report on the underlying reasons why social entrepreneurs fail and to provide some insights into why talking about failure is beneficial to both current and future social entrepreneurs.

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Table of Contents PDF

Słowa kluczowe: strategic potential, corporate entrepreneurship, value creation, value capture, organizational renewal, organizational effectiveness, organizational slack, organizational citizenship behaviors, OCB, public and private sector, action research, cooperation, management, suppliers, organizational ambidexterity, ambidextrous organization, systematic literature review, key activities, game developers, business modeling, business model canvas, strategic management, human capital, professional development, training, form of employment, management sciences, sub-disciplines in management sciences, classification of sciences, identity of management sciences, organizational politics, change management, organizational effectiveness, research contextuality, case study, research profiling, keywords analysis, corporate social responsibility, reporting of non-financial data, organisation’s social responsibility, sustainability reporting, non-financial information disclosure, trade fairs, coopetition, exhibitors, cooperation, trade fairs market, learning, intercultural interactions, monocultural interactions, vitality, international experience, employer branding, corporate social responsibility, human resources management, listed companies, failure, social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial orientation

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2018