This paper discusses the theory and evidence behind the logic of business process outsourcing, with a specific focus on human resource outsourcing (HRO). Market analysts project rapid growth in the global market for HRO, from around $30 billion in 2005 to just over $40 billion in 2008. The paper...

This paper exploits a quasi-experimental setting to estimate the impact that a multi-dimensional group incentive scheme had on branch performance in a large distribution firm. The scheme, which is based on the Balanced Scorecard, was implemented in all branches in one division, but not in another...

This chapter advocates the good scientific practice of systematic research syntheses in Management and Organizational Science (MOS). A research synthesis is the systematic accumulation, analysis and reflective interpretation of the full body of relevant empirical evidence related to a question....

There is no doubt that management practices are linked to the productivity and performance of a company. However, research findings are mixed. This paper provides a multi-disciplinary review of the current evidence of such a relationship and offers suggestions for further exploration...

Drawing from advances in Organisation Studies and recent debates within Economic Sociology and the Sociology of Financial Markets, this paper proposes a theoretical framework that characterises the mutual adaptation between formal routines, rules and actual performances as iterative cycles of...

The measurement of company performance poses several challenges. Three critical ones are: balancing short-term and long-term performance, the need to use multiple measures to capture the broad meaning of performance, and finding the right peer comparators. We argue that truly sustainable long...

Within the debate on the UK productivity gap regulation has been identified as a potential cause. This paper investigates the effect of regulation on productivity by exclusively focusing on indirect, unintended and/or unforeseen effects. First we develop a conceptual framework, then we use this...

This paper seeks to explain why some subsidiaries are isolated from the knowledge transfer activities within multinational corporations. Applying a new theoretical and empirical approach to intra-firm knowledge transfers, we argue that differences in learning capabilities and in-group-out-group...

We investigate how the research standing of universities informs academic researchers’ engagement with industry via collaborative research, contract research and consulting. We argue that the establishment of university-industry relationships is informed by three factors: faculty perceived...

Commentators suggest that to survive in developed economies manufacturing firms have to move up the value chain, innovating and creating ever more sophisticated products and services, so they do not have to compete on the basis of cost. While this strategy is proving increasingly popular with...