Suchergebnisse

There is a vast literature on Total Quality Management (TQM), one of the most influential management concepts introduced during the twentieth century. In the TQM literature, there are multiple conflicting views on TQM's historical popularity trajectory. In the past, commentators have debated whether TQM represents a lasting trend, or instead should be considered a more short-lived management fad or fashion. Since the 1990s, skeptics have speculated about the imminent fall, death, and burial of TQM, and even delivered eulogies. However, others claim that the level of interest has picked back up and that TQM is alive and well. Therefore, this paper attempts to synthesize and reconcile these differing views on the long-term trajectory of TQM and provide an updated picture and status report, taking into account the latest findings and developments in research and practice. The evidence reviewed in this paper suggests that, even though TQM has become much less noticeable in public management discourse compared to the heydays of the 1980s and 1990s, the concept has persisted and even to this day remains widely used by organizations worldwide.

The Industry 4.0 (I4.0) concept is concerned with the fourth industrial revolution in manufacturing, in which technological trends such as digitalization, automation and artificial intelligence are transforming production processes. Since the concept's introduction at the Hannover Fair in Germany in 2011, I4.0 has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity and is currently high on the agenda of governments, politicians and business elites. In light of these observations, some commentators have asked the question of whether I4.0 is a concept that is hyped up and possibly just the latest in a long line of fashionable management concepts introduced over the course of the last few decades. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide a critical outside-in look at the emergence and rise of I4.0. Theoretically, these processes are viewed through the lens of management fashion, a theoretical perspective well suited to examinations of evolutionary trajectories of management concepts and ideas. The findings indicate that the I4.0 concept has quickly become highly popular and is dominating much of the popular management discourse. The concept has migrated out of the specialized manufacturing discourse to become a more general concept with mainstream appeal and applicability, evidenced by a multitude of neologisms such as Work 4.0 and Innovation 4.0. The numbers 4.0 have spread in a meme-like fashion, evidenced by the fact that the combination of a noun and the numbers 4.0 are used to signal and usher in discussions about the future of business and society. While there is much evidence that clearly shows that the concept has had a wide-ranging impact at the discursive level, the currently available research is less clear about what impact the concept has had so far on industries and organizations worldwide.

The Industry 4.0 (I4.0) concept is concerned with the fourth industrial revolution in manufacturing, in which technological trends such as digitalization, automation and artificial intelligence are transforming production processes. Since the concept's introduction at the Hannover Fair in Germany in 2011, I4.0 has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity and is currently high on the agenda of governments, politicians and business elites. In light of these observations, some commentators have asked the question of whether I4.0 is a concept that is hyped up and possibly just the latest in a long line of fashionable management concepts introduced over the course of the last few decades. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide a critical outside-in look at the emergence and rise of I4.0. Theoretically, these processes are viewed through the lens of management fashion, a theoretical perspective well suited to examinations of evolutionary trajectories of management concepts and ideas. The findings indicate that the I4.0 concept has quickly become highly popular and is dominating much of the popular management discourse. The concept has migrated out of the specialized manufacturing discourse to become a more general concept with mainstream appeal and applicability, evidenced by a multitude of neologisms such as Work 4.0 and Innovation 4.0. The numbers 4.0 have spread in a meme-like fashion, evidenced by the fact that the combination of a noun and the numbers 4.0 are used to signal and usher in discussions about the future of business and society. While there is much evidence that clearly shows that the concept has had a wide-ranging impact at the discursive level, the currently available research is less clear about what impact the concept has had so far on industries and organizations worldwide.

This paper examines the popularity trajectory of outsourcing as a management concept. The paper shows that while outsourcing is an old management practice that has roots that date back centuries, it did not gain widespread popularity as a modern organizational practice until the 1980s. While the initial outsourcing hype and craze of the late 1980s and early 1990s has waned, outsourcing has shown considerable staying power as a management concept, even in the face of counter-movements such as backsourcing and insourcing. Although the experiences with implementation of outsourcing are mixed, outsourcing remains a widely used management concept. However, the current relatively low satisfaction level among users could influence the future popularity trajectory of the outsourcing concept.

The BCG Matrix was introduced almost 50 years ago, and is today considered one of the most iconic strategic planning techniques. Using management fashion theory as a theoretical lens, this paper examines the historical rise, fall and persistence of the BCG Matrix. The analysis highlights the role played by fashion-setting actors (e.g., consultants, business schools and business media) in the rise of the BCG Matrix. However, over time, portfolio planning models such as the BCG Matrix were attacked and discredited by a host of different actors, and gradually fell out of favor. Even though the BCG Matrix has fallen from grace, it is still alive and has left an imprint on management education and practice. Despite being largely discredited in academic circles, many practitioners still view it as an important corporate portfolio planning technique.

Google Trends (GT) is an analytic tool for measuring and monitoring Internet search data. In recent years GT been utilized for research in fields as diverse as health care, political science and economics. This short paper looks at the possibilities of using GT in management fashion research. GT could have a natural application in the study of management fashion. After all, a key question of interest to management fashion researchers is how the popularity of management concepts and ideas evolves over time. The paper discusses the pros and cons of using GT in management fashion research. Using Internet search data can possibly reveal intentions and expectations in the management fashion market, provide indicators of future fashion demand, and as well as indicate "outbreaks" of contagious management concepts and ideas.

Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) is a management concept which prescribes that organizations, rather than going head-to-head with competitors, try to create and exploit new market spaces, so-called blue oceans. Since its inception in the mid-2000s, BOS has become one of the most popular concepts in the field of strategy and one of the biggest buzzwords in the business world. This paper examines the emergence and evolution of BOS through the lens of management fashion theory. The analysis shows that the BOS concept exhibits several characteristics which makes it highly appealing to organizations and managers. In addition, the emergence of the concept was helped by a good fit with the zeitgeist in the field of strategy during the 2000s, which had shifted to a strong focus on theories and ideas about disruptive innovation and business model innovation. The popularization of the BOS concept can also be attributed to the backing of a powerful supply-side actors, and, in particular, the concept's creators Kim and Mauborgne. While the attention given to BOS in public management discourse suggests that the concept can currently be considered highly fashionable, evidence about the concept's use on the demand-side remains limited. Most surveys indicate that the adoption and diffusion is lower than would be expected based on the intensity of discourse surrounding the concept. Therefore, the current study provides some support for the view that supply-side and demand-side activity related to management fashions does not necessarily coevolve.

This paper investigates the change in accounting quality when firms shift from a revenue-oriented historical cost accounting regime as Norwegian GAAP (NGAAP) to a balance-oriented fair value accounting regime as International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Previous studies have demonstrated mixed effects on the accounting quality upon IFRS adoption. One possible reason is that the investigated domestic GAAP to a large extent has been adjusted to IFRS prior to IFRS adoption. This is not the case in NGAAP where IFRS adoption led to significant changes in the recognition and measurement rules. To investigate the change in accounting quality, the paper makes use of a panel design with 640 firm-year obserations from 2001 up to the financial crisis year 2008, including four years of pre-IFRS NGAAP observations and four years of IFRS-observations. The paper employs four commonly used approaches to investigate accounting quality: test of value relevance of net earnings and book values, accrual quality of net earnings, incidence of small positive net earnings and test of timely loss recognition. The paper demonstrates that the adoption of IFRS increases the relevance accounting information has for valuation purposes. IFRS requires recognition of intangible assets and off-balance sheet liabilities not allowed under NGAAP. Moreover, IFRS allows the use of fair value to a larger extent than NGAAP. The paper also demonstrates that NGAAP leads to timelier recognition of losses than IFRS. This supports the notion that historical cost accounting, which is the basic accounting principle under NGAAP, provides more conservative accounting numbers. Overall, this suggests that IFRS provides information more useful for valuation purposes, but to a lesser extent stewardship purposes which generally favours conservatism. NGAAP on the other hand, provides information less relevant for valuation purposes, but more relevant for stewardship purposes.