DMS Newsletter Draft 2

In 1973, the Department of
Management Studies was
established under the Faculty
of Social Sciences at
the UWI St. Augustine
Campus, and offered Accounting
(degree) and
Management (diploma,
certificate, degree) programmes.
Today, the department
offers eleven
undergraduate degree
options and eight postgraduate
options including
Diplomas, Masters and
Doctoral degrees in Management.
These programmes
are taught by a
diverse group of lecturers
who are highly active researchers
in their respective
fields.
In the words of Warren Bennis, “success in management requires learning as fast as
the world is changing”. In this ever changing world, we in the Department of Management
Studies embrace our responsibility to shape minds and transform lives through
active learning and stimulating the exchange of ideas, argumentation and cooperative
problem solving that lay the ground work for continuous learning. Our bi-annual
newsletter ‘Management Matters’ is one avenue through which the Department can
connect with our stakeholders as we engage with contemporary local and regional
management matters. The newsletter aims to highlight current issues in the field of
Management through spotlighting Departmental research and industry partnerships.
In this inaugural issue the focus is on the importance of management research for
practitioners - taking the 'guesswork' out of decision making through evidence-based
management. Hence, we showcase research highlighting how management matters
for building brand equity, safety systems, SMEs, and project teams. In each issue, you
can expect updates on activities within the Department as well as plans for the upcoming
semester. There will also be a 'Student Spotlight' section where we will highlight
the activities of the students/clubs within the Department. So stay tuned!
We look forward to engaging you on a journey of learning and problem solving as we
gain deeper insights on management matters.

Strong brands increase
customer trust and reduce
skepticism in purchase
decisions. Strong brands
also give service providers
a tangible forum to differentiate
an otherwise intangible
product category.
Building strong brands in
services can be challenging.
Dr. Meena Rambocas
and Professor Surendra
Arjoon conducted a study
to examine the factors that
contribute to building
strong brands in financial
services.
In their study, Dr. Rambocas
and Professor Arjoon map the
contribution of three unique
services related attributes:
service experience, brand
affinity, and customer satisfaction
to brand equity in three
financial service areas: commercial
banks, insurance companies,
and credit unions.
Data were collected from
751 customers in
five Caribbean countries including
Trinidad and Tobago,
Guyana, St. Lucia, Barbados,
and Jamaica.
From a management perspective,
the findings provide a
theoretically-based argument
that supports the impact of
the three key service areas in
building valuable brands.
More specifically, the findings
highlight the pivotal contributions
employees make toward
the success of service brands,
and suggest that financial
service managers augment
external communication strategies
with employee-centred
initiatives. These initiatives
should engage employees
and cultivate a high level of
commitment toward achieving
branding goals. Also, the
study builds a strong case for
a region-centric approach to
branding.
In Mrs. Marcia Nathai-
Balkissoon's research into
safety systems in manufacturing
companies, she expected
that larger companies
would have had more
resources available, and thus
would have systems that
better complied with occupational
safety and health
(OSH) legislation requirements.
Therefore, Mrs.
Nathai-Balkissoon was surprised
to find that bigger
companies were no more
likely than smaller companies
to have met the mandatory
or voluntary elements
set out in the OSH legislation.
Mrs. Nathai-Balkissoon’s
research also looked into
which people at various organisational
levels affected
safety system development.
In descending order of influence,
the research found
that the presence of a dedicated
safety leader (typically
a safety officer or safety
manager), top management
Balkissoon’s research
are as
follows:
1. While dedicated
safety leaders
must hold suitable
safety qualifications,
peopleskills
and a focus
commitment, and participation
demonstrates commitment
of the employees at
the lowest level of the organisation
to your company’s safety
message. (Don’t just talk the
hierarchy all talk – walk the walk!)
impacted on the establishment
of mandatory and
3. Involving employees in
voluntary elements contained
evaluating and growing the
in OSH legislation.
safety system proves that
they are valued and encourages
The four main takeaways
everyone to recognise
from Mrs. Nathai- and buy into efforts to enhance
your safety
system.
“Posting a safety policy
or talking about the
importance of safety is
4. The best safety
systems evolve in
window dressing that
companies that
does little to boost adopt a continu-
safety system developmental
improvement
mindset. Establish
your safety
on continual improvement
are equally critical attributes
if they are to help your
safety system thrive.
system within the context of
your business strategy, and
involve your entire team in
scaffolding the growth of the
safety system using a practical
2. Posting a safety policy or
combination of radical
talking about the importance
and incremental enhancements
of safety is win-
dow dressing that does
little to boost safety system
to the system’s vision,
goals, measures, and other
components.
development, unless top
management actively

In Trinidad & Tobago, SMEs
have flourished in the last decade
numbering 18,000 by the
end of 2015 and employing
around 200,000 persons, thus
contributing to nearly 28% of
the country’s GDP.
The survival rate for most SMEs
illustrates a considerably lower
rate when compared to larger
firms with the tendency for higher
mortality rates especially within
the first few years of operation.
Emerging research suggests that
for smaller firms to perform and
survive, a more structured approach
to HRM is necessary and
an understanding of which firms
are more likely to use this approach
is needed.
Using a sample of 132 SMEs
across Trinidad, Dr. Riann Singh’s
findings suggest that SMEs, which
took HRM as a systematic business
function, performed better.
Her findings also suggest that
female entrepreneurs, SMEs that
are larger, and SMEs that survive
the start-up phase are more likely
to view systematic HRM as important.
From a practical perspective, policy-makers
at the national level
could use these findings to target
SMEs for support and training
programmes focused on the
power of formal HRM practices.
SMEs are heavily dependent on
support from government agencies
primarily in the set-up stages
of development. Knowing which
SMEs to target for formal HRM
support and training can be made
easier by understanding which
SMEs are more or less likely to
prioritise HRM practices.
Not-for-profit and privatefor-profit
corporate boards
worldwide have been under
extreme scrutiny for
lapses in effective governance.
School governance
refers to the roles, responsibilities
and effectiveness
of monitoring and oversight
of a school by its
Board of Directors. The
literature on school governance
indicates that students’
learning is enhanced
by the provision of
responsive and effective
governance.
Early empirical findings
among school boards in T&T
highlight the following concerns:
micro-management of
schools, the absence of a
transparent director appointment
process, non-existence
of board performance appraisal,
lack of corporate governance
codes, and formal
strategic planning is either
non-existent or inadequate.
These concerns underscore
the need for an educational
governance system that will
strike a balance between effectiveness,
efficiency, economy,
accountability, and educational
outcomes.
Research on leadership and transformational
leadership has largely focused on supervisoremployee
dynamics, which are characterised by
traditional hierarchical structures.
However, project teams also appear
conducive to transformational leadership.
Dr. Paul Balwant conducted a
study of transformational leadership,
leader distance, work engagement, and performance
in project teams. The findings supported
the relationship between work engagement and
performance, but transformational leadership
does not appear to be useful in project teams.
Unexpectedly leader distance was directly related
to work engagement, even while controlling for
transformational leadership and social desirability.
This study not only contributes to leadership
research, but also has two main practical implications
for managing project teams. First, the
findings raise concerns regarding the training
of transformational leadership to project team
leaders. Second, project team leaders may need
to locate themselves physically and socially close
to team members, while maintaining frequent
interactions in order to engage team members.
To address these concerns,
Dr. Vindel Kerr is conducting
an investigation to (1) assess
and understand existing corporate
governance realities
among schools, (2) develop a
Corporate Governance
Framework for School Boards
in T&T, and (3) develop and
deliver a Model School Board
Training Manual and Board
Performance Evaluation Tool

Head of Department and
Senior Lecturer in Tourism
and Hospitality Management
Department of Management Studies Newsletter Issue 01 April, 2017 | Editors: Dr Paul Balwant and Ms Lauren Subnaik