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Organizational Memory
Abstract
In this article we argue that the extant representations of the concept of organizational memory are fragmented and underdeveloped. In developing a more coherent theory, we address possible concerns about anthropomorphism; define organizational memory and elaborate on its structure; and discuss the processes of information acquisition, retention, and retrieval. Next, these processes undergird a discussion of how organizational memory can be used, misused, or abused in the management of organizations. Some existing theories are reassessed with explicit attention to memory. The paper closes with an examination of the methodological challenges that await future researchers in this area.
... Organisational memory encompasses the accumulated experience, knowledge, skills and information within an organisation. This accumulation is instrumental in organisational decision-making, innovation and performance (Walsh & Ungson 1991). However, in the realm of digital business strategy execution, the importance of innovation and flexibility cannot be overstated (Bharadwaj et al. 2013;Stein 1995). ...
... Organisational memory level indicates that the firm has a large amount of knowledge in some areas (Walsh & Ungson 1991). Firstly, firms have ample historical information to guide the execution of digital business strategies and day-today decisions. ...
... Low organisational memory dispersion (OMD) means that firms do not have the diverse perspectives to comprehensively understand the benefits of digital business strategy (Walsh & Ungson 1991). If a firm's memory dispersion is too low, it limits the organisation's ability to focus on certain perspectives, which can lead to narrow knowledge. ...
Background: Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) are obsessed with implementing digital business strategy in global competition, but there is limited knowledge about how and when the MNEs can achieve performance. Aim: This study aims to clarify the influence of digital business strategy on MNEs’ performance in South Africa, and whether this impact is mediated by exploratory and exploitative learning and moderated by organisational memory level and dispersion. Setting: Senior executives from the MNEs participated in the year-long survey. Before the survey, the participants were communicated and agreed, and the survey was completed by email. Method: Two-stage data from 314 MNEs in South Africa were obtained. Hierarchical regression analysis and Hayes Process Macros were used. Results: The results show that digital business strategy positively influenced performance, and the relationship was mediated by exploratory and exploitative learning. Organisational memory level and dispersion had an inverted U-shaped moderating effect on the relationship between digital business strategy and exploratory and exploitative learning. Conclusion: This study provides the first insight into the relationship between digital business strategy and MNEs’ performance in South Africa. It reveals the mediating mechanism and boundary conditions of this relationship, making an important contribution to the literature concerning digital business strategy. Contribution: This study encourages MNEs in South Africa to implement digital business strategies according to local conditions. What’s more, exploratory and exploitative learning is a strategic process that cannot be ignored, and moderate organisational memory can help these MNEs benefit from digital business strategy better.
... It thus denotes a range of 'storage' locations and contains (a) the experience and knowledge of the existing staff, what is 'in their heads'; (b) the technical systems, including electronic databases and various kinds of paper records; (c) the management system; and (d) the norms and values of the organisational culture (Pollitt, 2009, pp. 202-203), and the ability (of individuals) to acquire, retain, and recall data, information, or knowledge about work and organisational activities (Walsh & Ungson, 1991). A decline in IM in bureaucracies can affect their abilities to function effectively (Corbett et al., 2018). ...
... The importance of IM is that it facilitates policy learning, adaptation, and innovation (Walsh & Ungson, 1991). Wood and Lewis (2017) note: ...
... The adage, there is no future without the past, is of importance here. Decision makers need to understand how the past shapes present decisions and use this information to assess the present to achieve ends (Walsh & Ungson, 1991). The frequency of SA turnovers, not only when there is a change of government, but when ministers are moved, impacts how decisions are made based on the understanding of the ethos of the ministry, says one official. ...
An issue that has plagued the public services since the inauguration of the Fourth Republic in 1992 is that of the over-politicisation of the public service. A phenomenon which has led to the high level of politicisation is the issue of special assistants (SAs). Until recently, this phenomenon was less known. These special assistants serve as “gatekeepers” to ministers, and this is a major concern to civil servants. How has the presence of SAs affected, and continue to affect, the performance of civil servants, especially in policy development? Using the “gatekeeper” idea, it is argued that the presence of special assistants in a service continues to negatively affect the performance of civil servants in four major areas: professionalism, institutional memory, motivation, and policy development. The chapter uses both primary and secondary sources to gain a broader understanding of the issue to substantiate the argument.
... Management and organizational studies have consistently focused on organizational memory. From early studies linking it to learning and knowledge (Cyert & March, 1963), organizational memory has been discussed as either a retention facility (Walsh & Ungson, 1991) or social process (Foroughi, 2020;Olick, 1999;Olick & Robbins, 1998;Ravasi et al., 2019;Rowlinson et al., 2010) with implications for individuals, groups, and organizations. A prominent literature stream focuses on highly efficient storage and retrieval of organizational knowledge (Walsh & Ungson, 1991), resulting in a functional perspective that conceptualizes organizational memory as a collection of retention facilities (Walsh & Ungson, 1991). ...
... From early studies linking it to learning and knowledge (Cyert & March, 1963), organizational memory has been discussed as either a retention facility (Walsh & Ungson, 1991) or social process (Foroughi, 2020;Olick, 1999;Olick & Robbins, 1998;Ravasi et al., 2019;Rowlinson et al., 2010) with implications for individuals, groups, and organizations. A prominent literature stream focuses on highly efficient storage and retrieval of organizational knowledge (Walsh & Ungson, 1991), resulting in a functional perspective that conceptualizes organizational memory as a collection of retention facilities (Walsh & Ungson, 1991). Scholars interested in this functional perspective focus on its content, structure, and operating systems, including indexing mechanisms and processes of knowledge collection, maintenance, and access (Olivera, 2000), at the individual, group, and organizational levels (Coraiola & Murcia, 2020). ...
... From early studies linking it to learning and knowledge (Cyert & March, 1963), organizational memory has been discussed as either a retention facility (Walsh & Ungson, 1991) or social process (Foroughi, 2020;Olick, 1999;Olick & Robbins, 1998;Ravasi et al., 2019;Rowlinson et al., 2010) with implications for individuals, groups, and organizations. A prominent literature stream focuses on highly efficient storage and retrieval of organizational knowledge (Walsh & Ungson, 1991), resulting in a functional perspective that conceptualizes organizational memory as a collection of retention facilities (Walsh & Ungson, 1991). Scholars interested in this functional perspective focus on its content, structure, and operating systems, including indexing mechanisms and processes of knowledge collection, maintenance, and access (Olivera, 2000), at the individual, group, and organizational levels (Coraiola & Murcia, 2020). ...
... Organizational memory is a source used to improve decision-making. Walsh and Ungson [87] indicated that organizational memory is considered stored information and is recalled to make the right decisions. Boh [23] emphasized in his study that sharing knowledge is essential for improving the learning and experience of employees. ...
... First, with an industrial orientation, he focused on industrial data and models and emphasized the adoption of information technology and industrial models in storing the knowledge obtained by that institution and the creation of this input at the beginning of reflection, as this is the need for the enterprise to rely on to maintain its knowledge. The second is the process-oriented approach, which is also supported by Walsh and Ungson [87], who confirmed the unsuccessfulness of industrial models such that technology is not sufficient to shape an enterprise's memory and therefore must shift to new processoriented knowledge to extract knowledge through social applications to support highly complex knowledge activities. The second emphasizes the human element within and outside the organization [79]. ...
Research on employee performance in Oman has primarily addressed economic growth and Vision 2040, but the intersection with organizational memory and knowledge withholding is underexplored. This study aims to identify the mediating role of knowledge withholding behaviors on the impact of organizational memory facets (managerial, technical, and cultural) on employees’ high performance in the telecommunications sector in the Sultanate of Oman. The population of the study consists of employees of the telecommunications sector in the Sultanate of Oman (Oman Telecommunications Company Oman-Tel, Omani Qatar Telecom Company Ooredoo). A random sampling technique was used where 250 responses were collected for this study. A descriptive and analytical approach was adopted including multiple regression analysis and structural modeling via partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) which was applied to test the hypotheses. The findings illustrate that organizational memory exerts a constructive influence and causal connections on high performance in the telecommunication sector of Oman. This can be elucidated by the notion that organizational memory enables organizations to provide insights from both their successes and failures. The analysis of the study guide and support strategic decisions and prevent repetition of mistakes, ultimately leading to improved performance. The results enhance and consolidate the concept of organizational memory and effective participation among the members of the telecommunications sector in the Sultanate of Oman by raising the awareness and providing sufficient recommendation. Applying established concepts (organizational memory, knowledge withholding) to a specific sector and region is considered as potential originality of this study.
... Desarrollo de una memoria organizacional: La memoria organizacional está constituida por el conjunto de plataformas y dispositivos en los cuales se almacena el stock de conocimiento generado por una organización, el cual se emplea para responder a exigencias futuras (Walsh & Ungson 2009 conocimiento no es estático ni solo físico o material, sino que comprende las capacidades inmateriales que permiten la generación de un know-how disponible, que se enriquece mediante la interacción entre los miembros de un equipo, a través de la experiencia y las vivencias individuales y colectivas y en la propia práctica decisional (Cegarra-Navarro & Martelo-Landroguez 2020). Las nuevas perspectivas son posibles y aportan el conocimiento desarrollado, aunque el determinante más esencial de la memoria organizacional es el conocimiento logrado, que ha mostrado éxito en situaciones anteriores (Sen et al. 2023). ...
... Este último hallazgo posee consistencia plena con el estado del arte, debido a que la generación y perfeccionamiento de un know-how disponible, favorece la toma de decisiones (Cegarra-Navarro & Martelo-Landroguez 2020). Las nuevas perspectivas y la integración de las experiencias y vivencias previas permiten mejorar las rutinas organizativas (Sen et al. 2023) y disponer de un set de conocimientos acumulados, disponibles para ser empleados y enriquecidos en la organización (Walsh & Ungson 2009). ...
Este estudio tiene como objetivo explorar la posible influencia del aprendizaje organizacional en la calidad de las universidades. Para ello, se lleva a cabo un diseño metodológico cualitativo y se entrevista a 10 altos directivos de una universidad chilena calificada con un nivel de excelencia por la Comisión Nacional de Acreditación. La información recopilada fue codificada, analizada e interpretada, teniendo en cuenta elementos clave de las entrevistas para identificar los principales hallazgos sobre la relación entre ambas variables. Los resultados indican que, en la universidad analizada, el ámbito académico ha experimentado mejoras significativas en los últimos años. Además, se considera que los sistemas de adquisición de información y conocimiento son esenciales para lograr un aprendizaje organizacional sistemático y mejorar la calidad institucional, mientras que la memoria organizacional es fundamental para el mejoramiento cualitativo de la institución. Se concluye que la mejora de la universidad está estrechamente ligada al aprendizaje que ha experimentado la institución en un proceso de crecimiento continuo y sistemático.
... Fully meeting the objectives of knowledge management systems (KMS) depends on the development of high-level ICT systems that also support knowledge sustainability, and on the functioning of organisational memory (Walsh and Ungson, 1991). Both conditions require a culture of trust. ...
Purpose
The research aims to develop a theoretical model for knowledge sustainability and test the developed model through a practical example. It goes beyond the typical expectations of sustainability (such as the protection of the environment, the necessary use of renewable energy sources, etc.). It thinks at a scale that seeks not only to create the physical conditions and theoretical possibilities for knowledge sustainability but also to imagine the conditions for an innovative future, striving to achieve organisational well-being (happiness).
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical model builds on the logic of the GNH, linking the necessary conditions for sustainable knowledge in a holistic approach. The empirical testing and evaluation of the model are based on AF’s (Alkire-Foster) computational methodology. The model provides synergies between the conditions for organisational well-being and knowledge sustainability.
Findings
A knowledge sustainability model has been developed to ensure the smooth functioning of knowledge management systems in a trust-based organisational culture. The holistic approach leads to the long-term sustainability of knowledge. The feasibility of the model (the cube of trust) has been demonstrated by field testing. The three-dimensional solution ensures that problems at the individual and/or organisational level can be solved without excessive environmental disruption, rather than requiring costly and lengthy organisational interventions at the place and time of the problem.
Research limitations/implications
The research was only able to cover a slice of the relevant literature. In the literature, we could not find any studies that followed a similar logic or examined the links between the disciplines involved. Thus, references, results of control studies or theoretical comparisons cannot be presented. Thus, the paper is based on the original author’s ideas and professional value judgements, which have been validated in practice. The reluctance to respond, which is common in questionnaire-based research, may also be a problem in further phases of model testing (due to the complexity of the questionnaire).
Practical implications
The model developed allows the problems in the areas studied (which are sufficiently broadly defined thanks to the structure of the questionnaires) to be precisely identified. This will allow targeted decisions to be taken that can cost-effectively address the problems without disrupting the organisation as a whole. The model provides an opportunity to understand the interconnectedness of sustainable knowledge needed to support sustainable organisational functioning and to build on this to formulate strategic goals that will drive organisational success.
Originality/value
Different scientific disciplines, both individually and collectively, are trying to define sustainability criteria, but the issue of sustainability of knowledge is being overshadowed. The model represents a completely new perspective, building on the holistic approach of a three-dimensional model.
... Knowledge transfer is evident when experience acquired in one unit affects another; these outcomes are related. Walsh and Ungson (1991) argue that the context of knowledge retention within an organisation includes individuals, structures, organisational culture, and the physical structure of the workplace, and by extension, these also mediate knowledge transfer. Argote and Ingram (2000) conceptualise the "knowledge reservoir" embedded in the three essential elements of organisations -members, tools, and tasks -and the various sub-networks formed by combining or crossing the vital elements. ...
Family Businesses account for a significant portion of business life in the Latin World. Thus, they need a theory based on dynamic processes of culture, religion, identity, and networking concepts– such as Familismo, Simpatia, Fama, and Solidaridad. We assume those constructs are at the centre of every family business in the Latin Nexus. Our research will establish a more profound understanding of the Latin Family Business in theoretical and empirical terms. Knowledge Reservoir — Familismo, Connectedness — Simpatia, Organisation Identity — Fama, and Social Embeddedness — Solidaridad will be the core concepts in our study but will not necessarily lead to our results. The study involves conceptualising a theory of Latino family businesses (LFBs). Conceptual research primarily relies on theoretical frameworks, models, and considerations. In our study, we utilised mapping techniques to illustrate how individuals conceptualise the interrelationships among various ideas. Both concept and mind maps underscore the importance of visual representations in conveying experience, knowledge, perception, or memory. Consequently, our research incorporated concept maps/tables and mind maps. These methods will bring revelatory insights into originality and scientific utility and define the LFB. This paper’s principal contribution lies in formulating propositions that aim to simplify and elucidate key constructs — namely, Fama, Familismo, Simpatia, and Solidaridad — within a middle-range theory of LFB, employing a modelling-as-theorising approach to define the LFB.
... The KMC variable encompasses two dimensions: knowledge management infrastructure and knowledge management processes [29]. Knowledge management infrastructure is a repository of information accumulated over the course of the company history and can be used to inform contemporary decision-making [112]. ...
This study analyzes the effect of knowledge managemet capability on entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial finance, entrepreneurial marketing, and business resilience in culinary micro-enterprises in Bandung during the COVID-19 pandemic, proposing that knowledge management capability influences entrepreneurial orientation, entrepreneurial finance, and entrepreneurial marketing, which in turn enhance business resilience. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze data from 125 culinary micro-enterprises. The findings show that entrepreneurial finance has a stronger effect on business resilience compared to other factors, indicating that financial agility and resource allocation are more important for business resilience in crisis conditions. This challenges the conventional view that innovation is the main driver of business resilience. This study redefines the strategic entrepreneurship model by highlighting the role of knowledge management capability as a key resource input in the resource orchestration process to build business resilience. The results offer practical insights, including policy recommendations for improving digital infrastructure and financial inclusion to support culinary micro-enterprises in adapting to future disruptions.
... Here, we adopted the definition of standard operating procedure proposed by Walsh and Ungson (1991) in order to describe our attributes. It is evident that complementary research is pertinent to investigate what type of managerial functions (or personal values) would derive from different definitions of attributes; such as communication devices, assembly lines or office assistants. ...
Analytical tools in business management are understood as a combination of information technologies and quantitative methods used to assist stakeholders to make better decisions. The contemporary business environment is dramatically changing by the massive accumulation of data. Now, as never before, the use of analytical tools must be expanded to take advantage of this growing digital universe. This article will apply the laddering technique to see how personal values (or managerial functions) influence a companys adoption of analytical tools. A set of ten in-depth interviews are conducted with CEOs, analytics consultants, academics and businessmen in order to establish quantitative relations among attributes, consequences and personal values. Two easy-to-read outputs are provided to interpret our results. The most important links are quantitatively associated through an implication matrix, and then visually represented on a hierarchical value map. Guidelines for improving the use of analytical tools are provided in the last section
... We also call for further research regarding what should be remembered, deleted, or forgotten (Mayer-Schönberger, 2009). There is, for example, a desire from some to remove memories of dark pasts from the collective conscious (Decker, 2013;Walsh & Ungson, 1991). To create this blind spot, some individuals and organizations try to construct their narratives so as to bury problematic memories and thus present themselves in a favourable light (Schmidt & Cohen, 2013: 38;Schrempf-Stirling et al., 2015). ...
... Low turnover among managers, senior researchers, and engineers ensured continuity between past and current R&D. Although previous research has argued that organizational memory does not necessarily coincide with individual memory (e.g., Nelson & Winter, 1982;Walsh & Ungson, 1991); yet, individuals often are "the sole storage point of knowledge that is both idiosyncratic and of great importance to the organization" (Nelson & Winter, 1982, p. 115). Organizational memory-that is, the preservation of relevant skills and knowledge across different generations of scientists-helps explain why the innovation approach of companies like Rolls-Royce reflects a deep-seated belief that while problems tend to change continuously, certain skills and knowledge remain valuable. ...
Research Summary
Despite the importance of resource reallocation in shaping a variety of strategic outcomes, strategy scholars have paid only limited attention to the processes by which firms reallocate their resources across successive systemic innovations . To explore these processes, we conducted an in‐depth historical case study on Rolls‐Royce 's role in three distinct systemic innovations that marked the transition from piston engines to jet engines in the civil aviation industry: the turbojet, the turboprop, and the turbofan. The analysis helps explain how and why Rolls‐Royce's central role stemmed from its ability to reallocate existing non‐scale free organizational and technical resources. A key finding of this study is the identification of the horizontal transfer of functional modules as a critical process, especially during the incipient phase of a systemic innovation. The analysis also highlights the role that specific organizational arrangements, particularly a firm's integrative capabilities , have in shaping the effectiveness with which resources are reallocated.
Managerial Summary
Focusing on resource reallocation is important to understand why some firms effectively reallocate their resources through successive systemic innovations while others cannot, even if they have similar resources and face the same environmental conditions. By delving into the technological aspects of aeroengine development and exploring why Rolls‐Royce had the capabilities to successfully integrate key functional modules across various modular levels, we clarify the relationship between technology and organization that underlies resource reallocation—a topic that has received only scant attention in the strategy literature.
... Furthermore, some of the mapped ties are temporary (though they may occur periodically over an extended period of time). Information on past connections is especially difficult to retrieve from 'mental archives' of research participants (Walsh and Ungson, 1991), some of whom had not necessarily worked for a given SE since its conception. Finally, another SNA-related issue concerns legacy meaning that the co-created social network map requires maintenance and updates to render further benefits in the future. ...
Understanding and developing a circular economy (CE) and the implications for doing so involves communication and collaboration across a wide variety of stakeholders. Research has a key role to play in providing the relevant evidence and well-founded expectations through which to make decisions and steer implementation. A wide range of academic disciplines and interdisciplinary collaborations are relevant to the task, bringing potential differences in approaches to and uses of data, which risks compounding the issues of communication. This chapter addresses these issues and introduces critical realism as the Cresting project's philosophical framework. Critical realism asserts an objective reality, while recognising that it is understood via the subjectivities of participants. The aim is to determine the causal mechanisms influencing a situation, which is necessary to bring about effective change. Critical realism also has an openness to engagement with stakeholders that values them more highly, or more closely, than ‘objects’ of research. The Cresting project adopted a range of approaches, some resembling transdisciplinarity (the co-production of knowledge with stakeholder(s)), while others were more detached. This chapter presents and justifies the adoption of critical realism and discusses several experiences of CE research in a public or private context and in different regional contexts, where stakeholders' engagement was successfully undertaken using different methods. Stakeholder collaboration was found to be central to any kind of CE research, as it provides an avenue to contextualise the assessment with the local conditions and value systems. This chapter concludes with some reflections and future directions on how to improve stakeholders' engagement in order to facilitate co-creation processes of CE and sustainability implementation.
... The original instrument consists of three dimensions: human capital, social capital, and organizational capital. As the third dimension refers to an organization's ability to appropriate and store knowledge in physical organization-level repositories such as databases, manuals, and patents (Davenport and Prusak, 1998) or in structures, processes, cultures, and ways of doing business (Walsh and Ungson, 1991), it was deemed unsuitable for application at the team level. We thus followed Li et al. (2021) and adopted the former two dimensions to assess team intellectual capital. ...
Purpose
The function of cognitive diversity has not yet been studied to a sufficient degree. To address this gap, the current study aims to answer the questions of how and when team cognitive diversity fosters individual creativity by integrating the intellectual capital view and the inclusion literature.
Design/methodology/approach
With a paired and time-lagged sample consisting of 368 members and 46 leaders from Chinese high-tech organizations, a multilevel moderated mediation model was developed to test the hypothesized relationships using structural equation modeling.
Findings
Team cognitive diversity is positively related to individual creativity via team intellectual capital, but this positive indirect effect is obtained only when the inclusive team climate is high.
Research limitations/implications
Team intellectual capital serves as an alternative mechanism for translating team cognitive diversity into favorable outcomes, and an inclusive team climate plays a pivotal role in harvesting the benefits of team cognitive diversity. Future research could extend our study by adopting a multiwave longitudinal or experimental design, examining the possibility of curvilinearity, considering the changes in patterns over time, and conducting cross-cultural studies.
Practical implications
Managers should take the initiative to assemble a team featuring cognitive diversity when facing creative tasks, and should proactively cultivate an inclusive culture when leading such a team.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to consider the mediating role of team intellectual capital in the cross-level effect of team cognitive diversity on individual creativity and to examine the boundary role of an inclusive team climate with respect to this indirect effect.
... The work of Hedberg (1981) and Walsh and Ungson (1991) differs in perspective from that of the aforementioned authors. They focus on the organizational environment and refer to organizational systems, procedures, and structural and cultural features that are subject to change and remain in the system long after the individual has left it. ...
The ninth chapter titled “Challenges of Organizational Learning” from the second part of the book Managing Learning Enterprises titled “Challenges of Implementing a Learning Enterprise” begins by identifying the common misconceptions about learning organizations and organizational learning. A learning organization is an environment in which organizational learning takes place. Even though every organization engages in organizational learning, but it could be imposed by top management, the best environment for organizational learning is a learning organization. Learning organizations are able to continuously change when all their members are involved. Two possible outcomes of organizational learning have been identified—changes in mental models and thinking and changes in behavior as a reflection of the new knowledge. The key question “Are organizations capable of learning?” was also addressed by noting that changes based on newly acquired knowledge remain in the system even after the people who created them have left the organization and influence the behavior of newcomers. The chapter also looks at organizational learning in modern ecosystems as adaptive, self-regulating learning systems, in supply chains and in coopetitive arrangements. The chapter concludes with an analysis of entrepreneurial organizational learning.
... The antecedent recognition of potential student benefits aligns with prior studies which have identified that ecosystem goals for motivation of disclosure, that is being motivated by the potential for contributing to or supporting others (Garcia and Crocker, 2008), is associated with an increase in disclosure intentions (Garcia and Crocker, 2008;Foster and Talley, 2021) and more positive first disclosure experiences (Chaudoir and Fisher, 2010). The culture of a particular context (e.g., academic science) is created by the individuals in the community (Walsh and Ungson, 1991;Mowday and Sutton, 1993). As such, groups of people can work to shift norms (Thomas et al., 2015) and revealing CSIs can become normalized in academic science. ...
Few college science instructors reveal concealable identities to students, causing undergraduates to perceive exaggerated underrepresentation of those identities.
... Our analysis identified organizational memory as a vital structural generative mechanism, which ensured ongoing engagement with young people to support management of their substance use. Organizational memory is defined as the accumulated expertise and experience of management, counsellors, and caseworkers, including their beliefs, ideologies, norms and values, habits, rituals, and work environment that influence present workplace decision making (Walsh & Ungson, 1991); informally expressed as 'the way we do things here'. Organizational memory resides within a variety of spheres including workplace culture, among individuals, in information technology systems, and in structures such as departments. ...
Continuing care’ refers to the provision of co-ordinated care and support overtime. Currently, little is known about continuing care programs for young people who complete alcohol and other drug treatment. This paper analyses data from an interview-based study that aimed to identify the generative mechanisms underpinning an innovative continuing care program for young people. Researchers recruited 11 current and former program clients aged 17 to 25 years and nine program staff. Analysis identified five generative mechanisms of the program that supported participants to manage their substance use over the long term, namely person-centred counselling; relationship stability; safety and inclusion; situated mode of ordering continuing care; and organizational memory. Participants reported that the best continuing care for young people is holistic, includes regular and sustained contact, employs an innovative approach to intervention, establishes links with community services and other support structures, and provides care within a safe, person-centred, and situated framework.
While it is well established that bureaucratic organizations channel status competitions into formal hierarchies, status competitions in nonhierarchical organizational contexts are less well understood. Using a Bourdieusian analysis of practices of status distinction, we analyze the case of an organization that is structurally flat, in order to investigate how status hierarchies and ascribed inequalities are produced and reproduced in a context where formal hierarchy is absent. Our research is based on eighteen months of ethnographic fieldwork at a “makerspace,” an aspirational egalitarian organization that shares tools and space. We find that the absence of formal hierarchy resulted in high levels of informal status competition and an emphasis on cultural capital as a means of gaining status.
The existing literature highlights the importance of customer orientation in enhancing strategic agility. However, certain studies have highlighted the adverse effects of customer orientation, particularly for resource-limited digital new ventures. This study aims to reconcile these divergent views by differentiating strategic agility into two dimensions: entrepreneurial agility and adaptive agility. This study attributes the varying effects of customer orientation on these two types of strategic agility to different mediating roles of strategic learning. While strategic learning enhances entrepreneurial agility, it has an inverted U-shaped impact on adaptive agility. Furthermore, the study suggests that market turbulence moderates the effects of customer orientation. Survey data from Chinese digital new ventures supports the hypotheses. This research contributes to the agility literature by proposing strategic learning as an internal mechanism through which customer orientation influences strategic agility. It also highlights the impacts of external environmental conditions. The theoretical framework provides a harmonious explanation for the contrasting effects of customer orientation, offering valuable managerial insights for improving strategic agility.
This study shows how places, and by implication other societal units as well, achieve and reproduce distinctiveness. It does this by specifying how actors in two California urban areas, over approximately 100 years, responded differently to the same exogenous forces. Each place is examined to determine how unlike elements conjoin to produce a particular “character” at any given moment and how this character travels through time to constitute a local “tradition.” Borrowing from advances in analyses of structure and agency, this study displays character and tradition as accomplished interaction and helps make an elusive process empirically evident and accessible for study.
Purpose
Learning capability improves knowledge resources fosters innovative capabilities and firm competitiveness. The study aims to examine the human resource management (HRM) practice and employee creativity relationship using organizational learning capability (OLC) as a mediating variable.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 67 small-sized and 96 medium-sized firms. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to establish construct validity and reliability. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the proposed model and hypotheses.
Findings
The results show that performance appraisal and employee creativity were positively related. Employee participation and employee creativity were positively related. Compensation and employee creativity were nonsignificantly related. OLC mediates the performance appraisal and employee creativity relationship. Similarly, OLC mediates the employee participation and employee creativity relationship. However, OLC did not mediate the compensation and employee creativity relationship.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the research’s SME focus and cross-sectional data, the finding’s generalizability will be constrained.
Practical implications
The findings of the study would be useful to policymakers, stakeholders and management of SMEs in developing a supportive learning climate that promotes experiential and continuous learning cultures to ensure strategic capabilities, sustainable competitive advantage and innovativeness.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the extant literature on OLC, HRM practices and employee creativity by empirically evidencing that OLC mediates the performance appraisal, employee participation and employee creativity relationship.
Organizational resilience (ORE) is crucial for businesses to cope with disruptions and achieve long-term survival in volatile environments. Strategic orientation (SO), which serves as a beacon for the long-term development of firms, has a significant influence on ORE. However, existing research remains inconclusive regarding the relationship between SO and ORE. This article seeks to investigate the mechanisms through which the emerging dimensions of SO—digital orientation (DO) and environmental orientation (EO)—impact ORE, drawing on resource orchestration theory and organizational learning theory. In particular, we explore the mediating role of resource orchestration (ROR) in explaining the diverse pathways from DO and EO to ORE under the boundary conditions of organizational memory (OM) and environmental hostility (EH). This research tests the proposed hypotheses using a mixed-methods approach with a sample of 304 Chinese firms. The hierarchical multiple regression results indicate that both DO and EO positively affect ORE, with ROR serving as a full mediator. More interestingly, OM positively moderates the indirect effects of DO and EO on ORE via ROR, whereas EH only strengthens the indirect relationship between DO and ORE via ROR. Furthermore, the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) results reinforce these findings by revealing that four configurations of these variables can achieve high ORE. This study helps enrich the literature on SO and ORE and provides practical insights to guide firms in enhancing ORE.
In response to external adversity, organizations often employ dormancy as a defensive strategy. Dormancy, as the substantial reduction of activities, carries profound implications for understanding meta-organizations (MOs) passivity. While MOs possess the power to orchestrate collective action and impact their external environment, their intricate internal dynamics can lead to conflicts, potentially undermining their effectiveness. This research explores the composite process related to MO dormancy and highlight the entry into dormancy marked by paradoxical hyperactivity, enduring dormancy due to exhaustion and over-centralization, and overcoming dormancy through controlled deceleration. The study suggests a less conscious nature of dormancy and the importance of temporality in understanding this complex phenomenon and MO's internal dynamics.
Online video advertising has surged alongside the growth of online video consumption, blending traditional branding with interactive potential. This study evaluates the effectiveness of in-stream video ads based on position, theme congruence, and context congruence. It aims to identify impactful conditions and positions for ads and assess their impact on memory, attitude, and purchase intention. The research reviews prior literature on in-stream advertising, congruence, and position effects, hypothesizing that congruence enhances ad effectiveness, while position influences ad recall and viewer engagement. Empirical research involving 80 respondents in April 2024 confirms these hypotheses, revealing that incongruent ads at the beginning enhance logo recall, while congruent ads improve product awareness. Thematic congruence with context incongruence at video start and end elicits the most positive viewer attitudes and desires. The findings offer insights for marketers to optimize in-stream ad effectiveness based on desired outcomes and placement considerations.
This study's objective was to elucidate the notion of organizational forgetfulness through an analysis of relevant literature. The study will first concentrate on the idea of forgetting in general. After that, the associated ideas will be made clear and the notion of organizational forgetfulness will be discussed. There will be a statement of potential future research directions in this topic, followed by the study's results. Since the idea of organizational learning has gained greater traction than the idea of organizational forgetting, this study and others of a similar nature are significant.
p>The purpose of this study is to determine the mediating role of Marketing and Innovation Capabilities in the link between Strategic Orientation dimensions and Business Performance. 385 questionnaires were distributed to CEOS, marketing managers & marketing experts, and brand managers, production managers, finance managers, IT specialists, research & development managers of 20 manufacturing firms and only 300 questionnaires were used for final analysis. After confirming that the CFA measurement models fulfill the GOF statistics, the discriminant validity analysis results show that the AVE values exceeded their respective square inter-construct correlations in several cases. Following Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to investigate the underlying theoretical structure of the phenomenon and Confirmatory Factors Analysis (CFA) measurement models that meet the Goodness-of-Fit (GoF) statistics, the discriminant validity analysis results show that the AVE values are more significant than their respective square inter-construct correlations in several cases. The reliability test for all seven constructs is above 0.7, which satisfies the recommended threshold in the literature. The statistical software utilized for data analysis in this study was PROCESS Macro 3.4.1 and SPSS 25. The study's findings revealed that all four dimensions of strategic orientation and marketing and innovation capabilities had a favorable and significant impact on business performance. Both marketing and innovation capabilities have mediated the relationship between strategic orientation components (MO, EO, TO, and KO) and business performance. This study concludes that focusing solely on strategic components is insufficient and that integrated organizational processes are required to attain truly outstanding business performance. The study discovered that greater marketing and innovation capabilities enhance business performance (both financial and marketing). As a result, manufacturing businesses should examine each component of strategic orientation independently - market, entrepreneurial, technological, and knowledge orientations - while assessing fundamental abilities, which include marketing and innovation capabilities.
JEL: M31, O31, O32, O36, L25, L26, L60
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Collective phronesis is the collection of the best‐distributed phronesis of humans and is also integrated phronesis for all management that combines the collective wisdom of individuals within and even between organizations. In a good organization, rather than only certain heroes with phronesis creating new knowledge, phronesis is organized to realize innovation by bringing together the high‐quality wisdom and practical power of various practitioners at all levels of the organization, as well as in its customers and partners. This makes it possible to build dynamic fractal organizations – tough collectives that can respond creatively and with agility in real‐time, no matter what occurs, including rapid changes in the environment. However, little is known from previous studies regarding the formation mechanisms of collective phronesis and dynamic fractal organizations. In this paper, we present a new theoretical model of the formation mechanism of collective phronesis, and dynamic fractal organizations based on inductive research through field surveys and in‐depth case studies, expanding on the concept of boundaries knowledge, which has been explored in existing research.
This article is based on the study of an engineering organization that is experiencing major difficulties on its first new project in 10 years. It contributes to the literature on organizational forgetting in project-based organizations, examining how this phenomenon can be perceived and assessed. The analysis of the data provides a better understanding of the conditions under which a situation of accidental forgetting can be (mis)identified. The case reveals that, due to five sources of ambiguity linked to the identification process—latency, novelty, multiplicity, complexity, and credibility—the forgetting phenomenon may be underestimated or the subject of contradictory assessments within the organization.
This chapter presents an integrated duality model to understand how changes in core processes caused by strategic interventions are related with views on human conduct, organizational routines and embedded organizations, particularly in today's society that is characterized by fluidity and continuous change. This model is developed from a Deweyian perspective on human conduct including the interplay between habits, cognition and emotion. Using this duality model, the current chapter discusses why top-down strategic plans and initiatives will result in resistance amongst organizational members. Finally, it discusses directions for further theoretical development and empirical research.
This study aimed to examine the effects of organizational memory on the formation of organizational trust of individuals. Quantitative methods were used in the research, and a questionnaire was applied to a total of 200 people, 73 women and 127 men, working in the academic staff of a university. At the end of the research, it was determined that the organizational memory of the individuals is higher than their organizational trust, the individuals trust the institution managers the most and the organization or the institution itself the least, and they have the most professional knowledge and the least sectoral knowledge. In addition, it was determined that organizational trust and organizational memory levels of individuals differ according to some socio-demographic characteristics, and there are statistically significant and positive correlation relationships between organizational trust and organizational memory levels.
Artificial intelligence, or AI for short, is the most advanced and state-of-the-art technology in today’s technological landscape. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a high-tech tool with the potential to revolutionise many industries, increase productivity, and free workers from repetitive tasks. Artificial intelligence (AI) relies on Big Data and algorithms that mimic human perception, inquiry, analysis, and task execution. Many people are talking about artificial intelligence (AI) these days, but it is essential to remember that, like any new technology, AI has both positive and negative aspects. To succeed in a cutthroat business climate, its implementation, impact on human resources, and overall usefulness are all areas where problems exist. The Fourth Industrial Revolution cannot exist without artificial intelligence. There must be massive overhauls of the current system and environment for any revolution to occur. The setup, the learning curve, and the eventual acceptance of new technology are thrilling aspects until they settle. How well-equipped is HR to embrace and make the most of this game-changing technology? In what ways are businesses prepared to deploy AI? The interplay between the two is crucial regarding human resources and organisational management. Conversely, a crucial indicator of rising technical employment is the need for specialised technical knowledge in the development and operation of AI. Nevertheless, this need is a significant roadblock to the advancement and employability of the firm’s senior staff, middle management, and other human resources. The challenges and opportunities of human resource management in an organisation’s integration of AI-based technologies are the subject of this research, which considers technical and non-technical resources. This research focuses on implementing AI into the HR framework to build on the case study and improve AI’s effectiveness in HR.
Este estudio tiene como objetivo determinar una relación entre el liderazgo y la gestión del conocimiento, y su incidencia en el comportamiento organizativo (satisfacción laboral, compromiso organizativo y rendimiento organizativo). Para ello se aplican encuestas a trabajadores relacionados con la gestión de empesas forestales de Chile. Los resultados del análisis de ecuaciones estructurales indican que el liderazgo servidor y el liderazgo auténtico inciden principalmente en el uso del conocimiento, el cual afecta exclusivamente al rendimiento organizativo, lo que indica que estos liderazgos se prestan para incentivar el aumento y uso de recursos del conocimiento, inspirando utilizar el conocimiento existente para incrementar productos y servicios y aprovechar nuevas oportunidades de negocio, lo que puede colaborar con una mejor coordinación, una rápida toma de decisiones más informada, favoreciendo el éxito de la organización. Estos hallazgos pueden orientar a las organizaciones para que fomenten en sus líderes, por ejemplo, la capacidad de generar confianza en sus empleados, de tomarlos en cuenta y de animarlos a expresar sus opiniones, de escuchar cuidadosamente diferentes puntos de vista, ya que ello favorecerá la creación de un ambiente que colaborará y facilitará el uso del conocimiento existente, repercutiendo positivamente en el rendimiento de la organización.
Current models of substantive reputation repair primarily focus on isolated reputation-damaging events (RDEs) and corresponding responses by firms within short time frames. Nevertheless, evidence suggests that firms encounter numerous RDEs over extended periods while only sporadically and intermittently engaging in top-down substantive repair. To investigate this event-response asynchrony, we adopt an event system theory (EST) approach and conduct a qualitative study of a multinational firm. Over a 10-year period, we analyzed 47 RDEs that eventually prompted top management to initiate substantive repair. Our findings reveal that top managers perceive reputation management as a complex system comprising self-correcting subsystems that follow recurring adaptive event cycles. These cycles consist of iterations, transitioning from routine business-as-usual activities managing most RDEs (foreloops) to nonlinear, transformative responses to certain events (backloops). As long as these cycles are deemed effective, top managers refrain from substantive repair, intervening only when they identify a subsystem breakdown. Consequently, our event-system model of substantive reputation repair elucidates event-response asynchrony in two phases: (1) top managers’ confidence in the hierarchy of adaptive event cycles leads them to purposefully avoid most RDEs, and (2) the convergent intersection of three specific event chain patterns gradually establishes a shared narrative among top managers, triggering top-down substantive repair. By employing EST, we not only provide novel insights into how firms manage reputations but also enhance the explanatory power of EST by illuminating event cycle dynamics.
Conspiracy theories are a constant feature of human society but have recently risen in prominence with the flurry of COVID-19 conspiracy theories and their public display in social media. Conspiracy theories should be studied not only because of their potential harm but also because they are related to other sources of misinformation such as folk theories, rumors, and fake news. Recent understanding of their spread has shifted the focus from investigating the believers to characteristics of the social processes that motivate and persuade, with a new view of the conspiracy theorist as a bricoleur dealing with threats through social (re)construction of reality. These tendencies are strengthened by the markets for attention and approval constructed by social media platforms, and bots also amplify them. We identify an agenda of multiple important and urgent paths for future research that will help understanding of conspiracy theories in society.
This study explores what kinds of (and how) organizational capabilities (benchmarking, modeling, forecasting, and backcasting), respectively and collectively, help an organization to have a more proactive policy orientation. An analysis of the public agencies in South Korea in 2021 shows several significant findings. First, all four of the organizational capabilities are conducive to a proactive policy orientation, which may be intuitively acceptable. Second, however, in contrast to expectation, the relative impact of forecasting capability on proactive policy orientation turned out to be the weakest among the four capabilities. An interpretation of these findings indicates that, proactive policies might be better produced in the organizational environment where forecasting can be supported by empirical evidence (benchmarking), methodical reasoning (modeling), and tangible planning (backcasting).
Organizational learning is a result of knowledge creation, retention, and transfer. An unanswered question in learning theory is whether learning occurs when firms face an unprecedented and urgent crisis as such events leave little time for knowledge creation, and they complicate knowledge transfer and retention. The COVID-19 pandemic is an example because it saddled firms with consequences ranging from liquidity crises to worsened strategic position, and it required urgent responses. Operational and strategic responses had to be made without recent experience from similar situations and with high uncertainty about the duration and severity of the crisis. This paper extends learning theory by developing an argument that such extreme events allow knowledge transfer and retention that current learning theory would not predict. The new predictions are tested on the airline industry, which was severely affected by the mobility restrictions imposed by states. The findings show organizational learning even when facing an unprecedented crisis, but different learning rules were used for reversible and irreversible actions, suggesting that decision makers search for adaptive choices and are mindful of their strategic consequences.
Funding: This research received funding from the Hoffman Global Institute for Business and Society.
Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/stsc.2023.0083 .
Understanding and managing the customer experience (CX) is paramount for organizations aiming to enhance their business performance. However, despite significant investments in improving CX, the high failure rate of CX management programs shows that effectively executing CX-led business transformations can be a true snafu. While academic literature on CX is abundant, research on how executives and managers can implement CX within their organizations remains limited. Meehan’s interview (2024 – this issue) with Piyush Gupta offers valuable insights into this aspect, serving as a foundation for further exploration. This paper offers an initial conceptualization of a CX-led business transformation and identifies areas ripe for new research streams on CX management.
La presente investigación tiene por objetivo explorar la posible relación entre la gestión del conocimiento y la satisfacción laboral y rendimiento organizativo en empresas del rubro forestal de Chile. Para tal efecto, se han aplicado encuestas a trabajadores que desarrollan sus funciones en áreas administrativas de tales empresas. Los resultados de análisis de ecuaciones estructurales indican que la efectividad organizativa (uso del conocimiento) incide positivamente en la satisfacción laboral y rendimiento organizativo de las empresas en estudio.
This research paper investigates the relationship between high-performance work systems (HPWS), organisational memory, and employee in-role performance, focusing on the direct impact of HPWS on different dimensions of organisational memory and employee in-role performance, as well as the mediating role of organisational memory in this relationship. Utilizing a sample of employees working in the telecommunications industry, the study employed structural equation modelling to analyse the relationships among HPWS, organisational memory, and employee in-role performance. The findings revealed that HPWS positively influence all three dimensions of organisational memory and employee in-role performance, with organisational memory partially mediating the relationship between HPWS and employee in-role performance. However, the study was limited to the telecommunications industry and Dhofar region and did not examine the potential moderating effects of individual-level or contextual factors on the relationships among HPWS, organisational memory, and employee in-role performance. The study offers practical implications for organizations seeking to improve employee performance and overall effectiveness by highlighting the importance of implementing high-performance work systems and managing organisational memory effectively. This study contributes to the literature on the relationships among HPWS, organisational memory, and employee in-role performance, providing valuable insights into the dynamics of organisational effectiveness.
Readiness is critical to adaptation to climate change and includes how organizations adjust their structures, processes, and policies for both mitigation and adaptation. Organizational learning regarding climate change is the process by which organizations and institutions acquire the knowledge, skills, and capabilities necessary to understand, manage, and adapt to the impacts of climate change. This process emphasizes continuous learning, innovation, and collaboration as key strategies for effectively responding to the ongoing climate crisis. The aim of this study was to investigate the current state of organizational learning related to climate change among the General Directorates of Natural Resources and Watershed Management in Golestan and North Khorasan provinces of Iran. The research was conducted using a survey method, through which 80 experts from two organizations were randomly selected to complete a structured questionnaire. The findings revealed that although employees have a strong attitude towards climate change, organizational learning related to climate change is weak. The five dimensions of organizational learning (knowledge acquisition, information distribution, information interpretation, organizational memory, and information application) were assessed. Information interpretation had the most weight, while organizational memory had the least. Positive attitudes toward climate change were associated with increased engagement in climate change-related organizational learning. The study recommends implementing training and awareness initiatives, fostering knowledge sharing and retention, encouraging positive attitudes towards climate change, and promoting collaboration to enhance organizational learning as a prerequisite for organizational readiness to climate change.
The execution of globally distributed information technology service projects (GDITP) by globally distributed teams, while inherently complex, offers the advantages of swift implementation and seamless service delivery to global clients. The numerous challenges including the intangibility of customer specifications, the iterative nature of information technology (IT) activities and coordination difficulties arising from diverse teams contribute to complexity in managing these projects. Moreover, the organizational complexity is compounded by competing power centres, turning project delivery into a politically contested process.
In traditional projects such as construction or customized manufacturing, overcoming aforementioned challenges through strong top-down leadership is typical in many time-bound projects. However, in the realm of IT projects, which are inherently people-centric, enforcing a command-and-control environment is challenging. Communities-of-practice (CoP) offer an alternative structure that engages highly skilled employees in a collaborative community, navigating the challenges posed by IT projects. Our study explores this innovative approach, focusing on a product firm effectively leveraging CoPs to successfully execute global service projects.
Delving into the functioning of CoPs, our research illustrates how they scale up using both formal and informal networks to meet diverse global customer requirements. Despite operating globally, CoPs exhibit emergent collective mindfulness, adapting tools, processes and products to the demands of the projects. The study also details how the organization manages complexity while adhering to product architecture and a uniform project framework.
This study aims to analyze the impact of the analytic and holistic reasoning perspectives on organizational creativity with the mediated role of knowledge acquisition, knowledge distribution, knowledge interpretation, and organizational memory. The theoretical framework developed in this study is based on an interactionist model of organizational creativity and conceptual links among creative persons, processes, situations, and products proposed by Woodman et al. (1993). The data were collected from 382 top managers in small and medium-sized enterprises in the southern region of Vietnam. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is applied to test the proposed relationship. The findings show that the analytic reasoning perspective significantly affects organizational creativity. Knowledge interpretation and organizational memory moderate the positive influence of the two perspectives of strategizing on organizational creativity, contributing to the theoretical framework. Constructive implications for organizations and company managers include logically analyzing and evaluating business activities, especially building concrete beliefs, routines, and physical artifacts.
This study examines organizational resilience to research and development (R&D) productivity losses following knowledge loss [aka “forgetting”] using a long panel (1970-2007) of data on U.S. biotechnology research. In our model, knowledge and R&D productivity loss may occur through three mechanisms, scientist turnover, interference to knowledge retrieval, and scientist knowledge decay. Our model also proposes three means through which organizations may become resilient to the effects of knowledge loss on R&D productivity. First, managers may compensate for knowledge losses due to turnover by recruitment. Second, the effects of interference to knowledge retrieval due to the use of new technologies may be minimized if new technologies are introduced into organizations by members with little prior experience in using incumbent technologies or by scientists with little prior collaboration experience. Third, scientists may mitigate the effects of knowledge decay by relearning because the reacquisition of previously lost knowledge is easier than learning it was initially. Irrespective of their source, our results suggest that agency plays a role in making an organization resist the negative effects of knowledge loss on its R&D productivity.
This paper characterizes managerial problem sensing, a necessary precondition for managerial activity directed toward organizational adaptation, as composed of noticing, interpreting, and incorporating stimuli. It then reviews the constituent social cognition processes that make certain kinds of problem-sensing behavior, including errors, relatively likely to occur. Implications for the organizational issues of crisis, chance events, break points, and extreme change are explored.
Organizational cultures, and in particular stories, carry a claim to uniqueness - that an institution is unlike any other. This paper argues that a culture's claim to uniqueness is, paradoxically, expressed through cultural manifestations, such as stories, that are not in fact unique. We present seven types of stories that make a tacit claim to uniqueness. We show that these seven stories occur, in virtually identical form, in a wide variety of organizations. We then suggest why these stories have proliferated while others have not.
A national sample of adult Americans was asked to report "the national or world events or changes over the past 50 years" that seemed to them especially important, and then to explain the reasons for their choices. The resulting data are used both quantitatively and qualitatively to explore hypotheses related to generational effects, life course, and collective memory. Broadly speaking, different cohorts recall different events or changes, and these memories come especially from adolescence and early adulthood. The reasons for mentioning various events and changes also differ across cohorts in ways that indicate that generational effects are the result of the intersection of personal and national history.
This paper proposes the concept of “organizational frames of reference” (OFOR) as a framework for examining the unquestioned assumptions and processes underlying strategic decision-making. Components of OFOR are described and their functions and formation are discussed. Future research questions and management implications are suggested.
This article introduces the concept of a negotiated belief structure to help analyze how political and information-processing forces work to create decision premises within a strategy-making group. Negotiated belief structures are defined as the beliefs or assumptions that underscore a strategic decision, the enacted beliefs or assumptions that reflect the politics of decision-making. Negotiated belief structures may be limited, contested, contextual, or dialectical in nature. These types of belief structures and their implications for strategic decision making are discussed and a prescription for managing the strategymaking process is suggested.
This article prescribes how an organization can be designed to meet social and technological changes and to reap advantage from them. Long-term viability maximizes in a self-designing organization, in which those who perform activities take primary responsibility for learning and for inventing new methods, and in which nonparticipant designers restrict themselves to a catalytic role. Such an organization is formed by putting together processes, the generators of behaviors. Although the complex interactions among processes make designers' forecasts unreliable, serious future problems can be avoided by keeping processes dynamically balanced. The desired balance can be caricatured with six aphorisms: Cooperation requires minimal consensus. Satisfaction rests upon minimal contentment. Wealth arises from minimal affluence. Goals merit minimal faith. Improvement depends on minimal consistency. Wisdom demands minimal rationality.
Evaluating organizations according to an efficiency criterion would make it possible to predict the form organizations will take under certain conditions. Organization theory has not developed such a criterion because it has lacked a conceptual scheme capable of describing organizational efficiency in sufficiently microsopic terms. The transactions cost approach provides such a framework because it allows us to identify the conditions which give rise to the costs of mediating exchanges between individuals: goal incongruence and performance ambiguity. Different combinations of these causes distinguish three basic mechanisms of mediation or control: markets, which are efficient when performance ambiguity is low and goal incongruence is high; bureaucracies, which are efficient when both goal incongruence and performance ambiguity are moderately high; and clans, which are efficient when goal incongruence is low and performance ambiguity is high.
ABSTRACT' Since the middle 19M)s. the "macro" branch of organizational studies has operated
The purpose of this paper is to draw explicit attention to the use of similies, analogies, and metaphors in administrative science, many of which originate in other disciplines. We argue that the application of these tropes to the science-making processes of the field may be misleading because they are not easily eliminable by ordinary scientific means. As a consequence, the advancement of a useful body of knowledge that can serve administrative problems may be impeded. We offer a number of probable explanations for the heavy reliance on metaphors in the discipline, as well as suggestions for constraining continued reliance on figures of speech from outside the field.
An untested proposition in the normative strategic management literature is that strategists should make decisions based on accurate assessments of their external environments. Empirical organization theory literature holds the assumption that high levels of perceived uncertainty are detrimental to performance. Both literatures assume goal consensus to be important to effectiveness. This study investigated the relationship between top management perceptions of uncertainty, corporate goal structures, and industry volatility in explaining economic performance in 20 firms. Findings suggested that attempts to avoid true environmental uncertainty and to seek high levels of goal congruence may be dysfunctional. Strategic management is the province of organizational elites, and the way in which the members of these elites-senior executives-perceive and act upon their firms' external environments plays a large role in corporate conduct and performance. Strategic management and organization theory provide two academic perspectives on how this performance is achieved (Bourgeois & Astley, 1979), and each perspective is based upon a certain set of assumptions. The following study challenges some of those assumptions. The central tenet in strategic management is that a match between environmental conditions and organizational capabilities and resources is critical to performance, and that a strategist's job is to find or create this match. This theme pervades the two literatures that are antecedent to the field. First, traditional business policy literature advanced the notion that success is a function of the degree of strategic fit between environmental trends ("threats and opportunities") and an organization's distinctive competence ("strengths and weaknesses") (Andrews, 1971: 59-60). The more recent perspective adopted from industrial organization economics has a similar orientation, whereby industry structure constrains firm conduct, which determines economic performance (Hatten, Schendel, & Cooper, 1978). The organization theory literature has advanced a strikingly similar match or fit notion in the contingency theory paradigm. Empirical researchers like Burns and Stalker (1961) and Lawrence and Lorsch (1967) suggested that effectiveness derives from structuring an administrative arrangement appropriate to the nature of an organization's external environment. In essence,
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Contrary to currently popular notions of organizational culture, we claim that the existence of local organizational cultures that are distinct from more generally shared background cultures occurs relatively infrequently at the level of the whole organization. We also argue that, with respect to organizational performance, particular properties of local organizational culture are more important than others and that local organizational culture will be more critical to performance in one range of organizations than in others. We conclude by applying our point of view to the problem of changing organizational cultures and argue that they are more adaptive than is currently thought.
This paper responds to concerns about the suitability and appropriateness of theories of decision-making behavior in organizations by addressing conceptual and methodological issues grounded on the study of individual cognitive processes. Specifically, three issues are developed: (1) how problems in managerial decision-making contexts can be described; (2) the types of cognitive processes used in these decision-making contexts; and (3) research problems and directions that need to be addressed in order to improve the understanding of and training for decision making in organizations. Finally, the implications of this integrative approach are discussed for environmental scanning and organizational design theory.
Internal, organizationally based mechanisms of corporate control and external, market-based control mechanisms can be employed to help align the diverse interests of managers and shareholders. After reviewing the related work in organization theory and financial economics, this paper articulates the strengths and shortcomings of both types of control mechanisms; it also identifies a variety of managerial entrenchment practices that managers can use to compromise these mechanisms. A theoretical framework is developed next that explicates the interrelationships between and among these corporate control mechanisms. A number of research opportunities that span the disciplines of organization theory and financial economics are identified.
This research examined the relationships between objective office characteristics (openness, office density, workspace density, accessibility, and office darkness) and several measures of employee reactions (satisfaction, behavior during discretionary periods, and spatial markers). In addition, the research examined the extent to which three sets of intervening variables explained these relationships. The intervening variables were interpersonal experiences (conflict, friendship opportunities, agent feedback), job experiences (task significance, autonomy, task identity), and environmental experiences (crowding, concentration, privacy). Data were collected from 114 clerical employees of 19 offices. Each of the office characteristics related significantly to one or more of the employee reaction measures. Moreover, office characteristics affected several employee reactions through their impact on the intervening variables.
Acquisition and divestment decision situations generally are characterized by complexity and ambiguity. This paper proposes the idea that business decision makers may use cognitive simplifying processes in defining such ill-structured problems. A number of specific simplifying processes that may be used in acquisition and divestment are discussed. These ideas are supported by examples from recent field research and the business press. Impacts on resulting decisions are discussed; future research directions are suggested.
Product managers have a unique position in the organizational hierarchy. Neither line nor staff executives, they are responsible for planning and managing the activities of the firm's revenue generating product-market entries and are key executives in the firm's strategic planning and implementation activities. Do product managers utilize planning processes that require the types of data and data analyses recommended in the strategic planning literature? What organizational and personal characteristics are related to product manager planning activities? This article reports findings of an empirical study designed to answer these questions.
This paper analyzes learning processes of a seven-man team during a semester's involvement in a complex management decision exercise. Four phases of organizational development are identified and discussed: an initial phase, a searching phase, a comprehending phase, and a consolidating phase. Observations of how the team learned are then compared with three recent discussions of organizational learning processes in laboratory, industrial, and governmental settings. The paper proposes a synthesis which views organizational learning as a product of interactions among three kinds of stress. It presumes that learning is sporadic and stepwise rather than continuous and gradual and that learning the preferences and goals goes hand in hand with learning how to achieve them. Separate mechanisms are postulated to control adaptation at the individual and subgroup level within the organization and to control adaptation of the organization as a total system. Links between the two levels of adaptation are also described.
[Claire Poppe - STS 901 - Fall 2006]
Fleck focuses on the cognitive and social structures idea and fact development and acceptance.
- All ideas stem from "proto-ideas" - hazy, unspecific, unscientific concepts accepted as truth in their time period and existing in a socio-cognitive system.
- The social structure involved in cognition is conceived as the relationship between:
1) the knowing subject (individual)
2) the object to be known (objective reality)
3) the existing fund of knowledge (provided by the thought collective).
- The thought collective is a community of persons mutually exchanging ideas; it is the bearer of collective knowledge and the historical developer of knowledge. The individual's role is to decide whether results fit within the conditions specified by the collective. In this, he/she is influenced by the "thought style," an ambiguous cloud which directs perception and limits the options for interpretation without the perceiver being aware that they are being influenced.
- A scientific fact is a signal of resistance opposing free, arbitrary thinking. Facts are 1) in line with the interests of the collective, 2) accepted by the general membership of the collective, and 3) expressed in the style of the collective.
- Truth is only true within a single collective. It changes as collectives gradually change with the incorporation/adaptation or rejection of challenges to the thought style.
- Within a thought collective, there is a hierarchy consisting of two different groups:
a) Esoteric: a small group of experts with specialized knowledge who develop exoteric, popular knowledge
b) Exoteric: a larger, more "popular" group that creates public opinion, though not the entire public
- Categories of science from more exoteric to esoteric, more concrete to more flexible:
a) Popular science: attractive, lively, readable, artificially simplified science in which facts are reality and truth is objective
b) Vademecum science: a closed, organized system of the "commonly held" view of science where facts become fixed
c) Journal science: a personal, cautious and modest system open to contradictions and explorations
Professor Morris' investigation of American railway management indicates that the railroads, which had been such innovative institutions in the nineteenth century, clung to ossified and outmoded managerial practices after the industry reached maturity. Inbred and inflexible systems of recruitment and promotion, he argues, were a noteworthy aspect of the economic decline of American railroads in the twentieth century.
Argues that the formal structure of many organizations in post-industrial society dramatically reflect the myths of their institutional environment instead of the demands of their work activities. The authors review prevailing theories of the origins of formal structures and the main problem which those theories confront -- namely, that their assumption that successful coordination and control of activity are responsible for the rise of modern formal organization is not substantiated by empirical evidence. Rather, there is a great gap between the formal structure and the informal practices that govern actual work activities. The authors present an alternative source for formal structures by suggesting that myths embedded in the institutional environment help to explain the adoption of formal structures. Earlier sources understood bureaucratization as emanating from the rationalization of the workplace. Nevertheless, the observation that some formal practices are not followed in favor of other unofficial ones indicates that not all formal structures advance efficiency as a rationalized system would require. Therefore another source of legitimacy is required. This is found in conforming the organization's structure to that of the powerful myths that institutionalized products, services, techniques, policies, and programs become. (CAR)
The theoretical importance of formalization has often been obscured in empirical investigation. This article discusses two outcomes of formalization: administrative efficiency, and influence. As formalization contributes to administrative efficiency, it also bestows upon the administrator power and influence. While some theoretical attention has been paid to the efficiency theme, influence has been largely ignored. The article suggests that formalization as code, as channel, and as standard can be best understood in the context of the organizational life cycle. Formalization (as efficiency) is likely to contribute to effectiveness early in an organization's history. Later in the life cycle, however, formalization (as influence) may contribute to organizational ineffectiveness and decline.
For both people and machines, each in their own way, there is a serious problem in common of making sense out of what they hear, see, or are told about the world. The conceptual apparatus necessary to perform even a partial feat of understanding is formidable and fascinating. Our analysis of this apparatus is what this book is about. Roger C. Schank and Robert P. Abelson from the Introduction (http://www.psypress.com/scripts-plans-goals-and-understanding-9780898591385)
An organizational saga is a collective understanding of a unique accomplishment based on historical exploits of a formal organization, offering strong normative bonds within and outside the organization. Believers give loyalty to the organization and take pride and identity from it. A saga begins as strong purpose, introduced by a man (or small group) with a mission, and is fulfilled as it is embodied in organizational practices and the values of dominant organizational cadres, usually taking decades to develop. Examples of the initiation and fulfilment of sagas in academic organizations are presented from research on Antioch, Reed, and Swarthmore.