The Social Psychology of Organizations.

Because they are victims of short-term economic pressures and "parochial politics", most American companies critically lack the one factor proven effective in winning competitive advantage: leadership. Thus argues John P. Kotter in this, his third large-scale work on leadership, which continues and complements the work begun in his influential "The General Managers" and "Power and Influence". With compelling evidence, Kotter demonstrates why most American firms do not have the leadership capacity they currently need and explains what they must do to correct this damaging problem. Using comprehensive data from 900 senior executives in 100 American corporations, as well as in-depth interviews with 150 top managers in fifteen successful companies, including General Electric, Citicorp, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Coca-Cola, Kotter singles out the practices that develop superior leadership. He identifies both the specific personal attributes and general leadership qualities needed in today's corporations. And, with the spotlight on such individuals as Lee Iacocca at Chrysler and teams like the top management at Johnson & Johnson, he vividly illustrates the four factors that create outstanding leadership in both private and public sector senior and middle level managers. Professor Kotter underscores his argument with glaring examples of managerial failures in firms like ITT, providing eye-opening evidence of damage-- inability to control sagging productivity and poor records in customer service, quality control, and the development of new products-- caused primarily not be poor R&D or labor problems, but by a weak leadership capacity. Filled with dozens of case histories, "The Leadership Factor" reveals an all-too-common picture of companies which, unable to recognize or develop leadership talent and utilize it, create a pervasive gap in corporate planning and personal management. Progress has been made in improving quality management, but is has been limited. Kotter is hard-hitting in his assessment that even American companies which achieve a superior level of success in the leadership area-- IBM, DuPont, Dow Jones, Hewlett-Packard, and Anheuser-Busch, for example, must do even better to match efforts of foreign competitors. In showing how leaders are made, not born, he provides a realistic program structured to help attract, retain, and motivate dynamic, capable leaders in executive and middle management positions. Following Kotter's advice, companies can build strong managerial teams necessary not only for growth-- but also for survival itself.

The Leadership Factor

This article presents a constitutive approach to the study of organizational contradictions, dialectics, paradoxes, and tensions. In particular, it highlights five constitutive dimensions (i.e., discourse, developmental actions, socio-historical conditions, presence in multiples, and praxis) that appear across the literature in five metatheoretical traditions—process-based systems, structuration, critical, postmodern, and relational dialectics. In exploring these dimensions, it defines and distinguishes among key constructs, links research to process outcomes, and sets forth a typology of alternative ways of responding to organizational tensions. It concludes by challenging researchers to sharpen their focus on time in process studies, privilege emotion in relation to rationality, and explore the dialectic between order and disorder.

Contradictions, Dialectics, and Paradoxes in Organizations: A Constitutive Approach†

This essay aims to “materialize” organizational communication in three senses. First, we seek to make the field of study bearing this name more tangible for North American management scholars, such that recognition and engagement become common. To do so, we trace the development of the field’s major contribution thus far: the communication‐as‐constitutive principle, which highlights how communication generates defining realities of organizational life, such as culture, power, networks, and the structure–agency relation. Second, we argue that this promising contribution cannot easily find traction in management studies until it becomes “materialized” in another sense: that is, accountable to the materiality evident in organizational objects, sites, and bodies. By synthesizing current moves in this direction, we establish the basis for sustained exchange between management studies and the communication‐as‐constitutive model. Third, we demonstrate how these conceptual developments can “materialize” ...

1 Constitutional Amendments: “Materializing” Organizational Communication

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new methodological framework for the identification and analysis of different types of discursive manifestations of contradictionsDesign/methodology/approach – The paper is based on the dialectical tradition of cultural‐historical activity theory The methodological framework is developed by means of analyzing the entire transcribed corpus of the discourse conducted in a change laboratory intervention consisting of eight sessions and altogether 189,398 wordsFindings – Four types of discursive manifestations, namely dilemmas, conflicts, critical conflicts, and double binds, could be effectively identified in the data Specific linguistic cues were a useful first level of approaching the different types of manifestations Critical conflicts and double binds were found to be particularly effective lenses on systemic contradictionsResearch limitations/implications – The paper points to the need for theoretical and conceptual rigor in studies using the n

Discursive manifestations of contradictions in organizational change efforts: A methodological framework

This paper reports the results of our analysis of interviews with 38 individuals (representing 19 peer friendships) in which we explored factors and communication changes associated with the development of workplace friendships. We found that peer friendships experienced three primary transitions: from coworker/acquaintance‐to‐friend, friend‐to‐close friend, and close friend‐to‐almost best friend. The co‐worker‐to‐friend transition was perceived to be caused primarily by working together in close proximity, sharing common ground, and extra‐organizational socializing. Communication at this transition became broader, yet remained relatively superficial. The friend‐to‐close friend transition was associated primarily with problems in one's personal and work experiences. Communication at this transition became broader, more intimate, and less cautious. The close friend‐to‐almost best friend transition was associated primarily with life events, work‐related problems, and the passage of time. Communication becam...

From coworkers to friends: The development of peer friendships in the workplace

In this study, the authors explore the idea that organizations perform in contradictory ways because they must satisfy contradictory expectations. The authors present a case study of three successive downsizings within a single organization, the last two of which involved contradictory downsizing strategies. These included a voluntary-involuntary downsizing strategy and a velvet boot strategy. The article also examines several internal organizational contradictions over missions, values, job expectations, and resources and shows how their management yields both contradictory solutions and unintended consequences. Finally, the authors adopt a contradiction centered view of organizations that focuses on the oppositions organizational members construct as their organizational realities, evidence for which can be found in their situated discourse.

Discursiveness, Contradiction, and Unintended Consequences in Successive Downsizings

This study investigated gender differences and similarities in the perceived social costs and importance of seeking emotional support regarding work‐related problems. Women perceived such emotional support to be significantly more important than did men. No gender differences were identified with respect to the perceived social costs associated with seeking emotional support from coworkers nor in the proportion of emotional support sources in the workplace. Women had significantly larger emotional support networks than did men, and they were more satisfied with their support networks than were men.

The Perceived Social Costs and Importance of Seeking Emotional Support in the Workplace: Gender Differences and Similarities.

The present study examines the impact of transformational leadership, management of meaning, and vision characteristics on the growth of dotcoms. Transformational leadership is a popular leadership theory that describes two opposite dimensions known as transformational and transactional leadership styles (Bass, 1985; Bass & Avolio, 1990). Leadership as the “management of meaning” is an extension of the visionary and transformational leadership literatures and may help explain the intricacies involved in the visioning process. The literature is based on two key assumptions. First, leadership becomes real in the process of framing and defining reality for employees (Smirich & Morgan, 1982). Second, there is a clear distinction between leaders and managers based on presentation of a vision (Zaleznik, 1977; Pondy, 1978; Pfeffer, 1981; Bennis & Nanus, 1985). The literature also suggests that a vision must have seven key characteristics that make it successful. Using startups as a point of reference, dotcom is defined as an organization that is dependent on some form of seed funding or venture capital with up to 150 employees. Generally, the organization has been in business for less than five years and relies heavily on the Internet as a basis for its business model. Dotcoms distinguish themselves by adding “.com” to the name of their business and promote certain cultural elements that distinguish them from a startup, although the specific characteristics of the culture are less clear. The research is driven by three hypotheses that focus on the impact of the three preceding variables on growth. The results show no support for the hypotheses although the interview data does reveal that the role of the CEO and CFO as transformational leaders is evolving. Suggestions for future research are discussed.

Daniel J. Cahill

Papers

From coworkers to friends: The development of peer friendships in the workplace

Discursiveness, Contradiction, and Unintended Consequences in Successive Downsizings

The Perceived Social Costs and Importance of Seeking Emotional Support in the Workplace: Gender Differences and Similarities.

The role of transformational leadership, vision communication and vision characteristics on the growth of dotcoms in the midwest