I argue that the impact of context on organizational behavior is not sufficiently recognized or appreciated by researchers. I define context as situational opportunities and constraints that affect the occurrence and meaning of organizational behavior as well as functional relationships between variables, and I propose two levels of analysis for thinking about context–one grounded in journalistic practice and the other in classic social psychology. Several means of contextualizing research are considered.

The Essential Impact of Context on Organizational Behavior

What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

We introduce social networks theory and methods as a way of understanding mentoring in the current career context. We iirst introduce a typology of “developmental networks” using core concepts from social networks theory—network diversity and tie strength—to view mentoring as a multiple relationship phenomenon. We then propose a framework illustrating factors that shape developmental network structures and offer propositions focusing on the developmental consequences for individuals having different types of developmental networks in their careers. We conclude with strategies both for testing our propositions and for researching multiple developmental relationships further.

Reconceptualizing Mentoring at Work: A Developmental Network Perspective

https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/21442/2/mpra_paper_21442.pdf

The resource-based view: A review and assessment of its critiques

Resource Orchestration to Create Competitive Advantage Breadth, Depth, and Life Cycle Effects

Using key insights from the resource-based view of the firm, we develop and test a theory of how firms can successfully deploy and develop their strategic human assets while managing the trade-offs in their service and geographical diversification strategies. In a sample of large law firms we find that, even though firms profit from expert human-capital leveraging strategy and service and geographical diversification strategies individually, pursuing these strategies simultaneously at high levels produces negative interaction effects on firm profitability. In addition, the internally developed, firm-specific associate human capital strategically fits better with high levels of expert human-capital leveraging. While lateral hiring helps firms build new knowledge bases and take advantage of growth opportunities, pursuing high levels of both expert human-capital leveraging and lateral hiring of associates results in lower profitability. To fully capture the economic benefits from strategies of diversification, human-capital leveraging and lateral hiring, firms should understand and manage the complex interdependencies among multiple levels of strategy. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

How do interdependencies among human-capital deployment, development, and diversification strategies affect firms' financial performance?

The article reviews the book “New Directions for Organization Theory: Problems and Prospects,” by Jeffrey Pfeffer.

New Directions for Organization Theory: Problems and Prospects

In this essay we describe the growing importance of professions and the organizations in which they work, and we trace some trends in relevant scholarly research on this topic. We start by noting a dearth of recent publications in leading management and organization journals that address the field of professional organizations and include findings that may inform a better understanding of these contexts. We thus explain why we need this dedicated, specialist journal to provide a home for research in these areas. After providing some background to the ideas and actions that led to the founding of the Journal of Professions and Organization, aspects of the journal’s mission, philosophy, and policies are presented. Finally we outline several areas in which we hope to foster research that, in sum, will add to our understanding of professions, professionals, their work and organization.

http://www.clmr.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/content_files/brock_david_huseyin_leblebici_and_daniel_muzio_understanding_professionals_and_their_workplaces_the_mission_of_the_journal_of_professions_and_organization.pdf

Understanding professionals and their workplaces: The mission of the Journal of Professions and Organization

This article presents a review of the book “Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism,” by Alfred D. Chandler Jr.

Huseyin Leblebici

Papers

How do interdependencies among human-capital deployment, development, and diversification strategies affect firms' financial performance?

New Directions for Organization Theory: Problems and Prospects

Understanding professionals and their workplaces: The mission of the Journal of Professions and Organization

Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism

The organization of relational contracts: The allocation of rights in franchising