In this article I describe and compare a number of alternative generic strategies for the analysis of process data, looking at the consequences of these strategies for emerging theories. I evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the strategies in terms of their capacity to generate theory that is accurate, parsimonious, general, and useful and suggest that method and theory are inextricably intertwined, that multiple strategies are often advisable, and that no analysis strategy will produce theory without an uncodifiable creative leap, however small. Finally, I argue that there is room in the organizational research literature for more openness within the academic community toward a variety of forms of coupling between theory and data.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/259349.pdf

Strategies for Theorizing from Process Data

We thank Massimo Bergami, Arthur Brief, Mason Carpenter, Brian Golden, Frances Hauge, Rod Kramer, Sharon Lobel, Reuben McDaniel, Debra Meyerson, Wendy Penner, Sandy Piderit, Linda Pike, Mlchael Pratt, Robert Quinn, Anat Rafaeli, Lance Sandelands, Bob Sutton, David Whetten, Batia Wiesenfeld, and three anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier drafts of this paper. We develop a model to explain how images of one's work organization shape the strength of his or her identification with the organization. We focus on two key organizational images: one based on what a member believes is distinctive, central, and enduring about his or her organization and one based on a member's beliefs about what outsiders think about the organization. According to the model, members assess the attractiveness of these images by how well the image preserves the continuity of their self-concept, provides distinctiveness, and enhances self-esteem. The model leads to a number of propositions about how organizational identification affects members' patterns of social interaction.'

/pdf/organizational-images-and-member-identification-34qjsgg0o4.pdf

Organizational images and member identification.

Strategic alliances have been recognized as arenas with potential for opportunistic behavior by partners. Hence, a firm needs to have an adequate level of confidence in its partner's cooperative behavior. In this article we examine the notion of confidence in partner cooperation in alliances and suggest that it comes from two distinct sources: trust and control. We make the argument that trust and control are parallel concepts and that their relationship is of a supplementary character in generating confidence. In addition, we suggest that control mechanisms have an impact on trust level and that the trust level moderates the effect of control mechanisms in determining the control level. Finally, we discuss various ways to build trust within strategic alliances and important alliance control mechanisms.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/259291.pdf

Between Trust and Control: Developing Confidence in Partner Cooperation in Alliances

Organizations enter alliances with each other to access critical re‐sources, but they rely on information from the network of prior alli‐ances to determine with whom to cooperate. These new alliances modify the existing network, prompting an endogenous dynamic be‐tween organizational action and network structure that drives the emergence of interorganizational networks. Testing these ideas on alliances formed in three industries over nine years, this research shows that the probability of a new alliance between specific organi‐zations increases with their interdependence and also with their prior mutual alliances, common third parties, and joint centrality in the alliance network. The differentiation of the emerging network structure, however, mitigates the effect of interdependence and en‐hances the effect of joint centrality on new alliance formation.

/pdf/where-do-interorganizational-networks-come-from-61wwv7medx.pdf

Where Do Interorganizational Networks Come From

Typologies are an important way of organizing the complex cause-effect relationships that are key building blocks of the strategy and organization literatures. Here, I develop a novel theoretical perspective on causal core and periphery, which is based on how elements of a configuration are connected to outcomes. Using data on hightechnology firms, I empirically investigate configurations based on the Miles and Snow typology using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). My findings show how the theoretical perspective developed here allows for a detailed analysis of causal core, periphery, and asymmetry, shifting the focus to midrange theories of causal processes.

/pdf/building-better-causal-theories-a-fuzzy-set-approach-to-5esgthzjgt.pdf

Building Better Causal Theories: A Fuzzy Set Approach to Typologies in Organization Research

We use content analysis to examine the content analysis literature in organization studies. Given the benefits of content analysis, it is no surprise that its use in organization studies has been growing in the course of the past 25 years (Erdener & Dunn, 1990; Jauch, Osborn, & Martin 1980). First, we review the principles and the advantages associated with the method. Then, we assess how the methodology has been applied in the literature in terms of research themes, data sources, and methodological refinements. Although content analysis has been applied to research topics across the subdomains of management research, research in strategy and managerial cognition have yielded particularly interesting results. We conclude with suggestions for enhancing the utility of content analytic methods in organization studies.

https://media.terry.uga.edu/socrates/publications/2011/07/A20Content20Analysis20of20the20Content20Analysis20Literature2028ORM20200729_1.pdf

A Content Analysis of the Content Analysis Literature in Organization Studies: Research Themes, Data Sources, and Methodological Refinements:

The strategic group concept provides an attractive middle ground between firm and industry for both theory development and empirical analysis. To date, this concept has been defined by researchers in terms of secondary accounting and financial data, and a number of critics have questioned the validity of this work. Our research shows that industry participants share perceptions about strategic commonalities among firms, and that participants cluster competitors in subtle ways not reflected in extant academic research on strategic groups. Decision makers' perceptions and cognitions are phenomena that can be expected to influence industry evolution. They are of research interest as an additional source of data on firm commonalities which helps address concerns about previous strategic group research.

/pdf/strategic-groups-a-cognitive-perspective-34zgnwubqz.pdf

Strategic groups: a cognitive perspective

This article presents a cognitive theory of why planned organizational change efforts, such as total quality initiatives, often fail. The theory suggests that employees resist total quality because their beliefs about the organization's identity constrain understanding and create cognitive opposition to radical change. We propose a dynamic model in which successful implementation of fundamental organizational transformation is partly dependent on management's ability to re-frame the change over time. Implementation may best be accomplished through a series of middle-range changes that are large enough to overcome cognitive inertia and relieve organizational stress, but not so large that members believe the proposed change is unobtainable or undesirable.

Reframing the organization: why implementing total quality is easier said than done

We contribute to research on the management of social perceptions by considering the relative effectiveness of a firm's technical and ceremonial actions in managing media coverage after its own or ...

https://media.terry.uga.edu/socrates/publications/2012/10/Managing_the_Message_AMJ_2012.pdf

Rhonda K. Reger

Papers

A Content Analysis of the Content Analysis Literature in Organization Studies: Research Themes, Data Sources, and Methodological Refinements:

Strategic groups: a cognitive perspective

Reframing the organization: why implementing total quality is easier said than done

Managing the Message: The Effects of Firm Actions and Industry Spillovers on Media Coverage Following Wrongdoing

A Review of Strategic Process Research