Virpi Turkulainen

Bio: Virpi Turkulainen is an academic researcher from University College Dublin. The author has contributed to research in topics: Organizational architecture & Supply chain. The author has an hindex of 17, co-authored 31 publications receiving 1165 citations. Previous affiliations of Virpi Turkulainen include Helsinki University of Technology & Stanford University.

Cross‐functional integration and performance: what are the real benefits?

Abstract: Purpose – Conventional wisdom has it that cross‐functional integration is a “must”. The purpose of this paper is to take an information‐processing approach to integration and elaborate the conventional wisdom by theoretical examination of both the concept of integration as well as theoretical and empirical elaboration of its link to operational performance.Design/methodology/approach – The authors develop six propositions on how cross‐functional integration affects performance and test the propositions in an international sample of 266 manufacturing plant organizations in nine countries.Findings – The results strongly suggest that disaggregation of performance is important, because the effects of cross‐functional integration on performance are contingent: even though the effects of achieved integration on several dimensions of operational performance are positive, the performance effect varies from one dimension to the next. This is an important finding given that performance has typically been treated at...

Personal commitment, support and progress in doctoral studies

Abstract: Earlier research on doctoral education has associated study progress with the student’s own capabilities and faculty support. The purpose of this study is to investigate how students’ personal commitment and various forms of support, as well as their complementary effects, explain progress in doctoral studies. Data were collected by a questionnaire survey among doctoral students of industrial engineering and management in Finland. The study investigates the effect of: (1) support from supervisor, peers and employer, and (2) students’ commitment in terms of setting goals, time and plans. The results show that plan commitment and peer support, as well as goal commitment and supervisor support, together have a positive effect on study progress. In turn, time commitment and peer support, and time commitment and supervisor support, jointly lead to better research progress.

Integration in the global sourcing organization — an information processing perspective

Abstract: Global sourcing refers to the integration of decision making across worldwide purchasing units within a multinational corporation (MNC). In order to manage the integration challenge, firms have a number of tools, varying from centralization and formalization to cross-locational teams. In this paper, we focus on explaining how and why to integrate in different circumstances. The aim of this paper is to complement prior research on global sourcing organizations, which is still rather scarce and more exploratory in nature. By extending the arguments of the information processing perspective of organizations to the global sourcing context, we seek to propel a theoretical discussion on integration in the global sourcing organization. Based on the results of 12 case studies in three MNCs, we propose that integration approaches in global sourcing organizations vary depending on the three contingencies of category characteristics, supply environment characteristics and interdependence of the purchasing units.

The Economic Institutions of Capitalism

Abstract: The 2008 crash has left all the established economic doctrines - equilibrium models, real business cycles, disequilibria models - in disarray. Part of the problem is due to Smith’s "veil of ignorance": individuals unknowingly pursue society’s interest and, as a result, have no clue as to the macroeconomic effects of their actions: witness the Keynes and Leontief multipliers, the concept of value added, fiat money, Engel’s law and technical progress, to name but a few of the macrofoundations of microeconomics. A good viewpoint to take bearings anew lies in comparing the post-Great Depression institutions with those emerging from Thatcher and Reagan’s economic policies: deregulation, exogenous vs. endoge- nous money, shadow banking vs. Volcker’s Rule. Very simply, the banks, whose lending determined deposits after Roosevelt, and were a public service became private enterprises whose deposits determine lending. These underlay the great moderation preceding 2006, and the subsequent crash.

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

Abstract: 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.

Governance in global value chains

Abstract: This book opens a fresh chapter in the debate on local enterprise clusters and their strategies for upgrading in the global economy. The authors employ a novel conceptual framework in their research on industrial clusters in Europe, Latin America and Asia and provide new perspectives and insights for researchers and policymakers alike.