Showing papers in "Academy of Management Journal in 2006"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors address four related issues related to exploration and exploitation in organizational adaptation research, and propose a framework to address them in the context of organizational adaptation and exploitation.
Abstract: Exploration and exploitation have emerged as the twin concepts underpinning organizational adaptation research, yet some central issues related to them remain ambiguous. We address four related que...
2,832 citations
TL;DR: Roy Suddaby is asked to tackle another “big issue” that the editorial team has noticed with respect to qualitative submissions to AMJ: overly generic use of the term “grounded theory” and confusion regarding alternative epistemological approaches to qualitative research.
Abstract: Editor’s Note. Three years ago, I invited Robert (Bob) Gephart to write a “From the Editors” column designed to help authors improve their chances of success when submitting qualitative research to AMJ. Judging from the increasing number of qualitative studies that have been accepted and published in AMJ since that time, I would like to think that his article, “Qualitative Research and the Academy of Management Journal,” has had a positive impact. Continuing in this tradition, I asked Roy Suddaby—an excellent reviewer (and author) of qualitative research—to tackle another “big issue” that the editorial team has noticed with respect to qualitative submissions to AMJ: overly generic use of the term “grounded theory” and confusion regarding alternative epistemological approaches to qualitative research. Like Bob before him, Roy has, I believe, produced an analysis that will greatly benefit those who are relatively new to qualitative research or who have not yet had much success in getting their qualitative research published. Hopefully, Roy’s analysis will help even more authors to succeed, thus allowing AMJ and other journals to continue to increase the quality of insights provided by rich qualitative studies of individual, organizational, and institutional phenomena. Sara L. Rynes
2,598 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines change initiated from the center of mature organizational fields and addresses the paradox of embedded agency, i.e., how actors enact changes to the co-authors of the paper.
Abstract: This study examines change initiated from the center of mature organizational fields. As such, it addresses the paradox of embedded agency—that is, the paradox of how actors enact changes to the co...
1,916 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed and tested a theory of how human resource practices affect the organizational social climate conditions that facilitate knowledge exchange and combination and resultant resultant knowledge creation and integration.
Abstract: In this study, we developed and tested a theory of how human resource practices affect the organizational social climate conditions that facilitate knowledge exchange and combination and resultant ...
1,778 citations
TL;DR: This article found that identity construction was triggered by work-identity integrity violations: an experienced mismatch between what physicians did and who they were, which were resolved through identity customization processes (enriching, patching, or splinting), which were part of interrelated identity and work learning cycles.
Abstract: Through a six-year qualitative study of medical residents, we build theory about professional identity construction. We found that identity construction was triggered by work-identity integrity violations: an experienced mismatch between what physicians did and who they were. These violations were resolved through identity customization processes (enriching, patching, or splinting), which were part of interrelated identity and work learning cycles. Implications of our findings (e.g., for member identification) for both theory and practice are discussed.
1,539 citations
TL;DR: This article found that transformational leadership is associated with the way followers view their jobs, in terms of Hackman and Oldham's (1976) core job characteristics, such as intrinsic motivation, and goal commitment.
Abstract: Although the effects of transformational leadership on task performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) are well-documented, the mechanisms that explain those effects remain unclear. We propose that transformational leadership is associated with the way followers view their jobs, in terms of Hackman and Oldham’s (1976) core job characteristics. Results of our study support a structural model whereby indirect effects supplement the direct effects of transformational leadership on task performance and OCB through the mechanisms of job characteristics, intrinsic motivation, and goal commitment. Additional analyses revealed that transformational leadership relationships were significantly stronger for followers who perceived highquality leader-member exchange.
1,517 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors surveyed management teams in 102 hotel properties in the United States to examine the intervening roles of knowledge sharing and team efficacy in the relationship between empowering leadership and team performance.
Abstract: We surveyed management teams in 102 hotel properties in the United States to examine the intervening roles of knowledge sharing and team efficacy in the relationship between empowering leadership and team performance. Team performance was measured through a time-lagged market-based source. Results showed that empowering leadership was positively related to both knowledge sharing and team efficacy, which, in turn, were both positively related to performance.
1,470 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that absorptive capacity and organizational inertia impose conflicting pressure on alliance formation decisions and argue that companies balance exploration and exploitation in their alliance formation decision making, and why and how.
Abstract: Do firms balance exploration and exploitation in their alliance formation decisions and, if so, why and how? We argue that absorptive capacity and organizational inertia impose conflicting pressure...
1,307 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the direct and interactive effects of relationship strength, network position, and external ties on individual creative contributions are explored, integrating creativity and social network theories, and the results show that relationship strength and network position affect individual creative contribution.
Abstract: Integrating creativity and social network theories, I explore the direct and interactive effects of relationship strength, network position, and external ties on individual creative contributions. ...
1,261 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a longitudinal study of organizational responses to environmental changes that induce members to question aspects of their organization's identity and highlight the role of organizational culture as a source of cues supporting sense-making action carried out by leaders as they reevaluate their conceptualization of their organizations and as a platform for "sensegiving" actions aimed at affecting internal perceptions.
Abstract: In this paper, we present a longitudinal study of organizational responses to environmental changes that induce members to question aspects of their organization’s identity Our findings highlight the role of organizational culture as a source of cues supporting “sensemaking” action carried out by leaders as they reevaluate their conceptualization of their organization, and as a platform for “sensegiving” actions aimed at affecting internal perceptions Building on evidence from our research, we develop a theoretical framework for understanding how the interplay of construed images and organizational culture shapes changes in institutional claims and shared understandings about the identity of an organization
1,258 citations
TL;DR: The authors proposed that overall job attitude (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) provides increasingly powerful prediction of more integrative behavioral criteria (focal performance, contextual performance, lateness, absence, and turnover combined).
Abstract: Drawing on the compatibility principle in attitude theory, we propose that overall job attitude (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) provides increasingly powerful prediction of more integrative behavioral criteria (focal performance, contextual performance, lateness, absence, and turnover combined). The principle was sustained by a combination of meta-analysis and structural equations showing better fit of unified versus diversified models of meta-analytic correlations between those criteria. Overall job attitude strongly predicted a higher-order behavioral construct, defined as desirable contributions made to one’s work role (r .59). Time-lagged data also supported this unified, attitude-engagement model.
TL;DR: The authors examine how uncertainty moderates the trust-performance relationship in alliances, building on the distinction between behavioral uncertainty, which relates to anticipating and understanding paring, and trust performance, which is related to the ability to anticipate and understand paring.
Abstract: We examine how uncertainty moderates the trust-performance relationship in alliances, building on the distinction between behavioral uncertainty, which relates to anticipating and understanding par...
TL;DR: In this article, a meta-analysis of 37 studies of teams in natural contexts suggests that teams with densely configured networks outperform teams with less densely configured network structures in terms of team effectiveness.
Abstract: How do members’ and leaders’ social network structures help or hinder team effectiveness? A meta-analysis of 37 studies of teams in natural contexts suggests that teams with densely configured inte...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use meta-analytic techniques to quantitatively compare Williamson's Markets and Hierarchies with transaction cost theory, and show that Williamson's markets and hierarchies are similar to ours.
Abstract: Since the publication of Williamson's Markets and Hierarchies, many empirical articles have investigated the tenets of transaction cost theory. Using meta-analytic techniques, we quantitatively syn...
TL;DR: The authors developed a symbolic management perspective on strategic change to predict and test the antecedents and consequences of how firms frame strategic change, using data from a sample of conte....
Abstract: This study develops a symbolic management perspective on strategic change to predict and test the antecedents and consequences of how firms frame strategic change. Using data from a sample of conte...
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of knowledge and experience on both mean and variance measures of individual and team innovations were investigated, and it was shown that multiple knowledge domains produce novel combination of knowledge domains.
Abstract: This study focuses on effects of knowledge and experience on both mean and variance measures of individual and team innovations. We propose that multiple knowledge domains produce novel combination...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the connection between the internal heterogeneity of stakeholder groups and the resource dependence dynamics characterizing their relationships with firms, and test how this connection can be exploited.
Abstract: We examine the connection between the internal heterogeneity of stakeholder groups and the resource dependence dynamics characterizing their relationships with firms. Empirically, we test how this ...
TL;DR: This article examined the importance of human capital and relational capital derived from relations with corporate clients for internationalization, and found that human capital was more important than relational capital for the task of internationalization.
Abstract: To further knowledge about the bases of internationalization, we examined the importance of two firm resources: human capital, and relational capital derived from relations with corporate clients a...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that team composition is an important antecedent of exploitative and explorative behavior and firm ambidexterity, and that firms whose founding teams have both common and diverse prior company affiliations have advantages that allow them to grow.
Abstract: This paper's argument is that founding team composition—in particular, members' prior company affiliations—shapes new firm behaviors. Firms with founding teams whose members have worked at the same company engage in exploitation because they have shared understandings and can act quickly. Conversely, founding teams whose members have worked at many different companies have unique ideas and contacts that encourage exploration. In addition, firms whose founding teams have both common and diverse prior company affiliations have advantages that allow them to grow. The results suggest team composition is an important antecedent of exploitative and explorative behavior and firm ambidexterity.
TL;DR: The authors examined how members of a particularly demanding occupation conduct identity work to negotiate an optimal balance between personal and social identities, and found that the balance between social and personal identities is important.
Abstract: Through two qualitative studies, we examine how members of a particularly demanding occupation conduct identity work to negotiate an optimal balance between personal and social identities. Findings...
TL;DR: In this paper, the effectiveness of contractual and relational governance in constraining opportunism under conditions of volatility and ambiguity is compared, and the authors hypothesize that relational contracts will be robus...
Abstract: Comparing the effectiveness of contractual and relational governance in constraining opportunism under conditions of volatility and ambiguity, we hypothesize that relational contracts will be robus...
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of structural integration on innovation outcomes depends on the developmental stage of acquired firms' innovation trajectories, and it is shown that structural integration decreases the likelihood of introducing new products for firms that have not launched products before being acquired and for all firms immediately after acquisition.
Abstract: Large, established firms acquiring small, technology-based firms must manage them so as to both exploit their capabilities and technologies in a coordinated way and foster their exploration capacity by preserving their autonomy. We suggest that acquirers can resolve this coordination-autonomy dilemma by recognizing that the effect of structural form on innovation outcomes depends on the developmental stage of acquired firms’ innovation trajectories. Structural integration decreases the likelihood of introducing new products for firms that have not launched products before being acquired and for all firms immediately after acquisition, but these effects disappear as innovation trajectories evolve.
TL;DR: An experience-sampling study investigating the dynamic process through which personal traits and affective and attitudinal states experienced at work influence intraindividual patterns of organizational citizenship behavior over time generally supported hypotheses as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: An experience-sampling study investigating the dynamic process through which personal traits and affective and attitudinal states experienced at work influence intraindividual patterns of organizational citizenship behavior over time generally supported hypotheses. First, at the intraindividual level, experience-sampled positive affect and job satisfaction predicted experience-sampled reports of organizational citizenship behaviors over time. Second, cross-level interaction between agreeableness and positive affect predicted organizational citizenship behavior. Compared to less agreeable employees, agreeable employees reported both engaging more often in organizational citizenship behavior and more consistent patterns of such behavior; their engagement in these behaviors was less dependent on their momentary positive affect.
TL;DR: Using event history analysis, the authors found that CEOs and CFOs of firms filing a material financial restatement were more than twice as likely to exit their firms as their counterparts in a matched samp...
Abstract: Using event history analysis, we found that CEOs and CFOs of firms filing a material financial restatement were more than twice as likely to exit their firms as their counterparts in a matched samp...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the effects of formal structure on the performance of new ventures in the emergent Internet sector during the years 1996-2001 and found that formal structure had a negative effect on new ventures' performance.
Abstract: This study examines the effects of formal structure on the performance of new ventures in the emergent Internet sector during the years 1996–2001. Burns and Stalker (1961) argued that in dynamic ec...
TL;DR: In this article, the conditions under which CVC investments affect knowledge creation for corporate investors were investigated, and they found that, when investor involvement is low, number of CVC investment has an inverted U-shaped relationship with innovation performance.
Abstract: Investment in entrepreneurial ventures has gained recent popularity as a means for established firms to learn about new technologies and markets. However, the link between such corporate venture capital (CVC) investments and innovation outcomes has not been examined in detail. Using panel data from corporate investors in telecommunications equipment manufacturing, we investigated the conditions under which CVC investments affect knowledge creation for corporate investors. We found that, when investor involvement is low, number of CVC investments has an inverted U-shaped relationship with innovation performance. However, when investor involvement is high, the relationship reverses, and an increase in investments boosts innovation.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors theorize that in geographically dispersed teams, members' geographic locations are likely to activate "faultlines" (hypothetical dividing lines that split a group into subgroups) that impair tea consumption.
Abstract: We theorize that in geographically dispersed teams, members' geographic locations are likely to activate “faultlines” (hypothetical dividing lines that split a group into subgroups) that impair tea...
TL;DR: This article provided a comprehensive test of this mechanism by examining mimicry and mimicry-based moo-moo-means by examining the effect of emotional contagion on service with a smile.
Abstract: Primitive emotional contagion has been proposed to explain why “service with a smile” predicts encounter satisfaction. We provide a comprehensive test of this mechanism by examining mimicry and moo...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address independent and joint effects of contractual hazards and technological capabilities on governance, arguing that strong technological capabilities improve a firm's ability to govern trans-transparency.
Abstract: We address independent and joint effects of contractual hazards and technological capabilities on governance, arguing that strong technological capabilities improve a firm's ability to govern trans...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show how actors legitimize new practices by accomplishing three interdependent, recursive, situated "microprocesses" (i.e., cultivating opportunities for change, fitting a new role into prevailing systems, and proving the value of the new role).
Abstract: How do individual actors institute changes in established ways of working? Longitudinal research is the basis for our theoretical model showing how actors legitimize new practices by accomplishing three interdependent, recursive, situated “microprocesses”: (1) cultivating opportunities for change, (2) fitting a new role into prevailing systems, and (3) proving the value of the new role. These microprocesses are demarcated by an accumulating series of small wins that consolidate gains while facilitating continuing change efforts. Most accounts of institutional change focus on embeddedness as a constraint, yet our study shows how embeddedness can provide the foundation and opportunity for change.