Showing papers in "Academy of Management Review in 1997"
TL;DR: In this paper, a theory of stakeholder identification and saliency based on stakeholders possessing one or more of three relationship attributes (power, legitimacy, and urgency) is proposed, and a typology of stakeholders, propositions concerning their saliency to managers of the firm, and research and management implications.
Abstract: Stakeholder theory has been a popular heuristic for describing the management environment for years, but it has not attained full theoretical status. Our aim in this article is to contribute to a theory of stakeholder identification and salience based on stakeholders possessing one or more of three relationship attributes: power, legitimacy, and urgency. By combining these attributes, we generate a typology of stakeholders, propositions concerning their salience to managers of the firm, and research and management implications.
10,630 citations
TL;DR: This article proposed a model based upon the subordinate's psychological attributes and the organization's situational characteristics to reconcile the differences between these assumptions by proposing a model that reconciles the differences among these assumptions.
Abstract: Recent thinking about top management has been influenced by alternative models of man.1 Economic approaches to governance such as agency theory tend to assume some form of homo-economicus, which depict subordinates as individualistic, opportunistic, and self-serving. Alternatively, sociological and psychological approaches to governance such as stewardship theory depict subordinates as collectivists, pro-organizational, and trustworthy. Through this research, we attempt to reconcile the differences between these assumptions by proposing a model based upon the subordinate's psychological attributes and the organization's situational characteristics.
4,288 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a theory that explains under what conditions network governance, rigorously defined, has comparative advantage and is therefore likely to emerge and thrive, and in broad strokes, they claim that the network form of governance is a response to exchange conditions of asset specificity, demand uncertainty, task complexity, and frequency.
Abstract: A phenomenon of the last 20 years has been the rapid rise of the network form of governance. This governance form has received significant scholarly attention, but. to date, no comprehensive theory for it has been advanced, and no sufficiently detailed and theoretically consistent definition has appeared. Our objective in this article is to provide a theory that explains under what conditions network governance, rigorously defined, has comparative advantage and is therefore likely to emerge and thrive. Our theory integrates transaction cost economics and social network theories, and, in broad strokes, asserts that the network form of governance is a response to exchange conditions of asset specificity, demand uncertainty, task complexity, and frequency. These exchange conditions drive firms toward structurally embedding their transactions, which enables firms to use social mechanisms for coordinating and safeguarding exchanges. When all of these conditions are in place, the network governance form has adv...
2,551 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a model outlining the psychological sense-making processes preceding an employee's experience of psychological contract violation is presented. And factors that affect those processes are identified with the aim of encouraging future empirical research.
Abstract: The psychological contract held by an employee consists of beliefs about the reciprocal obligations between that employee and his or her organization. Violation refers to the feelings of anger and betrayal that are often experienced when an employee believes that the organization has failed to fulfill one or more of those obligations. This article provides a model outlining the psychological sensemaking processes preceding an employee's experience of psychological contract violation. It also identifies factors that affect those processes with the aim of encouraging future empirical research.
2,538 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a theory of stakeholder influences is proposed, which accommodates multiple, interdependent stakeholder demands and predicts how organizations respond to the simultaneous influence of multiple stakeholders.
Abstract: Stakeholder theory development has increased in recent years, in part because of its emphasis on explaining and predicting how an organization functions with respect to the relationships and influences existing in its environment. Thus far. most researchers have concentrated on dyadic relationships between individual stakeholders and a focal organization. Using social network analysis, I construct in this article a theory of stakeholder influences, which accommodates multiple, interdependent stakeholder demands and predicts how organizations respond to the simultaneous influence of multiple stakeholders.
2,393 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a theoretical framework for instability of IJVs grounded in a bargaining power and dependence perspective, which is defined as a major change in partner relationship status that is unplanned and premature from one or both partners' perspectives.
Abstract: Although the high rate of instability of international joint ventures (IJVs) has been well documented, the underlying reasons for the instability need clarification. In this article, we develop a theoretical framework for instability of IJVs grounded in a bargaining power and dependence perspective. Instability is defined as a major change in partner relationship status that is unplanned and premature from one or both partners' perspectives. The core argument is that the instability of IJVs is associated with shifts in partner bargaining power. Shifts in the balance of bargaining power occur when partners of an IJV acquire sufficient knowledge and skills to eliminate a partner dependency and make the IJV bargain obsolete. Our primary focus is on the acquisition of local knowledge by the foreign partner and the impact that this acquisition of knowledge has on the stability of the IJV.
1,510 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors develop a framework for analyzing and coping with the challenges that may prevent firms from generating an advantage by using human assets as a source of sustainable advantage because tacit knowledge and social complexity are hard to imitate.
Abstract: Resource-based theorists argue that human assets can be a source of sustainable advantage because tacit knowledge and social complexity are hard to imitate. However, these desirable attributes cause dilemmas that may prevent firms from generating an advantage. This article develops a framework for analyzing and coping with these challenges. Although the problem arises from the strategy literature, the solutions are drawn from the organizational behavior, human resource management, human capital, and professions literatures. Finally, I examine implications for how insights from these diverse literatures can be integrated to guide future strategy research.
1,117 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored strategic management as a form of fiction and discussed the challenges strategists have faced in making strategic discourse both credible and novel and considered how strategic narratives may change within the "virtual" organization of the future.
Abstract: Using narrative theory, this article explores strategic management as a form of fiction. After introducing several key narrative concepts, we discuss the challenges strategists have faced in making strategic discourse both credible and novel and consider how strategic narratives may change within the "virtual" organization of the future. We also provide a number of narrativist-oriented research questions and methodological suggestions.
986 citations
TL;DR: The authors employ insights derived from social network analysis to describe how social structure facilitates the exchange processes through which leaders assist in incorporating some members into the inner life of an organization but exclude others.
Abstract: Theory supporting the key premise of the leader-member exchange (LMX) approach to leadership, that leaders differentiate between subordinates, has not been fully developed. We address this deficiency by (a) returning LMX research to its historical roots in exchange processes by introducing a framework for understanding relationship quality that is based on reciprocity, and (b) extending the traditional domain of LMX research beyond the formal leader-subordinate relationship in order to offer a more complete explanation of the differentiation process. We employ insights derived from social network analysis to describe how social structure facilitates the exchange processes through which leaders assist in incorporating some members into the inner life of an organization but exclude others.
934 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the notion of syncretic rent-seeking behavior is proposed to explain how firms generate economic rents through competition and cooperation, and a four-cell typology of rentseeking strategic behaviors is developed.
Abstract: In this article, the notion of syncretic rent-seeking behavior is proposed to explain how firms generate economic rents through competition and cooperation Previously, competition and cooperation have been viewed largely as opposite ends of a single continuum By conceptualizing competition and cooperation as distinct but interrelated dimensions, we develop a four-cell typology of rent-seeking strategic behaviors Propositions linking syncretic rent-seeking behavior, organizational competencies, and business performance are offered to guide future theory development and research efforts
933 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors extend real options theory to technology positioning projects and specify how the relationship between boundary conditions and uncertainty influences the value of a technology option, as well as the appropriate timing of its exercise, concluding that option value can be amplified by investments to shift boundaries, ideally in ways that are idiosyncratic to the firm.
Abstract: In this article I extend real options theory to technology positioning projects and specify how the relationship between boundary conditions and uncertainty influences the value of a technology option, as well as the appropriate timing of its exercise. I also take a strategic perspective on uncertainty itself, concluding that option value can be amplified by investments to shift boundaries, ideally in ways that are idiosyncratic to the firm.
TL;DR: In this paper, a power perspective is used to examine the linkage between diversity and mentorship in work organizations and the consequences associated with diversified and homogeneous relationships are examined using a dyadic approach.
Abstract: A power perspective is used to examine the linkage between diversity and mentorship in work organizations. Sociological perspectives on power and minority group relations are used to develop and operationalize the construct of diversified mentoring relationships in organizations. The article examines behavioral and perceptual processes underlying diversified mentoring relationships and explores the relationship between diversified mentoring relationships and other work relationships. The consequences associated with diversified and homogeneous relationships are examined using a dyadic approach. The article closes by offering research propositions and discussing several implications.
TL;DR: The authors provide a comprehensive review of the strategic change literature from the perspective of three theoretical lenses: the rational, learning, and cognitive lenses, identifying empirical patterns and discuss the theoretical and methodological contributions and limitations of each lens.
Abstract: We provide a comprehensive review of the strategic change literature from the perspective of three theoretical lenses: the rational, learning, and cognitive lenses. We identify empirical patterns and discuss the theoretical and methodological contributions and limitations of each lens. We address the key methodological issues that hamper integration of these lenses and develop an integrative framework that builds on their theoretical synergies. We note this framework's contributions and present two research questions that provide an agenda for future research.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss how four contextual factors affect organizational receptivity to transformational leadership and how the configuration of these factors may be used as a framework for enriching transformational research.
Abstract: In the existing transformational leadership research, little attention has been paid to contextual influences on transformational leadership. To more fully understand transformational leadership as an organizational process, researchers must study it in relation to a contextual framework. We discuss how four contextual factors affect organizational receptivity to transformational leadership. We also examine how the configuration of these factors may be used as a framework for enriching transformational leadership research.
TL;DR: The assumptions regarding function and structure that underlie contingency theory are exposed and a functional equivalence view of design is developed, which implies a different agenda and emphasis for research on structure and design and has normative implications for how managers should design to achieve performance.
Abstract: Theorists have often acknowledged the importance of equifinality in organization design and, in recent years, several studies have demonstrated the concept empirically. This article exposes the assumptions regarding function and structure that underlie contingency theory and develops a functional equivalence view of design. By examining the degree of conflict in functional demands together with the latitude of structural options available, we reveal and describe three different types of equifinality: suboptimal. tradeoff, and configurational. The functional equivalence approach implies a different agenda and emphasis for research on structure and design and has normative implications for how managers should design to achieve performance.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the business exchanges in which firms hire professional service organizations and give them limited decision-making authority to perform knowledge-intensive tasks, and they frame such exchanges within agency theory perspective and invoke the extant literature on professions to delineate several attributes that make principal professional exchanges intrinsically distinct from others.
Abstract: In this article I examine those business exchanges in which firms hire professional service organizations and give them limited decisionmaking authority to perform knowledge-intensive tasks. I frame such exchanges within agency theory perspective and invoke the extant literature on professions to delineate several attributes that make principal-professional exchanges intrinsically distinct from others. such as owner-manager agency. In doing so. I question and complement same key assumptions in agency theory and also discuss explicitly how the study of principal-professional exchanges helps highlight important considerations not addressed in the mainstream theory. I then present an expanded framework that integrates agency theory and the literature on the professions and present several propositions to outline four types of restraints on potential opportunistic behavior of professional agents; (1) self-control, (2) community control, (3) bureaucratic control, and (4) client control. The article ends with t...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify several cultural values that likely will affect whether employees within those facilities will resist the self-management-related and team-related aspects of SMWTs.
Abstract: As a result of both global competition and company downsizing, multinational firms increasingly are using self-managing work teams (SMWTs) in their foreign affiliates. In this article we identify several cultural values that likely will affect whether employees within those facilities will resist the self-management-related and team-related aspects of SMWTs. Further, we argue that the success of SMWTs is related to the extent to which organizations effectively manage culture-based resistance to SMWTs. We then conclude with theoretical implications and recommendations for managers implementing teams globally.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the implicit similarities between entrepreneur-venture capitalist relationships and the Prisoner's Dilemma frame-work and use this paradigm to develop a conceptual model of entrepreneurs' and venture capitalists' decisions to cooperate.
Abstract: New business startups with venture capital backing depend on mutual cooperation between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, but little is known about what makes these relationships work. The present article considers the implicit similarities between entrepreneur-venture capitalist relationships and the Prisoner's Dilemma frame-work. using this paradigm to develop a conceptual model of entrepreneurs' and venture capitalists' decisions to cooperate. The model is used to generate a number of testable propositions concerning long-term cooperation between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Implications of the model for researchers, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists are discussed, and the paper concludes by examining Implications of the entrepreneur-venture capitalist context for the traditional Prisoner's Dilemma framework.
TL;DR: In this paper, transaction cost and institutional theories are integrated in order to enhance understanding of the process by which entities adopt new organizational designs, by grafting cognitive and institutional constraints into the comparative-efficiency framework favored by transaction cost theorists.
Abstract: Transaction cost and institutional theories are integrated in order to enhance understanding of the process by which entities adopt new organizational designs. By grafting cognitive and institutional constraints into the comparative-efficiency framework favored by transaction cost theorists, theorists using the constrained-efficiency framework demonstrate both how efficiency-seeking organizations may be biased in favor of current designs and those that are legitimated within their institutional contexts. The article closes by overlaying the constrained-efficiency framework onto the discussion about the evolution of the M-form of organization, as well as suggesting empirical and simulation strategies consistent with the logic of the constrained-efficiency framework.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the nature of the rhetoric used in management writings and the implication of authors' failure to label the idea by its name: feminization, and discuss its implications for management theorizing and future research.
Abstract: Qualities that are culturally associated with females are appearing in descriptions of managerial work in the texts of contemporary writers, and these texts function as carriers of a feminine ethos to practicing managers. The article describes a mechanism—management writings—used to disseminate and legitimate a management idea. It examines the nature of the rhetoric used in management writings and the implication of authors' failure to label the idea by its name: feminization. This “feminization” is discussed from both women's voice and poststructuralist perspectives. Implications for management theorizing and future research are described.
TL;DR: The theory of narcissism can be employed to analyze the dynamics of group and organizational behavior as mentioned in this paper, which sheds light on the dynamics underlying the legitimacy attributions made by organizational participants.
Abstract: The theory of narcissism can be employed usefully to analyze the dynamics of group and organizational behavior. Just as individuals seek to regulate their self-esteem through such ego-defense mechanisms as denial, rationalization, attributional egotism, sense of entitlement, and ego aggrandizement, which ameliorate anxiety, so too do groups and organizations. An understanding of the behaviors by which groups and organizations regulate self-esteem is important, because it sheds light on the dynamics underlying the legitimacy attributions made by organizational participants. In this article I enlarge and illustrate these arguments.
TL;DR: The authors argue for an epistemology that combines a skepticism toward metanarrative with a commitment to rigorous standards of enquiry in pursuit of radical challenges to accepted knowledge, and provide examples of post-modern approaches to classic data sets, local knowledge, eclectic sources, and the counterintuitive.
Abstract: Drawing selectively from the often countervailing currents of postmodernism, we argue for an epistemology that combines a skepticism toward metanarrative with a commitment to rigorous standards of enquiry in pursuit of radical challenges to accepted knowledge. We discuss five problematics concerned with normal science, truth, representation, style, and generalizability, and we provide examples of postmodern approaches to classic data sets, local knowledge, eclectic sources, and the counterintuitive. In this article we seek to provoke an ongoing conversation concerning the potential of postmodernism for revolutionizing organizational research.
TL;DR: In this article, a theoretical model of the dynamics underlying the experiences of women and people of color in demographically diverse decision-making groups is proposed, based upon the framework provided by the model.
Abstract: In this article we propose a theoretical model of the dynamics underlying the experiences of women and people of color in demographically diverse decision-making groups. Based upon the framework provided by the model, we then describe the different roles women and people of color may experience in these groups, and we examine the dynamics by which their roles may change over time. Finally, we discuss implications for future research and management practice.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the joint venture (JV) form of governance imposes a greater burden of bargaining and political influence costs than is present in a hierarchy, and that the costs are argued to undermine the quality of TMT decision making, thereby negatively affecting organizational adaptation, performance, and survival.
Abstract: The author posits that the joint venture (JV) form of governance imposes a greater burden of bargaining and political influence costs than is present in a hierarchy. The JV's incremental costs derive from shared sovereignty and incomplete contracting. The magnitude of those costs is related to parental differences, factionalism, and task interdependence in the top management team (TMT), and dynamism in the task environment. The costs are argued to undermine the quality of TMT decision making, thereby negatively affecting organizational adaptation, performance, and survival.
TL;DR: In this paper, a typology of target responses to sexual harassment is presented, through a careful analysis of the existing literature, the potential contextual and individual determinants of responses to SH; present a theoretical framework (supported by the whistle-blowing and stress/coping literatures) of the relationships among those determinants and how they collectively influence responses to harassment.
Abstract: Although a significant number of researchers have investigated the diversity and commonality of targets' response strategies to sexual harassment (SH), research systematically exploring those responses has been limited. In this article we present a typology of target responses to SH: identify, through a careful analysis of the existing literature, the potential contextual and individual determinants of responses to SH; present a theoretical framework (supported by the whistle-blowing and stress/coping literatures) of the relationships among those determinants and how they collectively influence responses to SH: and identify a comprehensive set of propositions based on this conceptual framework. We also discuss implications for future research and the impact on organizational policies and procedures.
TL;DR: This paper reviewed the book "Rhythms of Academic Life: Personal Accounts of Careers in Academia, edited by Peter J. Frost and M. Susan Taylor" and found that it was a good read.
Abstract: The article reviews the book “Rhythms of Academic Life: Personal Accounts of Careers in Academia,” edited by Peter J. Frost and M. Susan Taylor.
TL;DR: The authors reviewed the book "Models of Management: Work, Authority and Organization in a Comparative Perspective" by Mauro F. Guillen, and found that it is a good read.
Abstract: The article reviews the book ‘Models of Management: Work, Authority and Organization in a Comparative Perspective,’ by Mauro F. Guillen.
TL;DR: The article as mentioned in this paper presents text of a speech given by Richard T. Mowday, president of the Academy of Management, at the organization's 1996 annual meeting, discussing business education, business schools and scholarship.
Abstract: The article presents text of a speech given by Richard T. Mowday, president of the Academy of Management, at the organization's 1996 annual meeting, discussing business education, business schools and scholarship.
TL;DR: In the context of the American Academy of Management's annual meeting, it may even border on demonstrating a reassuring grasp of the commonplace as discussed by the authors, which may even lead to a sense of complacency.
Abstract: Perhaps the title of my Presidential Address will strike some of you as rather uninspired. In the context of our annual meeting, it may even border on demonstrating a reassuring grasp of the commonplace. After all, what is our annual meeting if not a celebration of scholarship and a reaffirmation of our scholarly values? If I'm wrong about this, I have a lot to explain to my family about why I've disappeared for one week each August for the past 20 years. The reason I have chosen this title is that I believe reaffirming our scholarly values although clearly important in and of itself takes on special significance in the broader context of the changing environment and challenges confronting business education. Business schools and, by implication, each of us are being challenged to change in a number of important ways. We are being asked to expand our roles as faculty members and to make greater contributions in a variety of different areas. These demands have taken on a new sense of urgency with the publication of the Task Force Report on Faculty Leadership by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), a report I'll refer to later. In this address, I touch on two important themes. First, what are the implications of the changing environment of business education for our scholarly values? Do the changes taking place in our environment pose a fundamental threat to our scholarly values? Alternatively, do they provide an opportunity for us to reaffirm our scholarly values? Second, what are the implications of the changing environment of business education for the Academy of Management? What is the role of the Academy of Management as a professional faculty association in shaping the future of business education? Presently, our association is not a key player. Should the Academy of Management get involved and, if so, how?
TL;DR: Leeson as discussed by the authors reviewed the book "Rogue Trader: How I Brought Down Barings Bank and Shook the Financial World" by Nick Leeson, and found that it was a good read.
Abstract: The article reviews the book “Rogue Trader: How I Brought Down Barings Bank and Shook the Financial World,” by Nick Leeson.