Showing papers in "Journal of Management Studies in 1998"

Performance Implications of Incorporating Natural Environmental Issues into the Strategic Planning Process: An Empirical Assessment

Abstract: This paper explores the ability of firms to integrate a critical strategic issue, the natural environment, into the strategic planning process within the natural resource-based perspective. Using survey data collected from a wide variety of firms and industries based in the United States, we empirically examined the antecedents and effects of integrating the natural environment into the formal planning process. These data were analysed using structural equation modelling with the LISREL technique. Overall, our data provided strong support for the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, we found that the level of integration of environmental management concerns in the strategic planning process was positively related to financial and environmental performance. Furthermore, we found that the greater the functional coverage and the more resources provided to environmental issues, the greater the integration of environmental issues in the planning process. These results suggest that concern for environmental issues may yield competitive advantages in the marketplace as the natural resource-based perspective suggests

Identifying Organizational Subcultures: An Empirical Approach

Abstract: Organizations have cultures, but parts of organizations may have distinct subcultures. The question of what is the proper level for a cultural analysis of an organization is generally handled intuitively. The organizational culture of a large Danish insurance company (3,400 employees) was measured, based on employees’ answers to 18 key questions about work practices. Subsequently, scores were determined separately for 131 work groups, and these were subjected to a hierarchical cluster analysis, which produced a dendrogram. The dendrogram showed that within the company there were three distinct subcultures: a professional subculture, an administrative subculture, and a customer interface subculture. These fit a theoretical prediction by Jones (1983); the cultural rifts between the subcultures could be readily recognized in the company’s practice, and had tangible consequences.

Alliance management: a view from the past and a look to the future*

Abstract: The literature on strategic alliances has focused mainly on issues related to alliance formation and the reasons why firms form these partnerships. Yet the large number of failures would suggest that there exists a gap between an understanding of alliance formation and the practice of alliance management. The purpose of this paper is to narrow that gap. We begin with a review of the extant state-ofknowledge and then discuss areas in which further insight can be gained. More specifically, the remainder of the paper focuses on issues related to managing alliances over time and the role of the alliance manager, a linch-pin in the alliance management process.

An Analysis of Corporate Donations: United Kingdom Evidence

Abstract: Drawing a framework from stakeholder theory, this study uses 1994 data drawn from 100 United Kingdom listed companies to test empirically whether the level of discretionary donations made by companies to charitable, social and political causes is related to four company-specific factors, namely leverage, company size, profitability and ownership structure Consistent with our hypotheses, the results indicate that the decision to contribute funds to charities and other bodies is positively related to company size and profitability and negatively related to leverage However, the study provides no support for the view that there is a link between discretionary donations and a company's ownership structure

The Relationship Between Mission Statements and Firm Performance: An Exploratory Study

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between mission statements and firm performance using a sample of 136 large Canadian organizations. Previous writings suggest that mission statements are essential for superior organizational performance results. However, there is little empirical evidence to support this claim. The data from the present study demonstrate that mission statements and some of their specific characteristics are selectively associated with higher levels of organizational performance. The paper concludes with several propositions to guide future research.

Telling Tales: Management Gurus' Narratives and the Construction of Managerial Identity

Abstract: This paper examines the reasons for the apparently powerful impact of management gurus' ideas (i.e. guru theory) on senior managers. An examination of the limited literature on management gurus and other related literatures suggests three explanations for the appeal of guru theory for senior managers. The first set of explanations relates to various features of management work which may heighten managers' receptivity to guru ideas. The second set focuses on the gurus themselves and emphasizes the form in which they are presented (i.e. public performances). The final set of explanations highlights the importance of the socioeconomic and cultural context within which guru theories emerge and become widely adopted. A number of criticisms of these explanations are offered: that they define the manager as passive, that the flow of ideas is one way (guru to manager), that they rely on an academic conception of knowledge. An alternative explanation of their success is outlined which suggests that their work – their analyses, presentations and theories – offer attractive conceptions of the role of managers which constitute the identity of the modern senior manager as an heroic, transformative leader. Gurus therefore not only constitute the organizational realities but also managers themselves

Exploring the Conceptual Expansion within the Field of Organizational Behaviour: Organizational Climate and Organizational Culture†

Abstract: textDevelopments within social and exact sciences take place because scientists engage in scientific practices that allow them to further expand and refine the scientific concepts within their scientific disciplines. There is disagreement among scientists as to what the essential practices are that allow scientific concepts within a scientific discipline to expand and evolve. One group looks at conceptual expansion as something that is being constrained by rational practices. Another group however suggests that conceptual expansion proceeds along the lines of ‘everything goes.'The goal of this paper is to test whether scientific concepts expand in a rational way within the field of organizational behavior. We will use organizational climate and culture as examples. The essence of this study consists of two core concepts: one within organizational climate and one within organizational culture. It appears that several conceptual variations are added around these core concepts. The variations are constrained by rational scientific practices. In other terms, there is evidence that the field of organizational behavior develops rationally.

Narrative, Politics and Legitimacy in an IT Implimentation

Abstract: This paper offers an interpretation of an information technology (IT) implementation through an analysis of group narratives. A focus on narrative is valuable because it facilitates recognition of the extent to which interpretive research involves the creation and ascription of meaning in ways that require authorial reflexivity. An analysis based on group narratives, which incorporate plurivocal understandings of actions and events, is also a means by which polysemy can more easily be read back into ethnography. The research contribution this paper makes is twofold. First, it exemplifies the importance of narratives for individuals and groups in their attempts to understand and give meaning to their technologies and working lives. Second, it illustrates how narratives can be deployed in political attempts to legitimate their actions and interests.

‘What Happens when the Phone goes Wild?’: Staff, Stress and Spaces for Escape in a BPR Telephone Banking Work Regime

Abstract: This paper explores the experiences of staff working under a business process re-engineering (BPR) work regime. We examine the nature of work within a team-based, multi-skilled and empowered environment within financial services. Despite mixed responses our case study indicates that for those employees who remain in employment after ‘re-engineering’, working conditions may become more stressful and intensive. Although some staff may welcome those elements of a BPR work regime that facilitate a more varied work experience, the possibilities for satisfaction are often curtailed due to management$apos; preoccupation with productivity and ‘bottom line’ results. In practice BPR is neither as simple to implement nor as ‘rational’ in its content as the gurus would have us believe. Partly for these reasons it is also not as coercive in its control over labour as some critics fear. While managers may only want to encourage employee autonomy that is productive to its ends, we identify a number of occasions where autonomy is disruptive of corporate goals. The paper seeks to add to our understanding of ‘stress’, ‘resistance’ and management ‘control’ by considering the ways in which staff engage in the operation of BPR so as to maintain and reproduce these conditions. This dynamic cannot be understood, however, outside of the relations of power and inequality that characterize society and employment.

Organizational Learning Activities in High‐hazard Industries: The Logics Underlying Self‐Analysis

Abstract: Cover title. "A version of this paper was presented under the title "Failures to Learn from Experience: An Analysis of Incident Reviews in Nuclear Power Plants and Chemical Process Plants" in the Symposium "High States Learning: Making Sense of Unusual, High-Hazard Events" at the Academy of Management meetings, Cincinnati, August, 1996."--p. 33.

Board composition and organizational performance: two studies of insider/outsider effects

Abstract: This paper presents two studies that examine the commonly held belief that corporate boards are more likely to have positive effects on organizational performance when composed of outside directors. The first study – a meta-analysis of 63 correlations – indicates that, on average, the greater presence of outsiders is associated with higher performance, but so too is the greater presence of insiders. Instead of providing evidence of a positive outsider effect, these results suggest the existence of a curvilinear homogeneity effect in which performance is enhanced by the greater relative presence of either inside or outside directors. The second study – a hierarchical polynomial regression analysis of data from 259 large US companies – confirms the existence of a curvilinear relationship between insider/outsider composition and performance measured as return on assets.

A Comparison of Slack Resources in High and Low Performing British Companies

Abstract: Theory predicts that slack resources provide the means for achieving flexibility in developing strategy options. The outcome of generating and investing slack resources to achieve flexibility should be improved company performance. There is also a prediction that low performing companies are likely to have lower levels of slack than high performing companies, and therefore are likely to have less potential for achieving flexibility to impact on performance. However, as the literature features several inadequacies a comparative study of high and low performing British companies was carried out to address these inadequacies. While multiple measures of slack were found to be predictors of company performance in high performing companies, they seemingly have negligible impact on performance in low performing companies. Also, only certain types of slack resources are seemingly more prominent in high performers than in low performers. The results provide a development and refinement of the previous limited knowledge about slack resources.

Developing Co-operative Buyer–Supplier Relationships: A Case Study of Toyota

Abstract: Over recent years many businesses have recognized that there are strong competitive advantages in developing co-operative partnerships with suppliers. An important challenge for many companies is to identify the factors to enable them to move from relationships characterized by strong buyer power and bargaining position, to partnerships based on trust and co-operation. The purpose of this paper is to consider factors that may influence the development of co-operative buyer–supplier relationships. A case study is presented which illustrates the developing relationship between an automotive manufacturer, Toyota Australia, and its suppliers, as part of a new supplier strategy. Several factors are proposed which provide areas for further research. These include the consideration of similarities between the industry and technologies of buyer and suppliers, prior experiences of change among suppliers, effective communications between buyer and suppliers, and the importance of experiential learning in the acceptance of change.

The competitiveness of networked production: the role of trust and asset specificity*

Abstract: The paper offers a synthesis of sociological and transactions cost economics perspectives on production networks. Sociological explanations of network effectiveness (competitiveness) stress the importance of trust, and transactions costs emphasizes asset specificity. The approach here is comparative, the capabilities of networks are assessed against those of the vertically integrated, managerially co-ordinated hierarchy. The argument is that the competitiveness of each form derives from different organizational capabilities. Neither is inherently superior – by supporting different strategies, networks and hierarchies can co-exist. A distinction is drawn between those networks that rely on communal support and trust and those networks whose dynamism relies on individualistic and autonomous entrepreneurship. The absence of trust (or the surfeit of entrepreneurial zeal) leaves firms reliant on generic assets. Trust creates the conditions under which communities of firms can develop industry-specific assets capable of delivering real services to network firms that are unavailable through market channels. The competitiveness of a production network is a function of the value adding activities undertaken by agents and the collective responses made to external threats or disturbances. The argument is illustrated with reference to the organization of watch (timepieces) production in Hong Kong

Value Incongruity and Strategic Choice

Abstract: Research addressing how values held by individuals in organizations influence strategy choice and implementation is as yet fragmented. Different strands of this research have yielded contradictory prescriptions for strategy. This paper examines how values affect strategy, by focusing on the social control they exert. Social control manifests itself through the behaviours permitted and proscribed by given values. We call a value a core value when the social control it exerts supersedes that of most other values in a value system. When the social control a value exerts is itself superseded by that exerted by most other values in a system, we call the value a peripheral value in that system. Strategies could be depicted as containing implicit values, in that they too entail prescriptions for behaviour. Thus, core values implicit to strategies enable behaviour essential for the success of strategies. Values seemingly peripheral to strategies enable behaviour peripheral or even tangential to their success. This paper discusses several contingencies – clashes between core values of decision makers and values implicitly at the core of strategies, core and peripheral values, as well as clashes between peripheral values – in the context of both corporate and competitive strategies. Finally, some factors that might mitigate these clashes, are also discussed

Why are these Islands of Conscious Power Found in the Ocean of Ownership? Institutional and Governance Hypotheses Explaining the Existence of Business Groups in Sweden

Abstract: Four hypotheses concerning the existence of business groups are developed and are tested on two Swedish business groups that were found to provide both government and corporate economy with governance solutions. Swedish culture also appeared supportive of the groups, which were not found to be institutionally inert, building their existence solely on power.

The Violent Rhetoric of Re-engineering: Management Consultancy on the Offensive

Abstract: Business process re-engineering (BPR) was a leading form of organizational restructuring from the late 1980s until the late 1990s. This paper seeks to contextualize its development and account for its particularly bellicose language by reflecting on its historical antecedents in the west and its contemporary competitors in the east. We suggest that one way of reading BPR is as a form of 'inverse colonization' in which US managerial discourse both assimilated and revolted against the growing domination of Japanese thinking and practice. We conclude with some speculative comments on related causes of the rise of violent managerial rhetoric.

Agents, Stakeholders and Corporate Governance in Russian Firms

Abstract: This paper considers some developments within Russian privatized industrial firms 1992–94 through the lens of Stakeholder-Agency Theory (SAT). Although it has its own shortcomings and weaknesses, SAT, unlike the traditional financial version of Agency Theory, at least contemplates the possibility of a transitional period during which enterprise governance structures can evolve. It is by now widely recognised that in the middle of deep economic crisis, the Russian economy is too volatile for longitudinal studies of formally structured samples of firms over a period of time. In any case, SAT is at a stage of development that has not yet yielded detailed predictions for scientific testing. Yet surveys of recently privatized firms in Russia do provide empirical data away from the origins of SAT, and it is argued that this fresh data suggests new research propositions that can hopefully lead to more theoretical refinement and ultimately testing. At the very least, SAT can be used as a heuristic device, capable of providing a way of looking at complex Russian developments in a structured way. A process of Russian privatization through management–employee buy-outs involving giveaway distributions of shares has secured the compliance of the two main groups of enterprise stakeholders who could have prevented the withdrawal of the State from the governance of industrial enterprises, but has not yet produced a form of corporate governance structure that is likely to survive in the long term without State protection. In the longer term, international competitiveness can only be secured in Russia through investment in new products and processes, and the inadequacies of managers and other employees as sources of investable funds mean that incumbents must generate a more welcoming climate for outside investors. Even after such a short period since privatization and in the middle of a deep economic crisis, some enterprises are already favouring more efficient governance structures in a way consistent with SAT.

Systems for Sustainable Organizations: Emergent Strategies, Interactive Controls and Semi-formal Information

Abstract: New-form organizations are likely to organize more explicitly around processes than traditional-form organizations that emphasize functional hierarchy. Developing process-based strategic responses quickly using diffuse sets of resources is likely to play an increasingly important role in sustaining new organizational forms. Three ideas introduce alternative perspectives on strategy formulation, management control and information systems design that may be useful in understanding organizational performance in this area. They focus on: (1) emergent strategies, (2) interactive management controls, and (3) semi-formal systems. In combination these three perspectives describe relationships between strategy, organizational design and systems support that suggest mechanisms for improving the sustainability of new organizational forms. To some degree distributed organizational structures such as networked organizations and quasi-organizational forms such as alliances, partnerships and joint ventures represent attempts to solve a paradox of competitive agility. This paradox suggests that in the context of rapidly changing, increasingly global markets, organizations need to be flexible (so they can respond quickly to competitive threats) yet remain stable (so they can learn and grow based on their strengths). If this is the case, what systems and tools are available that encourage a productive balance between flexibility and stability? This paper uses the experience of regional management teams at a large consumer goods company to suggest how interactive controls and semi-formal information systems combine to increase the agility of a distributed organization that can employ emergent strategies. Evidence illustrates some of the mechanisms by which (a) faster response times deliver organizational flexibility while (b) semi-formal analytics add the stability of knowledge and guidance shared across organizational sites. Examples discuss the use of information within management teams, discussion behaviour within management meetings, and organizational performance in response to crisis events. In this context the paper analyses the characteristics of new-form systems that could be used to sustain new-form organizations While the development of process-oriented semi-formal systems is just beginning, the potential for linking such technology with newly developed approaches to management control appears to have important implications for the practice and performance of management in new-form organizations. In particular, interactive controls and semi-formal information appear to offer leverage as mechanisms for organizational adjustment during times when organizations must exploit emergent strategies

Explaining Performance Changes in Newly Privatized Firms

Abstract: Much debate has been generated about whether privatization tends to enhance firm financial performance. The research presented here seeks to identify the strategic choices that differentiated firms with superior post-privatization performance from those with inferior post-privatization performance. Using agency theory as a theoretical foundation, it is hypothesized that superior post-privatization firm performance will be associated with (1) the government not retaining a significant stock holding, (2) changes in leadership, (3) management stock options being initiated, (4) employee head count being reduced, and (5) the company being restructured financially. The sample draws from 41 privatized firms from six industry classifications and 15 countries. To accommodate comparisons of small subsamples, non-parametric statistical methods are used. Controlling for size, industry and country (economic/regulatory effects), the hypotheses are generally supported except for the one relating to headcount.

The Influence of Cognitive-based Group Composition on Decision-making Process and Outcome

Abstract: The effects of cognitive-based group composition on decision-making process (problem formulation, ideation) and outcome (performance, time-to-decision) were investigated. Two types of composition based on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator were compared – a uni-temperament group composition (all sensing-judgers), common among supervisors and managers, and a multi-temperament composition (a sensing-judger, a sensing-perceiver, an intuitive-thinker, and an intuitive-feeler). While significant relationships were found between the process and outcome stages, cognitive-based group composition generally did not predict the decision-making process or outcome variables. A significant interaction between group composition and problem formulation, however, suggests that a multi-temperament (heterogeneous) composition can moderate the effect of problem formulation on performance. The implications of these findings for cognitive-based group composition and decision making are discussed, along with suggestions for future research

Leverage, Resistance and the Success of Implementation Approaches

Abstract: The research reported in this paper explored the success of implementation approaches used by managers with differing amounts of leverage facing resistance from key stakeholders. The explanatory variables were implementation approach and resistance, measured by the extent of stakeholder support, scale and disruptiveness of the decision, as well as the implementing manager’s leverage. ‘Intervention’ was found to be the most successful approach, no matter what situation faced a manager seeking to implement a decision. Intervention proved to be a viable substitute for participation that has a favourable adoption rate and a dramatic increase in timeliness. Persuasion and edicts were often used and generally unsuccessful. More implementation success seems possible if other approaches are used. The findings indicate that the most successful approach, intervention, was not subject to situational influences. This questions the value of contingency frameworks that call for an implementation approach to be selected according to the demands of the situation.

Dual Commitment: Contract Workers in Australian Manufacturing Enterprises

Abstract: A growing trend in employment practices is for firms to concentrate on their core functions and outsource peripheral activities. While an assessment of the economic benefits of outsourcing has been the subject of a number of research projects, little attempt has been made to evaluate the impact of such practices on employee commitment. This is the purpose of this paper. The central questions are can employees be committed to their employer and to their host enterprise, and what determines each form of commitment? The research is based on a survey of employees working for a major labour hire firm. The key finding of the research is that employees can have a dual commitment, although different factors influence commitment to the employer and to the host firm.

Maintaining Leadership Legitimacy in the Transition to New Organizational Forms

Abstract: Numerous new organizational forms have been proposed for ensuring the continuous strategic renewal of a firm. In essence, these forms are distinguished by: (1) their emphasis on bottom-up entrepreneurship, and (2) their reliance on a co-operative network that allows these entrepreneurial units to share their competencies with one another. One of the key behaviours required for the success of such an organization is employee empowerment. We argue in this paper that the legitimacy of corporate leadership during the restructuring of a traditional bureaucratic organization is crucial to its eventual transformation to one of the new organizational forms. The current wisdom of a two-stage transformation process, where an authoritarian restructuring precedes the more participative revitalization, is thus challenged. The transformation may get stalled after the restructuring stage because of top management’s inability to empower the firm’s employees at will, having lost their trust during restructuring

Privatization from the Acquirer's Perspective: a Mergers and Acquisitions Based Framework

Abstract: Privatization, especially in developing countries, presents international firms with opportunities for market entry and growth, but acquirers have to consider the distinct characteristics of a state owned enterprise (SOE) and the influence of the government as seller and policy maker. This study introduces a model, based on mergers and acquisitions literature and microeconomic theory, that explains the critical relationships among characteristics of the SOE, the government, and the acquirer. Public administration research suggests that the critical characteristics of SOEs are their sources of funding and their mode of social control of the organization, and recent work in privatizing countries emphasizes the influence of the government. The theoretical framework for the model suggested here is derived from research within the field of strategic management on mergers and acquisitions. The paper develops propositions regarding the organizational fit between private firms and those heretofore owned by governments and discusses research and managerial implications.

Managers' Innovations and the Structuration of Organizations

Abstract: Drawing on interview data from managers in three organizations a theoretical framework based on structuration theory is offered for understanding the social construction of innovation in a way that overcomes the duality of individual and structural perspectives that fragments the literature on innovation and other related domains. Three case studies, one from each organization, illustrate and help link the elements of an argument that focuses first on how an organization's openness to its external environment allows for conflicting interpretations of necessary action. Individual agents exploit the ambiguity, making choices which help sustain or develop their self-identities, drawing on experience to shape innovations that promise to reconcile the constraints of the personal and organizational domains. Their capacity to transform circumstances in the desired direction depends on the extent to which they can deploy personal and organizational resources to negotiate appropriate meanings through social and political relationships with relevant others. The socio-political process and the substance of the innovation have reciprocal effects, yielding the possibility of agreement on a ‘working innovation’ which, once institutionalized, modifies the existing system and structures in ways that constrain, in new modes, the behaviours of all of those involved

Global New Product Development Processes: Preliminary Findings and Research Propositions

Abstract: This study examines the processes and routines firms employ for developing new global products. Observations from 13 Japanese, American and European multinational companies reveal that global new product development processes vary in terms of the involvement of overseas subsidiaries in project teams and the generation of new product concepts. In particular, when the knowledge about different product design requirements among overseas markets or plants is tacit, firms employ cross-national product development teams and use overseas subsidiaries as sources of new product concepts. Anchoring these findings on information processing theory, we develop a set of research propositions on global new product development processes and suggest directions for future research.

Relationship between Organizational Change and Failure in the Wine Industry: An Event History Analysis

Abstract: Whether organizational change is adaptive or disruptive has been an issue among organization researchers. This paper examines the effect of organizational change on organizational failure and compares the result to previous findings. To increase comparability, we replicated Delacroix and Swaminathan’s (1991) format of the California wine industry study using Missouri wine industry data. Event history analysis is used to cover time-varying variables and censoring problems. Following an organizational ecology perspective, our result supports the finding that organizational change is not related to organizational failure

Managerial Sensemaking and Occupational Identities in Britain and Italy: The Role of Management Magazines in the Process of Discursive Construction

Abstract: Processes of discursive construction in a British and an Italian personnel management magazine are analysed to show the ways in which the magazines, both as genre forms and providers of narratives and discursive resources, provide ‘story boards’ for their readers which are helpful to them when it comes to making sense of the tensions and dilemmas associated with their managerial roles. Tensions and occupational dilemmas generally associated with personnel management work are identified and variations found in the discursive constructions associated with the two magazines are related, with reservations, to cultural and institutional differences between British and Italian human resource management