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Showing papers in "Journal of Management Studies in 2004"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the primary advantage of alliances over both firms and markets is in accessing rather than acquiring knowledge, and they propose a knowledge-accessing theory of alliances.
Abstract: The emerging knowledge-based view of the firm offers new insight into the causes and management of interfirm alliances. However, the development of an effective knowledge-based theory of alliance formation has been inhibited by a simplistic view of alliances as vehicles for organizational learning in which strategic alliances have presumed to be motivated by firms’ desire to acquire knowledge from one another. We argue that the primary advantage of alliances over both firms and markets is in accessing rather than acquiring knowledge. Building upon the distinction between the knowledge generation (‘exploration’) and knowledge application (‘exploitation’), we show that alliances contribute to the efficiency in the application of knowledge; first, by improving the efficiency with which knowledge is integrated into the production of complex goods and services, and second, by increasing the efficiency with which knowledge is utilized. These static efficiency advantages of alliances are enhanced where there is uncertainty over future knowledge requirements and where new products offer early-mover advantages. Compared with alternative learning-based approaches to alliance formation, our proposed knowledge-accessing theory of alliances offers the advantages of greater theoretical rigour and consistency with general trends in alliance activity and corporate strategy.

1,425 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that management theory stands a better chance of being adopted for instrumental use if the theory is based on the paradigm of the "design sciences" like medicine or engineering, and they discuss the potential of solving its utility problem by combining both types of research.
Abstract: Academic management theory has a serious utilization problem. This article argues that it stands a better chance of being adopted for instrumental use if the theory is based on the paradigm of the “design sciences”, like medicine or engineering. Most academic management research is based on the paradigm of the “explanatory sciences”, like physics. The mission of these sciences is to describe, explain and predict, while the core mission of the design sciences is to develop “tested and grounded technological rules”. The paradigm of the design sciences is applied to management research and I discuss the potential of solving its utility problem by combining both types of research.

1,382 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined how human, social, and organizational capital coexist to form distinct intellectual capital profiles across organizations and examined how investments in human resource management (HRM), information technology (IT), and research and development (R&D) differ across these three types of profiles and investigated differences in financial returns and Tobin's q between the profiles.
Abstract: Using data collected from executives in 208 organizations, this study takes a configurational approach to examine how human, social, and organizational capital coexist to form distinct intellectual capital profiles across organizations. We then examine how investments in human resource management (HRM), information technology (IT), and research and development (R&D) differ across these intellectual capital profiles and investigate differences in financial returns and Tobin's q between the profiles. Results indicate that a relatively small group of superior performing organizations exhibit high levels of human, social, and organizational capital. Most firms, however, tend to focus primarily on only one form of intellectual capital, and a small group of underperforming organizations have very low levels of all three types of intellectual capital. At a general level, HRM and IT investments appear to influence intellectual capital development more than R&D investments. More specifically, HRM investments tend to be higher in firms with profiles high in human and social capital, while IT investments are stronger in firms with profiles high in social capital. Further, HRM, IT, and R&D investments are all very high in the group of superior performing organizations that have high levels of human, social, and organizational capital.

802 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the past 20 years, Lewin's approach to change, particularly the 3-step model, has attracted major criticisms as discussed by the authors, including the assumption that organizations operate in a stable state; was only suitable for small-scale change projects; ignored organizational power and politics; and was top-down and management-driven.
Abstract: The work of Kurt Lewin dominated the theory and practice of change management for over 40 years. However, in the past 20 years, Lewin's approach to change, particularly the 3-Step model, has attracted major criticisms. The key ones are that his work: assumed organizations operate in a stable state; was only suitable for small-scale change projects; ignored organizational power and politics; and was top-down and management-driven. This article seeks to re-appraise Lewin's work and challenge the validity of these views. It begins by describing Lewin's background and beliefs, especially his commitment to resolving social conflict. The article then moves on to examine the main elements of his Planned approach to change: Field Theory; Group Dynamics; Action Research; and the 3-Step model. This is followed by a brief summary of the major developments in the field of organizational change since Lewin's death which, in turn, leads to an examination of the main criticisms levelled at Lewin's work. The article concludes by arguing that rather than being outdated or redundant, Lewin's approach is still relevant to the modern world.

708 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors document some of the problems confronting US business schools and show how many of these arise from a combination of a market-like orientation to education coupled with an absence of a professional ethos.
Abstract:  US business schools dominate the business school landscape, particularly for the MBA degree. This fact has caused schools in other countries to imitate the US schools as a model for business education. But US business schools face a number of problems, many of them a result of offering a value proposition that primarily emphasizes the career-enhancing, salary-increasing aspects of business education as contrasted with the idea of organizational management as a profession to be pursued out of a sense of intrinsic interest or even service. We document some of the problems confronting US business schools and show how many of these arise from a combination of a market-like orientation to education coupled with an absence of a professional ethos. In this tale, there are some lessons for educational organizations both in the US and elsewhere that are interested in learning from the US experience.

459 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of the asymmetry in knowledge that often exists between directors and senior managers on the governance of threshold firms is examined. And the implications of this learning on the evolution of governance systems in the threshold firm are discussed.
Abstract: By building on a knowledge-based view of the firm, this paper addresses a relatively unexplored area of roles and dynamics of corporate governance in younger, threshold firms that are undergoing a transition from the emergence to the professional management stage. Our analysis is focused on the process of capability development, exploring the effect of the asymmetry in knowledge that often exists between directors and senior managers on the governance of threshold firms. We examine the key sources of this asymmetry, explore ways directors and senior executives learn, and then discuss the implications of this learning on the evolution of governance systems in the threshold firm.

308 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the challenges faced by threshold firms are deeply rooted in governance characteristics (i.e., the incentives, authority and legitimacy) which imbue them with characteristic capabilities, disabilities and path dependencies.
Abstract: We argue that the challenges faced by threshold firms are deeply rooted in governance characteristics (i.e. the incentives, authority and legitimacy) which imbue them with characteristic capabilities, disabilities and path dependencies. Whereas Zahra and Filatotchev (2004) reason the principal problem facing threshold firms relates to organizational learning and knowledge management, we posit resource acquisition and utilization to be equally important. Moreover, we argue governance theory is more able than a knowledge-based perspective to explain the root causes of the learning and resource issues faced by threshold firms as well as the complex set of processes involved in their effective management.

308 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Li et al. as discussed by the authors found that ownership types lead to different managerial outlook and mentality due to a number of macro and micro foundations giving rise to various managerial cognitions, and used ownership types to predict strategic group memberships in China's emerging economy.
Abstract: Existing strategic group studies have rarely examined ownership type as a variable to classify firms in an industry. Using Chinese firms of different ownership types, we suggest that ownership type can be a parsimonious and important variable that managers use to cognitively classify firms into different strategic groups. While ownership itself is an objective variable, we contend that different ownership types lead to different managerial outlook and mentality due to a number of macro and micro foundations giving rise to various managerial cognitions. Employing the Miles and Snow typology, we find that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and privately-owned enterprises (POEs) tend to adopt defender and prospector strategies, respectively, while collectively-owned enterprises (COEs) and foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) exhibit an analyser orientation that falls between defenders and prospectors on the strategy continuum. Three statistical tests suggest that ownership types can be used to successfully predict strategic group memberships in China's emerging economy.

278 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The actor-network theory (ANT) as mentioned in this paper is an approach employed by Karen Legge in research on knowledge workers, which aims to achieve a sense of general symmetry in the accounting process.
Abstract: An enduring concern within management and organization studies (MOS) is how to conduct research from perspectives deemed ‘alternatives’ to those of functionalism and positivism. Our aim is to address this concern with regard to an approach employed by Karen Legge in research on knowledge workers, namely that of actor-network theory (ANT) (or the ‘sociology of translation’). Following an introduction to ANT, the views of some its key proponents, and Legge's own use of the approach, the paper presents critical notes on five issues related to the production of ANT accounts – the inclusion and exclusion of actors; the treatment of humans and non-humans; the nature of privileging and status; the handling of agency and structure; and the nature of politics and power in ‘heterogeneous engineering’. We discuss the relationships between these issues and the key ANT goal of achieving a sense of ‘general symmetry’ in the accounting process. In so doing we note how ANT authors are frequently chastised for either failing to take sufficient account of, or promoting too strong a sense of, analytical symmetry in their writing. It is argued that the primary challenge facing ANT researchers is to produce accounts that are robust enough to negate the twin charges of symmetrical absence and symmetrical absurdity.

267 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the efforts of one hospital to extend the intra-organizational coordination of patient care to encompass coordination with its external partners, and show that the two perspectives together serve as a useful vehicle for developing a framework that links intra- and inter-organization coordination.
Abstract: There are important organizational phenomena that cannot be fruitfully examined without crossing levels of analysis, as others have shown. We argue that coordination of patient care in the current institutional environment is one such phenomenon. As organizations vertically disintegrate and outsource services that were once produced internally, coordination with external organizations becomes increasingly important for achieving desired performance outcomes. We describe the efforts of one hospital to extend the intra-organizational coordination of patient care to encompass coordination with its external partners. The organization design and network perspectives are both conducive to spanning multiple levels of analysis. We show that the two perspectives together serve as a useful vehicle for developing a framework that links intra- and inter-organizational coordination.

265 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the impact of overboarded directors on key strategic decisions such as corporate acquisitions and found that such directors are important sources of knowledge and enhance acquisition performance.
Abstract: Overboarded directors (i.e., those serving on too many boards) have come under recent attack. The accusation is that such directors are ‘stretched’ by several directorships and therefore cannot fulfil their governance responsibility. This study investigates the impact of overboarded directors upon key strategic decisions such as corporate acquisitions. Based on our examination of acquisition outcomes, we found that such directors are important sources of knowledge and enhance acquisition performance. Moreover, they represent an important complement to inside and non-overboarded outside directors.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a study of 185 manufacturing organizations operating in diverse industries spanning food processing and computer products was conducted, and it was shown that both decentralized decision structure and planning activities are associated with higher performance in dynamic environments.
Abstract: Decentralized post-bureaucratic organizations are deemed to display superior performance in dynamic environments, but recent evidence indicates that centralized integrative cross-functional processes may be equally critical. Accordingly, this paper hypothesizes that organizational performance can be ascribed to the simultaneous emphasis on decentralized strategy making and strategic planning processes. This is investigated in a study of 185 manufacturing organizations operating in diverse industries spanning food processing and computer products. The study shows that both decentralized decision structure and planning activities are associated with higher performance in dynamic environments. These findings confirm that effective organizations engage in more complex strategy formation processes that complement the decentralized post-bureaucratic form with formal mechanisms of rational analyses and operational integration. The paper highlights a need to extend our understanding of the duality between decentralization and planning.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that Rugman and Verbeke (2002) underestimate the importance of Penrose's (1959) contributions to the modern resource-based view of the firm.
Abstract: We argue that Rugman and Verbeke (2002) underestimate the importance of Penrose's (1959) contributions to the modern resource-based view of the firm. In particular, we take issue with Rugman and Verbeke's (2002) arguments concerning Penrose's (1959) contributions to our knowledge of: (1) the creation of competitive advantage, (2) sustaining competitive advantage, (3) isolating mechanisms, and (4) competitive advantage and economic rents. In our response, we show that Penrose (1959) has both directly and indirectly influenced the modern resource-based view of strategic management.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors investigated the determinants of corporate charitable donations within a comparative study of corporate behaviour in two time periods, 1989-90 and 1998-99, based on a longitudinal data set that includes over 400 UK listed companies.
Abstract: This paper investigates the determinants of corporate charitable donations within a comparative study of corporate behaviour in two time periods, 1989–90 and 1998–99. The analysis is based on a longitudinal data set that includes over 400 UK listed companies. The determinants of corporate charitable donations are explored within a stakeholder model and the relationship between corporate charitable donations and a set of firm and industry variables is estimated using OLS. Particular emphasis is placed on industry effects and the impact of social and environmental stakeholders. The results highlight a significant change in behaviour between 1989–90 and 1998–99 that may reflect a strategic response by corporate decision-makers to external concerns over corporate social responsibility. In the early period corporate charitable donations were substantially determined by profits. However, this relationship has weakened during the 1990s as firms have become increasingly responsive to stakeholder influences. The results for the later period emphasize the increasing importance of corporate visibility, and the development of social and environmental influences on corporate charitable contributions.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, structural equation analyses on teams working in a sample of organizations in Shanghai, China, suggested that teams were able to learn from their mistakes to the extent that they took a problem solving orientation.
Abstract: Although mistakes may have considerable potential for learning, previous research has emphasized that organizational members are often defensive when their mistakes are pointed out and will even continue with their present course of action despite growing costs. Recent research has shown that team-level variables, such as psychological safety and shared mental model, can help overcome barriers to learning from mistakes. Structural equation analyses on teams working in a sample of organizations in Shanghai, China, suggested that teams were able to learn from their mistakes to the extent that they took a problem solving orientation. This orientation in turn was based on developing cooperative but not competitive goals within the team. Although competitive and independent goals induce blaming, blaming itself was not significantly related to learning. Blaming, especially when conducted openly, may hold individual team members accountable as well as provoke defensiveness. Findings empirically link the theory of cooperation and competition with the organizational learning literature. Results suggest that cooperative goals and problem solving promote learning from mistakes.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine two explanations for why employees engage in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB): one view views OCB as a form of reciprocation where employees engage to reciprocate fair or good treatment from the organization, and the second view is that employees define those behaviours as part of their job.
Abstract: This study sets out to examine two explanations for why employees engage in organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). The first explanation views OCB as a form of reciprocation where employees engage in OCB to reciprocate fair or good treatment from the organization. The second view is that employees engage in OCB because they define those behaviours as part of their job. The research methodology consisted of survey data from 387 hospital employees on their perceptions of procedural and interactional justice, mutual commitment, job breadth and OCB. The results suggest that procedural and interactional justice are positively associated with mutual commitment that in turn, is related directly to OCB and indirectly through expanding the boundaries of an individual's job. These findings suggest that together the reciprocation thesis and ‘it's my job’ argument complement each other and provide a more complete foundation for our understanding of OCB. The difference between the two perspectives lies in the process by which individuals respond; that is, role enlargement and role maintenance. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a short empirical study into the knowledge management initiatives of a global software organization, which highlighted the value of rich context in the generation of meaning, was conducted, to shed some light on a perceived confusion about the nature of organizational context.
Abstract: We welcome the increased emphasis on practice-based theories of knowing as an alternative to the more representational, knowledge-as-object approaches which have characterised many organizational attempts at ‘knowledge management’ to date. Building on the findings of a short empirical study into the ‘knowledge management’ initiatives of a global software organization, which highlighted the value of rich context in the generation of meaning, we seek to shed some light on a perceived confusion about the nature of organizational context. We show such context to be an inseparable part of knowing, which it creates and by which it is defined, and re-use Blackler's (1995) taxonomy of ‘knowledge types’ to illustrate the relational interaction between shared and deeply personal components of context. Finally, we use these insights to suggest a way in which organizations may be able to derive more value from their investments in internal initiatives by increasing their ability to support knowing – and hence the generation of meaning – amongst their employees.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a critical discourse analysis of an extensive material of strategy talk on airline alliances is presented, and five types of discursive practices characterize strategizing in this context in 1995-2000: problematization of traditional strategies, rationalization, objectification and factualization of alliance benefits, fixation of ambiguous independence concerns, reframing of cooperation problems as 'implementation' issues, and naturalization of alliances.
Abstract: In this paper, we argue that by examining the discursive elements in strategy talk we can contribute to our understanding of the myriad of micro-processes and practices that make up strategies. We focus on airline alliances as a particularly illustrative case. Based on a critical discourse analysis of an extensive material of strategy talk on airline alliances, we point to five types of discursive practices that characterize strategizing in this context in 1995–2000: (1) problematization of traditional strategies; (2) rationalization, objectification and factualization of alliance benefits; (3) fixation of ambiguous independence concerns; (4) reframing of cooperation problems as ‘implementation’ issues; and (5) naturalization of alliance strategies. While we want to emphasize the context-specificity of these practices, we claim that similar types of discursive practices are also likely to be an inherent part of strategizing in other settings.

Journal ArticleDOI
Thomas Keil1
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a model that describes how firms develop a capability to create and develop ventures through corporate venture capital, alliances, and acquisitions, based on two longitudinal case studies of large corporations operating in the information and communication technology sector in Europe.
Abstract: How firms build new capabilities to adapt to changing environments is at the core of strategic management. However, research has addressed this question only recently. In this paper, I propose a model that describes how firms develop a capability to create and develop ventures through corporate venture capital, alliances, and acquisitions. The model is based on two longitudinal case studies of large corporations operating in the information and communication technology sector in Europe. At the core of this model are learning processes that enable the firm to build up an external corporate venturing capability, by utilizing learning strategies both within and outside venturing relationships. To build this new capability, firms engage in acquisitive learning. Critical to deepening the capability acquired is adaptation of all knowledge to the firm specific context through experiential learning mechanisms. I also discuss the important role that initial conditions and knowledge management practices play in determining the direction and effectiveness of specific learning processes that lead to an external corporate venturing capability.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore how far the advent of human resource management has altered the circumstances in which they find themselves and how far it offers a new basis for power and influence, concluding that personnel managers have failed to overcome many of the problems identified by Legge 25 years earlier or to seize the opportunities outlined by Ulrich (1997) to become human resource champions.
Abstract: Legge's seminal book on personnel managers (Legge, 1978) identified ambiguities in their role, vicious circles that limited their power and possible strategies to improve their effectiveness. This paper explores how far the advent of human resource management has altered the circumstances in which they find themselves and how far it offers a new basis for power and influence. Analysis of interviews with 48 senior executives indicates that although there have been changes in features of the ambiguities and vicious circles, personnel managers have failed to overcome many of the problems identified by Legge 25 years earlier or to seize the opportunities outlined by Ulrich (1997) to become human resource champions.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the apparent double-edged nature of knowledge management by developing a theory-based framework that highlights different fundamental assumptions about knowledge and its management and conclude that all four discourses need to be appreciated, understood and represented in knowledge management research for this area of inquiry to deal with the rich and problematic nature of managing knowledge in practice.
Abstract: Even though knowledge management scholars generally advocate explicit management of knowledge, there is research that cautions against the unintended consequences of such efforts. Some researchers go as far as arguing that knowledge and management are contradictory concepts (Alvesson and Karreman, 2001). This paper explores the apparent double-edged nature of knowledge management by developing a theory-based framework that highlights different fundamental assumptions about knowledge and its management. This framework, which is an adaptation of Burrell and Morgan's four paradigms of social and organizational inquiry, distinguishes among a neo-functionalist, a constructivist, a critical and a dialogic discourse. We use the contradiction of managing tacit knowledge, which has been highlighted in the knowledge management literature, as an analytical device to explore the four discourses in more detail. We show how notions of knowledge, and what it means to manage knowledge, vary across the four discourses. We conclude that all four discourses need to be appreciated, understood and represented in knowledge management research for this area of inquiry to deal with the rich and problematic nature of managing knowledge in practice.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examine the debate about the business school and its evolution and suggest a positive future if business school can build upon its potentially unique position as knowledge space, while sympathetic to some of the criticisms levied against business school.
Abstract: It is ironic that at a moment in history when the business school seems to be enjoying unparalleled success, the role of the business school is being increasingly questioned by some of its leading professors. We examine the debate about the business school and its evolution. While sympathetic to the criticisms levied against the business school we nevertheless suggest a positive future if the business school can build upon its potentially unique position as knowledge space.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined the impact of industrial and geographical diversification activities of developing country firms on their performance, and drew attention to the unique attributes of these firms and of the circumstances under which their diversification activity take place.
Abstract: This paper examines the impact of the industrial and geographical diversification activities of developing country firms on their performance, and draws attention to the unique attributes of these firms and of the circumstances under which their diversification activities take place. The empirical analysis is based on data from 345 developing country firms. The findings suggest significant and positive association between industrial and geographic diversification and performance, and considerable variation of these relationships across developing regions and diversification strategies.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, an empirical study of product development activities indicates that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between procedural memory and product outcomes as well as a positive relationship between declarative memory and financial performance.
Abstract:  Although firms increasingly invest in systems (e.g. ISO, knowledge centres, IT systems) for utilizing stored knowledge and acquiring market information during new product development, few manage to benefit from these investments. To explore this issue, we suggest that firms rely on two distinct types of knowledge stocks ‐ procedural and declarative memory ‐ that affect new product short-term financial performance and creativity in distinct ways. Additionally, we suggest that internal or external information flows can have distinct moderating impact on the memory types‐product outcomes relationship. Our empirical study of product development activities indicates that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between procedural memory and product outcomes as well as a positive relationship between declarative memory and financial performance. Also procedural and declarative memory may work in a complementary fashion enhancing both outcomes. Finally, procedural memory is found to reduce the value of internal or external information flows for product creativity. These findings have important implications for the organizational knowledge, capabilities, and product development literatures as well as for practice and they open ways for future research.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a multidimensional operational measure of exploration orientation is developed and its internal consistency established, and empirical results indicate that more environmental dynamism, a stronger organization mission, a prospector orientation and larger slack resources are associated with a greater exploration orientation.
Abstract: Adopting an information-process perspective, this article conceptualizes exploration orientation in terms of scope of information acquisition. In line with this conceptualization, a multidimensional operational measure of exploration orientation is developed and its internal consistency established. The measure appears to have nomological validity in that it behaves as predicted with measures of variables hypothesized to be related to exploration orientation. Consistent with the emerging co-evolution framework, environmental pressures as well as managerial intentions are found to influence an organization's exploration behaviour. Specifically, empirical results indicate that more environmental dynamism, a stronger organization mission, a prospector orientation and larger slack resources are associated with a greater exploration orientation. Implications, shortcomings and future research directions are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that project management has distinct modalities of control that they outline in the paper: reputational, calculative, and professional, rather than foreshadowing a future transformational form, instead of a much older design: that of de Tocqueville.
Abstract: For the past decade, project organization has become increasingly central to management and organization studies, particularly as these seek to discern the contours of post-modern organizations. Yet, these contours frequently seem to be sighted without bearings on the current realities of project management. In this paper we take such bearings, using data derived from detailed qualitative, ethnographic enquiry into the experience of project management. From this data we construct the contours of project management more sharply. Rather than being a harbinger of an autonomous and more democratic future, free from extant bureaucratic organization controls, we find that project management has distinct modalities of control that we outline in the paper: reputational, calculative, and professional. Indeed, rather than foreshadowing a future transformational form, we find traces of a much older design: that of de Tocqueville.

Journal ArticleDOI
Marlei Pozzebon1
TL;DR: In this paper, strategic management research using structuration theory from 1995 to 2000 is reviewed, and the authors describe and analyse the theoretical articulations adopted to make sense of strategy using a structurationist view, and suggest that, instead of being applied as the sole theoretical foundation, Giddens' propositions have been incorporated into other perspectives.
Abstract: In this article, strategic management research using structuration theory from 1995 to 2000 is reviewed. I describe and analyse the theoretical articulations adopted to make sense of strategy using a structurationist view. I found that, instead of being applied as the sole theoretical foundation, Giddens’ propositions have been incorporated into other perspectives, the effects of which should be known by researchers looking for theoretical frameworks that avoid dichotomist thinking. The paper draws on the effects that structurationist arguments may produce regarding classical oppositions such as micro/macro and voluntarist/determinist. Its main contribution is to show how theoretical complementarities using structuration theory are promising avenues of research in the strategic management field. It also suggests that, although other alternatives of avoiding dichotomist logic exist, making a choice among them is more a question of ontological affinity than of making the ‘better choice’ among competing accounts. There are several routes to advance the understanding of the possibilities of human choice.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the contradiction of rationalized, disciplined production alongside free and hedonistic consumption in contemporary capitalism has resonance within contemporary capitalism and consider the question of how this contradiction is managed when production and consumption meet directly within the service interaction.
Abstract: The central cultural contradiction of capitalism, argued Bell some 25 years ago, was the existence of rationalized, disciplined production alongside free and hedonistic consumption. This paper argues that this thesis, although overstated, has resonance within contemporary capitalism. The paper then considers the question of how this contradiction is managed when production and consumption meet directly within the service interaction. On the production-side rationalization is joined by customer-orientation, and on the consumption-side management promotes consumption of the enchanting myth of sovereignty. Here the customer is meant to experience a sense of being sovereign. At the same time the space is created for the customer to be, potentially, substantively directed and influenced to follow the requirements that flow from the rationalized elements of production. Key aspects of the service interaction, including the menu and its presentation, the display of empathy and aesthetic labour, and the use of naming within the service interaction, are analysed in terms of the promotion of the enchanting myth of sovereignty. Consumption, however, is a fragile process, and remains, to an important degree, ‘unmanageable’. The analysis, therefore, also examines how the promotion of the enchanting myth of sovereignty systematically creates the conditions for the myth's negation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that trusting, OCR-type relations are more likely to be produced and reproduced when there are strong institutional forces promoting common obligations on both parties, and there is a relative mutuality of power relations between the organizations.
Abstract: Much of the literature on inter-organizational relations assumes that firms operate as relatively autonomous and cohesive units that are (1) unimpeded by wider institutional norms governing the industry as a whole, and (2) allow little or no role for the boundary spanning agents who oversee and monitor ‘contracts’ on a daily basis. This perspective is not surprising given that so many studies rely solely on questionnaires completed by a single respondent within one or more of the organizations. Nor has there been much recognition of the dynamic interplay between forces at the institutional, organizational and interpersonal levels. In order to address these issues, we propose a framework that explicitly focuses on forces at these three levels, as well as the interplay between them, in order to analyse how and why inter-organizational relations take the forms they do. We argue that trusting, OCR-type relations are more likely to be produced and reproduced when there are strong institutional forces promoting common obligations on both parties, and there is a relative mutuality of power relations between the organizations. However, because the contract is maintained by boundary spanning agents, agreed norms at the institutional and organizational levels are a necessary but not sufficient factor for OCR to develop. Conversely, in the absence of these forces, there is less incentive for either organization to establish and maintain close interpersonal relations, and indeed ACR-type, distant relations may be beneficial for organizations and individuals that wish to dispense with existing contracts.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse two e-mail exchanges that had been posted on Royal Dutch/Shell's Web site in order to investigate how organizational identities are constructed through processes of description, questioning, contestation and defence.
Abstract: In this paper we analyse two of the e-mail exchanges that had been posted on Royal Dutch/Shell’s Web site in order to investigate how organizational identities are constructed through processes of description, questioning, contestation and defence. Organizational identities may be regarded as ongoing arguments between insiders and between ostensible insiders and outsiders, who deploy various persuasive techniques in their efforts to render hegemonic their versions of an organization’s identity. Making plausible through persuasive rhetoric is a complex task, and requires a discourse analytic methodology and an analytical focus on whole utterances, in order to explicate how identity-as-argument is enacted. The research implications of our paper are twofold. First, by focusing on language as an opaque phenomenon, taken-for-granted ways of being persuasive are made strange and hence more visible. Second, our understanding of organizations as situated in ongoing, multi-focused arguments, illustrates a new way of conceptualising the polyphonic, genre-relevant nature of institutional identities.