Showing papers in "Organization Science in 2000"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that opportunity discovery is a function of the distribution of information in society, and they show that entrepreneurs discover opportunities related to the information that they already possess.
Abstract: Before technological change leads to new processes, products, markets, or ways of organizing, entrepreneurs must discover opportunities in which to exploit the new technology. To date, research has not explained adequately why entrepreneurs discover these opportunities, which creates several conceptual problems in the entrepreneurship literature. Drawing on Austrian economics, I argue that opportunity discovery is a function of the distribution of information in society (Hayek 1945). Through in-depth case studies of eight sets of entrepreneurs who exploit a single MIT invention, I show that entrepreneurs discover opportunities related to the information that they already possess. I use these findings to draw several implications that differ from those prevailing in the entrepreneurship literature, including: (1) entrepreneurs do not always select between alternative market opportunities for new technologies; (2) the source of entrepreneurship lies in differences in information about opportunities; (3) the results of prior studies of entrepreneurial exploitation may suffer from bias; and (4) individual differences influence the opportunities that people discover, how their entrepreneurial efforts are organized, and how the government can influence this process.
4,281 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose an extension to the structurational perspective on technology that develops a practice lens to examine how people, as they interact with a technology in their ongoing practices, enact structures which shape their emergent and situated use of that technology.
Abstract: As both technologies and organizations undergo dramatic changes in form and function, organizational researchers are increasingly turning to concepts of innovation, emergence, and improvisation to help explain the new ways of organizing and using technology evident in practice. With a similar intent, I propose an extension to the structurational perspective on technology that develops a practice lens to examine how people, as they interact with a technology in their ongoing practices, enact structures which shape their emergent and situated use of that technology. Viewing the use of technology as a process of enactment enables a deeper understanding of the constitutive role of social practices in the ongoing use and change of technologies in the workplace. After developing this lens, I offer an example of its use in research, and then suggest some implications for the study of technology in organizations.
4,036 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors claim that organizational routines have a great potential for change even though they are often perceived, even defined, as unchanging, and propose a performative model of organizational routines.
Abstract: In this paper I claim that organizational routines have a great potential for change even though they are often perceived, even defined, as unchanging. I present descriptions of routines that change as participants respond to outcomes of previous iterations of a routine. Based on the changes in these routines I propose a performative model of organizational routines. This model suggests that there is an internal dynamic to routines that can promote continuous change. The internal dynamic is based on the inclusion of routine participants as agents. When we do not separate the people who are doing the routines from the routine, we can see routines as a richer phenomenon. Change occurs as a result of participants' reflections on and reactions to various outcomes of previous iterations of the routine. This perspective introduces agency into the notion of routine. Agency is important for understanding the role of organizational routines in learning and in processes of institutionalization.
1,726 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors ask specifically what kinds of motivation are needed to generate and transfer tacit knowledge, as opposed to explicit knowledge, for knowledge generation and transfer in an organizational form.
Abstract: Employees are motivated intrinsically as well as extrinsically. Intrinsic motivation is crucial when tacit knowledge in and between teams must be transferred. Organizational forms enable different kinds of motivation and have different capacities to generate and transfer tacit knowledge. Since knowledge generation and transfer are essential for a firm's sustainable competitive advantage, we ask specifically what kinds of motivation are needed to generate and transfer tacit knowledge, as opposed to explicit knowledge.
1,553 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the tension between two opposite views on how networks create social capital and showed that managers with cohesive communication networks were less likely to adapt these networks to the change in coordination requirements prompted by their new assignments, which jeopardized their role as facilitators of horizontal cooperation within a newly created business unit structure.
Abstract: This paper explores the tension between two opposite views on how networks create social capital. Network closure (Coleman 1988) stresses the role of cohesive ties in fostering a normative environment that facilitates cooperation. Structural hole theory (Burt 1992) sees cohesive ties as a source of rigidity that hinders the coordination of complex organizational tasks. The two theories lead to opposite predictions on how the structure of an actor's network may affect his ability to adapt that network to a significant change in task environment. Using data from a newly created special unit within the Italian subsidiary of a multinational computer manufacturer, we show that managers with cohesive communication networks were less likely to adapt these networks to the change in coordination requirements prompted by their new assignments, which in turn jeopardized their role as facilitators of horizontal cooperation within a newly created business unit structure. We conclude with a discussion of the trade-off between thesafety of cooperation within cohesive networks and theflexibility provided by networks rich in structural holes.
1,320 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a comprehensive framework for understanding alliance instabilities based on the notion of internal tensions, which can be viewed as being constituted by three key pairs of competing forces: cooperation versus competition, rigidity versus flexibility, and short-term versus long-term orientation.
Abstract: The instabilities of strategic alliances have been examined in the literature through a number of theoretical approaches. Alliance instabilities refer to major changes or dissolutions of alliances that are unplanned from the perspective of one or more partners. Although the literature identifies certain characteristics of strategic alliances that may lead to their unplanned dissolution, the extent of our understanding of this subject appears to be fragmented and incomplete. In this article we propose a comprehensive framework for adequately understanding alliance instabilities based on the notion of internal tensions. We suggest that strategic alliances are sites in which conflicting forces develop and which can be viewed as being constituted by three key pairs of competing forces--namely, cooperation versus competition, rigidity versus flexibility, and short-term versus long-term orientation. This tensions framework helps us in explaining the intrinsic vulnerability of alliances in terms of a wide range of internal contradictions and enables us to examine, in an integrated manner, the incidence, dynamics, and eventual dissipation of the inherent instabilities. We discuss the interrelationships among the different internal tensions and their impacts on different types of strategic alliances. We also examine the termination of alliances through mergers/acquisitions and dissolution. Finally, we suggest ways to empirically test the various ideas and propositions developed here and indicate directions for further research.
1,056 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore how the construction of a cultural institution's identity is related to the development of strategic capabilities and resources, and propose a model that explicates how the creation of core capabilities lies at the intersection of identification and interpretive processes in organizations.
Abstract: In this qualitative field study, I explore how the construction of a cultural institution's identity is related to the construction of strategic capabilities and resources. I investigated the 1996 musicians' strike at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO), which revealed embedded and latent identity conflicts. The multifaceted and specialized identity of the ASO was reinforced by different professional groups in the organization: the ideologies of musicians and administrators emphasized institutional resource allocations consistent with the legitimating values of their professions, i.e., artistic excellence versus economic utility. These identity claims, made under organizational crisis, accounted for variations in the construction of core competencies. I propose a model that explicates how the construction of core capabilities lies at the intersection of identification and interpretive processes in organizations. Implications are discussed for defining firm capabilities in cultural institutions and for managing organizational forms characterized by competing claims over institutional identity, resources, and core capabilities.
753 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that members of highperforming teams tended to preserve multiple interpretations early in the team's life cycle, but that they moved toward greater clarity near the end of the life cycle.
Abstract: Demography research rarely examines the black box within which the cognitive diversity of the top management team is assumed to affect firm performance. Using data from 35 simulated firms run by a total of 159 managers attending executive education programs, the current research tested several hypotheses concerned with (a) the relationship between demographic and cognitive team diversity and (b) the reciprocal effects of diversity and firm performance. Results showed that members of high-performing teams tended to preserve multiple interpretations early in the team's life cycle, but that they moved toward greater clarity near the end of the life cycle. These high-performing teams, therefore, exhibited both early interpretative ambiguity and late heedful interrelating. Cognitive diversity in teams affected and was affected by changes in firm performance. Surprisingly, there was no evidence of any effect of demographic diversity on measures of cognitive diversity.
625 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors outline five polarities that are shaping organizational practices in cultural industries, including the need to balance the advantages of vertically integrating diverse activities under one roof against the need for maintaining creative vitality through flexible specialization.
Abstract: The dilemmas experienced by managers in cultural industries are also to be found in a growing number of other industries where knowledge and creativity are key to sustaining competitive advantage. Firms that compete in cultural industries must deal with a combination of ambiguity and dynamism, both of which are intrinsic to goods that serve an aesthetic or expressive rather than a utilitarian purpose. Managers involved with the creation, production, marketing, and distribution of cultural goods must navigate tensions that arise from opposing imperatives that result from these industry characteristics. In this paper we outline five polarities that are shaping organizational practices in cultural industries. First, managers must reconcile expression of artistic values with the economics of mass entertainment. Second, they must seek novelty that differentiates their products without making them fundamentally different in nature from others in the same category. Third, they must analyse and address existing demand while at the same time using their imagination to extend and transform the market. Fourth, they must balance the advantages of vertically integrating diverse activities under one roof against the need to maintain creative vitality through flexible specialization. And finally, they must build creative systems to support and market cultural products but not allow the system to suppress individual inspiration, which is ultimately at the root of creating value in cultural industries.
526 citations
TL;DR: It is found that a country's regulatory approach to the corporate management of information privacy is affected by its cultural values and by individuals' information privacy concerns, and that the self-regulatory model of privacy governance may not be sustainable over the long term.
Abstract: The 1990s have seen a resurgence of interest in information privacy. Public opinion surveys show that many citizens are becoming greatly concerned about threats to their information privacy, with levels of such concern reaching all-time highs. Perhaps as a response to the growing concerns of citizens, the media are devoting more attention to privacy issues, and governmental regulation of the corporate privacy environment is increasing in many countries. Almost all developed countries have grappled with the trade-offs between open access to information--which enables economic efficiency--and an individual's right to privacy. Consistent with these trade-offs, many recent incidents suggest that regulatory approaches to information privacy, corporate management of personal data, and consumer reactions are becoming tightly interwoven around the world. To provide some insights into these relationships, we develop a conceptual model and test it with a cross-cultural sample from 19 different countries.In general, we find that a country's regulatory approach to the corporate management of information privacy is affected by its cultural values and by individuals' information privacy concerns. In addition, as governments become more involved in the corporate management of information privacy, internal management of such issues seems to tighten. This result supports previous observations that most firms take a primarily reactive approach to managing privacy by waiting for an external threat before crafting cohesive policies that confront their information practices. Moreover, when corporations are not perceived to adequately manage information privacy issues, and/or when privacy concerns rise, individuals are more inclined to prefer government intervention and be distrustful of firm self-regulation. As such, citizens may look to lawmakers to enact stricter regulation to reduce their privacy concerns. These findings and several international trends suggest that the self-regulatory model of privacy governance may not be sustainable over the long term.Findings from this research constitute an important contribution to the emerging theoretical base of information privacy research and should be particularly enlightening to those managing information privacy issues. Several directions for future research are also discussed.
455 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the case of the Saturn corporation is used to develop and illustrate a stakeholder theory of the firm, and three positive questions are posed: Why should stakeholder models be given serious consideration at this moment in history?
Abstract: This paper seeks to engage the organization theory community in contemporary debates over the role of the corporation in American society by using the case of the Saturn corporation to develop and illustrate a stakeholder theory of the firm. One normative and three positive questions are posed for a stakeholder theory: The normative question is: Why should stakeholder models be given serious consideration at this moment in history? The positive questions are: (1) Under what conditions is a stakeholder firm likely to emerge in the United States, (2) what are the critical determinants of performance in a stakeholder firm, and (3) what will determine the sustainability and diffusion of this organizational form in the American environment? The history, design features, and dynamics of the labormanagement partnership at Saturn are used to illustrate and interpret a specific case of employees as stakeholders. Saturn's original mission, governance structure, and internal processes fit the characteristics of a stakeholder firm. Employees establish themselves as influential, definitive stakeholders by using their knowledge to improve organizational performance. The local union likewise contributes to firm performance by organizing workers into a dense social network that contributes to problem solving, conflict resolution, and quality improvement. However, the legal and political environment in which the firm operates produces considerable uncertainty over the sustainability and diffusion of Saturn's features in particular, and the stakeholder organizational form in general. Additional hypotheses and research questions are proposed to continue theory building around the more general model of the stakeholder firm. Researchers are encouraged to take up the analysis of stakeholder models and thereby contribute to the contemporary and future debates over the role of the corporation in American society.
TL;DR: This article explored the cognitive aspects underlying industries in hypercompetitive environments, and argued that these processes can become institutionalized as standard operating procedures within firms, and as shared recipes within industries, which in turn perpetuates hyperturbulent conditions.
Abstract: This paper explores the cognitive aspects underlying industries in hypercompetitive environments. Hypercompetition represents a state of competition with rapidly escalating levels of competition and reduced periods of competitive advantage for firms. In hypercompetitive industries member firms act boldly and aggressively to create a state of competitive disequilibrium. In this paper we explore the particular conditions that managers encounter in making sense of hypercompetitive industries and argue that the nature of these conditions is such that conventional sensemaking frameworks will not work. We then describe the 'adaptive sensemaking' practices established in the literature for dealing with temporary turbulence and suggest that in hypercompetition those processes continue indefinitely. We argue that these processes can become institutionalized as standard operating procedures within firms, and as shared recipes within industries, which in turn perpetuates hyperturbulent conditions.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the growing number of methods that capture relational aspects of organizational life, including network analysis, complexity modeling, correspondence analysis and participatory research, case study methods, the learning history approach, psychometrics, and action inquiry.
Abstract: Relationships and interactions should be an important focus of attention in organizational scholarship. In contrast to traditional research approaches that focus on independent, discrete entities, methodologies oriented torelational concerns in organizations allow researchers to study the intersubjective and interdependent nature of organizational life. In addition to providing historical and philosophical bases for a perspective which emphasizes relationality, we review the growing number of methods that capture relational aspects of organizational life. Examples include network analysis, and "complexity" modeling, correspondence analysis and participatory research, case study methods, the learning history approach, psychometrics, and action inquiry. Our goal is to establish a "palette" of methodological choices for the researcher interested in operationalizing a relational perspective within organizational research/practice.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed employee resistance to an organizational change project in which employees were empowered to participate in the design of a new organizational structure and found that resistance appeared to be motivated less by intentional self-interest than by the constraints of well established, ingrained schemas.
Abstract: We analyzed employee resistance to an organizational change project in which employees were empowered to participate in the design of a new organizational structure. What emerged from our analysis was the importance of cognitive barriers to empowerment. Employees' resistance appeared to be motivated less by intentional self-interest than by the constraints of wellestablished, ingrained schemas. Resistance was also fueled by skepticism among the employees about management's commitment to the new decision-making schema, especially because employees judged managerial actions to be inconsistent with their new espoused framework. A grounded model of schema change is developed for changes in organizational decision-making schemas during empowerment efforts. Theoretical implications and suggestions for improving organizational change efforts are proposed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors suggest that the market serves as a magnet around which groups of actors consolidate, and that cognition of markets occurs through the creation, distribution, and interpretation of a web of information about the "market."
Abstract: In this paper we outline a key mechanism through which organizational fields are constituted. We suggest that in competitive fields, the market serves as a magnet around which groups of actors consolidate, and that cognition of markets occurs through the creation, distribution, and interpretation of a web of information about the "market." To illustrate our theory, we present a case study of theBillboard music chart from the commercial music industry to show that changes in either scope, methodology, or political tone with which market information is presented can provide a major jolt to the participants' understanding of their field.
TL;DR: The authors found that exposure to peers in other firms via executive education is the only factor positively associated with the social capital of bridge relationships in France and the U.S. and found that French managers operate with a less porous social boundary around their firm and associate negative emotions with bridge relations.
Abstract: Accumulating empirical evidence on American managers shows that social-capital effects on performance are a function of the information and control benefits of bridging structural holes--the disconnections between nonredundant contacts in a network. Is that network form of social capital unique to Americans? France seemed to us a productive site for comparative research because the image from past research is that French managers are more regulated than Americans; more regulated by bureaucratic authority and more regulated by peer pressure, with both amplified by the greater reliance in France on internal labor markets. People comfortable with knowing their place in a chain of bureaucratic control could be uncomfortable with the negotiated control exercised by network entrepreneurs, so the positive association between structural holes and performance in the United States could be negligible or even reversed for French managers.We use network and performance data on two study populations of senior managers, one in France and one in the United States, to describe social capital similarities and differences between the populations. The network form of social capital is similar in the two populations: More successful French managers, like Americans, tend to have networks rich in structural holes. The French and American managers make similar distinctions between kinds of relationships. Relations that bridge structural holes are similarly detached from routine work activities for the French and the Americans. The interesting difference is that social capital develops differently in the two populations. The French managers operate with a less porous social boundary around their firm and associate negative emotions with bridge relations. Reinforcing Aix-en-Provence observations on the significance of adult education for Franco-German differences in organization, we find that exposure to peers in other firms via executive education is for our French managers the only factor positively associated with the social capital of bridge relationships.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the shift from hierarchy to network in the U.K. television industry and argue that an important result of this disaggregation is the emergence of latent organization, groupings of individuals and teams of individuals that persist through time and are periodically drawn together for recurrent projects by network brokers who either buy in programmes for publisher-broadcasters or who draw together those artists and technicians who actually produce them.
Abstract: Since the mid 1980s, organization theorists have highlighted the emergence of the networked model of organization as a response to global competition and pressures for increased market flexibility. Cultural industries have not been immune from this development. In this paper, we examine the shift from hierarchy to network in the U.K. television industry. We argue that an important result of this disaggregation is the emergence oflatent organization, groupings of individuals and teams of individuals that persist through time and are periodically drawn together for recurrent projects by network brokers who either buy in programmes for publisher-broadcasters or who draw together those artists and technicians who actually produce them. In conclusion, we note how latent organizations may become increasingly important foreffective cultural industry production, and in particular how they may provide stable points of reference and recurring work projects for those many individuals now working outside of large, vertically integrated producer-broadcasters.
TL;DR: In this paper, an ethnographic account of informal resistance and its ability to limit managerial control in a health maintenance organization undergoing the computerization of its administrative functions is presented, where the author adopts a more problematic approach to understand routine resistance, tracing its discursive constitution in the workplace.
Abstract: Organizational scholars have shown considerable interest in the rise of complex systems of organizational control, sometimes referred to metaphorically as the process of tightening the iron cage, as well as patterns of workplace resistance to it. More recently, the scholarly spotlight seems to have shifted from formal modes of employee resistance to more informal orroutine forms of workplace resistance. This paper presents a detailed ethnographic account of informal resistance and its ability to limit managerial control in a health maintenance organization undergoing the computerization of its administrative functions. Our study adopts a more problematic approach to understanding routine resistance, tracing itsdiscursive constitution in the workplace. Using the findings of an ethnographic study involving observation and interviews, we show how routine resistance was discursively constituted and how it limited organizational control in interesting and unexpected ways. This discursive constitution was achieved through (a) owning resistance, (b) naming resistance, and (c) designating indirect resistance. The paper also analyzes how these different discursive constructions limited managerial control by affirming autonomous self-identities, renegotiating roles and relationships, and reinterpreting dominant managerial discourses. Finally, broader implications for understanding routine resistance in organizations are drawn.
TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive survey of media attitudes and behaviors was conducted, which included media choice (an individual's decision to use a medium in a particular communication incident), media use (individual's general pattern of use over time), and media attitudes (individuals general subjective evaluation of media).
Abstract: Theorizing about communication media attitudes and behaviors has drawn upon multiple theories (e.g., media richness, social influence). But these theories have often been pitted against each other rather than considered as complementary in more comprehensive studies. Furthermore, previous research has tended to focus more on newer communication media such as electronic mail rather than more traditional media. Finally, communication media research has studied attitudes toward media, use of media, and only occasionally media choice. Yet, all three dependent variables are important.This comprehensive survey hypothesized and tested multiple influences (based on multiple theories) in a study of media attitudes and behaviors. The media included electronic mail, fax, letters, and face-to-face meetings. The outcomes included media choice (an individual's decision to use a medium in a particular communication incident), media use (an individual's general pattern of use over time), and media attitudes (an individual's general subjective evaluation of media).Results suggested that a number of factors differentiated among media choices, including medium symbolism, message equivocality, distance between message partners, perceived media richness, number of message recipients, and perceived message recipients' attitudes. General attitudes toward the different media were influenced most consistently by perceived medium richness. New media attitudes were also influenced by person/technology interaction factors. General medium use was influenced by different factors for the different media.The results generally supported a comprehensive theoretical approach to understanding media attitudes and behaviors. All of the theories have some merit in explaining media attitudes and behaviors. But different factors, derived from different theories, were more important in accounting for each of the dependent variables--media choices, attitudes, and use. We hope that this investigation will help research in this area move toward the development of more integrative theoretical models.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined two alternative explanations for disparity in reported work-related experiences and outcomes between black and white managers: treatment discrimination because of race, and differences in human and social capital.
Abstract: This study examined two alternative explanations for disparity in reported work-related experiences and outcomes between black and white managers: treatment discrimination because of race, and differences in human and social capital. Education and training, representing human capital, and racial similarity of network ties and proportion of strong ties, representing social capital, were used to predict whether human and social capital would mediate the relationship between race and the work-related experiences and outcomes under investigation.Results of a survey of black and white managers in a Fortune 500 financial services firm indicate that black managers reported a slower rate of promotion and less psychosocial support than white managers. Race had both a direct and an indirect effect on these outcomes. Participation in company training significantly predicted reported promotion rates, but race remained a significant predictor. Additional analysis revealed that race moderates the relationship between human capital and promotion rate and suggests a type of treatment discrimination against blacks. Contrary to predictions, social capital did not predict promotion rate, although social capital mediated the relationship between race and psychosocial support. Black managers reported having less social capital than whites, and social capital, in turn, was positively related to the receipt of psychosocial support. No differences were found between blacks and whites in their receipt of career-related support.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors extended previous research on harmful workplace behavior by examining whether the situational variable of job status and the dispositional characteristics of aggressiveness and negative affectivity predict self-perceived victimization.
Abstract: Harmful interpersonal behavior at work has generally been studied from the perspective of perpetrators. In contrast, theories of victimization suggest that other factors may also determine why certain individuals are more frequently harmed than others. For example, there may be situational factors that contribute to an environment that allows or fails to inhibit harmful actions. Other incidents of workplace harm may be consciously or unconsciously influenced by the victims themselves. This empirical study extends previous research on harmful workplace behavior by examining whether the situational variable of job status and the dispositional characteristics of aggressiveness and negative affectivity predict self-perceived victimization. Based on research in criminal victimology, we hypothesized that an employee's job status would be significantly related to perceived victimization. Research on victims of bullying was the basis for the predicted effects of negative affectivity and aggressiveness. Data were provided by a randomly selected sample of employees from a city government who completed a survey as part of an organizational assessment. We performed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on employee responses to develop suitable measures of victimization. The analyses revealed that perceived victimization took either direct (e.g., name-calling) or indirect (e.g., sabotaging work) forms. Hierarchical regression was used to test the study hypotheses. Results showed that job status did not significantly influence perceived victimization. However, employees who were high in aggressiveness and negative affectivity perceived higher levels of victimization than those who were low in these traits. Implications for organizations are discussed and future research directions are offered.
TL;DR: In the early 1970s, Hirsch's "Processing Fads and Fashions: An Organization-Set Analysis of Cultural Industry Systems" as discussed by the authors focused on the middle-throughput phase, or most organizational aspect of cultural industries, was emphasized.
Abstract: In my early "Processing Fads and Fashions: An Organization-Set Analysis of Cultural Industry Systems" (1972), the middle "throughput" phase, or most organizational aspect of cultural industries, was emphasized. In this depoliticized exploration of what Adorno (1991) had earlier characterized as the industrialization of high culture, and Powdermaker (1950) as Hollywood's "dream factory," I emphasized the key roles of gatekeeper and distributor organizations as critical in connecting the artist/creators to audience/consumers of mass, or "popular" culture (as it had more acceptingly come to be called). Altogether, this network of organizations--from creators (artists, musicians, actors, writers) and brokers (agents), through the cultural product's producers (publishers, studios), distributors (wholesalers, theaters), and media outlets--collectively constitutecultural industries. This article on industries producing "cultural products"--defined as " 'nonmaterial' goods directed at a public of consumers, for whom they generally serve an esthetic or expressive, rather than a clearly utilitarian function" (Hirsch 1972 p. 641)--appeared at the same time that organizational sociology's focus on what became known as the "production of culture" took off, and continued to flourish into the 1990s (Peterson 1994, Crane 1992).How has the study of cultural industries changed over the last generation? A simple answer is that the subject--the key role of distribution and the importance of organizational middlemen in the making and sale of popular culture--remains analytically the same. From actors, musicians, and writers; through studios, labels and publishers, to videocassettes, movie theaters, record stores, and booksellers (in stores or via the Internet)--cultural products flow. How this sequence is organized and traversed remains a fascinating forest of power plays and techniques, employed by role-occupants in the same positions as have existed since the advent of mass media. While this substantive field has changed little analytically, what we also see is a wondrous expansion in the disciplinary approaches being taken to examine the multitude of topics available for examination under the broad rubric and framing of the term, "cultural industries." Because I was a graduate student at the time (my roommate dared me to submit the "Processing..." paper to theAmerican Journal of Sociology), it is a great pleasure to find the concept has retained its value for other researchers since that time.In this article, I will (1) reexamine and discuss the original framing of the termcultural industries; (2) briefly review some of the more recent complementary perspectives which expand the possible arenas for studying this topic; and (3) append a short note on how the more recent inclusion ofnonprofit cultural products (e.g., symphonies, museums) in this framework poses interesting analytical questions and opportunities.
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of different investments in human capital (firm-specific versus generalized investments) on employee commitment to the firm is considered, and the authors conclude that a mixture of strategic investments should be considered, taking into account their impacts on the firm-worker psychological contract.
Abstract: This paper considers the impacts of different investments in human capital (firm-specific versus generalized investments) on employee commitment to the firm. The resource-based literature has stressed that only firm-specific human capital is likely to generate organizational rents, since those assets are more likely to be inimitable, rare, and therefore a better basis for sustained competitive advantage. Generalized investments in human capital (i.e., investments in capabilities that people can transfer and deploy to other firms or settings) are to be avoided. However, observing lessons from the literature on psychological contracts and organizational commitment, we argue that generalized investments may have value for the firm through their effects on worker commitment to the firm. The gain in worker commitment is valuable to firms given the fragile state of the contemporary employment relation, in which the lack of job security is likely to breed diminished employee commitment. This is particularly a concern for employment relations consisting of externalized labor (i.e., contract work or selfemployed professionals operating as agents of the firm), in which agent commitment is vital but likely to be more scarce. In this paper we focus on the externalized workers (independent agents) of two insurance firms in addressing these issues. A sample of 237 agents shows support for the benefits of generalized investments on agent commitment, questioning conventional wisdom that such investments should be avoided. We also examine the impact of relation-specific investments and other key antecedents on agent commitment, concluding that a mixture of strategic investments in human capital should be considered, taking into account their impacts on the firm-worker psychological contract. We also examine the impact of agent commitment on agent performance in this context, finding committed agents do provide greater value to the insurer.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide insight into how valuation of cultural products takes place by describing the changing role and significance of different types of selection systems, such as market selection, peer selection, and expert selection.
Abstract: Valuation of cultural products tends to be problematic. In this paper, we provide insight into how valuation of cultural products takes place by describing the changing role and significance of different types of selection systems. Three basic types of selection systems are distinguished: market selection, peer selection, and expert selection. We show that the rise of a group of painters known as the Impressionists was facilitated by a change in the selection system of the visual arts industry from one dominated by peers into one dominated by experts. In the new selection system, innovativeness has become the most highly prized product characteristic, while a range of experts have begun to play an essential role, certifying the innovativeness of either individual artists or groups of artists.
TL;DR: Analysis of measures of automobile reliability published in Consumer Reports yields three findings: quality improves over the production life of a car model with the same kind of regularity as an efficiency learning curve, and there is a quality learning curve.
Abstract: Whereas most prior research on the learning curve has focused on improvements in efficiency, this paper deals with the impact of learning on product quality. The key data are measures of automobile reliability published inConsumer Reports. Analysis yields three findings: (1) Quality improves over the production life of a car model with the same kind of regularity as an efficiency learning curve. Thus, there is a quality learning curve. (2) Unlike in the efficiency domain, however, learning in the domain of product reliability is primarily a function of time, and not of how many cars have gone down the assembly line. Thus, quality depends not on the accumulation of production experience per se, but on the intensity of "off-line" quality improvement activities and on the transfer of knowledge from the general environment over time. (3) In contrast to the traditional injunction, "do not buy a new car in its first year of production," the opposite advice actually seems to apply: In any given year, the newest car models have the best quality. That is, new car-model designs typically include significant quality improvements that are more than enough to outweigh any disruption created in manufacturing by the new model's introduction and that even surpass the incremental improvements made to older, existing car models.
TL;DR: This paper examined the early American feature film industry and found that increased concentration among generalists had a positive effect on foundings of specialist producers and specialist distributors, and that the specialists were more active in the creation of new film genres.
Abstract: Past research has established that large bureaucratic firms are less innovative than other firms. This reduced innovativeness is likely to be exacerbated when large firms engage in market control. In cultural industries, the effects can be especially pernicious, resulting in the failure to provide audiences with artistic quality or product diversity. We investigate the population dynamics of one cultural industry: the early American feature film industry. Specifically, we examine the hypothesis that concentration among large generalist firms will be associated with higher rates of foundings of specialist producers and specialist distributors. We also investigate the question of whether these specialists are more innovative. Specifically, we examine the hypothesis that specialists were more active than were generalists in the creation of new film genres in the early years of the American film industry. We find that increased concentration among generalists had a positive effect on foundings of specialist producers and specialist distributors, and that the specialists were more active in the creation of new film genres. Implications of these findings for future research, both on cultural industries and on the population dynamics of the founding of specialist firms, are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the organizational values that characterize firms in the nonprofit professional theatre industry and examine the links between firms' organizational values and their relationships with external constituents, uncover five value dimensions that are relevant to arts organizations.
Abstract: This study explores the organizational values that characterize firms in the nonprofit professional theatre industry, and examines the links between firms' organizational values and their relationships with external constituents. Using grounded research methods, we uncover five value dimensions that are relevant to arts organizations: prosocial, artistic, financial, market, and achievement. Using a sample of 97 nonprofit theatres, we extend our qualitative inquiry with an empirical investigation of how firms enact their organizational values to build and maintain relationships with external constituents. Results from a two-wave survey design indicate consistent patterns of association between organizational values and (1) perceptions of values congruence with external constituents, (2) human resource allocation and programming decisions that firms make to support relationships with external constituents, and (3) the level of financial resources that firms obtain from their relationships with different external constituents. Interestingly, results from both investigations hint at underlying tensions between competing values in cultural firms, such as pressures to be both artistic- and market-oriented.
TL;DR: In this article, comparative institutions theories are applied to questions of organizational behavior, and the model is tested in samples of large manufacturing and service organizations in the United States and Hungary, finding that employees in a modernist political system (United States) did echo social scientists' claims by reporting that their employers' personnel practices were comparatively more universalistic than those in organizations operating in a neotraditional polity (Hungary).
Abstract: Many employees in the world are evaluated and rewarded at work based on who they are ("particularism") rather than based on impersonal judgments of their performance ("universalism"). Yet the field of organizational behavior has been virtually silent on how employees react to workplaces dominated by particularism. In an effort to understand the role of particularistic organizational practices, several ideas from comparative institutions theories are applied to questions of organizational behavior, and the model is tested in samples of large manufacturing and service organizations in the United States and Hungary. It was found that employees in a modernist political system (United States) did echo social scientists' claims by reporting that their employers' personnel practices were comparatively more universalistic than those in organizations operating in a neotraditional polity (Hungary). This perception of differences in personnel practices mediated the relationship between political system and employees' trust in one another, their perceptions of coworker shirking, and their organizational commitment.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe an holistic model of intervention geared to achieving transformational change by interweaving culture and structure through the warp and weft of leadership processes, which brings together organization design and organization development by advocating a culturally sensitive approach to organization structuring.
Abstract: This article describes an holistic model of intervention geared to achieving transformational change by interweaving culture and structure through the warp and weft of leadership processes. That is, it brings together organization design and organization development by advocating a culturally sensitive approach to organization structuring. Our emphasis is on process throughout and our thesis is based on empirical evidence. We undertook a lengthy action research project (which we prefer to call "action ethnography") at a large hospital trust in England. In the process of elaborating this field study, we move from an organization which was seen to be "gridlocked" and to have "lost its steering capacity", through one which was bringing development and design together by way of pilot projects and transitional structures, to one where collective dialogue and debate finally led to some collective and sensible sensemaking.Exploring this relationship between culture and structure enables us to put people back into design and with them, their meanings, aspirations and assumptions. It also means that we are careful to avoid detailing specific design choices or offering organizational archetypes: this article is primarily about the process issues that surround redesign rather than organization design per se, as indeed any redesign is ultimately highly specific and context-driven. Instead, however, we articulate a four-phase change model, focusing on the delicate processes by which to reframe the culture-structure relationship, enabling an organization to move towards fundamental change.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors found that individuals in general management, marketing, production, and customer service undertake corporate political roles of championing and antagonism in support of or opposition to research and development (RD however, they are equally likely to support high and low performing projects).
Abstract: Individuals in general management, marketing, production, and customer service undertake corporate political roles of championing and antagonism in support of or opposition to research and development (RD however, they are equally likely to support high and low performing projects These results contradict many of the commonly held beliefs in research literature about champions Antagonists, in a role of friendly opposition, appear to react to the presence of champions and do not appear to affect resources or project termination