Showing papers in "Organization Science in 2004"
TL;DR: Based on a sample of 206 manufacturing firms, evidence is found consistent with the ambidexterity hypothesis by showing that the interaction between explorative and exploitative innovation strategies is positively related to sales growth rate and the relative imbalance betweenexploration and exploitation strategies is negatively related toSales growth rate.
Abstract: While exploration and exploitation represent two fundamentally different approaches to organizational learning, recent literature has increasingly indicated the need for firms to achieve a balance between the two. This balanced view is embedded in the concept of ambidextrous organizations. However, there is little direct evidence of the positive effect of ambidexterity on firm performance. This paper seeks to test the ambidexterity hypothesis by examining how exploration and exploitation can jointly influence firm performance in the context of firms' approach to technological innovation. Based on a sample of 206 manufacturing firms, we find evidence consistent with the ambidexterity hypothesis by showing that (1) the interaction between explorative and exploitative innovation strategies is positively related to sales growth rate, and (2) the relative imbalance between explorative and exploitative innovation strategies is negatively related to sales growth rate.
3,231 citations
TL;DR: The paper examines managing knowledge across boundaries in settings where innovation is desired and how this relates to the common knowledge that actors use to share and assess each other's domain-specific knowledge.
Abstract: The paper examines managing knowledge across boundaries in settings where innovation is desired. Innovation is a useful context because it allows us to explore the negative consequences of the path-dependent nature of knowledge. A framework is developed that describes three progressively complex boundaries--syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic--and three progressively complex processes--transfer, translation, and transformation. The framework is used to specify the practical and political mismatches that occur when innovation is desired and how this relates to the common knowledge that actors use to share and assess each other's domain-specific knowledge. The development and use of a collaborative engineering tool in the early stages of a vehicle's development is presented to illustrate the conceptual and prescriptive value of the framework. The implication of this framework on key topics in the organization theory and strategy literatures is then discussed.
2,687 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that the spillovers that result from proprietary alliances are a function of the institutional commitments and practices of members of the network, and the relative accessibility of knowledge transferred through contractual linkages determines whether innovation benefits accrue broadly to membership in a coherent network component or narrowly to centrality.
Abstract: We contend that two important, nonrelational, features of formal interorganizational networks-geographic propinquity and organizational form-fundamentally alter the flow of information through a network. Within regional economies, contractual linkages among physically proximate organizations represent relatively transparent channels for information transfer because they are embedded in an ecology rich in informal and labor market transmission mechanisms. Similarly, we argue that the spillovers that result from proprietary alliances are a function of the institutional commitments and practices of members of the network. When the dominant nodes in an innovation network are committed to open regimes of information disclosure, the entire structure is characterized by less tightly monitored ties. The relative accessibility of knowledge transferred through contractual linkages to organizations determines whether innovation benefits accrue broadly to membership in a coherent network component or narrowly to centrality. We draw on novel network visualization methods and conditional fixed effects negative binomial regressions to test these arguments for human therapeutic biotechnology firms located in the Boston metropolitan area.
2,114 citations
TL;DR: This paper offers a response to Sundaram and Inkpen's article "The Corporate Objective Revisited" by clarifying misconceptions about stakeholder theory and concluding that truth and freedom are best served by seeing business and ethics as connected.
Abstract: Stakeholder theory begins with the assumption that values are necessarily and explicitly a part of doing business. It asks managers to articulate the shared sense of the value they create, and what brings its core stakeholders together. It also pushes managers to be clear about how they want to do business, specifically what kinds of relationships they want and need to create with their stakeholders to deliver on their purpose. This paper offers a response to Sundaram and Inkpen's article "The Corporate Objective Revisited" by clarifying misconceptions about stakeholder theory and concluding that truth and freedom are best served by seeing business and ethics as connected.
1,765 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a knowledge-based theory of the firm is developed that focuses on the efficiency of alternative organizational forms ingenerating knowledge or capability and is among the first to simultaneously treat both the boundary choice and the choice among alternative internal approaches to organizing.
Abstract: In this paper we develop a knowledge-based theory of the firm. While existing knowledge-based theory focuses on the efficiency of hierarchy in economizing on knowledge exchange, we develop a theory of the firm that focuses on the efficiency of alternative organizational forms ingenerating knowledge or capability. Our theory begins with the problem as the basic unit of analysis, arguing that a problem's complexity influences the optimal method of solution search and the optimal means of organizing that search. The distinguishing feature that differentiates among organizational alternatives is the different way each resolves conflict over the selection of solution trials, that is, the way it chooses the path of search. Our theory predicts that efficiency demands that these governance alternatives be matched in a discriminating way to problems based on their associated benefits and costs in governing solution search. Thus, our theory is among the first to simultaneously treat both the boundary choice (i.e., internal versus external) and the choice among alternative internal approaches to organizing.
1,221 citations
TL;DR: This study addresses the topic of interorganizational network change by exploring factors that affect the choice of alliance and interlock partners and test the hypotheses using data on both interlock and alliance networks for the 300 largest U.S. firms during the 1988-1993 period.
Abstract: In this study, we address the topic of interorganizational network change by exploring factors that affect the choice of alliance and interlock partners. While many studies have been devoted to investigating various factors driving network partner choice, there is also an interesting and unexplored tension in this body of work. On the one hand, much work emphasizes change in social structure--showing that firms expand networks by forming new relationships with new partners. At the same time, other scholars emphasize stability of social structure--showing that firms tend to choose past exchange partners. We seek to reconcile this tension by proposing that firms form new relationships with new partners as a form of exploration, and form additional relationships with existing partners as a form of exploitation (March 1991). Further, whether exploration or exploitation is chosen depends on the type of uncertainty that firms are facing: whether it is firm-specific or market-level uncertainty. We test our hypotheses using data on both interlock and alliance networks for the 300 largest U.S. firms during the 1988-1993 period. The results provide some evidence that whether networks are stable or changing depends on the type of uncertainty experienced by firms.
949 citations
TL;DR: A detailed case study of a time series of 11 contracts concluded during 1989-1997 between the same two partners, both of whom participate in the personal computer industry, to explore whether and how firms learn to contract.
Abstract: Organizational forms involving more detailed contracts than are found in traditional spot market exchanges appear to be increasingly prevalent. There has been relatively little analysis, however, of the extent to which firms learn how to use contracts to manage their interfirm relationships over time. In this paper, we conduct a detailed case study of a time series of 11 contracts concluded during 1989-1997 between the same two partners, both of whom participate in the personal computer industry, to explore whether and how firms learn to contract. We find many changes to the structure of the contracts that cannot be fully explained by changes in the assets at risk in the relationship, and evidence that these changes are largely the result of processes in which the firms were learning how to work together, including learning how to contract with each other. The nature of this learning appears to have been quite incremental and local, that is, not very far sighted. We suggest how and when contracts might serve as repositories for knowledge about how to govern collaborations, and suggest some boundary conditions for this phenomenon. Our findings also provide implications for the debate about whether contracts have a positive or negative effect on interorganizational trust. We conclude with suggestions for future research.
881 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a case study on product development within a leading Scandinavian software producer and its interorganizational collaborations with business partners suggest how experiential learning processes of exploitation and exploration within the organizations concerned generate inter-organizational exploitation.
Abstract: This article examines a fundamental characteristic of modern organizations: the dynamics of exploitation and exploration in intra- and interorganizational learning processes. Exploitation is about creating reliability in experience, and thrives on productivity and refinement. Exploration is concerned with creating variety in experience, and thrives on experimentation and free association. The findings of a case study on product development within a leading Scandinavian software producer and its interorganizational collaborations with business partners suggest how experiential learning processes of exploitation and exploration within the organizations concerned generate interorganizational exploitation and exploration. Conversely, the data suggest how exploitation and exploration between the organizations generate intraorganizational exploitation and exploration. A conceptual framework describing the nature of such learning dynamics is proposed. This framework emphasizes that experiential learning is a driving force behind much intra- and interorganizational change in the form of transformations between exploitation and exploration.
672 citations
TL;DR: Using a coevolutionary approach, a framework is developed that shows how initial joint venture conditions give way to evolved conditions as joint venture partners develop an understanding of each other and adjust the collaborative process.
Abstract: This article examines the evolution of trust, control, and learning in a joint venture relationship. Using a coevolutionary approach, we develop a framework that shows how initial joint venture conditions give way to evolved conditions as joint venture partners develop an understanding of each other and adjust the collaborative process. We explore the relationship between trust and control in joint ventures and identify how these two critical concepts impact joint venture processes. We argue that trust, along with partner collaborative objectives, creates the initial climate that shapes partner interactions. In turn, these interactions lead to subsequent decisions about the nature of controls. We then examine linkages between alliance learning and the trust and control concepts, and argue that learning processes are central to evolving joint venture dynamics. Once the joint venture is formed, and if the initial conditions support continued collaboration, then learning processes will be central to evolving alliance dynamics. As initial conditions give way to evolved conditions, learning and trust will coevolve and impact decisions about control. Propositions linking the concepts are provided as guides for future empirical research.
662 citations
TL;DR: The stock market convulsions and corporate scandals of 2001 and 2002 have renewed debate on the purposes of the corporation and, in particular, the goal of shareholder value maximization as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The stock market convulsions and corporate scandals of 2001 and 2002 have reignited debate on the purposes of the corporation and, in particular, the goal of shareholder value maximization. We revisit the debate, re-examine the traditional rationales, and develop a set of new arguments for why the preferred objective function for the corporation must unambiguously continue to be the one that says "maximize shareholder value." We trace the origins of the debates from the late nineteenth century, their implications for accepted law and practice of corporate governance in the United States, and their reflection in shareholder versus stakeholder views in the organization studies literature and contractarian versus communitarian views in the legal literature. We address in detail possible critiques of the shareholder value maximization view. Although we recognize certain boundary constraints to our arguments, we conclude that the issues raised by such critiques and constraints are not unique to the shareholder value maximization view, but will exist even if the firm is managed on behalf of nonshareowning stakeholders.
655 citations
TL;DR: A moderator, causal ambiguity, is identified, which delineates the conditions as to when and how a recipient's perception of the trustworthiness of a source affects the effectiveness of the transfer of organizational practices.
Abstract: The recognition that better use of existing internal knowledge could enhance survival chances of organizations has spawned substantial interest in the transferability of routinized, experiential learning to additional settings within the organization. Previous research has established that trustworthiness of the source enhances such knowledge transfer. More recent work, however, suggests that this may not always be the case. Yet, little systematic attention has been paid to moderating conditions. The major purpose of this paper is to identify a moderator, causal ambiguity, which delineates the conditions as to when and how a recipient's perception of the trustworthiness of a source affects the effectiveness of the transfer of organizational practices.
TL;DR: The study's results suggest that China's more stable and supportive institutional environment has helped Chinese firms take a longer-term view of alliance partner selection, focusing more on the potential partner's intangible assets along with technological and managerial capabilities.
Abstract: China and Russia represent major economies in transition from command economies, yet their paths to the market have differed greatly. Their divergent approaches have helped create distinct institutional environments. This study focuses on a particularly important strategic decision firms face-alliance partner selection. The study's results suggest that China's more stable and supportive institutional environment has helped Chinese firms take a longer-term view of alliance partner selection, focusing more on the potential partner's intangible assets along with technological and managerial capabilities. In contrast, the less stable Russian institutional environment has influenced Russian managers to focus more on the short term, selecting partners that provide access to financial capital and complementary capabilities so as to enhance their firms' ability to weather that nation's turbulent environment. This study contributes to knowledge about the influence of the institutional environment on alliance partner selection decisions for firms domiciled in transition (and emerging) economies.
TL;DR: A multi-informant longitudinal research design in the European automotive industry investigating collaboration between and within teams shows that collaborative processes during the project have predictive properties in regard to later team performance and can serve as early warning indicators.
Abstract: Organizations increasingly set up multiteam projects for the development of highly complex products. While team research has emphasized the importance of team-internal processes for smaller scale projects, we know little about collaborative processes (especially between teams) in such large-scale projects. This study utilizes a multi-informant longitudinal research design on a product development project (39 teams, 36 months) in the European automotive industry investigating collaboration between and within teams. The results of the study demonstrate that interteam coordination, project commitment, and teamwork quality as rated by the team members at Time 1 (Month 12; end of concept phase) are significantly correlated to project managers' ratings of overall team performance at Time 3 (Month 36; end of project). The process variables measured at Time 2 (Month 24; end of design phase) display generally weaker correlations with team performance at Time 3. Multiple regression analyses further detail the effects of collaborative processes within and between teams on different measures of team performance (i.e., overall performance, quality, budget, schedule). The results show that collaborative processes during the project have predictive properties in regard to later team performance and can serve as early warning indicators. Furthermore, the results of this study provide support for our hypotheses predicting positive relationships between interteam coordination, project commitment, and teamwork quality. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.
TL;DR: This research employs both qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate how personal sources of information contribute to actionable knowledge and draws implications for the study of social capital and organizational learning.
Abstract: Research on information processing, managerial cognition, and social networks demonstrates that people rely on other people for information. However, this work has not specified how seeking information from others results in actionable knowledge--knowledge directed at making progress on relatively short-term projects. This research employs both qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate how personal sources of information contribute to actionable knowledge. Our qualitative study found that people cultivate different kinds of information relationships that are the source of 5 components of actionable knowledge: (1) solutions (both know-what and know-how), (2) referrals (pointers to other people or databases), (3) problem reformulation, (4) validation, and (5) legitimation. Our quantitative study revealed that, while source expertise predicted receipt of these components of actionable knowledge, so too did expertise of the seeker and features of the relationship between the seeker and source. We draw implications from these findings for the study of social capital and organizational learning.
TL;DR: Li et al. as discussed by the authors examined forms of OCB in the People's Republic of China (China), from a diverse sample of 158 employees and managers in 72 state-owned, collective, town and village, foreign-invested, and private enterprises in China, collected 726 OCB incidents or items that were commonly observed in the workplace.
Abstract: In recent years, Western scholars have increasingly emphasized the importance of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)-employees' behavior and actions that are not specifically designated in their formal job duties. Almost the entire body of empirical research on OCB is based on studies conducted in the United States, using U.S. employee populations as samples. Taking an inductive approach, we examined forms of OCB in the People's Republic of China (China). From a diverse sample of 158 employees and managers in 72 state-owned, collective, town and village, foreign-invested, and private enterprises in China, we collected 726 OCB incidents or items that were commonly observed in the workplace. We then subjected these to a content analysis to identify major forms of OCB. Results of our analysis revealed 10 dimensions of OCB, with at least one dimension not evident at all in the Western literature, and four that do not figure importantly in established OCB measures. The type of Organizations influenced the reporting of several forms of OCB. Results suggested that Chinese formulation of OCB differs from that in the West, and is embedded in its unique social and cultural context. We discuss these results in terms of their implications for future research in OCB.
TL;DR: This work introduces task representation and the task-expertise-person (TEP) unit as basic constructs involved in transactive memory development, and provides a dynamic model of how TEP units are constructed, evaluated, and utilized.
Abstract: Transactive memory is the shared division of cognitive labor with respect to the encoding, storage, retrieval, and communication of information from different knowledge domains, which often develops in groups and can lead to greater efficiency and effectiveness. Although discussions of transactive memory theory suggest that components of the theory are dynamic, research tends to treat transactive memory as evolving linearly, using static measures rather than assessing development over time. In response, we offer a model emphasizing both linear and cyclical aspects of transactive memory development in work groups, and we propose that task is a major influence on developmental processes. We introduce task representation and the task-expertise-person (TEP) unit as basic constructs involved in transactive memory development, and we provide a dynamic model of how TEP units are constructed, evaluated, and utilized. Regarding observable changes over time, we propose that transactive memory systems can vary in terms of accuracy (the degree to which group members' perceptions about others' task-related expertise are accurate), sharedness (the degree to which members have a shared representation of the transactive memory system), and validation (the degree to which group members participate in the transactive memory system). Convergence is the optimal state of transactive memory systems and reflects high levels of accuracy, sharedness, and validation.
TL;DR: The more entrepreneurial value orientations of the most recent Chinese generations appear to be compatible with organizational changes currently under way in China's state-owned sector.
Abstract: This study investigated the generation cohort value orientations of 774 Chinese and 784 U.S. managers and professionals. The three Chinese generations (Consolidation, Cultural Revolution, Social Reform) since the establishment of Communist China were significantly more open to change and self-enhancement but less conservative and self-transcendent than the Republican Era generation. The value orientations of U.S. generations (Generation X, Baby Boomer, Silent generation) followed an age-related pattern with the exception of self-transcendence values. The least similar value orientations were between Chinese and U.S. generations that had grown up during Communist China's closed-door policy. The more entrepreneurial value orientations of the most recent Chinese generations appear to be compatible with organizational changes currently under way in China's state-owned sector.
TL;DR: Light is shed on the role of imbalance among formal and informal controls as the key driver of shifts in control configurations, and a step toward making organizational control theory more dynamic is provided.
Abstract: This research examines data collected as part of a 10-year case study of the creation and evolution of organizational control during organizational founding. Past research has taken a cross-sectional approach to examining control use in mature, stable organizations. In contrast, this study examines organizational controls during the founding period and takes a longitudinal perspective on organizational control. By examining how organizational controls are created and evolve through specific phases of the founding period, the research also provides new data and insights about what drives shifts in the use of various types of control. Specifically, this research sheds light on the role of imbalance among formal and informal controls as the key driver of shifts in control configurations, and provides a step toward making organizational control theory more dynamic.
TL;DR: The psychobiological model is developed, which predicts variations in cognitive effort in computer-mediated collaborative tasks and proposes that the degree to which the medium supports an individual's ability to convey and listen to speech is particularly significant in defining its naturalness.
Abstract: This article reviews theories of organizational communication with a special emphasis on theories that have been used to explain computer-mediated communication phenomena. Among the theories reviewed, two--social presence and media richness--are identified as problematic and as posing obstacles to future theoretical development. While shortcomings of these theories have been identified in the past, some of these theories' predictions have been supported by empirical evidence. It is argued that this theoretical dilemma can be resolved based upon principles derived from a modern version of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection and the application of those principles to the understanding of human evolution. A new theoretical model called the psychobiological model is developed, which predicts variations in cognitive effort in computer-mediated collaborative tasks. The model proposes that there is a negative causal link between the "naturalness" of a computer-mediated communication medium, which is the similarity of the medium to the face-to-face medium, and the cognitive effort required from an individual using the medium for knowledge transfer. The model also states that this link is counterbalanced by what are referred to as "schema alignment" and "cognitive adaptation." The schema alignment construct refers to the similarity between the mental schemas of an individual and those of other participant(s). The cognitive adaptation construct refers to an individual's level of schema development associated with the use of a particular medium. Finally, the model states that the degree to which the medium supports an individual's ability to convey and listen to speech is particularly significant in defining its naturalness, more so than the medium's degree of support for the use of facial expressions and body language. An example is offered of how the psychobiological model can be tested in the context provided by the customer support area of an online broker.
TL;DR: Examination of venture capital decisions in the People's Republic of China found that entrepreneurs' social capital has significant effects on investment selection decisions of venture capitalists in interaction with growth potential and technology/products of the venture.
Abstract: This article examines the effect of entrepreneurs' social capital on investment decisions of venture capitalists. The empirical data is composed of 158 venture capital decisions in the People's Republic of China. We found that entrepreneurs' social capital has significant effects on investment selection decisions of venture capitalists in interaction with growth potential and technology/products of the venture. We also found that strong ties between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists have significant direct effects on investment process decisions such as contractual covenants, investment delivery, and venture valuation.
TL;DR: It is found that the negative effect of Guanxi practices varied as a function of guanxi bases: favoring a nephew or a hometown fellow lowered trust, but favoring a college schoolmate or a close friend did not.
Abstract: Taking a procedural justice perspective, we examined the effect of guanxi practices in human resources management (i.e., making human resources management decisions on the basis of personal relationships) on employees' trust in management in Chinese organizations. Two studies were conducted. In the first, a survey study, we found a negative effect of guanxi practices on trust in management, which was mediated by perceived procedural justice. In the second, an experimental study, we found that the negative effect of guanxi practices varied as a function of guanxi bases: favoring a nephew or a hometown fellow lowered trust, but favoring a college schoolmate or a close friend did not. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
TL;DR: It is argued that understanding resources through a social practice perspective enables us to understand more about the role of resources in change and provides a new way to understand organizational change.
Abstract: In this paper I argue that understanding resources through a social practice perspective enables us to understand more about the role of resources in change. In particular, social practice theory enables us to view resources in context as mutable sources of energy rather than as stable things that are independent of context, and to analyze the reciprocal relationship between actions and resources as they change. This approach to understanding resources requires an elaboration on current social practice theory and provides a new way to understand organizational change. This perspective is used to show how resources transform in unexpected ways as a result of change in organizational routines and how this transformation of resources makes resistance to change difficult to predict.
TL;DR: This work explores the characteristics and contributions of a dialectical lens in understanding interorganizational collaborations by invoking a longitudinal case study of a biotechnology-based alliance and highlights the importance of treating alliances as heterogeneous phenomena.
Abstract: Using Van de Ven and Poole's (1995) extensive assessment of process theories as an intellectual scaffold, we review theoretical contributions to our understanding of alliance dynamics and process. It appears that of four generic theoretical engines, only three-life cycle, teleology, and evolution-are reasonably well covered in this literature. Process studies informed by a dialectical theory, however, appear to be markedly absent. We explore the characteristics and contributions of a dialectical lens in understanding interorganizational collaborations by invoking a longitudinal case study of a biotechnology-based alliance. The case illustrates the coevolutionary interchange of design and emergence, cooperation and competition, trust and vigilance, expansion and contraction, and control and autonomy. It also emphasizes the importance of treating alliances as heterogeneous phenomena, of alliance performance as subject to social construction, and of unintended consequences as a change agent. The emerging ontological, epistemological, and methodological implications of a dialectical perspective comprise a novel extension to the existing literature.
TL;DR: This paper documents emotion as integral to stakeholders' sense making of a key organizational artifact, demonstrating that emotion toward artifacts blends into emotion toward the organization.
Abstract: This paper documents emotion as integral to stakeholders' sense making of a key organizational artifact, demonstrating that emotion toward artifacts blends into emotion toward the organization. Multiple stakeholders were interviewed about an artifact of a large public transportation organization. Sense making of the artifact is shown to involve emotion in interpretations that consider three dimensions of the artifact--instrumentality, aesthetics, and symbolism. Instrumentality relates to the tasks the artifact helps accomplish, aesthetics is the sensory reaction to the artifact, and symbolism regards associations the artifact elicits. The analysis demonstrates that sense making of these three dimensions includes unsolicited emotion both toward the artifact and toward the organization. Emotion that surfaces in sense making of organizational artifacts is, thus, suggested to be what links interpretation of artifacts and attitudes toward organizations. This paper lays foundations for a theory of organizational artifacts that can guide both thoughtful research and effective management of artifacts in organizations.
TL;DR: The study demonstrates the value of conceptualizing evolution in terms of emergence, highlighting distinctions between the nascent complexity approach to evolution and the neo-Darwinian evolutionary approach that has dominated the theoretical conversation in organization science for the past generation.
Abstract: We draw on complexity theory to explain the emergence of a new organizational collective, and we provide a much-needed empirical test of the theory at the collective level of analysis. Taking a case study approach, we use four dynamics of emergence posited by complexity theory's dissipative structures model--fluctuation, positive feedback, stabilization, and recombination--to explain how a collective of live musical performance theaters in Branson, Missouri, came into being and periodically transformed itself over a 100-year period. Our findings suggest a strong match between the theoretical perspective employed and the empirical processes uncovered, empirically validating the model at the collective level. The study demonstrates the value of conceptualizing evolution in terms of emergence, highlighting distinctions between the nascent complexity approach to evolution and the neo-Darwinian evolutionary approach that has dominated the theoretical conversation in organization science for the past generation. Our findings complement the insights of the dominant theoretical perspectives in organization theory, providing a more comprehensive understanding of organizational evolution by directly addressing the heretofore intractable phenomenon of emergence.
TL;DR: Findings suggest a need to revise certain assumptions regarding the nature of the employee-employer exchange relationship in China and in similar transitional societies.
Abstract: This study investigates the contribution of organizational support and personal relations in accounting for Chinese workers' affective commitment to the organization for which they work and their organizational citizenship behavior. In a sample of 605 matched cases of employees and their immediate supervisors from a large, reformed state-owned firm, organizational support was found to relate to affective commitment more strongly than to organizational citizenship behavior. Personal relations, however, were found to relate similarly to affective commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. Moderator effects are evident with the less-traditional Chinese employees manifesting greater citizenship behavior than do more-traditional Chinese, in response to a high-quality relationship with their supervisor. More-traditional Chinese contribute citizenship behavior that is moderately high, regardless of the quality of their relationship with their supervisor. These findings suggest a need to revise certain assumptions regarding the nature of the employee-employer exchange relationship in China and in similar transitional societies.
TL;DR: The empirical context of China today is described, contemporary research on Chinese management and organizations is reviewed, and a close examination of how massive corporate transformation in China has influenced interfirm relationships, affected opportunity structures and social processes, and modified individual behaviors within firms is provided.
Abstract: Twenty-five years of economic reform has propelled China to the center of the world's economic stage. Based on current trends, in the foreseeable future China is likely to become the largest economy in the world. China's dramatic growth may be envied by other developing economies, but for management scholars it presents an exciting intellectual puzzle. In this paper we describe the empirical context of China today, review contemporary research on Chinese management and organizations, and describe the nine papers in this special issue ofOrganization Science. The papers provide a close examination of how massive corporate transformation in China has influenced interfirm relationships, affected opportunity structures and social processes, and modified individual behaviors within firms. We identify the many paradoxes in this intellectual terrain and present a guide to the challenging research agenda ahead. We recommend that scholars of organizations think deeply about China as a context and consider China as an empirical setting where the boundaries of existing knowledge on organizations can be extended.
TL;DR: The findings from this field study of teams from four firms show that local learning and distal learning are positively related to group efficiency and group innovativeness, respectively, and preliminary evidence to suggest that tensions can arise from simultaneously managing both types of group learning because a high level of group cohesion increasesdistal learning but decreases local learning.
Abstract: There is increasing recognition that group members learn not only within the group (i.e., local learning), but also externally (i.e., distal learning), and these two group learning processes may facilitate group performance in different ways. Yet, despite this recognition, there is much that is not understood about whether they complement or inhibit each other in affecting group performance, and whether group social and task conditions that foster one type of learning do so at the expense of the other. The findings from this field study of teams from four firms show that (1) local learning and distal learning are positively related to group efficiency and group innovativeness, respectively; (2) distal learning negatively interacts with local learning to impede group efficiency; and (3) high levels of group cohesion promote distal learning but diminish local learning. Overall, these findings suggest that there are not only performance trade-offs to engaging in either only local or distal learning, but also performance disadvantages to engaging in both types of group learning because distal learning impedes local learning from achieving a high level of group efficiency. In addition, there is preliminary evidence to suggest that tensions can arise from simultaneously managing both types of group learning because a high level of group cohesion increases distal learning but decreases local learning.
TL;DR: All of the different dimensions of CEO pay were related to power distance, leading us to infer that CEO pay in a culture is most reflective of the strength of the power structure in a society, and total compensation and the ratio of variable pay to total pay are related to individualism.
Abstract: The theory and research on chief executive officer (CEO) compensation tends to be dominated by assumptions and values reflective of those dominant in the national culture of the United States, where most of this work is done. This suggests that an underlying theme focuses on how CEO compensation is related to instrumental choices made in a competitive, capitalist culture. This study seeks to expand the understanding of CEO compensation by examining it in the context of other cultures, based on the premise that national culture plays a significant part in the nature of compensation strategies.We relate cultural dimensions (uncertainty avoidance, power distance, individualism, and masculinity-femininity) developed by Hofstede (Hofstede 1980a, 2001) to several dimensions of CEO compensation. These dimensions are total CEO pay, the proportion of variable pay to total compensation, and the ratio of CEO pay to the lowest level employees. The main findings of our paper are (1) all of the different dimensions of CEO pay were related to power distance, leading us to infer that CEO pay in a culture is most reflective of the strength of the power structure in a society, and (2) total compensation and the ratio of variable pay to total pay are related to individualism.We conclude that cultural dimensions can contribute to understanding cross-national CEO compensation. The implication of this conclusion is that there are different ways that CEO compensation fits into the cognitive schema of various cultures and, furthermore, that these cognitive schema vary across societies that affect the nature of the "cultural matrix into which [money] is incorporated" (Bloch and Parry 1989, p. 1). Moreover, our results imply that particular forms of CEO compensation do not mean the same thing in different cultures, but rather carry different symbolic connotations depending on the values dominant in a society. Thus, not only does the compensation structure of a firm within a culture have a symbolic meaning within organizations (e.g., Trice and Beyer 1993), but it can also be seen as an expression of deeper social values (Hofstede et al. 1990) that may differ across countries.
TL;DR: It is shown that toxic decision processes are triggered by issues that are sensitive, ambiguous, and nonurgent and identified several mechanisms that connect actors' emotions and actions, over time creating a toxic decision process that leads to the cumulative buildup and diffusion of toxicity.
Abstract: This paper addresses the role of emotion in organizational decision making. Grounding our research in the decision process literature, we introduce the concept of "toxic decision processes": organizational decision processes that generate widespread negative emotion in an organization through the recursive interplay of members' actions and negative emotions. We draw on a longitudinal, qualitative analysis of six toxic decision processes to develop a model that describes the three phases--inertia, detonation, and containment--through which these processes unfold. Each phase is characterized by distinctive sets of interactions among decision makers and other organizational members, and by emotions such as anxiety, fear, shame, anger, and embarrassment, that shape and are shaped by these interactions. We show that toxic decision processes are triggered by issues that are sensitive, ambiguous, and nonurgent and identify several mechanisms that connect actors' emotions and actions, over time creating a toxic decision process that leads to the cumulative buildup and diffusion of toxicity. These mechanisms include the construction of a "danger zone" around the issue that is avoided by all parties, the spread of negative emotion through processes of empathetic transmission and emotional contagion, and the suppression of widespread negative emotion that leads to the development of a volatile emotional context for future decision making. This study has important implications for the decision process literature, revealing how the different lenses through which decision making is usually viewed are connected by the emotionality that runs through each of them.