Showing papers on "Organizational culture published in 2000"
Journal Article•
TL;DR: A community of practice is a group of people informally bound together by shared expertise and passion for a joint enterprise as mentioned in this paper, which can drive strategy, generate new lines of business, solve problems, promote the spread of best practices, develop people's skills, and help companies recruit and retain talent.
Abstract: A community of practice is a group of people informally bound together by shared expertise and passion for a joint enterprise People in companies form them for a variety of reasons-to maintain connections with peers when the company reorganizes; to respond to external changes such as the rise of e-commerce; to meet new challenges when the company changes strategy authors have seen communities of practice improve performance at companies as diverse as an international bank, a major car manufacturer, and a US government agency Communities of practice can drive strategy, generate new lines of business, solve problems, promote the spread of best practices, develop people's skills, and help companies recruit and retain talent The paradox of such communities is that although they are self-organizing and thus resistant to supervision and interference, they do require specific managerial efforts to develop them and integrate them into an organization Only then can they be fully leveraged
3,699 citations
Book•
08 Nov 2000
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a model of organizations as interpretation systems, which they call collective mind in organizations, and the notion of collective mind as a Mindset for Organizational Analysis.
Abstract: Acknowledgments. Introduction. Part I: Organizations as Contexts for Sensemaking:. Introduction. 1. Sensemaking in Organizations: Small Structures with Large Consequences. 2. Sources of Order in Underorganized Systems: Themes in Recent Organizational Theory. 3. Organizational Redesign as Improvisation. Part II: Components of Sensemaking:. Introduction. Ecological Change. 4. The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations: The Mann Gulch Disaster. 5. The Vulnerable System: An Analysis of the Tenerife Air Disaster. 6. Technology as Equivoque: Sense--making in New Technologies. Enactment. 7. Enactment Processes in Organizations. 8. Enactment and the Boundaryless Career. 9. Enacted Sensemaking in Crisis Situations. Selection. 10. Toward a Model of Organizations as Interpretation Systems. 11. Collective Mind in Organizations: Heedful Interrelating on Flight Decks. 12. Improvisation as a Mindset for Organizational Analysis. Retention. 13. Organizational Culture as a Source of High Reliability. 14. Organizations as Cause Maps. 15. Substitutes for Corporate Strategy. 16. The Attitude of Wisdom: Ambivalence as the Optimal Compromise. 17. Management of Organizational Change Among Loosely Coupled Elements. 18. Organization Design: Organizations as Self--Designing Systems. 19. Small Wins: Redefining the Scale of Social Problems. 20. Cosmos vs. Chaos: Sense and Nonsense in the Electronic Contexts. 21. Sensemaking as an Organizational Dimension of Global Change. Index.
2,331 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify four ways in which culture influences the behaviors central to knowledge creation, sharing, and use, and suggest specific actions managers can take to assess the different aspects of culture most likely to influence knowledgerelated behaviors.
Abstract: Executive Overview Organizational culture is increasingly recognized as a major barrier to leveraging intellectual assets. This article identifies four ways in which culture influences the behaviors central to knowledge creation, sharing, and use. First, culture—and particularly subcultures—shape assumptions about what knowledge is and which knowledge is worth managing. Second, culture defines the relationships between individual and organizational knowledge, determining who is expected to control specific knowledge, as well as who must share it and who can hoard it. Third, culture creates the context for social interaction that determines how knowledge will be used in particular situations. Fourth, culture shapes the processes by which new knowledge—with its accompanying uncertainties—is created, legitimated, and distributed in organizations. These four perspectives suggest specific actions managers can take to assess the different aspects of culture most likely to influence knowledge-related behaviors. ...
1,942 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that safety climate might be considered an alternative safety performance indicator and that research should focus on its scientific validity.
1,696 citations
TL;DR: This paper developed a model of organizational identity construction that reframes organizational identity within the broader context of manager-stakeholder relationships and more effectively integrates theory on organizational identity and organizational identification.
Abstract: We develop a model of organizational identity construction that reframes organizational identity within the broader context of manager-stakeholder relationships and more effectively integrates theory on organizational identity and organizational identification We describe organizational identity as emerging from complex, dynamic, and reciprocal interactions among managers, organizational members, and other stakeholders The model draws attention to organizational identity as negotiated cognitive images and to the embeddedness of organizational identity within different systems of organizational membership and meaning Viewing organizational identity from the perspective of manager-stakeholder relationships provides a more parsimonious but more complete theory of organizational identity management
1,344 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a multilayer model of market-oriented organizational culture is developed, which draws an explicit distinction among values that support market orientation, norms for market orientation and artifacts indicating high and low market orientation.
Abstract: Previous research addressing market orientation from a cultural perspective typically has used behavioral measures of this construct. Drawing on literature in the fields of organizational theory and marketing, the authors develop a multilayer model of market-oriented organizational culture. They draw an explicit distinction among values that support market orientation, norms for market orientation, artifacts indicating high and low market orientation, and market-oriented behaviors. On the basis of qualitative research and a subsequent survey, the authors develop scales for measuring the different layers of market-oriented culture and analyze relationships among the different components of market-oriented culture. Findings indicate that artifacts play a crucial role in determining behavior within organizations. Results also indicate that a market-oriented culture influences financial performance indirectly through market performance and that this relationship is stronger in highly dynamic markets.
1,274 citations
TL;DR: A reciprocal model of safety culture drawn from Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) is offered in this article to provide both a theoretical and practical framework with which to measure and analyse safety culture.
1,204 citations
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: The second edition as discussed by the authors provides an overview of current research, theory and practice in this expanding field and provides an unprecedented coverage of topics relating to both culture and climate of modern organizations.
Abstract: The Second Edition provides an overview of current research, theory and practice in this expanding field. The editorial team and the authors come from diverse professional and geographical backgrounds, and provide an unprecedented coverage of topics relating to both culture and climate of modern organizations.
1,162 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship between leadership style and performance and found that the relationship is mediated by the form of organizational culture that is present, and concluded with a number of implications for theory and practice.
Abstract: The topics of leadership and organizational culture have attracted considerable interest from both academics and practitioners. Much of the interest in the two areas is based on explicit and implicit claims that both leadership and culture are linked to organizational performance. However, while the links between leadership and performance and between culture and performance have been examined independently, few studies have investigated the association between the three concepts. This paper examines the nature of this relationship and presents empirical evidence which suggests that the relationship between leadership style and performance is mediated by the form of organizational culture that is present. The paper concludes with a number of implications for theory and practice.
1,058 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a synthesis of the general dimensions of organizational culture used most commonly in extant research and outline how these general dimensions correspond to the specific values and beliefs underlying total quality management (TQM) practice.
Abstract: We present a synthesis of the general dimensions of organizational culture used most commonly in extant research and outline how these general dimensions correspond to the specific values and beliefs underlying total quality management (TQM) practice (a comprehensive change initiative). We argue that the relationship between culture and implementation of new behaviors and practices has not been adequately explored because of the lack of a comprehensive framework for defining and measuring organizational cultures. Our framework presents a necessary step in moving toward culture as a useful explanatory concept in organizational research.
950 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between culture and four personality characteristics commonly associated with entrepreneurial motivation and demonstrated systematic variation in entrepreneurial characteristics across cultures, raising important questions about the boundaries of international entrepreneurship research and the challenges of transcending them.
Abstract: As international entrepreneurship gains momentum as a significant and relevant field of research, scholars need to address methodological issues that can facilitate the triangulation of research results. In this paper, we examine the relationship between culture and four personality characteristics commonly associated with entrepreneurial motivation. By demonstrating systematic variation in entrepreneurial characteristics across cultures, we raise important questions about the boundaries of international entrepreneurship research and the challenges of transcending them.
TL;DR: Partnering in construction has been presented as a potentially important way of improving construction project performance through the direct benefits it can bring to both clients and contractors However, there is still considerable debate about the nature and merits of a partnering approach.
Abstract: Partnering in construction has been presented as a potentially important way of improving construction project performance through the direct benefits it can bring to both clients and contractors However, there is still considerable debate about the nature and merits of a partnering approach This paper attempts to contribute towards this debate by exploring the presumed link between partnering and cultural change within the industry, at both organizational and interorganizational levels of analysis To do so, it draws upon theory and research from the social sciences (especially organizational theory) to explore some of the issues, problems and dilemmas which emerge when full and proper account is taken of the complexities of organizations, as well as some of the subtleties and intricacies of the concept of organizational culture The paper concludes that it is only by fully appreciating the effects of such complexity that a more realistic and practical approach to the development and implementation of
TL;DR: This paper addresses the issue of how cultural change needs to be wrought alongside structural reorganisation and systems reform to bring about a culture in which excellence can flourish in such a complex system as health care.
Abstract: “ A student of management and organisation theory could only be stunned by how little the efforts to improve quality [in health care] have learnt from current thinking in management and from the experience of other industries .” Christian Koeck BMJ 1998; 317: 1267–8.
Health policy in much of the developed world is concerned with assessing and improving the quality of health care. The USA, in particular, has identified specific concerns over quality issues12 and a recent report from the Institute of Medicine pointed to the considerable toll of medical errors.3 In the UK a series of scandals has propelled quality issues to centre stage45 and made quality improvement a key policy area.6
But how are quality improvements to be wrought in such a complex system as health care? A recent issue of Quality in Health Care was devoted to considerations of organisational change in health care, calling it “the key to quality improvement”.7 In discussing how such change can be managed, the authors of one of the articles asserted that cultural change needs to be wrought alongside structural reorganisation and systems reform to bring about “a culture in which excellence can flourish”.8 A review of policy changes in the UK over the past two decades shows that these appeals for cultural change are not new but have appeared in various guises (box 1). However, talk of “culture” and “culture change” beg some difficult questions about the nature of the underlying substrate to which change programmes are applied. What is “organisational culture” anyway? It is to this issue that this paper is addressed.Many previous policy reforms in the National Health Service (NHS) have invoked the notion of cultural change. In the early 1980s the reforms inspired by Sir Roy Griffiths led …
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a framework that includes the constructs of data, information, knowledge, and wisdom, and each of these constructs is associated with a different type of learning.
Abstract: To improve our understanding of the impact of organizational learning and knowledge on competitive advantage, we propose a framework that includes the constructs of data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. Each of these constructs is then associated with a different type of learning. We further argue that wisdom is an important, albeit missing, construct in the knowledge‐based theory of the firm. A key to organizational wisdom is judgement and decision making, which requires an understanding of the complexity of a situation, but also requires the ability to make sense and simplify so that action can be taken. Three important drivers for the development of organizational wisdom are experience, a passion to learn, and spirituality. Processes for acquiring organizational wisdom such as transformational leadership, organizational culture and knowledge transfer are also discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe a joint industry and UK Health and Safety Executive research project on the assessment of safety culture in offshore environments and describe the development of a safety culture assessment methodology which is based on a systems approach to organisational culture.
TL;DR: The authors locates the notion of safety culture within its parent concept of organisational culture, and draws a distinction between functionalist and interpretive perspectives on organizational culture, as well as a contrast between strategic top-down and data-driven bottom-up approaches to human factors.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe work by a research group bringing a middle school inquiry and technology science innovation to scale in a systemic urban school reform setting, and pose a framework for use by developers of instructional interventions to gauge their "fit" with existing school capabilities, policy and management structures, and organizational culture.
Abstract: This article describes work by a research group bringing a middle-school inquiry and technology science innovation to scale in a systemic urban school reform setting. We distinguish between scaling and scaling within systemic reform. We pose a framework for use by developers of instructional interventions to gauge their "fit" with existing school capabilities, policy and management structures, and organizational culture, and illustrate how the framework exemplifies our experiences. We present challenges for researchers to consider as they attempt to create usable innovations and facilitate their adoption, enactment, and maintenance by school systems. Finally, we call for new approaches to the study of these problems outlining how systemic innovation challenges traditional evaluation and experimental methods.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify constructs that are supportive of an innovative culture in small to medium-sized enterprises, using a sample of 429 employees in 23 small-to-medium-sized manufacturing firms.
Abstract: The current research identifies constructs that are supportive of an innovative culture in small to medium-sized enterprises. A sample of 429 employees in 23 small to medium-sized manufacturing fir...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on six organisations in the Queensland public sector which have been encouraged to depart from traditional bureaucratic values and to adopt a greater emphasis on change, flexibility, entrepreneurialism, outcomes, efficiency and productivity.
Abstract: A process of organisational change has accompanied managerial reforms in the public sector and is oriented towards the development of a post‐bureaucratic organisational culture. However, there remains a limited empirical understanding of culture in public organisations. Contributes to an understanding of organisational culture in the public sector through survey research that analyses culture by reference to the competing values of internal/external orientation and control/flexibility. Focuses on six organisations in the Queensland public sector which have been encouraged to depart from traditional bureaucratic values and to adopt a greater emphasis on change, flexibility, entrepreneurialism, outcomes, efficiency and productivity. Suggests, however, that public sector organisations continue to emphasise the values of a bureaucratic or hierarchical organisational culture.
TL;DR: This paper examined the effects of two measures of fit on newcomers' commitment and turnover intentions, P-O fit and P-P fit, and found that newcomers' concern for people and concern for goal accomplishment was related to organizational commitment.
Abstract: This study examined the effects of two measures of fit on newcomers' commitment and turnover intentions, P-O fit and P-P fit. Newcomers preferences for organizational cultures were compared with supervisors' and peers' perceptions of organizational culture (P-O fit) and with their preferences for organizational culture (P-P fit). The supervisors and peers that were involved had been the newcomer's recruiters during the selection procedure and they had hired the newcomer. Subjects' culture preferences and perceptions yielded two dimensions of organizational culture: concern for people and concern for goal accomplishment. Results revealed that newcomers' concern for people P-P fit with their supervisor was related to organizational commitment and turnover intentions. P-O fit measures for both dimensions of organizational culture were not related to newcomer affective outcomes.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the transfer of local market knowledge within a diversified firm as its divisions expand into a new host country and found that both the nature of local knowledge itself and differences in organizational structures significantly influence the extent of internal knowledge transfer among divisions.
Abstract: This study examines the transfer of local market knowledge within the diversified firm as its divisions expand into a new host country. Within the U.S.-based corporations in our sample, both the nature of local market knowledge itself and differences in organizational structures significantly influence the extent of internal knowledge transfer among divisions. The results suggest that as firms expand into new international markets, their organizational learning processes differ significantly.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined intra-industry productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI) in the UK manufacturing sector and found that the very presence of FDI has a positive spillover impact on the productivity of UK owned firms.
Abstract: This paper examines intra-industry productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI) in the UK manufacturing sector. The empirical analysis uses panel data for 48 UK industries over the period 1991–1995. A major contribution is empirical evidence on spillover effects in situations where the host country is developed. The results indicate that the very presence of FDI has a positive spillover impact on the productivity of UK-owned firms. The analysis also shows that the extent to which local firms benefit from the introduction of advanced technology depends largely on their own technological capabilities.
TL;DR: In this article, a model of cultural negotiation linking organizational events with issue domains was proposed as points of departure for negotiations. But they found that structural/contextual influences together with individuals' culturally determined sense-making with regard to specific organizational events are more useful determinants of negotiated outcomes.
Abstract: This study expands theoretical research on negotiated culture by testing basic assumptions in the context of a German-Japanese joint venture. Data collected by semi-structured interviews are analyzed using textual analysis software to uncover key issues that became catalysts for negotiation. Results include a model of cultural negotiation linking organizational events with issue domains as points of departure for negotiations. Results show that aggregate models of cultural difference are useful only to the extent that they serve as latent conceptual anchors guiding individuals' cultural responses to events. The study shows that structural/contextual influences together with individuals' culturally determined sense-making with regard to specific organizational events are more useful determinants of negotiated outcomes. Authors conclude that, while it is unlikely we can predict organizational culture formation in complex cultural organizations, we can understand the process of cultural negotiation and as a ...
TL;DR: Knowledge work has been defined as a profession, a characteristic of individuals, and as an individual activity as mentioned in this paper, and it is seen as a discretionary behavior in organizations, where employees are likely to engage in knowledge work to the extent that they have the ability, motivation, and opportunity to do so.
Abstract: Knowledge work has been defined as a profession, a characteristic of individuals, and as an individual activity. We review and critique these definitions of knowledge work and propose that knowledge work is best understood as discretionary behavior in organizations. As such, knowledge work is understood to comprise the creation of knowledge, the application of knowledge, the transmission of knowledge, and the acquisition of knowledge. Each of these activities is seen as a discretionary behavior. Employees are likely to engage in knowledge work to the extent that they have the (a) ability, (b) motivation, and (c) opportunity to do so. The task of managing knowledge work is focused on establishing these conditions. Organizational characteristics such as transformational leadership, job design, social interaction and organizational culture are identified as potential predictors of ability, motivation and opportunity. Implications for further research and practice are identified.
TL;DR: Results suggest that organizational structure and design should play a more prominent role in the authors' thinking about organizational fairness.
Abstract: This study explored the relationship between 3 dimensions of organizational structure--centralization, formalization, and size--and perceptions of procedural and interactional fairness. Data from 11 organizations (N = 209) indicated that, as predicted, centralization was negatively related to perceptions of procedural fairness, and organizational size was negatively related to interactional fairness. However, contrary to predictions, formalization was not related to perceptions of procedural fairness. Results suggest that organizational structure and design should play a more prominent role in our thinking about organizational fairness.
TL;DR: Results suggest that organizational learning in the purchasing process is influenced by the organizational culture factors of localness, transformational leadership, and openness, which has a positive effect on information processing in the Purchasing system, which have a positive influence on the cycle time of the purchasingprocess.
Abstract: This research examines a model centered on organizational learning in purchasing. Two different studies are conducted to test the hypotheses among purchasing users (Study 1) and buyers (Study 2). The user sample consists of users representing 355 strategic business units of a Fortune 500 multinational corporation. The buyer sample consists of corporate buyers of 200 multinational corporations drawn from the membership directory of the National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM). In each study, the focus is on the learning relationships between corporate buyers and internal users in the purchasing organization. Based on the two studies, the results suggest that organizational learning in the purchasing process is influenced by the organizational culture factors of localness, transformational leadership, and openness. Organizational learning has a positive effect on information processing in the purchasing system, which, in turn, has a positive influence on the cycle time of the purchasing process.
TL;DR: In this paper, a study of front line employees in four textile plants located in the Southeastern United States was used to examine how organizational culture may support empowerment efforts and found that organizational cultures that were perceived as being more collective and more doing-oriented were related to significantly greater perceptions of empowerment.
TL;DR: The authors developed a comprehensive cultural construct to explain and forecast tourists' behaviour and quality judgements, and a destination value chain is depicted to capture the possible influence of culture and cultural values on tourism behaviour.
Abstract: This article develops a comprehensive cultural construct to explain and forecast tourists’ behaviour and quality judgements. A destination value chain is depicted to capture the possible influence of culture and cultural values on tourism behaviour. Cultural norms have an impact on both tourists’ expectations and their perceptions of received service quality for any of the six service elements frequently employed in tourism analyses. Tourism service encounters take place in the context of a tourism culture which is formed by four components: the national/regional settings of the tourist and the host region, the tourists’ various subcultures and the organisational culture of tourism enterprises in the tourism receiving region. A differentiated approach is developed which distinguishes between global, national and sub‐national cultural constructs.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the effects of several dimensions of internationalization on the behavior of MNCs' top management teams, including personal presence in foreign markets, their participation in meetings about international strategic issues, and their tacit knowledge of the firms' international business activities.
Abstract: This study investigates the effects of several dimensions of internationalization on the behavior of MNCs’ top management teams. The effects include top executives’ personal presence in foreign markets, their participation in meetings about international strategic issues, and their tacit knowledge of the firms’ international business activities.