Showing papers on "Organizational culture published in 2009"

What leaders really do

Abstract: Leadership is different from management, but not for the reasons most people think. Leadership isn't mystical and mysterious. It has nothing to do with having "charisma" or other exotic personality traits. It is not the province of a chosen few. Nor is leadership necessarily better than management or a replacement for it. Rather, leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary systems of action. Each has its own function and characteristic activities. Both are necessary for success in today's business environment. Management is about coping with complexity. Its practices and procedures are largely a response to the emergence of large, complex organizations in the twentieth century. Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change. Part of the reason it has become so important in recent years is that the business world has become more competitive and more volatile. More change always demands more leadership. Most U. S. corporations today are overmanaged and underled. They need to develop their capacity to exercise leadership. Successful corporations don't wait for leaders to come along. They actively seek out people with leadership potential and expose them to career experiences designed to develop that potential. Indeed, with careful selection, nurturing, and encouragement, dozens of people can play important leadership roles in a business organization. But while improving their ability to lead, companies should remember that strong leadership with weak management is no better, and is sometimes actually worse, than the reverse. The real challenge is to combine strong leadership and strong management and use each to balance the other.

Constructing Markets and Shaping Boundaries: Entrepreneurial Power in Nascent Fields

Abstract: We examine how entrepreneurs shape organizational boundaries and construct markets through an inductive, longitudinal study of five ventures. Our central contribution is a framework of how successful entrepreneurs attempt to dominate nascent markets by co-constructing organizational boundaries and market niches using three processes: claiming, demarcating, and controlling a market. We propose that power is the underlying boundary logic and indicate the “soft-power” strategies by which entrepreneurs compete in highly ambiguous markets. Overall, we develop a holistic view of organizational boundaries and offer insights into institutional entrepreneurship and resource dependence theories. Our most important contribution is reinvigorating the study of interorganizational power.

Radical Innovation Across Nations: The Preeminence of Corporate Culture

Abstract: Radical innovation is an important driver of the growth, success, and wealth of firms and nations. Because of its importance, authors across various disciplines have proposed many theories about the drivers of such innovation, including government policy and labor, capital, and culture at the national level. The authors contrast these theories with one based on the corporate culture of the firm. They test their theory using survey and archival data from 759 firms across 17 major economies of the world. The results suggest the following: First, among the factors studied, corporate culture is the strongest driver of radical innovation across nations; culture consists of three attitudes and three practices. Second, the commercialization of radical innovations translates into a firm's financial performance; it is a stronger predictor of financial performance than other popular measures, such as patents. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.

The SAGE handbook of organizational research methods

Abstract: The Organizational Research Context: Properties and Implications - David A Buchanan and Alan Bryman PART ONE: DILEMMAS: THE SHIFTING CONTEXT OF ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH Organizational Research as Alternative Ways of Attending to and Talking about Structures and activities - Stanley Deetz Interpretivism in Organizational Research: On Elephants and Blind Researchers - Dvora Yanow and Sierk Ybema Critical Methodology in Management and Organization Research - Mats Alvesson and Karen Lee Ashcraft Research Ethics: Regulations and Responsibilities - Emma Bell and Edward Wray-Bliss Rhetoric and Evidence: The Case of Evidence-Based Management - Mark Learmonth PART TWO: AGENDAS: THE BROADENING FOCUS OF ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH Leadership Research: Traditions, Developments and Current Directions - Michael D Mumford et al Endless Crossroads: Debates, Deliberations and Disagreements on Studying Organizational Culture - Pushkala Prasad and Anshuman Prasad Doing Power Work - Stewart Clegg The Deinstitutionalization of Institutional Theory?: Exploring Divergent Agendas in Institutional Research - Robert J David and Alex B Bitektine Methodological Issues in Researching Institutional Change - Roy Suddaby and Royston Greenwood Job Satisfaction in Organizational Research - Alannah E Rafferty and Mark A Griffin Studying organizational populations over time - Glenn R Carroll et al 'Do You Do Beautiful Things?' Aesthetics and Art in Qualitative Methods of Organization Studies - Antonio Strati Feminist Perspectives on Gender in Organizational Research: What Is and Yet to Be - Marta Calas and Linda Smircich Researching Work and Institutions through Ethnographic Documentaries - John S Hassard PART THREE: STRATEGIES: APPROACHES TO ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH Craving for Generality and Small-N Studies: A Wittgensteinian Approach towards the Epistemology of the Particular in Organization and Management Studies - Haridimos Tsoukas Implications of Research Design Options for the Validity of Inferences Derived from Organizational Research - Eugene F Stone-Romero Cross-Cultural Comparative Studies and Issues in International Research Collaboration - Mark F Peterson Common Method Variance or Measurement Bias?: The Problem and Possible Solutions - Paul E Spector and Michael T Brannick Collaborative Research: Renewing Action and Governing Science - Jean-Louis Denis and Pascale Lehoux Grounded Theory Perspectives in Organizational Research - Christina Goulding Archival Research in Organizations in a Digital Age - Michael Moss Studying Processes In and Around Organizations - Ann Langley Critical Realism: Philosophy, Method, or Philosophy in Search of a Method? - Michael I Reed PART FOUR: METHODS: DATA COLLECTION IN ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH Response Rates and Sample Representativeness: Indentifying Contextual Response Drivers - Timothy R Hinkin and Brooks C Holtom Comparative Case Study Designs: Their Utility and Development in Organizational Research - Louise Fitzgerald and Sue Dopson Conversation Analysis in Organizational Research - David Greatbatch Interviews in Organizational Research - Catherine Cassell Mixed Methods in Organizational Research - Alan Bryman Research Designs for Realist Research - Stephen Ackroyd Discourse Analysis in Organizational Research: Methods and Debates - Nelson Phillips and MariaLaura Di Domenico Visual Methods in Organizational Research - Samantha Warren Narrative and Stories in Organizational Research: an Exploration of Gendered Politics in Research Methodology - Carl Rhodes and Alison Pullen Ethnography in Organizational Settings - Gary Alan Fine, Calvin Morrill and Sharmi Surianarain From Modern Times to Syriana: Feature Films as Research Data - John S Hassard and David A Buchanan Measurement in the Organizational Sciences: Conceptual and Technological Advances - Charles A Scherbaum and Adam W Meade Making Visible the Hidden: Researching 'off-the-Books' Work - Colin C Williams and Monder Ram Producing a Systematic Review - David Denyer and David Tranfield Organizational Autoethnography - Ken Parry and Maree Boyle PART FIVE: CONCLUSION: THE FUTURE OF ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH The Present and Futures of Organizational Research - Alan Bryman and David A Buchanan

Employee Engagement : Tools for Analysis, Practice, and Competitive Advantage

Abstract: Series Editor's Preface Preface Acknowledgments 1. Engaging Engagement How Engagement Makes a Difference and What Engagement Is The Business Case for Employee Engagement Engagement as Psychic Energy: On the Inside Engagement as Behavioral Energy: How Engagement Looks to Others How an Engaged Workforce Creates Positive Financial Consequences for Organizations On High Performance Work Environments: Four Principles for Creating an Engaged Workforce The Capacity to Engage The Motivation to Engage The Freedom to Engage The Focus of Strategic Engagement Engagement and Discretionary Effort Interaction of Cause and Effect The Remainder of the Book 2. The "Feel and Look" of Employee Engagement The Feel of Engagement Urgency Focus Intensity Enthusiasm Cross-Cultural Issues in Describing the Feelings of Engagement Summary: The Feel of Engagement The Look of Engagement: Employee Behavior Persistence Proactivity Role Expansion Adaptability Summary: The Look of Engagement Strategically Aligned Engagement Behavior On Commitment, Alignment, and Internalization What About Employee Satisfaction? Where Does This Take Us? 3. The Key to an Engaged Workforce: An Engagement Culture What is Organizational Culture? Creating a Culture for Engagement: How People are Valued in Organizations The Central Role of a Culture of Trust in Employee Engagement Trust in Senior Leadership, Trust in Management, and Trust in the System The Role of Fairness in a Culture of Engagement Culture Emergence Learning the Culture Do the People or the Environment Make the Culture? The Role of the Work Itself in a Culture of Engagement The Role of Monetary Incentives in a Culture of Engagement Does Organizational Success Impact Employee Engagement? The Role of Culture in Creating Strategic Employee Engagement How Culture Supports Alignment Summary 4. Phase 1 of Creating and Executing an Engagement Campaign: Diagnostics and the Engagement Survey Pre-Survey Diagnostic Activities Step 1: Conduct the Background Check and Acquire the "Language" Step 2: Engage Leadership to Define Strategic Engagement and the Supporting Culture Step 3: Craft the Engagement Messaging The Engagement Survey Writing Questions that Focus on the Feelings of Engagement Writing Questions that Focus on Behavioral Engagement Writing Generic Behavioral Engagement Survey Questions Writing Questions that Focus on Creating the Employee Capacity to Engage Writing Questions that Focus on Whether People Have a Reason to Engage Writing Questions that Focus on Whether People Feel "Free" to Engage Summary 5. Phase 2 of Creating and Executing an Engagement Campaign: Action Planning and Intervention Survey Results Interpretation Benchmarks Survey Results Feedback Feedback at the Executive Level Feedback at the Managerial Level Communicating Survey Results Company-Wide Summary Preparing the Organization for Taking Action Commitment for Action Resources and Tools That Facilitate Action Planning and Change Variants on the Action Planning Model How Much Measurable Change is Possible? Actual Changes That Build and Maintain Engagement Interventions that Build Confidence and Resiliency Interventions that Enhance Social Support Networks Interventions that Renew or Restore Employee Energy Interventions that Enhance the Motivation to Engage Interventions that Enhance the Freedom to Engage Interventions Focused on Process Fairness Interventions Focused on Outcome Fairness Interventions Focused on Interactional Fairness Leadership Behavior and Engagement Summary 6. Burnout and Disengagement: The Dark Side of Engagement Disengagement: Early Unmet Expectations at Work The Nature and Trajectory of Burnout The Components of Burnout The Trajectory of Burnout Is Burnout Inevitable? Effective Coping With Burnout Social Support Autonomy and Job Control Burnout, Workaholism, and Engagement: Resolution of the Paradox Job Creep and the Erosion of Trust Additional Stress Factors and Disengagement Remedies and Interventions The Need for Recovery Other Interventions Resistance to Change and Engagement: Another Dark Side of Engagement How Should Engagement Initiatives be Communicated? Conclusion 7. Talking Points: Introducing or Rethinking Engagement in Your Organization Notes Subject Index Author and Name Index

Human Services as Complex Organizations

Abstract: Chapter 1: Introduction - Yeheskel Hasenfeld PART I: UNDERSTANDING HUMAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS Chapter 2: The Attributes of Human Service Organizations - Yeheskel Hasenfeld Chapter 3: Theoretical Approaches to Human Service Organizations - Eve Garrow and Yeheskel Hasenfeld PART II: SOCIAL POLICY AND ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSES Chapter 4: Human Service Organizations and the Politics of Practice - Evelyn Z. Brodkin Chapter 5: The U.S. Nonprofit Human Service Sector: A Creeping Revolution - Kirsten A. Gronbjerg Chapter 6: Organizational Forms as Moral Practices - Yeheskel Hasenfeld PART III: ORGANIZATION-ENVIRONMENT RELATIONS Chapter 7: The Emergence of Hybrid Organizational Forms: Combining Identity-Based Service Provision and Political Action - Debra C. Minkoff Chapter 8: The Political Economy of Contracting and Competition - Steven Rathgeb Smith Chapter 9: A Preliminary Theory of Interorganizational Network Effectiveness: A Comparative Study of Four Community Mental Health Systems - Keith G. Provan and H. Brinton Milward PART IV: ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP, IDEOLOGIES, AND CULTURE Chapter 10: Leadership Styles and Leadership Change in Human and Community Service Organizations - Hillel Schmid Chapter 11: Rape Crisis Centers: Helping Victims, Changing Society - Patricia Yancey Martin Chapter 12: Organizational Culture and Climate: Implications for Services and Intervention Research - Anthony L. Hemmelgarn, Charles Glisson, and Lawrence R. James PART V: SERVICE TECHNOLOGIES, CONDITIONS OF WORK, AND EMOTIONAL LABOR Chapter 13: Service Technologies and the Conditions of Work in Child Welfare - Brenda D. Smith Chapter 14: Human Service Organizational Technology: Improving Understanding and Advancing Research - Jodi R. Sandfort Chapter 15: Emotional Labor in the Human Service Organization - Mary Ellen Guy, Meredith A. Newman, Sharon H. Mastracci, and Steven Maynard-Moody PART VI: ORGANIZATIONAL DIVERSITY Chapter 16: Human Services as "Race Work"? Historical Lessons and Contemporary Challenges of Black Providers - Celeste Watkins-Hayes Chapter 17: Diversity and Organizational Performance - Michalle E. Mor Barak and Dnika J. Travis PART VII: WORKER-CLIENT RELATIONS Chapter 18: Discretion in Human Service Organizations: Traditional and Institutional Perspectives - Michael R. Sosin Chapter 19: Worker-Client Relations: Social Policy in Practice - Yeheskel Hasenfeld PART VIII: ORGANIZATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF SERVICE EFFECTIVENESS hapter 20: Linking Organizational Factors to Substance Abuse Treatment Outcomes: Multilevel Correlates of Treatment Effectiveness - Toorjo Ghose PART IX: ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AND INNOVATION Chapter 21: Organizational Change in Human Service Organizations: Theories, Boundaries, Strategies, and Implementation - Hillel Schmid Chapter 22: Innovation in Human Service Organizations - Kristina Jaskyte PART X: ADVOCACY AND SOCIAL CHANGE Chapter 23: The Policy Advocacy Role of Human Service Nonprofits: Incentives, Involvement, and Impact - Jennifer E. Mosley Chapter 24: Social Movement Service Organizations: The Challenges and Consequences of Combining Service Provision and Political Advocacy - Megan Meyer

Relationship of safety climate and safety performance in hospitals.

Abstract: Despite substantial efforts by many health care organizations, medical errors remain too common and continue to generate significant personal and financial burdens (Institute of Medicine 2006). Researchers who study organizations that face hazardous and turbulent task conditions, yet demonstrate sustained superior safety performance, attribute their achievement in large part to their culture of safety (Roberts 1990; Weick and Sutcliffe 2001). These organizations, often termed high-reliability organizations (HROs), are “systems operating in hazardous conditions that have fewer than their share of adverse events” (Reason 2000) and include aircraft carriers, air traffic control systems, and nuclear power plants. The main distinguishing feature of HROs is their ability to perform demanding activities with low incident rates and an almost complete absence of catastrophic failures over several years. Based on evidence from HROs, policy makers interested in improving health care delivery have called upon health care organizations to strengthen their safety culture to reduce adverse events (Institute of Medicine 2001). In this study, the safety culture of an organization is viewed as the values shared among organization members about what is important, their beliefs about how things operate in the organization, and the interaction of these with work unit and organizational structures and systems, which together produce behavioral norms in the organization that promote safety. Although this definition is similar to definitions of organizational culture more generally (Schein 1992), it is specific to the safety culture of an organization and highlights the role of interpersonal, work unit, and organizational contributions in forming shared basic assumptions that individuals working in organizations develop over time. Like others, we adopt the view that culture is difficult to measure, and that it is more feasible to track a related construct called safety climate (Zohar 1980; Griffin and Neal 2000), the perceptions and attitudes of the organization's workforce about surface features of the culture of safety in hospitals at a given point in time (Flin 2007). While most presume that better safety climate in hospitals will be associated with fewer errors and better outcomes, quantitative evidence establishing this link is limited. Anticipated benefits would stem from the ability of organizations with strong safety climates to cultivate behaviors that enhance collective learning by addressing unproductive beliefs and attitudes about errors, their cause and cure. Obtaining better information about the relationship between hospital safety climate and safety performance would be beneficial. By highlighting the importance of safety climate, such information would facilitate the development of benchmarks and initiatives to improve it. Further recognition of safety climate's importance would promote collaboration within and among organizations to compare the measures of safety climate and share useful approaches. Such information would also help hospital managers and clinicians target approaches to safety improvement of greatest potential value. In this study, we examined the relationship between hospital safety climate and measures of hospital performance on selected indicators of patient safety. We combined data from a survey that measured safety climate among personnel in a national sample of hospitals, with indicators of potential safety events from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Patient Safety Indicators (AHRQ PSIs).

Filling the institutional void: The social behavior and performance of family vs non-family technology firms in emerging markets

Abstract: Family businesses (FBs) are said to treat their employees with unusual consideration to form a cohesive internal ‘‘community’’. They are also claimed to develop deeper, more extensive ‘‘connections’’ or relationships with outside stakeholders. Both behaviors may increase the viability of a business intended to support an owning family and its later generations. Such social linkages, we believe, may compensate for the lack of capital, product and labor institutional infrastructures in dynamic emerging economies. This survey study of a most challenging emerging-market sector, namely Korean hightechnology businesses, argues three major points. (1) Relationships of community and connection will be more common in FBs than in non-FBs. (2) These relationships will enhance performance in emerging-market hightechnology sectors, which, because of their competitive, complex, and everchanging nature, rely on significant expert knowledge and social capital within and outside the organizational community. (3) The performance of FBs will benefit more from these community and connection relationships than the performance of non-FBs, because in these personally intimate settings employees and external partners will be especially likely to return the generosity of a visibly active owning family, or to penalize its selfishness. Significant empirical support was found for most of these hypotheses.

Culture and organizations

Abstract: List of Acronyms and Abbreviations List of Figures, Tables and Boxes Preface About the Contributors Part 1: Introduction 1. The Ecological Challenge in Organization Theory and Organizational Behaviour Ralph Meirna and Richard Welford Part 2: Framing the Organizational Dimensions of the Natural Environment 2. Defining the Problem: Diagnostic 'Tools' to Explore the Evolution of Unsustainable Practices in Organizations Tony Ernerson and Richard Welford 3. The Challenge of Ecological Logic: Explaining Distinctive Organizational Phenomena in Corporate Environmental Management Ralph Meima 4. Power, Organizational Culture and Ecological Abuse Tony Ernerson and Richard Welford Part 3: Developing Strategies for Managerial Action 5. Developing an Environmental Culture Through Organizational Change and Learning Minna Halrne 6. Reassessing Culture and Strategy: Environmental Improvement, Structure, Leadership and Control John Dodge 7. Culture Change, Pluralism and Participation David Jones and Richard Welford 8. Human Resource Management, Strategic Organizational Capabilities and Sustainable Development Tony Ernerson, Rdph Meimu, Romney Tansley and Richard Welford References Index

Measuring and Managing Employee Work Engagement: A Review of the Research and Business Literature

Abstract: High levels of work engagement are when employees are involved with, committed to, enthusiastic, and passionate about their work. This article provides a review of the literature on employee engagement, based on studies from academic and business sources. Areas of focus include defining the concept of employee work engagement, how it is measured, how often it occurs, the costs of disengagement, the business benefits linked to positive engagement, and how workplaces can be changed to encourage engagement. The findings indicate that work engagement can be improved through adopting certain workplace behavioral health practices that address supervisory communication, job design, resource support, working conditions, corporate culture, and leadership style. Also featured are several case studies from employers who measure and use employee engagement data to improve their work culture, retain employees, and increase business financial success. Implications for improving the service of employee assistance and be...

Emotional labor and leadership: A threat to authenticity?

Abstract: Building on the emotional labor and authentic leadership literatures, we advance a conceptual model of leader emotional displays. Three categories of leader emotional displays are identified: surface acting, deep acting and genuine emotions. The consistency of expressed leader emotions with affective display rules, together with the type of display chosen, combines to impact the leader's felt authenticity, the favorability of follower impressions, and the perceived authenticity of the leader by the followers. Emotional intelligence, self-monitoring ability, and political skill are proposed as individual differences that moderate leader emotional display responses to affective events. We also look at followers' trust in the leader and leader well-being as key outcomes. Finally, we explore the influence on leader emotional labor of contextual dimensions of the environment, including the omnibus (national and organizational culture, industry and occupation, organizational structure, time) and discrete (situational) context. Directions for future research are discussed.

Instruments for exploring organizational culture: A review of the literature

Abstract: Organizational culture is widely considered to be one of the most significant factors in reforming and modernizing public administration and service delivery. This article documents the findings of a literature review of existing qualitative and quantitative instruments for the exploration of organizational culture. Seventy instruments are identified, of which 48 could be submitted to psychometric assessment. The majority of these are at a preliminary stage of development. The study's conclusion is that there is no ideal instrument for cultural exploration. The degree to which any measure is seen as “fit for purpose” depends on the particular reason for which it is to be used and the context within which it is to be applied.

Is disability disabling in all workplaces? Workplace disparities and corporate culture

Abstract: Using nearly 30,000 employee surveys from fourteen companies, we find disability is linked to lower average pay, job security, training, and participation in decisions, and to more negative attitudes toward the job and company. Disability gaps in attitudes vary substantially, however, across companies and worksites, with no attitude gaps in worksites rated highly by all employees for fairness and responsiveness. The results indicate that corporate cultures that are responsive to the needs of all employees are especially beneficial for employees with disabilities.

Moon shots for management.

Abstract: In May 2008, a group of management scholars and senior executives worked to define an agenda for management during the next 100 years. The so-called renegade brigade, led by Gary Hamel, included academics, such as C.K. Prahalad, Peter Senge, and Jeffrey Pfeffer; new-age thinkers, like James Surowiecki; and progressive CEOs, such as Whole Foods' John Mackey, W.L. Gore's Terri Kelly, and IDEO's Tim Brown. What drew them together was a set of shared beliefs about the importance of management and a sense of urgency about reinventing it for a new era. The group's first task was to compile a roster of challenges that would focus the energies of management innovators around the world. Accordingly, in this article, Hamel (who has set up the Management Lab, a research organization devoted to management innovation) outlines 25 "moon shots"--ambitious goals that managers should strive to achieve and in the process create Management 2.0. Topping the list is the imperative of extending management's responsibilities beyond just creating shareholder value. To do so will require both reconstructing the field's philosophical foundations so that work serves a higher purpose and fully embedding the ideas of community and citizenship into organizations. A number of challenges focus on ameliorating the toxic effects of hierarchy. Others focus on better ways to unleash creativity and capitalize on employees' passions. Still others seek to transcend the limitations of traditional patterns of management thinking. Not all the moon shots are new, but many tackle issues that are endemic in large organizations. Their purpose is to inspire new solutions to long-simmering problems by making every company as genuinely human as the people who work there.

Discriminating Between ‘Meaningful Work’ and the ‘Management of Meaning’

Abstract: The interest in meaningful work has significantly increased over the last two decades. Much of␣the associated managerial research has focused on researching ways to ‹provide and manage meaning’ through leadership or organizational culture. This stands in sharp contrast with the literature of the humanities which suggests that meaningfulness does not need to be provided, as the distinct feature of a human being is that␣he or she has an intrinsic ‹will to meaning’. The research that has been done based on the humanistic paradigm has been quite fragmented. This article aims to address these gaps through an action research project that actively involved participants in the process of affirming and uncovering the meaningfulness of their work. Our findings contribute to current organizational scholarship and practice as they (a) enable scholars to clearly distinguish ‹meaningful work’ from ‹the management of mean- ing’, (b) bring together the various sources of meaningful work in one framework and show their relationship with each other, (c) clearly show the importance of engaging with both the inspiration towards the ideal as well as the often less than perfect self and the organizational reality in which meaning gets expressed and (d) contribute to our understanding of how to engage individuals in conversations about meaningful work that are not prescriptive or exclusive, but that also show where meanings are commonly held.

Organizational culture and leadership: Preconditions for the development of a sustainable corporation

Abstract: The relationship between corporate sustainability and organizational culture seems to be underestimated within the discussion of sustainable development. The research presented in this paper is based on a case study conducted in the mining industry. The hypothesis is that ambitious corporate sustainability activities and strategies have to be embedded in the organizational culture in order to be successful. If aspects of sustainable development are not part of the mindset of leaders and members of the organization, corporate sustainability activities will not affect the core business efficiently and are more likely to fail. The model of Schein for organizational culture is used to characterize corporate sustainability strategies: introverted, extroverted, conservative and visionary strategies are distinguished. Each strategy is assessed regarding the relation and the integration in the levels of organizational culture according to the model of Schein. The model consists of three levels, i.e. artifacts, values and basic assumptions. This framework is used for a case-study to identify the organizational culture of a global leading mining company. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Development and assessment of the Alberta Context Tool

Abstract: Background The context of healthcare organizations such as hospitals is increasingly accepted as having the potential to influence the use of new knowledge. However, the mechanisms by which the organizational context influences evidence-based practices are not well understood. Current measures of organizational context lack a theory-informed approach, lack construct clarity and generally have modest psychometric properties. This paper presents the development and initial psychometric validation of the Alberta Context Tool (ACT), an eight dimension measure of organizational context for healthcare settings.

Context matters: the impact of unit leadership and empowerment on nurses' organizational commitment.

Abstract: Objective:The aim of this study was to test a multilevel model linking unit-level leader-member exchange quality and structural empowerment to nurses' psychological empowerment and organizational commitment at the individual level of analysis.Background:Few studies have examined the contextual effec

From a blame culture to a just culture in health care.

Abstract: Background A prevailing blame culture in health care has been suggested as a major source of an unacceptably high number of medical errors. A just culture has emerged as an imperative for improving the quality and safety of patient care. However, health care organizations are finding it hard to move from a culture of blame to a just culture. Purpose We argue that moving from a blame culture to a just culture requires a comprehensive understanding of organizational attributes or antecedents that cause blame or just cultures. Health care organizations need to build organizational capacity in the form of human resource (HR) management capabilities to achieve a just culture. Methodology This is a conceptual article. Health care management literature was reviewed with twin objectives: (a) to ascertain if a consistent pattern existed in organizational attributes that lead to either blame or just cultures and (2) to find out ways to reform a blame culture. Conclusions On the basis of the review of related literature, we conclude that (a) a blame culture is more likely to occur in health care organizations that rely predominantly on hierarchical, compliance-based functional management systems; (b) a just or learning culture is more likely to occur in health organizations that elicit greater employee involvement in decision making; and (c) human resource management capabilities play an important role in moving from a blame culture to a just culture. Practice implications Organizational culture or human resource management practices play a critical role in the health care delivery process. Health care organizations need to develop a culture that harnesses the ideas and ingenuity of health care professional by employing a commitment-based management philosophy rather than strangling them by overregulating their behaviors using a control-based philosophy. They cannot simply wish away the deeply entrenched culture of blame nor can they outsource their way out of it. Health care organizations need to build internal human resource management capabilities to bring about the necessary changes in their culture and management systems and to become learning organizations.

Leadership and Organizational Culture: Linking CEO Characteristics to Cultural Values

Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this study was to empirically examine organizational culture theorists’ assertions about the linkages between leadership and the cultures that emerge in the organizations they lead. Specific hypotheses were developed and tested regarding relationships between chief executive officers’ (CEO’s) personality traits, and the cultural values that are shared among their organization’s members.

Do types of organizational culture matter in nurse job satisfaction and turnover intention

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of the study is to examine whether and how different types of organizational culture are associated with job satisfaction and turnover intention among hospital nurses in Korea, where the work culture is often considered different from that of Western countries.Design/methodology/approach – The sample for the study consists of 527 nurses working in two public hospitals in Korea. Perceived organizational culture was assessed by a previously validated 20‐item instrument, and job satisfaction and turnover intention were measured by self‐report questionnaires. Factor analysis was employed to construct four different types of culture (consensual, rational, developmental, and hierarchical). The relationship among organizational culture, job satisfaction, and turnover intention was tested by structural equation modeling (SEM).Findings – Among the different types of culture, consensual culture and rational culture had significant, positive associations with the nurses' job satisfaction. In ad...

Patient safety climate in 92 US hospitals: differences by work area and discipline

Abstract: Background:Concern about patient safety has promoted efforts to improve safety climate. A better understanding of how patient safety climate differs among distinct work areas and disciplines in hospitals would facilitate the design and implementation of interventions.Objectives:To understand workers

Toward a unifying framework to support informal learning theory, research and practice

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this Guest Editorial is to introduce the papers in this special issue and outline how they help us to better understand the theory and practice of informal learning.Design/methodology/approach – The Guest Editorial provides an overview of the topics discussed in the special issue, focusing on teachers and schools, social workers, and knowledge management in academic and business settings.Findings – In practice informal and formal learning are often inextricably intertwined.Originality/value – The papers in this issue contribute to the search for a unifying framework to support theory, research and practice.

Evidence, interpretation, and persuasion: Instructional decision making at the district central office

Abstract: Background/ContextCalls for evidence-based decision making have become increasingly prominent on the educational landscape. School district central offices increasingly experience these demands. Ye...

A critical review of the research literature on Six Sigma, Lean and StuderGroup's Hardwiring Excellence in the United States: the need to demonstrate and communicate the effectiveness of transformation strategies in healthcare.

Abstract: U.S. healthcare organizations are confronted with numerous and varied transformational strategies promising improvements along all dimensions of quality and performance. This article examines the peer-reviewed literature from the U.S. for evidence of effectiveness among three current popular transformational strategies: Six Sigma, Lean/Toyota Production System, and Studer's Hardwiring Excellence. The English language health, healthcare management, and organizational science literature (up to December 2007) indexed in Medline, Web of Science, ABI/Inform, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and ERIC was reviewed for studies on the aforementioned transformation strategies in healthcare settings. Articles were included if they: appeared in a peer-reviewed journal; described a specific intervention; were not classified as a pilot study; provided quantitative data; and were not review articles. Nine references on Six Sigma, nine on Lean/Toyota Production System, and one on StuderGroup meet the study's eligibility criteria. The reviewed studies universally concluded the implementations of these transformation strategies were successful in improving a variety of healthcare related processes and outcomes. Additionally, the existing literature reflects a wide application of these transformation strategies in terms of both settings and problems. However, despite these positive features, the vast majority had methodological limitations that might undermine the validity of the results. Common features included: weak study designs, inappropriate analyses, and failures to rule out alternative hypotheses. Furthermore, frequently absent was any attention to changes in organizational culture or substantial evidence of lasting effects from these efforts. Despite the current popularity of these strategies, few studies meet the inclusion criteria for this review. Furthermore, each could have been improved substantially in order to ensure the validity of the conclusions, demonstrate sustainability, investigate changes in organizational culture, or even how one strategy interfaced with other concurrent and subsequent transformation efforts. While informative results can be gleaned from less rigorous studies, improved design and analysis can more effectively guide healthcare leaders who are motivated to transform their organizations and convince others of the need to employ such strategies. Demanding more exacting evaluation of projects consultants, or partnerships with health management researchers in academic settings, can support such efforts.

Spiritual Leadership as a Paradigm for Organizational Transformation and Recovery from Extended Work Hours Cultures

Abstract: Various explanations are offered to explain why employees increasingly work longer hours: the combined effects of technology and globalization; people are caught up in consumerism; and the “ideal worker norm,” when professionals expect themselves and others to work longer hours. In this article, we propose that the processes of employer recruitment and selection, employee self-selection, cultural socialization, and reward systems help create extended work hours cultures (EWHC) that reinforce these trends. Moreover, we argue that EWHC organizations are becoming more prevalent and that organizations in which long hours have become the norm may recruit for and reinforce workaholic tendencies. Next, we offer spiritual leadership as a paradigm for organizational transformation and recovery from the negative aspects of EWHC to enhance employee well-being and corporate social responsibility without sacrificing profitability, revenue growth, and other indicators of financial performance. Finally, we will offer suggestions for future theory, research, and practice.

The Network Challenge: Strategy, Profit, and Risk in an Interlinked World

Abstract: 49 Introduction 50 Leadership Across Cultures 51 Culture and Leadership Styles: The Globe Project 55 Building a Strong Organizational Culture: The Honeywell Way . . . . 59 Conclusions: Building Cross-Cultural Leadership 62 References 63