Organization Studies recent issues

Computers, Customer Service Operatives and Cyborgs: Intra-actions in Call Centres

Nyberg, D. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:34:06 PST

Organizational practice theorists have convincingly argued that the social and material, subjects and objects, are inextricable and co-emerge as the outcomes of practices or networks. My article engages with the debate in this field by explaining how, within these assumptions, discrete categories or actors are brought into being. The ethnographic field-work from call centres initially shows how customer service operatives and computers are entangled and inseparable in carrying out the practice of customer service calls. The findings then show how meaningful boundaries around actors are established through temporal delineations, or cuts, within practices. My study thus exposes the multiplicity of how employees make sense of surrounding technology. This contributes to organization studies by explaining the dynamics and fluidity that underlie the categories and actors which are taken for granted in contemporary workplaces. This also contributes to our appreciation of a labour process beyond dualisms.

Towards an Understanding of Cognitive Coordination: Theoretical Developments and Empirical Illustrations

Foss, N., Lorenzen, M. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:34:06 PST

The cognitive dimension of institutions has been comparatively neglected in social science research. In particular, economists have concentrated on how institutions provide incentives. However, institutions also influence behaviours by influencing beliefs and expectations that help agents to overcome coordination problems. We explore various aspects of how institutions may align agents’ beliefs, concentrating on the role of analogies in interactive decision making, and how analogies grow from experience. We illustrate our reasoning by an empirical example.

Making Sense Through Face: Identity and Social Interaction in a Consultancy Task Force

Patriotta, G., Spedale, S. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:34:06 PST

In this article we investigate the dynamic connection between individual and social processes of sensemaking in the context of group-based interaction. Drawing on Goffman’s theory of face-to-face behaviour, we develop two main arguments. First, the grounding of identity underlying group-based interaction typically involves repeated face games during which participants attempt to influence the patterns of interaction while maintaining a coherent image of self. Second, face games generate an ‘interaction order’ that has structuring properties and is therefore central to the social construction of sense within a group setting. We illustrate our contribution through an empirical study of face games and sensemaking within a consultancy task force. The study shows that the co-presence of participants during group-based interaction is in itself an occasion for sensemaking as it enacts language-based controversies that require composition through shared construction of meaning. In addition, our findings highlight that early impressions generate sticky patterns of interaction that constrain further exchanges and affect the development and outcomes of group sensemaking. A main implication is that positive outcomes of sensemaking are contingent upon the ability of the participants collectively to generate interaction orders that are conducive to working consensus. In this regard, sensegiving mechanisms such as leadership can constructively orient interaction amongs professionals by providing a common set of expectations about behaviours.

Institutional Translation through Spectatorship: Collective Consumption and Editing of Symbolic Organizational Texts by Firms and their Audiences

Lamertz, K., Heugens, P. P. M. A. R. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:34:06 PST

We develop and corroborate the latent aspect of institutional theory that institutional spectators observe and reproduce inter-organizational symbolism. Prior research has explored whether institutional norms produce symbolic similarity across organizations, but assessments of whether such symbolic imagery is in fact monitored by institutional audiences are rare. Nonetheless, this process of institutional spectatorship represents an important foundation of various strands of institutional theorizing. Also, a better understanding of the ceremonial interactions between organizations and their spectators would help the field of institutional theory reconnect itself to its phenomenological origins. To advance our grasp of institutional spectatorship, we report a study of the Canadian beer brewing industry that shows how the symbolic self-presentations of breweries are reproduced by a central spectator: the news media. The results suggest that institutional spectatorship is an important dramaturgical process that influences the structuration and stratification of organizational fields.

Angelic Organization: Hierarchy and the Tyranny of Heaven

Parker, M. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:34:06 PST

This paper suggests that one of the first influential legitimations of hierarchy comes from the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius, about 1500 years ago. Despite the fact that he was ordering angels, he suggests both ontological and political reasons for accepting that organization must equal hierarchy. This is an assumption that is rarely contested even today, and the idea of hierarchy is central to theories of organization, and justifications of managerialism. However, angels have been mutable creatures, and I employ some of their various incarnations in order to open up this 5th century common sense. I conclude by suggesting that angelic obedience should be treated with suspicion, and that other sorts of angels, particularly the fallen ones, might lead us away from the tyranny of hierarchy.

Organization Studies

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:34:06 PST

Trust, Calculation, and Interorganizational Learning of Tacit Knowledge: An Organizational Roles Perspective

Janowicz-Panjaitan, M., Noorderhaven, N. G. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:46:48 PDT

Learning of tacit knowledge in an interorganizational context is a process fraught with risks for the collaborating partners. Two conflicting perspectives on what motivates partners to cooperatively share tacit knowledge with each other emerge from extant literature: one based on calculative considerations and the other on trust-based considerations. This paper aims to show that the two perspectives can be reconciled if the unique learning-related roles of boundary spanners at the corporate and operating levels are taken into account. Operating-level boundary spanners are the primary agents of tacit knowledge learning across organizational borders, and we argue that trust is the primary determinant of knowledge sharing at that level. In contrast, the corporate-level boundary spanners shape the structures and systems of the collaboration and thus affect the extent of sharing that can take place between operating-level boundary spanners. In this role, we propose, their learning behavior is predominantly driven by calculative considerations of potential costs and benefits of knowledge sharing.

The Transformational Potential of Public Policy Discourse

Motion, J., Leitch, S. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:46:48 PDT

In this paper we examine the relationship between public policy, legitimacy and organizational identity in the context of a societal controversy. Public policy is theorized as a mode for effecting discourse transformations which offer new possibilities and rules for organizational legitimacy and societal relations. Our study highlights the legitimating function of public policy formation processes and possible legitimacy-appreciating and-depreciating identity attributes for organizations at the centre of controversy. We develop a macro-level understanding of discursive legitimacy and organizational identity, examining the broader societal context and associated democratic implications of power/knowledge and truth claims.

Preaching, Teaching and Researching at the Periphery:Academic Management Literature in Turkey, 1970--1999

Usdiken, B., Wasti, S. A. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:46:48 PDT

Internationally accessible academic literature in management has been dominated very largely by contributions originating from the USA. Although this state of imbalance has attracted some discussion, little systematic research exists on scholarly activity in a large majority of countries that have limited presence in international academic outlets. To this end, we investigated the academic literature produced in Turkey over the last three decades, as an example of a country located at the periphery of management scholarship and where the management discipline developed under strong US influence. Based on a content analysis of articles published in local and international academic journals, cluster-analytic results indicated that the predominant form of scholarly output comprised a practice-oriented, nonempirical, de-contextualized literature, which served to transport American theories and practices to domestic audiences. The limitedly adopted scientific model manifested marginally greater interest in the local context. Further analysis showed that the type of university in which scholarly activity was carried out was highly significant. Academics working in American-modeled public and private universities were more likely to base their work on the scientific model imported wholesale from the USA. The post-1980 change in the institutional regime geared towards bringing Turkish higher education closer to American models and driving international publications, however, did not appear to have altered the overall panorama of scholarly activity in management, at least over a period of 15 years.

Enacting Fit in Work Organization and Occupational Structure Design: The Case of Intermediary Occupations in a Dutch Hospital

van Offenbeek, M., Sorge, A., Knip, M. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:46:48 PDT

We report and interpret findings from an investigation of work redesign and the introduction of a new occupational position, nurse practitioner (NP), in four different subunits in a large Dutch university hospital. Full development of the new position and its contribution to performance crucially depend on the delegation of medical tasks to NPs. The motive for introducing the new occupation and redesigning the work processes was to improve treatment quality and patient-centredness, to reduce throughput times and to assure operating efficiency. However, the degree and modality of reaching such objectives depends on the local politics of management and medical practitioners, resting on interpretations of appropriate roles and task divisions. Thus, task environmental influences affect work structure redesign as the former were perceived and enacted by local practitioners. The overall process of redesign and the way it differed between departments is best explained by combining a modified contingency theory with an interactionist and organizational politics approach.

The Co-Evolution of Organizational Value Capture, Value Creation and Sustainable Advantage

Pitelis, C. N. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:46:48 PDT

Despite much progress, scholarship on organizations and strategic management remains unduly reliant on economic models such as the industrial organization (IO) market structure-based analysis. The focus of such models is on price-output determination by firms and the economy-wide efficient allocation of scarce resources, under conditions of full knowledge and certainty. This limits their usefulness for students of organizations who have wider concerns and also focus on organizations, as opposed to just markets. In this article, we aim to provide a framework for analysing the most fundamental, even existential, issue of organization studies and strategic management scholarship. This is whether and how the pursuit of value capture from economic agents who perceive that they possess appropriable value creating advantages, capabilities and action potential, can motivate the emergence of organizations and their strategies and actions intended to capture socially co-created value in conditions of real life. To do so, we explore (the co-evolution of) value capture and creation and their relationship to organizational sustainable advantage (SA). We delve into the nature, determinants and relationship between organizational value capture and creation and explore causal pathways, trade-offs and co-evolution, as well as vehicles through which SA can be effected in an evolving and uncertain environment. We also discuss implications for managerial practice, limitations and future research opportunities.

The Absence of Cooperation Is Not Necessarily Defection: Structural and Motivational Constraints of Knowledge Transfer in a Social Dilemma Situation

Wilkesmann, U., Wilkesmann, M., Virgillito, A. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:46:48 PDT

There is a wealth of literature about knowledge transfer in general, but only a small amount deals with cultural and motivational factors of knowledge transfer. The main question of this article is: How can knowledge transfer be supported? First, we present a theoretical underpinning of knowledge transfer as a social dilemma situation. Second, we analyze how a situation of social dilemma can be overcome by means of structural and motivational solutions. Third, we provide empirical evidence from our survey in hospitals. These findings support three of our five hypotheses: direct channels for interaction, organizational culture, and intrinsic motivation are relevant requirements for knowledge transfer. Team size is not a significant factor for transferring knowledge in hospitals. Furthermore, our empirical findings differentiate between providing and obtaining knowledge. The last finding leads back to a modification of the theoretical framework.

Obituary

Dunkerley, D., Clegg, S., Thompson, A. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:46:48 PDT

Organization Studies: The Fifth Organization Studies Workshop "Social Movements, Civil Societies and Corporations" 26-28 May 2010, Margaux, France

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:46:48 PDT

Crosscultural Life of Social Values and Organizational Analysis: An Introduction to the Special Themed Section

Magala, S. — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:17:51 PDT

‘Crosscultural Life of Social Values’, a conference organized by the Rotterdam School of Management, Department of Organization Studies and Human Resource Management (Erasmus University, May 18—19, 2007) and International Association for Crosscultural Competence and Management (IACCM) signaled major challenges to the dominant theories of national and organizational cultures. Growing criticism of quasi-paradigmatic model of national culture (the Hofstedian canon) manifested increasing awareness of the need for a sustainable, ‘culturally attentive’ perspective on cross-cultural comparative studies. Latest AoM publications confirm post-paradigmatic shifts in theories of national and organizational cultures and in professionalization of cross-cultural competence.

Dynamic Diversity: Variety and Variation Within Countries

McSweeney, B. — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:17:51 PDT

National models of social action over-privilege continuity and uniformity. They discount change — which they lack the capacity to explain (other than through exogenous shocks) — and neglect diversity within countries. This paper focuses on the national culture model which it argues requires commitment to illogical arguments and to suppositions which are theoretically and empirically untenable. An evaluation of each, it is argued, points to the existence of, and possibilities for, considerable national diversity and change — not pervasive and enduring national uniformity. Reflecting on the model’s rise and fall in anthropology, the paper also provides an outline explanation of its retention within organization studies and speculates about its future within that discipline.

Multiplicity Across Cultures: Multiple National Identities and Multiple Value Systems

Stelzl, M., Seligman, C. — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:17:51 PDT

When we ask ourselves the question ‘Who am I?’, we usually utilize various self-descriptions through which we defined ourselves in the past. Those self-definitions may depend on group memberships, roles and social categories such as culture or religion. We were interested in the question of whether people with dual national identities associate distinct national value systems with each of those identities. In particular, we had focused on first and second generation Asian-Canadians and tested the hypothesis that distinct value systems are linked to each of one’s two national identities. Participants of South-East and East Asian origin or descent completed Schwartz’s (1992) value survey, once as Asians and once as Canadians. The participants revealed discrepancies in how they ranked the value types when instructed to do so as Canadians and as Asians. Specifically, the value types of universalism, self-direction, hedonism and stimulation were rated as significantly more important when participants were responding as Canadians, and the value types of conformity and tradition were rated significantly higher when the same participants were responding as Asians. These results are consistent with the results of other research that compares separate samples in Asia and in the West. But, the present research is fairly unusual in its examination and demonstration of separate value systems within individuals who have two national identities. The implications of having separate value systems associated with each of one’s national identities for the interplay between self-identification and culture and for value theory are discussed.

Through Western Eyes: Insights into the Intercultural Training Field

Szkudlarek, B. — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:17:51 PDT

Intercultural corporate training is a growing branch of the coaching and consulting industries and it appears to be both theory and practice driven. The growth of the relevant academic literature reveals a focus on the successful adaptation to host cultures and organizations, but little attention to the ethical dimensions of newly learned rules and newly accepted values. This article introduces a number of concerns related to ethical principles within this growing industry. The issues of profit-maximization, knowledge-access inequalities, the authenticity dilemma and the in-built Western bias of cross-cultural research are presented. Triggered by the author’s experiences in the intercultural corporate training industry and inspired by participation in a number of field-specific training-for-trainers events, this essai is an opening statement in a long-overdue discussion on ethics in intercultural training.

Collective Development in Open-Source Communities: An Activity Theoretical Perspective on Successful Online Collaboration

Hemetsberger, A., Reinhardt, C. — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:17:51 PDT

Online collaboration is often organized without strong predetermined rules or central authority, which is why coordination and ways of organizing cooperation become crucial elements of collaboration. This article investigates how online projects can overcome problems of dispersed work, solve inherent contradictions and utilize tensions in the activity system to develop collaborative artefacts and practices. Empirical evidence is based on a detailed observation of a successful open-source project — the K Desktop Environment (KDE). Our findings show that successful collaboration is based on coat-tailing systems. Coat-tailing means to inextricably bind together individual action and collective activity through careful design of complexes of technological, mental and cultural artefacts.

Book Review: Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh and Saleem Ali Earth Matters: Indigenous Peoples, the Extractive Industries and Corporate Social Responsibility: Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing, 2008, 272pp. ISBN: 978--1906093167. {pound}23.10

Tedmanson, D. — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:17:51 PDT

'Climate Change and the Emergence of New Organizational Landscapes'

Wittneben, B., Okereke, C., Banerjee, B., Levy, D. — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:17:51 PDT

Merging, Masquerading and Morphing: Metaphors and the World Wide Web

Pablo, Z., Hardy, C. — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:32:14 PDT

We examine the role of metaphors in relation to Web-based phenomena through a comparative study of 29 Web portals, established under a World Bank project known as the Development Gateway. Our analysis suggests that three metaphors — expert, market and community — are particularly significant across these portals, either separately or in combination. The study indicates three particular ways in which these metaphors can combine — merging, masquerading and morphing. We conclude by discussing the implications of using metaphor to understand how practitioners design Web portals and how users engage with them.

Metaphor Analysis as an Approach for Exploring Theoretical Concepts: The Case of Social Capital

Andriessen, D., Gubbins, C. — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:32:14 PDT

In many fields within management and organizational literature there is considerable debate and controversy about key theoretical concepts and their definitions and meanings. Systematic metaphor analysis can be a useful approach to study the underlying conceptualizations that give rise to these controversies and putting them in perspective. It can help identify the different ways a theoretical concept is structured and given meaning, provide insight into the way these different conceptualizations relate to each other, and show how these conceptualizations impact further theorization about the concept. This article describes the procedure for a systematic analysis of the metaphors used to conceptualize key theoretical concepts. To examine its usefulness, the authors apply the approach to the field of social capital, and in particular to the concept of ‘relationships’ in organizations. In the metaphor analysis of three seminal articles on social capital, the authors identify seven metaphoric concepts for relationships. The metaphors are illuminated as important for providing imagery that adds specific meaning in the process of authors theorizing about social capital like ‘tie’, ‘path’ and ‘bridge’. They add dynamics and controllability to the concepts by attributing an array of verbs like ‘to move between’ or ‘to use’ relationships. In addition, the metaphors allow for the attribution of specific characteristics to the concept of relationships that can be used as variables in theory construction, such as the strength of a relationship or the ‘distance’ between people. These insights are useful in exploring and reconciling differences in social capital definitions.

Reflections on a Reflective Cycle: Building Legitimacy in Design Knowledge Development

Heusinkveld, S., Reijers, H. A. — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:32:14 PDT

In this article we seek to develop a better understanding of how design knowledge development (DKD) ventures may gain ‘good currency’. The reflective cycle is generally considered to be a key element in the accumulation of design knowledge and crucial to the interface of science and design. However, the elements that may encourage or inhibit the enactment of this cycle in development ventures have received scant attention in the literature on organizational design. In our analysis, we show how DKD ventures face important barriers related to the institutional context and institutional entrepreneurship. We argue that the current conceptualizations and practices of knowledge development in organizational design need to pay much more attention to building legitimacy.

The Dialectic of Social Exchange: Theorizing Corporate--Social Enterprise Collaboration

Di Domenico, M., Tracey, P., Haugh, H. — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:32:14 PDT

We augment social exchange theory with dialectical theory to build a framework to examine corporate—social enterprise collaborations. These cross-sector collaborations represent a novel form of political-economic arrangement seeking to reconcile the efficient functioning of markets with the welfare of communities. We propose that corporate—social enterprise collaborations are shaped by (1) the value that each member of the collaboration attributes to their partner’s inputs, (2) competing practices and priorities intrinsic to the corporation and the social enterprise, and (3) expected benefits of the collaboration to each partner. For a synthesized state of collaboration to emerge and the partnership to be sustained, we posit that the antithetical forces inherent within the relationship must be resolved.

Book Review: Michael Thompson Organising and disorganising: A dynamic and non-linear theory of institutional emergence and its implications: Axminister: Triarchy Press 2008, 157pp. ISBN: 978--0-557681--4-9

Clegg, S. — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:32:14 PDT

Book Review: Neil Pollock & Robin Williams Software and Organisations: The biography of the enterprise-wide system or how SAP conquered the world: Routledge: Abingdon 2009. 320pp, ISBN: 978--0-415--40397--9. {pound} 65.00 (hbk)

Kallinikos, J. — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:32:14 PDT

Organization Studies Special Issue on: 'Climate Change and the Emergence of New Organizational Landscapes'

Wittneben, B., Okereke, C., Banerjee, B., Levy, D. — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:32:14 PDT