Adoption Of Organizational Practices Research Articles

Strategy-Structure Fit in the Shadow of Exploration-Exploitation

This study provides the first large-sample test of Chandler’s famous strategy-structure hypothesis in the context of the exploration-exploitation trade-off. To this end, we construct measures of the degree to which strategies and organizational structure are oriented towards exploration as opposed to exploitation for a representative panel dataset of all Canadian business firms. We obtain three main results. First, high intensity of exploration strategies is negatively related to high intensity of exploitation strategies, as implied by a strategic exploration-exploitation trade-off. Second, higher relative importance of exploration (exploitation) in strategy is systematically correlated with more adoption of organizational practices that support exploration (exploitation). We show that this pattern holds dynamically as well, as strategic repositioning towards exploration is systematically correlated with restructuring towards exploration-supporting practices. Additionally, this strategy-structure relationship continues to hold if we instrument strategic positioning using firm peers. Third, intensifying low-cost competition, which reduces the benefits of exploitation strategies leads to a systematic shift towards more exploration strategies, while increasing misalignment between strategy and structure.

Organizational Practice Adoption in the MNC: A Trait Activation Theory Approach

The ability to leverage organizational practices throughout the organization is a major concern in multinational companies (MNC). Although prior research has explored organizational practice adoption in the MNC, it has largely neglected the roles of individuals who adopt the practices and their specific situational contexts. We introduce trait activation theory as a novel theoretical lens to study how managers’ personality traits affect organizational practice adoption. Specifically, we develop and test a model of the impact of managers´ core self-evaluations on organizational practice adoption. Then, we specify the contingent roles of formal and informal controls. Using a proprietary dataset comprising of 130 practice adoption cases combined with unique personality data, we find sound empirical evidence to suggest that formal and informal controls play different roles in the activation of subsidiary managers’ personality traits. Our theory and empirical results provide novel insights into the relationship between managers’ personality traits and the organizational context in the adoption of organizational practices, as well as the interplay of trait activation and situation strength theories in practice adoption.

Organizational Practice Adoption in the MNC: The Role of Managers' Core Self-Evaluations

Although the adoption of organizational practices by subsidiaries is a key concern in multinational corporations (MNCs), research on the individuals involved in practice adoption is lacking. Despite calls in the MNC literature for investigations of the psychological foundations of managers' behavior, such investigations are rare and have been complicated by difficulties in obtaining intimate assessments from managers. Building on personality research, we propose that subsidiary managers' core self-evaluations (CSE) positively influence their practice-adoption behavior. Consistent with personality and organizational control research, we also posit that formal and informal controls play contingent roles. Our analysis of a unique dataset of individuals involved in 130 practice-adoption cases within one European MNC offers large support for our hypotheses.

Frames that Fit: The Role of Sociopolitics in the Adoption of Organizational Practices

Scholars studying organizational change have long recognized how organizational actors interpret changes before acting on them, and have focused on explaining how managers frame managerial issues to gain shared meaning among organizational members. We consider how sociopolitical issues, as the social context in which shared meaning occurs, plays a role in shaping organizational change and the adoption of practices. Sociopolitical issues, such as protecting the environment, moderate the relationship between economic and institutional reasons and the adoption of practices. We offer a way to explain how social issues find its way into organizational life through incremental everyday experiences.

Environmental Pressures and Adoption of Training and Development Practices: Understanding the Moderator and Mediator Role of Organizational Values

In this paper, we endeavor to contribute to the theoretical framework of institutionalism concerning the organizational processes of adoption of practices. We chose to investigate, under the conditioning of organizational values, the influence of environmental pressures on the adoption of practices for training and development of industries in the city of Curitiba and its Metropolitan Region. The choice of this type of practice is justified by its instrumental nature within organizations so that their design and implementation can mirror both technical pressures for effectiveness and institutional ones related to social adequacy of the implemented practices. Confronted with this, under the framework of organizational institutionalism, we assume that environmental pressures, usually treated as isomorphic, offer a limited clarification for the phenomenon in question, given the tendency of being seen in the literature as demands for conformity taken for granted while acting on organizational forms and practices. In contrast, we believe that pressures for uniformity do not wipe out the space for organizational action. If, on the one hand, environmental circumstances push towards homogenization, on the other hand, the performance of the isomorphic mechanisms does not eliminate the system of interpretation of each organization, making room for different reference contexts in compliance with the contextual situation in relation to preferences and organizational values. As a result, we assume an ontological attitude based on intersubjectivity, supported by the interpretive capacity of social actors who, under the concept of bounded rationality, add meaning to contextual stimuli. The survey was performed with 54 medium and large industrial organizations located in the city of Curitiba and its Metropolitan Region. The results indicate that both institutional and technical pressures positively influence the adoption of organizational practices. In addition, we can see that competitive and professional values also have an effect on the adoption of such practices, and mediate the impact of pressures on the adoption practices of training and development. This means that companies incorporate as values environment elements, reducing its influence. Finally, we assess the moderating effect of organizational values, comparing the effect of pressures on groups of greater and lesser presence of these values. We can see that in groups of companies whose valuation is high, the influence of institutional pressures is lower than in groups with lower valuation. In the case of technical pressures, they have already shown inconsequential for the highest valuation group, while the group with lesser emphasis on values, they tend to slow down the adoption of practices of training and development. We conclude this article by pointing out some implications of the results shown here for the organizational institutionalism.

Institutional and Rational Determinants of Organizational Practices: Human Resource Management in European Firms

This paper tests predictions from institutional and rational perspectives about the adoption of organizational practices through a comparative study of human resource management in firms located in six European countries. Distinguishing between calculative practices—aimed at efficient use of human resources—and collaborative practices—aimed at promoting the goals of both employees and employer—the paper predicts differences in adoption across countries. Results show that institutional determinants, as indicated by the national embeddedness of firms, have a strong effect on the application of both calculative and collaborative human resource management practices. Firm size, a rational determinant, has a considerable impact on calculative practices, whereas the effect of industrial embeddedness is quite modest for both practices.