Form Of Organizational Change Research Articles

Managers, hierarchies and perceptions: a study of UK managers

Redundancy, delayering, downsizing and various other forms of organisational change, often accompanied by the managerial fad of the moment, have become increasingly prevalent over the last ten years. This paper is based on the results of a four‐year University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST)‐Chartered Management Institute (CMI) research programme (theQuality of Working Life Project) that was designed to explore the changing nature of managerial work in the UK and also to assess the impact of different forms of organisational change on managers’ perceptions of the organisations they work within. The analysis reported here indicates clearly that some forms of change (notably redundancy and delayering) have had particularly damaging effects on managers’ experiences in the workplace and ultimately on their behaviours within and beyond their organisations. The objectives of this paper are, first, to paint a picture of recent organisational change in the UK based on the responses of members of the CMI, second, to explore how change has affected managers’ perceptions of their organisations and their working lives and, third, to explore if different forms of change (particularly redundancy and delayering) have had a differential impact on managers’ perceptions of their organisations “as a place to work”.

Mapping the Future of Work

British Journal of Industrial RelationsVolume 41, Issue 2 p. 165-174 Mapping the Future of Work Peter Nolan, Peter Nolan 1 Leeds University Business School [email protected], 2University of Sheffield and the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE [email protected]Search for more papers by this author 1 Stephen Wood, Stephen Wood 1 Leeds University Business School [email protected], 2University of Sheffield and the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE [email protected]Search for more papers by this author 2 Peter Nolan, Peter Nolan 1 Leeds University Business School [email protected], 2University of Sheffield and the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE [email protected]Search for more papers by this author 1 Stephen Wood, Stephen Wood 1 Leeds University Business School [email protected], 2University of Sheffield and the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE [email protected]Search for more papers by this author 2 First published: 18 June 2003 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8543.00267Citations: 40AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume41, Issue2June 2003Pages 165-174 RelatedInformation

Think Phased Implementation for Successful Data Warehousing

Industry watchers have noted that the success rate of data warehouse (DW) implementations has not been exemplary. It is believed that over 50 percent of DW implementations fail to achieve their stated goals. However, there are things that executives can do to improve their chance of success. Like other forms of organizational change, the DW implementation process follows a three-phased pattern of evolution. Clear recognition by management of the phased logic of DW implementation, and the differing role of critical implementation factors (CIFs) in each of the phases, can enhance the probability of success. This article presents a framework that helps executives visualize how CIFs can be customized and embedded in each phase of the DW implementation process.

The role of individual differences in employee adoption of TQM orientation

While total quality management (TQM) has emphasized organizational-level factors in achieving successful implementation, human capital theory and person-environmental fit models suggest individual difference factors may also be useful. Accordingly, the ability of organizational commitment, trust in colleagues, and higher order need strength to explain variation in TQM adoption, after inclusion of organizational-level factors, is assessed using longitudinal data from a manufacturing setting. These three individual differences collectively explain 7–19% of incremental variation in TQM adoption and are found to be relatively better predictors of TQM adoption than organizational-level factors. The findings support increased consideration of individual differences in order to implement TQM and other forms of organizational change more effectively.

A quantitative analysis of the relationship between empowerment practices and service quality outcomes

Australian banks have focused their attention on service quality as a strategic tool for increasing organizational effectiveness and gaining a competitive advantage. Many forms of organizational change have been prescribed by researchers and practitioners alike, involving such techniques as redesign, restructuring, re-engineering and total quality management (TQM). The underpinning concept in all of these change programmes is empowerment of workers (Conger & Kanungo, 1988; Forrester, 2000). The literature, however, shows very little research that tests the relationship between empowerment practices and service quality. This paper reports on a cross- sectional study based on a survey instrument developed for quantitative data collection. Based on a stratified sample selected from a target population consisting of three major banks. The study achieved a response rate of 40%. Quantitative analysis based on multivariate analysis techniques indicates that empowerment practices when simultaneously implemented, have a favourable effect on employee well being, productivity, performance and service quality. Based on the results of the study we conclude that a holistic approach must be taken to implement empowerment practices into banks in order to maximize service quality improvements. The results of this study show that empowering the workforce is a powerful strategy that substantially improves service quality in the banks studied. It is important that management understand the need to implement empowerment practices in a holistic and planned manner where practices are successful in promoting employee autonomy.

Technologies of trust: actuarial theory, insurance sciences, and the establishment of the welfare state in Germany and Switzerland around 1900

The article analyzes the relation between transformations in information systems and changing forms of organization. Drawing on a historical case study, it examines the rise of actuarial theory in Germany and Switzerland around 1900 and its significance for the emergence of the first modern social insurances. So far, the history of actuarial theory has been written as the social history of the actuarial profession or the epistemic history of probability calculus. By examining the political and economic contexts of the history of actuarial theory, the article also discusses the notion of an “insurance society”. The argument concludes that Foucauldian interpretations of actuarial theory as a technology of power and a condition of modern governmentality are too monistic and should be specified. The article suggests to use the concept of a “technology of trust” to interpret the integrative power of actuarial theory in a political field marked by deep antagonisms.

Changing Organizational Forms and the Employment Relationship

This paper draws upon new research in the UK into the relationship between changing organizational forms and the reshaping of work in order to consider the changing nature of the employment relationship. The development of more complex organizational forms – such as cross organization networking, partnerships, alliances, use of external agencies for core as well as peripheral activities, multi‐employer sites and the blurring of public/private sector divide – has implications for both the legal and the socially constituted nature of the employment relationship. The notion of a clearly defined employer–employee relationship becomes difficult to uphold under conditions where employees are working in project teams or on‐site beside employees from other organizations, where responsibilities for performance and for health and safety are not clearly defined, or involve more than one organization. This blurring of the relationship affects not only legal responsibilities, grievance and disciplinary issues and the extent of transparency and equity in employment conditions, but also the definition, constitution and implementation of the employment contract defined in psychological and social terms. Do employees perceive their responsibilities at work to lie with the direct employer or with the wider enterprise or network organization? And do these perceptions affect, for example, how work is managed and carried out and how far learning and incremental knowledge at work is integrated in the development of the production or service process? So far the investigation of both conflicts and complementarities in the workplace have focused primarily on the dynamic interactions between the single employer and that organization’s employees. The development of simultaneously more fragmented and more networked organizational forms raises new issues of how to understand potential conflicts and contradictions around the ‘employer’ dimension to the employment relationship in addition to more widely recognized conflicts located on the employer–employee axis.

Protean places: teams across time and space

Proteanism is about the simultaneous disruption of place and the seeking of a new sense of place. These metaphorical concepts of the fluid yet grounded, the shape shifting and consolidation, and the evolving creation of a sense of place are applied to a discussion of changing organizational forms and communicative processes. These new formings within ever-changing forms are referred to as Protean Places. The protean concepts of sequentiality, simultaneity, and sociality are examined within the context of what we know about changing organizational forms, major communicative processes, and the history of a virtual customer service team organized across time and space. Finally, the metaphor of Protean Places and the case study are utilized to provide direction for future research, theory building, and practical application in organizational communication.

The New Reality for UK Managers: Perpetual Change and Employment Instability

Redundancy, delayering and other forms of organisational change have become increasingly prevalent over the last ten years. Some of the worst-hit industries during the recent years have been the former public utilities, the financial services sector and manufacturing. This paper is based on the results from the first three years' data from a five year UMIST-Institute of Management research programme which has been designed to explore the changing nature of managerial work in the UK and the impact of organisational change on managers' sense of loyalty, morale and motivation. It has been shown in the past (Sahdev and Vinnicombe 1998; Worrall, Cooper and Campbell 1999) that redundancy is seen a particularly damaging form of change on survivors and that redundancy often fails to achieve the objectives on which it was justified, leaving many unintended consequences. This article discusses the effects of organisational change on surviving managers where redundancy has been used, compared with organisations where redundancy has not been used. The results suggest that if redundancy is to be continually pursued as a method of change, managers should be aware of the damaging implications not only to individuals but to the culture of the downsized organisation.

The New Reality for UK Managers: Perpetual Change and Employment Instability

Redundancy, delayering and other forms of organisational change have become increasingly prevalent over the last ten years. Some of the worst-hit industries during the recent years have been the former public utilities, the financial services sector and manufacturing. This paper is based on the results from the first three years' data from a five year UMIST-Institute of Management research programme which has been designed to explore the changing nature of managerial work in the UK and the impact of organisational change on managers' sense of loyalty, morale and motivation. It has been shown in the past (Sahdev and Vinnicombe 1998; Worrall, Cooper and Campbell 1999) that redundancy is seen a particularly damaging form of change on survivors and that redundancy often fails to achieve the objectives on which it was justified, leaving many unintended consequences. This article discusses the effects of organisational change on surviving managers where redundancy has been used, compared with organisations where redundancy has not been used. The results suggest that if redundancy is to be continually pursued as a method of change, managers should be aware of the damaging implications not only to individuals but to the culture of the downsized organisation.

Trespass or symbiosis? Dissolving the boundaries between strategic marketing and strategic management

This article addresses the debate about the role of strategic marketing within the domain of firm competitive strategy. It begins by tracing the decline in the importance of marketing strategy in competitive strategy, especially after the emergence of the field of strategic management. It then describes the emergence of strategic marketing as a more integrative discipline than marketing strategy, and the recent rapprochement in research ideas around competitiveness in strategic marketing and strategic management. Shifting market boundaries, rapid technological change, shorter product lifecycles, and changing organizational forms have changed competitive rules and increased the holistic complexity of business problems. These changes call for a greater interdisciplinary approach and integration in teaching and research to mirror the practice of competitive strategy, which recognizes the importance of both an external focus rooted in market orientation and an internal focus on unique firm resources and capabilities.

Communication Practices of Followers, Members, and Protégés: The Case of Upward Influence Tactics

Changing forms of organization and evolving conceptions of leadership have created the potential for followers to exert increased influence in American organizations. This chapter reviews research from a variety of disciplines on the nature of upward influence messages. Related forms of communication, such as feedback seeking, dissent, and relationship maintenance, are also discussed. Studies of the individual, relational, and organizational antecedents and outcomes of upward influence are presented. The author concludes that this form of communication has important consequences for individual members and leader-follower relationships. He suggests that future research should supplement existing work on influence tactics, with finer-grained analysis of the interactive behavior. The need to rethink traditional (psychological, hierarchical) conceptions of leader-member influence is established and alternate perspectives are explored.

What is total quality management … and does it matter?

This paper considers the definition of total quality management (TQM) by examining a variety of sources from individuals through institutions to surveys. It aims to develop a set of common themes which define TQM, in order to contribute to the debate rather than merely to add another definition to those already available. Definition matters because TQM is increasingly taught as an academic subject, there is a body of research in the area which is still developing, TQM and quality management are often confused and evidence regarding the 'success' of TQM is mixed. After consideration of the evidence from a variety of sources, a set of TQM principles and practices are presented, which are developed from the evidence, and the importance of the distinction between principles and practices is discussed. The paper concludes by posing a series of questions arising from the conclusions suggested by the evidence presented. Does it matter that some of the 'gurus' do not use and do not endorse the term TQM? Is TQM a new paradigm or another form of organizational change? Is it a bad thing that definitions of TQM are still diverse? Is the failure of TQM to do with poor practice rather than inappropriate principles? Is TQM dead, superseded or living on in other forms?

Tool support for systems emergence: A multimedia CASE tool

Information systems development is a multifaceted process, embodying elements of rational design together with varying degrees of organisational negotiation, and yet the methods and tools which are used to focus development efforts often encourage developers to over-emphasise the rational design element and overlook the organisational context and stakeholder perceptions against which development is taking place. In other words, the machine metaphor of organisations tends to dominate debate on both the development process and the form of organisational change that is being sought. In this paper alternative metaphors of organisations are reviewed and incidents from CASE field work used to show that both the political and cultural metaphors are appropriate and may provide valuable insights into the emerging course of events. Given this understanding, the role of tools is reconsidered and a multimedia tool described that may provide more substantial support to IS developers than the current-generation products by making the interplay of stakeholder interests a key element when considering IS development. The paper concludes with a report on the first experience of tool use.

Shaping Electronic Communication: The Metastructuring of Technology in the Context of Use

We argue that the use of electronic communication technologies in changing organizational forms can be facilitated by the explicit and ongoing adaptation of those technologies to changing contexts of use. This paper reports on an exploratory study of the use of a computer conferencing system in a Japanese R&D project group. We found that the system’s use was significantly influenced by the activities of a few individuals who shaped users’ interaction with the conferencing technology, modified features of the technology, and altered the context of use. These activities—which we call technology-use mediation—promoted effective electronic communication both initially at the point of adoption, as well as over time as needs, preferences, experiences, and conditions changed. Drawing on these insights, we develop a theoretical framing of the mediation process which suggests that it can be a powerful organizational mechanism for helping organizations provide the ongoing attention and resources needed to adapt electronic communication technologies to changing conditions, contexts, and organizational forms.

Mismanagement and Quality Circles: How Middle Managers Influence Direct Participation

Despite the optimism which surrounded the advent of quality circles a decade ago, recent research suggests that there are few programmes still functioning. The data on which this article is based were collected in five organisations in central Scotland in the period 1983‐86, when quality circles were in operation or were being introduced. Since then, all but one of the programmes has ceased. The research indicates that the barriers encountered by quality circles are of two kinds: some general to any form of organisational change; others specific to quality circles. In addition, quality circles cannot easily be assimilated into existing organisational power structures but require changes to systems of reward, communication and decision making. Specifically the role played by middle managers is examined. They may see quality circles as a threat to their managerial prerogative and are in a position to impair the circles by denying them the resources (such as time, information, people and finance) they need to operate. Without the co‐operation of middle managers, the circles cannot select appropriate projects, collect data or implement solutions, and may find it impossible to continue.

The key issues of a quality improvement process

SUMMARY A recent study of the quality improvement process in a cross-section of UK manufacturing industry has been carried out. This paper discusses how organizations become motivated to improve their product and service quality, the ways in which the quality improvement process can get started, the barriers to improvement, and the key factors for success. It is pointed out that the quality improvement process is a form of organizational change which requires the intervention of powerful change agents, of which demanding customers are the most influential. To succeed, quality improvement needs the commitment and effective leadership of the chief executive and his senior management team. The quality improvement process should be part of a wider business improvement strategy rather than a stand-alone programme.

Youth Gangs and Public Policy

Recent studies have begun to document the changing organizational forms of youth gangs in the United States. The emergence/re-emergence of these gangs, often accompanied by increased violence and involvement in drug use and/or trafficking, poses major public policy issues. However, little empirical research has been conducted on this subject, and very few studies have been based on interviews with gang members as well as official data and the perspectives of public officials. This article summarizes the results and recommendations of a two-year study of youth gangs in Ohio, focusing primarily on in-depth case studies of Cleveland and Columbus gangs.

The Personnel Profession In The Age Of Management Accountancy

Over the last decade, writings on the personnel profession have been pervaded by a sense of exclusion from the major management decisions. For example, Hunt and Lees report that human assets are rarely considered in decisions on company acquisition policy and that personnel managers are only involved in relatively peripheral aspects, such as the transfer of pension rights. Daniel found that personnel managers are normally excluded from decisions on re‐organisation which follow the introduction of new technology, although they are sometimes involved in other forms of organisational change. In fact even this latter involvement may be of a fairly passive character in view of Evans and Cowling's finding that personnel managers do not usually take an executive role in company re‐organisation.

Impact of diagnosis related groups on medical practice

This report discusses the incentives that a payment system based on diagnosis related groups (DRGs) imposes on hospitals and physicians and presents the author's view of current trends with respect to the extension of DRG-based payment to areas of medical and institutional care beyond the acute general hospital. It examines the impact of prospective payment based on DRGs in New Jersey, a state with more than 4 years of experience with this payment approach. In New Jersey, the system includes all payors, not just Medicare, and as a result, responses to the system in the form of organizational change, modifications in the practice of medicine and hospital/physician interactions have been unusually visible and marked. The report also examines some of the changes that have occurred and are occurring in the way medical records are kept, the internal strictures placed on physicians by hospitals and other factors which relate to the observed trends. Empirical data on changes in length of stay, number of admissions, and so forth, are presented and preliminary explanations of the changes are offered, relating them to both payment rates and to organizational strategies on the part of hospitals.