Organizational Decision-making Processes Research Articles

Clarifying Communication Professionals’ Tasks In Contributing To Organizational Decision Making

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the tasks through which communication professionals and public relations contribute to organizational decision making. In-depth interviews were conducted with Finnish public relations professionals about how they contribute to organizational decision making. The findings provide a rich picture of the tasks in relation to this. The results show that public relations professionals contribute to organizational decision-making processes by nine different tasks. Furthermore, the results indicate that during an organizational decision-making process, professionals switch from one task to another over time, and work simultaneously on several tasks. This paper offers a comprehensive representation of the various tasks through which public relations professionals contribute to organizational decision making, and provides a detailed description of the various tasks throughout the phases of a decision-making process. Based on the findings, this paper introduces a contribution model for further investigation of the topic. The model can be used as a referring tool in practice to enhance communicative processes related to organizational strategy and decision making, and in this way the model will also further the bridging function and strategic role of public relations when adapting to a changing environment.

Behavioral Strategy and the Strategic Decision Architecture of the Firm

This special issue explores the impacts of behavioral strategy on management practice. Behavioral strategy can best contribute to management practice by shifting its focus from individual decision biases to the design of behaviorally informed decision processes at the level of the firm. This introduction identifies three types of organizational decision processes, shows how they interact with individual and group biases, and proposes a model showing how managers can design and deploy these processes to shape the strategy of the firm. It then introduces the articles in this special issue and discusses their contributions to the future of behavioral strategy.

The Macroeconomic Landscape of Post-Apartheid South Africa: A Critical Review of the Effect of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Program on the Success of Female SMEs Operators

Abstract Previous business research has highlighted the impact of government policy in the processes of formulating business strategies and in the decision-making process of organizations. In the South African context, a review of this impact on organizational strategy is for the most part important especially after the fall of apartheid as businesses have been saddled with widespread institutional change the purpose of which is to redress historic inequalities that characterized the apartheid regime. Specifically, the introduction of a far-reaching B-BBEE policy aimed at increasing participation of PIDs in economic activities. Previous researchers have been focused on the impact of B-BBEE policy on mergers and acquisitions, strategic decisions and value chain structures, as well as ROEs. The current report from STATS-SA indicates that the failure rate for women-owned businesses remains at a high rate despite the implementation of the B-BBEE policy. Therefore, research on the impact of BBBEE on business strategy and success of female SMMEs operators may provide an accurate and deep understanding that will be beneficial to policymakers because of the social pressures to emphasis more on a 'broad-based' BEE (B-BBEE) policy aimed at increasing the participation of the black population (and in particular women) in economic activities as well as increasing the number of black ownership in businesses or creating employment for the black population. This study used appropriate data tools and techniques to analyze the data drawn from a sample of female entrepreneurs in South Africa. The study applies culturally instantiated facets of the debate on gender entrepreneurship as part of a detailed and empirically sophisticated consideration of the status of female entrepreneurship within South Africa. This paper involves an in-depth survey using the ten dimensions of business performance as a basis to study small South African women-owned businesses given that the approach is useful in the development of a theory in fields where not much research has been undertaken. The businesses studied for this research are based on a setting where B-BBEE program is a principal factor in the strategic framework of the South African female business owner. This paper contributes to existing literature on the implications of the BBBEE program on SMEs by studying the relationship between business strategies, outcomes, and the B-BBEE program.

浅田孝の子供に対する環境開発の手法に関する研究

Takashi Asada belonged to Kenzo Tange's laboratory and starting with Reconstruction planning of Hiroshima City (1946-47), he was the main partner when Kenzo Tange designed Hiroshima peace center (1952) as well as Kagawa prefectural Government Hall (1958). Independently, he also designed Showa Station of Antarctica (1957), managed World Design Conference (1960) etc, and had played the important role in various fields beyond architecture planning and design. In 1961, Asada established "KANKYO KAIHATSU CENTER" with the meaning "research center for environmental development and design" which is the first consultant of urban and regional city planning in Japan. "KANKYO KAIHATSU RON" (1969) which means "theory of environmental development" was the only book written by Asada. He attended to establish the theory of environmental development and carry various works out through his concept as one of pioneers in Japan however Asada's theory of Environmental Development has not been clarified specifically. In his actualized works, there are 2 projects for children: Kodomo no Kuni as national children land in Yokohama (1962-72) and the development in Goshikidai of Kagawa (1965-71). This study aims to clarify Asada's method of environmental development for children through the analysis of 2 actualized projects as a part of his method of environmental development as follow. (1) Collecting information on projects and discourse concerned with children by Asada to clarify his theory for children. (2) Analysis of reflection of Asada's theory for children in program, planning and design of Kodomo no Kuni. (3) Analysis of organization frameworks and decision-making process in Kodomo no Kuni and ascertaining his role in 10 organizations. (4) Clarify points of common and development between Kodomo no Kuni and the development in Goshikidai. Throughout the analysis, the following 5 points have become clear. 1. Asada had his theory that children should act and play voluntarily in nature environment for education planned and design as less as possible. He believe in this environment encourages them self-development. In development of Goshikidai, outdoor activities had been taken in the program of school education with cooperation of governor and superintendent of education in Kagawa Prefecture. 2. Asada played an important part in site selection for Kodomo no Kuni. And that action changed the plan of Kodomo no kuni from smaller site(36ha) to the bigger site(96ha). 3. At first, the plan of Kodomo no Kuni was programmed to focus on artificial facilities like Disneyland. Asada denied it and planned minimal facilities for children's various outdoor activities. The completed plan followed Asada's concept and program generally. 4. Asada trended to introduce master plan like the cluster pattern and distributed facilities dispersively in each zone separated along the topographic features to suppress unnecessary development on nature in planning design of each project consistently. Asada tried to reuse architectural remains in Kodomo no Kuni and planned Goshikidai including existing temples, industry or facilities for children's activities and sightseeing. 5. Asada not only did planning and design, but also suggested concerning PR, management or personal affairs in each organizations of Kodomo no Kuni. In implementation process, he organized group formed of specialists, designers and architects in different field in order to design the environment comprehensively without differentiating fields and scales. Asada used the method of environmental development in cross-sectional fields to control organization in both decision-making and design and connected several organizations to design the environment comprehensively like Kodomo no Kuni.

Evaluasi Keberhasilan Program Penyediaan Air Minum Dan Sanitasi Berbasis Masyarakat (Pamsimas) Di Kabupaten Tegal (Kajian Peraturan Bupati No. 50 Tahun 2010 Tentang Petunjuk Pelaksanaan Bantuan Program Penyediaan Air Minum Dan Sanitasi Berbasis Masyarakat

Success Evaluation Program for Water Supply and Sanitation is a community based program to meet the needs of local communities in need of clean water and sanitation are maintained and made independently from both government and the public and private sectors. The purpose of this study to analyze the PAMSIMAS program evaluation in the implementation and improvement effort against obstacles PAMSIMAS program through performance indicator targets of the program. This program evaluation factors concerning the implementing organizations, programs, and beneficiaries while efforts to improve the program's success factors regarding the organization's decision-making process, the requirements of the task and authority, the competence of the executive staff, the expression of the demands. The results of the study Evaluation of Success Program for Water Supply and Sanitation Community Based in Tegal regency, there are still constraints on some aspects like implementing organizations with the beneficiaries, should their relationships and communications between managers of both government and society to better public awareness for clean water still less.

Exposing Students to Environmental Sustainability in Accounting: An Analysis of Its Impacts in a US Setting

ABSTRACTIn this study, we examine whether the introduction of two different forms of an environmental sustainability intervention into differing sections of an introductory-level managerial accounting course at a US university induces changes in students’ environmental intentions and behaviors. Based on attributes from Ajzen’s [1991. “The Theory of Planned Behavior.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 50: 179–211; 2002. “Perceived Behavioral Control, Self-efficacy, Locus of Control, and the Theory of Planned Behavior.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 32 (4): 665–683] theory of planned behaviour, results show that, in comparison to a control group with no intervention, students exhibited higher levels of attitude, perceived behavioural control, intentions, and behaviour following the interventions. However, the positive results were limited to students undergoing an experiential learning assignment beyond the basic reading, lecture, and discussion intervention. The findings provide some support for claims that bringing sustainability issues into the accounting curriculum can lead to positive student outcomes. But, given the increased efforts necessary to find and use experiential projects, they also suggest that inducing accounting faculty, at least in the US, to pursue such pedagogical approaches will require that more be done by those organisations calling for such efforts in terms of support, materials, and reward structures.

Inteligência Competitiva e Ciência da Informação: conexões epistemológicas para tomada de decisão nas organizações

Este estudo trata do processo de Inteligência Competitiva em organizações e busca identificar suas conexões epistemológicas com a Ciência da Informação, baseado em conceitos teóricos dessa área. Realiza-se estudo exploratório, tendo como metodologia a pesquisa bibliográfica para a elaboração de fundamentação epistemológica, com base nos aportes teóricos da Ciência da Informação. Apresentam-se conceitos de Ciência da Informação presentes na literatura, assim como, os conceitos de Inteligência Competitiva e as fases do ciclo da mesma; e, também, discute-se o processo de tomada de decisão nas organizações. Verifica-se a necessidade de interação com o ambiente externo como fator que abrange a relação entre a Inteligência Competitiva e a Ciência da Informação, considerando-se que a análise desse ambiente permite às organizações a tomada de decisões mais estratégicas para um melhor posicionamento competitivo no mercado. Conclui-se que a Ciência da Informação relaciona-se, epistemologicamente, com a Inteligência Competitiva, principalmente, ao se tratar do processo de tomada de decisão e na interação informacional com os ambientes organizacionais.

Employment arrangements diversity and work group performance

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore the relation between diversity in work group members’ employment arrangements and the actual performance of the work groups. Design/methodology/approach A field study was conducted on 31 work groups in a public plant belonging to the industrial sector that constitute a unique data set. The 441 employees are contracted under four significantly different employment arrangements and are mixed together in heterogeneous work groups, but perform similar tasks. Findings The results indicated that the influence of employment arrangement diversity on work group performance is best represented as variation, and work arrangements diversity is positively correlated with improved work group performance. Research limitations The study design prevented assessment of employees’ opinions. Rather, the authors used objective type of employment arrangements as the basis for calculating diversity as separation. Using mean Euclidean distance as suggested by Harrison and Klein (2007), the authors arbitrarily set the distance between two different employment arrangements as one. Practical implications The research results help in the stages of recruiting, structuring and development and application of necessary work team. Formal emphasis of diversity in work arrangements improves performance. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies using unique data set analyzing real-life team diversity and performance in the public sector. The research highly contributes to organizational decision-making processes regarding the importance of incorporating non-standard work arrangements in organizations. Management’s implementation of formal diversity seems to alleviate the negative sides of diversity and increases its positive performance effects.

Health information exchange policies of 11 diverse health systems and the associated impact on volume of exchange.

Background: Provider organizations increasingly have the ability to exchange patient health information electronically. Organizational health information exchange (HIE) policy decisions can impact the extent to which external information is readily available to providers, but this relationship has not been well studied. Objective: Our objective was to examine the relationship between electronic exchange of patient health information across organizations and organizational HIE policy decisions. We focused on 2 key decisions: whether to automatically search for information from other organizations and whether to require HIE-specific patient consent. Methods: We conducted a retrospective time series analysis of the effect of automatic querying and the patient consent requirement on the monthly volume of clinical summaries exchanged. We could not assess degree of use or usefulness of summaries, organizational decision-making processes, or generalizability to other vendors. Results: Between 2013 and 2015, clinical summary exchange volume increased by 1349% across 11 organizations. Nine of the 11 systems were set up to enable auto-querying, and auto-querying was associated with a significant increase in the monthly rate of exchange (P = .006 for change in trend). Seven of the 11 organizations did not require patient consent specifically for HIE, and these organizations experienced a greater increase in volume of exchange over time compared to organizations that required consent. Conclusions: Automatic querying and limited consent requirements are organizational HIE policy decisions that impact the volume of exchange, and ultimately the information available to providers to support optimal care. Future efforts to ensure effective HIE may need to explicitly address these factors.

The effect of social capital on job satisfaction and quality of care among hospital nurses in South Korea.

To identify the level of social capital and its effect on job satisfaction and self-reported quality of care of nurses working in hospital settings in South Korea. There are few studies on social capital and its relationship to workplace outcomes in the nursing profession internationally. A cross-sectional, correlational design was adopted with a convenience sample of 432 nurses from two university-affiliated teaching hospitals in South Korea. Nurses' social capital was positively related to job satisfaction and self-reported quality of care. Social capital explained 50% and 24%, respectively, of the variance in job satisfaction and reported quality of care. By improving social capital, nurses' job satisfaction could be enhanced and result in better quality of care for patients. Strategies to improve social capital in nursing organisations are necessary to improve job satisfaction and the quality of care provided by nurses. Nurse managers and administrators should encourage nurse participation in organisational affairs and decision-making processes to improve social capital by developing a trusting work environment with shared values and support nurses who work with peers, superiors, and subordinates.

Crisis Decision-Making During Hurricane Sandy: An Analysis of Established and Emergent Disaster Response Behaviors in the New York Metro Area.

This collective case study examined how and why specific organizational decision-making processes transpired at 2 large suburban county health departments in lower New York State during their response to Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The study also examined the relationships that the agencies developed with other emerging and established organizations within their respective health systems. In investigating these themes, the authors conducted in-depth, one-on-one interviews with 30 senior-level public health staff and first responders; reviewed documentation; and moderated 2 focus group discussions with 17 participants. Although a natural hazard such as a hurricane was not an unexpected event for these health departments, they nevertheless confronted a number of unforeseen challenges during the response phase: prolonged loss of power and fuel, limited situational awareness of the depth and breadth of the storm's impact among disaster-exposed populations, and coordination problems with a number of organizations that emerged in response to the disaster. Public health staff had few plans or protocols to guide them and often found themselves improvising and problem-solving with new organizations in the context of an overburdened health care system (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:436-442).

Staff Nurses' Perceptions and Experiences about Structural Empowerment: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study.

The aim of the study reported in this article was to investigate staff nurses’ perceptions and experiences about structural empowerment and perceptions regarding the extent to which structural empowerment supports safe quality patient care. To address the complex needs of patients, staff nurse involvement in clinical and organizational decision-making processes within interdisciplinary care settings is crucial. A qualitative study was conducted using individual semi-structured interviews of 11 staff nurses assigned to medical or surgical units in a 600-bed university hospital in Belgium. During the study period, the hospital was going through an organizational transformation process to move from a classic hierarchical and departmental organizational structure to one that was flat and interdisciplinary. Staff nurses reported experiencing structural empowerment and they were willing to be involved in decision-making processes primarily about patient care within the context of their practice unit. However, participants were not always fully aware of the challenges and the effect of empowerment on their daily practice, the quality of care and patient safety. Ongoing hospital change initiatives supported staff nurses’ involvement in decision-making processes for certain matters but for some decisions, a classic hierarchical and departmental process still remained. Nurses perceived relatively high work demands and at times viewed empowerment as presenting additional. Staff nurses recognized the opportunities structural empowerment provided within their daily practice. Nurse managers and unit climate were seen as crucial for success while lack of time and perceived work demands were viewed as barriers to empowerment.

Shadows of the Past

Following research on transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and having been motivated by arguments pertaining to the business systems approach, the authors propose that the existence of a communist heritage decreases the likelihood that employees will be consulted during organizational change processes. Results based on 23,876 firms across 27 of the European Union (EU-27) countries support this proposition. Moreover, the likelihood of direct consultation decreases with the existence of formal employee representation and an increasing share of foreign ownership in firms located in CEE countries. The authors discuss these findings in the context of organizational democracy research and the recent literature on transition economies and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of participative decision-making processes in organizations.

Social Comparison, Goal Contagion, and Adoption of Innovative Information Technology

ABSTRACTWhen adopting a new, innovative information technology (IT), most institutions tend to lack knowledge about it initially. However, they often adopt new ITs despite their illiteracy. This behavior is difficult to explain using rational IT adoption theories. Focusing on the organizational decision-making process behind adoption of innovative IT, we examine the strategy by which some companies compensate for their lack of knowledge: collection of information from other companies that have successfully adopted IT previously. We develop a new IT adoption model for which goal contagion theory and social comparison theory are combined to interpret the circumstances under which organizations tend to adopt new, innovative IT despite limited knowledge about it. Big data, cloud services, and smart mobile systems are considered as examples of innovative IT in the empirical study.

Linking HR appraisal system to management support systems: a framework and a case

This paper develops a framework for linking human resource appraisal system to management support system components: expert systems, knowledge management system, and business intelligence. HRAS is proposed to be a source for identifying domain experts and knowledge workers needed for the development of ES and KMS, respectively. The two systems will result in fostering organisation learning OL for the creation of organisation memory OM, and nurturing an organisation's intellectual capital. The paper then suggests linking team organisation, creative thinking processes, and personal traits measurement; namely Herrmann brain dominance instrument HBDI, to achieve effective intra- and inter-team communication throughout the organisation. Finally, a case is presented on how an organisation used BI as a frontend interface to HRAS data mart to improve HR performance analysis reporting. The objective of the framework is to support the decision-making processes in organisations as well as provide feedbacks to enhance the HRAS.

Modeling the Evaluation Process in a Controversy

Civil society is becoming more and more concerned and involved with organizational and governmental decision processes. We examine the case of the controversy surrounding the Quebec student conflic...

Use of Wikis in Organizational Knowledge Management

This article presents the mapping of wiki tool functions in the organizational processes of knowledge management. Mapping these functions and their individual weights in the overall process will identify opportunities for decision-making and the optimization of knowledge sharing, a recognized asset in differentiation and organizational competitiveness. This is an exploratorydescriptive case study based on data collected from a questionnaire applied to 80 IT workers employed at a multinational company in Brazil. The use of mixed methods in data analysis was complemented by content analysis of the research corpus created. A theoretical model is graphically developed following Nonaka and Takeuchi’s knowledge spiral model (1997), a conventional model in knowledge management. In addition, an indicator of the individual contribution of each step in the conversion process of tacit into explicit knowledge is introduced. This case study alone does not enable a generalization of the findings. Therefore, a replication of the process and especially multiple testing of the constructed indicator are indispensable to its validation. Validation of the use of the wiki tool functions will allow the future development of measurements that can be directly employed in the organizational decision-making process. Statistically, a theoretical model is qualitatively discussed, which enables the construction of an initial indicator of the weight of individual contribution of steps in the knowledge generation process using the knowledge spiral model.

ANÁLISE DA PRODUÇÃO NACIONAL SOBRE PROCESSO DECISÓRIO NO PERÍODO DE 2004-2014

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar as publicações nacionais sobre processo decisório organizacional em periódicos (A1 a B2) e eventos promovidos pela ANPAD no período de 2004 a 2014. A análise dos 275 artigos indica que o tema possui pouca representatividade em publicações, com uma média de dois artigos por periódico em 11 anos. Apesar de envolver um grande número de autores (n = 556), somente 4% publicaram mais de dois artigos, e 14% da produção nacional está concentrada em sete pesquisadores. A partir dos resultados, são traçadas recomendações como, por exemplo, a busca por maior rigor e relevância nos procedimentos metodológicos e a formação de grupos de pesquisa estáveis, o que permitiria o amadurecimento da produção, hoje incipiente.

Engaging Consumer Voices in Health Care Policy: Lessons for Social Work Practice

Community health centers provide comprehensive public health care in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the United States. To ensure that health centers meet the needs of their consumers, they uniquely engage them in their organizational decision-making and policy-development processes by requiring that their boards of directors encompass a 51 percent consumer majority. To understand the quality of board members' experiences, a critical ethnography was conducted using Arnstein's ladder of citizen participation and the socioecological model as a framework. The analysis identified multiple influences on the quality of participation among consumer members. Findings also confirm other research that has found that knowledge of the economic, political, and cultural factors surrounding the context of the individual health center is important to understanding meaningful participation. The experience is important to understand given the shift driven by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 in health care, which emphasizes a patient-entered model of care. Social work practitioners and others in the public health arena interested in empowering consumers to have a role in the provision of services need to understand the impact of each of these areas'and the experience of this unique sample of health center board members.

Searching for Organizational Intelligence in the Evolution of Public-Sector Performance Management

Abstract The article explores the transformation process of evaluation, performance monitoring and accountability in the public sector. The process underlines that horizontal accountability referencing a wide democratic footprint is likely to become more explicit. To this end, this article develops the idea of transformation of public sector performance management from the viewpoint of organizational intelligence. Much of the current doctrine originates from rationalistic performance management and evaluation models and are therefore reluctant or unable to see the social mechanisms incorporated in the mechanisms of accountability. This article concludes that ‘hard nose’ rationalistic models of performance and evaluation are not anymore fit for purpose. To be measured by traditional performance metrics, the society is far too complex, constructed by various social networks and retrospective interlink-ages, and constituted by public service systems. Thus, the need for intelligence in organizational knowledge management and decision-making processes ought to be addressed more systematically.