Organizational Design Research Articles

Reactions to asynchronous video interviews: The role of design decisions and applicant age and gender

AbstractAsynchronous video interviews (AVIs) are a form of one‐way, technology‐mediated selection interview that can help streamline and increase flexibility in the hiring process and are used to hire millions of applicants per year. Although applicant reactions to AVIs in general tend to be more negative than with traditional interview modalities, AVIs can differ widely in how they are designed. For instance, applicants can be provided with more or less preparation time, response length, rerecording options, or rely on different question formats. This study examines how AVI design features impact applicant reactions, as well as the moderating role played by applicant age and gender. Data from 27,809 real job applicant's AVI experiences were collected in 11 countries (69.3% English‐speaking) from 33 companies and relating to 72 types of positions. Data were fitted with linear mixed‐effects models to account for nesting. Results showed that allowing more preparation time and offering the opportunity to rerecord responses were related to more favorable reactions, while including more questions was related to more negative reactions. Applicants above the age of 31 reacted especially negatively to AVIs with more questions while those below the age of 30 preferred being allocated longer maximum response lengths. Women reacted more positively to increased preparation time. These findings might help both AVI vendors and hiring organizations design AVIs that facilitate a positive applicant experience. Our research also expands knowledge on applicant reactions to interviews, highlights crucial differences from traditional formats, and calls for integrating applicant characteristics into current theoretical frameworks on applicant reactions to AVIs.

Peer Evaluations: Evaluating and Being Evaluated

Peer evaluations place organizational members in a dual role: they evaluate their peers and are being evaluated by their peers. We theorize that when evaluating their peers, they anticipate how their evaluations will be perceived and adjust their evaluations strategically to be evaluated more positively themselves when their peers assess them. Building on this overarching claim of role duality resulting in strategic peer evaluations, we focus on a dilemma that evaluating members face: they want to leverage their evaluations of peers to portray themselves as engaged and having high standards, but at the same time, they must be careful not to offend anyone as doing so may cause retaliation. We suggest that organizational members about to be evaluated resolve this dilemma by participating in more peer evaluations but carefully targeting which evaluations they participate in. We test our theory by analyzing peer evaluations on Wikipedia, supplemented by in-depth semistructured interviews. Our study informs research on peer evaluation and organizational design by revealing how being an evaluator and evaluated can make evaluations more strategic. Supplemental Material: The e-companion is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2021.15302 .

Decentralized autonomous organization design for the commons and the common good

The current internet economy is characterised by a historically unprecedented bundling of private sector power over infrastructures. This situation is harmful for overcoming problems where collective action is needed, such as for governing digital commons. Organisations that run on collectively owned decentralised infrastructure are able to overcome this centralisation of power. These common decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) could help in fostering digitally enabled collective action. However, currently we have no clear view of how a DAO designed for commons governance would operate and be governed. By creating a conceptual prototype of a DAO governing a common, we provide a clear path of how common DAOs should mature and which tools are needed to create them. In this research, we created a governance framework for common DAOs by combining 16 works on technology for commons governance. The framework reveals that common DAO governance consists of three areas: 1) Governance structure, 2) Enabling technology, and 3) Community governance. We provide governance mechanisms that together describe an implementation of Ostrom’s common governance principles in a DAO. This work is a synthesis of previous research on technology for collective action. The proposed framework aids in standardising DAO governance for the common good and may contribute to a large scale roll-out of commons DAOs.

The evolution of organizational design: the case of digital startups

PurposeAlong their journey to achieve exponential growth, startups must process a vast amount of information and make quick decisions, reevaluate and adjust strategies and simultaneously redesign their organization along with the venture lifecycle. This paper delineates the evolution of startups' organizational design and identifies the influencing factors in every phase of the lifecycle.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts an explorative qualitative approach using a multiple case study methodology for six Indonesian startups. Indonesia is chosen as an emerging country in Southeast Asia with tremendous growth in digital startup businesses.FindingsThe research findings suggest that, as they experience exponential growth, startups strive to manage the tension between being structured and being flexible and hence remain innovative by combining management-centric and employee-centric approaches. In particular, this study identified three main factors that potentially influence the evolution of startups' organizational design: founders, investors and the characteristics of business and market.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study focuses mainly on Indonesian digital startups and does not fully explain how the influencing factors work in each phase of the venture journey.Practical implicationsThis study offers practical contributions for startups pursuing business growth by focusing on the importance of balancing the tension between structured and flexible organizational design and placing more attention on founders, investors and business-market characteristics.Originality/valueThis empirical study is among the first to delineate nuances of organizational design evolution during the startup lifecycle by adopting an explorative qualitative method.

Blockchain‐Based Governance: Implications for Organizational Boundaries and Structures

AbstractBlockchain has emerged as a key Industry 4.0 technology, enabling novel forms of governance and coordination mechanism among organizations and markets. However, extant literature has largely focused on the technical aspects of blockchain, with limited attention to the behavioural and institutional aspects. In this paper, we argue that blockchain‐based smart contracts and decentralized autonomous organizations represent the potential for a radical departure from traditional forms of contractual governance and hierarchy, carrying profound implications for the design and governance of economic transaction and organizational structures. We elucidate how blockchain technologies, characterized by transparency, immutability, programmability and decentralization, reduce transaction costs and establish an industrialized and trustless transactional governance system. Finally, we present an agenda for future research, highlighting the need for new theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence to understand the impact of blockchain on organizational design and forms.

Organizing for good—using organization design to take on grand challenges

Over the past decade, scholarly work has surged around grand societal challenges, such as climate change, public health, and poverty, often framed by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These complex and global issues demand innovative organization design solutions. The “Organizing for Good” campaign, launched by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Organizational Design Community (ODC), aims to spotlight, curate, and stimulate research and practices contributing to the SDGs. This introductory essay serves as a prologue to a special issue in the Journal of Organization Design, which closely aligned with the campaign’s objectives. It delves into the concept of organization design as a tool for addressing these challenges, viewing organization designs as problem-solving systems for collective action. Furthermore, it provides an overview of how the SDGs intersect with the scholarly community focusing on organization design, previews the content of articles featured in this special issue, and raises questions for future research.

Purpose-driven transformation: a holistic organization design framework for integrating societal goals into companies

Companies today are increasingly called upon to address society’s issues, such as climate change and inequality, but traditional companies are not up to the task as they are designed primarily for profit maximization. Addressing society’s issues requires companies to societally hybridize, meaning introducing societal goals alongside profit goals thereby transitioning to a deeper societal impact commitment. However, extant literature predominantly considers born hybrid organizations and discusses specific design elements or types of hybrid design. Drawing on social–commercial hybrid organization and organization design literatures, this conceptual paper takes a dynamic view of social–commercial hybridity. This paper proposes a framework delineating four stages of societal hybridization based on the degree to which a traditional company realigns its design to pursue dual goals. The paper has practical and theoretical implications with contributions to social–commercial hybrid organization and organization design theories by demonstrating how redesign can enable a company to successfully integrate societal goals and improve multidimensional organizational performance.

Operationalising ethics for AI in the financial industry: Insights from the Volksbank case study

This paper seeks to advance the development of responsible artificial intelligence (AI) practices within the banking industry through an in-depth case study analysis of De Volksbank’s governance framework for AI ethics. While the financial sector has historically embraced technological innovation, the increasing integration of AI into customer - and operations-focused systems has raised ethical concerns. Despite regulatory initiatives and the broad availability of ethical frameworks for responsible AI, numerous challenges related to operationalising these frameworks persist. Addressing the existing gap between ethical principles and AI practices in finance, this paper examines De Volksbank’s ethical governance framework as a potential organisational configuration of structures and processes necessary to meaningfully operationalise AI ethics. The paper provides a comprehensive overview of De Volksbank’s governance framework, detailing its requirements, roles and responsibilities across various dimensions of AI ethics governance. Additionally, it elaborates on four important insights of operationalising ethics, focusing on AI ethics as a challenge in (1) organisational design, (2) interdisciplinary expertise and responsibilities, (3) proactive governance and (4) high-quality processes for ethical inquiry. Given the indispensability of trust for the financial sector, trustworthy AI is of crucial importance for its long-term legitimacy and existence. Consequently, this paper seeks to enhance the understanding of operationalising AI ethics in banking and to serve as an impetus for other organisations aspiring to establish ethical frameworks for their AI systems.

Changing the “Meaning of Place” Within a Hospital: The Impact of Establishing an Art Gallery on Esthetic Experience, Restorativeness, Affective Commitment, and Work Engagement of Healthcare Personnel

For a long time, care environments have been characterized as "inhuman," with their place meaning linked to illness and suffering. This study aims to analyze the shift in the meaning of the hospital space, investigating the impact of a permanent art gallery in a hospital's Gynecology Department on employees' well-being. Employing a quasi-experimental design, a final sample of 116 hospital employees (81 in the control group and 74 in the experimental group) completed self-report measures before and after the installation. Three self-report measurements were conducted at approximately 45-day intervals. The intervention resulted in an immediate increase in aesthetic experience, confirming an emotional involvement. Additionally, the art gallery demonstrated delayed positive effects on restorativeness after 45 days, positively affecting affective commitment and work engagement. These findings highlight the potential of art interventions in healthcare settings to enhance employees' well-being, suggesting implications for organizational design and employee satisfaction.

Имитационное моделирование оценки эффективности взаимозаменяемости ресурсного потенциала участников инновационных сольватаций

The need for organizational design of effective forms in the manufacturing industry, determined by modern imperatives to enhance the use of endogenous potential, taking into account the capabilities of circular models, puts forward innovative solvates operating on the platform of circularity among such associations. This is explained by the fact that the main principle of their functioning is resource efficiency as a consequence of the rational organization and use of the internal resources of the participants, as well as the rational symbiosis between them. The methodological platform of this study, in addition to the basic, system-wide ones, includes the principles of waste-free, resource-efficient, inclusive, and resilient. The work takes into account the results of a targeted analysis of modern approaches of Russian and foreign scientists specializing in issues of economic content and the role of circular models in the rational use of the resource potential of subjects of integration formations in regional industry; an interpretation of their opinions is given based on such circularity criteria as inclusivity and resilience. Taking into account the fundamental principles of interaction between participants in solvates based on circularity, this article examines the issues of increasing the rationality of the resource symbiosis of participants. The latter seems possible to the authors through the selection of optimal options for the interchangeability of their potentials in cases of irrational (ineffective) use or identification of limiting components of resource potential in the context of achieving local goals in the subsystems of the alliance and/or the global goal of the association. The article proposes a set of simulation models, the use of which allows the formation of such alternative scenarios for goal-oriented redistribution and replacement of resources of solvate entities in close conjunction with the target settings of each stage of a single technological chain for creating added value. Verification of the models is carried out using the example of industrial associations in the south of Russia, substantiated by the authors in previous publications as innovative solvates that meet the criteria for content, organization of distribution and use of resources, as well as the principles of a circular economy. Various scenarios for the mutual substitution of resource potentials of participants were calculated in accordance with different options for the pricing policy of the solvate.

刍议高校汉语国际教育专业实践教学改革策略

In the teaching of Chinese International Education in higher education, teachers explore the organization, planning, and innovative design of practical teaching activities to effectively cultivate students’ professional practical abilities, enhance their comprehensive qualities, and promote their all-round development in professional learning. In the teaching practice of the Chinese International Education major, it is crucial to deeply understand the importance of professional practical teaching. Based on the characteristics of the major and the needs of students, the approach to practical teaching reform is clarified from the perspectives of positioning teaching reform objectives, building the teaching reform resource system, innovating teaching reform methods, and establishing a teaching reform evaluation system. Innovative strategies for professional practical teaching reform are pursued by optimizing and innovating the professional practical teaching model, systematically reforming the methods for professional practical teaching, and enhancing the support system for professional practical teaching. The aim is to comprehensively improve the overall effectiveness of Chinese International Education, ensuring that students’ comprehensive qualities receive efficient training.

Artifact concreteness as imprinter in the organization design process

The fundamental purpose of design is to construct artifacts which interface inner and outer systems. Recent work in entrepreneurship makes a compelling argument that opportunities represent an artifact which interfaces inner systems of the entrepreneurial firm with outer systems of customers, markets and supplier stakeholders. In this formulation, opportunities might emerge from one of two ideal forms of design, namely experimentation or transformation. We build on such work, exploring a different artifact - the entrepreneurial organization. Adopting a design perspective, we compare the trajectories of two ventures with relatively similar starting points, but imprinted by different artifacts which encouraged the use of design approaches of experimentation in one and transformation in the other. We expose critical areas of divergence in the organizations that emerge. Imprinted by a trove of available concrete artifacts, the organization employing experimentation features dense, strongly tied networks, a more loyalty and work oriented culture and a simpler, less flexible, more incremental strategy. By contrast, the organization imprinted by penurious resources employed transformation, and features less dense, weakly tied networks, a more political, status oriented and discursive culture, and a more flexible, growth-oriented strategy. The practical implication of our work lies in the insight that through starting endowment imprint and design approach, future entrepreneurs might build features into the ultimate artifact they create - the organization itself.

The optimal role model

Comparison with peers, including role models, is an essential force driving individual’s behaviors. We study how the introduction of such a role model can influence individual’s action and how to drive agents to exert maximal effort through comparative emulation. We consider a planner whose goal is to maximize the effort exerted by an agent. The agent’s utility is composed of a direct and a relative component. The planner can hire a role model to induce competition through comparison and increase the agent’s effort. We show that the agent’s response to the role model effort exhibits two distinct behaviors : emulation and discouragement. These two behaviors depend on whether the role model effort is above a certain threshold. In addition, we show that this response is discontinuous at the threshold, suggesting important implications for education and organizational design.

Organizations’ perspectives on whistleblowing: evidence from interviews with unregulated companies

PurposeWhistleblowers are individuals who detect and report misconduct in an organization. They help to mitigate organizational misbehavior and resulting damages effectively and relatively quickly. Whistleblower protection has not been systematically required in the European Union (EU), leaving many large organizations unregulated. This study aims to get in-depth insights into how unregulated organizations design, handle and view whistleblowing with the advent of a novel EU Whistleblowing Directive.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted 17 semistructured interviews with a diverse group of organizations headquartered in Germany and inductively analyzed them following Grounded Theory. Linking the Grounded Theory to the legal endogeneity model, they developed seven perspectives that help to explain how organizations view whistleblowing.FindingsIn trying to make sense of the role of whistleblowing in the organization’s governance, organizations and their managers assume different perspectives. These perspectives guide their approach to whistleblower protection in the context of evolving regulation with little regulatory guidance. Perspectives vary in the degree of supporting whistleblowing regulation, from viewing whistleblowing as a natural, everyday governance tool to denying it and fearing denunciation. Most organizations exhibit several perspectives.Originality/valueLittle is known about day-to-day whistleblowing practices from the perspective of organizations. The authors fill this research gap by providing initial evidence on how organizations approach whistleblowing and the EU Whistleblowing Directive. Identifying organizations’ perspectives may help us understand how ineffective or noncompliant whistleblowing systems emerge and how organizations can improve.

Entrepreneurial culture and disruptive innovation in established firms – how to handle ambidexterity

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to improve the understanding of strategies for how established companies can respond to disruptive innovation, handle increasing complexity, facilitate entrepreneurial culture and processes and successfully manage organizational ambidexterity.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative multiple-case study was conducted to explore successful practices of innovation ambidexterity (IA) and their organizational design, entrepreneurial culture and mindset, processes and leadership. Two internationally established firms that have launched and established IA programs provided deep insight, revealing their strategy and learning on the path toward effective IA.FindingsThe findings show that accepting and managing the inherent complexity increases within an ambidextrous organization strategy is a decisive factor in achieving effective IA. As a result, segmenting small organizational units and granting them extensive autonomy is proposed for managing the complexity of an organization while increasing its effectiveness. Furthermore, it is shown that this helps foster entrepreneurial culture, mindsets and processes as additional mediators for achieving effective IA. Coaching, empowerment and trust were identified as key factors of ambidextrous leadership values that encourage entrepreneurial behavior and decision-making.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors knowledge the first study connecting the research fields of complexity management, organizational ambidexterity theory and entrepreneurial culture while applying the fundamentals of systems theory to propose a practical management framework for successfully responding to disruptive innovation.

Organisational Design Issues and the Proper Dimensionalisation of Business Model Innovation


 
 
 
 A conversation with Nicolai Foss about the future of business model innovation research
 
 
 

Expanding the organizational design space: the emergence of AI robot bosses

AI robot bosses are becoming increasingly prevalent in organizations, and they expand the traditional organizational design space. Organizations can benefit from utilizing both robots and humans as bosses, as they can substitute for each other and work together as complements across different organizational structures. This expanded design space includes different kinds of AI robots and humans as bosses, rather than limiting robots to just being helpers. By considering the different capabilities and relationships of humans and robots, we argue that the organizational design space is expanded to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency. However, the effectiveness of a robot boss depends on the organizational situation. Robots excel at managing organizational rules and processing large data sets for certain environments. AI robots also excel at predicting future patterns based on large sets of data, while humans are better suited for uncertain situations requiring judgement and creativity. We develop four types of AI robot bosses based on: explainability or how easy it is to understand and explain the decisions made, and supervised learning or how the robots learn and are trained over time in usage. These four types are then matched with leadership styles and organization forms. Organizational charts, or hierarchy charts, visually depict an organization’s structure, showcasing reporting relationships and chains of command. Employees’ names, titles, and job positions are typically represented in boxes or circles connected by lines, indicating their affiliations. However, traditional organization charts lack icons or representations of Artificial intelligent or AI robot bosses. This discrepancy prompts the question not of their inclusion, but of why they are omitted.

Features and prospects of Russia's public diplomacy within the framework of BRICS in the context of modern challenges

Public diplomacy and the policy of "soft power" are alternative tools to military force to infl uence and attract foreign audiences, as well as a way to strengthen the image of a state in the international arena, increase investment, tourism, economic and political cooperation. The article examines the forms and features of educational, cultural and scientifi c cooperation between Russia and the BRICS countries. The importance of the association in Russian foreign policy is noted, especially in the context of a changing world order and international instability. Nevertheless, its potential and resources are not being used properly, therefore, it is necessary to popularize the activities and projects implemented within the framework of the BRICS, as well as their institutional and organizational design. The conclusion says about the prospects and signifi cant opportunities of the association as one of the centers in the process of building a just and multipolar world.

Navigating Rigor: An Autoethnographic Exploration of Templating and Crystallization

In this autoethnographic exploration, we engage in a dialogic investigation to examine how templating and crystallization shape rigor in qualitative research. The use of templates in qualitative research has been widely used as a means of enhancing rigor in organizational research design yet comes with caveats especially when wanting to push boundaries. With the interplay of templates and crystallization, the researcher is encouraged to apply iterative and reflexive modes. The aim here is to inspire and invite researchers to pursue the multiplicity offered by qualitative methodologies and expand the discipline through authentic, trustworthy, and credible approaches. To explore the development of rigor we reflect on five narrative vignettes to abductively review the interplay of templating and crystallization within our academic experiences. The autoethnographic lens provided the scope to engage in our discourse, and practices and to question our emerging insights in pursuit of informed understandings. Whilst the focus is limited, we bring an organizational research view that highlights some of the challenges of the discipline. Three themes that we term tenets – purpose, reflexivity, and transparency – were key in the interplay of templates and the appreciation of crystallization. We found that utilizing a template is a valuable starting point for structure or direction, but the researcher must move beyond to find purpose, extend knowledge, and advance thinking. Transparency is essential to evidence the rigor, authenticity, and transferability of findings. This autoethnographic exploration adds value to the body of qualitative research as we call for rigor especially when there is a tendency for overuse or misuse of templates. To be clear, crystallization is not about doing as you please, but fostering rigor to encourage new ways of sense-making.

Unlocking the key dimensions of organizational agility: A systematic literature review on leadership, structural and cultural antecedents

AbstractThis paper presents the first comprehensive systematic literature review of articles from the last five years published on enterprise-scaled agility and offers practical insights for organisations looking to become more agile. The management literature on agile structures is still relatively scarce and fragmented, but emerging. Our results highlight the characteristics, advantages and tensions created by agility at the organisational level, and give insight for executives to support their decisions on organisational design. By examining the structural, cultural, and leadership antecedents that are necessary for success, this paper contributes to the ongoing debate about agile organisations. The concept of ‘Agility Forest’ proposed here will contribute to the better understanding of the connections between structure, culture, and leadership.