Delayering Research Articles

Profiling feedback antecedents in higher education students: a person-oriented perspective

The ability to give, receive and process feedback is essential for higher education students not only during their studies, but also for their future work life. Despite the extensive amount of research on feedback in education, there is limited research on feedback skills as collaborative skills and on what might influence these skills. Through surveying a large sample of 2,907 university students who worked in self-managed project teams, this study explores how individual characteristics as antecedents relate to students’ perceived feedback skills. We use a person-oriented approach to examine how these antecedents relate within students and how these profiles relate to perceived feedback skills. In addition to reliability, confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence for the structural validity of a newly developed feedback skills instrument. Five scales were used from existing feedback instruments as antecedents of feedback skills, and these were also found to be valid and reliable. Through a person-oriented approach, we applied a hierarchical and a k-means cluster analysis to create student profiles or groups based on feedback antecedents. We identified five distinct groups of students with common feedback antecedents. The results indicate that the five groups also had different levels of perceived feedback skills. The study contributes to the limited research on the dynamics of giving and receiving feedback from the perspective of students in the context of collaborative learning. It has implications for researchers and practitioners to better understand individual differences and to consider these differences when designing collaborative learning activities and facilitating student teams.

Agile Project Management in the Pre-Construction Stage: Facing the Challenges of Projectification in the Construction Industry

Given the complex and dispersed nature of construction projects, which demand collaboration among varied experts, it is crucial to reevaluate project management and execution approaches to enhance their performance. Agile principles offer a path towards heightened responsiveness within tasks and processes, addressing the construction industry’s fast-paced nature and growing client demands for timely project completion. However, adopting new management methodologies, such as Agile, needs a significant cultural shift, enabling the cultivation of multi-skilled and self-managing teams. Projectification, a growing trend in contemporary society where more activities are managed as projects, has gained significant relevance in recent years. This study examines the application of Agile project management (specifically Agile Scrum methodology) during the pre-construction phase of a construction project through the lens of Projectification. As evidenced by the research results, applying the Agile methodology in the pre-construction phase may help enhance flexibility and collaboration, enabling teams to adapt quickly to evolving project requirements and unforeseen challenges. The findings demonstrate that Agile methodologies offer numerous benefits, including enhanced adaptability, flexibility, accountability, transparency, and teamwork. Additionally, there were significant reductions in time and costs, emphasizing the value of Agile practices in construction project management.

Control Method For Processes in a Horizontal Organization and its Relationship with Business Success Aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Objective: This study aims to develop an appropriate control method for a horizontal organization that is managed by processes, based on the establishment of the functioning of this type of organizations from a theoretical conceptual point of view and in application of the mathematical method to find an appropriate equation. Methodology: In this research, the descriptive and analytical approach was used, both to understand the functioning of the processes of the horizontal organization and to infer the relationship between the fulfillment of the objectives of the different types of processes, assigning a specific weight to each one according to its relative impact on the mission and formulating the equations whose development converged in the proposed control method. Results: The results show that this method not only provides an effective quantitative tool for strategic decision making, but also faithfully reflects the collaborative and decentralized nature of horizontal organizations. The practical application of the equation will allow managers to prioritize the most critical processes and align actions with strategic objectives and mission. Conclusions: The development of the work confirmed the possibility of generating a control method for a horizontal organization based on the evaluation of its processes, thus becoming a decision-making tool that ensures organizational success, a necessary condition for having efficient business structures that support the growth of society aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Performativity and political organization after the squares: rethinking horizontality and verticality

ABSTRACT This paper explores the role of performativity in political organization, especially in relation to horizontality and verticality. Taking its cues from the heightened interest in horizontal and vertical organization following the post-2010 movements of the squares and new forms of party politics that have emerged in their wake, the paper draws on Michael Saward’s and Judith Butler’s accounts of the performativity of representation and assembly, respectively, to develop an original synthesis of a discursive-organizational approach based on Laclau’s and Mouffe’s discourse theory with an understanding of the role of performativity in horizontal and vertical forms of party organization. Following initial considerations on performativity as a category that tends to be implicitly assumed but under-theorized in theoretical perspectives on post-squares organization (e.g. Chantal Mouffe and Rodrigo Nunes), the paper presents readings of Saward’s and Butler’s understandings of performativity, which are then linked to existing and ongoing work on movement parties and Volksparteien of a new type (VNTs) as prototypical types of horizontal and vertical party organization. In this vein, the paper develops an integrated framework of Discursive-Organizational Analysis (DOA) that combines post-foundational discourse analysis (PDA) with performativity theory and serves as a bridge between the semantic and pragmatic aspects of discourse.

Organization Design: Current Insights and Future Research Directions

We review the research on organization design from 2000 to 2023, inclusive. We identify four major approaches to organization design in the contemporary literature: configuration, control, channelization, and coordination. We discuss the key streams of research that characterize each of these approaches, as well as three emerging areas of research: AI and organizational decision-making, flat organizations, and multiple goals. Beyond the specific contributions of individual papers and streams of work, our review makes a number of high-level observations across approaches. We identify patterns that characterize this body of work, the methods used, open questions for future research, and a discussion of organization design as a theory. Collectively, these observations define the state of organization design research and may provide scholars with a foundation for future research.

Exploring Self-Management Practices in SMES: Insights from an Initial Survey

Self-managed teams are perceived as highly productive and have been actively studied in recent times. Considering this, the notion of the utility of establishing and cultivating such teams in small and medium-sized businesses in Kazakhstan has emerged, aiming to enhance their role in the country's economic development. Therefore, the authors of this article have resolved to conduct an empirical study on teams operating within the SMEs sector of Kazakhstan. This study aims to present the findings of an initial survey conducted among employees of small and medium-sized enterprises to characterize their self-management capacities and identify factors influencing their self-management abilities. For this purpose, representatives of teams in small and medium businesses in Kazakhstan were surveyed. The design of the survey questionnaire involved three field experts to validate and refine the questions. Findings reveal that approximately two-thirds of SME teams in Kazakhstan demonstrate characteristics of cross-functionality, diversity, motivation, and co-location, indicative of their self-managing nature. This suggests agile management's potential for organizational goals. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study aimed to investigate how far the teams in Kazakhstani enterprises are self-managed. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2024-05-03-016 Full Text: PDF

Unlocking the role of managers in self-managing teams

PurposeRecent reports show that knowledge-based sectors contribute significantly to the global economy and underscore the importance of innovation. Innovation in both products and processes is vital to maintaining competitiveness. Self-managing teams, emphasizing autonomy and limiting the role of management, have been viewed as a solution to encourage innovation. However, management's efforts to coordinate and align employees with the organization's interests can inadvertently stifle innovation. Achieving the appropriate balance between granting employees autonomy and retaining managerial involvement is paramount, creating a paradox known as the control-autonomy dilemma. This article highlights the importance of perceived managerial support to strike the appropriate balance.Design/methodology/approachPractitioner paperFindingsTo address the control-autonomy dilemma, organizational practices that balance management control and employee autonomy are crucial. These include input practices that emphasize skill development and/or output practices that set clear goals. With self-rule, maintaining perceived managerial support becomes harder. Without it, employees may hesitate to engage in innovative behaviors. While not needing constant supervision, employees do need to have the perception that their managers provide essential resources and motivation for their work.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to highlight how the level of perceived managerial support (PMS) will differ due to the nature of the organizational practices and the type of innovation.

Emergence in context: How team-client psychological contract fulfillment is associated with the emergence of team identification or team-member exchange.

Psychological contracts have been theorized to occur at different levels of analysis and with different exchange parties. In this article, we develop the concept of team-client psychological contract fulfillment (team-client PCF) as a team-level social exchange indicator, reflecting the team members' perceptions of the degree of fulfillment of the commitments a client promised to a team. Using the multilevel group-process framework (Lang et al., 2019) and a sample of newly formed self-managed teams consisting of 838 observations, nested in 244 individuals, 56 teams, and in four waves of data, we tested the claim that team-client PCF may determine the type of collective states that emerge within the team. When team-client PCF is higher, it should create conditions for the emergence of team states related to team maintenance (i.e., team identification), whereas when team-client PCF is lower, it is more likely that teams develop states related to the regulation of team performance (i.e., team-member exchange [TMX]). Our results support our hypotheses. We discuss implications for both the psychological contract literature as well as the team dynamics literature (especially team dynamics of team identification and TMX). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Shared Leadership in Self-Managing Teams: Centering Individual Team Members

Shared Leadership in Self-Managing Teams: Centering Individual Team Members

A predictive model for collaborative leadership in digital transformation: Does it make a difference in Oman’s e-government performance?

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the role of collaborative leadership in government digital transformation in the Sultanate of Oman. To analyze collaborative leadership, the research examines four exogenous variables: self-directed team, power-sharing, relational intelligence and agility. The endogenous variable chosen to represent Oman's e-Government performance is organizational performance.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative method was applied to gather cross-sectional data in a questionnaire survey. Using a stratified sampling technique, the data were collected from 100 information and communication technology and e-government officials who assume leadership responsibilities. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) examined measurement and structural models.FindingsThe role of collaborative leadership in the performance of government digital transformation in the Sultanate of Oman was examined in this study. Collaborative leadership was categorized into four exogenous variables: self-directed team, power-sharing, relational intelligence and agility. Oman’s e-government performance operationalized as the organizational performance was selected as the endogenous variable. The results show that the self-directed team and agility components of collaborative leadership significantly positively impacted the performance of government digital transformation in the Sultanate of Oman.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitation of this research was that the study covered only four collaborative leadership attributes: self-directed teams, power-sharing, relational intelligence and agility. The study should have covered building trust, commitment, emotional intelligence, vision and communication skills.Practical implicationsThese results are important for government policy creators and decision-makers aiming to enhance government digital transformation performance by leveraging collaborative leadership.Social implicationsAddressing collaborative leadership in management can be done through awareness of its importance to critical decision-makers and embedding it in the organization's governance, policies and human resource career path. In particular, it is recommended that public sector leaders continuously monitor self-managing teams and teamwork practices within the organization.Originality/valueThe originality and contribution of the above article lie in its investigation of the role of collaborative leadership in the context of government digital transformation in the Sultanate of Oman. The study contributes to the existing literature by examining the impact of four exogenous variables, self-directed team, power-sharing, relational intelligence and agility, on collaborative leadership. Additionally, the research uses a quantitative approach and uses PLS-SEM to analyze the data. The findings highlight the significant positive impact of self-directed team and agility components of collaborative leadership on the performance of government digital transformation. These insights provide valuable implications for government policy creators and decision-makers aiming to enhance digital transformation in the public sector by effectively implementing collaborative leadership strategies.

Individual perceptions of leadership emergence in the B2B sector and its impact on perceived team sales performance

Self-managed teams are becoming more prevalent in sales. In such teams, leadership emergence plays a key role, as leaders are often not explicitly appointed but take on leadership implicitly. Previous research has focused primarily on antecedents that predict leadership emergence, paying less attention to conditions under which leadership emergence positively or negatively affects outcomes. Given the high demands placed on sales teams, understanding leadership emergence and its outcomes in the team selling context is of great importance. Using data from 185 sales team members of a business-to-business company, the authors present a conceptual framework that draws on the job demands-resources model. Results show a direct positive effect of salespeople’s individual perceptions of leadership emergence on perceived team sales performance. This effect depends heavily on perceived customer demandingness and competitive intensity. The strong practical relevance of leadership emergence in sales teams has important managerial implications.

Navigating role identity tensions — IT project managers’ identity work in agile information systems development

ABSTRACT While the management of traditional, plan-based information systems development (ISD) projects lies with the information technology project manager (ITPM), this role is challenged in agile ISD team settings, characterised by self-managed and autonomous teams. Driven by the potential for individual, project, and organisational benefits through a deeper comprehension of these challenges, our study draws upon role identity theories to uncover identity tensions that this role creates and ways in which ITPMs engage in identity work to resolve these tensions. We conducted an in-depth, qualitative study involving interviews with ITPMs operating within agile ISD teams embedded in traditionally-managed organisations. A central contribution of our paper lies in the development of a theoretical model that unpacks how ITPMs navigate identity work tensions by engaging in specific identity work activities. By revealing the interplay between ITPMs’ role identity tensions, identity work activities, and contextual factors, our study moves beyond purely descriptive accounts and offers a nuanced understanding of the emotional and behavioural dimensions of ITPMs in their liminal position. Additionally, our work underscores the pivotal role of ITPMs as boundary spanners, bridging the gap between traditional and agile governance structures to drive digital transformation. For practitioners, we provide agile ISD team design recommendations.

Application of a new municipal management model of Home Care Service in Barcelona: Assessment of workers' labour conditions, health, and well-being.

In 2018, Barcelona City Council implemented a pilot phase of an organisational change in the municipal home care service (HCS) system. Inspired in the Buurtzorg model, the new model promotes the creation of self-managing teams operating in a restricted community setting. To assess the pilot phase of the new model, focusing on employees' working and employment conditions as well as on their health and well-being outcomes. Mixed-methods impact evaluation. First, a quantitative evaluation was conducted between October 2018 and October 2020, using a pre-post study design with one pretest and two posttest measurements in an intervention and a comparison group. The intervention group was composed of the members of the work teams implemented in the pilot phase from October 2018 onwards (baseline n = 44). The comparison group consisted of workers from the same districts working under the usual HCS system (baseline n = 72). Next, a qualitative study was conducted in workers from the intervention group in winter 2021-2022 (n = 10). The pre-post study results yielded positive changes for the intervention group in social support and autonomy, as well as in many of the employment conditions. This group also experienced increases in psychological demands, painful positions, fatigue and psychological distress. Two main themes affecting workers' well-being emerged from the interviews: factors inherent to the self-management model and external factors. Health and well-being outcomes seem to depend on the balance between job demands, resources, and ways of channelling conflicts within teams.

Values Spiral Development Method in the Implementation of Digitalization Projects in Syncretic Methodology

The article is devoted to the formulation of the method of spiral development of values in the implementation of digitalization projects of self-managed organizations, which was developed within the syncretic methodology of project management. The application of the proposed method is considered in the field of infrastructure restoration projects of Ukraine. A scientific problem regarding the availability of a project management methodology that meets modern challenges has been formulated. The gap between the practical needs of project-oriented organizations in a new unique methodology and the availability of established standards for solving typical project management tasks is revealed. A review of literary sources was carried out, modern project management trends were highlighted, including: increasing complexity of modern corporate project management methodologies, application of value-oriented management approaches, models of self-managed teams. The principles of value-oriented management for infrastructure restoration projects implemented by self-managed organizations within the syncretic methodology have been formulated. The method of values spiral development of a project-oriented organization, which uses models of self-management, through the implementation of digitalization projects within the syncretic methodology, is proposed. Within the scope of the method: a value model for digitalization projects of self-managed organizations is proposed; the concept of "stellarator project" is introduced, the definition of such a project is given. The results of the approbation of the method in a project-oriented organization working in the field of infrastructure restoration of Ukraine are presented and analyzed. Areas of improvement of the project-oriented activities of the specified organization have been determined. A SWOT analysis of the proposed method was carried out. Conclusions based on the research are formulated, prospects for further research in the chosen direction are outlined.

Values Spiral Development Method in the Implementation of Digitalization Projects in Syncretic Methodology

The article is devoted to the formulation of the method of spiral development of values in the implementation of digitalization projects of self-managed organizations, which was developed within the syncretic methodology of project management. The application of the proposed method is considered in the field of infrastructure restoration projects of Ukraine. A scientific problem regarding the availability of a project management methodology that meets modern challenges has been formulated. The gap between the practical needs of project-oriented organizations in a new unique methodology and the availability of established standards for solving typical project management tasks is revealed. A review of literary sources was carried out, modern project management trends were highlighted, including: increasing complexity of modern corporate project management methodologies, application of value-oriented management approaches, models of self-managed teams. The principles of value-oriented management for infrastructure restoration projects implemented by self-managed organizations within the syncretic methodology have been formulated. The method of values spiral development of a project-oriented organization, which uses models of self-management, through the implementation of digitalization projects within the syncretic methodology, is proposed. Within the scope of the method: a value model for digitalization projects of self-managed organizations is proposed; the concept of "stellarator project" is introduced, the definition of such a project is given. The results of the approbation of the method in a project-oriented organization working in the field of infrastructure restoration of Ukraine are presented and analyzed. Areas of improvement of the project-oriented activities of the specified organization have been determined. A SWOT analysis of the proposed method was carried out. Conclusions based on the research are formulated, prospects for further research in the chosen direction are outlined.

Exploring emergent leadership in agile teams: network dynamics, roles and skills at the individual level

PurposeLeadership research has traditionally focused on formal leadership; however, leaders may emerge in informal settings in self-managed teams, and little is known about who emergent leaders are and what their characteristics are. This study investigates emergent leaders' behaviors, roles, skills, and leadership style, drawing on a multi-method approach.Design/methodology/approachWe first identify emergent leaders using social network analysis and aggregation approaches. Second, we investigate emergent leaders' characteristics using interviews with forty agile team members in five organizations.FindingsResults indicate different roles of emergent leaders (i.e. coach, liaisons), leadership styles (i.e. supportive), skills (i.e. culturally intelligent, strategist), and influencing factors (i.e. personality, technical knowledge, social circle).Originality/valueWe contribute by identifying emergent leaders through multiple identification methods (i.e. network analysis, aggregation), and then through identifying their various characteristics, we contribute to leadership literature as well as idiosyncrasy-credit theory. We also add to agile-leadership theory, showing that multiple informal leaders may emerge within agile teams. Finally, our findings have practical implications for self-managed teams, informal group settings, organizational change professionals, and organizations with horizontal structures.

Implementing Self-Managing Teams in Organizations: A Systematic Review of Best Practices and Evolution

Implementing Self-Managing Teams in Organizations: A Systematic Review of Best Practices and Evolution

Generative Convective Parametrization of a Dry Atmospheric Boundary Layer

AbstractTurbulence parametrizations will remain a necessary building block in kilometer‐scale Earth system models. In convective boundary layers, where the mean vertical gradients of conserved properties such as potential temperature and moisture are approximately zero, the standard ansatz which relates turbulent fluxes to mean vertical gradients via an eddy diffusivity has to be extended by mass‐flux parametrizations for the typically asymmetric up‐ and downdrafts in the atmospheric boundary layer. We present a parametrization for a dry and transiently growing convective boundary layer based on a generative adversarial network. The training and test data are obtained from three‐dimensional high‐resolution direct numerical simulations. The model incorporates the physics of self‐similar layer growth following from the classical mixed layer theory of Deardorff by a renormalization. This enhances the training data base of the generative machine learning algorithm and thus significantly improves the predicted statistics of the synthetically generated turbulence fields at different heights inside the boundary layer, above the surface layer. Differently to stochastic parametrizations, our model is able to predict the highly non‐Gaussian and transient statistics of buoyancy fluctuations, vertical velocity, and buoyancy flux at different heights thus also capturing the fastest thermals penetrating into the stabilized top region. The results of our generative algorithm agree with standard two‐equation mass‐flux schemes. The present parametrization provides additionally the granule‐type horizontal organization of the turbulent convection which cannot be obtained in any of the other model closures. Our proof of concept‐study also paves the way to efficient data‐driven convective parametrizations in other natural flows.

Self-managing peer team as a facilitator of online teaching

PurposeThis qualitative study assesses the enablers of the work of a novel, self-managing digital pedagogy peer support team in a Finnish higher education institution.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a qualitative methodology with in-depth interviews of five digital pedagogy facilitators. The data collected are analyzed with the ATLAS.ti software. The analytical approach follows a deductive method, applying the categories derived from Magpili and Pazos (2018) who investigated the input variables of self-managing teams through their extensive literature review.FindingsThe primary findings underscore the suitability of Magpili and Pazos' variables for evaluating the performance enablers of self-managing teams. Furthermore, the findings emphasize the significance of leadership and effective communication as essential prerequisites for achieving elevated performance levels.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses on the enablers of team performance from the perspective of the team members. To enhance comprehensiveness, subsequent phases should incorporate viewpoints from clients, namely peer instructors, and focus on the mediator and outcome aspects of the team effectiveness framework.Practical implicationsThis study offers actionable recommendations for higher education institutions aiming to adopt a peer mentor model akin to the one delineated in the study.Originality/valueThis study analyzes a collaborative approach to advancing digital pedagogy within higher education institutions and discusses the enablers for successful performance within self-managing teams.

Managerial risk data analytics applications using grey influence analysis (GINA)

We observe and analyze the causal relations among risk factors in a system, considering the manufacturing supply chains. Seven major categories of risks were identified and scrutinized and the detailed analysis of causal relations using the grey influence analysis (GINA) methodology is outlined. With expert response based survey, we conduct an initial analysis of the risks using risk matrix analysis (RMA) and the risks under high priority are identified. Later, the GINA is implemented to understand the causal relations among various categories of risks, which is particularly useful in group decision-making environments. The results from RMA concludes that the capacity risks (CR) and delays (DL) are in the category of very high priority risks. GINA results also ratify the conclusions from RMA and observes that managers need to control and manage capacity risks (CR) and delays (DL) with high priorities. Additionally from the results of GINA, the causal factors disruptions (DS) and forecast risks (FR) appear to be primary importance and if unattended can lead to the initiation of several other risks in supply chains. Managers are recommended to identify disruptions at an early stage in supply chains and reduce the forecast errors to avoid bullwhips in supply chains.