Organizational Configurations Research Articles

Structuring experimentation: Implementing Growth Hacking in new ventures

Recent academic and managerial literature has paid significant attention to experimentation methods employed at different stages of a new venture’s lifecycle. Alongside the widely popularized Lean Startup method, Growth Hacking has emerged as an effective approach for supporting venture growth. While previous studies have examined experimentation from the process and individual perspectives, research on the integration of these methods within increasingly complex organizational structures remains limited. This article presents a comparative case study of two new ventures that adopted Growth Hacking while scaling. The findings reveal two approaches to the organizational implementation of Growth Hacking—either bridging or permeating experimentation throughout the organization—and explore their characteristics in terms of organizational configuration, the structure of marketing and product units, key roles, governance of experimentation, and associated benefits and shortcomings. These findings contribute to the literature on structuring experimentation and scaling in new ventures.

Geoestratégia Aeroespacial: O Shijian-21, Tensões Geopolíticas e a Preconização dos Conflitos Extra Kármán

The dynamics of the world's political space express changes in relation to the nuclei of power envisaged up until the beginning of the 1990s. Since humanity's conquest of the third dimension of war, the atmospheric environment has also become a space for dispute and militarization, culminating in the shaping of a new geopolitical territory. The following work seeks to present the context and geostrategic disputes based on the role of the Chinese Shijian-21 satellite in the aerospace dynamics of outer space. The methodology used is based on the analytical-synthetic method on case studies, and the method of analysis of the decision-making processes of Rational Behavior and Rational Actor for the actions of deterrence and defense employed by China. As a result, multinucleated aerospace potential is associated with the use of military force and is linked to the organizational configuration and symbology for deterrence and the ability to employ force. The application of Shinjian-21 contributes to the reduction of Chinese vulnerabilities in relation to the aerospace complex, while at the same time helping to increase geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific region by shaping disputed areas of influence.

Research on the Configuration Path of Innovation Performance of Strategic Emerging Enterprises

As vehicles for implementing innovation-driven strategies, the strategic emerging industries are crucial for enhancing national competitiveness and sustainable development. Improving innovation performance in these industries has been a central focus of academic research. Notably, existing studies have primarily analyzed the net effects from a single perspective. This study examined 261 strategic emerging Chinese enterprises listed on the A-share market. Utilizing the Technology–Organization–Environment framework and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, this study explores the impact paths and mechanisms of the coupling configurations of technology, organization, and environment to enhance enterprises’ innovation performance from a configuration perspective. We discovered that, first, no single antecedent condition is necessary to achieve high enterprise innovation performance. However, increasing the level of digital transformation and intensity of innovation investments universally results in high innovation performance. Second, the technological, organizational, and environmental conditions exhibit “multiple concurrency”, forming diverse configurations that drive enterprise innovation performance; hence, the driving paths of enterprise innovation performance are varied. Third, four schemes exist for achieving high innovation performance in strategic emerging enterprises: environment-driven under technological dominance, technology–organization driven type, organization-driven under technological–environmental dominance, and technology–organization–environment co-driven type. Exploring the synergistic paths driving innovation performance from a configuration perspective enhances our understanding of the complex interactions among multiple factors in improving such performance. This provides significant theoretical and practical implications for enterprises aiming to improve their innovation performance.

Expanding the boundaries of digital orientation research: Scale development and validation

Firms keep struggling to realize the benefits of digital transformation processes. Research, therefore, proposes implementing a firm-wide organizational configuration with a digital orientation (DO) fostering digital innovation and transformation initiatives. However, exploration of DO remains somewhat constrained as existing measurement approaches are limited to secondary data. In this study, we develop a new scale to measure DO, specifically in survey-based research. Leveraging survey data from 1,488 top executives of German companies and drawing on the resource-based view, we empirically validate that our scale captures the performance-enhancing effects of DO.

Organisational configurations explaining the entrepreneurial orientation–performance–environment relationship: a focus on bricolage capability, organisational identity and absorptive capacity

Wide-spread research demonstrates that firms which promote entrepreneurship are dynamic, flexible organisations which tend to realise greater innovation. The entrepreneurial orientation (EO)–firm performance relationship and its contingency factors remain an unresolved area of research in the literature. Recognising the centrality of knowledge and resource-based rationales within EO–performance theorising, we investigate the role of resources and capabilities in terms of bricolage capability, absorptive capacity, and organisational identity as potential moderators to the EO–performance–environment relationship. Primary data are sourced from firms in the South African construction and materials industry sector. After establishing validity and reliability through confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), hierarchical multiple linear regression was used to test the hypotheses. Results reveal that in the context of environmental hostility, the EO–performance relationship is positively moderated by the bricolage capability–organisational identity interaction. Moreover, absorptive capacity is positively moderated by organisational identity. Managers need to appreciate how various internal resources and capabilities could be orchestrated for optimum performance and how these could be complementary and consistent with EO–performance outcomes. The study findings provide novel research implications by increasing the theoretical and empirical reach of bricolage capability, absorptive capacity, and organisational identity as moderators in the EO–performance–environment relationship.

Using boundary objects and methodological island (BOMI) modeling in large-scale agile systems development

AbstractLarge-scale systems development commonly faces the challenge of managing relevant knowledge between different organizational groups, particularly in increasingly agile contexts. Here, there is a conflict between coordination and group autonomy, and it is challenging to determine what necessary coordination information must be shared by what teams or groups, and what can be left to local team management. We introduce a way to manage this complexity using a modeling framework based on two core concepts: methodological islands (i.e., groups using different development methods than the surrounding organization) and boundary objects (i.e., artifacts that create a common understanding across team borders). However, we found that companies often lack a systematic way of assessing coordination issues and the use of boundary objects between methodological islands. As part of an iterative design science study, we have addressed this gap by producing a modeling framework (BOMI: Boundary Objects and Methodological Islands) to better capture and analyze coordination and knowledge management in practice. This framework includes a metamodel, as well as a list of bad smells over this metamodel that can be leveraged to detect inter-team coordination issues. The framework also includes a methodology to suggest concrete modeling steps and broader guidelines to help apply the approach successfully in practice. We have developed Eclipse-based tool support for the BOMI method, allowing for both graphical and textual model creation, and including an implementation of views over BOMI instance models in order to manage model complexity. We have evaluated these artifacts iteratively together with five large-scale companies developing complex systems. In this work, we describe the BOMI framework and its iterative evaluation in several real cases, reporting on lessons learned and identifying future work. We have produced a matured and stable modeling framework which facilitates understanding and reflection over complex organizational configurations, communication, governance, and coordination of knowledge artifacts in large-scale agile system development.

Openness, Tensions and Organisational Configurations for Innovation Performance

Openness, Tensions and Organisational Configurations for Innovation Performance

Comparative Configurational Process Analysis: A New Set-Theoretic Technique for Longitudinal Case Analysis

In the past 20 years, researchers have significantly advanced various management fields by examining organizational phenomena through a configurational lens, including competitive strategies, corporate governance mechanisms, and innovation systems. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) has emerged as a primary method for empirically investigating organizational configurations. However, QCA has traditionally struggled to capture the temporal aspects of configurational phenomena. In this paper, we present configurational comparative process analysis (C2PA), which merges QCA with sequence analysis. We introduce the concept of configurational themes—recognizable temporal patterns of recurring combinations of explanatory conditions—to identify and track the temporal dynamics among these phenomena. We also outline configurational matching—a method for empirically identifying these themes by distinguishing theme-defining from theme-supporting conditions. C2PA allows researchers to explore the temporal dynamics of configurational phenomena, such as their stability, emergence, and decline at critical junctures. We illustrate the application of C2PA through a study of shareholder value orientation and discuss its potential for addressing key questions in management research.

Costs and Projected Effect of a Federally Qualified Health Center-Based Mailed Colorectal Cancer Screening Program in Texas.

Mailed stool testing for colorectal cancer (CRC) may improve screening uptake and reduce the incidence and mortality of CRC, especially among patients at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). To expand screening programs it is important to identify cost-effective approaches. We developed a decision-analytic model to estimate the cost, effects on screening and patient outcomes (CRCs detected, CRCs prevented, CRC deaths prevented), and cost-effectiveness of implementing a state-wide mailed stool testing program over 5 years among unscreened, age-eligible (aged 50-75 y) patients at FQHCs in Texas. We compared various outreach strategies and organizational structures (centralized, regional, or a hybrid). We used data from our existing regional mailed stool testing program and recent systematic reviews to set parameters for the model. Costs included start-up and ongoing activities and were estimated in 2022 US dollars from the perspective of a hypothetical third-party payer. Cost-effectiveness was assessed by using both incremental and average cost-effectiveness ratios. Using either a statewide centralized or hybrid organizational configuration to mail stool tests to newly eligible FQHC patients and patients who have responded at least once since program inception is likely to result in the best use of resources over 5 years, enabling more than 110,000 additional screens, detecting an incremental 181 to 194 CRCs, preventing 91 to 98 CRCs, and averting 46 to 50 CRC deaths, at a cost of $10 million to $11 million compared with no program. A statewide mailed stool testing program for FQHC patients can be implemented at reasonable cost with considerable effects on CRC screening outcomes, especially when its structure maximizes program efficiency while maintaining effectiveness.

Why Reinvent the Wheel? Materializing multiplicity to resist reification in alternative organizations

Often we unconsciously take for granted that there is not really an alternative to how we currently organize society – we tend to reify existing social order, misperceiving the way things are now as the way things must be. Such reification constrains our agency by discouraging the thought that we could do better. Alternative organizations undermine this reification by manifesting the real possibility of organizing differently. Such dereification is valuable in itself insofar as it lifts constraints on agency, facilitating intentional choice regarding the social systems we (re)produce. A case study of this dereification is offered by the Réseau Alimentaire Local (RAL), a network of French ‘solidarity groceries’ unified by the pursuit of more just and sustainable alternatives to the dominant model. Groups within the RAL develop their own software to manage these novel alternatives. We were struck, however, by some groups’ efforts to reify their own solutions, disparaging other approaches as mere attempts to ‘reinvent the wheel’. The case thus raised a tricky question: can alternative organizations dereify existing social order without at the same time reifying their proposal, thereby reimposing constraints on agency? Our exploration through the RAL case grounds two contributions. First, conceptualizing reification in terms of materializing abstract ideas, we demonstrate how any given organizational configuration contributes to the materialization of multiple ideas simultaneously. We identify two forms of such multiplicity: vertical multiplicity, where nested relational networks materialize coherent ideas that differ only in their degree of specificity; and horizontal multiplicity, where intersecting relational networks materialize divergent ideas of the same degree of specificity. We argue that failure to recognize this multiplicity accounts for a great deal of materiality’s reifying capacity, while its recognition can facilitate new ways of approaching the dereification challenge. Our second contribution is therefore a strategy for resisting reification: materializing multiplicity.

Investigating Party Abroad: Party Origins and Degrees of Formalization

This article contends that contemporary transnational dynamics have given rise to novel political subjects and territories for political engagement. By looking at how parties as organizational actors operate abroad, this study reworks extant classificatory attempts and proposes an amended typology in which the salient elements of variation are the origin of the party abroad and the degree of formalization. These two dimensions produce a matrix delineating four distinct types of party organization: branch-abroad, organization-abroad in franchising, committee-abroad, and semi-political structures. Conceptually, the typology elucidates the multifaceted nature of the structural approaches employed by home parties in their endeavors to establish connections with communities abroad. Empirically, this contribution enhances the comparability between organizational configurations abroad and extant research on party structures at the national level.

The key role of market orientation in innovation ambidexterity in agribusiness firms

AbstractThe objective of this study is to examine the relationships between market orientation, organizational culture, proactive management, organizational climate, and organizational structure on the innovative orientation (exploitative and exploratory innovation). Little research has been conducted to examine the relationship between these organizational dimensions and innovation orientation. This study offers this and provides a particular type of companies (agribusiness) and context (Extremadura, Spain). Quantitative approach, by using structural modelling equations, to analyze data from 151 innovative agri-food firms was used in this study. Then, using a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), was carried out to obtain additional insights. The main result find that market orientation plays a key role both in exploitative and exploratory innovation in agribusiness firms. Innovation exploitation is influenced by the firm’s organic structure. Results from fsQCA provide valuable findings showing that innovation exploitation and exploration result from distinct organizational configurations, thus providing valuable insights for decision and policy-making.

Management accounting for a circular economy: current limits and avenue for a dialogic approach

PurposeThis study investigates the implementation of a sustainable circular business model from an accounting perspective. Its goal is to understand if and how decision- makers use management accounting systems, and what changes are needed if these systems are to support the transition toward a circular economy.Design/methodology/approachDialogic accounting theory frames the case study of six companies that built a value network to develop and implement an innovative packaging solution consistent with circular economy principles. Content analysis was utilised to investigate the accounting tools used.FindingsThe findings indicate that circular solutions generate new organisational configurations based on value networks. Interestingly, managers’ decision-making process largely bypassed the accounting function; they relied on informal accounting and life cycle analysis, which stimulated a multi-stakeholder dialogue in a life cycle perspective.Research limitations/implicationsThe research provides theoretical and practical insights into the capability of management accounting systems to support companies seeking circular solutions.Practical implicationsThe authors offer implications for accounting practice, chief financial officers (CFOs) and accounting educators, suggesting that a dialogic approach may support value retention of resources, materials and products, as required by the circular economy.Social implicationsThe research contributes to the debate about the role of accounting in sustainability, specifically the need for connecting for resource efficiency at the corporate level with the rationalisation of resource use within planetary boundaries.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the limited research into the role of management accounting in a company’s transition to circular business models. Dialogic accounting theory frames exploration of how accounting may evolve to help businesses become accountable to all stakeholders, including the environment.

Categorization of organizational reputation and subordinate organizations' global funding outcome: A higher education perspective

Reputation is critical for building relationships with business customers in the global marketplace. However, in structurally connected organization configurations, the literature focuses mainly on one of the functional unit's reputations (either subordinate or superordinate organization), leaving out the interplay of reputation among various units in the organization. Drawing on identity and categorization theories, we develop a framework to examine the effects of brand reputation at both levels. Our study context is higher education, where business schools (subordinate) operate as autonomous entities globally yet are dependent on universities (superordinate) for policy decisions. We specify a random effects model on a 10-year panel dataset of 193 business schools to account for unobserved heterogeneity, potential selection bias, and endogeneity of reputation. Our findings suggest that brand reputation attributes at the subordinate and superordinate levels both individually and synergistically affect subordinate funding outcomes (i.e., business-school endowment). Furthermore, subordinate-level resource-utilization signals, such as diversification strategies and top executives' backgrounds, and superordinate-level policy signals, such as organization ownership and inclusivity, inform donor decisions and moderate the reputation–funding relationship. Our study suggests that administrators and managers should consider donor identity salience in marketing efforts.

Intro] Collaborative Formations at the Intersection of Pedagogy, Engagement, and Research

Science and Technology Studies (STS) pedagogies constitute a dynamic form of STS practice that occurs in formal and informal spaces, and in a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary programs with different goals and objectives. This thematic collection of articles in Engaging Science, Technology, and Society (ESTS) turns an analytical gaze on the spaces, practices, artifacts, and interactions through which STS pedagogies are enacted. Specifically, it foregrounds pedagogical engagements that have emerged through “collaborative formations” such as STS labs, clinics, workshops, community-based projects, co-teaching and other multi-temporal, geographic, and/or organizational configurations. We delve into fundamental questions about what might constitute “STS pedagogies” more broadly and how STS teaching and learning might be understood in various ways. The articles included in the collection challenge the conventional separation between research and pedagogy, suggesting that STS pedagogical scholarship can disrupt hierarchical structures that prioritize research over teaching. We start by discussing what we understand as “STS pedagogies,” what STS pedagogical scholarship might look like, and how it relates to “collaborative formations.” We then describe the infrastructure established to facilitate thinking across the collaborative formations and the multi-year process to produce the manuscripts and their accompanying data artifacts. We hold that focusing on STS pedagogical practices can open new avenues of inquiry within the field of STS, enabling critical interventions and actions in various contexts.

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.

Digital Marketing Strategies Leveraging Data Fusion and Communication Technology for Effective Human Resource Management and Organizational Configuration

Digital Marketing Strategies Leveraging Data Fusion and Communication Technology for Effective Human Resource Management and Organizational Configuration

Generic strategic positioning and organizational configurations in private micro-clinics

By linking concepts and ideas from the private health services (PHS) and Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS) literature with Porter's generic framework, this paper aims to identify the competitive positioning at a micro-clinic level in the private health services industry and to examine the perceived role of the institutions and intellectual capital associated with each one. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) was used.The results show that organizational configurations are associated with proactivity when competing via differentiation. In contrast, cost leadership is linked to firms that compete with low tariffs and a defensivearchetype. Our work can serve as a basis to recommend specific competitive strategies for thehigh number of firms still following a stuck-in-the-middle positioning strategy.

Онтологія цілей і задач резильєнтності для організаційного рівня систем захисту інформації

The ontology of high-level resilience constructs in the context of building information protection systems at the organizational level is studied. The principles of interaction between these constructs and the elements of an organization’s structure and its assets, which are integral components of the resilience-building framework, are described in detail. The process of identi¬fying an organization’s critical functions and the associated risks as a foundation for constructing its resilience is highlighted. It is posited that in organizational configurations where a single entity encompasses multiple subdivisions or interconnected organizations, the resilience of the entire system cannot simply be viewed as the aggregate resilience of its constituent parts.

Leading early childhood education centers as professional bureaucracies – social organizational structures in Finnish early childhood education

PurposeThis study examines the social organizational structure of one early childhood education (ECE) center in Finland and the relationship between this structure and the roles and the responsibilities of the members of the organization.Design/methodology/approachThe research is a qualitative case study with ethnographic features. Its variables for content analysis are based on Henry Mintzberg's theory of organizational design.FindingsThe study's results show that the organizational structure of the ECE center follows the organizational configuration of a Professional bureaucracy and that the multiprofessional teams follow the configuration of a Simple structure. The structures for centralization and decentralization are suitable for a professional bureaucracy, but the roles of the members of the organization and the processes for shared decision-making lack clarification. The shortage of qualified ECE teachers disrupts the function of the organization and the work of ECE leaders.Research limitations/implicationsThe educational background of subjects may have affected the findings.Originality/valueThe study uses Henry Mintzberg's organizational structure theory to evaluate how and why power is distributed and activities are coordinated at the ECE center. The results also show what parts of the organization pose challenges that most commonly disrupt the organization's operations. With these findings, it is possible to expand the understanding of roles and responsibilities in the currently reforming ECE environment and what ECE centers need to function effectively. The study is part of a larger research project and will be continued to examine the leadership culture of the ECE center.