Organizational Tactics Research Articles

Global Professional Service Firms and the Challenge of Institutional Complexity: ‘Field Relocation' as a Response Strategy

ABSTRACTIn this paper we use the case of the internationalization of English law firms into Italy, and the refocusing of their operations on the city of Milan, to make a number of contributions to existing literatures on responses to institutional complexity. First, we contribute to the literature on how organizations address complexity at the field level, by revealing the role of ‘field relocation' as a particular response strategy. We also identify a number of organizational tactics – re‐scoping, re‐scaling, and re‐staffing – through which ‘field relocation' is accomplished. Second, we also show the importance of further developing our understanding of the geography of institutional fields by highlighting how the ‘receptivity' of different field locations may affect responses to complexity. This identifies the importance of geographically locating fields and sub‐fields in studies of organizational responses to institutional complexity.

The Affordable Care Act: the ethical call to transform the organizational culture.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will require health care leaders and managers to develop strategies and implement organizational tactics for their organization to survive and thrive under the federal mandates of this new health care law. Successful health care organizations and health care systems will be defined by their adaptability in the new value-based marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act. The most critical underlining challenge for this success will be the effective transformation of the organizational culture. Transformational value-based leadership is now needed to answer the ethical call for transforming the organizational culture. This article provides a model and recommendations to influence change in the most difficult leadership duty-transforming the organizational culture.

Settling In: A Study of Factors Contributing to Network Development and Socialization of Newcomers

While much research on organizational socialization has considered the influences and outcomes of organizational tactics and newcomer proactivity on newcomer adjustment, only limited work has focused specifically on the role of workplace network formation as a mechanism within the organizational socialization process. In this study we propose that network formation is a key element of newcomer socialization. Through a series of interviews with a cohort of new faculty members, we identify seven organizational and individual factors that contribute to the formation of such networks. Further, we find that the interaction between these factors can have important implications for newcomers' sense of integration, develop a typology that encapsulates variations in this interaction, and suggest that organizational tactics may have a greater influence than individual efforts on the formation of newcomer networks. Through this research, we provide a theoretical foundation for future inquiries on newcomer network formation, and practical guidance to organizations on how to support the formation of newcomer networks and enhance the organizational socialization process.

The Rise of a Chinese House Church: The Organizational Weapon

AbstractThis article investigates the similarities between the organizational innovation of one underground Protestant house church in China and the rise of early communist parties. Much like the spread of communism, the organizational tactics of the church are designed to protect it in a hostile political environment. The different levels are insulated from each other, with limited knowledge of the members above and below. In this way, if anyone is raided by the authorities, the others can continue to function with little interruption. Thus, the highly touted “organizational weapon” developed by the Bolsheviks and recycled, for example, by the Chinese Communist Party in their struggle for power, has resurfaced many years later. However, this time it has been adopted by a religious “vanguard.”

Materializing Cultural Struggle in Film and Media Studies

This essay explores how digital media activism can only be adequately understood within a cultural studies methodology. By using the Brooklyn-based media organization Not An Alternative as a case study, the essay investigates how media production serves as a central activity in not only representing local and global activist struggles, but also in mobilizing and organizing activists. Video production serves not as an endpoint unto itself but as a means to further build coalitions and galvanize collective action. Additionally, the group's organizational practices and tactics manifest themselves in the video's form and content. The type of video produced, in other words, manifests the vision that the material practices of Not An Alternative make possible. Finally, the essay will investigate some of the contradictory tendencies emerging from media-driven, direct action mobilizations that precariously appropriate marketing strategies against neoliberal tendencies.

Going Dutch in the Modern Age: Abraham Kuyper's Struggle for a Free Church in the Nineteenth-Century Netherlands

The nineteenth century witnessed a transition from the ancien régime to the ‘age of mobilisation’, says Charles Taylor, from an organically and hierarchically connected society to a fragmented society based on mass participation, charismatic leaders and organisational tactics. Amid this upheaval the Netherlands Reformed Church faced an unprecedented crisis as it lost its taken-for-granted social status. This essay examines the new legitimation that Abraham Kuyper offered the Church through his Free Church theology, and how various other aspects of his theology, including his baptismal and public theology, developed in conjunction with his ecclesiology. Kuyper's ecclesiology thus offers a case study of problems that ecclesiology in general faced due to the social and cultural shifts of the nineteenth century.

Organizational Change: A Conceptual Framework to Advance the Evidence Base

There is a vast literature on organizational change, but much of it has a weak evidence base, often using only case studies or axioms based on authors' experiences. Quantitative studies are less common and typically address a limited number of variables. Implementation science research is more advanced but typically addresses only program-level change. This paper presents a comprehensive framework of relevant variables and perspectives from which to view organizational change and offers a research agenda, with particular attention to preconditions for change (e.g., change capacity) and organizational change tactics, and their relationships with change outcomes—promising areas for research.

Organizational Honestly Guidance by Ability Superintendents

The role of organizational is to implement organizational tactic. Effective organizationalhonestly guidance is one of the important factors in organizations success. There areability superintendents who argue that formal written planning may be inappropriate forthe organizations but this seems a minority view. The tactics importance of organizationalcustomers is discussed as an asset. Also this paper describes the approach toorganizational honestly guidance at organizations. This paper proposes a relation oforganizational honestly guidance by ability superintendents and reviews the organizationaltactics and performance measurement literature to develop a conceptual model andresearch propositions. It is concluded that ability manager's characteristics can beimportant in explaining and compilation the organizational honestly guidance within theorganizations for implementation. This paper is to explore the ways in which certaincharacteristics of ability superintendents of organizations generate a tendency to prepareformal written organizational tactics. The ability manager's characteristics showing asignificant association with a commitment to organizational honestly guidance and alsoorganizational honestly guidance showed a positive association with those abilitysuperintendents with a growth orientation. In fact, organizations influence whether or notthose organizations engage in organizational tactics. In this field, the focus is on thespecial characteristics of ability superintendents such as education type and level.

Employee Engagement and Organizational Behavior Management

Engagement is a “buzz” word that has gained popularity in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Based on a “Positive Psychology” approach, engagement is perceived as a valuable state for employees, because surveys on the construct have found it correlates with some organizational tactics (e.g., human resource policies, procedural justice) and positive outcomes (e.g., growth, lower costs, lower absenteeism). Reviews of the engagement literature suggest engagement is not clearly defined, which is common with some popular cognitive/emotional constructs. Positive Psychology is nothing new to behavior analysis (Luthans, Youssef, & Rawski, 2011), which has many applications through the field of Organizational Behavior Management to create an “engaged” workforce and culture.

Aplicaciones emergentes de inteligencia competitiva en las universidades

Different authors have pointed out the importance of applying competitive intelligence (CI) to non-business sectors (public administration, universities, non-governmental organizations, etc.). Besides, universities increasingly apply management tools and techniques coming from the business field. On the other hand, in recent years universities have perceived an environmental pressure as a consequence of a) their implication in regional development where they are located, and b) their need to reform their program offerings according to the needs of society and the requirements of the labour market, as well as a result of the process of adapting their degrees to the European Higher Education Area (Bologna process). This paper describes and characterises CI practices in the universities and analyses the CI contribution to the design of degree courses. The research is based on qualitative methods, and data were collected through interviews. Results suggest that the use of CI in universities is mainly reactive, and addressed only to organisational tactics.

Organizational commitment through organizational socialization tactics

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to investigate how organizational socialization tactics affect newcomers' organizational commitment and learning processes.Design/methodology/aproachA survey was conducted using a measurement tool based on Van Maanen and Schein's theory on organizational socialization tactics and Kuvaas' measurement tools of organizational commitment. The respondents were newcomers in two large Norwegian government organizations.FindingsIt was found that there was no significant relationship between organizational socialization tactics on the context and content dimensions and affective organizational commitment. That means that facilitating formal training and timetables for career development does not necessarily lead to organizational commitment. The research finds, however, a significant relationship between institutionalized social dimensions and organizational commitment. That means providing newcomers with role models and support and acknowledgement from experienced colleagues, positively affect their organizational commitment. Consequently, the extent that newcomers have the chance to participate in work activities and socially interact with established colleagues, positively affect their affective commitment and learning processes.Research limitations/implicationsThe measurement tool was translated into Norwegian, which might affect losing the validity of two out of six dimensions of organizational socialization. Also, the social dimension only explains 25 percent of the factors resulting in organizational commitment. Thus, other factors need further investigation, also to address the complexity in newcomers' learning processes when facilitating organizational socialization.Practical implicationsThe paper recognizes the importance of newcomers having access to, and being able to learn from established colleagues through participation and practice in work activities.Originality/valueThere are no previous studies of organizational socialization tactics in Norway, and only limited research combining these tactics with organizational commitment, including recognizing organizational tactics' limitation in sufficiently understanding the complexity of newcomers' learning processes.

Forward Progress? The Fall and Rise of an American Political Movement

Over the past 40 years, the game of American politics has fundamentally changed. American citizens have moved away from serving as active participants in a democratic process and towards a more passive consumption of heavily marketed political products. Meanwhile, a highly sophisticated and strategic Conservative movement has slowly captured incredible influence over the political process, through its often-brilliant organizational and visionary tactics. As these trends have begun to powerfully alter the context for the American political process, the Progressive movement has been left behind. Failing to construct a sufficiently adaptive strategy, and neglecting to craft a compelling and unifying vision, Progressive organizations and leaders are finding themselves without influence, quickly losing access to the hearts and minds of the American people. In order to become successful in promoting their values, the diverse spectrum of Progressive actors will have to find a way to coordinate their strategic and visionary efforts, and to reduce the fragmentation that has limited their political aspirations. Even in light of the recent Democratic electoral victories, the Progressive agenda continues to be threatened by issue fragmentation and the absence of a broader popular movement. The work presented here outlines the historical background for the rise of the Right and the fall of the Left, describing the trend towards consumer politics and some of the new strategies being employed to respond to it. It lays out a comprehensive theory about why the Progressive movement has become so disempowered in recent years, and it offers an innovative new solution for increasing coordination and collaboration among Progressive agents. This research is non-partisan (focusing on analyzing the Progressive and Conservative movements, rather than any particular political party.)

The FTO Reporter 2010

From the jungles of the Philippines and Colombia to the deserts of Yemen and Somalia, from the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the cities of the United States and Northern Ireland, 2010 demonstrated that the threat posed by international terrorist organizations is not waning. “Death by a thousand cuts” is what al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula calls their strategy against America, but the evolving nature of the threat from designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations suggests that the technique is not limited to AQAP. Spanning the ideological spectrum, and claiming a variety of grievances, terrorist organizations pose just as much, if not more, of a danger than they did when the State Department first began designating them in 1997. These are just a few of the conclusions that come out of The FTO Reporter, a collection of selected news stories regarding groups designated by the United States as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO). Even a cursory review of news involving FTOs in 2010 reveals the scope of the problem. And while the FTO Reporter is intended to offer data rather than analysis, themes have emerged. Here, we highlight only a few of those themes focusing on the evolving nature of the terrorist threat. By now it is axiomatic that the threat posed by FTOs is constantly evolving. One need only open a newspaper or tune into the news to see that terrorist groups continue to change their organizational structure, recruitment strategies, and operational tactics. The FTO Reporter, drawing on that open-source intelligence, indicates that 2010 was no different – new terrorist groups were identified while inactive ones were de-listed; terrorist groups expanded their reach and capabilities by increasing FTO cooperation; terror financing continued to pose a challenge to international law enforcement and intelligence officials; and the terrorist groups increasingly turned to the Internet to revolutionize the processes of radicalization, recruitment, training, and planning required for acts of terrorism.

Newly empowered: experiences of young leaders in Vietnam

Subject area Leadership, psychology. Study level/applicability Organizational behavior, international business, gender and society at Undergraduate level. Case overview This short case describes a qualitative investigation on the dynamics of power between young business leaders and senior supervisees in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Views from both the supervisors and supervisees on current working relationships are presented. Expected learning outcomes After reading and discussing the case, participants are expected to be able to identify key concepts from organizational behavior theory, including stereotyping, leadership styles, and influence tactics. Participants should also become sensitized to gender roles and their influence on workplace behavior. Supplementary materials Teaching notes.

Perceived Effectiveness of Bullying Behaviors as Organizational Political Tactics

Based on the arguments that in some cases bullying could be examined as a form of organizational politics, this study aims to identify if different bullying dimensions are perceived as effective political tactics for influencing major organizational decisions and in turn serving the self interests of the perpetrators. Results showed that people perceive bullying behaviors as effective political tactics to influence major organizational decision domains. Also, different dimensions of bullying were perceived as more effective to influence some particular organizational decisions and gaining personal objectives. In order to influence organizational decisions such as promotion, allocation of task assignments, organization structure, and performance appraisal, affecting victims’ occupational situation was perceived as the most effective bullying behavior dimension. However, when people aimed to influence dismissal decisions, the most effective bullying dimension was perceived as affecting victim’s physical health.

ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIALIZATION PROCESS: A SOCIAL CAPITAL PERSPECTIVE.

The article refers to research on the interactionist perspective of organizational socialization and develops a theoretical framework for a social capital perspective. The discussion focuses on: the influence of social interactions and relationships with organizational insiders on the socialization of new employees; the two socialization factors of organizational tactics and newcomer proactivity; the ability of individuals to access and mobilize social resources; and the character traits of self-monitoring and self-evaluation as contingencies in the socialization process.

Disciplining Microbes in the Implementation of US Federal Organic Standards

The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), a citizen panel charged with the job of recommending to the US Secretary of Agriculture guidelines for certified organic agriculture, can be analyzed as a ‘boundary organization’. By linking organic farmers' knowledge with peer-reviewed science, the board builds the base of organic agriculture for legitimacy and also develops a new product: federally certified organic agriculture. Examination of organic standards on composting, with a focus on characterizations of composting microbes, reveals the very compromised ability of the NOSB to effect change, however, despite its efforts to build common ground between institutions with very different cultures and historical interests. A focus on discourses of microbes provides insights into the accomplishments of and limits to the influence of the NOSB as well as the larger organic movement. Organizational tactics of the NOSB are best understood within the larger context of institutional commitments to specific forms of agriculture.

Implementing and Sustaining Service-Learning at the Institutional Level

In this study, we offer insights regarding the tactics used by institutions to implement and sustain service-learning at various levels of commitment as identified by Holland (1997). An analysis of data collected from 12 directors of service-learning centers provides a description of common practices associated with implementing and sustaining service-learning initiatives at the institutional level, focusing on organizational tactics associated with funding, administration, faculty recruitment and support, and student involvement and assessment.

The Strange Tale of Tom Cassidy and Catherine Rose, or, Free Love, Heterosexuality, and the One Big Union

When Tom Cassidy and Catherine Rose were purged from the One Big Union (OBU) in October 1923 for their illicit sexual relationship, it unleashed an intense and at times dramatic series of confrontations lasting more than six months in which members said to advocate the ideals of “free love” became the greatest threat to the union's existence. Remarkably, these debates at dozens of union meetings occurred without any public reference to sex. Instead, OBU executive members contained the sexual content of Cassidy's and Rose's affair by posing the question of their relationship in terms of a value judgement about what would hinder the progress of the union. To talk of sex, they argued, would enable a sexual Red Scare at the hands of the bourgeois press. The OBU would be destroyed in the ensuing panic over charges of “free love” and the working-class movement for liberation would be undermined. But underneath their concern to protect the union's reputation lay patriarchal assumptions about heterosexuality, both as sexual practice and family structure, to explain the union's existence, its organizational tactics, and their dream of a better future. Thus, it was not so much that the OBU Executive refused to challenge conservative sexual values to protect the union, but that they promoted these values.

Accountability for corporate injustice

This paper explores the issue of corporate accountability for social injustice. We divide our discussion into three major parts. First, we discuss the current understanding of large organizations manifested in the prevailing legal and cultural climate. We argue that organizations are often treated as a type of juristic person. As such, they have not only certain rights, but also certain responsibilities to the larger society. For this reason, accountability for corporate actions is of major importance. In the second section, we review the psychological processes by which individuals come to attribute responsibility. In accordance with Fairness Theory, we suggest that there are three central issues to consider when attributing responsibility to organizations for unjust acts. Organizations are held accountable when an alternative state would have been better than a current situation, when the firm could have feasibly avoided creating the negative conditions, and when the harm should never have taken place (i.e., it violated ethical and moral standards). Finally, in the third section of the paper, we elaborate and discuss several organizational tactics for addressing an accusation of accountability. These include both short-term, single-loop tactics, as well as long-term, double-loop tactics.