Organization Studies Research Articles

Transpositions as a hopeful methodology for organizational studies

Transpositions as a hopeful methodology for organizational studies

Sustainability and Ecotourism: the Learning Process of a Small Business in Mexico

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the implementation process of ecotourism, with the aim of understanding the different forms of knowledge generation and learning in a company with precolonial references. Theoretical Framework: This topic presents the main concepts and theories that support the research through the critical perspective of Organizational Studies. The binomial knowledge-organizational learning stands out, providing a solid foundation to understand the context of the research. Method: The methodology adopted for this research includes a case study based on a qualitative approach with a phenomenological approach. Interviews were conducted with members of the organizations and advisors who supported the implementation of the ecotourism model. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews, participant observation and document analysis. Data were analyzed with an interactive model using an inductive approach. Results and Discussion: The results obtained revealed the influence that the origin and ownership of the land has on the process of conception and practice of ecotourism. In the discussion section, cooperation between community members stands out as essential in the management of knowledge and learning, and the achievement of organizational objectives. Implications of the research: These implications could cover the theoretical-methodological limits to understand these organizational forms that live between premodernity and modernity and the need to generate sustainable reproductive, consumption, distribution and maintenance systems. Organizational Studies present a critical vision in the analysis between the complementarities and contradictions that underpin the implementation and practice of ecotourism. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by exposing the nature of this type of organizations with precolonial references where ecotourism merges with the traditions, rituals and worldviews of the community, exposing tensions and paradoxes of an organizational model that incorporates contradictory elements and at the same time complementary, such as sustainable development. The relevance and value of this research is evident in understanding the knowledge-learning process from the perspective of the subjects and the practical application in the implementation of ecotourism based on the nature of land ownership.

Prevalence, characteristics, and risk factors of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in North East of Iran: a population-based study

BackgroundNonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common dietary disorder caused by fatty changes in the liver parenchyma and hepatocytes without alcohol consumption. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence, characteristics, and risk factors of NAFLD in the Mashhad Persian Cohort Study population.MethodThe present population-based cross-sectional study included all PERSIAN Organizational Cohort study in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (POCM), Mashhad, Iran by census sampling method. Eligible participants were divided into two groups due to their NAFLD condition (NAFLD positive or NAFLD negative). All enrolled participants were evaluated based on their clinical aspects, anthropometric measures, laboratory tests, and ultrasound features. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS software version 16 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA –version 16). A P-value less than 0.05 was considered as the significance level.ResultsA total of 1198 individuals were included in the study, of which 638 (53.3%) were male and the rest were female. The mean age of the participants was 46.89 ± 8.98 years. A total of 246 patients (20.53%) were NAFLD positive, of which 122 (49.59%) were in grade 1, 112 (45.52%) were in grade 2, and 12 (4.87%) were in grade 3. The prevalence of fatty liver was significantly higher in males than in females (p < 0.001). There were significant differences between NAFLD positive and NAFLD negative participants in terms of having a history of hypertension (P = 0.044), body mass index (P < 0.001), body fat percentage (P = 0.001), waist circumference (P < 0.001), liver craniocaudal length (P = 0.012), fasting blood sugar (FBS) (P = 0.047), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (P = 0.007), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (P = 0.001). Further analysis revealed a strong significant association between BMI, previous history of hypertension, higher levels of serum ALT, and NAFLD (P < 0.05).ConclusionIt can be concluded that ultrasound findings accompanied by laboratory AST and ALT level enzymes could be a cost-benefit approach for NAFLD early diagnosis. The craniocaudal size of the liver could be a beneficent marker for estimating the severity of the disease; however, more studies are recommended to evaluate this variable for future practice against the issue.

Natural Experiments and Causation in Strategy Research

Research to inform organizational strategy decisions studies the impact of specific managerial decisions on performance. While links from decisions to outcomes can be convincingly identified in individual, specific circumstances, trying to do the same with a larger set of decisions and outcomes can be problematic. In a situation with a substantive sample, relying on standard metrics such as financial statements, the link to particular outcomes can be difficult to establish. Especially when trying to choose metrics not already correlated in some way. Our research is generally in the field of knowledge management (KM). The discipline has an extensive history of attempts to link better management of knowledge and other intangibles to performance outcomes. While the performance outcomes are fairly straightforward (financial success such as profitability or return on investment, innovation success, etc.), the metric for knowledge management is harder to pin down. The literature shows dozens of approaches. Some are for single firms or a small sample, but even if focusing only on metrics for a larger sample of firms, disagreement exists. But even when a KM metric is chosen for a larger sample, there is often a direct tie between input and output measures, making correlation difficult to establish, let alone causation. If profitability is part of both the input and output measures, of course they are correlated. The most advanced statistical techniques don’t establish anything more than what the researcher should already know from a cursory look at the logic of the study and the specifics of the variables. As a result, whether KM actually results in better organizational performance is still an open and much debated question in the field. One research approach that can get around this issue is the natural experiment. Pioneered by Nobel winner David Card and others, the natural experiment uses two measurements with a clear, consequential event separating the two—minimizing the impact of samples that might otherwise be connected contemporaneously. The event, such as a change in law, provides a change in circumstances delinking the measures. Whether structured as a pre/post experiment (measuring before or after the intervening event) or control/experimental group experiment (one group exposed to the event, the other not), the outcome can provide convincing results and can even suggest causation. This paper will cover our work with natural experiments in relation to KM and performance outcomes for merger and acquisition (M&amp;A) activity. Can KM metrics before an M&amp;A event predict the success of the event? Success can be defined by the change in financial performance after the event takes place.

Is Management and Organizational Studies divided into (micro-)tribes?

Many claims have been made in the past that Management and Organization Studies (MOS) is becoming increasingly fragmented, and that this fragmentation is causing it to drift into self-reference and irrelevance. Despite the weight of this claim, it has not yet been subjected to a systematic empirical test. This paper addresses this research gap using the tribalization approach and diachronic co-citation analyses. Based on 22,430 papers published in 14 MOS journals between 1980 and 2019, we calculate local and global centrality measures and the flow of cited articles between co-citation communities over time. In addition, we use a node-removal strategy to test whether only ritualized citations ensure MOS cohesion. Rather than tribalization, our results suggest a center–periphery structure. Furthermore, more peripheral papers are integrated into the central co-citation communities, but the lion's share of the flow of cited papers occurs over time to only a small number of large clusters. An increase of fragmentation and crowding-out of smaller clusters in MOS in seen in the polycentrically organized core 2014–2019.

Agroecological Fair as a Differential Space: an Expression of Resistance

Objective: From the perspective of agroecology, this study analyzes the arts of making as constituents of the fractures through which the agroecological fair emerges as a differential space. Theoretical Framework: It is argued that such a fair emerges in the abstract space due to the fracture caused in it by the incorporation of differences about the agroecological way of life, as a form of resistance to the logic of accumulation. The ways of being and existing others, materialized in the space of the agroecological fair, allow us to recognize it as an expression of dialectical resistance to the forces of homogenization. Method: This research was developed through an ethnography, in the period from 2022 to 2023, from the experience in 4 agroecological fairs, in which the corpus was built through narrative interviews carried out with 25 actors. And the data were organized according to the assumptions of Riessman (1993, 2008), using thematic narrative analysis. Results and Discussion: The findings reveal that the arts of making that mark the existence of the fair resist the logic of hegemonic production and consumption, opening fissures in the urban way of life, in front of which it emerges as a differential space. By resisting, the actors use their arts of making to establish their relational networks and thus produce spaces for valuing and rescuing individual and/or collective trajectories. Research Implications, Originality and Value: The contribution to the field of Organizational Studies lies in the theoretical debate elaborated in the periphery of academic studies, in which the arts of doing are formed by the knowledge of workers often ignored by the narratives of Administration.

The ruler cult in the Ptolemaic army: the thiasos βασιλισταὶ (III-I BC)

The article deals with the thiasos of the basilistai (βασιλισταὶ), a cult community that revered the Ptolemaic dynasty. According to the unanimous opinion of researchers, the main role in this association was played by the soldiers and officers of the Ptolemaic army. The paucity and fragmentary preservation of sources determine the main difficulties for a comprehensive study of this religious organization. The author of the article, having summarized the source material, including new epigraphic finds from Lycian Limira, makes an attempt to determine the characteristic features of the community of the basilistai, expresses his point of view on the problem of the chronological framework of the existence of thiasos, and also suggests what could serve as a prototype - an organization that influenced the formation of a religious associations.

Arranging the Defence of the Cyber Environment as a Part of Military Affairs: Tactical, Operational and Strategic approach in retrospect of The Russian - Ukrainian War 2022

The artificial cyber environment has reached national security interest and emerged as the fourth domain of battle in the military concept of all-domain operations in most Western armed forces and coalitions in the past 30 years. Currently, militaries are struggling to keep up with cybercriminals and advanced persistent actors while trying to gain an advantage of their data and digital infrastructure. The paper focuses on military affairs' ways and means to address the need for cyber warriors operating in friendly, neutral, and hostile cyber environments integrated under Multi-Domain Operations. The paper uses design research methodology to create and test a model for cyber defence capabilities generation and utilisation. The theoretical reference to military affairs is based on Beer's Viable System Model and previous studies of military organisations' evolution as capability generators. The military and societal cyber environment evolution model is based on industrial revolutions and current tendencies. These approaches define a hypothetical model for two main functions of military affairs (force generation and utilisation) concerning cyber defence capabilities. The fast evolution of cyber threats sets unique requirements for cyber force utilisation and generation structures. This difference has culminated in a recent war between Russia and Ukraine, and data from that conflict is used to test the hypothetical model. The rapid evolution of the cyber environment and its weaponisation establish different requirements for military cyber capabilities compared to any other operational dimension or capability (space, air, land, or maritime). The difference is evident in sourcing resources, generating capabilities, and using them in Multi-Domain Operations. The paper provides a tested model for generating cyber defence capabilities at a strategic level and an operation model for cyber defence at a tactical and operational level. The designed model extends the technically oriented cybersecurity thinking with operational and strategic levels. Furthermore, the model introduces the value stream behind the cyber capability acquisition and supports strategic designers in national and military analysis.

Protic ionic Liquids-Water Interactions: A study on 2-Hydroxypropylammonium formate through experimental analysis and computer simulations

In this study, interactions within a mixture of the protic ionic liquid 2-hydroxypropylammonium formate and water were investigated across the entire range of ionic liquid compositions and a wide temperature range from 283.15 K to 333.15 K. This investigation was based on the measurement results of density, viscosity, and electrical conductivity, and was supported by computational simulations. The synthesized ionic liquid was further characterized thermally using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) techniques. The study focuses on the analysis of excess molar quantities of volume, thermal expansion coefficients, viscosity, and Gibbs energy of viscous flow, aiming to examine the influence of temperature and mixture composition on thermophysical properties. The impact of temperature on the system’s viscosity and Angell’s strength parameter was investigated to assess the influence of the ionic liquid’s content on the system’s structural organization. The dependency of molar conductivity on viscosity was analyzed through the Walden rule. Based on this analysis, the effect of temperature and mixture composition on deviations from the ideal behavior in diluted solutions of strong electrolytes was estimated. Computational molecular dynamics simulations were employed for a more detailed study of the structural organization of the system’s components.

Come in and See: Translating a Design Pattern from the Courtroom into an Online Environment

Publicity is one of the core principles in procedural law and a fundamental right related to due process. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chilean courts held judicial proceedings online and streamed them to comply with the publicity principle. One case especially sparked the interest of the public: a man was accused of seven sexually connotated crimes, trialled online and the hearings live streamed on social media. In this article, we approach the publicity of a court proceeding as a design pattern. We apply conceptual analysis to procedural law, social media studies and organization studies to (1) investigate the different materializations of the “come in and see” pattern; (2) analyse the factors that affect the translation of a design pattern from one domain (legal) to another (digital). Our focus is on a design pattern in the law, called “come in and see”, used whenever procedures and actions require legitimization by people. We argue that publicity in a courtroom is enacted by allowing people to step into a courtroom while allowing people inside an online trial has unintended and unwanted consequences. The case analysis shows how the “come in and see” is a context-dependent pattern whose effect is determined by the surrounding architecture and institution.

Environmental Racism and Climate (In)Justice in the Anthropocene: Addressing the Silences and Erasures in Management and Organization Studies

In this paper, we are situated in postcolonial, decolonial, and feminist epistemologies to study environmental racism in the Anthropocene—a new geological epoch where human activity has changed the functioning of the earth. Drawing from critiques of the Anthropocene, the concept of racial capitalism, as well as environmental justice and racism scholarship, we show how proposed solutions to the climate crisis overlook and may even exacerbate racial injustices faced by communities of color. We contend that a climate justice agenda that is grounded on racial justice is necessary for our scholarship to develop a racially just management and organization studies (MOS). To accomplish this agenda, we propose three shifts: from studying elite institutions to researching grassroots organizations concerned with climate and racial justice, from uncritical endorsement of global technologies to studying local adaptation by communities of color, and from offering decontextualized climate solutions to unraveling racial histories that can help us address racial and climate injustices. We discuss the implications of these shifts for management research and education and argue that MOS cannot afford to ignore climate justice and racial justice—they are both inextricably linked, and one cannot be achieved without the other.

THE ROMANIAN ARMED FORCES - ORGANIZATION AND SYSTEM

his analysis explores the intertwined concepts of organization and system in defining the armed forces' role and purpose within society. Drawing from systemic theory and organizational studies, it delves into the complexities of societal structures, emphasizing the armed forces as a crucial component of a vast functional system. Examining various conceptual approaches to organization, the study delineates typological divisions and criteria for categorizing organizations, underscoring the armed forces' unique position as a socio-economic, adaptive, and technical-material system. Ultimately, it highlights the dynamic interplay between the armed forces and society, raising pertinent questions about their role, impact, and ethical implications.

The business of pornography: Contributions from organization studies—Introduction to the special section

The business of pornography: Contributions from organization studies—Introduction to the special section

Understanding youth empowerment: a youth participatory action research approach

PurposeThe aim of this study is two-fold: (1) to promote a model of youth participatory research and offer a window of understanding into how it can be enacted and (2) to understand youth perspectives on youth empowerment. This study asks: “how can youth help us understand youth empowerment?”Design/methodology/approachThe study applies youth participatory action research (YPAR) and interpretative phenomenological analysis. The study illustrates how to enact a model of YPAR by engaging youth in the process of research in a youth-serving community non-profit organization.FindingsThis study sets out to make two important contributions, one methodological and one theoretical: First, the study contributes to our understanding of the opportunities and benefits of youth-engaged, peer-to-peer research. Specifically, this study promotes a model of youth participatory action research and knowledge making processes, and the associated social and formal benefits for youth. By extension, this study illustrates an approach to engage youth in formal contexts which has implications for both management and organizational studies and education. Finally, the study extends our understanding and conceptualization of the phenomenon of youth empowerment (as informed by youth perspectives).Originality/valueThe study offers insight into how to conduct youth participatory action research and specifically how to address two limitations cited in the literature: (1) how to authentically engage youth including how to share power, and (2) how to perform youth participatory action research, often critiqued as a black box methodology.

Communication in organizations: An overview and provocations

AbstractThe role that communication plays in social organization and processes of organizing has received considerable scholarly attention from multiple disciplines over several decades. This paper provides a review of the diverse literature that has sought to contribute to the understanding of communication and its implication for management and organization studies. An analysis of the SCOPUS database for the period 1980–2022 enabled us to cluster reference material and identify five perspectives which emerge from a review of the literature: communication as transfer, discourse, conversation (analysis), narrative, and Communicative Constitution of Organizations. These categories are not intended to be exhaustive, but they do provide a useful critical heuristic for navigating a field of study that might otherwise appear overwhelming. To map the terrain's theoretical underpinnings, our study also adopted a problematizing approach to the review which revealed various conspicuous conceptual and empirical absences at a ‘field level’ which merit further attention. The paper offers provocations and suggestions that we expect will inform future studies of organizational communication. Possibilities for developing the field include paying attention to: (a) paralinguistic dimensions of communication; (b) communication in relation to actual work practices; (c) monologic communication and (d) organizational communication in non‐Western contexts.

A competence set for sustainable urban development: framing a research agenda

ABSTRACT The primary purpose of this paper is to call for more research on the competencies needed to promote sustainable urban development. Our premise is that sustainable urban development does not occur without transcending differing interests and identifying novel ways to collaborate across organisational and institutional boundaries. Relatedly, sustainable urban development calls for mobilisation and pooling of scattered assets. Therefore, sustainable urban development calls for enhanced competencies that significantly differ from the traditional capabilities valued in public administration. This premise leads us to determine what competencies are needed to support sustainable urban development and to ask how fragmented capabilities can be pooled to serve the common purpose. Sustainable urban development necessitates transformative system change, dependent on diverse stakeholders, relying on many actors’ knowledge and capabilities instead of a few selected actors’ expertise. To achieve a systemic perspective, we need to be able to group the capabilities and competencies; otherwise. We propose a conceptual framework drawing on insights from public administration, management studies, organisation studies, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that might allow us to move from individual capabilities to shared competencies and collective learning processes, thus adding analytical leverage to our efforts to strengthen the competencies embedded in systems but held by individuals. For analytical purposes, we adopt the concept of the competence set. It is geared toward identifying how different capabilities of many actors could be integrated at a systemic level so that a set would serve both the entire urban system and the actors embedded in it.

FEATURES OF THE TOPOGRAPHY AND NUMBER OF SBA+-В-LYMPHOCYTES IN THE MESENTERY OF THE INTESTINE IN NORMAL CONDITIONS AND DURING THE FORMATION OF THE ADHESION PROCESS

The study of the structural organization of the peritoneum as an immunocompetent organ will contribute to the solution of practical tasks, namely factors that control immune local and systemic reactions in the body. The question of the presence of these cells and their topography by the method of lectin histochemistry in the tissues of the peritoneum at the time of its formation, the peculiarities of the structure in different periods of onotogenesis in the norm and under the influence of endo- and exogenous factors remains not fully investigated. Carbohydrate specificity is used as a criterion for the functional classification of lectin receptors on the surface of cells, which indicates the processes of adhesion to various molecules, including fibrin and immune complexes. The aim of our study was to determine the peculiarities of the topography and the number of B-lymphocytes of the intestinal mesentery in rats in normal conditions and during the adhesion process with the help of soy lectin (SBA). The process of adhesion formation in rats of the II group was simulated by a single intraperitoneal injection of 0.5 ml of a 20% talc suspension into the area pelvis according to the method of Volyanska O.G. (2013). Animals were removed from the experiment 7, 14 and 21 days after the injection. Detection of lymphocytes that differ phenotypically according to carbohydrate residues was performed using soy lectin (SBA). The number of immunocompetent cells per standard area of 1000 μm2) was calculated.The morphology, topography and number of SBA+-lymphocytes, identified as B-lymphocytes, in the intestinal mesentery, as one of the derivatives of the peritoneum, are described. An increase in the number of SBA+ lymphocytes indicates the activation of the nonspecific humoral link of immunity, which is associated with excessive deposition of fibrinoid and affects the morphofunctional state of the peritoneum and its derivatives. Probably, lymphoid tissue associated with serous membranes (SALC) gives rise to the origin of B1-lymphocytes and is the place of their constant renewal. The leakage of fibrin leads to the formation of fibrin plaques, which are pathogenetically capable of changing the structural barrier between the connective tissue and the vessels of the peritoneum, which at the moment remains insufficiently studied. Quantitative studies of the accumulation of fibrin layers by the method of lectin histochemistry are planned.

Grave and cemetery as a manifestation of social behaviours. A few thoughts on the example of early medieval burials from the Chełmno-Dobrzyń zone

Starting point for the study of social behavior based on funeral rituals material traces is an assumption both cemeteries and burials (which are part of them) are, in a certain part, a reflection of social relations. Results of the necropolis sources analysis in their spatial context can provide plenty of information necessary to describe a social structure, determine a hierarchy and system of power, determine the financial status of deceased and reconstruct existing relationships between individuals and groups, and in general, development and a complexity of social organization studies. The article presents a few chosen issues regarding social activities manifested in graves and entire necropolises appearance (based on graves from cemeteries in Chełmno-Dobrzyń zone - Kałdus, Gruczno, Pień and Napole among others). Examples discussed in the article are an expression of socially regulated and consciously undertaken activities, expressing a certain consensus which guaranteed the stable development of local communities. Funeral practices, which were subordinated to constantly changing social rules on the one hand and accepted various dissimilarities on the other (including sepulchral customs originating from ethnically, religiously and culturally alien environments), were important part of it. Unusual burials characterized by a different deceased arrangement in graves, an equipment, and a non-standard grave constructions are traces of these practices. Social relations, including family and intergenerational ties, expressed in double and multiple burials among others, can be found in a cemetery. Necropolises could be considered, in this way, as a mirror reflection of a "spatialized" social order. The order transferred into the eschatological dimension.

Point estimation of descriptive univariate process capability indices with allowable limits and uncertain quality measurement method

ABSTRACT The main purpose of this paper is to use fuzzy logic to provide a systematic approach for designing fuzzy control charts and compare the average run length type 2 of these charts in three different modes: Gaussian fuzzy, triangular fuzzy, and crisp cases. The process of solving and presenting the research results is by calculating the fuzzy control chart conditions and fuzzy descriptive capability indices through theoretical calculations and a project-based organizational case study and comparing the average run length type 2, which represents the expected interval between out-of-control events. Average run length type 2 illustrates that Gaussian and triangular quality control charts are able to detect an out-of-control signal more quickly. The main contributions of this paper are to use Gaussian fuzzy numbers in order to provide a systematic approach for designing fuzzy control charts, estimating descriptive capability indices, and analyzing the results of their estimation under fuzzy logic.

Positive affect congruence between recruiters and applicants: effects on mutual attitudes and behaviors

ABSTRACT Drawing on social identity theory and the elaboration likelihood model, the authors hypothesize that positive affect (PA) similarity between recruiters and applicants affects both parties, and the influenced recruiters’ behaviour thus affecting applicants’ attitudes and behaviours. Nine hypotheses are tested by conducting two studies featuring a time-lagged research design with the goal of investigating the recruitment practices used by higher education institutions (HEIs) in China. Cross-level polynomial regression and block variable approaches examining 142 and 148 separate recruiter/applicant dyads support the proposed recruiter/applicant PA similarity effects. The underlying mechanism is revealed to be recruiters’ informativeness and affective delivery (Study 1), that then causes applicants to form brand identification, which further influences applicants’ attraction to the organization, and intentions to spread positive word-of-mouth about the organization (Study 2). Findings indicate that HEIs and organizations should strive to match applicant/recruiter PA levels. Implications and directions for future research are also discussed.