Organizational Configurations Research Articles

Hybrid management, organizational configuration, and medical professionalism: evidence from the establishment of a clinical directorate in Portugal.

BackgroundThe need of improving the governance of healthcare services has brought health professionals into management positions. However, both the processes and outcomes of this policy change highlight differences among the European countries. This article provides in-depth evidence that neither quantitative data nor cross-country comparisons have been able to provide regarding the influence of hybrids in the functioning of hospital organizations and impact on clinicians’ autonomy and exposure to hybridization.MethodsThe study was designed to witness the process of institutional change from the inside and while that process was underway. It reports a case study carried out in a public hospital in Portugal when the establishment of a clinical directorate was being negotiated. Data collection comprises semi-structured interviews with general managers and surgeons complemented with observations.ResultsThe clinical directorate under study illustrates a divisionalized professional bureaucracy model that combines features of professional bureaucracies and divisionalized forms. The hybrid manager is key to understand the extent to which practising clinicians are more accountable and to whom given that managerial tools of control have not been strengthened, and trust-based relations allow them to keep professional autonomy untouched. In sum, clinicians are allowed to profit from their activity and to perform autonomously from the hospital’s board of directors. The advantageous conditions enjoyed by the clinical directorate intensify internal re-stratification in medicine, thus suggesting forms of divisionalized medical professionalism grounded in organizational dynamics.ConclusionIt is discussed the extent to which policy change to the governance of health organizations regarding the relationship between medicine and management is subject to specific constraints at the workplace level, thus conditioning the expected outcomes of policy setting. The study also highlights the role of hybrid managers in determining the extent to which practising professionals are more accountable to managerial criteria. The overall conclusion is that although medical and managerial values link to each other, clinicians reconfigure managerial criteria according to specific interests. Ultimately, medical autonomy and authority may be reinforced in organizational settings subject to NPM-driven reforms.

Early Development of Functional Network Segregation Revealed by Connectomic Analysis of the Preterm Human Brain.

Human brain functional networks are topologically organized with nontrivial connectivity characteristics such as small-worldness and densely linked hubs to support highly segregated and integrated information processing. However, how they emerge and change at very early developmental phases remains poorly understood. Here, we used resting-state functional MRI and voxel-based graph theory analysis to systematically investigate the topological organization of whole-brain networks in 40 infants aged around 31 to 42 postmenstrual weeks. The functional connectivity strength and heterogeneity increased significantly in primary motor, somatosensory, visual, and auditory regions, but much less in high-order default-mode and executive-control regions. The hub and rich-club structures in primary regions were already present at around 31 postmenstrual weeks and exhibited remarkable expansions with age, accompanied by increased local clustering and shortest path length, indicating a transition from a relatively random to a more organized configuration. Moreover, multivariate pattern analysis using support vector regression revealed that individual brain maturity of preterm babies could be predicted by the network connectivity patterns. Collectively, we highlighted a gradually enhanced functional network segregation manner in the third trimester, which is primarily driven by the rapid increases of functional connectivity of the primary regions, providing crucial insights into the topological development patterns prior to birth.

Exploring the Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Policies on Firm Value: the Case of Listed Companies in Romania

(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)IntroductionEach and every business evolves based on community's orientations, similar to the government being a social contract as an implicit suite of rights and obligations. However, the specifics of the contract could be changed according to the transformations within community, but generally, the contract remains the source of the business legitimacy (Donaldson, 1982). In fact, this social contract reveals the mean on which the business conduit is congruent with the aims of community. Likewise, according to Rawls (1971) and Ozar (1979), by considering the view of corporate social responsibility (hereafter CSR), the affairs are acting as a moral agent within community, the corporations reflecting and strengthening the values. Thus, the social contract, as well the moral agency, reproduces the fundamental prerequisites as regards the notion of CSR. In the sense of the Commission of the European Communities (COM, 2001, p. 366), 'corporate social responsibility is essentially a concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment'. According to Crisostomo et al. (2011), CSR is related to an extensive spectrum of connections between company and various stakeholders, as well the environment. Additionally, social responsibility is considered an answer to social pressures, respectively a reply to the needs and expectations of stakeholders, concerns towards the environment, and social needs that characterize its dimensions. Moreover, corporate social performance of a certain company could be defined as 'a business organization's configuration of principles of social responsibility, processes of social responsiveness, and policies, programs, and observable outcomes as they relate to the firm's societal relationships' (Wood, 1991). Furthermore, according to World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED, 1987), sustainable development is viewed as 'development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. As such, Elkington (1999) considered that sustainable development of business requests the measurement against the triple bottom line of people (society), planet (ecology), as well as profit/prosperity (economy). Consequently, Gimenez et al. (2012) noted that sustainability incorporates several responsibilities such as social, environmental, and economic. Besides, Sriram et al. (2013) noticed that 'lack of social/ecological sustainability in organizations entails the risk of modern business firms becoming the dinosaurs of tomorrow'.Our paper aims to provide empirical evidence on the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm value for a sample of listed companies on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (hereafter BSE). There was developed a global index of CSR, as well as four subindices, based on a multidimensional CSR policies questionnaire, for the following social categories: social involvement; the rights, health, safety, security, and development of the employees; ensuring the quality, safety, and effectiveness of the products and services; environmental protection. Thus, the aggregate measures of CSR will be compared depending on tier of listing. In the light of the renewed EU strategy 2011-2014 for corporate social responsibility (COM, 2011, p. 681), the importance of this research is emphasized by the aim of reinforcing a high level of consumer's trust in business, respectively a significant contribution of corporations to societal well-being.1. Corporate social responsibility as driver of firm valueSchuler & Cording (2006) emphasized several theoretical models, which suggest a direct link between corporate social performance (hereafter CSP) and corporate financial performance (hereafter CFP): good management theory, stakeholder contract costs theory, private costs theory, managerial guile theory, and affordability theory. …

The Overriding Power of Ought Nots: Evidence from Microfinance for Why Some Hybrid Organizations Fail to Integrate and Perform Completely

Prior work suggests that when organizations are faced with multiple performance demands, performance is compromised unless it is concentrated on only one set of those demands. However, some recent “hybrid” organizational configurations arrange to simultaneously fulfill multiple types of demands. In this paper, I compare the performance of non-hybrid and hybrid organizations relative to two types of demands (social and financial), by analyzing 15 years of data from over 10,000 annual reports issued by 1,685 organizations in the microfinance industry. In this industry, two types of hybrid and two types of non-hybrid organizations regularly report both their social and financial performance. These industry characteristics allow for testing hypotheses related to hybrid organizational performance and investigation of a key contingency. Accordingly, I find that some hybrids perform well on both types of demands compared to their non-hybrid counterparts. Hybrid organizations’ comprehensive, high performance is contingent on whether or not hybrid combinations suffer from significant integration difficulty. When resistance to hybrid integration is high for the dominant logic in a hybrid combination, comprehensive performance suffers. This study’s findings have implications for organizations when involved in hybridization, reconciling social and financial performance, or dealing with various other combinations of multiple, concurrent demands.

Flexibility and Security within European Labor Markets

In this comparative qualitative study, the authors examine how local bargaining shapes the trade-off between labor flexibility and employment security policies in four multinational subsidiaries in Belgium, Britain, and Germany. They also consider whether and how union power to shape flexibility and security policies is affected by national institutions, the way that multinationals organize their subsidiaries, and local contextual factors. Findings support this multilevel, interdependent framework. Trade-offs are shaped by differences in workers’ structural power in specific local subsidiaries. Differences in inter-subsidiary organizational configurations, markets, and technologies modify how unions can leverage collective resources to wield power in their relationship with management.

Organizational Configurations for Local Government Procurement

The efficient and effective management of procurement activities has a crucial impact on the performance of local bodies. Among the possible leverages in the hands of local administrators, the organisational design of procurement departments has become a strategic and critical aspect to be managed. Despite the literature acknowledges the importance of the procurement organisation (both in the private and the public context) for achieving better performance, it offers few insights on the possible organisational configurations for public procurement. Therefore, this study provides a review of the literature about the most relevant characteristics of the procurement organisation and, based on that, proposes a synthetic research framework. Next, using a multiple case study approach, the study determines six alternative organisational configurations of the procurement department in local bodies and investigates strengths and weaknesses of each one. Furthermore, results show an evolutionary path from one config...

La Comisión Provincial de Monumentos Históricos y Artísticos de Zaragoza: primeras noticias acerca de la ciudad romana de Los Bañales

One of the most interesting contributions to the history of Spanish cultural heritage was the incessant work of the Provincial Commissions for Historical and Artistic Monuments, a subject of investigation by the Aragonese unknown historiography that preserves its collection unpublished news about our past newest. The configuration of these provincial arts organizations emerged in 1844, as official representatives of the State Administration are set up with the main objective to raise awareness, conserve and restore the property, monuments and archaeological sites in our country. Research carried out on the field allows us zaragozano investigate the interesting correspondence collected by near the Roman site of ʺThe Banalesʺ locations as well as other monuments or findings of interest, undoubtedly, it serves to complete one of the most interesting pages about the cultural history of this territory.

Configurations of Resources, Strategy, Structure and Environment in Young High-technology Firms: Evidence from Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Traditional configuration approach uses some combinations of four domains, namely, environment, strategy, structure and leadership, for identifying organizational configurations. Responding to call for improving extant theoretical specification, this article draws on resource-based view to argue for the inclusion of resource as a domain. Crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis is used to analyze the primary data collected through questionnaire from 60 Indian, young high-technology firms. Configurations of high-performing young firms from high-technology sector in India exhibit reliance on high entrepreneurial orientation (EO) to balance the issue of unavailability of managers with high-growth experience. Firms either choose new product development strategy or inorganic corporate development strategy depending mainly upon environmental contexts. In none of the configurations achieving high performance, ‘high number of experienced managers’ and high EO are simultaneously absent; in the majority of the configurations, the condition ‘high number of experienced managers’ is absent, and the absence of high EO coincides with the absence of ‘corporate development strategy’ or with ‘small size’. These findings on configurations, their internal causal mechanisms and implications are discussed.

Opportunity Exploitation and TMT Organizational Configurations

In this paper, we jointly consider the organization of the Top Management Team (hereafter: TMT) and the exploitation of opportunities by firms. Specifically, we study whether different ways to combine six main organizational elements of the TMT (i.e., different TMT configurations) relate to opportunities exploited by the firm. Applying a cluster analysis to a sample of 237 Italian firms, collected through a large-scale survey addressed to CEOs, we find three well-characterized clusters, which deploy different configurations of the selected organizational elements. We label these configurations as CEO centric TMT, integrated TMT, and incentive based TMT. Then, we find these TMT organizational configurations are associated with different levels of opportunity exploitation. In particular, integrated TMT and incentive based TMT perform better in exploiting opportunities in general and innovation opportunities (i.e., related to changes in processes, products and markets). Moreover, integrated TMT are positively related to change opportunities (i.e., associated with changes in the organization).

How flat organizations filter: organizational gatekeeping in a networked environment

ABSTRACTThe development of affordable Internet-based tools and platforms has led to major transformations in organizational dynamics. One key change is the shift of agency from center to ends and the consequent emergence of decentralized (networked) organizations. Focusing on the realm of collective action, we suggest that organizational configurations constructed around participants with greater agency induce organizations to promote new filtering tactics to sort out members who are valuable to the group. Drawing on Signaling Theory, we analyze the filtering behavior that organizations develop in their attempt to cope effectively with a type of tension characteristic of the digital era: The impetus to uphold egalitarian ideals on the one hand and the need to sort out desired participants on the other. Previous studies have explained how boundary work actually works in bureaucratic settings with fairly clear boundaries. This study focused instead on how new patterns of collective participation emerge, and how novel practices related to filtering are distributed in decentralized organizations. The study makes two points with theoretical implications. First, it explains an organization's decision to conduct filtering measures – a decision that on the face of it is counterintuitive since organizations operating in a digital environment can tolerate the enclosure of ‘free riders’. The second point relates to filtering practices. It shows that the emergence of new forms of participation, practices and norm, due to the development of networked media, encourages creativity in the development of specific filtering tactics, with activists considering new tactics for achieving their goals.

Opportunity Exploitation and TMT Organizational Configurations

In this paper, we jointly consider the organization of the Top Management Team (hereafter: TMT) and the exploitation of opportunities by firms. Specifically, we study whether different ways to combine six main organizational elements of the TMT (i.e., different TMT configurations) relate to opportunities exploited by the firm. Applying a cluster analysis to a sample of 237 Italian firms, collected through a large-scale survey addressed to CEOs, we found three well-characterized clusters, which deploy different configurations of the selected organizational elements. We label these configurations as CEO centric TMT, integrated TMT, and incentive based TMT. Then, we find these TMT organizational configurations are associated with different levels of opportunity exploitation. In particular, integrated TMT and incentive based TMT perform better in exploiting opportunities in general and opportunities related to changes in processes, products and markets. Moreover, integrated TMT are positively related to opportunities associated with changes in the organization.

Designing a social enterprise

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to examine, drawing on organization studies and stakeholder theories, the organizational configuration that enables the social enterprise to succeed by combining social and economic imperatives in a sustainable way.Design/methodology/approach– The research project is based on the analysis of a multiple cross-national case study consisting of seven social enterprises that are active in the drug rehabilitation context. Multiple rounds of data gathering and analysis combined with within-case analysis and cross-case comparison enabled the authors to evaluate the perceived, declared and subjective organizational perspectives.Findings– Results suggest that organizational performance – measured as the ability to achieve social goals, generate resources and pursue sustainability over time – depends on the implementation of a participative organizational configuration defined by the interaction of six organizational components (i.e. time and space designed for collective activities, low degree of formalization, social control, centralized decision-making processes, transformational leadership style and a workforce structure based on social stakeholders as workers). The involvement of social stakeholders emerges as a distinctive feature in the social enterprise domain.Originality/value– The study contributes to extending the configuration approach to the social enterprise domain, also as a fruitful method to manage social stakeholders and to advance the discussion on hybrid organizations.

Une recherche-action infirmière sur le dispositif d’annonce du cancer. Le retour d’expérience du sociologue accompagnant

This paper reports the action research conducted by a group of nurses working in various hospitals belonging to the Onconord-llede- France (Val d'Oise) network and involved in the setting-up of the paramedical cancer announcement system following the 2005 Cancer plan from the point of view of the sociologist who accompanied them. This analysis of the modalities and difficulties of implementation of the new system allowed these nurses to develop their own self-assessment practice survey. They defined the best conaitions for setting up the announcement visit and also achieved a better understanding of their position. This research also opened up lines of reflection on the new organizational configurations and the consequences on professional autonomy.

É mais importante Comunicar do que Fazer: Como é Feita e Percebida a Comunicação nos Projetos segundo o Gerente de Projetos Brasileiro

The new configuration of the competitive corporate market forces organizations to search innovative solutions for their own survival. In this context gains the project management approach is essential, since any substantial or incremental change in an organization like products development, restructuring, mergers or acquisitions is realized by projects. However, for its success, an effective communication is essential. It is understood by any kind of information transmission. In this sense, it becomes crucial to understand how communications work in Brazilian projects and how these are perceived by the communications manager Brazilian projects. The present study aims to understand how the communication is made in Brazilian projects and how the project manager realizes this area of knowledge. The results indicate the strategic view, the process view, the objectives of the manager’s objectives with communication, the adherence to best practice guides, the barriers and what is not done in communications management.

ÁREAS PROTEGIDAS E AMBIENTES URBANOS: NOVOS SIGNIFICADOS E TRANSFORMAÇÕES ASSOCIADOS AO FENÔMENO DA URBANIZAÇÃO EXTENSIVA

RESUMO Este trabalho propõe-se a discutir a relação entre ações de proteção da natureza e ambientes urbanos, com um olhar atento para as influências do fenômeno da urbanização extensiva na dinâmica de territórios permeados por áreas protegidas. Postula-se que esse interrelacionamento não remete apenas à origem do movimento em prol da criação de espaços de conservação da natureza, mas interfere inclusive em sua constituição, principalmente em países como o Brasil, onde muitas dessas áreas foram implantadas nas proximidades de centros urbanos. Diante das novas configurações socioespaciais e organizacionais presenciadas nas metrópoles nas últimas décadas, chamamos a atenção para o fenômeno da urbanização extensiva, termo cunhado por Monte-Mór para interpretar o movimento de extensão das condições e modos de vida urbanos para além dos limites das metrópoles. O caráter unificador desse movimento e as pressões exercidas na fronteira têm sido responsáveis por ressignificar a relação rural e urbano, em sentido amplo, com desdobramentos diretos na dinâmica territorial de áreas protegidas localizadas na zona de abrangência de centros metropolitanos. Como resultado, percebe-se uma complexificação dos sentidos e significados atribuídos às áreas protegidas e o nascimento de inúmeros desafios aos propósitos de conservação da biodiversidade e promoção de desenvolvimento territorial.

Towards an attention‐based view of technology decisions

The importance of technology decisions is widely acknowledged in both research and practice. However, we know little about how companies structure technology decisions from an organizational point of view and how attention is distributed in the course of the decision process in order to identify, process, and transfer information between the organizational units involved. Using the attention‐based view of the firm and 14 qualitative case studies, we present five approaches for organizing technology decisions: (1) centralized decision‐making, (2) busy information bee, (3) double‐blind analysis, (4) moderated expert panel, and (5) coterie approach. On this ground, this paper introduces a new, attention‐based view on technology decisions, which improves the theoretical understanding of organizations and provides guidelines for practitioners in choosing an appropriate organizational configuration in this regard.

Overcoming barriers to renewable energy diffusion: business models for customer-sited solar photovoltaics in Japan, Germany and the United States

Transformative change of energy systems towards distributed renewable technologies requires not only technological but also organisational innovation in order to engage broad segments of the private consumer market. Using the business model concept as an analytical tool, this comparative study investigates organisational configurations related to the deployment of customer-sited photovoltaic (PV) systems in Germany, Japan and the United States. Results show how the deployment of customer-sited PV systems in these three countries has been enabled and catalysed through distinctively different business models. Specifically, solar firms have managed to overcome various barriers to the adoption of PV in distinct ways. Furthermore, we identify a number of contextual conditions that have shaped the design and mode of operation of the respective business models in the three countries. The study provides novel insights for both policy makers and solar firms that wish to develop alternative governance models and new business strategies, respectively. Such insights are important to support the accelerated diffusion of distributed PV systems.

IT governance balancing global integration and local responsiveness for multinational companies

Balancing global integration and local responsiveness (I–R) is becoming critical for multinational enterprises (MNEs). In considering information technology's (IT's) supporting role for I–R, an in-depth case study of a leading Taiwanese global network manufacturer was conducted. A virtuous cycle model with dual fit was developed to link the research in I–R and IT governance mechanisms to achieve the MNEs’ global strategy and respond agilely to the environmental change. Practical arrangements and critical mechanisms were derived to develop the dual fit model, which explores factors like structure redesign and value-creation modular design as structural arrangements. In addition, three critical mechanisms to achieve the dual fit model, including organisational configuration design, modular structure reconfiguration design, and adaptive IT co-management were suggested, consistent with total quality management key principles. Since few studies report the practices of achieving I–R and how IT governance should adjust simultaneously, this study made a contribution to knowledge in the subject area.

Workflow Complexities of Fit Criteria on Strategy Applications and Structure Adaptations

In studying the correlation between structure–strategy and workflow process, empirical research has shown that knowledge flow has an influence on professional team workflow performance. Using multiple sources of case study evidence, we propose a contingent model of a criteria fit in which the effect of structure on strategies is efficiency of Knowledge Applicability (KA) and effectiveness of Knowledge Adaptability (KA). A case study analysis of building permit approval processing by the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD) and the various planning agencies in Ghana finds strong support for the model explaining that structure is the measurement attribute determining the efficiency and effectiveness of knowledge flow. A framework of four types of KA is outlined. These show that the viability of organisations is contingent on adaptations of efficient structure and applications of effective strategies. With an emphasis on two organisational environmental variables (uncertainty and equivocality) and structural configuration, we demonstrated the impact of formalisation and centralisation on knowledge flow and workflow process using Virtual Design Team Computational Organisational Theory (VDTCOT).

Principals’ leadership behaviour: values-based, contingent or both?

Purpose – Concepts of values-based leadership posit that school principals’ professional practice must be informed by values to ensure coherently purposeful activities. Contingency models stress the contextual dependency of professional practice and the need to match activities to local opportunities and constraints. The purpose of this paper is to reconcile both positions from an integrative perspective and to illustrate examples of “values-based contingency leadership” (Day et al., 2001). Design/methodology/approach – Analyses draw on survey data from 56 German schools in order to relate professional values stated by the principals as well as organizational features of their schools to teacher ratings on leadership behaviour (n=910). Instead of scrutinizing singular variables in isolation, a typological approach serves to identify value profiles as well as organizational configurations. Analyses of variance are applied to examine the combined effects of both factors on leadership behaviour. Findings – Interactional effects in the sample indicate that contextual influences are not homogenous across differing value profiles of principals who operate under equal conditions. Descriptive patterns of leadership behaviour within each organizational configuration reveal how principals accentuate leadership activities according to their value profile. Research limitations/implications – Due to the low statistical power of the small sample, findings are clearly exploratory in nature. However, replication and extension studies seem fruitful, as effect sizes of value-context interactions are consistent with theoretical assumptions and not artificially inflated by common-source variance. Originality/value – This paper elaborates and exemplifies the moderating role of values in contextual influences on leadership behaviour. It also provides deeper insights into the content and structure of professional values advocated by school principals.