Traditional Organizational Theories Research Articles

Organizational stability and resocialization in public administrations: Theory and evidence from Norwegian civil servants (1986–2016)

AbstractThe organizational theory approach to public administration emphasizes that organizational features of public bureaucracies shape civil servants' role perceptions and opinions. This study brings forward a novel refinement of this theoretical framework by arguing that such processes of organizational resocialization require intertemporal consistency of the organizational environment. We empirically test this proposition by combining individual‐level longitudinal data from a panel of Norwegian civil servants (1986–2016; N ≈ 375) with information about organizational changes in ministerial structures since 1945. Using individuals' task portfolio as our main organizational “influencer” of interest, we confirm that the impact of individuals' task portfolio on their role perceptions only strengthens over time for individuals working in ministries with a high level of organizational stability. This finding adds an important scope condition—namely, intertemporal stability—to the traditional organizational theory argument about what shapes civil servants' role perceptions and opinions.

Monopoly Characteristics and Policy Analysis of China's Online Retail Market

The network retail industry has been in a highly centralized pattern. According to the relevant concepts in the traditional industrial organization theory, this highly concentrated market needs regulation. Behind the rapid development of industry is the hidden worry that is constantly exposed. In 2011, Taobao announced a substantial increase in annual fees and software service fees, which caused conflicts with small and medium sellers. In the price war in Jingdong, it may have been sold at a price lower than the cost. The traditional industrial organization theory usually thinks that the monopoly market structure is not good. Because of its pricing model based on its own marginal cost and marginal income, it will cause welfare losses to consumers, resulting in low market efficiency and unnecessary losses. This paper first expounds the basic connotation and judgment criteria of monopoly, analyzes the monopoly and characteristics of online retail industry in the "Internet +" era, and finally puts forward some governance strategies for the monopoly problems existing in the current online retail industry.

Does stakeholder engagement affect corruption risk management?

Major international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Nations (UN), and the European Union (EU) have stressed the importance of risk management as a useful mechanism to prevent corruption. Anticorruption laws or regulations have been developed around the world, both at regional and national level. These aim to support the design and implementation of proactive management of corruption risks in the public sector. This article aimed to investigate the relationship between stakeholder engagement and the extent of implementation of corruption risk management systems by public organizations. We analysed the anticorruption plans of 343 Italian administrations to explore how different categories of stakeholders (i.e. employees, governing bodies, users/citizens associations) can contribute to the corruption risk management process. We found that the involvement of external and internal stakeholders can positively affect the extent of implementation of corruption risk management systems by public organizations. We explained our results by referring to both traditional organizational theories (institutional theory and the resource-based view) and public governance theories (collaborative and inclusive governance). Institutional pressures, knowledge and values emerged as keys to understanding the results.

Organizational Control: New Perspectives and Future Directions

Control is “management’s most fundamental problem” (Van Maanen and Barley 1984: 290), and issues relating to control are apparent in many facets of organizational life such as organizational design, organizational culture, and everyday organizational routines. However, theory on organizational control has not kept pace with changes in both organizations and their environments. This may partially reflect the segmentation of control research from research on related theoretical concepts. Therefore, to advance our understanding of organizational control, this symposium aims to integrate a variety of theoretical perspectives — such as organizational learning, organizational change, and technology in the workplace – with more traditional organizational control theory. By integrating a variety of theoretical perspectives, we hope to both move forward current theory on organizational control while also encouraging scholars to broaden their understanding of what comprises and constitutes organizational control research. Co-Creation of Organizational Control Mechanisms as a Learning Process Presenter: Jillian Chown; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management When Change Agents Change Their Minds: Network Diffusion and the Failure of Organizational Change Presenter: Julien Clement; Stanford U. Presenter: Vibha Gaba; INSEAD Bringing Workers Back In: Employees’ Varied Responses to Strategic Change and Accompanying Controls Presenter: Vanessa Conzon; Massachusetts Institute of Technology Resistance in the Age of Algorithms: A Comparative Ethnography of Workers’ Resistance Presenter: Lindsey Cameron; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Hatim A. Rahman; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management

Adding Individual Cognition to Organizational Theories Changes Everything

This symposium explores how integrating individual cognition into organization-level theories alters well-trodden predictions in organization and management theory. While augmenting traditional macro- level management theory with cognition typically begins as a micro- foundational effort to bolster extant theory, it often results in the development of an entirely different, novel theory. The symposium explores this approach in the context of a variety of firm-level theories and is intended to prompt rich discussion between micro and macro communities regarding the benefits and drawbacks of incorporating cognition into traditional management and organizational theories. The Effect of Organizational Aggregation Structures on Individuals’ Voting Behavior Presenter: Henning Piezunka; INSEAD Presenter: Oliver S. Schilke; U. of Arizona New Wine in an Old Bottle? How Analysts Evaluate Product Failures During Technological Change Presenter: Ram Ranganathan; U. of Texas at Austin Presenter: Kinde M. Wubneh; U. of Texas at Austin Framing Transaction Value: The Role of Rhetoric in the Emergence of the U.S. Advertising Industry Presenter: Sekou Bermiss; U. of Texas at Austin Presenter: Johann Peter Murmann; U. of St. Gallen Presenter: Christina Kyprianou; Clemson U. Perceptions of Asset Specificity: Bias and Manipulation in Interfirm Exchanges Presenter: Russell Coff; Wisconsin School of Business Presenter: Libby Leann Weber; U. of California, Irvine

Social network analysis: organizational implications in tourism management

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of how quantitative analysis methods have been and can be used to improve the competitiveness of tourism destination. The focus of the study is social network analysis (SNA). Design/methodology/approach The research methodology is qualitative and consists of the review literature relevant to this thesis. This methodology is necessary to give an account of the methods and the techniques adopted for the data collection used in other economic sectors. Findings SNA is needed to analyze the creation and configuration of communities of practice within destination and to identify possible barriers to effective interaction. Essentially, it is a complex adaptive socio-economic system. It shares many (if not all) of the characteristics usually associated with such entities, namely, non-linear relationships among the components, self-organization and emergence of organizational structures, robustness to external shocks. Research limitations/implications The most important limit of this paper is that all the results presented here do not concern a single case study. Future research studies will provide a larger number of cases and examples to give the necessary validation to the findings presented here. Practical implications This paper provides a view into the network of relationships that may give tourism organization managers a strong leverage to improve the flow of information and to target opportunities where this flow may have the most impact on regulatory or business activities. Originality/value SNA can help to detect actual expertise and consequently project the potential losses deriving from an inefficient flow of knowledge. In addition, the authors will be able to define roles in the organizational networks and make an evaluation of informal organizational structures over the formal ones. Traditional organizational theories lack a concrete correspondence with mathematical studies and in this respect the authors sought to identify a correspondence.

Civilization as a Theoretical Framework to Study and Analyze Organization Theory with Islamic Way Forward

This paper posits civilization as a theoretical construct to study and analyze organization theory. Contextualization of organization theory has mostly centered on the constructs of culture and society and civilization is not posited as an organization theory episteme. This paper conceptualizes civilization as its foundational values or core essence or deep cognitive roots. The paper employs civilization as a theoretical construct in the backdrop of ethical, institutional, population ecology, and diffusion of knowledge theories of organization theory. It also seeks to posit civilization as an organizational metaphor and knowledge paradigm. It also presents a four-tiered conceptual framework which captures the value hierarchy of each of its four constituent components: civilization, culture, organizational systems and management models. After analyzing traditional organization theory along with its various faces it raises the question of what is way forward for traditional organization theory (TOT) and presents Prophetic Organization Theory (POT) as a strong, viable alternative with supporting arguments of great scholars of East and West with special focus on Islamic, Western and Chinese civilizations.

Innovation, Organisational Structure, and Culture

Organizations are fundamentally different from the hierarchical, bureaucratic structures that underlie more traditional organizational theory and research. The paper deals with the fact that culture is omnipotent in shaping the structure of the organisation and structure along with culture is intricately related with the way innovation is managed or implemented in any organisation. This paper is basically a extensive review of papers relating to organisational structure, culture and innovation right from the aspect of how culture shapes structure to how innovation is linked and shaped by both organisational structure and culture. Models by different researchers depicting the relationship between the various aspects of structure culture and innovation are discussed for better understanding.

How incentives trickle down: Local use of a national bibliometric indicator system

The question of how the incentives of national performance-based research funding systems affect local management practices within the higher education sector has high empirical and theoretical importance, but has so far received limited attention. From a traditional organization theory perspective the Norwegian system represents a puzzle: it is of marginal economic importance and the external pressure to fully implement the system at local levels is weak. A loose coupling between the national system and the local implementation would therefore be expected. Yet, in many instances we document a quite tight coupling between system-level incentives and local practices. Based on a recent evaluation of the Norwegian model, which identifies a number of indirect mechanisms that contribute to the trickling down of incentives, this paper shows that traditional coupling perspectives are oversimplistic. A large variation across institutions, fields and departments is, however, also observed and possible explanations for this are discussed.

Managing Social-Business Tensions: A Review and Research Agenda for Social Enterprise

ABSTRACT:In a world filled with poverty, environmental degradation, and moral injustice, social enterprises offer a ray of hope. These organizations seek to achieve social missions through business ventures. Yet social missions and business ventures are associated with divergent goals, values, norms, and identities. Attending to them simultaneously creates tensions, competing demands, and ethical dilemmas. Effectively understanding social enterprises therefore depends on insight into the nature and management of these tensions. While existing research recognizes tensions between social missions and business ventures, we lack any systematic analysis. Our paper addresses this issue. We first categorize the types of tensions that arise between social missions and business ventures, emphasizing their prevalence and variety. We then explore how four different organizational theories offer insight into these tensions, and we develop an agenda for future research. We end by arguing that a focus on social-business tensions not only expands insight into social enterprises, but also provides an opportunity for research on social enterprises to inform traditional organizational theories. Taken together, our analysis of tensions in social enterprises integrates and seeks to energize research on this expanding phenomenon.

Developing an Organizational Perspective to Management Accounting

B eing asked to make a short speech as part of accepting the award inevitably leads to some introspection and reflection on major factors that have influenced one’s career, be they events or individuals. Past recipients of the award have been very influential in putting management accounting on the map. Some have been instrumental in developing the way we think about management accounting and teach the subject; some have developed important perspectives such as information economics, combining economics with psychology, the importance of national culture, activity-based cost management, and balanced scorecards. The way these recipients developed their thoughts is well told in their acceptance speeches and collectively provides a wealth of ideas and a historical perspective on the development of our discipline. I commenced my studies in economics, and I maintain a keen interest in economic approaches to management accounting. However, early in my academic career, I was pressed into considering an organizational approach to management accounting, not because it was an easier option; rather it addressed the world of management accounting within which I found myself. In this address, I will share with you some personal reflections on the process of my discoveries in the area of organizational approaches to management accounting from the mid-1960s. The backdrop to this address is that research is something of a growth model. Stage 1: starting from a baseline of skills and knowledge gained at undergraduate studies; stage 2: progressing through refinement of skills with more graduate study; and stage 3: consolidating through work toward publications and other academic outputs. Stages 1 and 2 are somewhat planned and incremental, while stage 3 is more often associated with less ordered processes, often stumbling across potential research areas by way of reading and personal interactions. Research projects can be focused around existing ideas, sometimes being somewhat formulaic, sometimes highly innovative. Often ideas can be serendipitous and develop in unpredictable ways. The key is to recognize when there is a management accounting angle that will relate to an important organizational or social issue.

Taking pluralism seriously: Embedded moralities in management accounting and control systems

Abstract Professor Norman Macintosh has long been a leading, and at times a dissonant, voice in critical accounting studies, exhibiting an intellectual dexterity seldom encountered in the accounting academy. His work ranges from the application of traditional organizational theories within work organizations to poststructural renderings of capital market exigencies. Here, we consider and extend Professor Macintosh's work contemplating the morality embedded within, and propagated by, management accounting and control systems (macs). We begin with Macintosh (1995) employing structuration theory in investigating the ethics of profit manipulation within large, decentralized corporations. The work highlights the fundamental dialectical contradictions within these work organizations, demonstrates the indeterminacy of traditional ethical reasoning, and shows the extent to which macs provide legitimating underpinnings for management action. We propose to extend the conversation using the tools provided in Macintosh's subsequent work: a Levinasian ethic ( Macintosh et al., 2009 ), and heteroglossic accounting ( Macintosh, 2002 )—both emerging from his poststructuralist predilections. A Levinasian perspective provides an ontologically grounded ethic, and heteroglossic accounting calls for multiple accountings representing alternative moral voices. A critical dialogic framework is proposed as a theoretic for imagining heteroglossic accounting that takes pluralism seriously by recognizing the reality of irresolvable differences and asymmetric power relationships associated with assorted moral perspectives.

Aquarius advertising revisited: a case becomes an experience

This experiential exercise is based on a traditional organization theory case related to structural contingency theory. The exercise provides a means by which students can play the role of advertising agency professionals and their clients. The objectives of the exercise are to demonstrate structural contingency theory; to illustrate the relationship between contextual factors in an organization's environment and its internal organization design; to demonstrate the effects of structural deficiency on communication and project completion in a creative organization; and to demonstrate the need for horizontal linkages for effective project completion. The exercise is appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Análise crítica em organizações sociais: apropriando teoria e prática de seus componentes estruturais e culturais

As organizações sociais encontram-se em expansão e em reconhecimento por parte do governo e da sociedade, mas ainda carecem de estudos acadêmicos a partir das práticas da sua dinâmica organizacional. O propósito deste artigo é analisar as particularidades da gestão das ONGs no que concerne aos aspectos culturais e estruturais, identificando se os elementos encontrados se apresentam de forma congruente com o que se espera de uma ONG. Dessa forma, busca contribuir para a análise crítica à transposição inapropriada de conceitos da teoria organizacional tradicional para a gestão das ONGs e, também, para o delineamento de um arcabouço teórico específico para a compreensão dessas organizações, considerando a realidade nacional. A pesquisa foi conduzida em 10 ONGs, com abordagem predominantemente qualitativa. Os dados foram coletados através de entrevistas com os fundadores e/ou principais dirigentes das ONGs. Os resultados confirmam as particularidades identificadas em estudos anteriores e avança à medida que faz uma análise crítica e revela congruências com relação à cultura e incongruências referentes à estrutura social, principalmente, quando da utilização acrítica de instrumentos das organizações tradicionais.

Integrating Traditional Organizational Behavior Theories and Issues for Employee Assistance Practice

Demands placed on the 21st century organizations because of the changing environment of work have increased the need for employee assistance practitioners to become knowledgeable in organizational assessment and development. This article presents some of the current issues facing organizations and discusses some of the major organizational behavior theories and management models. Such knowledge can add significantly to employee assistance programs (EAPs) in helping meet organizational needs most effectively and efficiently. Since organizational problems can contribute to employees' problems, an integrated system where the organization and the EAP work together will produce the greatest benefits to the organization and employees.

Implementing enterprise resource planning and knowledge management systems in tandem: fostering efficiency and innovation complementarity

This paper examines the simultaneous implementation within a single organization of two contemporary managerial information systems—Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Knowledge Management (KM). Exploring their simultaneous deployment within an organization provides an opportunity to examine the resulting interactions and impacts. More specifically, we examine their combined influence on improving organizational efficiency and flexibility, two outcomes which traditional organizational theory suggests are incompatible. Through an interpretative case study, the research confirms that: (1) the two systems can be implemented in tandem to good effect; (2) complementarity between the two systems is possible, although this is not an automatic outcome, it has to be fostered. This complementarity is analyzed in relation to the four mechanisms (namely partitioning, enrichment, metaroutines and switching) proposed by Adler, Goldoftas and Levine (Organization Science 10 (1999) 43), as vital for the simultaneous development of organizational efficiency and flexibility.

Organizations and Complexity: Searching for the Edge of Chaos

Traditional organizational theory advocates increased differentiation and horizontal integration for organizations in unstable environments or with uncertain technologies. This paper seeks to develop a better understanding of the relationship of group structure and the level of interdependency between individuals on group performance under various task complexities. Complexity theory in general, and NK models in particular, are introduced as theoretical frameworks that offer an explanation for group performance. Simulation models are developed, based on the communication network research of Bavelas (1948) and Leavitt (1952), to explore the effects of decentralization and interdependence. The simulation model developed here shows general consistency with previous human subject experiments. However, contrary to predictions, not all decentralized group structures perform well when undertaking complex task assignments. Structures that are highly connected (actors communicating with all others) perform much worse than those with a lower level of connection. Further experiments varying both the number of actors and the degree of interdependence between them find evidence of the “edge of chaos.” This research advances our understanding of organizations beyond earlier models by suggesting that there is an optimal range of interconnectedness between actors or tasks that explains the variation in performance. An intriguing result is that this optimal level of interdependence is fairly low, regardless of the size of the group.

Organizational Buying Theories: A Bridge to Relationships Theory

Organizational buying is an area that may have seen interest decline as researchers shift their attention to define and understand the nature of business relationships. In fact, many researchers (e.g., Wilson, Elizabeth J.: Theory Transitions in Organizational Buying Behavior Research. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing 11, 7–19 (1996)) have called for research that focuses on the dyad, rather than the buyer. Others have claimed that the traditional organizational buying theories are too transactional in nature to explain business relationships. Unfortunately, we may have left a rich stream of research behind that could offer insight and provoke interesting research in relationships by losing sight of the individual. This article builds bridges from the classic approaches to organizational buying behavior to relationships research and discusses some of the barriers and potential solutions to problems in organizational buying research that may inhibit the use of these approaches. The classic approaches examined are role theory, the BUYGRID analytic framework, reward/measurement theory, and organizational buyer behavior choice theory.

Sweet Mothers and Gangbangers: Managing Crime in a Black Middle-Class Neighborhood

Black middle-class neighborhoods have higher internal poverty rates and are closer to high-poverty and high-crime areas than white middle-class neighborhoods, which presents particular challenges to neighborhood social organization. This study uses ethnographic data from a black middle-class neighborhood in Chicago to explore how residents manage this ecological context. I find that dense social networks fostered by residential stability facilitate the informal supervision of neighborhood youth and enhance the activities of formal organizations and institutions. Nevertheless, the incorporation of gang members and drug dealers into the networks of law-abiding kin and neighbors thwarts efforts to completely rid the neighborhood of its criminal element. The conflicting effects of dense networks challenge traditional social organization theory.

Sweet Mothers and Gangbangers: Managing Crime in a Black Middle-Class Neighborhood

Black middle-class neighborhoods have higher internal poverty rates and are closer to high-poverty and high-crime areas than white middle-class neighborhoods, which presents particular challenges to neighborhood social organization. This study uses ethnographic data from a black middle-class neighborhood in Chicago to explore how residents manage this ecological context. The author finds that dense social networks fostered by residential stability facilitate the informal supervision of neighborhood youth and enhance the activities of formal organizations and institutions. Nevertheless, the incorporation of gang members and drug dealers into the networks of law-abiding kin and neighbors thwarts efforts to completely rid the neighborhood of its criminal element. The conflicting effects of dense networks challenge traditional social organization theory