Organizational Learning in Project‐Based Companies: A Process Thinking Approach

Although a traditional project model is clearly useful for laying out the patterns of relationships surrounding a project, it does not provide the temporally embedded accounts that enable us to understand how organizational learning takes place. The process thinking perspective offers a means to solving this problem. This article provides an analysis of how different processes interact dynamically in order to benefit project‐based companies' organizational learning. Two findings from this study are: (1) organizational learning is a dynamic concept that emphasizes the continually changing nature of a project‐based company and (2) sensemaking and negotiation of meaning are ongoing processes in project‐based companies.     

Cognitive style: Some human resource implications for managers

Cognitive style may be defined as an individual’s inherent and consistent way of organizing and processing information. It is independent of cognitive ability and may have an important bearing on individual performance within and across organizational settings, for example in the areas of selection, vocational and occupational preferences, management competence, team composition and performance, occupational-stress training and development and organizational learning. A model is suggested in which it is argued cognitive ability, cognitive style and cognitive strategies are intervening variables between individual/organizational processes and individual/organizational performance. It is suggested that managers and others within organizations who have a responsibility for human resource issues need to consider ways in which a knowledge of style may be integrated into these important areas of activity.     

DIVERSIFICATION WITHIN AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISE

This study examines diversification of the activities of business organizations. The meaning of diversification has been ambiguous in many studies that have used the concept as a way of describing strategic resource allocation decisions within firms. Many previous studies of diversification have suffered from a number of deficiencies. Some studies have observed the consequences of firms’ resource allocation and made inferences about the influence of organizational and external environmental factors on managers’ decisions affecting diversification. Other studies, that have been concerned with investigating diversification from a focus within the firm, have often adopted a molecular approach, being concerned with a limited number of organizational or environmental characteristics. In an attempt to redress these deficiencies, a contingency theory framework is used to describe and, in part, explain the formulation of decisions affecting diversification. This involves developing an unambiguous definition of diversification, and identifying organizational and external environmental characteristics that may be used to aid understanding of why firms diversify their activities in different ways.     

A Holistic View on Learning in Project‐Based Organizations

Although researchers have over the years highlighted the importance of managing and supporting learning in project‐based settings, it still seems to be problematic. New project management capabilities are needed, such as systems thinking, which will allow project‐based organizations to better cope with learning in the organizations. This article explores how Swedish project‐based organizations within an engineering and construction context manage and support learning activities today and discusses, with the support of process management literature, how an “organizational‐wide project learning process” could improve the prerequisites for learning in project‐based organizations. Our findings from three project‐based organizations indicate a lack of a holistic perspective on project learning. A conceptual model is proposed, with the aim of validating and promoting process thinking by introducing, for example, new roles responsible for intra‐ and inter‐project learning, respectively.     

An empirical investigation of the roles of prior knowledge and learning activities in technology transfer

This study analyzes 120 university–industry technology transfer projects. A significant positive relationship was found between the learning activities performed by the firm during the development and implementation stages of the technology transfer project and the benefits to that firm from the project. In contrast, prior knowledge of the firm about the existing technology was found to have only a marginal contribution to the project benefits. However, further exploratory analysis based on high and low levels of technical and organizational uncertainty revealed more provocative relationships.     

Managers’ exploration activities and individual unlearning: the mediating role of learning orientation and reflection

Abstract

The main goal of this study was to investigate the effects of managers’ exploration activities on learning orientation, reflection, and unlearning of team members. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 115 employees in 23 teams from a Japanese pharmaceutical company. The results of multi-level analyses suggest that managers’ exploration activities had a direct influence on team members’ learning orientations, which subsequently had a positive influence on their unlearning, with and without the mediation of reflection. These findings suggest that a subordinate’s unlearning is driven by managers’ activities through motivational and cognitive processes. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Modelling Intra-Group Relationships

Within a group of companies, a model is given for management of the relationships between the parent company and its subsidiaries. This is particularly relevant for groups originating from mergers and takeovers, because firms acquired often differ substantially in organizational structure from each other and from the parent company. The model provides a means of harmonizing the organizational structures of parent company and subsidiaries, so as to provide a complete coverage of necessary activities without duplication, and a means of identifying which activities should, in economic terms, be centralized by the parent company, and which should be delegated to the subsidiary. Finally, there is an empirical application of the model to one of the principal Italian banking groups.     

A multilevel perspective on organizational buying behavior in coopetition–an exploratory case study

This article offers a new and interesting perspective on organizational buying behavior by focusing on the simultaneous existence of both cooperation and competition, that is, coopetition. Coopetition may bring undesired knowledge leaks, opportunism, and weakened competitive advantage, and it is therefore important to understand how coopetition develops over time through interrelated activities on multiple levels. The article aims to improve our understanding of the development of organizational buying behavior through adopting a multilevel perspective on coopetition. The empirical study is based on exploratory case study research involving a single case from the manufacturing sector featuring a large multinational buyer and its supplier. The findings of the study show that organizational buying behavior in coopetition develops through interrelated activities on the individual, the organizational, and the relational level. Over time, dominating activities evolve from being ambivalent on an individual level to become authoritative on a company level and finally to being opportunistic on a relational level. Theoretically, this study contributes to organizational buying behavior literature by examining coopetition from a multilevel perspective. From a managerial perspective, the findings establish the importance of recognizing individual-, and organizational-level activities.     

Why do firms set environmental performance goals?: Some evidence from organizational theory

Organizational goal setting is considered a critical strategic first step for corporations as it provides the basis for developing a roadmap for organizational activity as well as guidance for establishing the metrics to measure progress. Yet despite significant research interest in the environmental performance of corporations, environmental goal setting has received little attention. For example, it is not known why firms set environmental goals. Understanding this goal setting behavior is necessary to develop mechanisms to improve organizations' environmental management and performance. This study uses organizational change models of institutionalism, stakeholder management, natural selection, strategic choice and organizational learning to examine why firms set environmental performance goals. First, propositions related to environmental goal setting are developed from the models. The goal setting propositions use the goals of the US EPA's 33/50 programme, a national voluntary pollution prevention effort which aimed for a 33% reduction in releases by 1993 and a 50% reduction by 1995, as a basis for comparison to individual company goal setting. Next, the toxic release reduction goals of the 118 US corporations who set goals are analysed to determine which organizational change model propositions they support. All five models of organizational change examined here–institutionalism, stakeholder management, natural selection, strategic choice and organizational learning–show some promise in explaining corporate environmental goal setting. The combination of these models leads to the following depiction of the motivation for toxic release reduction. Firms will set goals to reduce toxic releases in an effort to respond to regulators and other factors in the institutional and stakeholder environment. This goal setting is likely to be enhanced if it can be more directly tied to economic benefits such as cost savings or if it is chosen by natural selection. This in turn will promote organizational learning with the end result of better environmental and economic performance. These findings provide some empirical evidence on which to base strategies for improving corporate environmental management. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Dell公司的组织结构与战略的匹配分析

生产力水平决定了企业组织结构模式的发展趋势,在一定生产力水平制约下,企业采甩什么组织结构,是与它采取什么企业行为密切相关的。而决定企业行为的正是企业所制定的战略。企业的组织结构不是一成不变,而是随着企业所处的内外部环境的变化及企业所调整的战略进行企业组织结构的调整。文章主要论述了组织结构与战略的基本关系。以戴尔公司为例,对戴尔公司的战略的演进和根据战略如何调整其组织结构。使两者互相促进对方的发展的分析,DeH在匹配的过程中忽视的问题．这些问题是否可以不予置理？最后从Dell公司的战略与组织结构的匹配过程中的启示。给出了组织结构如何适应战略过程的原则与对策建议。     

Exploring barriers to the successful implementation of a formulated strategy

This paper reports a case study conducted to identify barriers to the successful implementation of activities as part of a planned strategy in a Norwegian ferry-cruise company. Data were gathered among workers on one of the company's vessels using a structured sequence of questions with open-ended answers. Our findings indicate that various types of communication problem which may be influenced to some extent by the organizational structure, constitute the key barriers to the implementation of planned strategic activities.     

Power, Mastery And Organizational Learning

The topic of power has not featured strongly in debates about organizational learning, a point that is illustrated in a discussion of influential studies of teamworking. Despite the insights that such studies have provided into the nature of expertise and collaboration they have tended not to explore the relevance of issues of hierarchy, politics and institutionalized power relations. The paper addresses the problem by exploring the links between power, expertise and organizational learning. Power is analysed both as the medium for, and the product of, collective activity. The approach emphasizes how skills and imaginations are intertwined with social, technical and institutional structures. While studies of teamworking have concentrated on situations where imaginations and structures are tightly linked, unexpected developments may occur when these relations are loosened. Such situations occur when the needs of the moment overshadow normal routines and relationships and there is no single overview or centre of control. It is suggested that organizational learning can be conceptualized as the movement between familiar and emergent activities and between established and emergent social relations. Events in a two-year action research project are used to illustrate the approach and explore episodes of decentred collaboration.     

Continuity and Change in Mergers and Acquisitions: A Social Identity Case Study of a German Industrial Merger*

abstract It is crucial from an employee's point of view to perceive some degree of stability even in times of major organizational change. This paper examines the role of a sense of continuity for organizational identification after an organizational merger. We argue that mergers and acquisitions so often end in failures partly because the change is designed in discontinuous ways and employees do not feel they are doing the same job after the merger as before. Such discontinuous change engenders a critical tension between positive and negative effects of identification that has not yet been fully understood. To deepen the understanding of this tension, in‐depth interviews were conducted in a recently merged German industrial company. Based on these qualitative data we demonstrate how features of the post‐merger company structure and the way it was implemented may have eroded organizational identification. Finally, we propose a parsimonious model to be tested by future research, in which the sense of continuity is consisting of both observable as well as projected continuity.     

The effects of the PDCA cycle and OJT on workplace learning

In the present article, we examined the effects of the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle and on-the-job-training (OJT) on workplace learning. We defined workplace learning based on the concept of an organizational learning cycle. Using survey data from a Japanese fire and marine insurance company, we found that PDCA, OJT (empowerment), and reflective communication had positive effects on workplace learning. These results suggest that quality management, empowerment and reflective practice may help to significantly improve workplace learning. We also discuss theoretical and managerial implications of this study.     

The Development of Corporate Identity: A Political Perspective

abstract    A corporate identity denotes a set of attributes that senior managers ascribe to their organization. It is therefore an organizational identity articulated by a powerful interest group. It can constitute a claim which serves inter alia to justify the authority vested in top managers and to further their interests. The academic literature on organizational identity, and on corporate identity in particular, pays little attention to these political considerations. It focuses in an apolitical manner on shared meanings when corporate identity works, or on cognitive dissonance when it breaks down. In response to this analytical void, we develop a political analysis of corporate identity and its development, using as illustration a longitudinal study of successive changes in the corporate identity of a Brazilian telecommunications company. This suggests a cyclical model in which corporate identity definition and redefinition involve power relations, resource mobilization and struggles for legitimacy.     

关于企业构建与应用学习型组织的研究

进入二十世纪,经济一体化程度不断加深,消费者需求瞬息万变,技术创新层出不穷,产品周期日益缩短,这些变化促使企业必须随时保持警惕。短期来看,企业在竞争中占据优势依靠的是先进的技术和产品,但从长远发展来说,真正能够帮助企业走在领先者行列的是及时把握市场,不断提升自身实力的核心竞争力。而这种核心竞争力的强弱,关键则看企业自主学习能力是否能够支撑企业不断进步。本文认为学习型组织以其内部极强的学习能力和持续的创新能力实现了组织核心竞争力的提升,为组织发展提供了一种全新的模式。     

Conceptualizing the processes,benefits, and challenges of organizational lifelong learning at Yuhan-Kimberly,Korea: the notion of anticipative affordance

This research investigates, reports, and theorizes Yuhan-Kimberly's journey to establish its organizational lifelong learning program in Korea. Based on a four-year longitudinal study and the principles of grounded theory, we propose the notion of anticipative affordance to elaborate the process through which benefits derived from an organization's lifelong learning are created, interconnected, and amplified through the gradual and long-term building and accumulation of shared understanding and commitment. Main theoretical contributions derived from this study are threefold. First, the concept of anticipative affordance enhances our understanding about the key process and challenges related to organizational lifelong learning. Second, anticipative affordance serves as a bridge to synthesize the separation between the cognitive and situated aspects of learning. Third, our research empirically illustrates how collective benefits of organizational learning are actualized over time through the development of learning mechanisms and through the integration of its individual members' learning.     

基于价值网的高校BOT项目合作管理模式探讨

随着BOT项目公司参与高校基础设施项目运营的情况日益增加,对在校大学生的管理出现教育主体缺位的现象日趋严重。目前,对于高等教育投资主体多元化情况下的这一新问题尚无深入的研究成果。现运用利益相关者理论,通过紧密性和权力性两个维度对高等教育管理的利益相关者进行了分类,并对实施BOT项目公司和高校对大学生的联合教育和共同管理模式的必要性进行了论述,进而构建了基于高等教育管理价值网的合作管理模式,并对实施合作管理模式进行了策略分析。研究表明:高校学生公寓合作管理模式的核心是打造价值创造平台,通过项目公司和高校的联合教育,发挥各成员的核心能力,使得在校大学生的核心价值不断增长,从而实现各个利益相关者满意度的最大化。研究成果不仅为高校BOT项目的开展和实施提供了理论指导,也为大学生的培养工作开拓了新思路。     

Planning knowledge for phased rollout projects

This paper explores how projects that can be considered as repeatable and replicable in a sequence of deliverables over a period of time can be planned and executed (rolled out) in a way that maximizes knowledge transfer and production from one execution to the next. A variety of management disciplines were reviewed to understand the way that project and program rollouts are treated in IT, product development, organizational learning, and manufacturing literature. These reviews enabled the development of a conceptual model to describe how planning and implementing the rollout of a product or service can be more knowledge‐focused and an accompanying capability maturity model. Several examples from real life, including one experienced by one of the authors, were used to illustrate and test the conceptual model. The model integrates knowledge management, change control, and planning in a way that can develop organizational learning and the authors assert that this can improve productivity and both tangible and intangible returns to those that follow the model. An accompanying capability maturity model is also presented. The conceptual model, while initially tested against several real‐life cases, needs to be tested against a new set of projects as an action learning research project in order to more fully develop knowledge of the dynamics of learning and improvement in rollout projects. The implication is that when project managers undervalue important learning aspects of phased rollouts, they may miss important organizational learning opportunities.