PARTICIPATION AS A MEANS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CONTROL

Participation was considered as part of the structure of organization. For a sample of thirty-one organizations, representative participation was found to be related to the formalization whereas participation in the process of management (that is, participation which involves the individual directly) was found to be related directly to specialization and inversely to autonomy. These results are shown to be compatible with the view that participation represents an extension of organizational control over employees rather than the view that participation is a means of employee influence over upper level management. Organizational control is achieved through establishing a framework for participation which limits the issues that can be raised and the influence that can be exerted upwards.     

SECTOR-SPECIFIC PATTERNS OF ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN CHANGE*

Recent approaches to understanding change in organizations have moved beyond just looking at structure and have focused on the role of values in defining the manner in which organizations change. This article integrates the concepts of design archetypes, tracks and high impact systems in an effort to understand the patterns of change for an institutionally specific set of organizations. the sample used for the study was a set of Canadian national sport organizations undergoing institutional change. Three design archetypes (Kitchen Table, Boardroom and Executive Office) that represent institutionally specific coherent value-structure relationships were used to show that patterns of change are determined by the extent to which the coherence of organizational design elements shift over time. Using these design archetypes as a model for change, tracks were identified that provided an indication of the degree and direction of change and the extent to which design coherence was maintained. This paper shows that there is variety in organizational design coherence and that this is related to patterns of change. In addition, reorientations to a new design are signalled by changes in structures or systems that are central to the organization's purpose and as such can have a high impact on moving the organization to a new design.     

TIMELY MANAGEMENT CHANGES AS AN ELEMENT OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY

This article uses the results of empirical research into the factors determining the differential success of firms in dealing with severe conditions at the industry level. A matched pairs comparison of successful and unsuccessful firms under these conditions reveals very different patterns of strategic measures taken. One of the significant differences is that the successful firms make changes in the management area very early, while the unsuccessful firms make them very late. the results are used for a theoretical reflection focusing on the following two questions: (1) Are organizations basically inert of adaptive? and (2) What is management's role in organizational change? the central theme of the discussion is that in the literature too little attention is paid to timely management changes as an element of organizational change strategies.     

RECRUITMENT MODE AS A FACTOR AFFECTING INFORMANT RESPONSE IN ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH*

Hear my words carefully. Some are spoken not by me, but by a man in my position. Norman MacCaig (1969)     

RELATIONSHIPS OF JOB CATEGORIES AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEVELS TO USE OF COMMUNICATION CHANNELS,INCLUDING ELECTRONIC MAIL: A META-ANALYSIS AND EXTENSION*

This study tests hypotheses derived from information processing theory concerning relationships between individuals' job category, organizational level, and levels and patterns of media usage. Media studied include face-to-face, meetings, memos/letters, telephone and electronic mail. In the meta-analysis of over 40 studies, usage of different media was significantly different for managers/executives versus others, and was highly correlated with organizational level. In the individual-level analyses of four organizations, the majority of respondents were classified into their actual job categories, and according to distances between organizational levels, by a discriminant function involving only relative extent of media use, especially participation in meetings. Contrary to information richness theory, upper-level respondents (managers) did not necessarily use electronic mail less than did lower-level respondents (clerical workers). The article concludes by discussing implications for theories of organizational media use and implementation of electronic mail systems.     

CONVERGENT DYNAMICS IN THE PRODUCTION OF ORGANIZATIONAL CONFIGURATIONS*

Organization theory lacks an adequate accounting for the processes that produce distinct structural configurations. This article interprets organization structure as an instantaneous correspondence between three analytical levels that simultaneously constrain and stimulate behaviour: infrastructure, sociostructure, and superstructure. Structuring results from a process of convergence across levels that produces distinct configurations and provides observers with a living record of the organization's historical development. This article explores the dynamics of convergence through a comparative case study of two organizations in the publishing industry. Both firms developed into stable structural configurations that were uniquely produced from historically specific accommodations.     

THE EFFECT OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ON COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION*

The aim of this article is to demonstrate the importance and utility of the notion of organizational culture for scholars and practitioners in the field of information studies. It presents a theoretical and empirical examination of the effects of culture on communication and information in organizations. First, the concepts of organizational culture, information and communication are briefly explored. Then a case study of the effects of organizational culture on communication and information is presented. In particular, we make a detailed examination of how attitudes to communication and information that had their roots in a dominant organizational culture were a strong influence on the demise of the company (which was ultimately acquired by a stronger firm).     

ORGANIZATIONAL SYMBOLISM AND IDEOLOGY*

The purpose of this article is to discuss organizational symbolism research from a critique of ideology perspective. Various aspects of ideology as a metatheoretical concept are discussed. Criteria governing when it might be appropriate to conduct a critical analysis of ideological elements in research texts are also suggested. These include restricted social autonomy of researchers, socio-political relevance and ideological usefulness of research products, social fashionability of research areas, pseudo-objective style, absence of indicated self-reflection and lack of manifested awareness of the social context of research in research publications. The organizational symbolism research field is discussed in relation to ideology and some influential texts are interpreted in the light of ideology-critique. the criteria for a sensitive reading of research texts in terms of problematical ideological elements are applied and their relevance illustrated. the article also discusses the field of organizational symbolism in terms of Habermas' concepts of cognitive interests, emancipation and undistorted communication.     

PREDICTING CORPORATE PERFORMANCE FROM ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE*

This article investigates the relationships of culture strength and two substantive cultural values with corporate performance. Culture strength is measured by the consistency of responses to survey items across people and the two cultural values are measured by items on the survey that relate to either adaptability or stability. The data, from management surveys of 11 US insurance companies in 1981, were correlated with asset and premium growth rates from 1982 to 1987. Results indicate that both a strong culture regardless of content and a substantive value placed on adaptability are associated with better performance for two to three subsequent years on both criterion measures. The results support the findings of Denison (1990) that strength of culture is predictive of short-term performance. The present results, however, suggest a more complex contingency model than that proposed by Denison.     

R & D SUBSYSTEM CLIMATE AS A FUNCTION OF PERSONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS

Professional-technical employee perceptions of the R and D subsystem climate were believed to be influenced by personal, joint personal-situational, and situational characteristics. One hundred and five professional-technical employees, above the technical level, from seven organizations cooperated in a study to ascertain the factors which contribute to the formation of subsystem climate perceptions. The findings failed to support the expected relationship between personal characteristics and subsystem climate, but did indicate that joint personal-situational factors accounted for significant amounts of variance in climate perceptions.     

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTROL: AN EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE*

Much of the literature on organizational control processes has traditionally been based on concepts of cybernetics, power, and authority. This article explores an alternative way of looking at the control phenomenon by introducing the idea of an evolutionary ‘controlling’ cycle. This idea is derived by modifying the basic organizing cycle (enactment, selection, retention) to a hierarchical form, with two distinct components. The model is then applied to understand the basic control modes informing markets, bureaucracies and clans. The article concludes with some comments on the likely future directions of the bureaucratic mode of organizational control.     

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN STRUCTURE AND TECHNOLOGY AT THE ORGANIZATIONAL AND JOB LEVELS

There are two main approaches to the study of organizational structure and technology. One is at the organizational level and the other is at the job level. The conclusion that structure and technology are not significantly related is based primarily on the results of organizational level research. Alternatively, a persuasive case can be made that these results stem from lack of a common paradigm. Investigation of research at the job level provides one way of testing this assertion because it is based on a more or less unified framework. When results at the job level are compared a much better case is made for structural and technological covariation. A reasonable doubt must remain concerning the demise of the technological imperative.     

COGNITIVE TRAILS IN STRATEGIC DECISION-MAKING: LINKING THEORIES OF PERSONALITIES AND COGNITIONS*

This article attempts to reveal Jungian personality types' cognitive biases through a strategic management framework. The four personality types seem to use distinct heuristics to gather data, to generate and to evaluate alternatives. The connected heuristics appear as cognitive trails. We propose that different personality types habitually use certain cognitive trails; consequently, they can fall prey to biases that lurk in these trails. Cognitive trails may include linked input, output, and operational biases. We present the results from a pilot study to illustrate some connections between personality types and biases. We also explore some implications for future research and for management practice.     

PROCEDURAL RATIONALITY IN THE STRATEGIC DECISION-MAKING PROCESS*

Despite the central place of rationality in the organization theory, strategic management, and decision-making literatures, we know relatively little about why some strategic decision-making procedures are more rational than others. This question was addressed in a study of 57 strategic decisions in 24 companies, using a multiple-informant, structured interview protocol. Results indicate that environmental competitive threat, perceived external control of the organization, and the uncertainty of the strategic issues being addressed are related to procedural rationality. Surprisingly, some of these relationships were in the opposite direction from our predictions. These results are interpreted within a framework that emphasizes the link between procedural rationality and managerial discretion.     

A STUDY OF ORGANIZATIONAL 'FRAMEWORK' AND 'PROCESS' MODALITIES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF BUSINESS-LEVEL STRATEGIC DECISIONS*

Organization framework and process are proposed as two modalities for implementing intended business-level strategic decisions. A model is developed in which the components of these two modalities are defined and related to the implementation of low cost and differentiation strategic decisions. The implementation of 57 decisions in integrated circuits, petroleum, and health care firms are used to test the research hypotheses. The findings suggest that implementation in these firms utilized both framework and process structural elements, but that a different implementation gestalt characterized each type of strategic decision. Implications for strategy implementation are discussed.