The dynamic organizational contexts of executive succession: Considerations and challenges

Given the increasing changefulness of organizational circumstances, the change and transition role of executives takes on increasing prominence. This essay describes the dynamic context related to the organizational life cycle, evolutionary and planned change, and cultural transformation. Executive roles that provide guidance for executive assessment and development, and especially for selection, are explicated.     

Knowledge transfer in project‐based organizations: An organizational culture perspective

This conceptual paper investigates the process of knowledge transfer in project‐based organizations from the perspective of organizational culture. The paper identifies obstacles to knowledge transfer in project‐based organizations and emphasizes the importance of organizational and project cultures in this process. The study provides some suggestions for improving knowledge transfer in project‐based organizations and notes the implications of the paper for project management.     

The transfer of organizational practices: a diachronic perspective from China

Extensive research has been undertaken on the transfer of organizational practices by multinational firms (e.g. Morgan, Kristensen and Whitley 2001; Ferner, Quintanilla, and Sánchez-Runde 2006 Ferner, A., Quintanilla, X. and Sánchez-Runde, C., eds. 2006. Multinationals, Institutions and the Construction of Transnational Practices, London: Palgrave.  [Google Scholar]). However, little investigation has assessed the role that time plays in this process. The commonplace theoretical assumption is that as their overseas subsidiaries become more embedded in the local environment they increasingly take on the practices that prevail locally (Rosenzweig and Nohria 1994; Farley, Hoenig and Yang 2004). There have, though, been few longitudinal studies that would allow the veracity of this assumption or its implications to be assessed; most studies provide one-off, synchronic ‘snapshots’ of organizations. Drawing upon research conducted at a UK-owned retail firm in China between 1999 and 2005, this paper provides a diachronic perspective that can trace emergent trends. Data are derived from mixed methods: 140 interviews with expatriate managers and local staff from all levels of the hierarchy, a three month period of ethnographic research and a total of 305 survey questionnaires. Comparison between findings from the more recent research and those based upon the earlier research suggests that time does play a role in affecting transplanted organizational practices. We report that in some respects the organizational practices of the firm in question increasingly took on more of the ‘colour’ of those that prevailed in the host environment. However, convergence with local practices was far from total, some practices bear increasing resemblance to the firm's parent country operation. We also caution that it is difficult to disentangle the isomorphic influence of the passage of time from factors such as the rapid withdrawal of expatriate managers from the operational level and the impact of the firm's rapid expansion across China. Moreover, we suggest that the local–global dichotomy, upon which much of the convergence–divergence debate rests, is perhaps increasingly problematic.     

The role of organizational justice in organizational citizenship behavior

This special issue highlights the relationships between the concepts of organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior. The articles advance our understanding of these concepts and their relevance to organizational behavior by describing the theoretical and empirical relationship between them. The present article sets the stage for the papers that follow by providing background on the concepts of organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior and explaining various connections between them.     

传销洗脑真相揭秘

一个被传销组织洗脑的人,就有可能使一个家庭,甚至一个家族陷入倾家荡产的境地。其犹如癌细胞一样迅速繁殖,不断吞噬着社会的财富,并酿发了大量悲剧。传销组织究竟用怎样的魔力,将一个个善良的群众"清洗"成为以"善意谎言"不断拉"人头"做下线的"棋子"?其洗脑术何以如此强大?传销王国内部系统到底     

Multi-level k-circulant Supersaturated Designs

In this paper we present a new method for constructing multi-level supersaturated designs with n rows, m columns and the equal occurrence property. We investigate the existence of multi-level supersaturated designs using a single generator vector and its k-cyclic permutations as rows. We find the conditions needed, in order this vector to generate a balanced supersaturated design. These conditions are simplified for the case of three level supersaturated designs. By using the proposed method three level supersaturated designs are constructed and explored. Moreover, many new, optimal and near optimal, multi-level supersaturated designs are provided as well.     

Narcissism in organizational contexts

The literature on narcissism in organizational contexts is reviewed. We begin by describing the context of narcissism and several relevant theoretical approaches to understanding it. We next describe research on narcissism in a range of organizational topics, from leadership to meta-organizational issues. We conclude by highlighting several reoccurring themes involving the role of narcissism in organizational contexts, with an emphasis on articulating directions for future research.     

Investment in organizational capital

Organizational capital is a specific form of capital that firms accumulate. It relates to the development of codes, technical languages, practical arrangements about how the work is done and to the creation of an organizational culture. The distinctive feature of this form of capital is the fact that it does not contribute directly to an output result. Instead, it can be thought as creating the correct environment for the human factor to maximize its capability of generating value, that is, organizational capital works as an external effect on the accumulation of the human capital input. Nevertheless, organizational capital is a form of capital and therefore it has an investment process associated with it. The paper considers the process of investment in this form of capital and recognizes that it introduces important changes over the firm's profit maximization problem. The problem gains new features relating to its dynamic nature and a condition that guarantees saddle‐path stability can be derived. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The failure-prone executive

Others may single out an executive to be the target of an attack, but the failure-prone executive makes himself the victim of that attack.     

The co-worldly executive

The traditional American executive lived in the world of the company; the world of his family life was expected to reflect company priorities. But men are less willing now to pay high personal costs for corporate success, or to limit their private lives (or even their career potentials) to the demands of a single company. This new ethic of co-worldliness will require companies to learn to deal with new kinds of values and loyalties.     

Preparing for organizational death: Proactive HR engagement in an organizational transition

This article describes an HR team's call to action in managing an organization's transition from healthy, vibrant, and financially successful workplace to its death after being acquired. The HR team countered conventional practice in two key ways. First, despite being from the seller's side, it acted unusually early in the company's acquisition and operated proactively throughout the integration process. This constructive approach stemmed from the self‐confidence developed in the HR function over years of process improvement and culture change. Second, the HR professionals were motivated (rather than threatened) by the high stakes involved in this organizational transition. Their company—with its industry‐leading business results and a loyal, long‐tenured workforce—was slated to be closed, dismantled, and auctioned off in pieces to other firms. The HR team's mission was to help people deal with the death of their current employer and prepare for life afterward while maintaining a focus on business results. This article shows how HR helped senior leadership handle the challenge of retaining the talent needed to meet customer commitments and keep the business running while also readying people for an uncertain future with many eventual layoffs. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Managing predecessors' shadows in executive transitions

New leaders inevitably face comparisons with predecessors. After a short time these comparisons usually give way to judgments about the leader's performance. Occasionally, however, the presence of the predecessor continues to be felt long after the new leader has taken charge. The metaphor of a “shadow” cast by a predecessor is used to describe the process whereby memories of a former leader play a dominant role in shaping current behavior in the organization. A case is analyzed in which a burdensome shadow impeded a new leader's efforts to take charge of a state agency. Counterprojective group techniques helped the new leader and his staff lift the shadow and form a more productive working relationship. © 1995 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Relationships among organizational culture,knowledge acquisition,organizational learning,and organizational innovation in Taiwan's banking and insurance industries

This article investigates the relationships among organizational culture (OC), knowledge acquisition (KA), organizational learning (OL), and organizational innovation (OI) in Taiwan's banking and insurance industries. We use the top 100 financial enterprises in Taiwan published by Common Wealth Magazine in 2005 as the population and 23 of them are chosen as the sample in this study. A total of 785 questionnaires were issued and 449 valid replies were received. The research results indicate that OL serves as a partial mediator between OC and OI. In addition, this article finds that OC affects OL and innovation through KA. Furthermore, OL has a full mediation effect on KA and OI.     

Building traits for organizational resilience through balancing organizational structures

This paper describes and explains how balancing organizational structures can build traits for organizational resilience. Organizational resilience is a holistic and complex concept. In this paper, we move beyond focusing on sudden and disruptive events in favour of anticipating the unexpected in daily organizing. Organizational resilience is understood here as building traits of risk awareness, preference for cooperation, agility and improvisation and is analysed by means of a longitudinal qualitative case study. The paper contributes to the field by showing how balancing organizational structures can foster organizational resilience traits. We show that power distribution and normative control can create preparedness for unexpected events and foster action orientation at the same time as supporting organizational alignment.     

Strengthening executive decision making

Although decisions determine corporate fates, executives don't always know how to make the best choices. The author examines today's dissatisfaction with corporate decision making, reviews how it can deteriorate as the pace of change increases, and offers five comprehensive strategies for improving the decision making process. © 1995 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

探究分析多层次的机电一体化实践教学

随着科技与时代的飞速发展,我国机电行业随之不断发展,对机电专业的人才需求持续增加。为进一步满足社会对人才的需求,中职机电一体化专业致力培养出更多专业扎实、素质高的复合型人才。本文从实际的机电一体化教学实践出发,对其教学特点进行了分析,提出了健全的实践性教学体系,探讨了多层次的机电一体化实践教学的应用方法,具有一定的参考价值。     

External organizational commitment

Building on the organizational commitment literature and recent management practices like relationship marketing and total quality management, a new focus of work commitment is proposed: external organizational commitment (EOC). It is envisioned as a global construct and defined as an employee's identification and involvement with another organization. A model of EOC specifying its antecedents, consequences, and moderating factors is offered and 28 propositions emanating from the model are articulated. Implications for human resource practitioners are discussed.