Organizational response to environmental regulation: punctuated change or autogenesis?

Theory predicts that when faced with threatening new conditions, managers often attempt to preserve the status quo by creating a buffer between the organization and the outside world. This paper presents evidence that in response to new water pollution regulation, managers indeed created buffers of technology and personnel, but in some organizations this very equipment and personnel initiated a process of incremental change that led to better environmental protection, more efficient production, and in a few cases, entirely new product and production strategies. For public policy, this research suggests that environmental regulators should allow companies time and flexibility to learn and experiment. For organizational theory, this research suggests a link between punctuated‐equilibrium models of organizational dynamics ( Tushman and Romanelli, 1985 ) and theories of self‐organizing systems ( Drazin and Sandelands, 1992 ). That is, management may respond to external changes by attempting to preserve the status quo, but in so doing influence internal deep structures that then cause organizations to gradually evolve to different behaviours and shapes. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment     

An Empirical Assessment of Alternative Conceptualizations of the Psychological Contract Construct: Meaningful Differences or “Much to do about Nothing”?

The reported study helps move the literature beyond conceptual arguments that have been made and repeated in the literature by investigating the equivalence of three psychological contract (PC) measures that were based on alternative conceptualizations of the PC construct. Employees from a wide range of organizations (n = 1054) were randomly assigned to complete either an expectation, obligation, or promise based measure of their PCs. The equivalence of the PC measures was assessed by comparing factor structures across the three forms, and examining the observed pattern of correlations between the PC measures and external criteria (e.g., trust, equity sensitivity, work centrality, education level). The results indicate that while the three PC measures evoke the same general mental framework in the minds of respondents, and behave similarly for some purposes, depending on the specific relationships being investigated, the measures may yield significantly different results (i.e., they are not fully interchangeable). Implications for theorizing and future research regarding the PC construct are discussed. Also reported is new evidence linking individual differences (e.g., work centrality, equity sensitivity) to perceived responsibilities and rights in the employment relationship.     

Organizational complexity and participatory innovation: participatory budgeting in local government

ABSTRACT

In this study, we examined the relationship between organizational complexity and the adoption of participatory innovation in German municipal government. We proposed that organizations with more complex organizational structures are more likely to adopt participatory innovation. We investigated municipalities (N = 394) of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and used participatory budgeting as an indicator for innovation. Our results indicate that organizational complexity expressed by functional differentiation has a positive relationship with the occurrence of participatory innovation. The results inform a debate about the value trade-offs that are inherent to the structural design of public organizations.     

Workplace Substance Testing—An Exploratory Study

This study, using 1993 survey data taken from large Ontario, Canada, headquartered organizations (n = 127), compares workplace substance testing versus nontesting organizations based on a number of external and internal factors. Results showed that few Canadian organizations conduct workplace substance testing. Variables such as sector, location of operations, risk sensitivity and organizational structure appear to be not related to the workplace substance testing decision. Partial support was found for age and size of organization (measured in sales volume) as differentiating workplace substance testing organizations from non-testers. Public policy implications based on these findings are provided.     

Competition, Imperfect Competition, and Dynamic Market Processes

Abstract . Contrary to the conventional hypothesis, the structural elements on the supply side of free product markets are not stable. The variability in the structures of free markets is readily apparent in an appropriate analysis of the emergence, growth, and maturity of free product markets. In this analysis, supply-side entrepreneurship plays a prominent role—one which is only imputed to entrepreneurship in the conventional specification of market conditions. In order to correct this deficiency in the conventional specification, an alternative specification is summarized in which are treated explicitly the effects of entrepreneurial activity with respect to the discovery and development of economically feasible new products and processes and the choice of and variations in the quality characteristics of the products of individual firms. This indicates that firms can and do influence the stage of development—and hence the related size—of a market and their relative shares of it by new product and process development and the quality of their output. In this way entrepreneurial activity affects particular product market structures.     

Antecedents and outcomes of implementing flexibility policies in organizations

This study examines the antecedents of employees' utilization of various flexibility work arrangements (FWA) on the one hand and job-related outcomes due to their implementation in organizations on the other hand. Data are provided by an original survey administered to employees working in private organizations (N = 480). Workers' uptake of the arrangements is enhanced by their family responsibilities, by FWA availability, by supervisors' support and by co-workers' FWA use. Regarding employee outcomes, FWA availability is related to two of the three outcomes studied. Moreover, a favourable work-family culture is related to our three outcomes, employee commitment, turnover intentions and work-to-family conflict.     

Embeddedness in context: understanding gender in a female entrepreneurship network

ABSTRACT

In this paper I argue that through a process of embeddedness in context, a female entrepreneurship network is able to challenge gender structures. I investigate how a female entrepreneurship network is constructed and how they reinforce and possibly challenge existing gender structures. From an ethnographic study, three processes in the female entrepreneurship network were identified: making proper entrepreneurs, building relationships and engaging in change. In the different processes the women involved in the network reinforced gender structures through compliance with a masculine discourse of entrepreneurship, but also challenged gender structures through questioning this discourse. Through becoming embedded in their local community, the women entrepreneurs were able to take charge of the development of the network and challenge gender structures as a result of questioning the masculine discourse of entrepreneurship. This implies an interplay between embeddedness and gender as two separate but dependent processes. Linking together gender and embeddedness elicits a new take on the way female entrepreneurship networks are constructed and how they could advance gender equality within entrepreneurship. Consequently, this paper emphasises a need for further examination of embeddedness within gender and entrepreneurship research.     

When Does Public Service Motivation Fuel the Job Satisfaction Fire? The Joint Moderation of Person–Organization Fit and Needs–Supplies Fit

Abstract

This study takes a comparative approach to study the ‘outcome’ performance of a work-integration social enterprise (WISE) and a ‘for-profit’ work-integration organization that both provided employment enhancement programmes to NEETs. Participants at both organizations completed general self-efficacy questionnaires before and after engagement on the programmes. Additionally, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were held with the owners and staff at both organizations. The results revealed no significant difference between the ‘outcome’ performance of the WISE and for-profit organization. However, an analysis of the organizational aims, values and structures suggests that the ‘added value’ offered by the WISE came from the different induction policy that it operated.     

Packs,Troops and Herds: Prosocial Cooperatives and Innovation in the New Normal

Prosocial organizations are emerging to tackle the effects of a New Normal. As they navigate its fragile and liquid institutional membranes, they prioritize cooperative forms of governance. These forms allow for collaboration and democratic decision-making necessary for the development of innovative solutions in this new context. At the same time, the high coordination costs of cooperatives lead to significant market pressures. Therefore, understanding when and under what conditions these new cooperatives innovate and strive is important as it provides insight into whether and how these ventures can become a viable alternative in this changing landscape. Using configurational analyses of organizational enablers leading to innovation in 40 entrepreneurial cooperatives, we identify three approaches: Attentive Pack, Eclectic Troop, and Wandering Herd, showing that innovative outcomes can indeed emerge under traditional cooperative features emphasizing collectivism. However, the pursuit of higher novelty requires a shift to more individualistic, business-as-usual, approaches. The New Normal does indeed enhance entrepreneurial activity, but of a different kind comprising novel sets of antecedents and outcomes, which we show can easily become the new dominant form of venturing required in this new context.     

Increasing human and social capital by applying job embeddedness theory

Most modern lives are complicated. When employees feel that their organization values the complexity of their entire lives and tries to do something about making it a little easier for them to balance all the conflicting demands, the employees tend to be more productive and stay with those organizations longer. Job embeddedness captures some of this complexity by measuring both the on-the-job and off-the-job components that most contribute to a person's staying. Research evidence as well as ample anecdotal evidence (discussed here and other places) supports the value of using the job embeddedness framework for developing a world-class retention strategy based on corporate strengths and employee preferences.To execute effectively their corporate strategy, different organizations require different knowledge, skills and abilities from their people. And because of occupational, geographic, demographic or other differences, these people will have needs that are different from other organizations. For that reason, the retention program of the week from international consultants won’t always work. Instead, organizations need to carefully assess the needs/desires of their unique employee base. Then, these organizations need to determine which of these needs/desires they can address in a cost effective fashion (confer more benefits than the cost of the program). Many times this requires an investment that will pay off over a longer term – not just a quarter or even year. Put differently, executives will need to carefully understand the fully loaded costs of turnover (loss of tacit knowledge, reduced customer service, slowed production, lost contracts, lack of internal candidates to lead the organization in the future, etc., in addition to the obvious costs like recruiting, selecting and training new people). Then, these executives need to recognize the expected benefits of various retention practices. Only then can leaders make informed decisions about strategic investments in human and social capital.

Selected bibliography

A number of articles have influenced our thinking about the importance of connecting employee retention strategies to business strategies:

• R. W. Beatty, M. A. Huselid, and C. E. Schneier. “New HR Metrics: Scoring on the Business Scorecard,” Organizational Dynamics, 2003, 32 (2), 107–121.

• Bradach. “Organizational Alignment: The 7-S Model,” Harvard Business Review, 1998.

• J. Pfeffer. “Producing Sustainable Competitive Advantage Through the Effective Management of People,” Academy of Management Executive, 1995 (9), 1–13.

• C. J. Collins, and K. D. Clark. “Strategic Human Resources Practices and Top Management Team Social Networks: An Examination of the Role of HR Practices in Creating Organizational Competitive Advantage,” Academy of Management Journal, 2003, 46, 740–752.

The theoretical development and empirical support for the Unfolding Model of turnover are captured in the following articles:

• T. Lee, and T. Mitchell. “An Alternative Approach: The Unfolding Model of Voluntary Employee Turnover,” Academy of Management Review, 1994, 19, 57–89.

• B. Holtom, T. Mitchell, T. Lee, and E.Inderrieden. “Shocks as Causes of Turnover: What They Are and How Organizations Can Manage Them,” Human Resource Management, 2005, 44(3), 337–352.

The development of job embeddedness theory is captured in the following articles:

• T. Mitchell, B. Holtom, T. Lee, C. Sablynski, and M. Erez. “Why People Stay: Using Job Embeddedness to Predict Voluntary Turnover,” Academy of Management Journal, 2001, 44, 1102–1121.

• T. Mitchell, B. Holtom, and T. Lee. “How To Keep Your Best employees: The Development Of An Effective Retention Policy,” Academy of Management Executive, 2001, 15(4), 96–108.

• B. Holtom, and E. Inderrieden. “Integrating the Unfolding Model and Job Embeddedness To Better Understand Voluntary Turnover,” Journal of Managerial Issues, in press.

• D.G. Allen. “Do Organizational Socialization Tactics Influence Newcomer Embeddedness and Turnover?” Journal of Management, 2006, 32, 237–257.

Executive SummaryEmployee turnover is costly to organizations. Some of the costs are obvious (e.g., recruiting, selecting, and training expenses) and others are not so obvious (e.g., diminished customer service ability, lack of continuity on key projects, and loss of future leadership talent). Understanding the value inherent in attracting and keeping excellent employees is the first step toward investing systematically to build the human and social capital in an organization. The second step is to identify retention practices that align with the organization's strategy and culture. Through extensive research, we have developed a framework for creating this alignment. We call this theory job embeddedness. Across multiple industries, we have found that job embeddedness is a stronger predictor of important organizational outcomes, such as employee attendance, retention and performance than the best, well-known and accepted psychological explanations (e.g., job satisfaction and organizational commitment). The third step is to implement the ideas. Throughout this article we discuss examples from the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For and many others to demonstrate how job embeddedness theory can be used to build human and social capital by increasing employee retention.     

How do lean management organizations behave regarding training and development?

This paper analyses the role of training and development in lean management organizations. The hypothesis is that organizations characterized by lean management have a distinctive profile in terms of training and development. Specifically, it is hypothesized that lean organizations have the following features to a higher extent than non-lean organizations:

? employee involvement in training and development

? use of work groups for quality, product development and task flexibility

? attribution of importance to training in quality, customer orientation and people management

? line management responsibility for training and development of the employees

? use of job enlargement

? information of employees about management decisions

? use of team briefings and quality circles.

The analysis shows that it is possible to identify a relationship between lean management and training and development, although the statistical results could have been more significant. It is also discussed in the paper to what extent country-specific variables dominate (or are dominated by) company-specific characteristics. The general finding is that company-specific impact seems to be stronger than country-specific variables.

In general, it can be said that the lean management pattern as a company-specific variable is characteristic for most countries analysed (although to a varying degree). It is, however, sometimes confounded by country-specific variables. For instance, Turkey does not follow the general pattern, and the hypothesis can be supported only in selected minor areas. Hence, in this case country-specific variables outweigh company-specific variables. In most other countries, this is not the case.     

Public Management and Network Specificity: Effects of colleges’ ties with professional organizations on graduates’ labour market success and satisfaction

Abstract

Research on managerial networking in the public sector reports positive effects of network activity on performance. However, little is known about which network relations influence different aspects of performance. We argue that for specific organizational goals, organizations should direct their networking activities towards specific types of organizations. We explore how different types of network relations of Dutch colleges for nursing studies affect the performance of these colleges. We analyse the effect of ties with professional organizations on: (1) graduates’ program satisfaction, (2) graduates’ wages and (3) graduates’ employment (n = 1,484 graduates). Multilevel analyses show that colleges’ ties with professional organizations positively affect graduates’ wages and employment.     

Walking and Talking Corporate Social Responsibility: Implications of Firm Size and Organizational Cost

In this paper we address two interrelated research gaps in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) literature. The first results from a lack of understanding of different patterns of CSR engagement with respect to CSR talk (impression management and the creation of symbolic images and documentation) and CSR walk (substantive implementation of CSR policies, structures and procedures). Related to this, the second gap concerns limited knowledge about the influence of firm size on CSR engagement. We develop a conceptual model that explains differences in CSR talk versus walk based on organizational cost and firm size. This allows us to theorize the antecedents of what we call the large firm implementation gap (large firms tend to focus on communicating CSR symbolically but do less to implement it into their core structures and procedures) and vice versa the small firm communication gap (less active communication and more emphasis on implementation). Our model expands a new theoretical understanding of CSR engagement based on as yet underemphasized firm‐level antecedents of CSR, and opens up several new avenues for future, and in particular comparative, research.     

Evaluating the employability paradox: When does organizational investment in human capital pay off?

Abstract

The paper explores the notion of the employability paradox which notes that while organizations investing in the career and competency development of their workforce can benefit from higher performance, they also risk losing more employable staff to competitors. Building on contributions from social exchange theory and signalling theory, we develop a model exploring the circumstances under which investment in career development benefits employees and organizations. We test our model in a longitudinal study following graduates entering the labour market. Our results show that when organizations signal that they care about employees by investing in their career development and individuals are receptive to such signals and proactively seek to manage their careers, investment in career development has a positive impact on organizational commitment and intention to stay with one’s employer. Our findings indicate that the idea of the employability paradox is simplistic and lacks theoretical and empirical support.     

Personality and salary at early career: the mediating effect of emotional intelligence

Abstract

This paper examines the role of emotional intelligence (EI) as a mediator in the relationship between salary at early career and personality. The longitudinal data was collected from a selected sample of 130 university graduates, who were in the early stages of their professional careers. The results of a path analysis indicated that salary was indirectly predicted by personality traits, as measured by the Big Five model. Salary was predicted by neuroticism (both positively and negatively), extraversion (positively), and openness (positively) via the EI dimensions following the causal chain: perception, understanding and emotional regulation. Our findings have suggested the advantages of using EI measures as a complement to more dispositional measures, such as ability or personality measures, for personnel selection and people development in organizations and have provided real practice with clear suggestions for improving HRM.     

Examining the role of cultural exposure in improving intercultural competence: implications for HRM practices in multicultural organizations

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between the breadth and depth of cultural exposure (CE), intercultural sensitivity and intercultural competence to draw implications that can improve recruitment and staff development practices in organizations with a culturally diverse workforce. Findings from a survey (N = 214) in Australia support the notion that intercultural competence is a broader concept that requires a deep exposure to other cultures as compared to intercultural sensitivity. The findings suggest that breadth of CE has limited potential whereas depth of CE is more beneficial in improving an individual’s intercultural abilities. Implications are drawn based on the findings of the study such that organizations are able to recruit and develop employees who are truly interculturally inclined and can effectively navigate the challenges of working in today’s multicultural organizations.     

A survey study on weights of decision criteria for job rotation in Thailand: comparison between public and private sectors

Five hundred Thai organizations (from both public and private sectors) were surveyed to learn how decision criteria were weighed when conducting job rotation. The organizations were categorized into three groups, namely, government agency (GA), private service company (PSC), and private manufacturing company (PMC). Three purposes of job rotation were considered: (1) restructuring of the organization, (2) periodic reshuffling of employee-job assignments, and (3) efficiency/productivity improvement. The findings from responded questionnaires (with a response rate of 41.40 per cent) show that the criterion weights are significantly dependent on both the organization type and the purpose of job rotation. It is found that organizations from both sectors considered ‘knowledge, skills, and abilities’ as a predominant decision criterion, irrespective of the purpose of job rotation. For the organizations that periodically reshuffled their current employee-job assignments, ‘job seniority’ was also considered as an important criterion. Regarding the other two job rotation purposes, organizations from the public sector consistently gave more attention to ‘job seniority,’ ‘years of service,’ and ‘age’ than did those from the private sector.     

Stakeholder Governance for Responsible Innovation: A Theory of Value Creation,Appropriation, and Distribution

In the face of intractable societal grand challenges, organizations increasingly resort to responsible innovation – that is, they pledge to create value for multiple stakeholders through developing new products or services that avoid doing harm and improve conditions for people and the planet. While the link between responsible innovation and societal improvements has been established, organizations pursuing responsible innovation lack governance mechanisms to guide the allocation of the value created – both economic and social – among heterogeneous stakeholders, in line with their responsible intent. We combine the value-based strategy and stakeholder perspectives and infuse a deliberative process to design a three-stage model of value allocation that rests on three key organizational decisions: i) what value to create and for whom, ii) how to appropriate the value created vis-à-vis unintended value appropriators, and iii) how to distribute the value appropriated among intended stakeholders. We propose a framework of stakeholder governance comprised of four novel mechanisms by which organizations can allocate value among their multiple principal stakeholders as part of participative processes. Our study contributes to responsible innovation and corporate governance research by unpacking how new value is managed to solve societal grand challenges.     

THE PETER PRINCIPLE: PERSONAL OR ORGANIZATIONAL INCOMPETENCE?

This article proposes that incompetence in management may not be explained so much by the ‘Peter Principle’, i.e. by terminal weaknesses of personnel in faulty promotion systems, as it is by the organizational climate in which managers perform, i.e. by outmoded supervisory styles and limiting structural relationships. This alternative explanation is supported by Townsend's popular book, Up the Organization,¹ where Theory X styles of leadership, in some combination with bureaucratic elements of structure, are seen as impairments in modern organizations. This contention argues that organizational change agents must operate in tandem upon perceptions and attitudes as well as structural properties to maintain effectiveness - embarking on either skill and sensitivity training alone or mandating authority and task changes is insufficient. In addition, leadership flexibility and structural variety must provide alternative options across different task units if both short-run efficiency and long-term relevance are to be generated for the organization. Finally, organization survival is viewed as a function of managerial performance as determined by structure, including the promotion system, and by level of humanism of the climate, especially motivational stimuli. Within all of this, managerial effectiveness is considered to be influenced by incumbent conceptualizations of goals and capacities of the organization and of his own ‘self’ within that system. Concepts of self, in turn, are determined by historical notions associated with work and authority, as well as by various socialization processes in the organization, e.g. training, super-vision and general psychological conditioning. Accordingly, the matrix design of organizations and the contingency theory of leadership are offered as vehicles for tentatively re-conceptualizing the nature and form of collective behavior. Matrix and contingency theories focus upon modern, complex organizational structures and varied superior-subordinate relationships rather than upon man's instrumental performance, as with the Peter Principle, in explaining managerial inadequacies.