Factors influencing processes of radical change in organizational belief systems

The recent development of a cognitive, interpretive approach to organizational analysis has helped to increase our understanding of organizational action. This paper discusses the relationship between organizational beliefs and organizational change. Based upon a review of empirical studies of strategic reorientations, the article presents a model of factors that influence processes which lead to changes in organizational belief systems. It is argued that radical changes in organizational belief systems are influenced by organizational results, by characteristics of the organizational environment, by intra-organizational factors, and by characteristics of the current organizational belief systems. These factors are discussed and some ways to further augment our knowledge of this phenomenon are indicated.     

Employee acceptance of organizational change:the role of organizational commitment

This study tests a causal model that predicts the acceptance of organizational change using a sample of 761 employees from a large public hospital in the state of Victoria, Australia. The LISREL results indicate that employee acceptance of organizational change is increased by organizational commitment, a harmonious industrial relations (IR) climate, education, job motivation, job satisfaction, job security and positive affectivity, and is decreased by union membership, role conflict, tenure and environmental opportunity. Organizational commitment was found to act as both a determinant and mediator in the change process. Implications for the management of organizational change using human resource (HR) strategies and policies are discussed.     

Another look at the role of emotion in the organizational change: A process model

The paper proposes a cognitive–emotional model of organizational change. It is argued that employees' emotions go through four sequential but distinguishable stages in the organizational change process. In the first stage, primary appraisal induces emotions that are high in arousal, mixed in hedonic tones, and are anticipatory. In the second stage, the mixed emotional experiences give way to either positive or negative emotions as a result of the secondary appraisal. The emotional experience then affects employees' coping behaviors in the third stage. In the forth stage, discrete emotions that are evaluative and have distinct action tendencies are induced. Given this changing nature of employees' emotional experiences during the organizational change process, and considering emotions' influence on individuals' attitudes and behaviors, it is suggested that change agents adjust the timing and content of the information communicated in order to promote employee acceptance to change. Implications of this conceptualization are discussed, as are directions for future research.     

The myth of flexibility in organizational change

In this article we examine the complex nature of organizational flexibility. We question the myth of flexibility as exclusively a top management interpretation of constant adaptiveness to environmental change by exploring the various rigidities involved in a seemingly adaptive organization. Our long-term study of a major Finnish commercial bank under deregulation identified several dominant forms of temporal flexibility–rigidity configurations: formal rigidities, flexible rigidities, rigid flexibilities and defensive rigidities. These configurations were revealed by focusing on the structural tensions which emerge between different levels of management and on the different interpretations given by competing groups to the notion of “organizational flexibility” within a process of change.     

The role of emotions in the control-resistance dyad

This paper investigates the implications of perceived Socio-Ideological Organizational Controls (SIOC) dimensions on actors’ lived experiences in the workplace. We explored whether emotions mediate the dyad control-resistance. Data was collected from 385 participants, via a self-administered questionnaire framed as part of a cross-sectional survey design. Our findings suggest that SIOC dimension related to the promotion of values is an important predictor of experiencing higher positive emotions and lower negative emotions at work. The positive emotions, in turn, predict higher organisational citizenship levels and lower resistance behaviours. Based on these findings, we discuss the role and effectiveness of organisational controls inspired by discursive practices.     

The role of institutional pressures and organizational culture in the firm's intention to adopt internet-enabled supply chain management systems

Drawing upon organizational culture and institutional theory, this study investigates how institutional pressures motivate the firm to adopt Internet-enabled Supply Chain Management systems (eSCM) and how such effects are moderated by organizational culture. The results of a survey of 131 firms suggest that the dimensions of institutional pressures (i.e., normative, mimetic, and coercive pressures) have differential effects on eSCM adoption intention. While mimetic pressures are not related to eSCM adoption intention, normative and coercive pressures are positively associated with eSCM adoption intention. In addition, organizational culture (i.e., flexibility orientation and control orientation) plays different roles in the relationships between these three dimensions of institutional pressures and eSCM adoption intention. While flexibility orientation negatively moderates the effects of coercive pressures and positively moderates the effects of mimetic pressures, control orientation positively moderates the effects of coercive and normative pressures and negatively moderates the effects of mimetic pressures. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.     

制度变迁与城市规划的组织变革

为降低交易费用、促进分工、推动经济增长,社会发生从计划经济体制向市场经济体制的制度变迁.在制度变迁过程中,城市规划也需要支付必要的市场交易成本.政府要在招商引资中通过城市规划主导城市空间演化方向,在城市经营中加强成本意识、营销意识.为适应制度变迁和公共服务的要求,城市规划的管理和编制都面临组织变革.     

Performing catharsis: The use of online discussion forums in organizational change

Online discussion forums have been used to both support and resist organizational change. Our empirical study examined how employees in one organization used an online forum to help them deal discursively with changes that they perceived as threatening to their identity. In particular, we found that the postings of one key individual were central in framing the organizational changes in a way that had powerful cathartic consequences for employees’ feelings of anger and loss of face. Paradoxically, however, we also found that such use of the online forum had the contradictory consequence of helping to facilitate the very changes that employees perceived to be problematic.     

Learning curves in collaborative planning,forecasting, and replenishment (CPFR) information systems: An empirical analysis from a mobile phone manufacturer

While Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment (CPFR) information systems have been increasingly deployed to improve supply chain operations in a cross section of industries, the extant literature has largely overlooked the learning effects within organizations, thereby resulting in incomplete assessment of their business value. Using an operational-level panel data for nine product lines over 2.5 years, we empirically examine the learning curves in CPFR between Motorola, a mobile phone manufacturer, and one of its U.S.-based national retail partners. We found that the two key components of CPFR, collaborative forecasting (CF) and collaborative replenishment (CR), exhibit distinct learning curves. Forecast accuracy improves immediately following CPFR implementation but the rate of improvement slows over time, whereas inventory levels increase at first and begin decreasing after a period. Further, we found different learning effects in terms of inventory levels when products are later replaced with new form factors. Product replacements have lower inventory levels than their antecedents, at least for low-end products. We discuss important implications for theory and practice at the interface of information systems and operations management.     

Circular economy and sustainability: The role of organizational behaviour in the transition journey

Implementing circular economy (CE) requires complex and dynamic changes in technical and behavioural aspects. Few studies spend efforts to understand the organizational behavioural side of CE transition. Thus, this study proposes a theoretical framework that addresses the requirements for the transition towards CE from the organizational perspective. We conducted a systematic review aiming to identify the relations between CE and organizational culture. As a result, we developed a theoretical framework composed of five building blocks (mindsets, values, behaviours, capabilities and competences) that guide the transition towards a CE-oriented culture aiming to achieve sustainability in business. We also identified several gaps for future researches. We concluded that the framework could enrich the literature discussion in the field and be used by practitioners for the identification of paths to implement CE from the organizational culture perspective. In addition, the use of this framework could lead to the achievement of the sustainable development.     

Organizational adaptation to disruptions in the natural environment: The case of climate change

Dynamic and intensified changes in the global ecosystem result in significant disruptions to the natural environment. One of the most prominent examples of this is climate change and the resulting natural disasters. As firms are embedded within the natural environment, they need to adapt to any environmental disruptions that transpire. Using Swiss and Austrian electric utilities as case studies, this paper empirically explores the underlying organizational capabilities necessary to enable adaptation to climate-related disruptions to a firm's resource supply, production processes, and product distribution. Through a case- and literature-based iterative process of analytical induction, three organizational capabilities are derived: climate knowledge absorption as an essential information generating and internalizing capability, climate-related operational flexibility as a short-term adjustment capability, and strategic climate integration as a long-term, innovation-focused capability.     

The search for legitimacy and organizational change: The agency of subordinated actors

This article investigates the organizational changes triggered by the implementation of certified management systems (CMS) in Denmark and explores how institutionalized organizational practices change over time. The study shows that improvements in performance were not significant in the implementation of CMS, though in most cases its adoption implied organizational changes. The study also shows that the search for external legitimacy was appropriated by various internal organizational actors, other than management. When internal actors share the institutionalized beliefs and norms of the wider society, they implicitly strive to reduce decoupling. We argue that understanding the social dynamics of legitimacy in organisations requires paying attention to the agency of superordinated as well as subordinate actors.     

The role of organizational control in outsourcing practices: An empirical study

Recent case study research has examined the role of organization control as a critical component of outsourcing performance (Kang et al. 2012a. Journal of Business Research 65, 1195–1201). In contrast to case study methodology, this paper aims to empirically examine the relationships among outsourcing strategies and organizational control in the Chinese context and refine the theoretical and managerial implications of the current research model. Based on data collected from 158 firms operating in China, this paper examines the impact of two types of outsourcing strategies on different organizational control measures. Our findings suggest that for efficiency-seeking outsourcing, output control and process control are appropriate in creating successful outsourcing practices. As for innovation-seeking outsourcing, social control and process control are the most effective options. Theoretical and managerial implications for strategic outsourcing are also discussed.     

The role of change agent as mediator in the relationship between HR competencies and organizational performance

Human resource (HR) practitioners, as change agents, are responsible for easing the impact of changes in their organization and to protect employees against the side effects of these inevitable changes. Sometimes, the change helps to produce a significant increase in performance and the company can boost sales and production without additional cost. Several vital competencies that are reviewed in this paper include business knowledge culture management, effective relationship and human resource development skills. Based on the findings of this study, not all competencies are related to the role of change agent. HR practitioners who are unable to function as change agents will inevitably create a barrier against their becoming a well-integrated strategic partner. Therefore, the role of change agent also mediates the relationship between certain HR competencies and organizational performance.     

The role of organizational citizenship behaviour and rewards in strategy effectiveness

Abstract

In this paper we contribute to the strategy and OCB literature by empirically exploring how middle managers as strategic actors in product-market strategy making are enabled or constrained in the strategy process. We explore the role of organizationally targeted organizational citizenship behaviour (OCBO) as a conduit for strategy effectiveness. This is a departure from most OCB studies which concentrate on organizational effectiveness. We assess the mediating role of social and extrinsic rewards as organizational structural processes underlying the OCBO-strategy effectiveness relationship. Our results reveal that while OCBO has no direct influence on strategy effectiveness, participation as a form of social reward partially mediates the OCBO strategy effectiveness relationship. However, the negative mediation effect reveals that excessive participation reduces strategy effectiveness. In terms of extrinsic reward practices, process rewards partially and positively mediate the relationship. Focusing on OCBO our results contribute to the call for more nuanced studies into OCB relationships and performance and to the recent debate surrounding whether certain OCB behaviours are perceived as rewarded. We highlight that whilst OCBO is not in itself an important precondition for fostering effective strategy performance, organizational structural processes in the form of reward practices can foster beneficial OCBO which supports strategy effectiveness.     

Why and when organizational culture fosters affective commitment among knowledge workers: the mediating role of perceived psychological contract fulfilment and moderating role of organizational tenure

Drawing on Denison and Mishra (1995)’s framework of organizational culture, this study examines why and when organizational culture is related to knowledge workers’ affective commitment. Data were collected from 640 employees working in three high-technology companies in China. The findings indicate that the relationship between organizational culture and affective commitment is mediated by perceived psychological contract fulfilment. In addition, organizational tenure moderates the relationship between two external dimensions (i.e. adaptability and mission) of organizational culture and perceived psychological contract fulfilment. This study extends the current theoretical framework of organizational culture by demonstrating the underlying mechanism and the boundary condition of the relationship between organizational culture and affective commitment. The findings also provide practical implications for international managers to design appropriate human resource management policies and practices in China.     

The growth of information workers in the US economy, 1950–2000: the role of technological change,computerization, and structural change

Using data from the decennial US Censuses of 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000, I construct matrices of employment by 267 occupations and 64 industries and then aggregate the occupations into four categories: (i) knowledge producers; (ii) data processors; (iii) service workers; and (iv) goods-processing workers. I find that information workers (the sum of the first two categories) increased from 37% of the workforce in 1950 to 59% in 2000. Then, using an input–output decomposition analysis, I find that the growth in information workers was driven not by a shift in tastes toward information-intensive goods and services (as measured by the composition of final demand) but rather by a roughly equal combination of the substitution of information workers for goods and service workers within the structure of production of industries and the unbalanced growth effect (from differential rates of industry productivity growth). Finally, on the basis of regression analysis, I find that R&D expenditures and computer investment are positively associated with the growth in knowledge workers but negatively associated with the growth of data workers.     

The impact of socially responsible human resource management on employees' organizational citizenship behaviour: the mediating role of organizational identification

Based on insights from social exchange and social identity theories, this paper examines the influence of three dimensions of socially responsible human resource management (SR-HRM), namely legal compliance HRM, employee-oriented HRM and general CSR facilitation HRM, on employees' organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Structural equation modelling of dyadic data collected from Chinese employees and their direct supervisors in three phases revealed that whilst organizational identification fully mediated the relationship between employee-oriented HRM and employee OCB, general CSR facilitation HRM had a direct effect on employee OCB. In contrast, legal compliance HRM neither influenced employee OCB directly, nor indirectly through organizational identification. The findings highlight the important but complex role played by SR-HRM in eliciting positive employee work outcomes, and contribute to our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying this relationship.     

ERP systems success: an empirical analysis of how two organizational stakeholder groups prioritize and evaluate relevant measures

Organizations worldwide are adopting enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. A number of studies discuss the implementation and success of such systems, but our study of the literature indicates that discussions about ERP systems success from the perspectives of key organizational stakeholders are not easy to come across. This study is designed to fill this gap in research. Using surveys in Finland and Estonia, we obtained empirical data from 66 respondents in 44 diverse, private, industrial organizations. Our objective was to determine whether differences exist between two organizational stakeholder groups, i.e. business managers and IT professionals, concerning how each group believe ERP success measures and dimensions are prioritized and evaluated in their respective organizations. Prior literature suggests that differences exist between the two groups with regard to how each perceives organizational information technology (IT) issues. Our study indicates that no significant statistical differences exist between the two groups with the exception of one dimension of ERP success, i.e. vendor/consultant quality. The implications of our findings for both practice and research are discussed.     

High-performance work systems and organizational performance: testing the mediation role of employee outcomes using evidence from PR China

This research investigates the relationship between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational performance, and the mediating effect of employee outcomes. The paper is based on a sample of 168 firms of six ownership types and in various business sectors operating in China. The results of data analysis support the hypotheses. Organizational performance is positively predicted by HPWS and employee outcomes, and employee outcomes positively mediate the relationship between HPWS and organizational performance. This paper supports the theory that HPWS positively impacts organizational performance and explains the mechanisms through which HPWS enhances organizational performance. It also responds to the long-standing call for stressing the importance of employee-related factors in the HRM–performance linkage.