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Organizational Behaviour (organizational + behaviour)
Selected AbstractsReconciling situational social psychology with virtue ethicsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT REVIEWS, Issue 3 2008Surendra Arjoon For the past four decades, debate has occurred in respect of situational social psychology and virtue ethics. This paper attempts to reconcile this debate. Situationists propose a fragmentation theory of character (each person has a whole range of dispositions, each of which has a restricted situational application) and do not subscribe to a regularity theory of character (behaviour is regulated by long-term dispositions). In order to support this view, they cite a number of experiments. It is proposed that the substantive claims made by situationist social psychologists, for the most part, do not undermine or disagree with an Aristotelian virtue ethics perspective, but stem from a misunderstanding of concepts of moral character, faulty conclusions and generalizations in respect of experimental results. Situationists take a narrow view of character and morality. Evidence from organizational behaviour and managerial research literature supports the view that both situational (organizational) features and inner characteristics (including virtues) are powerful influences and determinants of morally upright and morally deviant behaviour. The role of practical judgement in bridging these views is discussed. As a way forward in reconciling situational social psychology with virtue ethics, the paper proposes an Aristotelian,Thomistic framework to overcome some of the problems associated with inadequate regulative ideals in building a normative moral theory. [source] Innovation management in context: environment, organization and performanceINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT REVIEWS, Issue 3 2001Joe Tidd Several decades of research into innovation management have failed to provide clear and consistent findings or coherent advice to managers. In this paper, I argue that this is because innovation management ,best practice, is contingent on a range of factors, and that we need better characterizations of the technological and market contingencies which affect the opportunity for, and constraints on, innovation. I review research on innovation together with relevant studies from organizational behaviour and strategic management, and develop a model which may help to guide future innovation research on the relationships between environmental contingencies, organization configurations and performance. I identify uncertainty and complexity as the key environmental contingencies that influence organizational structure and management processes for innovation. [source] Selected debate from the arena of knowledge management: new endorsements for established organizational practicesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT REVIEWS, Issue 2 2001Neal G. Beamish Management theorists and practitioners have been allured recently to the contemporary field of knowledge management. This is a burgeoning subject that has enticed the involvement of specialists from established domains that are broad based in themselves: strategy, organizational behaviour, operations and information technology. In arguing the importance of knowledge in the strategic purpose of the organization, authorities essentially endorse practices that have been supported in the past: practices that appreciate the social context of knowledge. This paper reviews the debates in strategic theory that support the contemporary ,knowledge-based' view of the organization, and describes how established practices relating to knowledge transfer and creation have been recently revitalized. [source] Metaphor and the Dynamics of Knowledge in Organization Theory: A Case Study of the Organizational Identity Metaphor*JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 4 2006Joep P. Cornelissen abstract Despite the increased salience of metaphor in organization theory, there is still very little conceptual machinery for capturing and explaining how metaphor creates and/or reorders knowledge within organization theory. Moreover, prior work on metaphor has insufficiently accounted for the context of interpreting a metaphor. Many metaphors in organization theory, including the ,organizational identity' metaphor, have often been treated in singular and monolithic terms; seen to offer a similar or largely synonymous interpretation to theorists and researchers working along the entire spectrum of disciplines (e.g. organizational behaviour, organizational psychology) in organization theory. We argue in this paper that contextual variation however exists in the interpretation of metaphors in organization theory. This argument is developed by proposing and elaborating on a so-called image-schematic model of metaphor, which suggests that the image-schemata (abstract imaginative structures) that are triggered by the metaphorical comparison of concepts may vary among individuals. Accordingly, once different schemata are triggered the completion and interpretation of a metaphor may equally vary among different individuals or, indeed, research communities. These points associated with the image-schematic model of metaphor are illustrated with a case study of the ,organizational identity' metaphor. The case study shows that this particular metaphor has spiralled out into different research communities and has been comprehended in very different ways as different communities work from very different conceptions, or image-schemata, of ,organization' and ,identity', and use different theoretical frameworks and constructs as a result. The implications of the image-schematic view of metaphor for knowledge development and theoretical progress in organization theory are discussed. [source] A Methodology for Assessing Organizational Core Values*JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 2 2006Johan Van Rekom abstract The goal of this study is to offer a methodology for empirically assessing the core values of an organization. It uses means,end analysis in order to determine those values that organization members manifest in their daily behaviour, and which are not just espoused ,truisms'. The method is based on the sense members of an organization make of what they do. Sensemaking follows a means,end pattern, through which individual actions converge into central values. The values most central in this means,end structure are the core values that effectively motivate organization members in their job. Our method works in two steps: first, exploratory interviews using the laddering-technique establish the values potentially most central to the organization; then, a follow-up survey assesses the complete pattern of means,end relations among the potential values. Validity tests show that the most central values derived from this survey data are the most important to organization members. These values are also the most stable over time. We make a comparison of this method with traditional value surveys and we discuss its implications for the study of organizational behaviour. [source] A Conceptual Model for Researching the Creation and Operation of Supply Networks,BRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2004Christine Harland This paper presents a conceptual model for the creation and operation of supply networks. Existing conceptual research relating to interorganizational relationships and networks is reviewed in terms of its relevance to understanding supply networks; this research is drawn from the fields of strategic management, channel management, industrial marketing and purchasing, organizational behaviour and supply-chain management. The different perspectives each field has on networks are highlighted. Contributions made by each in assisting to understand supply networks are discussed and synthesized. Findings from an exploratory survey are used to structure the design of a conceptual model for analysing the processes involved in the creation and operation of supply networks. The authors identify nine different types of networking activities and discuss the nature of these activities in the context of supply. Four different types of contextual factors relating to supply networks are identified. The model is tested in eight in-depth case studies and a validating survey of 58 focal firm networks. It is concluded that it provides a robust structure that enabled complex, cross-case analysis of multi-variable, multi-disciplinary data from interorganization product/service supply networks, but that further testing by other researchers is required. [source] Changing Public Service Organizations: Current Perspectives and Future ProspectsBRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 2003Ewan Ferlie As governments and public service organizations across the globe engage in strategies of institutional and organizational change, it is timely to examine current developments and a future research agenda for public governance and management. The paper commences with reflections on the state of the field, based on an analysis of papers published in the British Journal of Management over the last decade. While there was some variation apparent across the set, the ,typical' article was found to be influenced by the discipline of organizational behaviour, set within the health-care sector, using case-study methods within field-based studies, and investigating shifts in roles and relationships and the management of change. It has also in the past been UK-centric, though the journal editorial policy and our own article call for a stronger international and comparative focus in the future. The second section of the article summarizes the articles and themes contained in this collection of papers on public service organizations. The third section explores a possible research agenda for the future, arguing for the significance of public sector research for the understanding of management more generally, and for examining the interface between private and public organizations (an increasingly common phenomenon). We suggest the need to set public services research in policy and political contexts, and suggest this may reveal organizational processes of wide interest. We call for a wider set of disciplines to engage in public management research, and to engage in moving the agenda from the study of efficiency to effectiveness as defined by a variety of stakeholders. We address the issue of how far public management researchers should become directly engaged with the world of policy and suggest that whether researchers engage in Mode 1 or Mode 2 research, their work would benefit from a stronger theoretical base. [source] Identifying impediments to SRI in Europe: a review of the practitioner and academic literatureBUSINESS ETHICS: A EUROPEAN REVIEW, Issue 3 2008Carmen Juravle For more than 15 years, the investment community and the academic community have written extensively on socially responsible investment (SRI). Despite the abundance of SRI thought, the adoption of SRI practices among institutional investors is a comparative rarity. This paper endeavours to achieve two goals. First, by integrating the practitioner and academic literature on the topic, the paper attempts to identify the many impediments to SRI in Europe from an institutional investor's perspective. Second, the paper proposes a unitary framework to conceptually organize the impediments to SRI by using insights from different relevant research perspectives: behavioural finance, organizational behaviour, institutional theory, economic sociology, management science and finance. The paper concludes by presenting the main shortcomings within both the academic and the practitioner literature on SRI and by providing conceptual and methodological recommendations for further research. [source] Corporate awakening , why (some) corporations embrace public,private partnershipsBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 4 2005Julie LaFrance Abstract Predominantly since the 1992 Rio Summit, corporations have been increasingly pursuing partnerships with public institutions including governments, international organizations and NGOs that aim to contribute to sustainable development activities. Partnerships have become more common as corporations react to mounting pressure from corporate stakeholders, civil society and government on the responsible nature of their business practices. The corporate awakening towards a broader role of business in society and the trend of corporations embracing partnerships has led many to question the driving factors that motivate corporations to pursue partnerships. In this paper, the authors examine the underlying drivers of corporate organizational behaviour from the theoretical perspectives of both legitimacy and stakeholder needs, and discuss the challenges of gaining insight into why corporations embrace public,private partnerships. These theoretical perspectives are used to gain a deeper understanding of the corporate drivers that motivated TOTAL S.A. to approach UNESCO for cooperation on community development programmes in Myanmar. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] | ||||||||||