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Organizational flexibility from a network organizational perspective: A study of central predictors and moderating factors in military contexts

Anne Lise Bjørnstad (Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), Kjeller, Norway and University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway)
Frederick M.J. Lichacz (Defence R&D Canada, Ottawa, Canada)

Leadership & Organization Development Journal

ISSN: 0143-7739

Article publication date: 28 October 2013

3039

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on organizational flexibility and explore its antecedents, organizational structure, and processes, as proposed by network organization theories. The study also explores the possible moderating effects of power distance (Pd) and cultural diversity.

Design/methodology/approach

Using self-report data from three different multinational military exercises and one laboratory experiment, the paper explored the relationships between perceptions of flat organizational structure, decentralized processes, and flexibility. The data from each of these studies were analyzed both separately and together.

Findings

The analyses revealed that decentralization had the most consistent relationship to organizational flexibility across each of the four studies. Moreover, when the data were analyzed conjunctively, significant positive relationships between decentralization and flexibility and between flat structure and flexibility were observed. No moderating effects of Pd or cultural diversity were found.

Practical implications

The results suggest that decentralizing processes and creating flatter hierarchies may contribute to achieving higher levels of organizational flexibility in military organizations.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to empirical support for the central theoretical propositions of network organizational literature, including moderating factors that are essential in multinational organizational contexts.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Studies 1 and 4 presented in this paper are based on data collected in the NATO Research Group, Human Factors and Medicine (HFM), Research and Technology Group (RTG) – 138/Leader and Team Adaptability in Multinational Coalitions (LTAMC). Contributing members to this group include: Anne Lise Bjørnstad, Peter Essens (TNO Defence, the Netherlands), Anne Helsdingen (TNO Defence, the Netherlands) Joan Johnston (Naval Air Training Systems, USA), Fred Lichacz (Canadian Forces Experimentation Centre, Canada), Jenny Lindoff (Swedish Defence Research Agency, Sweden), Frank Morelli (Air Force Research Laboratory, USA), Linda Pierce (Army Research Institute, USA), Janet Sutton (Air Force Research Laboratory, USA), Erland Svensson (Swedish Defence Research Agency, Sweden), Richard Warren (Air Force Research Laboratory, USA), Neil Verrall (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, UK) and Yantsislav Yanakiev (Defence Advance Research Institute, Bulgaria). The authors thank Pål Ulleberg and Knut Inge Fostervold (University of Oslo, Norway) for helpful discussions on analyses and feedback on earlier versions of the manuscript.

Citation

Lise Bjørnstad, A. and M.J. Lichacz, F. (2013), "Organizational flexibility from a network organizational perspective: A study of central predictors and moderating factors in military contexts", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 34 No. 8, pp. 763-783. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-02-2012-0021

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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