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1 – 10 of 14This chapter reconsiders commonly held views on the ownership and management of private property, contrasting capitalist and simple property, particularly in relation to how a…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter reconsiders commonly held views on the ownership and management of private property, contrasting capitalist and simple property, particularly in relation to how a firm shareholder governance model has shaped society. This consideration is motivated by the scale and scope of the modern global crisis, which has combined financial, economic, social and cultural dimensions to produce world disenchantment.
Methodology/approach
By contrasting an exchange value standpoint with a use value perspective, this chapter explicates current conditions in which neither the state nor the market prevail in organising economic activity (i.e. cooperative forms of governance and community-created brand value).
Findings
This chapter offers recommendations related to formalised conditions for collective action and definitions of common guiding principles that can facilitate new expressions of the principles of coordination. Such behaviours can support the development of common resources, which then should lead to a re-appropriation of the world.
Practical implications
It is necessary to think of enterprises outside a company or firm context when reflecting on the end purpose and means of collective, citizen action. From a methodological standpoint, current approaches or studies that view an enterprise as an organisation, without differentiating it from a company, create a deadlock in relation to entrepreneurial collective action. The absence of a legal definition of enterprise reduces understanding and evaluations of its performance to simply the performance by a company. The implicit shift thus facilitates the assimilation of one with the other, in a funnel effect that reduces collective projects to the sole projects of capital providers.
Originality/value
Because forsaking society as it stands is a radical response, this historical moment makes it necessary to revisit the ideals on which modern societies build, including the philosophy of freedom for all. This utopian concept has produced an ideology that is limited by capitalist notions of private property.
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The vagueness of consultants' ideas as to what OD is, their diverging opinions as to its technical contents and the underground nature of the practice make OD in France rather…
Abstract
The vagueness of consultants' ideas as to what OD is, their diverging opinions as to its technical contents and the underground nature of the practice make OD in France rather elusive. OD tends to develop only in organisations where the absence of urgent problems and the vagueness of the feeling of unease make the agents receptive to long and unconventional intervention methods and facilitate the use of these methods. In this way, the practice of French consultants which does not originate from a democratic ideology and which pays more attention to the analysis of the stakes system within each organisation goes beyond the movement of planned change. OD in France appears to become more bureaucratic, or interventions acquire certain bureaucratic features deeply rooted in the French organisational context. The French case might be used as a field of experience and reflection.
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Part One of a two‐part article. A survey of organisational development practices in France reveals the lack of a clear OD theory: it does not have a precise technological context…
Abstract
Part One of a two‐part article. A survey of organisational development practices in France reveals the lack of a clear OD theory: it does not have a precise technological context, nor does it refer to the social philosophy origins of American OD. Some consultants claim to practise OD but mostly without telling clients; this veiled approach illustrates the difficulty of setting it in an organisational context.
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This chapter tells the story of how the concept of Pareto efficiency was shipped from Lausanne to the modern US theory of competitive general equilibrium, focusing on the specific…
Abstract
This chapter tells the story of how the concept of Pareto efficiency was shipped from Lausanne to the modern US theory of competitive general equilibrium, focusing on the specific role of Maurice Allais. It identifies similarities in both epistemological approach and theoretical achievements realized first by Pareto, then by Allais, and finally by Debreu and Arrow and Hahn. It also shows that these similarities are not casual, since historical circumstances account for the influence of Pareto on Allais and later of Allais on Arrow and Debreu.
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This paper addresses the issue of management control (MC) of collaborative innovation. It attempts to fill this gap in MC literature by considering both contingency and internal…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper addresses the issue of management control (MC) of collaborative innovation. It attempts to fill this gap in MC literature by considering both contingency and internal consistency perspectives influencing the MC setting, especially in the context of R&D alliances. Opening the boundaries of R&D has implications for the design of MC. It involves particular challenges and raises specific tensions of competing demands between control and innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a quantitative survey of sponsored European consortia and using the structural equation modeling method, we design an interfirm MC model to support collaborative innovation.
Findings
Our results show that the innovation ecosystem plays a critical role as an institutional element shaping the MC design. We also infer based on our findings that the package approach is more suitable than the system one to set up control practices within a collaborative innovation context. Thus, the package allows several configurations of MC in an ongoing process that, in turn, leads to deal with organizational tensions and conflicting pressures in a dynamic way. Accordingly, the package's effectiveness seems to be related to its “fit” with the alliance context rather than its “internal consistency”.
Research limitations/implications
This study advances MC literature by combining two theoretical perspectives to address interfirm MC, especially in the field of innovation that raises specific challenges. The findings lead also to build a bridge with a new perspective, i.e. evolutionary perspective, as the package suggests an ongoing process of resolving dynamic tensions between control requirements and innovation needs.
Practical implications
The study suggests a model of MC package that provides managers with a range of viable configurations and alternatives to support collaborative innovation, control activities, adapt to changes, resolve tensions and drive performance.
Originality/value
Instead of prior studies, the study relies upon both contingency and internal consistency perspectives to examine the MC design and structuring mode. In addition, the empirical part of this research deals with the case of European sponsored R&D consortia as a form of collaborative innovation. Unlike traditional R&D alliances, management control within sponsored consortia seems to be more complex to address as the consortium is multilateral, the grants are public and the goals may diverge given the broad variety of organizations the consortium involves.
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Mohammed Ibrahimi and Siham Naym
In the framework of contingency theory, this paper aims to study the contextual variables that influence the variety of the contents of a performance measurement system…
Abstract
Purpose
In the framework of contingency theory, this paper aims to study the contextual variables that influence the variety of the contents of a performance measurement system, specifically the use of non-financial indicators in Moroccan public institutions and enterprises (MPIE).
Design/methodology/approach
Aiming to study the factors which influence the use of financial and non-financial indicators within MPIEs, the authors attempted to identify all performance indicators used by the MPIEs in the sample. They selected 23 MPIEs with an industrial and commercial character and analyzed their reports for the period from 2010 to 2015. To evaluate the variety of performance indicators within these organizations, they used the multi-dimensional definition of performance recommended by Kaplan and Norton (1998) and used linear regressions to explain their relationship with the contextual variables.
Findings
Three hypotheses were developed regarding these contingency factors, predicting a positive relationship between the age, the size and the competitive environment of the organization, on one hand, and the use of non-financial indicators on the other hand. Following the study of MPIEs, the authors found that these organizations normally use financial indicators. However, the use of non-financial indicators is influenced by the age of the organization alone.
Originality/value
The scientific contribution of this paper is twofold: first, the authors seek to fill the gap in studies of performance measurement systems for MPIEs; second, they wish to enrich the scientific literature for underdeveloped countries which suffer from lack of data. Its managerial contribution is also dual: first, the authors aim to provide managers of MPIEs with a clearer understanding of non-financial measures that fully address the different management needs of their organizations; second, they encourage the government control using non-financial aspects alongside financial aspects.
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Catherine Thomas, Renata Kaminska-Labbé and Bill McKelvey
Research on multinational corporations (MNCs) shows that they have tried various structural solutions to solve the dilemma of trying to “balance” global control and efficiency…
Abstract
Research on multinational corporations (MNCs) shows that they have tried various structural solutions to solve the dilemma of trying to “balance” global control and efficiency with local country-specific sensitivity, autonomy, and innovation, with the Transnational form preferred. Failings of the strategy-structure sequence lend credence to the emerging strategy-process perspective. To date, the best lesson for MNC strategy-process concerns pertaining to the global vs. country dilemma comes from March's classic paper on “balancing” exploitation vs. exploration. 21st century MNCs exist in a more rapidly changing world, however, where static “balance” solutions may be insufficient. The tradition of “circular organizing” is one alternative to the failing “balance” solution; it offers a dynamic strategy-process approach to MNC management. Another is Dupuy's concept of “tangled hierarchies” where top-down and bottom-up influence forces are interwoven such that global exploitation or country-specific exploration dominates in timely fashion. It calls for clearly defined control and autonomy regimes, with space given for emergent rules governing the rotation rate. Key questions are: What is the optimal rate at which they should rotate supremacy, and how to get this to happen and persist? Since normal quantitative methods can’t track complex, nonlinear, emergent phenomena, an in-depth longitudinal case analysis was conducted of a global MNC in the cosmetics industry, as it progressed through its early years of formation. Our case covers twelve years, during which the MNC goes through several kinds of tangled hierarchies. The dynamics in our case are rich enough to illustrate many aspects of the “tangled hierarchy” approach, while also offering new clues about oscillation rates. A number of implications for managers are discussed. Principal among these is the “edge of chaos” idea, in which managers have to avoid too-fast or too-slow oscillation rates. Very fast rates can degenerate into chaos and then collapse into the exploitation or exploration “traps.” Firms also fall into the traps simply because managers don’t understand or can’t tolerate the idea of oscillation dynamics.
Looks at the changes in management science methodology brought about by other fields of knowledge and how this has influenced the views of researchers. Draws the main lessons to…
Abstract
Looks at the changes in management science methodology brought about by other fields of knowledge and how this has influenced the views of researchers. Draws the main lessons to be learned from this and thus paves the way for direct observation. Develops a set of prerequisites for in‐company observation which are capable of providing valid insights for management sciences. Concludes that the advantage of such an approach is researchers receive a greater realism and depth to their study of organisational practices which in turn makes the resulting methodology more useable in practice.
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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between language, thinking and society for explaining the degree of visibility of the French organizational studies (OS…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between language, thinking and society for explaining the degree of visibility of the French organizational studies (OS) production.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes a sociological analysis based on Bourdieu field to understand the variation of reception the French OS production have had among the Anglo-Saxon field. The paper aims to underline some key elements, which can explain the differences of reception experienced by the French OS scientists. The paper opted for a general review using historical data; reviews of OS literature; and Google scholar, Web of Science and major OS Journal data.
Findings
The paper provides some evidence about how the degree of visibility of the French OS production is related to translation, cognitive and social resonance, producer place in the scientific network and relationship between the fields. It suggests that the degree of visibility is the result of a complex set of socio-cognitive schemes, social issues raised by the scholar and the place occupied by the researcher in the field.
Originality/value
The paper brings interesting ideas concerning the international development of the OS field, the degree of visibility of diverse contributions coming from non-English speaking researchers, notably the French ones, and how the dialogue between different linguistic and social universes can be ameliorated.
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Habib ur Rehman Makhdoom, Cai Li and Shoaib Asim
This paper aims to develop an original framework of innovation and to explore the complexity of association between individual and collective (team-based) entrepreneurship, and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop an original framework of innovation and to explore the complexity of association between individual and collective (team-based) entrepreneurship, and their simultaneous impacts on innovation in context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
An integral theoretical framework is developed to encourage innovation and the hypothetical relations are tested with the help of structural equation modeling (SEM) through AMOS. Data were gathered through survey technique and the questioners were distributed through email among 700 entrepreneurs from SMEs operating in five major industrial cities of Punjab province Pakistan.
Findings
The results of SEM analyses confirm that both the individual entrepreneur and the collective efforts of all the business members contribute to innovation in SMEs. Entrepreneur’s personality traits have a direct positive impact on innovation while the centralized decision-making by entrepreneur is not associated with innovation. Centralized decision-making is found to be negatively associated with communication and have insignificant positive association with collaboration. Factors associated with the team-based entrepreneurship like communication and collaboration among members of the SME’s contribute to the entrepreneurial orientation and collective entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial orientation and collective entrepreneurship have direct positive impact on innovation in SMEs.
Practical implications
It is imperative for SMEs to encourage decentralized organizational culture and participative leadership to bring innovation into their products and processes and further to improve their competitive advantage.
Originality/value
To the best of author knowledge, present study is a first attempt that explores the complex association between individual and team-based entrepreneurship and further, empirically investigate the simultaneous impacts of these variables on innovation in context of SMEs.
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