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This paper aims to explore the problem of power imbalance within decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and propose potential solutions that could contribute to enhancing the democratic nature of DAOs.

In this paper, the authors apply a qualitative methodology. Using a thematic coding analysis, the authors process data collected from interviews with 11 experts.

Multiple factors contribute to the perceived lack of democracy within DAOs, such as token concentration and effective stakeholder communication. Next, quadratic voting has the potential to enhance democracy within DAOs, but this mechanism must be implemented mindfully. Finally, the results were nuanced when it comes to the effectiveness of liquid democracy in DAOs to enhance voter participation and representation.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first research contributions to propose recommendations to address the power imbalance within DAOs and to contribute to the advancement of decentralized decision-making structures.

Empowerment is recognised as being a key to achieving organisational agility. Typically associated with a particular leadership style, implications of empowerment for management have remained vague in the literature. Thus, this study aims at unpacking the facets and mechanisms of empowerment in the context of organisational units (OUs).

First, the authors review the extant literature and discuss the crucial concepts in the context empowerment. Then, the authors analyse qualitative data from interviews conducted in four research and development (R&D) departments in the industrial manufacturing industry.

This study finds that the empowerment of business entities is crucial when operating in turbulent conditions. However, empowerment must be accompanied by a clear focus when aiming at higher agile performance. Moreover, different autonomy types and their interplay with critical factors of middle management empowerment could be identified. The research results also reveal important details about the effects of autonomy on motivation and performance and the role of OUs' dependencies.

The model proposed in this paper can help senior and middle managers better manage the empowerment of OUs required to enhance middle management agility and, in turn, increase overall organisational adaptability.

Beyond regarding empowerment as a leadership style, this paper takes a middle management perspective and unfolds the facets of empowerment in the context of OUs. Adding to the theory of self-organisation, a model is proposed to capture the key factors to determine and manage the autonomy of OUs. These insights are essential to managing autonomy successfully at the middle management level.

Decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) are internet-native self-governing enterprises where individual groups, communities, agencies, consumers and providers work together using blockchain-led smart contracts (SCs). This study aims to examine the role of DAO marketplaces in technology-led autonomous organisation design for enterprise technology sourcing industries, with algorithmic trust and governance.

The authors examined the importance of an enterprise marketplace governance platform for technology sourcing using DAO as a decentralised/democratised business model. A total of 98 DAO products/services are evaluated across 11 industries that envisage DAO as a strategic choice for the governance of decentralised marketplace platforms.

The research findings validate how a DAO-led enterprise marketplace governance platform can create a cohesive collaboration between consumers (enterprises) and providers (solution vendors) in a disintermediated way. The proposed novel layered solution for an autonomous governance-led enterprise marketplace promises algorithmic trust-led, self-governed tactical alternatives to a strategic plan.

The research targets multiple industry outlooks to understand decentralised autonomous marketplace governance and develop the theoretical foundation for research and extensive corporate suitability.

The research underpinnings boost the entrepreneurs’ ability to realise the practical potential of DAO between multiple parties using SCs and tokenise the entire product and service offerings over immutable ledger technologies.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is unique and the first of its kind to study the multi-industry role of algorithmic trust and governance in enterprise technology sourcing marketplaces driven by 98 decentralised and consensus-based DAO products across 11 industries.

Drawing on organismic integration theory, we aim to examine whether the reasons independent contractors choose contract work are related to their on-the-job motivation and job satisfaction and whether their perceived support enhances positive (or buffers negative) effects.

We collected data at three separate time points from 241 adjunct instructors to test a moderated mediation model using bootstrapping analyses.

The positive relationship between pull factors (e.g. autonomy) and job satisfaction is fully mediated by the autonomous motivation contractors experienced at work. The inverse relationship between push factors (e.g. inability to secure desired work role) and job satisfaction is not mediated by autonomous nor controlled motivation experienced at work. Contractors' perceived organizational support does not moderate the relationship between either push or pull factors and autonomous motivation. Post hoc analysis shows a moderating effect of perceived supervisor support on the nonlinear relationship between push factors and autonomous motivation.

Recruiting individuals drawn to the benefits of contract work may have important implications for worker motivation, job satisfaction and potentially beyond. Moreover, organizations may consider whether existing support resources and infrastructure are appropriate for contractors.

Despite the abundance of evidence demonstrating the benefits of organizational and supervisor support among traditional employee populations, such support may be of limited value to those drawn to contract work.

The aim of this paper is to identify the business barriers that influence cost of implementing unmanned aerial system (UAS) and its suitability for a decentralised system. UAS, or drone, plays a role of data provider to architectural, engineering and construction professionals within a decentralised system. However, the expectations in the execution and test of the effectiveness of the UAS is often not met. The reasons for these fails are not well elaborated in the literature. Hence, the study investigates the barriers and cost analysis of UAS that can be used for a decentralised case, in which the UAS data are useful for multiple stakeholders, and provide illustration of the interactions within this approach.

This paper is part of a longitudinal project by using a qualitative method of interviewing 24 participants involved in the process of application of drones in the country of the Dominican Republic. The open-ended semi-structured interviews were composed for questions regarding the application of UAS, barriers and business implications. The data gathered were transcribed and used thematic analysis for its interpretation. Later, conclusions of the barriers of UAS implementation in the organisation were analysed and a cost model was developed to identify a viable scenario.

The paper provides empirical insights about the barriers and economic considerations faced in the implementation process of UAS. In this research, 16 barriers in the implementation process at the management level, 8 types of cases of business relationships and 13 business models were identified. Furthermore, recommendations were made about being the accountability of the dimensions and recurrent visits to the projects handled by the portfolio of the organisations.

Blockchain system is supported by UAS data and its tests require skills and resources that were outside of the scope of the main research intend regarding UAS implementation in construction. Furthermore, as these technologies are still under development, the assessment of the decentralised system, smart contract and swarm technology was addressed conceptually and further research are encouraged in this field.

The paper includes barriers to consider before implementation, business implications, project examples and cost structure developed. Furthermore, the findings are fit theoretically into the context of a decentralised system. It was understood and contemplated that monitoring in open and outdoor spaces is the suitable approach for UAS implementations for decentralised system. The trend of decentralised autonomous organisations for transparency and efficiency of human tasks provides the foundations of human–robot interactions as well as the role of tokenisation of assets into the cyberspace. Therefore, the paper brings managers and technicians the implications for the future-proofing the implementation of UAS.

This paper provides an overview of the implications of cost and the suitable scenarios for return of investment in the UAS implementation in the current stage of the technology development. In addition, the paper makes reference to decentralised systems, smart contracts and swarm technology as options in which reality capture technologies are essential for construction projects.

Drawing on the work of Niklas Luhmann, the paper argues that technology can be viewed as a self-referential system which is autonomous from both human beings and other function systems of society. The paper aims to develop a philosophy of technology from the work of Niklas Luhmann. To achieve this aim, it draws upon the systems-theory work of Jacques Ellul, a philosopher of technology who focuses on the autonomous potential of technological evolution.

The paper draws on the work of Niklas Luhmann and Jacques Ellul to explore the theme of autonomous technology and what this means for our thinking about technological issues in the twenty-first century. Insights from these two thinkers and researchers working in the Luhmannian sociological tradition are applied to remote work.

The sociological approach of Luhmann, coupled with Ellul's insights into the autonomous nature of technology, can help us develop a systems theory of technology which takes seriously its irreducibility to human functions.

The paper contributes to the growing sociological literature that thematizes the Luhmannian approach to technology, helping us better understand this phenomenon and think in new ways about what technological autonomy means.

The paper brings together the work of Luhmann, Ellul and contemporary researchers to advance a new understanding of technology and technological communication.

For start-ups or growing firms, to effectively navigate the unpredictable nature of digital development and achieve superior innovative performance, it is crucial to have a workforce comprised of creative and innovative employees. Drawing upon the principles of social information processing theory, this study aims to investigate whether specific combinations of organizational internal and external environments, as well as work characteristics in the digital age, can foster a high level of employee innovative behavior.

By collecting a multilevel and multisource data set comprising 693 employees and 88 CEOs from 88 start-ups or growing firms, this study used fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to examine the distinctive configurations associated with achieving a high level of employee innovative behavior.

The study found that six solutions enabled employees to innovate more effectively, but six solutions led to the absence of employee innovative behavior.

The findings of this study offer important theoretical and practical implications to motivate employee innovative behavior in Chinese enterprises.

First, this study contributes to the literature on employee innovative behavior by addressing the need to explore the impact of the digital context on promoting innovation among employees. Second, this study adds to the existing literature on employee innovation and entrepreneurship by examining multiple organizational contexts and their influence on innovative behavior. Third, this study makes a significant contribution to the field of employee innovative behavior by examining the macroenvironment surrounding digital transformation within enterprises and integrating both internal and external organizational factors.

The students should go through the concepts of motivation, leadership, organisational communication, organisational culture, organisational conflict, power and politics and organisational change and development from their course on organisational behaviour.

In Business Communication, the students could review effective communication skills, the process of communication and barriers to communication to prescribe suitable recommendations for the organisation.

In Financial Accounting, the reader should revise the income statement and balance sheet. They can undertake financial analysis on the data presented in the case to analyse the performance of the organisation. The participants may be asked to identify future possible financial risks that may arise.

The Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education and Development (DTNBWED) was an autonomous body under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India. It had been responsible for creating a disciplined and skill-oriented workforce for the organised, unorganised and rural sectors in India. In the past, DTNBWED undertook training programmes to educate and improve the quality of life of workers. However, the objectives were far from being fulfilled because of challenges such as an acute shortage of education officers, a slow recruitment process, communication issues between the ministry and the DTNBWED and a large part of the budget being spent on salaries. The main challenges faced by DTNBWED were the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission and the higher contribution of the Government under a new pension scheme. The DTNBWED faced audit issues, including the absence of an inventory register, non-compliance with accounting rules and statutory norms and inadequate internal audit. The DTNBWED could not shift its headquarters from Nagpur to Delhi because of office politics and differences between the staff and the ministry. The organisation needed a complete reorganisation using principles of change management and agile management. It was recommended that departmental promotion committees review promotions immediately; recruitment of education officers should be done along with post-revival with the Ministry of Finance; rental of offices should be from Government departments only; and the administrative manual and recruitment rules should be revised. These measures would help to overcome the challenges faced by DTNBWED, such as low expenditure on training, poor communication between the ministry and headquarters, vacant top-level posts and low motivation levels among existing officers.

The case is appropriate for MBA students, executive MBAs, and those working in government organisations.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/TCJ-04-2021-0056/