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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2013

Socially distributed cognition and intra-organizational bandwagon: Theoretical framework, model, and simulation

Davide Secchi and Emanuele Bardone

Bandwagon refers to the adoption of popular ideas, thoughts, or practices. Although the inter-organizational (macro) dynamics of the phenomenon have been widely studied…

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Abstract

Bandwagon refers to the adoption of popular ideas, thoughts, or practices. Although the inter-organizational (macro) dynamics of the phenomenon have been widely studied, its intra-organizational (micro) aspects have received limited attention. The paper presents a theoretical framework and a model that address intra-organizational aspects of bandwagon drawing on distributed cognition, social relationships, and other elements of the organizational structure such as culture and defensive routines. The analysis of simulated data from the model suggests that the phenomenon is likely to decrease with highly informal culture, promotion of advice taking and giving, low levels of distrust, strong social ties, and minimal defensive routines.

Details

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOTB-16-04-2013-B004
ISSN: 1093-4537

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Book part
Publication date: 24 September 2018

Can Brains Manage? The Brain, Emotion, and Cognition in Organizations

Mark P. Healey, Gerard P. Hodgkinson and Sebastiano Massaro

In response to recent calls to better understand the brain’s role in organizational behavior, we propose a series of theoretical tests to examine the question “can brains…

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Abstract

In response to recent calls to better understand the brain’s role in organizational behavior, we propose a series of theoretical tests to examine the question “can brains manage?” Our tests ask whether brains can manage without bodies and without extracranial resources, whether they can manage in social isolation, and whether brains are the ultimate controllers of emotional and cognitive aspects of organizational behavior. Our analysis shows that, to accomplish work-related tasks in organizations, the brain relies on and closely interfaces with the body, interpersonal and social dynamics, and cognitive and emotional processes that are distributed across persons and artifacts. The results of this “thought experiment” suggest that the brain is more appropriately conceived as a regulatory organ that integrates top-down (i.e., social, artifactual and environmental) and bottom-up (i.e., neural) influences on organizational behavior, rather than the sole cause of that behavior. Drawing on a socially situated perspective, our analysis develops a framework that connects brain, body and mind to social, cultural, and environmental forces, as significant components of complex emotional and cognitive organizational systems. We discuss the implications for the emerging field of organizational cognitive neuroscience and for conceptualizing the interaction between the brain, cognition and emotion in organizations.

Details

Individual, Relational, and Contextual Dynamics of Emotions
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-979120180000014009
ISBN: 978-1-78754-844-2

Keywords

  • Brain
  • distributed cognition
  • emotions
  • embodied cognition
  • managerial and organizational cognition
  • organizational cognitive neuroscience
  • organizational behavior
  • socially situated cognition

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Book part
Publication date: 15 December 2015

Toward a Theoretical Framework for Organizational Neuroscience

Mark P. Healey and Gerard P. Hodgkinson

For organizational neuroscience to progress, it requires an overarching theoretical framework that locates neural processes appropriately within the wider context of…

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Abstract

For organizational neuroscience to progress, it requires an overarching theoretical framework that locates neural processes appropriately within the wider context of organizational cognitive activities. In this chapter, we argue the case for building such a framework on two foundations: (1) critical realism, and (2) socially situated cognition. Critical realism holds to the importance of identifying biophysical roots for organizational activity (including neurophysiological processes) while acknowledging the top-down influence of higher-level, emergent organizational phenomena such as routines and structures, thereby avoiding the trap of reductionism. Socially situated cognition connects the brain, body, and mind to social, cultural, and environmental forces, as significant components of complex organizational systems. By focusing on adaptive action as the primary explanandum, socially situated cognition posits that, although the brain plays a driving role in adaptive organizational activity, this activity also relies on the body, situational context, and cognitive processes that are distributed across organizational agents and artifacts. The value of the framework that we sketch out is twofold. First, it promises to help organizational neuroscience become more than an arena for validating basic neuroscience concepts, enabling organizational researchers to backfill into social neuroscience, by identifying unique relations between the brain and social organization. Second, it promises to build deeper connections between neuroscience and mainstream theories of organizational behavior, by advancing models of managerial and organizational cognition that are biologically informed and socially situated.

Details

Organizational Neuroscience
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-357120150000007002
ISBN: 978-1-78560-430-0

Keywords

  • Managerial and organizational cognition
  • social cognitive neuroscience
  • social neuroscience
  • socially situated cognition

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Article
Publication date: 1 August 2004

Online professional development: lessons from the field

Charalambos Vrasidas and Michalinos Zembylas

This paper discusses the lessons learned from applying a theoretical framework for the professional development of teachers. This framework draws three interrelated…

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Abstract

This paper discusses the lessons learned from applying a theoretical framework for the professional development of teachers. This framework draws three interrelated theoretical areas: constructivism, situated and distributed cognition, and communities of practice. We first present the theoretical ideas on which this framework is based and discuss two projects that were developed following the framework. We then discuss the lessons learned and present the implications for the design of online professional development. The values of commitment, innovation, assessment, evaluation, communication, and interaction that underpins successful online professional development projects are highlighted. It is argued that using technology by itself does not support professional development; however, using technology in ways that are consistent with constructivist learning, and recognizing that online professional communities of practice can contribute to professional growth is something worthwhile to explore.

Details

Education + Training, vol. 46 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/00400910410555231
ISSN: 0040-0912

Keywords

  • Distance learning
  • Education
  • Teachers

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Article
Publication date: 27 February 2019

A network view of entrepreneurial cognition in corporate entrepreneurship contexts: A socially situated approach

Nobin Thomas, Angela Randolph and Alejandra Marin

Research in entrepreneurial cognition has called for a better understanding of interactions between contextual variables and cognitive processes. Based on previous work…

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Abstract

Purpose

Research in entrepreneurial cognition has called for a better understanding of interactions between contextual variables and cognitive processes. Based on previous work done on organizational learning and social networks, the purpose of this paper is to propose a formal model in which information acquisition, distribution and interpretation are tested as a function of cognition-based trust, perceived expertise and tie strength between organizational members in two different corporate entrepreneurship (CE) types.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct a quantitative analysis based on network data in two companies located in India. Special procedures known as quadratic assignment procedure and multiple regression quadratic assignment procedure were used to run the correlations and multiple regressions, respectively. The authors complement this analysis with interviews and qualitative information to build a rich description in each of these cases.

Findings

The results indicate moderate support for the model. The evidence suggests that between both types of CE types, domain redefinition requires higher levels of tie strength, trust and perceived expertise. Sustained regeneration shows moderate significant results in tie strength, and cognition-based trust.

Originality/value

The authors combined insights on social network and organizational cognitive processes to analyze interactions between context and cognition. The authors were also able to compare two different companies. The authors found consistent results regarding tie strength, but the authors also found differences between both companies, which suggest that different CE types tend to require different dynamics between context and cognitive processes.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 58 no. 7
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-11-2017-1195
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

  • Corporate entrepreneurship
  • Organizational learning
  • Social network analysis
  • Entrepreneurial cognition

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Book part
Publication date: 7 August 2019

Introduction to Thinking Infrastructures

Geoffrey C. Bowker, Julia Elyachar, Martin Kornberger, Andrea Mennicken, Peter Miller, Joanne Randa Nucho and Neil Pollock

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Thinking Infrastructures
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20190000062001
ISBN: 978-1-78769-558-0

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Article
Publication date: 1 August 2005

Organizational creativity: breaking equilibrium and order to innovate

Stefania Borghini

The aim of this paper is twofold: to propose a new theoretical framework to interpret organizational creativity as a process of situated and distributed cognition in a…

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is twofold: to propose a new theoretical framework to interpret organizational creativity as a process of situated and distributed cognition in a sense‐making perspective; and to identify the system of tools which influences this process.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis developed in the paper is theoretical, as it is rooted in a rich literature review concerning organizational creativity and in the proposal to enrich these studies by applying a cognitive and a sense‐making perspective.

Findings

The paper provides a novel framework as well as new levels of analysis.

Originality/value

Compared with previous contributions, the main theoretical thesis is that a firm's creativity is achieved only if some of the well‐established mediating structures that influence creativity are intentionally broken or renewed. This proposal can provide insights for researchers and managers as well.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/13673270510610305
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

  • Organizational innovation
  • Cognition
  • Modelling

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 2016

From legislation to implementation : A distributed leadership view of one districts response to the Massachusetts Anti-Bullying Law of 2010

Alan H Cron

The purpose of this paper is to examine the leadership practice of an 11-member district team of educators assembled to respond to one of the most comprehensive bullying…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the leadership practice of an 11-member district team of educators assembled to respond to one of the most comprehensive bullying laws in the nation – the Massachusetts Anti-Bullying Law of 2010. This three-year case study provides school leaders and legislators with an in-depth, fine-grained analysis of how leadership was practiced by a district team of de facto leaders charged with implementing mandatory legislative policy throughout a six-school, 5,000-student, K-12 public school district.

Design/methodology/approach

This three-year case study employed an analytical, distributed leadership framework to identify, categorize, and analyze key artifacts used by a team to design and implement system-wide the comprehensive requirements of legislation. Using Weft qualitative data analysis software and the open, axial, and selective coding guidelines of Strauss and Corbin, data from semi-structured interviews and document analysis revealed a number of hidden structural considerations exerting significant influence on the leadership practice of the team.

Findings

Findings from this study suggest that leadership is perhaps more fluid than previously theorized. Defining leadership as a force that moves between and among organizational stakeholders (as opposed to a person or position), this study identified a number of structural considerations exerting influence on the leadership practice of a team. Furthermore, this study suggests that foreknowledge of these structural considerations may help to foster organizational learning, to leverage preexisting social and intellectual capital, and to more successfully navigate the requirements of complex organizational change such as legislative mandates and standards-based reform.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to replicate this study in other school districts or large organizations who are responding to state or federal legislation.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for state and local educational leaders as they struggle with the increased demands of standards-based educational reform.

Social implications

This study has implications for those seeking to understand how legislation is received and assimilated by schools as well as those seeking a greater understanding of formal and informal leadership.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills an identified need to study how leadership is practiced in response to standards-based state and federal legislation.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 54 no. 1
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-06-2014-0065
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

  • Leadership development
  • Bullying
  • Educational policy
  • Legislation
  • Educational administration

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Book part
Publication date: 24 April 2019

Index

Dinuka B. Herath, Davide Secchi, Fabian Homberg and Gayanga B. Herath

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Abstract

Details

Business Plasticity through Disorganization
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78756-211-020191023
ISBN: 978-1-78756-211-0

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Article
Publication date: 21 March 2008

The future of distributed leadership

Peter Gronn

This paper aims to assess the empirical utility and conceptual significance of distributed leadership.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to assess the empirical utility and conceptual significance of distributed leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

Three main sources of evidence are drawn on. The paper reviews some neglected commentary of an early generation of distributed leadership theorists. It also discusses a strand of social science writings on emergent small number management formations. An alternative interpretation of the findings of three recent empirical studies of distributed leadership is provided. Some unresolved issues are considered.

Findings

Distributed leadership arose in reaction to understandings of leadership that emphasised heroic‐like individual behaviour. It has achieved a high level of theoretical and practical uptake. This paper, however, argues for reconsideration. Distributed leadership is shown to be largely unremarkable, especially in light of the continuity between current writings and those of early generation scholars. This claim is also reinforced by the inability of most current scholars to develop the emergent potential of a tradition of writings on the division of labour in small groups (emanating mainly from the work of Georg Simmel). Finally, the paper argues that a more appropriate descriptor for recent leadership analyses may be “hybrid”, rather than “distributed”.

Originality/value

Conceptually and empirically, there is still work to do. First, leadership's distributed status now aligns it with power and influence, each for some time recognised as distributed, although the preference for leadership as a vehicle of analysis ahead of power and influence still lacks sufficient justification. Second, while distributed leadership is sometimes thought of as synonymous with democratic organisational leadership, the latter is shown to be conceptually distinct.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 46 no. 2
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230810863235
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

  • Distributive control
  • Leadership
  • Emergent strategy

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