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1 – 10 of over 9000Davide 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, its…
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.
Roberto Godoy Fernandes, Luciano Ferreira da Silva and Leonardo Vils
The purpose of this paper is to verify how distributed cognition enhances collaborative problem-solving in the context of projects.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to verify how distributed cognition enhances collaborative problem-solving in the context of projects.
Design/methodology/approach
Using qualitative research and in-depth interviews, a sample of 32 project managers with experience in traditional and agile methods acting in Brazil and internationally participated in the research process. The analysis process, utilising coding techniques, involved stages: open, axial, coding and selective coding. These stages encompassed the evaluation of categories based on a hierarchy, in order to determine an appropriate level of abstraction that properly explains theoretical findings.
Findings
The results indicate that distributed team cognition is significant for collaborative problem-solving. The data from the interviews allowed the proposal of a model of cognition, and the identification of the elements that support it.
Practical implications
Understand how aspects of distributed team cognition can impact the behaviours of the project professional and contribute to problem-solving in the project environment.
Originality/value
The elements observed affects the collaborative problem-solving by presenting a model of distributed cognition, which is composed by directed communication, collective interaction, trust building and collaborative behaviour.
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Secchi and Cowley (2016, 2018) propose a Radical approach to Organizational Cognition (ROC) as a way of studying cognitive processes in organizations. What distinguishes ROC from…
Abstract
Purpose
Secchi and Cowley (2016, 2018) propose a Radical approach to Organizational Cognition (ROC) as a way of studying cognitive processes in organizations. What distinguishes ROC from the established research on Organizational Cognition is that it remains faithful to radical, anti-representationalist principles of contemporary cognitive science. However, it is imperative for proponents of ROC to legitimize their approach by considering how it differs from the established research approach of Distributed Cognition (DCog). DCog is a potential contender to ROC in that it not only counters classical approaches to cognition but also provides valuable insights into cognition in organizational settings.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts a conceptual/theoretical approach that expands Secchi and Cowley's introduction of ROC.
Findings
The paper shows that DCog research presupposes a task-specification requirement, which entails that cognitive tasks are well-defined. Consequently, DCog research neglects cases of organizational becoming where tasks cannot be clearly demarcated for the or are well-known to the organization. This is the case with the introduction of novel tasks or technical devices. Moreover, the paper elaborates on ROC's 3M model by linking it with insights from the literature on organizational change. Thus, it explores how organizing can be explored as an emergent phenomenon that involves micro, meso and macro domain dynamics, which are shaped by synoptic and performative changes.
Originality/value
The present paper explores new grounds for ROC by not only expanding on its core model but also showing its potential for informing organizational theory and radical cognitive science research.
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This article presents a cognitive framework to study dynamic/adaptive aspects of a collection of popular fit measures used in organisation research, in an attempt to highlight…
Abstract
Purpose
This article presents a cognitive framework to study dynamic/adaptive aspects of a collection of popular fit measures used in organisation research, in an attempt to highlight what there is to be gained.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a distributed e-cognition (DEC) framework to examine the current organisational literature of fit measures.
Findings
This paper highlights that most measures have a rather narrow focus and do not address dynamic/adaptive aspects in complex social systems (e.g. organisations). To both provide a way to integrate fit measures and cover the cognition gap in this literature, this article highlights the need for a more sophisticated measure.
Originality/value
This paper provides a novel approach to examining organisational fit literature through a distributed (e)-cognitive framework.
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Line Maria Simonsen and Sune Vork Steffensen
The purpose of this study is to gain insight into the interaction-sensitive skills medical practitioners enact as they manage multiple organizational factors in the context of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to gain insight into the interaction-sensitive skills medical practitioners enact as they manage multiple organizational factors in the context of discharging patients.
Design/methodology/approach
For that purpose, we carried out a cognitive ethnographic study in a Danish hospital, where we video-recorded three pre-ward round meetings, five discharge conversations and conducted seven semi-structured interviews. Fieldnotes and interview transcripts were analyzed using the method Cognitive Task Analysis, and video-recordings were analyzed via the interactivity-based approach Cognitive Event Analysis.
Findings
Our findings show that practitioners coordinate multi-scalar resources (e.g. verbal patterns and cognitive artifacts) in order to discharge patients in a safe and integrated way, which we propose amounts to the social and intercorporeal ability to align simultaneously emerging factors, like organizational procedures in the hospital, artifacts in use, sociocultural resources and the individual medical expertise of the practitioner in the emerging social interaction with the patient. In pursing this claim, we investigate the linguistic and cognitive processes emerging in a single case study of a nurse who discharges a patient. We propose that the interaction-sensitive skill which enables the nurse to solve the task of discharging the patient can be characterized via hybrid cognition.
Originality/value
Thus, the value of the article is dual: On the one hand, it empirically contributes with knowledge of the complex organizational structures that constrains micro-level medical interactions in discharges, and on the other, the article contributes theoretically with a hybrid cognitive framework that allows organizational researchers to understand and assess complex cognitive and linguistic processes that goes into the social micro-coordination in complex organizational-medical task.
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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 theoretical…
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.
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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 done on…
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.
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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…
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.
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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…
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.
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This paper aims to assess the empirical utility and conceptual significance of distributed leadership.
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.
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