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Article
Publication date: 11 January 2016

On docility: a research note on Herbert Simon’s social learning theory

Charles J. McMillan

The purpose of this paper is to address the core concept of docility in Simon’s learning theories and elaborate docility as a missing link in organizational performance…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address the core concept of docility in Simon’s learning theories and elaborate docility as a missing link in organizational performance structures. In his book, Administrative Behavior, first published in 1947 with three subsequent editions, Herbert A. Simon introduced a new concept to the emerging field of organizational theory, docility.

Design/methodology/approach

In Administrative Behavior, Herbert A. Simon introduced to management and organization theorists the concept of docility. Simon adopted the concept and meaning from E.C. Tolman’s (1932) classic work, Purposive Behavior in Animals and Men, and his novel views on learning processes and key concepts like purpose (goals), thought processes (cognitive psychology) and cognitive maps. This paper elaborates on docility mechanisms and the implications for social learning in organizations.

Findings

This paper addresses this lacuna in the organizational literature, and the implications for current theories of organizations and organizational learning.

Practical implications

Docility is a tool to link individual learning with organizational learning in complex environments and changing technologies.

Originality/value

The paper traces origins of Simon’s docility and learning theories.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JMH-11-2014-0285
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

  • Management history
  • Intellectual capital
  • Knowledge management

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2013

Trust as a mechanism to increase individual “docility”: A theoretical approach

Paola Ossola

In order to reach their goals organizations need to establish relationships with other organizations, and cooperate with them. The success of such initiatives relies on…

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Abstract

In order to reach their goals organizations need to establish relationships with other organizations, and cooperate with them. The success of such initiatives relies on the exchange of suggestions, advice, and information. This behavior has been labeled as ’docile’ (word borrowed from the work of the late Herbert Simon). This paper elaborates on determinants of docile behavior and introduces a model that is based on trust mechanisms. The theoretical model supports the claim that trust enhances the likelihood that docile behavior appears. The study also shows that organizations may benefit from higher levels of docility that increase the chances of success when cooperation and external partnerships are established.

Details

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOTB-16-04-2013-B003
ISSN: 1093-4537

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2009

Super-docility in organizations: an evolutionary model

Davide Secchi and Emanuele Bardone

Herbert Simon introduced the term “docility” to define the tendency of human beings to get information from social channels. In this paper, we enrich this first definition…

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Abstract

Herbert Simon introduced the term “docility” to define the tendency of human beings to get information from social channels. In this paper, we enrich this first definition with distributed cognition based arguments, and suggest that docile individuals modify the information they get, before passing it on to others. We present a simulation model of docile and non-docile individuals in organizations, where different docility attitudes (behaviors) are considered. In standard conditions, findings suggest that the above-average docile individuals remain below 20% of the number of workers in a given organization. This way, we outline potentials and limits of this intriguing concept.

Details

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 12 no. 3
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOTB-12-03-2009-B001
ISSN: 1093-4537

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Article
Publication date: 10 October 2016

Old wine in new bottles: docility, attention scarcity and knowledge management

Charles J. McMillan

This paper aims to address the nature of docility in organizations, its practical role in attention scarcity and knowledge diffusion in complex organizations and the…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to address the nature of docility in organizations, its practical role in attention scarcity and knowledge diffusion in complex organizations and the management implications for organizational learning and innovation to improve knowledge management.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines knowledge organizations from the perspective of human resource strategies, their role in information abundance and attention scarcity and techniques to enhance docility mechanisms at different levels of the organization to increase innovation and performance.

Findings

This paper, in reviewing the organization literature on attention scarcity, addresses the shortage of studies linking the need for docility – the desire to learn from workers and the desire to teach – in personnel practices of knowledge firms, where intense social interaction, social feedback and social learning are the norms.

Practical implications

Knowledge management – scanning, creation, coordination, interpreting, transfer and integration – may well be the basis of competitive advantage, based on human resource strategies to mobilize explicit and tacit knowledge via docility mechanisms, including mentoring, teamwork, coaching and deep collaboration.

Originality/value

Decades ago, Herbert A. Simon introduced this new concept, docility, which is now central to knowledge organizations that face information abundance and attention scarcity. Knowledge organizations require tools of docility to align human resource strategies to both strategic management and operational functions to enhance teaching and learning in design structures that are time-constrained.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 20 no. 6
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-03-2016-0124
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

  • Docility
  • Advice giving
  • Attention scarcity
  • Deep collaboration
  • Skills accumulation

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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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Article
Publication date: 19 June 2009

Freedom or docility at work – is there a choice?

Mette Sandoff and Gill Widell

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a frame of reference about the relations between the responsibility and the commitment of employees on the one side and type of…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a frame of reference about the relations between the responsibility and the commitment of employees on the one side and type of organization on the other. The basis is a discussion of the tension between docility and freedom.

Design/methodology/approach

Results from earlier empirical studies of disciplinary practices among teachers and warders form the starting point. In this paper the phenomenon of hedonism is added. Hedonism is investigated from a psychological perspective and applied to work organizations with the help of attribution theories, theories on coping and motivation and theories on the conflict between the individual and the organization, i.e. of power, culture and coherence.

Findings

The paper has developed a typology on coping strategies in work contexts, which describes four possible “ideal” roles an individual can take, referring to three dimensions, the dichotomy between freedom and docility, the individual's locus of control as external or internal, and the coherence between individual and organizational values.

Practical implications

The model can be used for empirical studies and contribute to the development of work organizations where people feel committed enough to take responsibility both for monotonous and dull everyday tasks and for exceptional and acute unique problem solving situations.

Originality/value

Most studies on disciplining and docility focus on the painful side of coping. Few studies focus on what people do in order to cope with commitment and responsibility. This paper considers the different power struggles embedded in the work context, and give varying interpretations of them.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 29 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/01443330910965741
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

  • Freedom
  • Employee behaviour
  • Individual behaviour

Content available
Article
Publication date: 11 October 2019

Chinese workers’ history: passive minds docile bodies

Elly Leung and Donella Caspersz

This paper aims to describe an exploratory study that has sought to understand how an institutionalised docility rather than resistance has been created in the minds of…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to describe an exploratory study that has sought to understand how an institutionalised docility rather than resistance has been created in the minds of Chinese workers by the Chinese State. The study proposes that this docility has been crucial in enabling China to become a world leading economic powerhouse.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on Foucault’s concept of governmentality and uses the genealogical method to examine the historical events that have shaped the mentalities of today’s Chinese workers. Original interviews (n = 74) with everyday workers across industries and locations illustrate this.

Findings

It was found that the utilisation of centuries-long Confucian hierarchical rules by successive regimes has created a cumulative effect that has maintained workers docility and their willingness to submit themselves to poor working conditions that – ultimately – benefit the Chinese State and business, though this is at their expense. This finding is in juxtaposition to current research that claim that their working conditions are fostering a rising consciousness and resistance among Chinese workers.

Originality/value

This paper provides a novel explanation for why Chinese workers accept their poor working conditions and thus critiques current perspectives about Chinese worker resistance.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JMH-12-2018-0069
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

  • History
  • Docility
  • Chinese worker activism
  • Power-knowledge

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Article
Publication date: 14 March 2017

Inquisitiveness: distributing rational thinking

Emanuele Bardone and Davide Secchi

This study aims at redefining bounded rationality on the basis of a more socialized view of the individual. In doing so, it introduces “inquisitiveness” as a key…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims at redefining bounded rationality on the basis of a more socialized view of the individual. In doing so, it introduces “inquisitiveness” as a key disposition that some team members use to assemble and integrate knowledge when solving problems.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an agent-based computational simulation, this research models different simulated employees working together in “ad hoc” teams to solve problems.

Findings

Results show that inquisitiveness may work as an efficiency “driver” that, when present, economizes on the knowledge needed by team members to solve problems. In addition to that, results also show that environments with many problems are more suitable for inquisitive individuals to be effective.

Originality/value

Following the late Herbert Simon, the paper takes the stance that rationality should be redefined as a socially oriented process and introduces inquisitiveness as one – although probably not the only one – of the characteristics that help individuals and teams to make rational decisions.

Details

Team Performance Management: An International Journal, vol. 23 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/TPM-10-2015-0044
ISSN: 1352-7592

Keywords

  • Decision-making
  • Problem solving
  • Competence
  • Agent-based modelling
  • Bounded rationality
  • Docility
  • Inquisitiveness
  • ad hoc teams
  • Problem difficulty

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Article
Publication date: 24 October 2008

Coping with discipline: Discipline and dilemmas among teachers and warders

Mette Sandoff and Gill Widell

The purpose of this study is to put forward examples of disciplinary practices, i.e. to interpret Foucault's ideas with data collected from today's working‐life in schools…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to put forward examples of disciplinary practices, i.e. to interpret Foucault's ideas with data collected from today's working‐life in schools and prisons. Besides describing disciplinary practices the intention is to describe how individuals cope with the dilemmas that follow. On the grounds of the analysis a discussion about the tension between freedom and docility and different individuals’ strategies for coping with this tension is also promoted.

Design/methodology/approach

Data are collected from teachers in schools and warders in prisons. The empirical question relates to how disciplinary practises are expressed and the dilemmas that follow. In the analysis the concepts of Foucault, time, space and visibility, as relations of power, are used.

Findings

The article shows examples of disciplining and the dilemmas following from disciplining, both at individual and organisational level. Encountering new demands in their work, teachers tend to stick harder to their profession while warders tend to freely use their life experiences to develop their work. One conclusion is that freedom may be easier when individual values and organisational values are in coherence with one another, and docility is more often used when they differ.

Originality/value

That there are tensions between individuals’ striving for freedom and organisations’ striving for their disciplining is no news but on the grounds of the empirical data dilemmas and how teachers and warders cope with them in their work are described. The data also encourage further discussion while it brings findings of different ways of coping, for example when it comes to professionals and non‐professionals.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 28 no. 11/12
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/01443330810915189
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

  • Discipline
  • Prison service
  • Individual behaviour

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Article
Publication date: 30 May 2013

“Flying High, Landing Soft”: An innovative entrepreneurial curriculum for Chinese SMEs going abroad

Ye‐Sho Chen, Edward Watson, Edgard Cornacchione and Renato Ferreira Leitão Azevedo

There is an increased research interest in the recent phenomenon of Chinese small and medium‐sized businesses (SMEs) going abroad. The paper aims to enrich the literature…

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Abstract

Purpose

There is an increased research interest in the recent phenomenon of Chinese small and medium‐sized businesses (SMEs) going abroad. The paper aims to enrich the literature by proposing a “Flying High, Landing Soft” curriculum helping Chinese SMEs going abroad. This innovative entrepreneurial curriculum is based on the Soft Landings program originally developed by the National Business Incubation Association. The objective of the curriculum is to provide a platform for students at various levels (undergraduate, graduate, and executive education) and business communities to engage in China‐USA‐Brazil entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach

The “Flying High, Landing Soft” curriculum, consisting of three core elements (resources and networks; five steps process of coaching; cultivating storytellers), is grounded in the theories of input‐process‐output model of strategic entrepreneurship and docility‐based distributed cognition.

Findings

A “Flying High, Landing Soft” curriculum was developed to help the Chinese SMEs to invest in USA and Brazil. The curriculum is designed to take advantage of resources from the participating entities with the impact of enriching our students' educational experience and enabling business communities to engage in global business opportunities. The “Flying High, Landing Soft” curriculum is a win‐win program for everyone involved.

Practical implications

The curriculum is based on the Soft Landings International Incubator Designation program originally developed by the National Business Incubation Association. Since there is a need for the soft landings companies to go global, there is also a need for students to go global; the “Flying High, Landing Soft” curriculum is a merge of these two concepts.

Originality/value

The authors have developed a curriculum that links China‐USA‐Brazil entrepreneurs, investors, students and institutions to collaborate in order to help individuals to exploit market opportunities as well as use the process to educate students. This form of entrepreneurship curriculum is a contribution to our understanding about entrepreneurship, especially international entrepreneurship of SMEs.

Details

Journal of Chinese Entrepreneurship, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JCE-10-2012-0025
ISSN: 1756-1396

Keywords

  • Chinese entrepreneurship
  • Strategic entrepreneurship
  • Docility
  • Distributed cognition
  • Soft Landings
  • International incubators
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Entrepreneurialism
  • China
  • Cognition

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