Search results

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the role of abstract forms of power in organizational change by exploring the role of such forms of power in the recent structural transformation of an iconic Australian Intellectual Property law firm. The research literature reflects relatively few studies on the increasing complexity of power dynamics in organizational and institutional arrangements.

The complexity of the investigated phenomena led to the adoption of three qualitative methods in order to access the specific forms of data that were perceived to be relevant to answering the research question (“How did abstract power dynamics influence the nature and outcomes of the firm’s structural transformation?”). Ethnography was used in the attempt to discern, through participation and observation, the assumptions that manifested in action and/or inaction; phenomenology in the exploration through unstructured interviews with 41 staff members and 4 clients of the firm, of their interpretation and “sense-making” of their “lived experience” of “what was going on” in the firm; and narrative enquiry in establishing a narrative of critical events, and their impact on “what was going on” in the firm, including those that had occurred over the years prior to this research initiative.

The research shows the effects of contradicting forms of abstract power (namely, hegemonic (ideological) power, dominant institutional logic and structural power) as the firm struggled to address challenges to its existence. The impact of these forms of power upon the partners’ apprehension and interpretation of the emerging challenges to the firm’s business performance remained inconspicuous throughout the period of transformation. However, these contradictory forms of abstract power insidiously created tensions within the organization which were poorly addressed, resulting in organizational dysfunction and destructive sectarian conflict. The results show that the inability of partners to discern the nature of the forms of power which were influencing their responses to the crisis was a consequence of under-developed collectively reflexive capabilities and an absence of collaborative problem-solving practices. This resulted in a negative outcome for the firm.

The research has significant implications for collective endeavor in global business operations that are becoming increasingly complex. In particular, the complexity of power relations, as insidious ideological forces supported by ubiquitous technologies threaten to subsume agentic power in ways that domesticate and neutralize it, requires the development of sophisticated forms of collective ways of “working with power” – capabilities that include the ability to demystify the abstract forms of power that can shape the experience of social realities as “inevitable and natural.” Further research into these forms of power, and the surreptitious role they play in organizational arrangements, is an important requirement. With respect to limitations, as the research is located in the interpretivist research paradigm, the issue of interpretation is problematic. A strong effort was made to limit unwitting interpretive bias but the possibility of such bias cannot be ruled out, especially as, in some cases, the data are an interpretation of prior interpretations of events and/or experiences (as, e.g., in the interview data).

Working constructively with various forms of power is becoming a critical capability within organizations. This has implications for the relational and communicative skills that underpin effective collaboration of staff and other stakeholders. Such collaboration needs to include the collective ability to make explicit through critical dialogue the surreptitious influence of abstract forms of power upon the prevailing organizational arrangements and routines. To achieve this, these forms of power have to become demystified through constructive critique of the taken-for-granted aspects of everyday organizational life. This has important implications for leadership development practices and educational programs.

Unless leaders develop the ability to make the influences of abstract forms of power more conspicuous, and develop collaborative capabilities to work with insight into their management, they run the risk of agentic power becoming subsumed and neutralized by such forms of power. This has important implications for organizational agency and, especially, for the creative agency of the individuals who work within organizations. On a broader scale, it has implications for institutional arrangements and for the critical apprehension of global ideologies.

Studies of abstract forms of power are relatively rare in the research literature. This is probably a result of the long-standing dominance of positivism, with its realist ontological assumptions and its objectivist epistemological assumptions. In exploring the influence exerted by abstract forms of power on the inability of the partners of a professional services firm to apprehend their situation more accurately, and to interpret their strategic options with greater insight, this research makes an original contribution to the understanding of the influence of abstract power dynamics in organizational change, and in organizational arrangements more generally.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between the concept of the learning organization and that of the co-creation of value.

The paper is conceptual in nature and draws on data from a case study of a small highly innovative Australian company.

The authors show that, from a value co-creation perspective, the learning organization can be viewed as an open, collaborative, social/economic actor engaged in social/economic activities with other interdependent actors (organizations or stakeholders) in a network or ecosystem of actors to serve its mission/purpose and the well-being of the ecosystem.

As a conceptual paper, the authors rely primarily on previous research as the basis for the argument. The implications of the findings are that, as value co-creation practices are founded upon the generation and leveraging of specific intangible capital resources, more research located in alternative research paradigms is required.

There are important implications for organizational leadership in that the practices that underpin value co-creation require the leadership to be able to work constructively with multiple forms of systemic and agentic power.

In increasingly turbulent and hyper-competitive global operational contexts, sustainable value creation is becoming recognized as a collective achievement within a broad eco-system of collaborators. This has implications for the relational capabilities of all collaborators.

The authors introduce a new perspective on the role of power management in the facilitation of the co-creation of value. Arguing that value creation is becoming recognized as a “collective achievement”, they focus on the collaborative practices that enable such an achievement.

The purpose of this paper is to explore enablers and constraints in value co-creation in sponsored online communities, and to identify firm roles in shaping value co-creation. The structured analysis is translated into strategies for practitioners and for guiding future research.

The authors systematically review and synthesise the literature to develop a comprehensive model of value co-creation.

The literature review findings have led to the identification of four actors in sponsored online communities, revealed enablers and constraints for value co-creation in online communities, and provided insight into the simultaneous roles of sponsoring firm (co-creator and facilitator) and the interrelationship between them.

Like other systematic literature review studies, the findings are limited by what was reported in the papers selected for the review. The authors contribute to service-dominant logic (SDL) by bridging the macro level to the empirical level, and add to our understanding of the sociomateriality theory by capturing constraints and enablers coming from various actors.

The extracted enablers and constraints guide decision makers to better design, asses, monitor and support sponsored online communities. The findings also inform how to orchestrate the two sponsoring firm roles so that the online community is still attractive for the members and creates value for the sponsoring firm.

Given the variety of disciplines dealing with value co-creation, and given the plenitude of definitions and related concepts, this study consolidates the existing knowledge and models how value is co-created in online communities.

Strong emphasis on learning can help organizations more closely engage with customers to co-create value for them. Collaboration is vital and leadership plays an important role in establishing the conditions needed for a collective approach to innovation across all levels of the firm.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Strong emphasis on learning can help organizations more closely engage with customers to co-create value for them. Collaboration is vital and leadership plays an important role in establishing the conditions needed for a collective approach to innovation across all levels of the firm.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.