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Wonders whether companies actually have employees best interests at heart across physical, mental and spiritual spheres. Posits that most organizations ignore their workforce – not even, in many cases, describing workers as assets! Describes many studies to back up this claim in theis work based on the 2002 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference, in Cardiff, Wales.

The significant performance implications of individual-focused and group-focused transformational leadership have been documented for established firms, but the issue of whether they are complementary or substitutive still remains a puzzle, and whether their relationship differs in new firms remains unanswered. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between individual-focused and group-focused transformational leadership in different organizational structures in new firms.

The study draws on survey data of 209 questionnaires from 63 teams in 63 new firms in China.

The results suggest that individual-focused and group-focused transformational leadership are substitutive when the organizational structure is mechanistic, and are complementary when the structure is organic.

The study contributes to the debate on the relationship between individual-focused and group-focused transformational leadership by comparing organizational structure characteristics and offering a comprehensive understanding of the issue.

The purpose of this paper is to review and re-examine the role of the organization-level determinants from the perspectives of competence-based views.

Regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses in a sample of 80 cases drawn from a population of the top 5,000 Taiwanese firms listed in the yearbook published by the China Credit Information Service Incorporation.

The empirical results indicate that formalization is positively related to new product performance while decentralization has an inverse U-shaped curvilinear effect on new product performance. Furthermore, the regression findings also indicate that market-oriented strategy negatively moderates the relationship between formalization and new product performance, while technology-oriented strategy positively moderates the curvilinear relationship between decentralization and new product performance.

Extant literatures have paid attention to investigating the determinants to the performance of the new product development, but some of the results, such as in the organizational levels, are confusing and mixed. Contrary to previous works, the purpose of this paper is to review and re-examine the role of the organization levels determinants from the perspectives of competence-based view.

The objective of this paper is to analyze the organizational change in 100 of the largest Spanish firms (a new national context) over the period 1993‐2003 (a more recent time period).

To achieve this purpose, consideration has been given to both traditional organizational categories and new organizational forms, such as cooperative multidivisional, competitive multidivisional, and the internal network. Detailed definitions of the new organizational forms being developed by companies are provided in the paper. Thus, these new organizational forms may differ in several aspects, such as the decision‐making process and integration between divisions.

The results show that over this period, Spanish firms experienced a steadily rising trend towards divisionalization. The cooperative multidivisional structure is the one most frequently adopted in Spain, as opposed to the competitive multidivisional form and the internal network.

The systematic study of the distinctive attributes of the new forms of organization, providing accumulated knowledge, is in an emergent phase of development in the international field, and this work seeks to contribute to such development. The nature of the study strengthens the global implications of the work, and the information obtained from top practitioners in these Spanish firms enhances the contribution of the study.

Organisations have over time adopted conservative, structured and controlled processes to manage and achieve goals set with their stakeholders. Contrary to that, an environment of disruption has emerged, that being a faster, less predictable and less certain environment than the previous fifty or more years. This environmental difference has emerged due to the interconnectivity of trade formed out of globalisation, technology, internet and social media. The historical organisational decision models and structures are perhaps too slow and conservative for a faster less certain new age. Whilst pandemic was considered but one disruption to consider for the new age, more guidance is required for those leading and managing organisations through the current specific Covid-19 pandemic, into the pending recovery and beyond.

Whilst wide-scale jobs may be lost in this new future, new opportunities for entrepreneurs, creativity and skills will likely emerge. This article will research how disruption, pandemic in particular, is changing leadership and management practices. Additionally, this article recognises that many of the organisational structures and processes of today were originally designed over thirty to forty years ago, so may no longer be appropriate. The design aspects or organisations, decision models and dealing with stakeholders will likely need to change in a pandemic, so this paper will recommend new and modified ways for organisations to operate. This research will offer a theoretical solution to assist management and leaders adjust their business and decision models in a pandemic. The past operating organisational models may lack the creativity and flexibility necessary for a world that has locked down, works from home or have closed without notice at once. Leading and managing is so different in a pandemic, especially when so much has changed so quickly, so this article will contribute by recommending new organisational principles to work to.

Organizational change in an evolving technological age is reconsidered here. Extant organization theory focuses largely on technologically‐induced transformation. This paper argues that this focus is inappropriate. With the proliferation of information technology in the workplace, change literature propounds a particular view of the organization: a lean, flat and networked organization. Reevaluating future change and future shock literature prediction, we establish a more realistic account of technology and the organization and question the accuracy of the “altered organization” expectation. In developing a conceptualization of a “limited reality of change,” we imply that predicted changes are not as clear cut as certain proponents would have us believe. Though there is a willingness throughout technology change literature to slip into the language of organizational transformation, this paper indicates that the reality of change is far more restrictive than has largely been previously acknowledged We conclude by proposing the coexistent organization as an alternative—arguing that hierarchical organizational forms can coexist with a networked organization—and discuss implications for organization change theory.

The purpose of this paper is to explore if the application of a framework building on organisational learning focusing on organisational processes can increase our understanding of how hybrid organisation develops over time and why they fail to live up to external expectations.

The aim of this study is descriptive and explorative. It is accordingly designed as a qualitatively oriented case study. To capture the process of forming and developing hybrid organisations, the study takes a longitudinal approach. The case chosen for the study is a municipally owned company in Sweden providing waste management services. The study revolves around empirical data gathered in official documents and in face-to-face interviews. All the data concern the time span between 2004 and 2016.

The analysis of the case studied provides us with insights into how hybridity manifests itself in mind-set and processes. There is a need for individuals within and around the organisation to be aware of and accept new goals and strategies to change their behaviour accordingly. The result of this study thus shows that contrary to findings in previous research on hybrid organisations, merely changing the structure of the organisation is not sufficient. Instead, learning is key to the development of hybridity and to overcome goal incongruence and conflicts of interest in hybrid organisations. However, this takes time and is likely to be dependent on individuals’ willingness to accept and adapt these new strategies and goals.

The result of this study is based on one single case study in one specific hybrid context. No empirical generalisation is aspired to. Instead, the aim has been to – through an explorative approach – make an analytical contribution to the knowledge about hybrid organisations. Further studies are thus necessary to deepen the understanding of the hybrid context and the situations under which hybrid organisations operate and develop.

Based on the result from this study, it seems that an organisation needs to learn how to be a hybrid organisation. There are no isolated structural solutions that can create a hybrid organisation other than in a formal sense. New ways to exploit organisational resources and the hybrid context are necessary to find new and innovative ways of how to use the hybrid context in a way that improves service sector delivery.

Predominately, research on hybrid organisations has until recently been working with the premise that hybrids are not a breed of its own but a mix of two or several ideal types. Consequently, the result from this type of research has often landed in a conclusion regarding the complexity of combining what often is considered contradictory and conflicting goals. In this paper, a different and novel approach is taken. The paper illustrates how hybrid organisations develop over time, and it suggests that hybridity manifests itself in mindset and processes. The main contribution is an exploration and illustration of how organisational learning may be considered as the missing link between the structural orientation of previous explanations of hybrid organisations and the organisational property of hybridity. Hybridity is the result of exposure to, acceptance of and adaptation to new goals and strategies and expresses itself in “hybrid behaviour”.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the institutionalization process of the performance management system (PMS) in a Malaysian government‐linked company (GLC). The study specifically looks at the changes brought by the GLC transformation programme introduced by the government.

An explanatory case study method is used whereby data are collected through semi structured interviews, document reviews, informal conversations and observations.

Despite attempts to link the organisational activities to the system through the business operating plan, the data reveal that the PMS‐related activities have somehow been viewed as a routine mechanism for appraising the employees' performances and become decoupled from the organisational activities. Thus, the new PMS did not really change the way organisational members view and do things in the organisation.

This study shows that the intention to institutionalise a new practice may not be materialised if there are not enough forces to support the change. The adoption of the new PMS practices may be due to isomorphic pressures to mimic other organisations in the same environmental field leading to ceremonial adoption of the practice.

This research provides evidence to the government that the process involved in transforming the organisational culture of a government‐linked organisation by using accounting tools might be time consuming, costly and subject to resistance. Hence, any change management programme introduced in a government‐linked organisation should have strong top management support, good financial standing as well as a reliable technical backup to the programme.

This article aims to investigate the organisational implications of adopting Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies, giving specific attention to operations. The paper addresses these implications in two directions: organisational prerequisites for, and consequences of, I4.0 technologies.

The research is based on a multiple case study of Italian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in manufacturing. Ten case studies have been developed through interviews, company visits and secondary data collection.

The multiple case study results show that: (1) a lean organisational structure supports effective adoption of I4.0 technologies; (2) introducing such technologies is linked to developing a new kind of job profile (i.e. the “Autonomous Operative Job Profile”); and (3) higher levels of technology adoption create a higher need for non-technical competences.

A limitation of this research relates to the highly heterogeneous maturity levels of the sampled companies, due to the relative newness of the I4.0 paradigm. Future research could, therefore, longitudinally analyse the technology integration process within organisations.

This research provides preliminary evidence about how organisations and technologies co-evolve, thus suggesting that managers should co-design these areas. It also demonstrates the extreme importance of designing a structured process and a clear set of human resource management tools to favour SME organisational development.

The study is built upon a conceptual framework derived from the sociotechnical perspective that analyses the interconnections between technology implementation and organisational change. From the results, three research propositions are derived to be tested on a larger scale.

This paper aims to discuss the interplay between strategic management accounting (SMA) and three organizational change configurations: strategy, structure and restructuring. This explication occurs within a context that is characterized by organization restructuring and corporate strategy changes within Jordan Customs Organization (JCO).

This paper uses a qualitative research approach and presents an interpretive case study of the JCO public sector organization. To collect data, it uses methodological triangulation, which includes interviews, historical and statistical analyses, documents and archival records. It is informed by the theoretical lens of configurational theory and strategic typologies to interpret the influences of organizational change configurations on SMA as it relates to the interplay of strategy, structure and restructuring.

The study findings agree with the related literature that SMA practices have developed management accounting from important operational transactions to gain a more strategic orientation through integrating customers, human resources, processes and financial departments. This paper concludes that specific SMA techniques have been used for strategizing by organizations in the public sector, providing a valuable counterpoint to the private sector adaptation that has dominated SMA research. This study finds that organizational restructuring has also contributed to decentralization and delegation, which has led to the distribution of tasks and specialization in accounting departments. It also concludes that SMA may facilitate or delay organizational change configurations in JCO. SMA can play a significant role in ensuring that the institution learns in response to organizational changes. On the contrary, this paper also concludes that organizational practices led to changes in SMA rules and routines.

A general criticism of case-study methods is that they lack rigor and provide little basis for generalization. First, case studies tend to be specific and individual, posing significant issues regarding generalization. Therefore, several comparative case studies involving various organizations should be conducted to ascertain if these practices have become more commonplace, especially in the public sector. Second, considering the nature of a government entity and the sensitivity of the information that required confidentiality, certain strategizing imperatives could not be directly examined, such as meetings between top management to make important decisions of strategic significance. This paper has important implications because it highlights the shortcomings of a supercilious singular relationship between strategic choices and the design of SMA practices.

This paper contributes to the growing literature by focusing on the relationship between SMA and three organizational change configurations: strategy, structure and restructuring. This paper is informed by the configuration theory perspective commonly used in accounting research. The empirical evidence in this study is provided in an SMA field, where empirical research is needed to be comparable with traditional accounting practices.