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1 – 10 of over 22000Deondra S. Conner and Scott C. Douglas
This paper offers a model that illustrates the relationship between organizational structure, work stress and perceived strain based on the concept of bureaucratic orientation.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper offers a model that illustrates the relationship between organizational structure, work stress and perceived strain based on the concept of bureaucratic orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
After a brief review of the stress and structure literatures, a number of propositions are developed concerning organizationally‐induced stressors that are fostered by mechanistic or organic structures. Next, a model is presented illustrating the impact of members' bureaucratic orientation on the organizationally induced stressor‐strain relationship.
Findings
It is argued that highly‐mechanized structures manifest different stressors for employees from highly organic structures. The model also demonstrates how organizationally‐induced stressors such as role conflict and ambiguity mediate the relation between structure and strain. However, the extent to which these stressors result in perceived strain is also dependent on employees' predisposition toward dominance, autonomy, achievement, ambiguity and control. Based on the model and propositions presented, conclusions and suggestions for future research are provided.
Practical implications
Noted implications include more flexible workplace rules for female executives to eliminate stress associated with work‐family conflict as well as improved effectiveness of social support and person‐organization fit based on individual bureaucratic orientation.
Originality/value
This paper uniquely advocates consideration of employee bureaucratic orientation and organizational structure in relation to person‐organization fit and work stress. The propositions offered are of value to practitioners and researchers due to their implications for fostering person‐organization fit and reducing work stress.
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Nechama Nadav, Pascale Benoliel and Chen Schechter
This study examines the relationship of principals’ systems thinking (PST) to student outcomes of academic achievement and school violence. The investigation relies on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the relationship of principals’ systems thinking (PST) to student outcomes of academic achievement and school violence. The investigation relies on the contingency theory, according to which effective leadership is contingent on the nature of the situational influences to which managers are exposed. Specifically, the study investigates the influence of school structure – bureaucratic vs organic – on the relationship between PST and student outcomes of academic achievement and school violence after accounting for students’ socioeconomic backgrounds and principals' demographics.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-source survey design with self-reported and non-self-reported data was used, with a sample of 423 participants from 71 elementary schools in Israel. The sample included senior management team members and teachers. The data were aggregated at the school level of analysis.
Findings
Hierarchical regression analyses showed that organic school structure moderates the relationship between PST and student academic achievement, and bureaucratic school structure moderates the relationship between PST and school violence beyond the impact of students’ socioeconomic backgrounds.
Originality/value
This study provides important evidence for the benefits of aligning PST with school structure for improving student outcomes beyond the impact of students’ socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition, the study suggests principal system thinking leadership to achieve effective student outcomes that circumvent the effects of inequality on disadvantaged student groups.
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Accounting for quality and improved organizational performance has recently received attention in management control research. However, the extent to which process innovation…
Abstract
Accounting for quality and improved organizational performance has recently received attention in management control research. However, the extent to which process innovation changes have been integrated into management control research is limited. This paper contributes to that integration by drawing from institutional adaptive theory of organizational change and process innovation strategies. The paper utilizes a 2 by 2 contingency table that uses two factors: environmental conditions and organizational change/learning strategies, to build a process innovation framework. A combination of these two factors yields four process innovation strategies: mechanistic, organic, organizational development (OD) and organizational transformation (OT).
The four process innovation typologies are applied to characterize innovations in accounting such as activity based costing (ABC). ABC has been discussed as a multi-phased innovation process that provides an environment where both the initiation and the implementation of accounting change can occur. Technical innovation can be successfully initiated as organic innovation that unfolds in a decentralized organization and requires radical change and double loop learning. Implementation occurs best as a mechanistic innovation in a hierarchical organization and involving incremental change and single loop learning. The paper concludes that if ABC is integrated into an OD or OT intervention strategy, the technical and administrative innovation aspects of ABC can be utilized to manage the organization’s operating activities.
Vesna Stojanović-Aleksić, Jelena Erić Nielsen and Aleksandra Bošković
Being mindful of the importance of organizational structure and organizational culture for knowledge management in companies, the purpose of this study is to investigate the…
Abstract
Purpose
Being mindful of the importance of organizational structure and organizational culture for knowledge management in companies, the purpose of this study is to investigate the organizational prerequisites for creating and sharing knowledge. The goals are to determine whether and to what extent the attributes of organic structure contribute to the creation and sharing of knowledge and to show that an organizational culture which supports knowledge stimulates the processes of knowledge creation and sharing.
Design/methodology/approach
The data for the empirical study was obtained through a survey of 150 respondents, employed in 30 companies from several industries, in the Republic of Serbia. The questionnaire was adapted to the needs of the study and was developed based on the theoretical knowledge and findings of several previous studies on processes of knowledge creation and knowledge sharing. A regression method was used to test all hypotheses.
Findings
The results show that both the organic structure and the organizational culture that support knowledge have positive effects on knowledge creation, while knowledge sharing is positively influenced only by the knowledge supporting culture of an organization.
Originality/value
This study contributes to organization studies and knowledge management theory because of the holistic approach taken with regards to the issue involved and the fact that it takes into account a large number of the significant characteristics of organizational structure and culture that are relevant to knowledge management processes. The findings could prove useful to managers when structuring an organization and shaping its culture to enhance knowledge management.
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Mohammad Ali Ashraf, Mohd Hasanur Raihan Joarder and Sarker Rafij Ahmed Ratan
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting anti-consumption behavior of the consumers toward organic food purchase: in particular, how do individual beliefs…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting anti-consumption behavior of the consumers toward organic food purchase: in particular, how do individual beliefs about trustworthiness of organic foods, normative structure of social pressure and self-efficacy affect individual intentions to make organic food purchases and actual purchasing behavior? To answer this question, a theoretical framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as its foundation has been established. Using measurement scales in order to measure different aspects of trustworthiness, normative structure, self-efficacy, attitude, perceived behavioral control (PBC) and subjective norms, a survey instrument has been developed to examine the several associations implied by the model of TPB.
Design/methodology/approach
In doing so, data on a structured questionnaire were collected from various parts of a city based on convenience random sampling procedure. The respondents were interviewed face-to-face to collect information on a structured questionnaire. Data (n=337) were analyzed using a research framework formulated based on the TPB through the structural equation modeling procedure.
Findings
The findings of the study indicate that among the seven independent variables of trustworthiness, normative structure, self-efficacy, attitude, subjective norm and PBC, only subjective norm has not been statistically significant to influence organic food purchase behavior.
Research limitations/implications
The result implies that various sociopolitical forces and skewed monthly incomes are inhibiting the consumers (anti-consumption) to increasingly buy the organic food products.
Practical implications
In this regard, government, policy planners, academia as well as media have profound roles to play to encourage people to buy more organic food for their health safety and overall consumer well-being.
Originality/value
This research is based on primary data collected from the respondents of a sub-urban areas of a metropolitan city. The findings will help formulate a sound food policy for ensuring social well-being of the consumers.
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Aleša Saša Sitar and Miha Škerlavaj
The purpose of this study, which consists of two parts, is to bring together literature on organizational design and learning of individuals in organizational settings. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study, which consists of two parts, is to bring together literature on organizational design and learning of individuals in organizational settings. The literature suggests that learning takes place in organic and less-structured organizational designs, whereas empirical research provides conflicting evidence. This first part theorizes about the influence of mechanistic vs organic designs on three different aspects of employees’ learning behavior: knowledge sourcing, learning styles and learning loops.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is built on previous research on the impact of structure on learning and theorizes about the relationship between mechanistic/organic design and specific learning behavior at work.
Findings
Four propositions are developed in this paper, regarding how a different structure leads to a different learning behavior. Mechanistic structure is associated with internal learning, independent learning and single-loop learning, whereas organic design leads to external learning, collaborative learning and double-loop learning.
Research limitations/implications
Because the paper is conceptual in nature, the propositions are in need of empirical validation. Some directions for empirical testing are proposed.
Practical/implications
For an organization design practice, managers should be aware of the distinct impact different structures have on individual learning at work. Furthermore, the appropriate organizational structure for learning must be considered in the broader context of contingencies.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the organizational design literature and to the organizational learning theory by conceptualizing the relationship between structure and learning of individuals at work.
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Daniel F Jennings and Kevin G Hindle
Zahra and Covin (1995, p. 46) report that “the current interest in corporate entrepreneurship arises from its potential usefulness as a means for renewing established…
Abstract
Zahra and Covin (1995, p. 46) report that “the current interest in corporate entrepreneurship arises from its potential usefulness as a means for renewing established organizations and increasing their ability to compete in their chosen markets.” In addition, a number of researchers support a contention made by Schollhamer (1982, p. 82), that “corporate entrepreneurship is a key element for gaining competitive advantage and consequently greater financial strength” (Covin & Slevin, 1991; Peters & Waterman, 1982; Zahra & Covin, 1995). Interestingly, however, other researchers argue that corporate entrepreneurship can be risky and may be detrimental to a firm’s short-term financial performance (Burgelman & Scales, 1986; Fast, 1981).
Robert G. Isaac, Irene M. Herremans and Theresa J.B. Kline
The management of intellectual capital (IC) within organizations depends on appropriate organizational structures and characteristics. This paper seeks to argue that certain…
Abstract
Purpose
The management of intellectual capital (IC) within organizations depends on appropriate organizational structures and characteristics. This paper seeks to argue that certain structural, cultural, and climate characteristics will lead to more effective IC management.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews the theoretical and empirical IC literature, as well as the literatures regarding organic environments, trust, participative decision making, and creative renewal processes, to develop a model relating to the antecedent conditions necessary for the management of IC.
Findings
The model developed will assist researchers in the identification and exploration of variables linked to the effective management of IC within organizations.
Practical implications
It is concluded that managers of organizations need to create organic structures, build trust with employees, encourage creative renewal, and develop participative decision‐making processes.
Originality/value
By integrating several fields of the literature that relate to IC management, the paper suggests propositions that deserve future research consideration.
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Xiumei Zhu and Mingxu Bao
The significant performance implications of individual-focused and group-focused transformational leadership have been documented for established firms, but the issue of whether…
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws on survey data of 209 questionnaires from 63 teams in 63 new firms in China.
Findings
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.
Originality/value
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.
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Alvaro Lopes Dias and Luis F. Lages
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize and operationalize the concept of market-sensing capabilities and analyze its relationship with new product development (NPD) success…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize and operationalize the concept of market-sensing capabilities and analyze its relationship with new product development (NPD) success and organic organizational structures. To the authors' knowledge, past measures of market-sensing capabilities have never included opportunity interpretation, through business experience and organizational articulation, as part of the concept.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a sample of over 180 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), market-sensing capabilities constructs and their relationships were tested through academics' and managers' perceptions. The measure was tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).
Findings
Findings reveal theoretically sound constructs based on four underlying market-sensing capabilities components: analytical processes, customer relationship, business experience and organizational articulation. Results demonstrate reliability, convergent, discriminant and nomological validity. All four dimensions are positively associated with NPD success and are more likely to appear in organic organizational structures.
Practical implications
The resulting instrument provides managers with a valuable tool to measure firms' abilities to address environmental uncertainty. By using this instrument, managers can assess internal organizational structures and resources allocated to sensing capabilities. By developing sensing capabilities, managers might ultimately influence their NPD strategy. Findings also reveal that sensing capabilities are positively and significantly associated with organic organizational structures.
Originality/value
Existing sensing capabilities measures are focused on environmental scanning, and the essence of the concept is not fully expressed by the traditional measures of analytical processes and customer relationship. The authors' new measure includes opportunity interpretation through business experience and organizational articulation.
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