Search results
1 – 10 of over 2000Nechama 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.
Details
Keywords
Kristen Faile, Paula Roberts and Cate Loes
This paper aims to provide instructors with a hands-on engaging and experiential class activity designed to teach undergraduate and graduate students about different…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide instructors with a hands-on engaging and experiential class activity designed to teach undergraduate and graduate students about different organizational structures in management courses. Through this exercise, students will be able to self-identify the challenges and strengths of working under contrasting organizational structures.
Design/methodology/approach
Split into two (or four) teams, students construct origami animals based on their team’s organizational structure, using both mechanistic and organic structures to create a zoo based on a set of instructions and boundary conditions. Materials required include origami paper, markers, printed instructions, origami animal instructions, and role title cards for each student. The exercise takes approximately 30–45 min, including debriefing discussion. All materials/instructions needed are included with this paper (except origami paper and markers).
Findings
Through this exercise, students internalize the challenges and strengths of working in organizations with contrasting structures. The debrief discussion will help solidify student understanding of what the day to day experience of working in different organizational structures might look like, the pros and cons of different structures, and what type of employees or industries might thrive under different structures.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is being submitted for the “Special Issue Call for Papers: Modern Day Experiential Exercises.”
Practical implications
This activity allows students to draw their own conclusions about organizational structure and to engage in a fruitful discussion about what working at different types of organizations looks like on a day-to-day basis.
Social implications
This activity allows students to strengthen their skills in communication, teamwork, and leadership by having them work in teams to complete a challenging, competitive task.
Originality/value
While teaching organizational structure in management courses has traditionally been limited to traditional forms of instruction such as lecturing and reviewing different organizational charts, this activity gives students a fun competitive in-class activity in which they practice working as a part of contrasting organizational structures to see what type of structure they might thrive in.
Details
Keywords
The paper discusses the notion of information with regard to its carriers, representatives (or structural carriers) and carried-related processes of transmission, accumulation and…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper discusses the notion of information with regard to its carriers, representatives (or structural carriers) and carried-related processes of transmission, accumulation and processing through the developmental periods of the inorganic and organic world. In the first period, information is contained in a representation of the outcome of physical, chemical and other processes in the physical, chemical and other structures of the non-living world and refers to environmental information. In the second period, information begins to be used to create the physical and chemical structures of the living world and is contained in instructions of the genetic code. In the third period, with the evolution of cognitive systems and intelligence of living beings, in addition to those listed, information is finally being used to build its own structures, which in this paper are called knowledge structures.
Design/methodology/approach
In addition to the usual scientific methods in conceptual papers of this type (analysis, synthesis, etc.), the methodology of the paper also relies on the method of analogy, which was used to detect the carriers and representatives of information in the processes of transmission, accumulation and processing of information and the method of classification in order to propose a new taxonomy related to the concept of information.
Findings
The paper shows that information carriers and information representatives appear in each of the three mentioned processes - transmission, accumulation and processing of information - and that they need to be distinguished from the information itself. This insight opened a new perspective in observing this concept and led to the proposal of a new taxonomy related to the concept of information in a given context, eliminating seemingly incommensurable approaches to its study in different scientific fields.
Originality/value
The conducted synthesis results in information being recognized as a transmittable/transmissible documentation of reality inseparable from its carrier and its representative.
Details
Keywords
Alaa Alsherfawi Aljazaerly, Seth Asare Okyere, Md. Nawrose Fatemi, Louis Kusi Frimpong and Michihiro Kita
This paper analyses changes in the activity pattern of Damascus city from late modern era (late Ottoman rule) to the contemporary era. The research objective is to explore the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper analyses changes in the activity pattern of Damascus city from late modern era (late Ottoman rule) to the contemporary era. The research objective is to explore the impact of the socio-historical process on the evolving morphological structure of the urban core and to draw implications for post-war reconstruction.
Design/methodology/approach
Space Syntax methodology was employed to trace the historical and morphological changes in the urban core of Damascus. The timeframe was divided into five periods covering the city's socio-political transformation and five maps depicting these periods. Local and global integration measures were used to analyse the changes in the urban core across each period. Normalised angular choice (NACH) measure was used to identify the changes in the city planning system.
Findings
The results revealed that the urban core corresponded to the main streets, which had socio-economic importance across history. However, introducing a new planning system influenced by Western planning ideals led to the creation of multi-morphological patterns. At the city level, the study found that the urban core was more accessible in the preplanned areas, while the organic expansion of the informal settlements was exclusive of the core area. At the local level, some informal settlements showed an intense core. Intelligibility analysis revealed that earlier periods showed considerably higher values, implying declines in the ease of navigation of the city over time.
Research limitations
This study did not account for the political, economic and cultural factors that could shape morphological changes in Damascus. In addition, the study adopted historical reference points to understand the morphological changes, as high-quality geospatial data was not available to monitor the recent post-war situation.
Practical implications
The research findings give a foundation for a more contextualised historical understanding of spatial structure and changes, which can contribute to the post-war reconstruction and redevelopment of Damascus city.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to trace historical spatial changes in Damascus from a space syntax approach, weaving together socio-historical and configurational studies. In doing so, it shows how historically informed and spatially aware urban planning and design policies can support policymakers and built environment professionals in planning and redevelopment.
Details
Keywords
Yueyue Liu, Xu Zhang, Meng Xi, Siqi Liu and Xin Meng
For start-ups or growing firms, to effectively navigate the unpredictable nature of digital development and achieve superior innovative performance, it is crucial to have a…
Abstract
Purpose
For start-ups or growing firms, to effectively navigate the unpredictable nature of digital development and achieve superior innovative performance, it is crucial to have a workforce comprised of creative and innovative employees. Drawing upon the principles of social information processing theory, this study aims to investigate whether specific combinations of organizational internal and external environments, as well as work characteristics in the digital age, can foster a high level of employee innovative behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
By collecting a multilevel and multisource data set comprising 693 employees and 88 CEOs from 88 start-ups or growing firms, this study used fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to examine the distinctive configurations associated with achieving a high level of employee innovative behavior.
Findings
The study found that six solutions enabled employees to innovate more effectively, but six solutions led to the absence of employee innovative behavior.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study offer important theoretical and practical implications to motivate employee innovative behavior in Chinese enterprises.
Originality/value
First, this study contributes to the literature on employee innovative behavior by addressing the need to explore the impact of the digital context on promoting innovation among employees. Second, this study adds to the existing literature on employee innovation and entrepreneurship by examining multiple organizational contexts and their influence on innovative behavior. Third, this study makes a significant contribution to the field of employee innovative behavior by examining the macroenvironment surrounding digital transformation within enterprises and integrating both internal and external organizational factors.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this research is to conceptualize, define and measure resource orchestration capabilities of R&D teams pursuing advanced scientific research and technological…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to conceptualize, define and measure resource orchestration capabilities of R&D teams pursuing advanced scientific research and technological innovation at public-funded R&D organizations in India.
Design/methodology/approach
A series of five mutually exclusive studies were designed over two years to develop and validate the ROCI scale within public research and development (R&D) organizations pursuing advanced scientific research and technological development in India. The first three studies address the refinement, reduction and rationalization of items for measuring the ROCI construct. The next study explores the factor structure underlying the ROCI construct whereas the subsequent one confirms the three-factor structure within empirical settings.
Findings
The resource orchestration capability towards innovation (ROCI) construct reflected through three sub-dimensions namely – adaptive structuring capability (ASC), synergistic leveraging capability (SLC) and decentralized decision-making capability (DDC), each loaded with their respective items can be used for capability measurement in public-funded R&D organizations.
Practical implications
R&D managers can use this ROCI scale to measure, monitor and improve the innovation-oriented resource orchestration capabilities of their R&D teams and help them improve their innovation performance.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the extant literature on resource orchestration for innovation management in three unique and original ways – theoretically-grounded conceptualization, empirical measurement and rigorous validation through multiple studies conducted in public-funded R&D organizations in India.
Details
Keywords
Junbin Wang, Xiaowei Dong, Yu Xiong, Umair Tanveer and Changping Zhao
This study explores how factors arising from supply chain (SC) network and complexity work together in supply chain learning (SCL) behavior.
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores how factors arising from supply chain (SC) network and complexity work together in supply chain learning (SCL) behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, which is an emerging configurational analysis method, was adopted to examine the complex combination of five influencing factors. The data were collected using a two-stage survey. First, the authors selected seven typical firms with an awareness of SCL. Second, questionnaires were sent to the partners of the seven selected firms, and 156 valid questionnaires were obtained from 76 firms.
Findings
Drawing on emergent insights from the initiative, the authors find that multiple configurations of SC network and complexity lead to high SCL. Specifically, weak ties are necessary conditions of such learning, while strong ties are also conducive to this. Moreover, a moderate SC complexity is conducive to SCL.
Practical implications
This study enriches the understanding of SCL and provides new insights for SC management practitioners to take measures to improve it.
Originality/value
This study addresses the lack of in-depth understanding of the antecedent conditions of SCL in the literature. It establishes an integrated and comprehensive theoretical framework of such learning based on contingency theory. Additionally, this study incorporates ambidextrous SCL (i.e. creation capability and dispersion capacity). An overall prototype of SCL capability is proposed on SC network and complexity theory.
Details
Keywords
Markus Brenner, Andreas Wald and Ronald Gleich
Process orientation is important for improving organizational performance. The process view is considered a key enabler of digital transformation, and thus management control…
Abstract
Purpose
Process orientation is important for improving organizational performance. The process view is considered a key enabler of digital transformation, and thus management control systems (MCS) are expected to incorporate this view. However, the existing body of knowledge is fragmented, as different process approaches are often considered independently following a reductionist view of control practices. This paper aims to provide recommendations for further research as well as guidance for practice by a systematic review of the state of research of MC for process orientation. It is based on both a comprehensive view to MC using an MCS package approach and a comprehensive view of process orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review addressing major types of process orientation approaches was performed by applying the comprehensive MC framework of Malmi and Brown. The results were synthesized and propositions were developed.
Findings
All components of the MC framework, as well as MCS packages, are highly relevant for process orientation. Propositions regarding configurations of MC for process orientation show directions for future research. However, comprehensive considerations of packages and of individual components, especially cultural controls, remain scarce in the literature.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors‘ knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind to provide a comprehensive, structured overview of MC for process orientation, applying a nonreductionist view, based on an MCS Package approach, and consolidating the so far fragmented view of different process approaches.
Details
Keywords
Peipei Jia, Dongjin Li, Huizhen Jin and Yudong Zhang
This paper aims to propose a framework model of belief consistency on the confirmatory bias theory, trying to explore the interactions between cues of credence-label structure and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a framework model of belief consistency on the confirmatory bias theory, trying to explore the interactions between cues of credence-label structure and different controversial types of health foods, as well as the intermediary mechanism of belief consistency.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a conceptual framework of belief consistency based on confirmation bias theory. The interactions between cues of credence-label structure and different controversial types of health foods, as well as the intermediary mechanism of belief consistency.
Findings
Consumers’ willingness to purchase varies under interactions between cues of credence-label structure (product-level and ingredient-level credence-label cues) and different controversial types of health foods (noncontroversial health foods and controversial health foods). In the consumption context of noncontroversial health foods, the presence of product-level credence-label cues causes confirmation bias, greater perception of health belief consistency and higher willingness to purchase healthy foods. In the consumption context of controversial health foods, the presence of ingredient-level credence-label cues results in the prevention of confirmation bias, lower perception of unhealthy belief consistency and higher willingness to purchase health foods.
Originality/value
This paper offers a significant tool for researchers to enrich relevant theories in the field of the conceptual framework of cues of credence-label structure. It also discusses practical implications for enterprise marketing and for the health and welfare of consumers.
Details
Keywords
Vanessa Itacaramby Pardim, Luis Hernan Contreras Pinochet, Adriana Backx Noronha Viana and Cesar Alexandre de Souza
This research sought to propose a theoretical model that analyzes the factors associated with unlearning (individual and organizational) and contributes to generating and…
Abstract
Purpose
This research sought to propose a theoretical model that analyzes the factors associated with unlearning (individual and organizational) and contributes to generating and realizing ideas among young people at the beginning of their careers based on the predominant type of structure.
Design/methodology/approach
The study had a sample (n = 971) and used the multivariate data analysis partial least squares - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM regular) and multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) to identify significant differences between the estimates of the specific parameters of each group (a- Organic/b- Mechanistic).
Findings
All the direct relationships and formulated mediations were found to be supported, except for H6 (ET→EO) within the group that had a primarily mechanistic organizational structure. Thus, the more turbulent the environmental, the more initiative-taking, innovative and risk-taking a company tends to be. However, it remains to be seen whether the organizational structure plays a role in facilitating or hindering this relationship. H1 (IG→IR) indicates that predominantly organic organizations have a stronger and more consistent relationship with the knowledge developed through individual and organizational unlearning process. This knowledge contributes to the idea-generation process and ultimately leads to realizing those ideas.
Originality/value
The article contributes to literature by proposing an original and integrated theoretical model incorporating individual and organizational approaches to unlearning to understand the effect on idea generation and realization.
Details