Search results

1 – 10 of 489
Article
Publication date: 7 April 2023

Xinbo Sun, Zhiwei He and Yu Qian

The purpose of this paper is to explore what organizational adaptability means in the digitized context and to discuss how manufacturing companies achieve organizational…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore what organizational adaptability means in the digitized context and to discuss how manufacturing companies achieve organizational adaptability during the digital transformation process.

Design/methodology/approach

By conducting semi-structured interviews and acquiring archive data from a typical Chinese manufacturing company, this paper gathers extensive data. Based on this, a single-case study methodology is used to investigate organizational adaptability in digital transformation.

Findings

This study identifies the process by which companies achieve organizational adaptability during digital transformation and deconstructs organizational adaptability into three dimensions: structural adaptability, operational adaptability and governance adaptability. This study also explores how organizational adaptability is affected by digital capabilities.

Originality/value

This study proposes a process model to demonstrate how organizational adaptability may be attained during digital transformation and redefines organizational adaptability in the context of digitization.

Details

Chinese Management Studies, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-614X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 June 2023

Petter Haglund and Mats Janné

The construction industry shows an increased interest in how to manage logistics within construction projects. Often construction logistics is outsourced to a logistics service…

1037

Abstract

Purpose

The construction industry shows an increased interest in how to manage logistics within construction projects. Often construction logistics is outsourced to a logistics service provider (LSP). However, construction logistics is normally approached either as a strategic decision or as an operational issue and rarely as a tactical concern. The purpose of this study is to explore how to organize the logistics outsourcing decision at strategic, tactical and operational levels.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is performed as a single-case study within a construction corporation, containing (amongst others) a building contractor (BC) and a construction equipment rental company (CERC) offering logistics services.

Findings

The study shows that to procure construction logistics service successfully, BCs need logistics capabilities at strategic and tactical levels to maintain an alignment between the use of logistics services and operational characteristics. Simultaneously, CERC’s need to design their service offerings to correspond to the needs of the BC.

Research limitations/implications

This study builds on a single-case study of a Swedish construction corporation. Further research is needed to better understand current logistics outsourcing and development practices and how these can be improved to foster better logistics management at the project level.

Practical implications

BCs find suggestions of different logistics organization structures and suitable outsourcing arrangements. CERCs and LSPs can use the findings to understand their customers’ needs and adapt service offerings.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first studies of how two companies within a corporation can work together to develop construction logistics service offerings.

Details

Construction Innovation , vol. 24 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 November 2023

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

Organization Management Journal, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2753-8567

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2023

Olaf Hoffjann

Although current strategic communication research is particularly interested in deviations from normative ideals, there is a surprising lack of interest in the structures that…

Abstract

Purpose

Although current strategic communication research is particularly interested in deviations from normative ideals, there is a surprising lack of interest in the structures that lead to such deviations from formal specifications. To this end, this paper explores the classic, but of late largely forgotten concept of informality. The aim is to develop a theoretical framework and a systematization that can be used to answer central questions in strategic communication research. The focus is on three research questions: How can formal and informal structures of strategic organizational communication be systematized? How are formal and informal organizational structures thematized in strategic organizational communication? What is the relationship between (in)formal structures of strategic organizational communication and the thematization of (in)formal organizational structures?

Design/methodology/approach

The conceptual contribution is based on systems theoretical organization theory, which understands formal structures as decided decision premises and informal structures as undecided decision premises.

Findings

The understanding of informal expectation structures presented here has enormous potential for describing and researching central issues in strategic communication research in a far more significant way, both theoretically and empirically. For example, decoupling can be described in a much more differentiated way than is possible using the neo-institutionalist perspective.

Practical implications

The systematizing framework for researching informal structures enables a deeper understanding of informal structures and thus a better handling of them in practice. In addition, the framework provides a basis for future empirical studies.

Originality/value

Informal phenomena and structures seem to be the elephant in the room in many discourses in strategic communication research. With the theoretical perspective and systematization presented here, these phenomena can finally be explored in a differentiated and meaningful way.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 May 2023

Stefania Mariano

This paper aims to provide a synthesis of theoretical and empirical work related to the professionalization of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from a knowledge-based…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a synthesis of theoretical and empirical work related to the professionalization of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from a knowledge-based perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review consisting of three major steps of planning, conducting and reporting is conducted. Papers are identified, selected and deductively coded. Quantitative and qualitative methods are used to analyze the papers. The finalized list includes 78 papers and 48 journals, with the oldest paper published in 1980 and the most recent papers published in 2022.

Findings

The findings showed that the empirical works (n = 69) outnumbered the conceptual works (n = 9). Most papers focused on the organizational level of analysis and identified causal conditions, modes, intervening conditions and consequences. A multidimensional characteristic of professionalization emerged inductively as an additional attribute.

Originality/value

This paper provides a synthesis of the current literature and offers a research agenda to academics and practitioners interested in the professionalization of SMEs from a knowledge-based perspective.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 28 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 March 2024

Lucas Melchiori Pereira and Sheila Walbe Ornstein

Properly allocating an organization's activities within a building is vital to reducing the relational complexity arising from process–environment interactions. Multiple…

Abstract

Purpose

Properly allocating an organization's activities within a building is vital to reducing the relational complexity arising from process–environment interactions. Multiple relationships are mapped, and certain interferences are only identified after these have been processed. The method/software employed for this task is Mapping Activity Environment Allocation (MAEA). However, data input and interpretation of results depend on the usability conditions of the organization's agents. This paper presents MAEA's usability test results.

Design/methodology/approach

Test sessions and interviews were carried out with seven agents registered at a University Hospital. Participants were instructed to think aloud during its use, and immediately afterward, responded to semi-structured interviews. Test sessions were audio recorded and screen captured.

Findings

Participants found the software easy to use and pointed out valuable implications for professional and academic use. In addition to relationship, priority and parallelism data, customized visualizations were created, including organizational charts, flowcharts and activity flow routes on the floor plan.

Practical implications

MAEA's simplicity allows non-designers to conduct evidence-based assessments and decisions. It allows designers to test their proposals during the programming and outline proposal stages.

Social implications

A more detailed definition of design requirements from the beginning increases the conditions to successfully achieve project goals.

Originality/value

The ability to map the allocation of activity-spaces in the pre-design phase of building architecture allows for early identification of interactions, aiding in the development of more robust project requirements during programming.

Details

Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-6862

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 19 March 2024

John Thomas Flynn and Lloyd Levine

A quick search of the headlines of major newspapers reveals a treasure trove of technology procurement gone wrong. While the private sector seems to adopt and implement new…

Abstract

A quick search of the headlines of major newspapers reveals a treasure trove of technology procurement gone wrong. While the private sector seems to adopt and implement new technology seamlessly and quickly to deliver for customers, the government struggles to accomplish technology purchases and integrations with the same ease. As governments in the United States are looking to retain their current workforce and attract the next generation of workers, the technological capabilities and ethos of governments will be paramount. With nearly every industry being transformed by technology and Generation T being the first generation to have an ingrained “technology first” mindset, the ability of governments to attract these workers depends, in large part, on the ability to transform their government technology culture, policies, and practices.

In this chapter, the authors examine the administrative branch and observe two key components at the root of most technology failures: poor organizational structure in the bureaucracy and the lack of an empowered Chief Information/Technology Officer. Building upon case studies from Massachusetts and California, this chapter looks at the factors related to failure or success to understand the technology procurement culture. The chapter concludes by presenting four key “best practice” principles of public policy and administration that can be implemented by almost any governmental entity to improve their acquisition and implementation of technology.

Details

Technology vs. Government: The Irresistible Force Meets the Immovable Object
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-951-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 April 2023

Hidenori Sato and Kiyohiro Oki

This study aims to investigate the consequences of middle managers’ sensegiving for organisational change in neglected workplaces, where middle managers are given insufficient…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the consequences of middle managers’ sensegiving for organisational change in neglected workplaces, where middle managers are given insufficient resources because of receiving low attention from top management.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a case study of three call centres in the Japanese non-life insurance industry. To collect data, the authors conducted interviews with ten stakeholders and made multiple field observations.

Findings

The authors identified the following mechanism: in neglected workplaces, middle managers initially focus on sensegiving to employees because they recognise the difficulty of eliciting support from top management. However, as a result, they see sensegiving to employees as top priority and do not try to elicit the support of top management, which is necessary for further organisational change. As a result, organisational change stops at a certain level.

Research limitations/implications

The authors identified the following mechanism: in neglected workplaces, middle managers initially focus on sensegiving to employees because they recognise the difficulty of eliciting support from top management. However, as a result, they see sensegiving to employees as their top priority and do not try to elicit the support of top management, which is necessary for further organisational change. As a result, organisational change stops at a certain level.

Originality/value

First, this study contributes to the body of research on the effects of sensegiving on organisational change. It shows the new problems hidden behind organisational change, which existing research merely regards as independent successes. Second, this study identifies middle managers’ behaviour during organisational change in neglected workplaces. Instead of focusing on the factors necessary for successful organisational change, as in existing studies, this study extends the knowledge of the role of middle managers in organisational change by focusing on their behaviours when success factors are not aligned.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 February 2024

M. Luisa Rayón, Marina Romeo, Montserrat Yepes-Baldó and Sefa Boria-Reverter

This research examines the applicability of the Employer Branding (EB) Mix model developed by Rayón et al. (2022), one of the few empirically validated models, to promote…

Abstract

Purpose

This research examines the applicability of the Employer Branding (EB) Mix model developed by Rayón et al. (2022), one of the few empirically validated models, to promote organizational commitment within the context of the Spanish healthcare sector.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was administered to 310 employees of a national company in the Spanish healthcare sector. Several multiple regression models were run between the EB dimensions and those of employees’ organizational commitment.

Findings

The results show that the elements of the EB Mix model have a positive relationship with employee’s commitment, especially affective and value commitment.

Research limitations/implications

The existence of causality cannot be affirmed, in view of the sectional design with a single sample taken from the Spanish private healthcare sector. Additionally, it would be worth extending the analysis of the effect of the EB Mix model on the behavior of potential employees.

Practical implications

This research is extremely relevant, given that it can help organizations in the health sector to implement EB programs. The model is an effective tool for retaining human talent and can generate a competitive advantage for organizations that use it.

Originality/value

The EB Mix model presents a conceptually-based and empirically validated model that incorporates the perception of employees as co-creators of the internal brand, which promotes the democratization of organizations and includes the four Ps of the marketing mix.

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. 46 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 October 2023

Esra Bayhantopcu and Ignacio Aymerich Ojea

Academic institutions have the power to generate positive change by implementing sustainable development initiatives. This study aims to make a holistic assessment of the…

Abstract

Purpose

Academic institutions have the power to generate positive change by implementing sustainable development initiatives. This study aims to make a holistic assessment of the universities’ sustainability practices by explicitly focusing on equality and communication and by providing a general model for a university sustainability structure. In this context, the following questions were taken as references: How are the sustainability management mechanisms of universities? What are universities’ practices regarding “gender equality and equal opportunities”? How do universities integrate education, training, R&D and community development activities into their systems to be sustainable and how do they manage sustainability communication? This study aims to present an exemplary model for universities planning to develop a sustainability system and integrate the sustainable development goals (SDGs) into their ordinary work structures. It draws an exhaustive picture of what a sustainable structure and equality practices for universities look like by providing data about basic development areas regarding sustainability and social development.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines universities’ general sustainability system from a holistic standpoint to illustrate the implementation of sustainability practices within the universities’ plans and structure. In this qualitative research, the descriptive case study method is used. For this purpose, purposive sampling method is used where Jaume I University (Universitat Jaume I [UJI]) is selected as the sample due to its higher rankings despite its young age and its commitment to sustainability and equality. UJI is a public higher education and research university established in 1991 and is located in Castellón de la Plana in Valencia region of Spain. Its vision is to be a leading institution contributing to the social, cultural and economic aspects of sustainable development and to promote innovation, entrepreneurism, internationalization and social responsibility. It also has an non-governmental organization (NGO) working on equality. Three main data collection methods of descriptive research are used: (1) analysis of academic literature on sustainability in higher education institutions (HEIs); (2) document review: this review includes the systematic analysis of the case study university’s documents such as strategic plans, workflow charts, procedures and protocols of the related units. These documents were analyzed in a multidimensional way, and all related reports were examined comparatively. (3) Observation and semistructured interview notes: The interviews were conducted with nine unit managers and some academics working on this issue to obtain details surrounding the collected data. With this method, it became possible to obtain detailed data about the strategy and practices of the institution and identify the relationship between them. The research was conducted between April 2022 and September 2022.

Findings

According to the data, the main topics within the sustainability structure can be classified as (1) “sustainability in teaching system”, (2) “sustainability in research, development and innovation research, development and innovation (R&D&I) activities”, (3) “sustainability in management structure”, (3.1) governance, (3.2) ethics, (3.3) equality, (3.4) social responsibility and sustainability management and (3.5.) “networks and collaborations”, (4) “sustainability communication” and (5) “community development.” Each main heading includes subitems. In this context, 12 s subheadings and a total of 51 indicators under them have emerged. In addition to these, additional recommendations have been developed as a result of the analysis. This study’s findings reveal that sustainability is related to each unit of the university and that every unit engages in practices for sustainability. However, for holistic sustainability management, all practices should be coordinated and integrated according to a strategic goal. The current situation and strategic goals related to sustainability should also be defined in line with the university’s priority issues and stakeholders. Moreover, to achieve greater success and visibility, effective communication plays an important role. As such, alongside the conventional communication systems of academic units, it is crucial to establish a dedicated sustainability communication system as a distinct department.

Research limitations/implications

This research is based on a case study method and is limited to the case of Jaume I University.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is an original study designed in line with the in-depth analysis of all systems of a university and also the data obtained through face-to-face interview methods.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

1 – 10 of 489