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The purpose of this paper is to address the following question: In times of permanent connectivity, what forms of freedom need to be considered to prevent permanent availability as an unintended consequence? By using the Hegelian perspective on freedom, the paper categorizes three forms of freedom to transfer them to a common, contemporary understanding of freedom relating it to freedom through human-to-human digital communication. The aim is to show that freedom is not only about independence and realizing choices but also about embedding and committing oneself.

This mainly conceptual paper derives implications based on the Hegelian theory. This is supplemented by an interdisciplinary approach, whereby categories of other philosophers, ethicists, economists and sociologists are applied. The analysis of the contemporary perspective on freedom is enriched by referencing empirical studies.

Digital communication offers new freedom such as working with fewer restrictions from time and space, especially for knowledge workers. It is theoretically possible to work 24 h per day from anywhere (independence), as well as to decide on the final location and timing of one’s work (realizing choices). When solely focusing on these – seemingly advantageous – forms of freedom in times of permanent connectivity, unintended consequences such as the expectation of permanent availability develop. The key message of the paper is that considering one’s temporal and social dependencies (embeddedness) is an indispensable part of actual freedom to avoid unintended consequences.

Organizations need to invest in moral discernment to understand unintended consequences, as well as to cope with them.

Applying the Hegelian theory on freedom based on digital communication to better understand social dynamics of digital communication is a largely unexplored avenue in the existing scientific literature. The decision to undertake this venture resulted from the identified necessity of understanding freedom better. It is often not clear what is meant by freedom through digital communication. Although freedom is a complex construct, it is often reduced to independence/having a choice and realizing choices. When solely focusing on independence and realizing choices, unintended consequences such as permanent availability often go unnoticed. It is exactly because of these issues that this paper endeavors to examine the (deep) meaning of the powerful, yet complex, term of freedom.

This chapter first examines the role of attention in the garbage can model of decision making and compares it both to prior approaches in the Carnegie School tradition and the attention-based view of the firm. Both the garbage can model and the attention-based view rely on the same assumption, one that is rarely recognized nor understood – that organizational decision making is characterized by situated attention, where organizational participants vary across time and place in what they attend to. In the garbage can model, decision opportunities are the temporal contexts for situated attention; in the attention-based view, attention is situated in both time and place within the organization's communication channels. In the garbage can, situated attention is also shaped by the ecology of problems and opportunities competing for attention. The final part examines the determinants and consequences of tight versus loose coupling of channels in organizations and its effects on participants’ situated attention. Attention structures external to channels and the architecture of channel structures shape the degree of coupling found in organizations. In viewing coupling as a variable, the chapter suggests that a modified garbage can model, combined with an increased focus on situated attention, provides the foundations for a more general theory of nonroutine decision making.

Drawing from legitimacy and institutional entrepreneurship theory, this study assesses the naming patterns of entrepreneurial firms in the US biotechnology industry.

The authors use a mixed-methods design of content analysis and regression to analyze a sample of 441 entrepreneurial biotechnology firms, for which data were obtained from Net Advantage. The authors track changes to the proportion of firms with naming attributes, such as name length and type of name. The authors also examine variability in those characteristics during the industry's evolution, comparing freestanding to acquired start-ups.

Start-ups select names that are longer, more descriptive, begin with rare sounds or hard plosives and have stronger discipline- or technology-specific links during nascent years of the industry. As the industry evolves, entrepreneurs are more likely to select names that are shorter, more abstract, begin with hard plosives and have stronger industry-specific links. The naming patterns of freestanding and acquired companies differ, and companies that conform to industry pressures tend to remain independent.

Unlike extant studies that assess established industries, the current study identifies shifting trends in the naming patterns of entrepreneurial firms in an emerging industry. By focusing on start-ups, the authors expand research on organizational naming practices, which focuses traditionally on name choices and name change patterns of incumbents. By using marketing and linguistics methods when analyzing organizational name attributes, naming patterns in these attributes are identified, including name length, name type, starting letter of the name and link to the industry.

Past research has largely portrayed job choice as a relatively rational and goal‐directed behavior where applicants make decisions contingent on organizational recruitment activities, or evaluations of job and organizational attributes. Research now informs us that job choice decisions may also be based on social comparisons and social influence. The purpose of this paper is to add to this body of knowledge by examining reasons why social influence is a key factor in job choice decisions of relatively young job seekers.

The study is based on in‐depth interview data from graduating seniors at an elite business school in India.

Respondents did not see themselves as acting based on social influence as much as they perceived others around them to be. Reasons they noted for others’ socially influenced job choice decisions were: peers and seniors are seen as more accessible and trustworthy than organizations; organizations do not share all and/or objective data, driving job seekers to other sources; job seekers are clueless and hence follow a “smart” herd; and job seekers make decisions for social status signaling. Respondents pointed to socially influenced job choices as being rational behaviors under certain conditions.

Generalizability of findings may be limited to young job seekers or to the Indian context, and the authors encourage replication. The authors also acknowledge the importance of individual difference variables in job choice decisions, a factor not considered in the present research.

Given that job seekers rally around others’ notion of an attractive job or an organization, the paper outlines several implications for managerial practice.

This study, in a yet unexamined cultural context, points to the simultaneous and combined importance of normative and informational social determinants of job choice, bias blind spots in one's own job choice perceptions and decisions, gender specific socialization influences on job choices, and the notion of job fit in terms of fitment with expectations of important reference groups.

Identifies sources of influence in organizational buying choices from a review of the literature. Constructs a model of influence by extending the buying behavior model of Webster and Wind (1972). Uses the model to categorize and analyze representative research of influence on organizational buying choice processes over the period 1970‐1995. Indicates that new research directions and emphasis in a number of areas could improve the usefulness of research results to marketing management. Recommendations include: use of a higher unit of analysis, investigation of non‐deterministic choice behavior, greater use of integrating or broad‐based studies, reduction in use of self‐professed data, more research of relatively neglected areas of influence, and more empirical testing of conceptual models.

We develop an experimental setting where the assumptions and predictions of the garbage can model can be tested. A careful reconstruction of the original simulation model let us select parameters that leave room for potential variations in individual behavior. Our experimental design replicates these parameters and thereby facilitates comparison of human behavior with the original model. We find that the majority strategy of human subjects is consistent with the original model, but exhibits some behavioral diversity. Human subjects exhibit fluid diverse behaviors that improve coordination in the face of uncertainty, but hinder collective learning that can improve group performance.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of art and architecture by leadership as a driving force to effect change of perception of an organization's identity. While some claim life imitates art, from a management discipline lens the paper aims to state that art imitates life through introduction of a conceptual model.

A literature review of organizational art and architecture, leadership, identity and change is undertaken and synthesized with Lewin's theory and concepts of force field analysis. Case studies from Africa, Europe and the USA are analyzed.

Organizational leadership uses art and architecture as a driving force to effect change in perception of identity. This is exemplified through evaluation of choices in the organizations examined.

This paper establishes a relationship between choices organizational leadership makes on art and architecture and how they can be used as a driving force to effect change in perception of identity and proposes a conceptual model for further study. This model opens potentially several new streams of research in management and organizational change disciplines.

There is a small subset of scholarship and studies in the fields of management and organizational change, with a scant amount focused on choices organizational leadership makes on art and architecture and how they can be used as a driving force to effect change in perception of identity. This paper attempts to initiate further research and empirical studies.

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) employees constitute one of the largest, but least studied, minority groups in the workforce. This article examines what we know, and what we need to know, about the career and workplace experiences of this understudied population. The construct of sexual identity is defined, followed by a review of the research on sexual orientation in the workplace. Then an analysis of the differences between LGB employees and other stigmatized groups is presented. Three unique challenges facing LGB employees are identified, and conceptual models are developed that explain underlying processes. Finally, career theories are critically analyzed, and an identity-based longitudinal theory of LGB careers is presented.

The purpose of this article is to better understand the nature of the decision maker's cognitive‐affective information processing behavior in the context of strategic decision making.

Reviews of the psychological science, organizational behavior, and strategic management literatures serve as a foundation for the development of a model and a series of research propositions. Propositions and model development lead to a discussion regarding limitations of the current literature, as well as areas for future research that incorporates cognitive‐affective information processing issues in organizational research.

Organizational homogeneous and heterogeneous behaviors in the organizational adaptation process depend on a strategic decision maker's cognitive‐affective informational interpretation of both internal and external environmental stimuli.

The focus of this article is limited to the individual level of analysis. Further theoretical and empirical research should investigate how the framework could be applied at the team and organizational levels and how it holds under various industrial and/or environmental conditions.

This article informs practicing managers of how their decision‐making behavior is influenced by both cognition and affect when they scan and process their strategic informational environment and, furthermore, how these influence their choice of organizational forms and practices.

Extends theoretical understanding of cognitive‐affective informational processing and its influence on the organizational homogeneous‐heterogeneous adaptation process.

The relevance of information technology is becoming crucial for most organizations. Learning processes and coordination arrangements are deeply influenced by technological advances. Empirical evidence shows that complex and apparently contradictory outcomes usually result from significant investments in new technologies, while traditional conceptual approaches often fail to provide articulated and convincing interpretations of those changes. As a useful starting point to overcome interpretive “dilemmas”, this paper proposes to rethink the concept of technology, and to reconsider the relationship between learning processes and coordination arrangements. If changes are related to the different organizational decision levels, contradictory empirical findings become easier to interpret. Examples taken from research into the use of CAD systems in Italian firms in the packaging machinery industry are given.