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1 – 4 of 4Tore Hundsnes and Christine B. Meyer
The purpose of this paper is to challenge the understanding of paradox in corporate strategy as unintended and unwanted consequences that must be overcome.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to challenge the understanding of paradox in corporate strategy as unintended and unwanted consequences that must be overcome.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper builds upon the concept of patching and holds the paradoxical nature of multi‐business firms as essential for corporate evolution. It presents an inherent contradiction of corporate organising, closely related to interdependency between patches. These interdependencies vary according to whether the patches are similar or different and whether there exist competing views on centralisation and decentralisation within the company.
Findings
Studying reorganizations in a large Norwegian telecommunication corporation, we explore these interdependencies and find that for the corporation to move in novel ways, combinations have to display a dynamic close to the edge of chaos.
Originality/value
This paper presents new research on organizational “patching”.
Details
Keywords
Janne Tienari, Eero Vaara and Susan Meriläinen
The purpose of this paper is to address gender and management in contemporary globalization by focusing on the ways in which male top managers in a multinational corporation (MNC…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address gender and management in contemporary globalization by focusing on the ways in which male top managers in a multinational corporation (MNC) construct their identities in interviews with researchers.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative analysis based on interviews with virtually all top managers in the Nordic financial services company Nordea (53 men and two women).
Findings
It is found that becoming international induces a particular masculine identity for the top managers. In becoming international, however, their national identification persists. The unstability of the MNC as a political constellation leaves room for questioning the transnational identity offered.
Originality/value
This paper's findings suggest that in the global world of business, national identity can also be interpreted as something positive and productive, contrary to how it has been previously treated in feminist and men's studies literature.
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Ingmar Björkman and Anne‐Marie Søderberg
The paper aims to report on an in‐depth study of the merger and acquisition processes involved in the creation of the leading financial services corporation in the Nordic…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to report on an in‐depth study of the merger and acquisition processes involved in the creation of the leading financial services corporation in the Nordic countries: Nordea. The purposes are, first, to describe the roles played by the HR function and examine the effects of the roles enacted by the HR function on how the workforces were managed and integrated in the post‐merger processes; second, to analyze issues influencing the changing roles played by the HR function in Nordea during the merger processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The data for this paper were collected mostly through 60 interviews with HR managers and top executives in Nordea. In addition to the interviews, access was provided to company‐internal material and consultancy reports concerning the HR function.
Findings
The paper finds that the Nordea case shows, on the one hand, typical problems in organizing and managing HR issues, but also illustrates, on the other, how the HR function is easily left with a secondary non‐strategic role in these processes.
Research limitations/implications
The paper shows that the general limitations of any single case analysis apply also to the present study.
Practical implications
The paper indicates that the communication of expectations both to and from the HR function may be particularly important in clarifying the roles the function is to play in the post‐merger process.
Originality/value
The paper offers unique insights into the roles played by the HR function in merger processes.
Details