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Communities are best able to tackle complex social problems when solutions are achieved collaboratively. Inter-organizational partnerships are strongest and provide the greatest benefit to communities when the relationships are mutually compatible. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an evidence-informed approach to identifying and forming mutually compatible collaborations among organizations responsible for promoting community well-being and carrying out community-level interventions.

A three-stage case study examines the utility of a novel measurement tool for identifying opportunities for strategic collaboration. The strategic compatibility assessment (SCA) was designed to identify inter-organizational collaborative capacities within and across sectors as a means to motivate collaborative behaviors that are essential to community change initiatives that advance the collective impact.

The findings of this paper indicate the SCA is an effective tool for fostering mutually beneficial collaborative partnerships. A high degree of content, face and practical validity was evidenced in two independent studies of SCA, and organizations using the SCA tool reported a moderate-to-high degree of collaborative behavior in a post-intervention assessment of SCA outcomes. These findings provide field-based support for the SCA to promote cross-sector collaboration for community-level interventions.

The SCA tool describes the degree of collaboration among organizations that operate within a neighborhood; identifies potential points of mutual compatibility within the network; and creates pathways for leveraging collaborative behavior to promote community capitals. The aim of this research is to examine the potential of the SCA tool to shift the non-profit sector climate away from one characterized by competition toward one rich with collaboration.

An organization’s competitive advantage can be strengthened if they are able to identify highly creative individuals. In fact, organizational success in the 21st century may depend upon a firm’s ability to identify highly creative individuals who are able to develop novel and useful ideas, which are the outcome of creativity. The authors posit that Information Technology (IT) plays a significant role in creativity.

Applying the componential view of creativity, the authors propose the theoretically-derived concept of Individual IT Creativity (IITC). Utilizing a 5-phase methodology, the authors provide a theoretically-derived and rigorously-validated measure of IITC.

This study demonstrates that IITC is manifested in individuals who (1) possess IT expertise; (2) are motivated by IT tasks and (3) exhibit IT creativity-relevant processes. The authors then develop a scale to measure IITC and examine IITC within a broader nomological network.

This study facilitates the investigation of new streams of research into IITC, including new possible outcomes in addition to IT acceptance.

This paper provided construct validity evidence for polychronicity in two related studies. Study 1 assessed the relationship between individuals’ stated polychronicity preferences and peer ratings of polychronicity in a multitrait‐multimethod design, which indicated that different raters were able to agree about an individual’s polychronicity. Additional construct validity evidence was provided by linking polychronicity to several potentially related constructs such as achievement striving, impatience/irritability, stress, and performance. In study 2, hypothesized relationships between polychronicity and both time urgency and time management behavior dimensions were supported. In addition, similar relationships between polychronicity and time urgency dimensions were identified across French and US samples. Together, these two studies provide a clearer understanding of the correlates and potential outcomes of polychronicity. Directions for future research are also discussed.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds his/her own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Can a community have a strategy? For those who work in business and read about, design and enact strategy on a daily basis, one would suspect that could have two very distinct answers to this question. The first camp would nod in agreement, and agree that almost any person or group can benefit from having a strategy, although they may not be clear on what that could look like for any given community. On the other hand, it is also easy to imagine a second group shaking their head dismissively, saying that without a clear purpose, vision and hierarchy any such idea would be like herding cats and, therefore, doomed to failure.

This paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

We argue that our understanding of how institutions matter has been undermined by a piecemeal approach to temporality in institutional analyses. This paper addresses this shortcoming in the literature. We bring temporality to the fore by conceptualizing practices, which constitute institutions, as understood, situated, and coordinated in time by temporal structures. We elaborate an integrated framework of temporal structures that consist of three types: temporal patterns, temporal conceptions, and temporal orientations – and outline how each type contributes to the reproduction of practices. We discuss the implications of this framework for sustainability initiatives and conclude by suggesting future avenues of research on the temporal foundations of institutions.

Though prior research has recognized business skills as one of the keys to successful information system development, few studies have investigated the determinants of an IS developer’s behavioral intention to learn such skills. Based on the motivation-ability-role perception-situational factors (i.e. the MARS model), the purpose of this paper is to argue that the intention of IS developers to acquire business skills is influenced by learning motivation (M), learning self-efficacy (A), change agent role perception (R), and situational support (S).

Data collected from 254 IS developers are analyzed using the partial least squares technique.

Results show that a developer’s intention to learn business skills is positively influenced by intrinsic learning motivation and both absolute and relative learning self-efficacy. Furthermore, in comparison to two other change agent roles, the advocate role leads to a significantly higher level of learning intention. Finally, work and non-work support positively influence both extrinsic and intrinsic learning motivation. Notably, non-work support has a greater impact on both absolute and relative learning self-efficacy.

Though many of the proposed hypotheses were supported, results showed several interesting and unexpected findings. First, regarding the change agent role perception, people who perceived themselves as advocates displayed a higher level of intention to learn business skills than did those who identified with the other two roles (i.e. traditionalist and facilitator). Second, when compared to extrinsic learning motivation, intrinsic learning motivation contributed more to the intention to learn business skills. Third, the study contributes to the literature by finding that, in terms of direction and magnitude, the two types of self-efficacy have similar influence on an IS developer’s behavioral intention to learn business skills. Finally, work support was found to have a positive impact on both extrinsic and intrinsic learning motivation. However, it was interesting to note that work support did not lead to significantly higher levels of relative and absolute learning self-efficacy.

The findings of this study provide several critical implications for practitioners seeking to encourage IS developers to learn b-skills. First, organizations should strongly encourage IS developers to take on the advocate role in ISD projects, and urge them to acquire business skills through formal education and on-the-job training. Second, organizations should also help IS developers understand how learning business skills is important for their future work and potential self-growth, rather than focusing solely on extrinsic benefits such as promotion or remuneration. Third, organizations can also make use of the strategies to enhance IS developer’s learning self-confidence and beliefs, which will, in turn, increase their intention to learn business skills. Finally, support from others is influential in the formulation of positive work attitudes and behaviors, so organizations will benefit when employees are well supported.

While prior research has emphasized the importance of business skill possession for IS developers during the system development process, few studies have explored the factors affecting an IS developer’s behavioral intention to learn those business skills. This study intends to bridge this gap by investigating factors that drive IS developers’ intention to learn business skills. The findings of this study are useful to researchers in the development and testing theories related to IS developer learning behavior, and to practitioners to facilitate business skill learning for their IS development staff.