bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparing the Effectiveness of Various BayesianX̄Control Charts
Authors: Tagaras George , Nikolaidis Yiannis
Published: January 2003

In an attempt to improve the procedures for statistical process control many researchers have developed and proposed a variety of adaptive control charts in the last decade. The common characteristic of those charts is that one or more of the chart parameters (sampling interval, sample size,control limits) is allowed to change during operation, taking into account current sample information. Due to their flexibility, adaptive charts are more effective than their static counterparts but they are also more complex in terms of implementation. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the economic performance of various adaptive control schemes to derive conclusions about their relative effectiveness. The analysis concentrates on Bayesian control charts used for monitoring the process mean in finite production runs. We present dynamic programming formulations and properties of the optimal solutions, which we then use to solve a number of numerical examples. The results from our comparative numerical study indicate that the chart parameter having the most positive impact on the economic performance by being adaptive is the sampling interval. It is therefore sufficient in most cases to use control charts with adaptive sampling intervals rather than other types of partially adaptive charts or the more complicated fully adaptive control charts.
Performance Analysis and Optimization of Assemble-to-Order Systems with Random Lead Times
Authors: Song Jing-Sheng , Yao David D.
Published: January 2003

We study a single-product assembly system in which the final product is assembled to order whereas the components (subassemblies) are built to stock. Customer demand follows a Poisson process, and replenishment lead times for each component are independent and identically distributed random variables. For any given base-stock policy, the exact performance analysis reduces to the evaluation of a set of M/G/∞ queues with a common arrival stream. We show that unlike the standard M/G/∞ queueing system, lead time (service time) variability degrades performance in this assembly system. We also show that it is desirable to keep higher base-stock levels for components with longer mean lead times (and lower unit costs). We derive easy-to-compute performance bounds and use them as surrogates for the performance measures in several optimization problems that seek the best trade-off between inventory and customer service. Greedy-type algorithms are developed to solve the surrogate problems. Numerical examples indicate that these algorithms provide efficient solutions and valuable insights to the optimal inventory/service trade-off in the original problems.
A Primal-Dual Decomposition-Based Interior Point Approach to Two-Stage Stochastic Linear Programming
Authors: Berkelaar Arjan , Dert Cees , Oldenkamp Bart , Zhang Shuzhong
Published: January 2003

Decision making under uncertainty is a challenge faced by many decision makers. Stochastic programming is a major tool developed to deal with optimization with uncertainties which has found applications in, e.g., finance, such as asset–liability and bond–portfolio management. Computationally, however, many models in stochastic programming remain unsolvable because of overwhelming dimensionality. For a model to be well solvable, its special structure must be explored. Most of the solution methods are based on decomposing the data. In this paper we propose a new decomposition approach for two-stage stochastic programming, based on a direct application of the path-following method combined with the homogeneous self-dual technique. Numerical experiments show that our decomposition algorithm is very efficient for solving stochastic programs. In particular, we apply our decomposition method to a two-period portfolio selection problem using options on a stock index. In this model the investor can invest in a money-market account, a stock index, and European options on this index with different maturities. We experiment with our model with market prices of options on the S&P500.
Inventory Cost Rate Functions with Nonlinear Shortage Costs
Authors: Rosling Kaj
Published: January 2003

This article considers five cost-rate models for inventory control, each summarizing the expected holding and shortage costs per period as a function of the inventory position. All models have linear holding costs and shortage cost coefficients of dimension [$/unit/period], [$/unit], and [$/period]. The latter two coeficients may be the shadow costs of a fill-rate and a ready-rate service constraint, respectively. One of the cost-rate models is a new suggestion, intended to facilitate modeling of periodic-review inventory systems.

If-and-only-if conditions on the demand process are presented for which the cost rate is quasi-convex in the inventory position. The typical sufficient condition requires that the cumulative demand distribution be logconcave, a condition that is met by most demand distributions commonly used in the inventory literature.

The results simplify optimization and extend the known optimality of (S, s) and (nQ, r) policies to cost structures common in applications and to the presence of typical service constraints. As a prerequisite for the study, a series of new monotonicity results are derived for compound renewal processes.
Finite-Size Facility Placement in the Presence of Barriers to Rectilinear Travel
Authors: Savaş Selçuk , Batta Rajan , Nagi Rakesh
Published: January 2003

We consider the placement (location and orientation) of a single finite-size (finite-area, arbitrary shape) facility in the plane under the assumption that all travel occurs according to the rectilinear (or Manhattan) metric in the presence of impenetrable barriers to travel. Facility users are distributed over a finite set of demand points. The facility serves the users via a service point (server) located on the boundary of the facility. We consider an interactive model in the sense that there is interaction between not only the facility and the users, but also among the users themselves. We identify the candidates for optimal placement(s) for a facility with a fixed orientation and then for a facility with a fixed server location. Finally, we present a heuristic for the solution of the general problem, when the location and orientation are both unknown.
Brownian Approximations of Multiclass Open-Queueing Networks
Authors: Chen Hong , Shen Xinyang , Yao David D.
Published: January 2003

We study a multiclass open-queueing network with a set of single-server stations that operate under a combination of FIFO (first-in-first out) and priority service disciplines, and are subject to random breakdowns. Assuming that the primitive processes—in particular, external arrivals, service requirements, service capacities (up and down times), and the routing mechanism—follow two-moment approximations (based on functional central limit theorems), we develop a semi-martingale reflected Brownian motion (SRBM) approximation for the performance processes such as workload, queue lengths, and sojourn times. We illustrate through numerical examples in comparison against simulation that the SRBM approximation, while not always supported by a limit theorem, exhibits good accuracy in most cases. Through analyzing special networks, we also discuss the existence of the SRBM approximation in relation to the stability and the heavy traffic limits of the networks.
Linear Facility Location in Three Dimensions—Models and Solution Methods
Authors: Brimberg Jack , Juel Henrik , Schöbel Anita
Published: January 2003

We consider the problem of locating a line or a line segment in three-dimensional space, such that the sum of distances from the facility represented by the line (segment) to a given set of points is minimized. An example is planning the drilling of a mine shaft, with access to ore deposits through horizontal tunnels connecting the deposits and the shaft. Various models of the problem are developed and analyzed, and efficient solution methods are given.
On the Effectiveness of Zero-Inventory-Ordering Policies for the Economic Lot-Sizing Model with a Class of Piecewise Linear Cost Structures
Authors: Chan Lap Mui Ann , Muriel Ana , Shen Zuo-Jun , Simchi-Levi David
Published: January 2003

We consider an economic lot-sizing problem with a special class of piecewise linear ordering costs, which we refer to as the class of modified all-unit discount cost functions. Such an ordering cost function represents transportation costs charged by many less-than truckload carriers. We show that even special cases of the lot-sizing problem are NP-hard and therefore analyze the effectiveness of easily implementable policies. In particular, we demonstrate that there exists a zero-inventory-ordering(ZIO) policy, i.e., a policy in which an order is placed only when the inventory level drops to zero, whose total inventory and ordering cost is no more than 4/3 times the optimal cost. Furthermore, if the ordering cost function does not vary over time, then the cost of the best ZIO policy is no more than 5.6/4.6 times the optimal cost. These results hold for any transportation and holding cost functions that satisfy the following properties: (i) they are non decreasing functions, and (ii) the associated cost per unit is non increasing. Finally, we report on a numerical study that shows the effectiveness of ZIO policies on a set of test problems.
When Uncertainty Is Beneficial: Interesting Implications for the Hydrocarbon Discovery Process
Authors: Gerchak Yigal , He Qi-Ming , Fuller J. David , Chungcharoen Ekachidd
Published: January 2003

Consider a basin with remaining undiscovered fields, in which both field sizes and their number are uncertain. Assuming that the probability of finding a field is increasing in its size, we show that the expected size of the first remaining field discovered, which is of particular importance, is increasing in the variability of field sizes, and results from a simulation model of exploration illustrate this trend for the first several fields discovered. We also provide simple bounds on the expected size of the first field discovered. It seems that more information (less variability) leads to less value—something unexpected. We explore and explain this seemingly counterintuitive result.
An Object-Oriented Random-Number Package with Many Long Streams and Substreams
Authors: L'Ecuyer Pierre , Simard Richard , Chen E. Jack , Kelton W. David
Published: January 2003

Multiple independent streams of random numbers are often required in simulation studies, for instance, to facilitate synchronization for variance-reduction purposes, and for making independent replications. A portable set of software utilities is described for uniform random-number generation. It provides for multiple generators (streams) running simultaneously, and each generator (stream) has its sequence of numbers partitioned into many long disjoint contiguous substreams. The basic underlying generator for this implementation is a combined multiple-recursive generator with period length of approximately 2191, proposed by L'Ecuyer (1999a). A C++ interface is described here. Portable implementations are available in C, C++, and Java as supplemental material at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/opre.50.6.1073.358
Cutting and Reuse: An Application from Automobile Component Manufacturing
Authors: Arbib Claudio , Marinelli Fabrizio , Rossi Fabrizio , Di Iorio Francesco
Published: January 2003

This paper presents a decision support tool for solving a cutting and reuse problem arising in a European plant devoted to the production of gear belts. In this production, rectangular pieces of rubberised nylon are cut using machines employing parallel blades, so as to obtain rectangular components of identical height and (possibly) different width. A component is then used to produce a set of belts with the same girth; but, if necessary, the girth required can also be obtained by sewing together two components. The major objectives of optimisation are: trim loss minimisation, quality control, workload equalisation, setup minimisation. The problem, a particular one-dimensional cutting stock with both cutting and reuse decision variables, has been formulated in terms of integer linear programming and then efficiently solved by applying standard packages within a column generation scheme. A significant improvement of performance has been obtained in terms of both economic savings and product quality. This has convinced the management to implement the model in the plant operation.
Common Mistakes in Making Value Trade-Offs
Authors: Keeney Ralph L.
Published: January 2003

Value trade-offs define how much must be gained in the achievement of one objective to compensate for a lesser achievement on a different objective. Value trade-offs that adequately express a decision maker's values are essential both for good decision making in multiple-objective contexts and for insightful analyses of multiple-objective decisions. This paper identifies and illustrates 12 important mistakes frequently made that limit one's ability to determine useful value trade-offs. It then suggests how to avoid making these mistakes. The intent is to provide practical advice for making good value trade-offs, and hence, better decisions.
Nature Reserve Site Selection to Maximize Expected Species Covered
Authors: Camm Jeffrey D. , Norman Susan K. , Polasky Stephen , Solow Andrew R.
Published: January 2003

We analyze the problem of maximizing the expected number of species in a nature reserve network, subject to a constraint on the number of sites in the network, given probabilistic information about species occurrences. The problem is a nonlinear binary integer program that is NP-hard. We develop a linear integer programming approximation that may be solved with standard integer programming software. We compare the approximation with two other approaches, an expected greedy approach and a probability hurdle approach, using probabilistic data on occurrences of terrestrial vertebrates in the state of Oregon. Results of the approximation and an exact algorithm are compared by using samples from the North American Breeding Bird Survey.
The Probabilistic Set-Covering Problem
Authors: Beraldi Patrizia , Ruszczyński Andrzej
Published: January 2003

In a probabilistic set-covering problem the right-hand side is a random binary vector and the covering constraint has to be satisfied with some prescribed probability. We analyze the structure of the set of probabilistically efficient points of binary random vectors, develop methods for their enumeration, and propose specialized branch-and-bound algorithms for probabilistic set-covering problems.
Algorithms for Radio Link Frequency Assignment: The Calma Project
Authors: Aardal Karen , Hurkens Cor , Lenstra Jan Karel , Tiourine Sergey
Published: January 2003

The radio link frequency assignment problem occurs when a network of radio links has to be established. Each link must be assigned an operating frequency from a given domain. The assignment has to satisfy certain restrictions so as to limit the interference between links. The number of frequencies used is to be minimized.

Problems of this type were investigated within the CALMA project by a consortium consisting of research groups from Delft, Eindhoven, London, Maastricht, Norwich, and Toulouse. The participants developed optimization algorithms based on branch-and-cut and constraint satisfaction, and approximation techniques including a variety of local search methods, genetic algorithms, neural networks, and potential reduction. These algorithms were tested and compared on a set of real-life instances.
D-Optimal Sequential Experiments for Generating a Simulation-Based Cycle Time-Throughput Curve
Authors: Park Sungmin , Fowler John W. , Mackulak Gerald T. , Keats J. Bert , Carlyle W. Matthew
Published: January 2003

A cycle time-throughput curve quantifies the relationship of average cycle time to throughput rates in a manufacturing system. Moreover, it indicates the asymptotic capacity of a system. Such a curve is used to characterize system performance over a range of start rates. Simulation is a fundamental method for generating such curves since simulation can handle the complexity of real systems with acceptable precision and accuracy. A simulation-based cycle time-throughput curve requires a large amount of simulation output data; the precision and accuracy of a simulated curve may be poor if there is insufficient simulation data. To overcome these problems, sequential simulation experiments based on a nonlinear D-optimal design are suggested. Using the nonlinear shape of the curve, such a design pinpoints p starting design points, and then sequentially ranks the remaining n – p candidate design points, where n is the total number of possible design points being considered. A model of a semiconductor wafer fabrication facility is used to validate the approach. The sequences of experimental runs generated can be used as references for simulation experimenters.
Managing Learning and Turnover in Employee Staffing
Authors: Gans Noah , Zhou Yong-Pin
Published: January 2003

We study the employee staffing problem in a service organization that uses employee service capacity to meet random, nonstationary service requirements. The employees experience learning and turnover on the job, and we develop a Markov Decision Process (MDP) model which explicitly represents the stochastic nature of these effects. Theoretical results show that the optimal hiring policy is of a state-dependent “hire-up-to” type, similar to an inventory “order-up-to” policy. For two important special cases, a myopic policy is optimal. We also test a linear programming (LP) based heuristic, which uses average learning and turnover behavior, in stationary environments. In most cases, the LP-based policy performs quite well, within 1% of optimality. When flexible capacity—in the form of overtime or outsourcing—is expensive or not available, however, explicit modeling of stochastic learning and turnover effects may improve performance significantly.
Sticky Aspirations: Organizational Time Perspective and Competitiveness
Authors: Greve Henrich R.
Published: January 2003

Managers evaluate the organizational performance by comparing it with historical aspiration levels, and are more likely to make strategic changes when the performance falls below the aspiration level. Historical aspiration levels can be updated with different speed, because a focus on current performance will lead to quickly adjusting aspiration levels where historical performance has low weight, while a focus on past performance will lead to slowly adjusting performance levels where the current performance has low weight. A simulation model of aspiration-level learning and strategic change under uncertainty yields the following findings: (1) Slow adjustments of an aspiration level gives higher performance across different levels of environmental uncertainty, (2) slow adjustments of aspirations will dominate in populations with different adjustment levels if low-performing organizations are removed and replaced by organizations of the form currently performing best, and (3) stronger selection leads to faster domination by slow adjusters. Empirical analysis of format changes in radio stations finds slow adjustment of aspiration levels to be prevalent, and finds slower adjustment in competitive markets, as predicted.
Behavioral Integrity: The Perceived Alignment Between Managers' Words and Deeds as a Research Focus
Authors: Simons Tony
Published: January 2003

This paper focuses on the perceived pattern of alignment between a manager's words and deeds, with special attention to promise keeping, and espoused and enacted values. It terms this perceived pattern of alignment“Behavioral Integrity.” The literatures on trust, psychological contracts, and credibility combine to suggest important consequences for this perception, and literatures on hypocrisy, social accounts, social cognition, organizational change, and management fashions suggest key antecedents to it. The resulting conceptual model highlights an issue that is problematic in today's managerial environment, has important organizational outcomes, and is relatively unstudied.
Understanding Acquisition Performance: The Role of Transfer Effects
Authors: Finkelstein Sydney , Haleblian Jerayr
Published: January 2003

Drawing on work from transfer theory at the individual unit of analysis, this study examines positive and negative transfer effects in organization acquisitions. Data from 96 organizations reveal that, consistent with theories on positive transfer of industry knowledge, similar acquisitions are positively related to acquisition performance. In addition, consistent with theory on negative transfer of past acquisition knowledge, second acquisitions underperform first acquisitions, particularly when first and second targets are from different industries. In combination, these findings suggest that the routines and practices established in prior situations transfer to new situations, and that the effect of such transfer depends on the similarity of industrial environments.
Capability Exploitation and Building in a Foreign Market: Implications for Multinational Enterprises
Authors: Luo Yadong
Published: January 2003

This study examines environmental and organizational factors that influence a multinational enterprise's (MNE's) capability exploitation and building in a complex foreign market. Analysis of data from 167 MNE subunits in the People's Republic of China suggests that capability exploitation and capability building are inversely associated with environmental complexity and industrial uncertainty. Business cultural specificity impedes capability exploitation but not capability building. While capability exploitation is associated with the use of wholly owned entry mode, capability building is linked to the joint venture mode. MNEs seeking local market expansion also deploy greater capability exploitation and building than those seeking export market growth. Our analysis further suggests that the threats of environmental hazards on capability building are reduced when the joint venture entry mode is used. An appropriate alignment of capability exploitation or building with its identified determinants is found to be associated with high performance.
How Tight Are the Ties that Bind Stakeholder Groups?
Authors: Wolfe Richard A. , Putler Daniel S.
Published: January 2003

The purpose of stakeholder management is to facilitate our understanding of increasingly unpredictable external environments, thereby facilitating our ability to manage within these environments. We argue that a powerful implicit assumption within the stakeholder literature—that priorities within role-based stakeholder groups are relatively homogeneous—blurs our understanding of organization-stakeholder relationships. Two important and related areas of concern are presented. The first involves the primacy of role in stakeholder definition. This role primacy approach to stakeholder definition is appropriate if, for a particular issue, role-based stakeholder group members have similar priorities. Individual and collective self-interest provides a rationale for this assumption. However, an important problem with this approach arises in situations in which self-interest is not the primary motivator of individuals' priorities. In these instances, subgroups within different role-based stakeholder groups might have more similar priorities than either subgroup has with others within their role-based stakeholder group. In these situations the role primacy approach impedes, rather than facilitates, an understanding of our environment. Our second concern is related to insufficient rigor in the application of stakeholder analysis. Most stakeholder studies, both theoretical and empirical, fall short in the determination of relevant interests and the subsequent subdivision of role-based stakeholder groups into rigorously defined specific stakeholder groups. Having suggested that the role primacy approach to stakeholder definition is less than ideal, we examine the extent to which, and the conditions under which, roles are likely to determine priorities, and thus, the likelihood of relatively homogeneous priorities within role-based stakeholder groups. In addition, we present an illustrative empirical analysis of stakeholder group priorities. The illustrative study is conducted within the context of intercollegiate athletics. Related literature and our empirical results indicate that role-based self-interest frequently is not a sufficient "binding tie" of stakeholder groups. Given this background, we present an alternative approach to stakeholder analysis that borrows heavily from the customer segmentation literature of marketing. Our alternative approach can accommodate heterogeneous priorities within role-based stakeholder groups.
Sustained Competitive Advantage: Temporal Dynamics and the Incidence and Persistence of Superior Economic Performance
Authors: Wiggins Robert R. , Ruefli Timothy W.
Published: January 2003

Competitive advantage is a key concept in strategic management research for a number of reasons—not the least of which is that an avowed consequence of its attainment is held to be superior economic performance. However, few prior empirical studies have directly and systematically documented the incidence or prevalence of persistent superior economic performance. The research reported here is based on empirical studies of a large number of industry samples for which longitudinal data were stratified by levels of performance using a new methodology and then analyzed in terms of their dynamics. This new stratification technique was used in lieu of autoregressive methods employed in prior studies of performance persistence to allow for a true outlier analysis because persistent superior economic performance both has been argued theoretically, and found empirically, to be rare. Detailed results from a sample of 6,772 firms in 40 industries over 25 years are presented to illustrate the findings that: (1) while some firms do exhibit superior economic performance, (2) only a very small minority do so, and (3) the phenomenon very rarely persists for long time frames. These results, while not providing direct support for a particular extant strategic management or economic theory concerning firm performance, are most consonant with the resource-based view of the firm and have implications for significant aspects of other received strategic management and economic theories.
A Simulation-Based Approach to Understanding the Dynamics of Innovation Implementation
Authors: Repenning Nelson P.
Published: January 2003

The history of management practice is filled with innovations that failed to live up to the promise suggested by their early success. A paradox currently facing organizational theory is that the failure of these innovations often cannot be attributed to an intrinsic lack of efficacy. To resolve this paradox, in this paper I study the process of innovation implementation. Working from existing theoretical frameworks, I synthesize a model that describes the process through which participants in an organization develop commitment to using a newly adopted innovation. I then translate that framework into a formal model and analyze it using computer simulation. The analysis suggests three new constructs—reversion, regeneration, and the motivation threshold—characterizing the dynamics of implementation. Taken together, the constructs provide an internally consistent theory of how seemingly rational decision rules can create the apparent paradox of innovations that generate early results but fail to produce sustained benefit.
The Local and Variegated Nature of Learning in Organizations: A Group-Level Perspective
Authors: Edmondson Amy C.
Published: January 2003

This paper considers the role of team learning in organizational learning. I propose that a group-level perspective provides new insight into how organizational learning is impeded, hindering effective change in response to external pressures. In contrast to previous theoretical perspectives, I suggest that organizational learning is local, interpersonal, and variegated. I present data from an exploratory study of learning processes in 12 organizational teams engaged in activities ranging from strategic planning to hands-on manufacturing of products. These qualitative data are used to investigate two components of the collective learning process—reflection to gain insight and action to produce change—and to explore how teams allow an organization to engage in both radical and incremental learning, as needed in a changing and competitive environment. I find that team members' perceptions of power and interpersonal risk affect the quality of team reflection, which has implications for their team's and their organization's ability to change.
Are Firms Superior to Alliances and Markets? An Empirical Test of Cross-Border Knowledge Building
Authors: Almeida Paul , Song Jaeyong , Grant Robert M.
Published: January 2003

Are multinational corporations (MNCs) superior to strategic alliances and markets in facilitating the flow of knowledge across borders? If so, what are the sources of this superiority? Despite their central importance to the theory and practice of international management, these questions have not been directly tested. Our paper seeks to address this gap in empirical research.

Drawing upon recent research on multinational corporations and the knowledge-based view of the firm, we develop hypotheses regarding the relative superiority of alternative institutional arrangements as regards cross-border knowledge building. Analysis of patent citations by semiconductor companies points to the superiority of multinational firms over both alliances and markets in cross-border knowledge building. Interviews with engineers and managers in MNCs point to the intertwining of codified and tacit knowledge and; therefore, the need for both formal and informal mechanisms for successful knowledge building. Our findings suggest that the superiority of MNCs stems from the firms' ability to use multiple mechanisms of knowledge transfer flexibly and simultaneously to move, integrate, and develop technical knowledge. Our research, therefore, suggests that the challenge of knowledge management for MNCs extends beyond the creation of international information systems, to the design of organizational structures, systems, and culture capable of supporting the flow of knowledge.
Agency and Institutions: National Divergences in Diversification Behavior
Authors: Kogut Bruce , Walker Gordon , Anand Jaideep
Published: January 2003

A fundamental theme in comparative crosscountry research is the convergence of organizational forms in diverse national settings. In this paper we examine a special instance of this theme: the pattern of diversification across industries. A common argument is that technical and market forces compel firms to adopt “coherent” strategies of diversification. This thesis implies that there should be a convergence in the patterns of interindustry diversification in all market-based economies. An institutional approach offers an alternative view. From this perspective, when diversification across industries is seen as subject to nation-specific governance and resource constraints, countries should vary widely in their interindustry diversification patterns.

To test these alternative views, we analyze the diversification patterns of large corporations from five countries: France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Our results do not support the hypothesis of a common pattern of diversification across countries, and thus reject the technological thesis. By comparing two case studies in which entrepreneurs attempted to diversify by acquisition in France and the United States, we examine how institutions and agents interact to permit different diversification patterns to arise in diverse national environments.

The statistical results and case studies imply that, given the fixity of certain institutions, even if countries are subject to globalization, convergence in diversification patterns is not necessary. The results cast doubt upon the merits of stylizing the debate as a choice between technical and institutional theories of organizational choice. Rather, the study points to the importance of two theoretical statements. The first is to inquire under what conditions there is likely to be consensus on a given “means-end” rationality for a specific managerial decision (e.g., diversification). The second is to understand the structural opportunities available to entrepreneurs for diversifying through acquisitions. Iterating between these cognitive and structural considerations shifts the focus from the false debate between technological and institutional arguments to the study of entrepreneurship situated in historically given national environments.
Social Structure of “Coopetition” Within a Multiunit Organization: Coordination, Competition, and Intraorganizational Knowledge Sharing
Authors: Tsai Wenpin
Published: January 2003

Drawing on a social network perspective of organizational coordination, this paper investigates the effectiveness of coordination mechanisms on knowledge sharing in intraorganizational networks that consist of both collaborative and competitive ties among organizational units. Internal knowledge sharing within a multiunit organization requires formal hierarchical structure and informal lateral relations as coordination mechanisms. Using sociometric techniques, this paper analyzes how formal hierarchical structure and informal lateral relations influence knowledge sharing and how interunit competition moderates the association between such coordination mechanisms and knowledge sharing in a large, multiunit company. Results show that formal hierarchical structure, in the form of centralization, has a significant negative effect on knowledge sharing, and informal lateral relations, in the form of social interaction, have a significant positive effect on knowledge sharing among units that compete with each other for market share, but not among units that compete with each other for internal resources.
Exploring the Role of Information Technology in Organizational Downsizing: A Tale of Two American Cities
Authors: Pinsonneault Alain , Kraemer Kenneth L.
Published: January 2003

This study explores the role information technology (IT) plays in organizational downsizing by studying two medium-sized American cities over a period of 10 years (1985-1995). Data were collected through 73 interviews, a questionnaire, and numerous documents. Four main findings emerged from the case studies. First, IT was found to facilitate organizational downsizing, but not to cause it. New City invested heavily in state-of-the-art IT over the years and more successfully downsized the organization than Old City, which lagged behind in IT investment and made no serious attempts to use IT as a tool to support strategic actions. Second, adverse environmental conditions triggered downsizing in both cities and determined the change strategies that managers used. When environmental pressures were mild (1985-1990), managers favored a convergent change strategy that resulted in limited downsizing efforts and small personnel reductions. In contrast, when environmental pressures were strong (1990-1995), managers of both cities engaged in strategic reorientation and in downsizing efforts that led to larger personnel reductions. Third, the role IT played in organizational downsizing varied according to the change strategy. IT was used to facilitate work redesign in a convergent change strategy and to facilitate more significant structural and work redesign in strategic reorientation. Fourth, more integrated and better use of IT allowed managers of New City to downsize more rationally and efficiently. It facilitated the transfer of personnel within departments, from middle management to the operations level, and across departments, from internally oriented to customer-oriented personnel. In doing so, managers of New City minimized operating costs while maintaining the same level of services. In contrast, IT in Old City did not facilitate such an agenda and managers downsized more superficially across the board, in all departments. Differences in IT consequences in the two cities are explained using the theory of slack resources in organizations.
A Stakeholder Model of Organizational Leadership
Authors: Schneider Marguerite
Published: January 2003

Organizations are evolving from the bureaucratic form based upon hierarchy to the new-form or radix organization that has the value chain as its relatively fluid foundation. This article explores the relationship between the radix organization and leadership, viewed through an organization-environment coevolution framework. It explicates the changes in the leader–s role-sets and relationships brought about with the evolution from bureaucracy to the radix organization, developing a model of leadership that is referred to as the stakeholder model of organizational leadership. Stakeholder theory provides the appropriate theoretical basis for this model, as it offers the flexibility to accommodate various leader relationships. The stakeholder model of organizational leadership helps to predict leader effectiveness in organizations characterized by fuzzy organizational boundaries, flattened hierarchies, and work relationships sometimes brought about through contracts instead of employment.
Not Just a Formality: Pay System Formalization and Sex-Related Earnings Effects
Authors: Elvira Marta M. , Graham Mary E.
Published: January 2003

Drawing on neoclassical economic, internal labor market, and devaluation theories, we examine how the sex composition of jobs and the sex of individual workers affect earnings, depending upon the formalization of the pay type. Using personnel data for over 8,000 employees, we confirm the existence of a negative relationship between earnings and the proportion female in a job. We also find that for less-formalized pay types (cash incentive bonuses), sex-composition and individual-sex effects are larger than for more formalized pay (merit raises and base salary). Together, these findings support devaluation explanations, suggest that incentive bonuses may widen the earnings gap between women and men, and have implications for the design of pay structures in organizations.
Members' Identification with Multiple-Identity Organizations
Authors: Foreman Peter , Whetten David A.
Published: January 2003

In the field of organizational identity, theory development has far outpaced theory testing. Specifically, several researchers have proposed identity-based models of organizational identification but few have operationalized and tested them. Furthermore, virtually no research has explored how members identify with multiple-identity organizations. This study addresses these gaps and makes three specific contributions to identity theory. First, we operationalize and test a model in which a member's organizational identification is conceptualized in terms of an identity comparison process, i.e., a cognitive comparison between what a member perceives the identity to be and what they think it should be. Second, we extend current thinking by operationalizing organizational identification in terms of multiple and competing identities. Third, as a theory-building exercise, we explore the possibility that a similar identity comparison process operates at the organizational form level of analysis, affecting members' identification with the encompassing form or social institution. We test our model via a survey of members of rural cooperatives—a prototypical ‘hybrid’ identity organizational form, embodying elements of both ‘business’ and ‘family’ identities. Results of the analyses show that organizational identity congruence has a significant effect on member commitment, and form-level identity congruence has significant effects on both cognitive and pragmatic legitimacy, lending support for the use of identity as a multilevel construct. These results provide empirical support for current identity-based models of organizational identification and expand their generalizability to include multiple-identity organizations.
Building on the Past: Enacting Established Personal Identities in a New Work Setting
Authors: Beyer Janice M. , Hannah David R.
Published: January 2003

A qualitative, longitudinal study of two groups of experienced professionals beginning work in a research organization provided insights into how newcomers with work experience adjust to and become assimilated into new jobs and work settings. Multiple methods were used to collect data on the newcomers' work experiences before and after assuming their new jobs. Repeated interviews with them during their first six months in their new jobs revealed that their past experience affected their assimilation in three primary ways: through the personal identities they had developed and carried with them, through the know-how they had acquired in past jobs and how well it fit with their new jobs, and through the personal tactics they had learned for managing their work and managing change. In general, newcomers with diverse experience adjusted better than those with narrow experience because (1) they found it easier to enact dimensions of their personal identities that allowed them to function effectively in the new situation, (2) they more easily found a fit between know-how gleaned from that experience and their new jobs, and (3) they could draw on a wider variety of personal tactics that they had previously used to help them adjust.
Capitalizing on Paradox: The Role of Language in Transforming Organizational Identities
Authors: Fiol C. Marlene
Published: January 2003

A strongly identified workforce presents a paradox during times of radical organizational change. Though it may bind people together behind the change initiative, strong organizationwide identification often blinds and potentially blocks the view of new possibilities. Prior research on identity change has tended to either ignore the paradox or resolve it by advocating some middle ground such as hybrid organizational identities or group-level identifications. This paper presents an identity transformation model that capitalizes on the paradoxical tensions over time by unpacking the processes by which individual and organizational levels of identity interact. It operationalizes the model by suggesting linguistic markers that describe the different stages of the process and rhetorical techniques that leaders can use to guide people through the process. To illustrate the model and its application, the paper highlights moments across a 10-year period at Tech-Co, a high-technology company undergoing a significant identity transformation.
The Choice Between Joint Venture and Wholly Owned Subsidiary: An Institutional Perspective
Authors: Yiu Daphne , Makino Shige
Published: January 2003

The study of foreign entry-mode choice has been based almost exclusively on transaction-cost theory. This theory focuses mainly on the impacts of firm- and industry-specific factors on the choice of entry mode, taking the effects of country-specific contextual factors as constant or less important. In contrast, the institutional perspective emphasizes the importance of the influence of both institutional forces embedded in national environments and decision makers' cognitive constraints on the founding conditions of new ventures. Still, this theoretical perspective has yet to provide insights into how institutional factors influence the choice of foreign entry mode. The primary goal of the present study is to provide a unifying theoretical framework to examine this relationship. We synthesize transaction-cost and institutional perspectives to analyze a sample of 364 Japanese overseas subsidiaries. Our results support the notion that institutional theory provides incremental explanatory power of foreign entry-mode choice in addition to transaction-cost theory. In particular, we found that multinational enterprises tend to conform to the regulative settings of the host-country environment, the normative pressures imposed by the local people, and the cognitive mindsets as bounded by counterparts' and multinational enterprises' own entry patterns when making foreign entry-mode choices.
It's About Time: Temporal Structuring in Organizations
Authors: Orlikowski Wanda J. , Yates JoAnne
Published: January 2003

In this paper we propose the notion of temporal structuring as a way of understanding and studying time as an enacted phenomenon within organizations. We suggest that through their everyday action, actors produce and reproduce a variety of temporal structures which in turn shape the temporal rhythm and form of their ongoing practices. A focus on temporal structuring, combined with a practice perspective, allows us to bridge the subjective-objective dichotomy that underlies much of the existing research on time in organizations. After developing the notion of temporal structuring, we illustrate its use in the context of a prior empirical study. We conclude by outlining some implications of temporal structuring for organizational research on time.
Interorganizational Routines and Performance in Strategic Alliances
Authors: Zollo Maurizio , Reuer Jeffrey J. , Singh Harbir
Published: January 2003

This paper applies evolutionary economics reasoning to the strategic alliance context and examines whether and how routinization processes at the partnering-firm level influence the performance of the cooperative agreement. In doing so, it introduces the concept of interorganizational routines, defined as stable patterns of interaction among two firms developed and refined in the course of repeated collaborations, and suggests that partner-specific, technology-specific, and general experience accumulation at the partnering-firm level influence the extent to which alliances result in knowledge accumulation, create new growth opportunities, and enable partnering firms to achieve their strategic objectives. We also consider how governance design choices at the transaction level shape the effectiveness of interorganizational routizination processes. Based on a sample of 145 biotechnology alliances, we find that only partner-specific experience has a positive impact on alliance performance, and that this effect is stronger in the absence of equity-based governance mechanisms. We interpret these results to support the role of interfirm coordination and cooperation routines in enhancing the effectiveness of collaborative agreements.