bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pricing and Replenishment Strategies in a Distribution System with Competing Retailers
Authors: Bernstein Fernando , Federgruen Awi
Published: December 2003

We consider a two-echelon distribution system in which a supplier distributes a product to N competing retailers. The demand rate of each retailer depends on all of the retailers' prices, or alternatively, the price each retailer can charge for its product depends on the sales volumes targeted by all of the retailers. The supplier replenishes his inventory through orders (purchases, production runs) from an outside source with ample supply. From there, the goods are transferred to the retailers. Carrying costs are incurred for all inventories, while all supplier orders and transfers to the retailers incur fixed and variable costs. We first characterize the solution to the centralized system in which all retailer prices, sales quantities and the complete chain-wide replenishment strategy are determined by a single decision maker, e.g., the supplier. We then proceed with the decentralized system. Here, the supplier chooses a wholesale pricing scheme; the retailers respond to this scheme by each choosing all of his policy variables. We distinguish systematically between the case of Bertrand and Cournot competition. In the former, each retailer independently chooses his retail price as well as a replenishment strategy; in the latter, each of the retailers selects a sales target, again in combination with a replenishment strategy. Finally, the supplier responds to the retailers' choices by implementing his own cost-minimizing replenishment strategy. We construct a perfect coordination mechanism. In the case of Cournot competition, the mechanism applies a discount from a basic wholesale price, based on the sum of three discount components, which are a function of (1) annual sales volume, (2) order quantity, and (3) order frequency, respectively.
A Procedure to Find Discrete Representations of the Efficient Set with Specified Coverage Errors
Authors: Sayin Serpil
Published: December 2003

An important issue in multiple objective mathematical programming is finding discrete representations of the efficient set. Because discrete points can be directly studied by a decision maker, a discrete representation can serve as the solution to the multiple objective problem at hand. However, the discrete representation must be of acceptable quality to ensure that a most–preferred solution identified by a decision maker is of acceptable quality. Recently, attributes for measuring the quality of discrete representations have been proposed. Although discrete representations can be obtained in many different ways, and their quality evaluated afterwards, the ultimate goal should be to find such representations so as to conform to specified quality standards. We present a method that can find discrete representations of the efficient set according to a specified level of quality. The procedure is based on mathematical programming tools and can be implemented relatively easily when the domain of interest is a polyhedron. The nonconvexity of the efficient set is dealt with through a coordinated decomposition approach. We conduct computational experiments and report results.
An Approximation Scheme for Stochastic Integer Programs Arising in Capacity Expansion
Authors: Ahmed Shabbir , Sahinidis Nikolaos V.
Published: December 2003

Planning for capacity expansion forms a crucial part of the strategic-level decision making in many applications. Consequently, quantitative models for economic capacity expansion planning have been the subject of intense research. However, much of the work in this area has been restricted to linear cost models and/or limited degree of uncertainty to make the problems analytically tractable. This paper addresses a stochastic capacity expansion problem where the economies-of-scale in expansion costs are handled via fixed-charge cost functions, and forecast uncertainties in the problem parameters are explicitly considered by specifying a set of scenarios. The resulting formulation is a multistage stochastic integer program. We develop a fast, linear-programming-based, approximation scheme that exploits the decomposable structure and is guaranteed to produce feasible solutions for this problem. Through a probabilistic analysis, we prove that the optimality gap of the heuristic solution almost surely vanishes asymptotically as the problem size increases.
Restaurant Revenue Management
Authors: Bertsimas Dimitris , Shioda Romy
Published: December 2003

We develop two classes of optimization models to maximize revenue in a restaurant (while controlling average waiting time as well as perceived fairness) that may violate the first-come-first-serve (FCFS) rule. In the first class of models, we use integer programming, stochastic programming, and approximate dynamic programming methods to decide dynamically when, if at all, to seat an incoming party during the day of operation of a restaurant that does not accept reservations. In a computational study with simulated data, we show that optimization-based methods enhance revenue relative to the industry practice of FCFS by 0.11% to 2.22% for low-load factors, by 0.16% to 2.96% for medium-load factors, and by 7.65% to 13.13% for high-load factors, without increasing, and occasionally decreasing, waiting times compared to FCFS. The second class of models addresses reservations. We propose a two-step procedure: Use a stochastic gradient algorithm to decide a priori how many reservations to accept for a future time and then use approximate dynamic programming methods to decide dynamically when, if at all, to seat an incoming party during the day of operation. In a computational study involving real data from an Atlanta restaurant, the reservation model improves revenue relative to FCFS by 3.5% for low-load factors and 7.3% for high-load factors.
Broadcast Scheduling for Mobile Advertising
Authors: Reyck Bert de , Degraeve Zeger
Published: December 2003

We describe a broadcast scheduling system developed for a precision marketing firm specialized in location-sensitive permission-based mobile advertising using SMS (Short Message Service) text messaging. Text messages containing advertisements were sent to registered customers when they were shopping in one of two shopping centers in the vicinity of London. The ads typically contained a limited-time promotional offer. The company's problem was deciding which ads to send out to which customers at what particular time, given a limited capacity of broadcast time slots, while maximizing customer response and revenues from retailers paying for each ad broadcast. We solved the problem using integer programming with an interface in Microsoft Excel. The system significantly reduced the time required to schedule the broadcasts, and resulted both in increased customer response and revenues.
Worst-Case Value-At-Risk and Robust Portfolio Optimization: A Conic Programming Approach
Authors: Ghaoui Laurent El , Oks Maksim , Oustry Francois
Published: December 2003

Classical formulations of the portfolio optimization problem, such as mean-variance or Value-at-Risk (VaR) approaches, can result in a portfolio extremely sensitive to errors in the data, such as mean and covariance matrix of the returns. In this paper we propose a way to alleviate this problem in a tractable manner. We assume that the distribution of returns is partially known, in the sense that only bounds on the mean and covariance matrix are available. We define the worst-case Value-at-Risk as the largest VaR attainable, given the partial information on the returns' distribution. We consider the problem of computing and optimizing the worst-case VaR, and we show that these problems can be cast as semidefinite programs. We extend our approach to various other partial information on the distribution, including uncertainty in factor models, support constraints, and relative entropy information.
Tight Mip Formulation for Multi-Item Discrete Lot-Sizing Problems
Authors: Miller Andrew J. , Wolsey Laurence A.
Published: December 2003

This paper discusses mixed-integer programming formulations of variants of the discrete lot-sizing problem. Our approach is to identify simple mixed-integer sets within these models and to apply tight formulations for these sets. This allows us to define integral linear programming formulations for the discrete lot-sizing problem in which backlogging and/or safety stocks are present, and to give extended formulations for other cases. The results help significantly to solve test cases arising from an industrial application motivating this research.
Supply Chain Scheduling: Batching and Delivery
Authors: Hall Nicholas G. , Potts Chris N.
Published: December 2003

Although the supply chain management literature is extensive, the benefits and challenges of coordinated decision making within supply chain scheduling models have not been studied. We consider a variety of scheduling, batching, and delivery problems that arise in an arborescent supply chain where a supplier makes deliveries to several manufacturers, who also make deliveries to customers. The objective is to minimize the overall scheduling and delivery cost, using several classical scheduling objectives. This is achieved by scheduling the jobs and forming them into batches, each of which is delivered to the next downstream stage as a single shipment. For each problem, we either derive an efficient dynamic programming algorithm that minimizes the total cost of the supplier or that of the manufacturer, or we demonstrate that this problem is intractable. The total system cost minimization problem of a supplier and manufacturer who make cooperative decisions is also considered. We demonstrate that cooperation between a supplier and a manufacturer may reduce the total system cost by at least 20%, or 25%, or by up to 100%, depending upon the scheduling objective. Finally, we identify incentives and mechanisms for this cooperation, thereby demonstrating that our work has practical implications for improving the efficiency of supply chains.
Operations and Shipment Scheduling of a Batch on a Flexible Machine
Authors: Iravani Seyed M. R. , Buzacott John A. , Posner Morton J. M.
Published: December 2003

We consider processing and shipment scheduling of a batch of size M jobs on a flexible (multifunctional) machine. All jobs in the batch require the same sequence ofNoperations on the machine. Costs are incurred in the forms of holding costs of jobs waiting for the next operation, setup costs whenever the machine is set up for a new operation, and shipment cost whenever the whole batch or a part of it is shipped to the customer. Using a dynamic programming formulation of the problem, we first show how the problem size increases inMandN. Then, by focusing on the properties of some classes of batch-splitting policies, a heuristic algorithm is presented that generates suboptimal policies. Some numerical results are provided which show that the algorithm performs very well.
Market Offering Strategies for Hydroelectric Generators
Authors: Pritchard G. , Zakeri G.
Published: December 2003

This paper considers the problem of offering electricity produced by a series of hydroelectric reservoirs to a pool-type central market. The market model is a simplified version of the New Zealand wholesale electricity market, with prices modelled by a first-order Markov process. The demand for electricity is not explicitly modelled. The hydroelectric generator is assumed to be unable to influence market prices (i.e., to be a price-taker). We discuss the resulting stochastic dynamic program, methods for its solution, and the explicit optimal offer curves that it produces. It is shown that the utility function is monotone increasing with respect to both reservoir level and current price; however, the optimal offer curves need not be monotone. This is shown by example. Numerical results are provided.
Drift or Shift? Continuity, Change, and International Variation in Knowledge Production in OR/MS
Authors: Denizel Meltem , Usdiken Behlul , Tuncalp Deniz
Published: December 2003

With the aim of contributing to the debate around OR/MS as a discipline, this study provides a historical comparative investigation of publicly available knowledge production in the field. The empirical investigation is based on a content analysis of 300 randomly selected articles from six major journals in the field. We have found: (1) since the late 1950s to the present day there has been no significant change in the types of published research in OR/MS in North America; (2) from the late 1950s to the present day, there have been significant differences in types of published research in OR/MS internationally. The imputed imbalance between theory and applications in published work had already occurred in the early stages of the development of OR/MS in North America and has since remained very much the same. Furthermore, research in the United Kingdom has been distinctly different from that dominant in North America and elsewhere. There are also indications that outside North America and the United Kingdom there is an emerging turn towards applications-oriented research. Over the last two or three decades there has been a significant increase overall in the share of articles published by academic authors.
Explicit Solutions of Optimization Models and Differential Games with Nonsmooth (Asymmetric) Reference-Price Effects
Authors: Fibich Gadi , Gavious Arieh , Lowengart Oded
Published: December 2003

Models in marketing with asymmetric reference effects lead to nonsmooth optimization problems and differential games which cannot be solved using standard methods. In this study, we introduce a new method for calculating explicitly optimal strategies, open-loop equilibria, and closed-loop equilibria of such nonsmooth problems. Application of this method to the case of asymmetric reference-price effects with loss-aversive consumers leads to the following conclusions: (1) When the planning horizon is infinite, after an introductory stage the optimal price stabilizes at a steady-state price, which is slightly below the optimal price in the absence of reference-price effects. (2) The optimal strategy is the same as in the symmetric case, but with the loss parameter determined by the initial reference-price. (3) Competition does not change the qualitative behavior of the optimal strategy. (4) Adopting an appropriate constant-price strategy results in a minute decline in profits.
A Dynamic Model for Inventory Lot Sizing and Outbound Shipment Scheduling at a Third-Party Warehouse
Authors: Lee Chung-Yee , Çetinkaya Sila , Jaruphongsa Wikrom
Published: December 2003

This paper presents a model for computing the parameters of an integrated inventory replenishment and outbound dispatch scheduling policy under dynamic demand considerations. The optimal policy parameters specify (i) how often and in what quantities to replenish the stock at an upstream supply chain member (e.g., a warehouse), and (ii) how often to release an outbound shipment to a downstream supply-chain member (e.g., a distribution center). The problem is represented using a two-echelon dynamic lot-sizing model with pre-shipping and late-shipping considerations, where outbound cargo capacity constraints are considered via a stepwise cargo cost function. Although the paper is motivated by a third-party warehousing application, the underlying model is applicable in the general context of coordinating inventory and outbound transportation decisions. The problem is challenging due to the stepwise cargo cost structure modeled. The paper presents several structural properties of the problem and develops a polynomial time algorithm for computing the optimal solution.
The Ordered Open-End Bin-Packing Problem
Authors: Yang Jian , Leung Joseph Y.-T.
Published: December 2003

We study a variant of the classical bin-packing problem, the ordered open-end bin-packing problem, where first a bin can be filled to a level above 1 as long as the removal of the last piece brings the bin's level back to below 1 and second, the last piece is the largest-indexed piece among all pieces in the bin. We conduct both worst-case and average-case analyses for the problem. In the worst-case analysis, pieces of size 1 play distinct roles and render the analysis more difficult with their presence. We give lower bounds for the performance ratio of any online algorithm for cases both with and without the 1-pieces, and in the case without the 1-pieces, identify an online algorithm whose worst-case performance ratio is less than 2 and an offline algorithm with good worst-case performance. In the average-case analysis, assuming that pieces are independently and uniformly drawn from [0, 1], we find the optimal asymptotic average ratio of the number of occupied bins over the number of pieces. We also introduce other online algorithms and conduct simulation study on the average-case performances of all the proposed algorithms.
An Exact Algorithm for the Two-Constraint 0–1 Knapsack Problem
Authors: Martello Silvano , Toth Paolo
Published: December 2003

We consider a knapsack problem in which each item has two types of weight and the container has two types of capacity. We discuss the surrogate, Lagrangian, and continuous relaxations, and give an effective method to determine the optimal Lagrangian and surrogate multipliers associated with the continuous relaxation of the problem. These results are used to obtain an exact branch-and-bound algorithm, which also includes heuristic procedures and a reduction technique. The performance of bounds and algorithms is evaluated through extensive computational experiments.
Corporate Championing and Antagonism as Forms of Political Behavior: An R&D Perspective
Authors: Markham Stephen K.
Published: December 2003

Individuals in general management, marketing, production, and customer service undertake corporate political roles of championing and antagonism in support of or opposition to research and development (R&D) projects. R&D personnel see these champions acting politically because they favor projects that align more closely with the firm's business interests than with its specific technologies. Champions find resources and protect their projects from termination; however, they are equally likely to support high and low performing projects. These results contradict many of the commonly held beliefs in research literature about champions. Antagonists, in a role of friendly opposition, appear to react to the presence of champions and do not appear to affect resources or project termination.
Bridging Space Over Time: Global Virtual Team Dynamics and Effectiveness
Authors: Maznevski Martha L. , Chudoba Katherine M.
Published: December 2003

Global virtual teams are internationally distributed groups of people with an organizational mandate to make or implement decisions with international components and implications. They are typically assigned tasks that are strategically important and highly complex. They rarely meet in person, conducting almost all of their interaction and decision making using communications technology. Although they play an increasingly important role in multinational organizations, little systematic is known about their dynamics or effectiveness. This study built a grounded theory of global virtual team processes and performance over time. We built a template based on Adaptive Structuration Theory (DeSanctis and Poole 1994) to guide our research, and we conducted a case study, observing three global virtual teams over a period of 21 months. Data were gathered using multiple methods, and qualitative methods were used to analyze them and generate a theory of global virtual team dynamics and effectiveness. First, we propose that effective global virtual team interaction comprises a series of communication incidents, each configured by aspects of the team's structural and process elements. Effective outcomes were associated with a fit among an interaction incident's form, decision process, and complexity. Second, effective global virtual teams sequence these incidents to generate a deep rhythm of regular face-to-face incidents interspersed with less intensive, shorter incidents using various media. These two insights are discussed with respect to other literature and are elaborated upon in several propositions. Implications for research and practice are also outlined.
Race-Related Differences in Promotions and Support: Underlying Effects of Human and Social Capital
Authors: James Erika Hayes
Published: December 2003

This study examined two alternative explanations for disparity in reported work-related experiences and outcomes between black and white managers: treatment discrimination because of race, and differences in human and social capital. Education and training, representing human capital, and racial similarity of network ties and proportion of strong ties, representing social capital, were used to predict whether human and social capital would mediate the relationship between race and the work-related experiences and outcomes under investigation.

Results of a survey of black and white managers in a Fortune 500 financial services firm indicate that black managers reported a slower rate of promotion and less psychosocial support than white managers. Race had both a direct and an indirect effect on these outcomes. Participation in company training significantly predicted reported promotion rates, but race remained a significant predictor. Additional analysis revealed that race moderates the relationship between human capital and promotion rate and suggests a type of treatment discrimination against blacks. Contrary to predictions, social capital did not predict promotion rate, although social capital mediated the relationship between race and psychosocial support. Black managers reported having less social capital than whites, and social capital, in turn, was positively related to the receipt of psychosocial support. No differences were found between blacks and whites in their receipt of career-related support.
Motivation, Knowledge Transfer, and Organizational Forms
Authors: Osterloh Margit , Frey Bruno S.
Published: December 2003

Employees are motivated intrinsically as well as extrinsically. Intrinsic motivation is crucial when tacit knowledge in and between teams must be transferred. Organizational forms enable different kinds of motivation and have different capacities to generate and transfer tacit knowledge. Since knowledge generation and transfer are essential for a firm's sustainable competitive advantage, we ask specifically what kinds of motivation are needed to generate and transfer tacit knowledge, as opposed to explicit knowledge.
Relationality in Organizational Research: ExploringThe Space Between
Authors: Bradbury Hilary , Lichtenstein Benyamin M. Bergmann
Published: December 2003

Relationships and interactions should be an important focus of attention in organizational scholarship. In contrast to traditional research approaches that focus on independent, discrete entities, methodologies oriented to relational concerns in organizations allow researchers to study the intersubjective and interdependent nature of organizational life. In addition to providing historical and philosophical bases for a perspective which emphasizes relationality, we review the growing number of methods that capture relational aspects of organizational life. Examples include network analysis, and “complexity” modeling, correspondence analysis and participatory research, case study methods, the learning history approach, psychometrics, and action inquiry. Our goal is to establish a “palette” of methodological choices for the researcher interested in operationalizing a relational perspective within organizational research/practice.
Top Management Team Heterogeneity: Personality, Power, and Proxies
Authors: Pitcher Patricia , Smith Anne D.
Published: December 2003

This article reports partial results of an eight-year field study of the Top Management Teams (TMTs) of a global multidivisional financial services corporation and compares those results with large-sample work in the TMT literature. In particular, it investigates the operationalization of TMT cognitive diversity by the proxies of age, team tenure, industry experience, and functional background heterogeneity most often used in statistical work, and compares those operationalizations with cognitive diversity itself. In addition to highlighting which proxies seemed to most closely approximate cognitive diversity and why, it demonstrates the confounding impact of power on all operationalizations. A comparison of the field results with three representative studies with respect to the operationalization of the dependent variables of diversification, innovation, and performance helps to explain why previous TMT heterogeneity research has often produced inconsistent results or nonfindings. It offers some suggestions that should improve the robustness of statistical research and demonstrates the reciprocal usefulness of case and large-sample research.
Technological Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Use of Organizational Control in Managing Research and Development
Authors: Cardinal Laura B.
Published: December 2003

The literature on the management of R&D professionals strongly advocates managing R&D projects on a project-by-project basis. This literature suggests that projects should be managed differently depending upon project characteristics such as risk, ambiguity, and nonroutineness. While the primary emphasis of the R&D professional literature has been on project teams, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of organization-wide controls on innovativeness at the firm level.

In a sample of 57 pharmaceutical firms, this study investigates the influence of organizational controls on the research and development activities of R&D professionals. This study is one of a handful of studies that simultaneously explores the use of input, behavior, and output controls. Two categories of innovation are considered as dependent variables: incremental innovations in the form of drug enhancements and radical innovations in the form of new drugs. Contrary to existing theory and hypotheses developed in this study, the results show that input, behavior, and output control enhanced radical innovation, and input and output controls enhanced incremental innovation.

These results challenge several important features of existing models of R&D management and diverge from common beliefs about R&D management at the project level. While it is commonly accepted that incremental and radical innovation should be managed differently, the results of this study suggest otherwise. In this instance, the management of R&D activities may be considered more similar than previously thought.
Interfirm Rivalry and Managerial Complexity: A Conceptual Framework of Alliance Failure
Authors: Park Seung Ho , Ungson Gerardo R.
Published: December 2003

Empirical research indicates that more than half of strategic alliances fail, and the outcomes of alliance failure can be devastating. Despite the increased concern about managing strategic alliances, the field still lacks a theoretical framework to describe the conditions and dynamics leading to the failure of strategic alliances. This paper attempts to distill, derive, and integrate theories across different disciplines into a unified framework that offers a better understanding of alliance failure. The conceptual framework focuses on two primary sources of alliance failure: interfirm rivalry and managerial complexity. We propose that strategic alliances fail because of the opportunistic hazards as each partner tries to maximize its own individual interests instead of collaborative interests. Also, strategic alliances fail because of the difficulties in coordinating two independent firms (i.e., coordination costs), and in aligning operations at the alliance level with parent firms’ long-term goals (i.e., agency costs). The paper extends the theoretical framework by looking into a process model of alliance development and failure.
The Assimilation of Knowledge Platforms in Organizations: An Empirical Investigation
Authors: Purvis Russell L. , Sambamurthy V. , Zmud Robert W.
Published: December 2003

The ability to integrate dispersed pockets of expertise and institute an organizational repository of knowledge is considered to be vital for sustained effectiveness in contemporary business environments. Information technologies provide cost-effective functionalities for building knowledge platforms through systematic acquisition, storage, and dissemination of organizational knowledge. However, in order to gain the value-adding potential of organizational knowledge, it is not sufficient to simply adopt and deploy IT-enabled knowledge platforms. These platforms must be assimilated into the ongoing work processes in organizations. Yet, theories of technology innovation and use suggest that a variety of institutional, social, and political factors blend together in influencing the extent to which complex information technologies are actually assimilated into organizational practice. Therefore, this research addresses a significant question: What forces influence the assimilation of knowledge platforms in organization? Given the significant gap between the adoption and actual assimilation of complex technologies into organizations, this is an important question. Empirical evidence is generated by examining the forces influencing the assimilation of CASE technologies in systems development projects in organizations. CASE is considered to be one of the most mature knowledge platforms in contemporary organizations. The empirical evidence sheds light on the role of institutional forces that influence the rate of assimilation of the technology. The findings have significant implications for further research and practice.
Social Identities in an International Joint Venture: An Exploratory Case Study
Authors: Salk Jane E. , Shenkar Oded
Published: December 2003

International joint venture (IJV) research largely omits social and cognitive processes and, hence, overlooks their potentially important implications. This paper presents a four-year longitudinal investigation into the social identification and social enactment processes in a British-Italian, shared management joint venture. Using social identification and social enactment theories as conceptual anchors, the study reveals that national social identities were the dominant sense-making vehicle used by team members, although multiple sources of social identification were possible and present in this IJV. Contextual changes occurred that could be expected to favor organizational (IJV-based) social identities, but the dominant use of nationality-based identities did not change. Our findings suggest that social identity enactments (using particular boundaries to define primary social identities) by team members mediate the relationship of contextual variables, both environmental and structural, with group and organizational outcomes (such as role investment and job satisfaction). Our empirical results shed light on unresolved debates in the IJV literature, e.g., the implications of cultural distance and shared management for IJV performance. This study also contributes to social identity theory by highlighting promising directions for development of contextual and longitudinal dimensions in that research stream.
Agency Relationships in Family Firms: Theory and Evidence
Authors: Schulze William S. , Lubatkin Michael H. , Dino Richard N. , Buchholtz Ann K.
Published: December 2003

Does owner management necessarily eliminate the agency costs of ownership? Drawing on agency literature and on the economic theory of the household, we argue that private ownership and owner management expose privately held, owner-managed firms to agency threats ignored by Jensen’s and Meckling’s (1976) agency model. Private ownership and owner management not only reduce the effectiveness of external control mechanisms, they also expose firms to a “self-control” problem created by incentives that cause owners to take actions which “harm themselves as well as those around them” (Jensen 1994, p. 43). Thus, shareholders have incentive to invest resources in curbing both managerial and owner opportunism. We extend this thesis to the domain of the family firm. After developing hypotheses which describe how family dynamics and, specifically, altruism, exacerbate agency problems experienced by these privately held, owner-managed firms, we use data obtained from a large-scale survey of family businesses to field test our hypotheses and find evidence which suggests support for our proposed theory. Finally, we discuss the implications of our theory for research on family and other types of privately held, owner-managed firms.
Organizational Environments in Flux: The Impact of Regulatory Punctuations on Organizational Domains, CEO Succession, and Performance
Authors: Haveman Heather A. , Russo Michael V. , Meyer Alan D.
Published: December 2003

A central debate in organizational theory concerns how organizations evolve. There are two diametrically opposing viewpoints. Adaptation theories predict that change occurs as fluid organizations adjust to meet shifting environmental demands, while selection theories predict that change occurs through the differential selection and replacement of inert organizations as environmental demands vary over time. Our paper bridges these polar opposites by using a punctuated equilibrium framework to examine organizations' responses to discontinuous industry-level change. This framework recognizes that the histories of many industries are occasionally punctuated by dramatic exogenous shocks, such as radical technological innovation, social and political turmoil, major changes in government regulation, and economic crashes. Our central thesis is that such environmental punctuations dramatically reduce pressures and rewards for organizational inertia and thereby alter both organizations' propensities for change and their survival chances following change.

We focus on one form of punctuation, major regulatory change, and study firms in two industries: general hospitals and savings and loan associations. For organizations in both industries, we examine three important outcomes: shifts in organizational domain, CEO succession, and changes in financial performance. Our analyses show that punctuational regulatory change prompts shifts in organizational domains and executive leadership. Additionally, post-punctuation domain change and post-punctuation CEO succession both affect subsequent performance. We discuss our results in light of current thinking about the content and process effects of core organizational change, which has been developed in the context of stable environments. Finally, we argue for the development of more temporally sensitive theories of organizational action.
Reproducing Knowledge: Replication Without Imitation at Moderate Complexity
Authors: Rivkin Jan W.
Published: December 2003

The complexity of a firm's strategy affects both the ease with which the firm can replicate the strategy in a new setting and the ease with which rivals can imitate it. Simple strategies are as readily imitated as replicated, and highly intricate strategies resist imitation and replication equally. At moderate levels of complexity, however, a wedge develops between the ease of replication and the difficulty of imitation, so long as the replicator has better information than the imitator about the original success. An agent-based simulation model clarifies the structural reasons that this is so. The model also shows how the wedge-maximizing level of complexity varies with the replicator's informational edge over the imitator.

The results help to pinpoint situations in which strategies requiring replication are likely to defy imitation and generate sustained competitive advantage. More generally, the analysis sheds light on the value of superior but imperfect information about good solutions to hard problems. Finally, the results suggest that a pattern long observed by organization scholars--that “loosely coupled organizations” are especially effective competitors--may arise for a very different reason than is normally posited.
Understanding “Strategic Learning”: Linking Organizational Learning, Knowledge Management, and Sensemaking
Authors: Thomas James B. , Sussman Stephanie Watts , Henderson John C.
Published: December 2003

Strategic learning aims to generate learning in support of future strategic initiatives that will, in turn, foster knowledge asymmetries that can lead to differences in organizational performance. From a case study of a unique organization whose purpose is to facilitate strategic knowledge distillation, it was found that this process is characterized by targeted information gathering that relies on diverse experts for interpretation as well as validation. It also embodies the organizational capability to leverage information technologies in the distillation effort, integrating them with processes for generating, storing, and transporting rich, de-embedded knowledge across multiple levels of the organization. As a result of the case study, a model of the strategic learning is developed and a series of propositions regarding its context and processes are presented based on this model. The model highlights key dimensions of strategic learning that suggest design parameters for organizations building strategic learning systems.
The Mutual Knowledge Problem and Its Consequences for Dispersed Collaboration
Authors: Cramton Catherine Durnell
Published: December 2003

This paper proposes that maintaining “mutual knowledge” is a central problem of geographically dispersed collaboration and traces the consequences of failure to do so. It presents a model of these processes which is grounded in study of thirteen geographically dispersed teams. Five types of problems constituting failures of mutual knowledge are identified: failure to communicate and retain contextual information, unevenly distributed information, difficulty communicating and understanding the salience of information, differences in speed of access to information, and difficulty interpreting the meaning of silence. The frequency of occurrence and severity of each problem in the teams are analyzed. Attribution theory, the concept of cognitive load, and feedback dynamics are harnessed to explain how dispersed partners are likely to interpret failures of mutual knowledge and the consequences of these interpretations for the integrity of the effort. In particular, it is suggested that unrecognized differences in the situations, contexts, and constraints of dispersed collaborators constitute “hidden profiles” that can increase the likelihood of dispositional rather than situational attribution, with consequences for cohesion and learning. Moderators and accelerators of these dynamics are identified, and implications for both dispersed and collocated collaboration are discussed.
Defining Who You Are By What You're Not: Organizational Disidentification and The National Rifle Association
Authors: Elsbach Kimberly D. , Bhattacharya C. B.
Published: December 2003

Through two exploratory studies, we develop and test an introductory framework of “organizational disidentification.” Our first study explores the concept of organizational disidentification through a qualitative investigation of cognitive relationships with the National Rifle Association (NRA). Findings suggest that organizational disidentification is a self-perception based on: (1) a cognitive separation between one's identity and the organization's identity, and (2) a negative relational categorization of oneself and the organization (e.g., categorizations such as “rivals” or “enemies”). Organizational disidentification appears to be motivated by individuals' desires to both affirm positive distinctiveness and avoid negative distinctiveness by distancing themselves from incongruent values and negative stereotypes attributed to an organization. Our findings also suggest that organizational disidentification can lead individuals to take action (either volunteer work or voicing their opinion) as a result of their perceived separation from the organization's identity. Results of our second study”a large-scale survey of public attitudes about the NRA”provide support for this framework.
Not All Events Are Attended Equally: Toward a Middle-Range Theory of Industry Attention to External Events
Authors: Hoffman Andrew J. , Ocasio William
Published: December 2003

This paper builds on prior theory and research on attention and identity to examine whether and how industries publicly attend to external events. Events are critical triggers of institutional transformation and industry evolution. However, they must first become the focus of public attention to have this effect. We draw on a paired case comparison of media coverage of eight nonroutine events affecting the natural environment and the U.S. chemical industry. We employ both deductive and inductive analysis to develop a model and hypotheses to explain two research questions. First, what determines the initial public attention to an event? Second, when and why do certain events attain high and sustained levels of industry attention? A key inference is that whether an event receives industry-level attention depends on either outsiders holding the industry accountable for the event, or insiders' internal concerns with the industry image. We further infer that an event can be transformed into a critical issue for an industry, warranting sustained attention, if there is contestation with outsiders over the accountability for the event and its enactment, and internal contradictions and challenges to the industry's identity.
Supervisory Span, Relational Coordination and Flight Departure Performance: A Reassessment of Postbureaucracy Theory
Authors: Gittell Jody Hoffer
Published: December 2003

There is a rich debate in organizational theory about the contribution of supervisors to group process and performance, and about the span of control needed to make that contribution. In this paper, I summarize the debate and develop competing hypotheses. These competing hypotheses are tested using multisite survey and archival measures, and interpreted using qualitative data from the same study. I find that small supervisory spans improve performance through their positive effects on group process. In particular, supervisors with smaller spans achieved higher levels of relational coordination among their direct reports. Qualitative data suggest that supervisors with smaller spans achieved these results through working with, and providing intensive coaching and feedback to their direct reports.
Judgmental Errors, Interactive Norms, and the Difficulty of Detecting Strategic Surprises
Authors: Lampel Joseph , Shapira Zur
Published: December 2003

The concept of strategic surprise has been used by writers on military strategy to explore the successful amplification of resources during battle. This paper applies the same concept to subcontracting relationships and develops a cognitive framework to explain the phenomenon of strategic surprises, using buyer-supplier relations as an example. We first examine the factors that produce vulnerability to strategic surprise in cooperative situations. Then, we explore the reasons why firms are caught by surprise in spite of their vigilance. We present a model representing false alarms and strategic surprises as judgmental errors. We argue that judgmental errors cause misinterpretation of evidence and a consequent sense of false security. Interactive norms, which exist in some industries and may be taken as proxies for enduring relationships, may increase the likelihood of misjudgment and strategic surprises.
How Organizational Resources Affect Strategic Change and Performance in Turbulent Environments: Theory and Evidence
Authors: Kraatz Matthew S. , Zajac Edward J.
Published: December 2003

This study examines how historical resource endowments and competencies affect strategic change and its outcomes amid environmental turbulence. Drawing from both behavioral and economics-based literatures, we develop four distinct perspectives regarding the likely effect of resources on strategic change. These four perspectives offer alternative predictions about how and why resource endowments should affect the likelihood or magnitude of strategic change, and how and why they should moderate the relation between strategic change and performance. We examine the predictive power of these four alternative arguments using extensive longitudinal data from a single industry context characterized both by substantial resource heterogeneity and environmental turbulence. Results indicate that organizations possessing greater stocks of historically valuable resources were much less likely to engage in adaptive strategic change, but also that this resource-driven disinclination towards change tended to have a benign or even beneficial effect on performance. We discuss the implications of our theory and findings for the strategic change literature and also for the literature on the resource-based view of the firm.
On the Genesis of Organizational Forms: Evidence from the Market for Disk Arrays
Authors: McKendrick David G. , Carroll Glenn R.
Published: December 2003

This article asks a basic question of organizational evolution: When and where will a new organizational form emerge? Using a definition of organizational forms as external identity codes, we focus on two answers drawn from contemporary organization theory. The first holds that formal institutions such as industry associations and standard-setting bodies will result in a taken-for-granted organizational form. The second answer contends that increasing organizational density (number of organizations) will generate a legitimated organizational form. As reported here, a historical case study of the disk array market and its associated technologies finds both arguments limited. Although significant collective activity in association building and standard setting occurs among disk array producers, these have not yet led to an organizational form. Similarly, an observed trajectory of organizational density showing rapid growth followed by stabilization has not yet generated an organizational form. In our view, the diversity of origins and other activities of those organizations operating in this market work against institutionalization of the disk array organizational form. We reason that if firms in the market derive their primary identities from other activities (implying that there are few highly focused firms deriving their primary identity from disk arrays), then the disk array producer identity cannot cohere into a code or form. This conclusion suggests a respecification of the legitimation component of the density-dependent model of organizational evolution.