bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fast Convergence of Distance-based Inconsistency in Pairwise Comparisons
Authors: Koczkodaj Waldemar W. , Kosiek Marek , Szybowski Jacek , Xu Ding
Published: December 2019

This study presents theoretical proof and empirical evidence of the reduction algorithm convergence for the distance-based inconsistency in pairwise comparisons. Our empirical research shows that the convergence very quick. It usually takes less than 10 reductions to bring the inconsistency of the pairwise comparisons matrix below the assumed threshold of 1/3 (sufficient for most applications). We believe that this is the first Monte Carlo study demonstrating such results for the convergence speed of inconsistency reduction in pairwise comparisons.
Modification of Near Sets Theory
Authors: Marei Emad A. , Abd El-Monsef Mohamed E. , Abu-Donia Hassan M.
Published: December 2019

Most real life situations need some sort of approximation to fit mathematical models. The beauty of using topology in approximation is achieved via obtaining approximation for qualitative subsets without coding or using assumption. The aim of this paper is to introduce different approaches to near sets by using general relations and special neighborhoods. Some fundamental properties and characterizations are given. We obtain a comparison between these new approximations and traditional approximations introduced by Peters [23].
Higher Order Nonlinearity of Niho Functions
Authors: Sun Guanghong , Wu Chuankun
Published: December 2019

The r-th order nonlinearity of Boolean functions is an important cryptographic criterion associated with some attacks on stream and block ciphers. It is also very useful in coding theory, since it is related to the covering radii of Reed-Muller codes. In this paper we investigate the lower bound of the higher-order nonlinearity of Niho Boolean functions f(x) = tr(λxd) over F2n, where $\lambda \isin F_2_n^*$, $d = 2^{(n-1)/2} + 2^{(n-1)/4} - 1$ when n = 1 mod 4 or $d = 2^{(n-1)/2} + 2^{(3n-1)/4} - 1$ when n = 3 mod 4.
A Fast and Automated Granulometric Image Analysis Based on Digital Geometry
Authors: Bera Sahadev , Biswas Arindam , Bhattacharya Bhargab B.
Published: December 2019

Granular object segmentation is an important area of image processing, which has several practical applications in agriculture, food industry, geology, and forensics. In this paper, we present a simple algorithm for the analysis of granulometric images that consist of touching or overlapping convex objects such as coffee bean, food grain, nuts, blood cell, or cookies. The algorithm is based on certain underlying digital-geometric features embedded in their binary snapshots. The concept of an outer isothetic cover and the property of geometric convexity are used to extract the joining points (or concavity points) from the ensemble of objects. Next, a combinatorial technique is employed to determine the separator of two overlapping or neighboring objects. This technique is fully automated and it needs only integer-domain computation. The termination time of the algorithm can be traded-off with the quality of segmentation by changing the resolution parameter. Experimental results for a variety of objects chosen from different application domains such as cell image, coffee-bean image and others demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of the proposed method compared to earlier watershed-based algorithms.
Cloud computing and human resources in the knowledge era
Authors: Yeh Ching-Wen
Published: December 2019

The transfer of human resource management to the “cloud” is new and innovative solutions that can help enterprises achieve significant savings. The manner in which HRM systems (HRMS) create competitive advantage in the cloud computing context is little understood. This study designs a conceptual framework to explain how the Cloud-computing Based HRMS combines HR and knowledge management activities in the cloud to increase intellectual capital and enhance organizational innovation and performance. Few studies have examined the impact of Cloud computing for HRM. This study also further considers how Cloud computing influences human resource professional skill sets and tasks, and creates challenges for human resource professionals. Finally, this study concludes by synthesizing the research results and considering future research directions.
The IT productivity paradox: Effects of training in audit firms
Authors: Chen Yahn-Shir , Yang Yi-Fang , Yang Lee-Wen
Published: December 2019

This study examines the moderating effects of professional training on the relation between information technology (IT) investments and financial performance of audit firms in Taiwan. The organization-level financial performance includes productivity and profitability. Total IT investments are divided into software and hardware expenditures. Empirical results indicate that professional training positively associates with productivity significantly but insignificantly with profitability. IT negatively relates to productivity and profitability. Both productivity and profitability are improved by the interaction between IT and professional training, indicating that professional training mitigates the IT productivity paradox. This study takes training and IT into account simultaneously to empirically examine the moderator role of training in the organizational context in which IT is deployed. Evidences obtained thus contribute information to both IT and human resources management literatures. Taiwanese audit market structure is similar to that of many western countries, empirical results of this study possess global managerial implications.
Austerity disrupts our viable future; authentic democracy will restore it
Authors: Georgantzas Nicholas C.
Published: December 2019

A model of autonomous, self-sustainable development is absolutely necessary for a viable human future, which corroborates the need for diverse, society-specific cultures across the globe. Cultural integrity-in-diversity enhances the human entelechy in us for personal vitality, institutional invigoration and viable socioeconomic development as well as morality, human integrity, societal solidarity, cooperation and amicable human and organizational relations. This research presents and tests such a model, using the system dynamics (SD) modeling method. The experimental results show how the austerity policies of the pseudo-aristocratic or swanky regime – in and about all of us live and work – disrupt our viable future. Through a transition from societal system structure and dynamics to focusing our attention on one-time events, abrupt disequilibria manifest themselves as systemic discontinuities through time. The ideals and principles behind authentic democracy can help prevent such catastrophes. Cast as a methodological application too, the article shows the use and benefits of formal SD model analysis.
The role of technological innovation in a firm's strategy
Authors: Windsor Duane , Tuggle Francis D.
Published: December 2019

Macroscopically, technological innovation is desirable as on average it improves the net present worth of business firms and thus aggregate economic performance. However, at the level of individual firms, technological innovation is merely one of a number of potential strategies for optimal resource deployment. As such, the overriding determinant of the proper role of technological innovation in a firm is the nature of the fit between the organization's competencies and desires on the one hand and the threats and opportunities presented by the firm's environment on the other – all as perceived by the managers of the firm. The paper addresses the issue of how the propensities of firms to invest in innovation are influenced by properties of the firms, their competitors, and their environments. A sufficiency analysis exhibits the characteristics of the preliminary theory. Illustrations of these contentions are derived from firms in four industries: home appliances, homebuilding, food distribution, and prescription drugs. The data are consistent with eight hypotheses relating organizational and industry characteristics with the mode of technological innovation.
Developing computer-based planning support systems for China's economic planning
Authors: Yuan Yu-Fei
Published: December 2019

This paper reviews the history of China's economic development and discusses the main problems caused by inappropriate economic plans. In order to improve China's capacity for making more reasonable economic plans, planning support systems are essential. The main tasks of developing and utilizing planning support systems for national economic planning are discussed and strategies for the implementation are suggested.
The organizational audit and analysis technology for organizational design
Authors: Mackenzie Kenneth D.
Published: December 2019

This paper is the second part of a three part series. The organizational audit and analysis technology for organizational design is described in this paper. This technology for the organizational design process has eleven steps. These stages are linked to the thirteen desiderata for organizational design introduced in the first paper of this series. The description of this technology provides an overview of the processes involved in an organizational design.
On the social relations of computers*
Authors: Mowshowitz Abbe
Published: December 2019

Despite its potential to support fundamental change, computer use reinforces existing social practices and modes of organization. This paper traces the antecedents and consequences of such reinforcement. Decisions on deployment of computer technology are shown to be powerfully conditioned by a technocultural paradigm forged in the industrial revolution. This paradigm fosters obsessive concern with productivity and growth, a concern that is central to the rhetoric of American renewal. Unless tempered by countervailing values, the obsession will lead to increased disparities of wealth, polarization, socially debilitating unemployment, and virulent economic nationalism.
Technology strategy: The role of strategic planning and monitoring systems
Authors: Caro Denis R.J. , Sethi Amarjit S.
Published: December 2019

The article proposed the concept of technostress and makes a strong recommendation for employing a ‘technology’ strategy for managing the positive and negative impacts of technostress on organizational behavior. The key components of a technology strategy are examined including strategic technological planning, strategic implementation and technostress monitoring systems. The article proposes the concept of strategic choice for technostress management for achieving the twin goals of better productivity and improved quality of worklife. Technostress is conceptualized as a dynamic state of adaptation, thus requiring strategic choices, such as technology strategy, focussing not only on the parameters of hardware but also of the motivations, skills and incentives of the people utilizing the information in their work. A number of research hypotheses are proposed as examples of potential research in the area of organizational technology strategy.
The Challenger decision: The interaction of image and technology*
Authors: Morgan Margaret
Published: December 2019

The Challenger incident appalled and chagrined Americans as a technological tragedy and as a national technological failure. Under public scrutiny, it has become clear that this failure was due not to failure in equipment, information or expertise, but was due to a failure in human judgment. This paper examines the background and history of NASA decision making that led to this ‘human’ technological failure.
The End of the Entrepreneurial Age*
Authors: Nodoushani Omid
Published: December 2019

This essay aims to show to what extent the 80s enthusiasm for entrepreneurship is based on an ideological foundation and is, therefore, useless for management scholars and managers. To say this does not mean that one is against innovative ways for business venturing, rather, what I will argue in this essay is an effort toward understanding the need for systemic, purposeful, and theoretical treatment of management. Furthermore, this paper claims for “The End of the Entrepreneurial Age”. By that I mean an increasing interest in business and society relationship. Such an interest will introduce a new perspective that I call the postmodern business.
Strategy as Rationality
Authors: Singer Alan E.
Published: December 2019

The general theory of rational decisions is a latent prescriptive theory of strategic management, with the organization cast as a plurally-rational agent. Plural rationalities are isomorphic to key organizational strategy concepts. This isomorphism carries several implications for theory and research in strategy and rationality. It also underpins some new techniques of strategic analysis.
Information Economics and Industrial Organization
Authors: Antonelli Cristiano
Published: December 2019

Interest in merging industrial organization and information economics appears to center primarily on the wide range of intermediate institutional solutions which are to be found between the two extremes of Markets and Hierarchies. Network firms emerge when both costs of using Hierarchies and costs of using Markets are very high and benefits of economies of scale are low. Network firms cluster around complementary and interdependent productive relations that involve the shared use of interrelated factors and have a highly specific and idiosyncratic character.
Information, Exploratory Behaviour and the Design of Organizations
Authors: Lamberton Donald M.
Published: December 2019

From an economic perspective, analytical and policy interests dictate a need for empirical study of the design of organizations, with special attention to their information activities and the cost consequences of those activities. Similarly, this need pervades managerial concerns in both private and public sectors. There are conflicting expectations as to the form of the New Organization now emerging. An important step in developing research agenda is to widen the scope of exploratory behaviour from ‘R&D’ to the full range of activities involved.
Complexity, Genuine Uncertainty, and the Economics of Organization
Authors: Langlois Richard N. , Everett Michael J.
Published: December 2019

We argue that the distinction between complexity of the economic environment on the one hand and genuine uncertainty about the future on the other hand is crucial to understanding the relative survival value of organizational forms. We develop this distinction between complexity and uncertainty, and apply it to the theory of the boundaries of the firm. Our argument is that, although the management of complexity may have been an important factor in the historical emergence of the large corporation, vertical integration per se does not necessarily convey an advantage over a decentralized network in the ability to manage static complexity. Rather, the rationale for vertical integration lies in the existence of dynamic transaction costs arising from economic change. Nonetheless, the vertically integrated organization has limits to its ability to deal with change, and a decentralized network of independent agents may have the advantage when uncertainty is greatest.
The Evolution of Cooperative Strategies: Three Automotive Industry Case Studies
Authors: Earl Peter E.
Published: December 2019

Coalitions involving the quasi-integration of activities of rival firms come about as problem-solving devices which enable members to achieve their goals by exploiting mutual complementarities in ways that might not be possible or so cost effective if pursued by simple market exchanges or outright merger. Once in operation they tend to change the relative strength of the participants and the information that they have about each other, including information about trustworthiness and corporate capabilities. This leads to changes in the nature of the relationship and degree of intimacy between the coalition members. These themes are illustrated with reference to cooperative strategies used by General Motors, Nissan and Toyota in Australia, and the complex long-term relationship between Honda and Rover.
The Changing Role of Multiple Criteria in Decision Support Systems
Authors: Eom Sean B. , Min Hokey
Published: December 2019

This research aims at answering an important question, raised earlier by Zeleny, as to whether MCDM is rarely part of ‘mainstream’ OR/MS/DSS modeling. In doing so, this study first identified intellectual structure of decision support systems (DSS), using factor analysis of author cocitation frequency. Six subsets of DSS research are identified; they are foundations, group DSS, MCDM/MCDSS, routing DSS, data base management systems, and management science/operations research. Earlier studies by Eom reported that integration of MCDM models into decision support systems have made significant progress and that the MCDM model-embedded DSS has become an effective decision tool, as Zeleny predicted. Based on the factor analysis of the author cocitation frequency, further convincing evidence is presented to support Zeleny's earlier predictions. We have reached the compelling conclusion that MCDM/MCDSS have positioned themselves at the core of decision support systems.
The Impact of Automation on Job Characteristics: New Horizons
Authors: Zikiye Anthony A. , Zikiye Rebecca A.
Published: December 2019

In an investigation of the impact of automation on job characteristics, we found that coordination, job autonomy, and work pace were reinforced by automation, while new skill requirements, job security and exertion remained unaffected. Job satisfaction correlates revealed the existence of elements that were both reinforced by automation and unrelated to job satisfaction. These elements are of paramount importance to supervisors as they represent sources of operator indifference to the benefits of automation, or satisfaction gaps. The elements include interdepartmental task coordination, discretion in making production decisions, confidence to complete tasks without supervision, the achievement of career goals, perceptual skills, security of records, and longer work hours in the post-automation period. We consider the sealing of these satisfaction gaps to be a major supervisory challenge.
Logistics Simulation in Multi Supplier Operations
Authors: Santa-Clara José
Published: December 2019

A logistics chain simulator tool to evaluate logistics operations at strategic and tactical levels in multi-organizational environments is presented. An overview of the basic architecture concepts and main features of this simulator is given and some simulation scenarios are discussed.
EDI in the Process Industry
Authors: Blotwijk Michiel
Published: December 2019

EDI is the automated exchange of business information. It simplifies the trade procedures and makes the data more reliable. In the chemical industry EDI is considered as a strategic tool for their international business. Paper elimination is only a minor advantage of EDI, the substantial benefits are achieved through an increased internal efficiency, more efficient business practices and long term partnerships. EDI is therefore not something that can be left to the IT department. EDI applications can only be successful if it is driven by business considerations and management is committed to it.
Legal Expert Systems Design: The Blackboard Model
Authors: Raghupathi Wullianallur , Schkade Lawrence L.
Published: December 2019

Expert systems applications development in legal decision making has traditionally focused on the use of rule-based models. None of the systems has yet become a fully functional prototype or commercially viable. The attempts to design legal decision making systems without examining the intrinsic complex nature of the legal process has resulted in limited operational success. This paper discusses legal decision making, legal function and the differences between rule-based blackboard models. It is recommended that the blackboard model be used in the design of legal decision making systems while the rule-based will continue to be appropriate for the legal function applications. The use of more sophisticated models such as the blackboard will enable the scaling up of expert systems technology to more encompassing domains.
The Cost of Bribery
Authors: Brooks Herb
Published: December 2019

Quantitative data on bribery are sparse, for obvious reasons; only 20 cases are cited from U.S. history. In all 20 cases (a) there was a victim or victims, and (b) the victim's cost was greater than the bribe. The cost/bribe ratio was calculated and the cost was typically between seven and twenty times as great as the bribe; the median was 15. It is concluded that bribery is important to the economy and worth studying.
Privatization in Post-Socialist Economies
Authors: Ellerman David P.
Published: December 2019

Our purpose is to trace the trajectory of the debate about privatization in the post-socialist economies. We argue that centralized case-by-case direct sales are impossibly slow and that mass privatization plans are not genuine privatization plans. Hope lies in the development of decentralized regulated forms of spontaneous privatization such as post-socialist versions of the management-employee buy-outs (MEBOs) seen in the American Taking-Private Movement. We will outline a rapid decentralized plan that draws on the decentralized programs used in Slovenia, Croatia, and Poland.
Transition to a Market Economy: Some First Principles
Authors: Meltzer Allan H.
Published: December 2019

To work efficiently, a market system requires institutions such as private property, legal and accounting systems, and a monetary framework. These institutions need not be in place, but the structure should be agreed upon so that market participants can value assets. The paper concentrates on decisions about the choice of monetary arrangements, price and wage setting. Several countries in Eastern Europe have adopted fixed exchange rates and wage controls. The paper argues that the combination is generally inconsistent; only one relative price can be fixed. Attempts to fix wage rates and the exchange rate increases uncertainty and imposes an excess burden. The paper proposes fixed exchange rates for East European countries and development of a clearing union. In contrast to time phased programs of liberalization, the paper argues that structural changes should be announced and price, wage, budget, and monetary reforms should be made simultaneously.
The Transformation of Socialist Economies: Alternative Approaches and Early Lessons of Experience
Authors: Clague Christopher
Published: December 2019

The paper describes three approaches to the strategy of the transition from socialism to a market economy: the rapid privatization strategy, the evolutionary school, and the government planning approach. These approaches rely on different underlying assumptions about the nature of the formerly socialist societies and the tasks confronting them in making the transition to a market economy, and the paper draws out these different assumptions. A number of policy issues are discussed in light of these three approaches, such as the speed of price liberalization and currency convertibility, the pace of privatization of large state enterprises, and the role of property rights and legal infrastructure reform. The consensus view of Western advisers as of about 1991 is confronted with the events of the first few years of transition experiences.
Intermediate Structures and Shock Transition: Squandered Foundations and Capricious Destruction
Authors: McIntyre Robert J.
Published: December 2019

Because of the ‘Rejection of Transplants’ perspective in most Western analyses, both the mixed nature of Soviet-type systems and the special characteristics of production/settlement units have been misunderstood or simple not considered. Orthodox systems-level structural adjustment, marketization and privatization policies are applied without taking account of the special working arrangements of the old system, resulting in largely destructive micro- and mezo-level effects. The destruction they cause is capricious, failing to preserve those aspects of the old system which have future development potential, encouraging a short-term speculative mentality and use of resources, while building up political tensions unlikely to be consistent with continued democratic process. Orthodox ‘reform’ measures have failed to bring to bear developmental wisdom from outside the Anglo-American free market experience to construct a coordinated short-, medium-, and long-run strategy which would permit a non-catastrophic entry into the world market.
The Evolving Merger of Socio-Technical Systems and Quality Improvement Theories
Authors: Persico John , McLean Gary N.
Published: December 2019

The Socio-Technical Systems (STS) theory, characterized by employee empowerment, opportunity to learn, and autonomy, supports workteams with an emphasis on enhancing worker job satisfaction. In contrast, the basic theory informing total quality management (TQM) or continuous quality improvement (CQI) focuses on processes, customers, statistical process control, organizational culture, employee involvement, and continuous improvement to enhance quality and productivity. The two perspectives share many assumptions and tenets. Further, each has its strengths and weaknesses. These are described with a focus on variation, organizational redesign, human resource development, and extended relationships. It is concluded that STS is ambiguous and theoretical and may over-emphasize the social side of the organizational system, whereas TQM/CQI may be overly prescriptive and pragmatic and may over-emphasize the technical side of the system. The suggestion is made that the two theories are in the process of being merged and combined with other approaches to enhance the transformation of industry.
IS Management by Constraints: Coupling IS Effort to Changes in Business Bottlenecks
Authors: Coman Alex , Ronen Boaz
Published: December 2019

The Theory of Constraints (TOC) has recently proved successful in focusing industrial and service organizations. This paper applies TOC principles to the Management-of-Information-Systems (MIS) in the organization. Deming's process of on-going improvement (POOGI) manages the update of IS goals to accommodate changes in the business environment. The process includes the definition of goals for IS; definition of performance metrics; process improvement objectives for the short, medium and long term; and the identification of constraints limiting the quality of the current process design. We identify three modes of interaction between TOC and information systems: 1) subordination of MIS to elevate strategic business constraints; 2) focused treatment of constraints on the throughput of the IS unit; and, 3) the development of information systems to support the TOC methodology. We draw a framework and a methodology showing how MIS can be more effective using the TOC way of management. In order to systematically explore the location of the organization's constraints we adapt the Value Chain and Value System models to the identification of organizational constraints.
The Political Infrastructure of Economic Development
Authors: Boettke Peter J.
Published: December 2019

The collapse of the Soviet model for economic development questions the meaning of the distinction between the First, Second, and Third World. Instead, the classical social scientific distinction between developed and underdeveloped, capitalist and non-capitalist world, appears more appropriate. The problem of development then is one of understanding the causal determinants of progress. A comparative historical political economy research program forces scholars to pay attention to the institutional infrastructure of society, the impact of alternative institutional environments on human action, and the consequences in terms of social and economic progress. Neither old nor new neo-classical economic theory can address these institutional questions, and as such they do not advance our understanding of the causal determinants of economic development. To understand economic development, what is needed is not more elaborate formal models of growth or better techniques for measurement, but more detailed historical studies of the pattern of development across countries and periods. The conjecture that emerges from such a study is that the source of development can be found in the political and legal institutions, and the indigenous cultural practices that combine to form the institutional infrastructure of any society. An appendix applies the argument to developments in Russia.
Industrial Policy for Economic Development: Lessons from South Korean Experience
Authors: Choi Young Back
Published: December 2019

Enthusiasm for industrial policy as a means of sure and rapid economic development needs to be tempered by a careful study of events. Upon scrutiny, the experience of rapid economic development of South Korea in the 1960s and 1970s reveals that the oft-cited anecdotal evidence for the efficacy of industrial policy is open to more sobering interpretations, that the framework of economic development in Korea was created not so much by planning but as a result of political processes which created the ruling elites whose interests were not inconsistent with economic development, that the political changes coincided with many favorable circumstances, that when industrial policy was tried in earnest it failed miserably, that Korean economic development is not particularly spectacular when compared to other Pacific Rim countries that had a less heavy-handed approach, and that increasing numbers of Koreans realize that a free market approach may be the most effective ‘industrial policy’.
Amoeba Management at Kyocera Corporation
Authors: Ishida Hideki
Published: December 2019

The Amoeba Management System (AMS) is practiced by Kyocera Corporation, in Kyoto, Japan. This system has transformed the corporation from a small, local manufacturer to a globally-based, technological leader in the field of advanced ceramic applications, with annual sales amounting to 4 billion U.S. dollars. The AMS is named after the amoeba, since it uses the one-celled organism's self-sufficiency and ability to regenerate as the focus for criteria which lead employees toward achievement. The AMS is not based on a systematic method of influencing operations, as are time-motion studies to labor, cost-reduction programs to expenses, or statistical process control to quality enhancement. Instead, it is based on one fundamental management concept: that all positive progress comes from the employees' imagination and ability to materialize their vision and ideals. Further, it recognizes that a company can only become that which is the result of the synergy of actively committed people who take the initiative to work as leaders. The AMS values human activities involved in transforming materials to useful products by identifying them as essential business factors. At the same time, the AMS generates an atmosphere where the employees understand both their role in their own section and in the corporation as a whole. This environment allows individuals to spontaneously inquire, take action, work in teams, and to initiate positive changes that may influence the course of the company.
Theories and Evidence on the Growth and Distribution of Profit Sharing and Employee Shareholding Schemes
Authors: Poole Michael , Whitfield Keith
Published: December 2019

In this paper, theories and evidence on profit-sharing and employee share-ownership schemes are presented. Various theories and explanations are first assessed. The analysis of general patterns of historical movement are based on three main theoretical approaches (evolutionary, cyclical and favourable conjunctures). In cross-sectional analysis, the range of specific explanatory variables include: industry characteristics, management “styles”, labour force characteristics, and various industrial relations patterns. These theories are examined in relation to recent time-series evidence from the UK and data from the third British Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (WIRS 3). It is found that the explanatory variables typically used in employment research predict the incidence of most types of employee shareholding scheme (but not the relative incidence of profit-related payments or bonuses). Moreover, it is shown that the financial performance of firms and the absence of industrial action are linked with the presence of schemes in the firm. This also suggests a theory of the application of employee financial participation that would help organisations survive and be successful in the very competitive world we are facing.
Building Community Organizations: Credible Commitment and the New Institutional Economics
Authors: Tang Shui-Yan
Published: December 2019

Community organizations can play an important role in governing and managing local common-pool resources. Based on the emerging literature in the New Institutional Economics, this article examines the role of credible commitment in building community organizations. It discusses three factors that affect credible commitment among organizational participants – interactive processes, leadership, and structural design. The arguments are illustrated by field experiences in irrigation projects.
The Science of an Organization. Part I: A New Model of Organizational Learning
Authors: Mackenzie Kenneth D.
Published: December 2019

This paper is the first of a three part series on a new model of organizational level learning. This first part describes the model. The second part describes the application of the model. Part three discusses applications to organizational problem solving. The model is based on the idea that an organization can be viewed as a type of scientific community and organizational learning as an organizational phenomenon. The model has four main interdependent components: (a) Evolution of the Organization's Theory-In-Use, (b) Developing the Organizational Means to Implement the Theory-In-Use, (c) Applying Organizational Means and Deployable Technologies, and (d) Selecting and Developing Deployable Technologies. Organizational knowledge, learning, and intelligence are defined with respect to the new model. This model reflects a significant shift in perspective for the organizational learning literature.
Training System Effectiveness in Australia
Authors: Selvarajah Christopher T.
Published: December 2019

Studies have shown that the industry category which an organization is in, influences the type of strategies that the organization in the particular industry will choose [1]. In this article the overall perceptions of 151 Australian managers (all former MBA students of Deakin University, Australia) to training system effectiveness are reported in relation to the type of industry their organizations are in. The proposition that was tested and reported in this article is, that strategies adopted by organizations within a given industry are influenced by the nature of the industry. The findings generally support this imperative. However, the research findings also suggest that there are conditions in the immediate environment which may have some influence on the structure of the organization which in turn influences strategy. The view that the state of the immediate environment may influence strategy rather than strategy determining structure is also supported by researchers, like Robbins [2]. He, however, cautions against global acceptance of the proposition that structure follows strategy.
The Organisational Assets of the Learning Firm*
Authors: Tremblay Pascal
Published: December 2019

This paper explores the ambiguous role that the notion of organisational capital has played in economic theory. It suggests that because economists have paid little attention to dynamic processes which differentiate between the growth of technological and organisational knowledge, they have been slow at developing theories adequately relating the boundaries of the firm to their ability to innovate. Also, recent contributions by economists have been converging towards representing firms as learning organisations, whose capacity to survive and evolve is both enhanced and limited by the codes they use to interpret their environments. These learning codes allow firms to select competencies and choose their boundaries, the essential role of organisational capital.
Technological Development and R&D Policy: The Case of Korea
Authors: Kim Youn-Suk
Published: December 2019

Korea's technology and R&D policy has direct and indirect effects on the economic development process. Government can create a climate conducive to enhancing science and technology. This climate is created, in part, through the funding policies of government research agencies. The major feature of Korean technological policy was the fostering of indigenous technology through research centers established in both public and private sectors. With more internationalizing trade, business, and technology, Korea faces the problems in meeting competition from countries with more efficient industries as well as those with high technology. This paper discusses how Korea deals with a new situation and reformulate its R&D policy so as to meet the challenge in the world's technology markets.
Misconceptions Regarding Communist Regime and Post-Communist Reform in Russia
Authors: Maruyama Magoroh
Published: December 2019

In a still commonly held view in Western Europe, North America and some other parts of the world, the Soviet Revolution of 1917 is interpreted as endogenously Russian and benefitting the poor, and the post-communist reform of the early 1990s is seen as chaotic. However, much of the 1917 Revolution can be attributed to foreign intellectuals residing in Russia, and the purpose of the communists was to gain political power by exploiting the poor, especially farmers. During the communist regime, much of the farming population remained resistant to the practice of communists. The so-called ‘Russian Mafia’ of the post-communist era is very different from the mafia in Sicilia or the USA in its ethics and social function, and is often more reliable, beneficial and protective to consumers than the governmental organizations.
The Enhanced Make-or-Buy Decision: The Fallacy of Traditional Cost Accounting and the Theory of Constraints
Authors: Coman Alex , Ronen Boaz
Published: December 2019

We present a model for finite capacity scheduling in situations where the market demand exceeds the company's manufacturing capacity. Subcontracting to fill in the gap between the market demand and production capacity is an excellent tool to elevate the manufacturing constraint in the short term. Our model prescribes a simple ratio rating a product's priority for the constrained manufacturing resource. The ratio, developed from a linear programming analysis, enhances the Theory of Constraints (TOC) for the make-or-buy situation. We use a well known TOC example to illustrate fallacies of the TOC when outsourcing is possible.
Business Globalization – The Human Resource Management Aspect
Authors: Baruch Yehuda
Published: December 2019

The paper presents a cultural behavioural perspective relating to the globalization phenomenon, concentrating on issues of Human Resource Management in global organizations. A framework is suggested for analysis of the global shifts in terms of people's movement across national borders. It highlights the neglected role of the individual in the global system. The paper consists of two parts: first the framework push-pull model and its consistuencies, and second, implications and applications for global human resource management in the global system.
The Professional Ideal in Management History*
Authors: Nodoushani Omid
Published: December 2019

The current cries of ‘the death of management’ manifest the legitimation crisis of the professional ideal in management history. This paper attempts to explain the professionalization of corporate management by discussing the theoretical links between corporate management and the professions, and by presenting problems associated with the professional ideal in management history.
Holonic organisational architectures
Authors: Mathews John
Published: December 2019

The management of complexity is proving to be a major issue for organisations, as are problems of reliability and flexibility. It is widely agreed that these problems can be traced to organisational architectures emphasising centralisation and control. A solution to the problem of complexity lies then, not in developing more sophisticated approaches to the ‘management of complexity’, but in cutting back the complexity at source. A range of alternative architectures has emerged, in both industrial settings and in technological systems, where the emphasis is on building autonomy into nested sequences of operational entities; in these architectures, the achievement of system order arises as an issue of coordination of these semi-autonomous entities rather than centralised control over the atomistic operations themselves. Examples of this solution are given in cellular manufacturing, robotic systems, software engineering (‘object-oriented programming’) and in communication systems. These solutions are generalised as ‘holonic organisational architecture’ (after Koestler's 1967 terminological innovation) and their general properties derived. Use is made of a triad of relations which arises naturally from the holonic perspective: there are first order relations pertaining to holons themselves; second order relations pertaining to inter-holonic integration at any particular level; and third order relations linking the total system to its holonic constituents. The dynamic properties of holonic systems are demonstrated, again using the triad of relations, such as in organisational learning and innovation. These insights are applied in some remarks concerning the prescriptive use of the holonic perspective, in the design of holonic systems. Finally the paper looks beyond techno-organisational constructs to find evidence of holonic architectures throughout the natural and biological world, adding further support to the resilience and robustness of this structure. Its significance as a comprehensive alternative to the still dominant hierarchical organisational architecture is thereby underlined.
Incongruence and tensions in complex organizations: The case of an organ transplantation system*
Authors: Machado Nora
Published: December 2019

This paper conceptualizes complex organizations consisting of heterogeneous types of social relations and identifies the incongruences, cleavages, and tensions inherent in such systems. Social relationships, making up markets, hierarchies and networks are constituted and regulated on the basis of social rule systems. Each operates with its own rationality or logic. When these are combined or integrated into larger systems, the complex structure involves zones of incongruence and tensions at the interfaces between different types of relations. A key principle formulated in the paper is that in any complex system of heterogeneous social relationships, there are zones of incongruence and tension at the junctures or interfaces of different types of relations. A complex medical organization, the organ transplantation system of Sweden, is used to illustrate the conceptualization. The organization of an organ transplantation system entails a high degree of complexity, not only because of its particular medical and non-medical technologies (including transport and communication systems), but also because the system consists of heterogeneous types of social relationships: administrative, professional, market and network-exchange relationships. These coordinate different parts of the system: each individual hospital, sets of hospitals within and outside Sweden, international organ exchange arrangements, physicians and other professional groups, relatives of deceased potential donors, and potential recipients, and so forth. The paper identifies (1) key social relationships in the OTS; (2) the basic characteristics of the relationships and some of their underlying rules; and (3) several zones of structural incongruence and tension in the organ transplantation system.
The real work of teams
Authors: Jacobson Ralph
Published: December 2019

Facilitators, leaders and trainers could use a framework to help employees comprehend the full range of responsibilities of being a member of a self-directed work team. This article describes a framework of five key team processes – plan, share, learn, administer, and produce – and defines the requirements for making each process successful. During the initial stages of a team's formation, it is critical that more time and attention be paid to the first four processes. As the members develop their team capabilities, they can devote more time to production. The article concludes with suggestions for implementing the five team processes.
Organizational foundations of economic learning
Authors: Mathews John
Published: December 2019

This paper extends the concept of organizational learning to take into account the effects of institutional and economic structures that impinge on the firm's capacity to acquire new competences. Examples from East Asia, where firms have led the process of high-technology industrialization, illustrate the proposition that such economic structures can have the effect of greatly accelerating organizational learning. The paper makes a novel contribution in treating such structures (networks, clusters, alliances) as entities in themselves, and the learning that takes place by firms within them as the acquisition of higher-order competences. Three such forms are identified: first-order economic learning takes place within organizations; second-order economic learning takes place between organizations, and third-order economic learning takes place in structures that transcend firms and networks. National variations in such structures are illustrated utilising national VLSI programs in Japan, Korea and Taiwan in the semiconductor industry.
Evolutionary systems and long run economics
Authors: Benedetti Eugenio , Solari Stefano
Published: December 2019

Using a framework based on evolutionary epistemology it is possible to compare theories of evolutionary systems and economic theories. The main points of the paper are: 1. To establish a taxonomy of evolutionary concepts at different levels of description (structure, organisation, function etc.) and complexity (from dynamical mechanics to intelligent systems). 2. To clarify some confusion normally made between organisation and structure, and between mechanical and semantic concepts of information. 3. To analyse the relationship between institutions and the concept of organisation of evolutionary theories. Economic theories aiming to study evolution at any epistemological point of view cannot avoid an analysis of institutions.