bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Multiplicative Markov Decision Chains
Authors: Rothblum Uriel G.
Published: October 2008

Previous treatments of multiplicative Markov decision chains (eg., Bellman [Bellman, R. 1957. Dynamic Programming. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.], Mandl [Mandl, P. 1967. An iterative method for maximizing the characteristic root of positive matrices. Rev. Roumaine Math. Pures Appl. XII 1317–1322.], and Howard and Matheson [Howard, R. A., Matheson, J. E. 1972. Risk-sensitive Markov decision processes. Management Sci. 8 356–369.]) restricted attention to stationary policies and assumed that all transition matrices are irreducible and aperiodic. They also used a “first term” optimality criterion, namely maximizing the spectral radius of the associated transition matrix. We give a constructive proof of the existence of optimal policies among all policies under new cumulative average optimality criteria which are more sensitive than the maximization of the spectral radius. The algorithm for finding an optimal policy, first searches for a stationary policy with a nonnilpotent transition matrix, provided such a rule exists. Otherwise, the method still finds an optimal policy; though in this case the set of optimal policies usually does not contain a stationary policy! If a stationary policy with a nonnilpotent transition matrix exists, then we develop a policy improvement algorithm which finds a stationary optimal policy.
Single Machine Scheduling with Precedence Constraints of Dimension 2
Authors: Steiner George
Published: October 2008

Consider the set of tasks that are partially ordered by precedence constraints. The tasks are to be sequenced so that a given objective function will assume its optimal value over the set of feasible solutions. A subset of tasks is called feasible, if for every task in the subset, all of its predecessors are also in the subset. We present a dynamic programming solution to the problem, when the constraining partial order has a dimension ≤2. This is done by definining a “compact” labeling scheme and an efficient enumerative procedure for all the feasible subsets. In this process a new characterization is given for 2-dimensional partial orders.
A Note on Expected Makespans for Largest-First Sequences of Independent Tasks on Two Processors
Authors: Coffman E. G. , Frederickson G. N. , Lueker G. S.
Published: October 2008

We consider the scheduling of sets of n simultaneously available tasks on two identical processors. The task execution times are assumed to be independent samples from the uniform distribution on [0, 1]. We analyze the expected makespan (schedule-length) performance of two well-known largest-task-first, nonpreemptive approximation rules. With the largest-first (LF) rule, tasks are assigned in nonincreasing order of execution time to the processors as they become available. With the restricted largest first (RLF) rule, tasks are assigned in pairs, one to a processor. The larger task of a pair is the first to be scheduled. (If n is odd, the last task is simply assigned to the earner finishing processor in the schedule for the first n − 1 tasks.) We prove that the expected makespan for LF is bounded by [Formula: see text] and for RLF it is precisely [Formula: see text] From these results simple bounds are derived on the ratio of the expected performance of LF and RLF to the expected performance of an optimization rule. Finally, a lower bound on expected LF makespans is shown to be [Formula: see text]
A Matrix Game Solution of the Single-Controller Stochastic Game
Authors: Filar Jerzy A. , Raghavan T. E. S.
Published: October 2008

We consider a stochastic game on finitely many states with limiting average payoff. Further we assume that the law of motion depends on the actions of one player only, say the minimizer. We show that these games have the following properties: (a) The value of the stochastic game for each state s is the same as the value of the matrix game whose rows and columns are the pure stationary strategies of the players and whose entries are the corresponding payoffs, (b) These matrix games have a common optimal strategy for the maximizer which in turn yields his optimal stationary strategy in the stochastic game, (c) If the value of a stochastic subgame obtained by deleting a column or a row in a particular state coincides with the value of the original game at that state, then it coincides at all states, (d) If all actions of the minimizer at each state are essential for optimal play, then in the transient states (under optimal play) the minimizer has only one action. In such a case the original game can be solved by solving a number of simpler subgames independently of each other.
Conditions for the Existence of Planning Horizons
Authors: Bean James C. , Smith Robert L.
Published: October 2008

We consider the general class of discounted problems involving sequential decision making over an unbounded horizon. Under the assumptions of a finite set of policy alternatives at each decision time and costs that are eventually uniformly bounded by some exponential, existence of an optimal infinite horizon strategy is established. Moreover, it is shown that there is a finite horizon version whose first policy decision agrees with an infinite horizon optimal policy. Under the additional assumption that the infinite horizon optimal strategy is eventually cyclic, the stronger result follows that the infinite horizon optimal solution is unique for almost all interest rates and that therefore a planning horizon exists. Algorithmic implications are explored for a restricted subclass of these problems.
On the Imbalance of Inventories in Multi-Echelon Systems
Authors: Zipkin Paul
Published: October 2008

A central depot periodically orders or produces new stock and withdraws inventory in order to allocate it among several demand points, each experiencing random demands over a finite planning horizon. This system gives rise to a dynamic program with a state space of very large dimension. We determine a near-optimal allocation policy and construct a tractable, approximate dynamic program to help determine good orders and withdrawals. This is done by exploring the effects of a measure of the imbalance of inventories at the demand points. Numerical results are included.
The Hirsch Conjecture for Dual Transportation Polyhedra
Authors: Balinski M. L.
Published: October 2008

An algorithm is given that joins any pair of extreme points of a dual transportation polyhedron by a path of at most (m − 1)(n − 1) extreme edges.
Improving Quality via Matching: A Case Study Integrating Supplier and Manufacturer Quality Performance
Authors: Plante Robert , Moskowitz Herbert , Tang Jen , Duffy Jeff
Published: October 2008

The relentless pursuit of increased product quality via continuous improvement is an important long-term strategy for achieving competitive advantage. However, manufacturers must still achieve high product quality in the short run. Hence, short-run quality improvement strategies are necessary, and, if possible, should complement (rather than substitute for) a longer run continuous improvement strategy with suppliers. We propose a novel short-run quality improvement strategy with suppliers which is based on a combinatorial optimization model for determining the optimal matching of raw material batches (from suppliers) with process variable parameters (of the manufacturer) by exploiting their interaction effects. Although the model can be difficult to solve, we develop sufficient conditions for a special case where the attainment of an optimal solution is straightforward. We demonstrate the use of the proposed approach in an actual pharmaceutical process. Using data from the pharmaceutical case, we develop several simulation scenarios where matching is shown (predicted) to greatly improve process yield. We also discuss the use of matching to illuminate various strategies for long-term continuous improvement of supplier and manufacturer processes in general.
A Single-Item Inventory Model for a Nonstationary Demand Process
Authors: Graves Stephen C.
Published: October 2008

In this paper, we consider an adaptive base-stock policy for a single-item inventory system, where the demand process is nonstationary. In particular, the demand process is an integrated moving average process of order (0, 1, 1), for which an exponential-weighted moving average provides the optimal forecast. For the assumed control policy we characterize the inventory random variable and use this to find the safety stock requirements for the system. From this characterization, we see that the required inventory, both in absolute terms and as it depends on the replenishment lead-time, behaves much differently for this case of nonstationary demand compared with stationary demand. We then show how the single-item model extends to a multi-stage, or supply-chain context; in particular we see that the demand process for the upstream stage is not only nonstationary but also more variable than that for the downstream stage. We also show that for this model there is no value from letting the upstream stages see the exogenous demand. The paper concludes with some observations about the practical implications of this work.
Worker Cross-Training in Paced Assembly Lines
Authors: Vairaktarakis George , Winch Janice Kim
Published: October 2008

Paced or Synchronous assembly lines are a popular class of assembly systems consisting of a series of assembly stations arranged in tandem. Every job (or order) visits all assembly stations in the same sequence and spends the same amount of time (known as the production cycle) at each station. Industries such as aircraft, fire-engine, and automobile assembly have production cycles of a few hours and are labor intensive. In spite of increased automation in such industries, human capital remains the most expensive and important contributor to a flexible production system. In this article we formulate the cross-training problem on a paced assembly line with m stations (mCT). We assume that each worker possesses a number of skills referred to as a skill vector. Our objective is to schedule a set of work orders through the assembly system so as to minimize the size of the required workforce and/or the workforce cross-training costs. We analyze the complexity of mCT and identify polynomially solvable cases. A variety of lower bounds is developed based on optimization techniques. These lower bounds are used to develop a branch and bound algorithm as well as to evaluate our heuristics. A computational experiment reports the performance of all algorithms. Using these algorithms, we examine how the formation of skill vectors affects the workforce size and draw guidelines for cross-training programs in organizations with labor intensive assembly operations.
A Model-Based Approach for Planning and Developing a Family of Technology-Based Products
Authors: Krishnan V. , Singh Rahul , Tirupati Devanath
Published: October 2008

In this paper, we address the product-family design problem of a firm in a market in which customers choose products based on some measure of product performance. By developing products as a family, the firm can reduce the cost of developing individual product variants due to the reuse of a common product platform. Such a platform, designed in an aggregate-planning phase that precedes the development of individual product variants, is itself expensive to develop. Hence, its costs must be weighted against the benefits of its reuse in a family. We offer a model for capturing costs of product development when the family consists of variants based on a common platform. It is shown that the model can be converted into a network-optimization problem, and the optimal product-family can be identified under fairly general conditions by determining the shortest path of its network formulation. We also analytically examine the effect of alternative product designs on product-family composition, and discuss the implications of investing in new-product technology. Finally, we illustrate our model and managerial insights with an application from the electronics industry.
Quantity Flexibility Contracts and Supply Chain Performance
Authors: Tsay A. A. , Lovejoy W. S.
Published: October 2008

The Quantity Flexibility (QF) contract is a method for coordinating materials and information flows in supply chains operating under rolling-horizon planning. It stipulates a maximum percentage revision each element of the period-by-period replenishment schedule is allowed per planning iteration. The supplier is obligated to cover any requests that remain within the upside limits. The bounds on reductions are a form of minimum purchase commitment which discourages the customer from overstating its needs. While QF contracts are being implemented in industrial practice, the academic literature has thus far had little guidance to offer a firm interested in structuring its supply relationships in this way. This paper seeks to address this need, by developing rigorous conclusions about the behavioral consequences of QF contracts, and hence about the implications for the performance and design of supply chains with linkages possessing this structure. Issues explored include the impact of system flexibility on inventory characteristics and the patterns by which forecast and order variability propagate along the supply chain. The ultimate goal is to provide insights as to where to position flexibility for the greatest benefit, and how much to pay for it.
Electronic Groups at Work
Authors: Finholt Tom , Sproull Lee S.
Published: October 2008

This paper considers how computer-based communication technology, specifically electronic group mail, might affect group behavior in organizations. It proposes a framework for analyzing groups formed by electronic distribution lists. It describes the scope and nature of electronic group mail in one organization, illustrates how members of electronic distribution lists can exhibit fundamental group processes, and compares behavior in different kinds of electronic groups. It suggests that the electronic group at work is a new social phenomenon that may contribute importantly to organizational behavior.
Collaboration or Paradigm Shift?: Caveat Emptor and the Risk of Romance with Economic Models for Strategy and Policy Research
Authors: Hirsch Paul M. , Friedman Ray , Koza Mitchell P.
Published: October 2008

While the “formulation” or “strategy” side of business policy has always drawn appropriately from economic theory, we caution that, taken to its logical extreme, economic theory ignores the importance of implementation, implies lack of choice in organization decision-making, and makes the organization a nonentity. In this paper, we outline the fundamental differences between behavioral and economic approaches to business policy. These differences are highlighted by an illustration of their divergent perspectives on corporate “agency”.
Top Managerial Prestige and Organizational Bankruptcy
Authors: D'Aveni Richard A.
Published: October 2008

This paper extends earlier work on an alternative view of bankruptcy suggesting that bankruptcy occurs when creditors withdraw then support from a firm's top management team. It further proposes that support for the top team depends upon the team's prestige. Five characteristics measuring the relative status of top teams were tested for their association with bankruptcy. Three of the characteristics focused on items commonly associated with membership in economic elites elite educational backgrounds, board memberships, and previous employment as officers in other corporations. The fourth and fifth characteristics focused on membership in political and military elites. The results indicated that political and board connections were negatively associated with bankruptcy in the year of failure, even when financial factors and cooptive board linkages were controlled. The results also showed that failing firms attempted to improve their managerial prestige three to four years before they failed. They were, however, unable to hold onto their gains because of the “bailout” by prestigious managers in the last two years before bankruptcy.
Images of Imaging: Notes on Doing Longitudinal Field Work
Authors: Barley Stephen R.
Published: October 2008

This paper discusses the problems and processes involved in conducting longitudinal ethnographic research. The author's field study of technological change in radiology provides the context for the discussion. Specific attention is paid to how researchers can design a qualitative study and then collect data in a systematic and explicit manner. Consequently, the paper seeks to dispel the notion that participant observation and quantitative data analysis are inimical. Finally, the social and human problems of gaining entry into a research site, constructing a research role, and managing relationships with informants are illustrated.
A Primer on Sequence Methods
Authors: Abbott Andrew
Published: October 2008

This paper considers the technical problem of analyzing sequences of social events. Examples of such sequences from organizational behavior include organizational life cycles, patterns of innovation development, and career tracks of individuals. The methods considered here enable the analyst to find characteristic patterns in such sequences. Forces shaping those patterns can then be found by more conventional methods. After a brief definitional section, the paper begins by discussing three types of sequence questions: (1) questions about whether a typical sequence or sequences exist, (2) questions about why such patterns might exist, and (3) questions about the consequences of such patterns. The theoretical foundations of the first type of question, which is in fact the most important, are then considered. Having established the legitimacy of the approach here taken, the paper then introduces two exemplary datasets with which to focus discussion. These raise the issue of conceptualization and measurement of sequence data. Illustrative cases are presented to show the importance of extreme care in conceiving a sequence to measure and then choosing indicators for it. The paper then turns to methods proper, considering them in several categories. It first briefly mentions methods not employing “distance measures” between events: permutational techniques, stochastic (e.g., Markov) models, and durational methods. Most of these do not directly address sequence questions but can be used to do so if necessary. Turning to the methods based on event distance, the paper first considers the problem of measuring distance between events (1) in terms of elapsed time, (2) in terms of categories of events, and (3) in terms of observed successions. It then considers methods for unique event sequences (sequences in which no events repeat), proposing the use of multidimensional scaling and illustrating it with an analysis of data on medical organizations. For the separate case of repeating event sequences, the paper discusses optimal matching methods, which count the number of individual transformations required to change one sequence into another. These methods are illustrated by an analysis of data on musicians' careers. The paper then briefly considers the problem of finding subsequences common to several longer sequences (or repeated in one longer sequence). It closes with a discussion of assumptions made and caveats required when these types of methods are used.
Theoretical and Analytical Issues in Studying Organizational Processes
Authors: Monge Peter R.
Published: October 2008

Formulation of dynamic theories and process hypotheses is a crucial component in longitudinal research. This paper describes a framework for developing dynamic theory and hypotheses. The procedure require the theorist to address six dimensions of process in each variable: continuity, magnitude of change, rate of change, trend, periodicity and duration. Further, theorists are encouraged to explore the dynamic relations between sets of variables, including rate of change, magnitude of change, lag, and permanence. Consideration is given to the problem of feedback loops. A typology of analytical alternatives for studying dynamic processes and longitudinal research data is provided.
Information Privacy Concerns, Procedural Fairness, and Impersonal Trust: An Empirical Investigation
Authors: Culnan Mary J. , Armstrong Pamela K.
Published: October 2008

This research addresses the tensions that arise between the collection and use of personal information that people provide in the course of most consumer transactions, and privacy. In today's electronic world, the competitive strategies of successful firms increasingly depend on vast amounts of customer data. Ironically, the same information practices that provide value to organizations also raise privacy concerns for individuals. This study hypothesized that organizations can address these privacy concerns and gain business advantage through customer retention by observing procedural fairness: customers will be willing to disclose personal information and have that information subsequently used to create consumer profiles for business use when there are fair procedures in place to protect individual privacy. Because customer relationships are characterized by social distance, customers must depend on strangers to act on their behalf. Procedural fairness serves as an intermediary to build trust when interchangeable organizational agents exercise considerable delegated power on behalf of customers who cannot specify or constrain their behavior. Our hypothesis was supported as we found that when customers are explicitly told that fair information practices are employed, privacy concerns do not distinguish consumers who are willing to be profiled from those who are unwilling to have their personal information used in this way.
Institutional Sources of Boundary-Spanning Structures: The Establishment of Investor Relations Departments in the Fortune 500 Industrials
Authors: Rao Hayagreeva , Sivakumar Kumar
Published: October 2008

The authors analyze the coercive and mimetic conditions leading to the establishment of investor relations departments among Fortune 500 industrial firms during the 1984–1994 period. The results show that antimanagement resolutions brought to a vote by social movement activists significantly contributed to the establishment of investor relations departments. Intense scrutiny by financial analysts also impelled firms to create such departments. Whereas social movement activists framed shareholder rights as a problem and compelled organizations to uphold them, professional analysts subtly coerced organizations to signal their commitment to investor rights by creating boundary-spanning structures. That solution was transmitted through board interlocks to other organizations.
Flexibility Versus Efficiency? A Case Study of Model Changeovers in the Toyota Production System
Authors: Adler Paul S. , Goldoftas Barbara , Levine David I.
Published: October 2008

This article seeks to reconceptualize the relationship between flexibility and efficiency. Much organization theory argues that efficiency requires bureaucracy, that bureaucracy impedes flexibility, and that organizations therefore confront a tradeoff between efficiency and flexibility. Some researchers have challenged this line of reasoning, arguing that organizations can shift the efficiency/flexibility tradeoff to attain both superior efficiency and superior flexibility. Others have pointed out numerous obstacles to successfully shifting the tradeoff. Seeking to advance our understanding of these obstacles and how they might be overcome, we analyze an auto assembly plant that appears to be far above average industry performance in both efficiency and flexibility. NUMMI, a Toyota subsidiary located in Fremont, California, relied on a highly bureaucratic organization to achieve its high efficiency. Analyzing two recent major model changes, we find that NUMMI used four mechanisms to support its exceptional flexibility/efficiency combination. First, metaroutines (routines for changing other routines) facilitated the efficient performance of nonroutine tasks. Second, both workers and suppliers contributed to nonroutine tasks while they worked in routine production. Third, routine and nonroutine tasks were separated temporally, and workers switched sequentially between them. Finally, novel forms of organizational partitioning enabled differentiated subunits to work in parallel on routine and nonroutine tasks. NUMMI's success with these four mechanisms depended on several features of the broader organizational context, most notably training, trust, and leadership.
Umbrella Advocates Versus Validity Police: A Life-Cycle Model
Authors: Hirsch Paul M. , Levin Daniel Z.
Published: October 2008

The rise and fall of organizational effectiveness, an “umbrella construct” once at the forefront of organizational theory, is traced through four life-cycle stages: emerging excitement, the validity challenge, “tidying up with typologies,” and construct collapse. Although the study of effectiveness has declined, research on its component elements continues to thrive. Using the effectiveness story as an exemplar, we develop a more general model of this process for all umbrella constructs, defined here as broad concepts used to encompass and account for a diverse set of phenomena. This life-cycle model—driven largely by a dialectic between researchers with a broad perspective (“umbrella advocates”) and those with a narrower one (“validity police”)—leaves open the possibility that some umbrella constructs may ultimately be made coherent or remain permanently controversial rather than collapse, as effectiveness has done. We propose that umbrella constructs will arise most frequently in academic fields without a theoretical consensus, will inevitably have their validity seriously challenged, will have a shorter life than their constituent elements, and will be more vulnerable to validity challenges when they lack support from practitioners. This model's implications for the future direction of such current umbrella constructs as organizational learning, culture, strategy, and performance are also explored and elaborated. Ironically, some evidence suggests that studies around the construct of organizational “performance” have arisen to replace the nearly identical, but fallen umbrella construct of organizational effectiveness.
Perspective: Complexity Theory and Organization Science
Authors: Anderson Philip
Published: October 2008

Complex organizations exhibit surprising, nonlinear behavior. Although organization scientists have studied complex organizations for many years, a developing set of conceptual and computational tools makes possible new approaches to modeling nonlinear interactions within and between organizations. Complex adaptive system models represent a genuinely new way of simplifying the complex. They are characterized by four key elements: agents with schemata, self-organizing networks sustained by importing energy, coevolution to the edge of chaos, and system evolution based on recombination. New types of models that incorporate these elements will push organization science forward by merging empirical observation with computational agent-based simulation. Applying complex adaptive systems models to strategic management leads to an emphasis on building systems that can rapidly evolve effective adaptive solutions. Strategic direction of complex organizations consists of establishing and modifying environments within which effective, improvised, self-organized solutions can evolve. Managers influence strategic behavior by altering the fitness landscape for local agents and reconfiguring the organizational architecture within which agents adapt.
Explaining Complex Organizational Dynamics
Authors: Dooley Kevin J. , Van de Ven Andrew H.
Published: October 2008

Studies of organizational processes can yield observations in the form of event time series that can be analyzed to determine whether they reflect periodic, chaotic, white noise, or pink noise dynamic patterns. These different patterns each imply different underlying generative mechanisms and hence, different process theories. In this paper we present a model that describes how these four dynamical patterns are different from one another. Specifically, a causal system can be characterized by its dimensionality, and by the nature of interaction between causal factors. Low dimensional causal systems yield periodic and chaotic dynamics, while high dimensional causal systems yield white and pink noise dynamics. Periodic and white noise dynamics stem from systems where causal factors act independently, or in a linear fashion, while chaotic and pink noise systems stem from systems where causal factors act interdependently, in a nonlinear fashion. Thus, given a diagnosis of an observed event time series, we can hypothesize a particular story, or causal process theory, that might explain in organization-specific terms why such dynamics came about. In doing so, we also propose that the observation of chaotic organizational dynamics may often signify the presence of control and/or cooperation, rather than a lack of it, as implied by the vernacular use of the term. We conclude by challenging organizational researchers to define new models that capture such observed behavior.
Bridging Epistemologies: The Generative Dance Between Organizational Knowledge and Organizational Knowing
Authors: Cook Scott D. N. , Brown John Seely
Published: October 2008

Much current work on organizational knowledge, intellectual capital, knowledge-creating organizations, knowledge work, and the like rests on a single, traditional understanding of the nature of knowledge. We call this understanding the “epistemology of possession,” since it treats knowledge as something people possess. Yet, this epistemology cannot account for the knowing found in individual and group practice. Knowing as action calls for an “epistemology of practice.” Moreover, the epistemology of possession tends to privilege explicit over tacit knowledge, and knowledge possessed by individuals over that possessed by groups. Current work on organizations is limited by this privileging and by the scant attention given to knowing in its own right. Organizations are better understood if explicit, tacit, individual and group knowledge are treated as four distinct and coequal forms of knowledge (each doing work the others cannot), and if knowledge and knowing are seen as mutually enabling (not competing). We hold that knowledge is a tool of knowing, that knowing is an aspect of our interaction with the social and physical world, and that the interplay of knowledge and knowing can generate new knowledge and new ways of knowing. We believe this generative dance between knowledge and knowing is a powerful source of organizational innovation. Harnessing this innovation calls for organizational and technological infrastructures that support the interplay of knowledge and knowing. Ultimately, these concepts make possible a more robust framing of such epistemologically-centered concerns as core competencies, the management of intellectual capital, etc. We explore these views through three brief case studies drawn from recent research.
The Effects of Coupling IT and Work Process Strategies in Redesign Projects
Authors: Mitchell Victoria L. , Zmud Robert W.
Published: October 2008

Organizational adaptation to competition often means inventing or adopting a process innovation and the daunting challenge of implementing it. Increasingly, process innovations rely on the capabilities embedded in an organization's IT infrastructure. Successfully implementing an IT-enabled process innovation depends largely on how a project's IT and work process designs fit and evolve with this IT infrastructure. However, little empirical research guides the formulation of IT and work process strategies. This study addresses the question: How does the degree of coupling between a redesign project's IT strategy and work process strategy affect project performance? Data collection utilized a multistage research design employing comprehensive phone interviews and matched surveys among three sets of respondents (project managers, IT managers, and process users) across 43 process redesign projects in the health care industry. Our findings indicate project performance improves with tightly coupled IT and work process strategies when implementing process inventions, and with loosely coupled strategies when implementing imitations.
Buyer-Supplier Relations in Industrial Markets: When Do Buyers Risk Making Idiosyncratic Investments?
Authors: Bensaou M. , Anderson Erin
Published: October 2008

It is well established that the existence of investments specific to a relationship influences the choice of governance structure, including the use of contractual safeguards. What is less well understood are the circumstances leading to the creation of those specific assets to begin with. This paper explores the industrial buyer's motives to put itself at risk by making investments, tangible and intangible, which cannot be readily redeployed from one supplier to another. Using original data from a sample of 388 supply relationships involving all automakers in the U.S. and Japan, we examine features of the supply task, the supplier, and the supply environment which serve as motives to make supplier-specific investments. We also examine potential factors which facilitate the posting of specific assets as “credible commitments” to attenuate supplier opportunism. We find that specific investments by buyers serve as a mechanism to 1) increase coordination when the manufacturing task is complex, 2) buffer the buyer against technological uncertainty, and 3) build close relationships when the requisite production skills are scarce (the supply market is thin). We find more specific investments in supply arrangements that are embedded in a broader business relationship. We find fewer supplier-specific investments in the Japanese context. Finally, we find that buyers focus their investments on lesser-known, low-share component makers, perhaps to capitalize on a unique, focused supplier capability.
Telecommuting: Justice and Control in the Virtual Organization
Authors: Kurland Nancy B. , Egan Terri D.
Published: October 2008

The adoption of telecommuting raises concerns for both managers and employees: Remote supervision presents monitoring challenges, while physical isolation may impede the employee's opportunity for, and involvement in, determining valued organizational outcomes (organizational justice). This study of 191 employees examined the relationships among telecommuting, organizational monitoring strategies, and organizational justice perceptions. Results suggest that monitoring strategies were more strongly associated with organizational justice perceptions than with telecommuting, and procedural and interactional justice perceptions related significantly to telecommuting. We provide implications, limitations, and ideas for future research.
Coevolution of Firm Absorptive Capacity and Knowledge Environment: Organizational Forms and Combinative Capabilities
Authors: Van den Bosch Frans A. J. , Volberda Henk W. , de Boer Michiel
Published: October 2008

This paper advances the understanding of absorptive capacity for assimilating new knowledge as a mediating variable of organization adaptation. Many scholars suggest a firm's absorptive capacity plays a key role in the process of coevolution (Lewin et al., this issue). So far, most publications, in following Cohen and Levinthal (1990), have considered the level of prior related knowledge as the determinant of absorptive capacity. We suggest, however, that two specific organizational determinants of absorptive capacity should also be considered: organization forms and combinative capabilities. We will show how these organizational determinants influence the level of absorptive capacity, ceteris paribus the level of prior related knowledge. Subsequently, we will develop a framework in which absorptive capacity is related to both micro- and macrocoevolutionary effects. This framework offers an explanation of how knowledge environments coevolve with the emergence of organization forms and combinative capabilities that are suitable for absorbing knowledge. We will illustrate the framework by discussing two longitudinal case studies of traditional publishing firms moving into the turbulent knowledge environment of an emerging multimedia industrial complex.
Change and Complementarities in the New Competitive Landscape: A European Panel Study, 1992–1996
Authors: Whittington Richard , Pettigrew Andrew , Peck Simon , Fenton Evelyn , Conyon Martin
Published: October 2008

This paper addresses three weaknesses in the literature on new organizational forms: the limited mapping of the extent of contemporary organizational change; confusion about how contemporary changes link together; and the lack of systematic testing of the performance consequences of this kind of change. Drawing on a large-scale survey of organizational innovation in European firms, the paper finds widespread but not revolutionary change in terms of organization structure, processes, and boundaries. Using the economics notion of complementarities, the paper develops contingency and configurational approaches to suggest that organizational innovations will tend to cluster in particular ways and that the performance benefits of these innovations depend on their clustering. Complementarities in performance are explored from both inductive and deductive perspectives. Consistent with the expectations of complementarity theory, high-performing firms appeared to be innovating more and differently than low-performing firms. Again consistent with complementarities, piecemeal changes—with the exception of IT—were found to deliver little performance benefit, while exploitation of the full set of innovations was associated with high performance. Though few European firms were found to exploit the complementarities of new organizational practices, those that did enjoyed high-performance premia.
The Temporal Development of Strategy: Patterns in the U.K. Insurance Industry
Authors: Webb David , Pettigrew Andrew
Published: October 2008

Much writing in the field of strategic management remains an exercise in comparative statics. Cross-sectional research designs are combined with the static metaphors of contingency thinking to analyse the fit between the positioning and resource base of the firm and its performance in differing environments. However, the inadequacies of this tradition are increasingly recognised even by scholars who have created it (Porter 1991). Strategy can no longer be conceived through the static language of states or positions and must now be understood as an innovation contest where the bureaucratic and inflexible will not survive.

This paper takes up the challenge to explore the dynamics of industry and firm strategy development. The empirical focus of the paper is the U.K. insurance industry in a period of upheaval between 1990 and 1996. By means of an innovative cross-correlational time series analysis, we are able to show the ebb and flow of strategic change in the industry and the patterns of initiation and imitation as certain firms lead areas of strategy and others follow. These findings are interrogated and interpreted by drawing on and developing theoretical ideas from three literatures which historically have not talked to one another. These are the literatures on innovation, institutionalism, and contextualism.

The empirical results show firms pursuing multiple strategies at one point in time and also altering the strategic agenda over time. A cross-correlational analysis of nine firms in the U.K. insurance industry reveals the existence of leaders and laggards in the development of a variety of strategic initiatives. Theoretically the paper examines the mixture of external conditions and internal context and processes which contribute to the development of early and later adopters of strategies in an industry over time.
The Coevolution of New Organizational Forms in the Fashion Industry: A Historical and Comparative Study of France, Italy, and the United States
Authors: Djelic Marie-Laure , Ainamo Antti
Published: October 2008

In many industries, the contemporary context of acute environmental dislocation shows the limits of traditional organizational recipes. In direct response to environmental challenges, companies are experimenting with new organizational solutions. While flexibility, or the capacity to redefine organizational form to follow changing purposes, is undeniably a common trend, these experiments otherwise differ greatly. Diversity is such, in fact, that it is difficult to clearly identify and define a unique organizational paradigm for the future.

To explore the connection between environmental dislocation and organizational transformations, we adopt a historical and comparative perspective. Our empirical base of evidence is the luxury fashion industry in three countries, France, Italy, and the United States. For many years, this industry was defined by stable environmental conditions, and a craft model of organization remained dominant. We show that, over a more recent period, increasing environmental turbulence has brought about a redefinition of the rules of the game. A common response has been for organizations to move towards greater flexibility or modularity and to experiment with network forms. However, we also show that the paths or trajectories leading to organizational flexibility have varied significantly across countries, reflecting historical legacies and institutional constraints. We identify in fact three different network forms in that industry, which represent national ideal types—the “umbrella holding” company in France, the “flexible embedded network” in Italy, and the “virtual organization” in the United States.

We argue that the process of change in the luxury fashion industry has been one of coevolution, where environmental transformation and organizational change have fed upon each other through time. Pioneer firms in the luxury fashion industry originally devised organizational solutions within the bounds set by nationally defined constraints and opportunities. Becoming institutionalized, these early solutions in turn shaped the environment for individual organizations and organizational populations, creating new sets of opportunities and constraints. In a path-dependent manner, different models of organization and national competitiveness thus emerged.

In conclusion, we are brought to question the likelihood of full and stable convergence towards a unique organizational form or paradigm. There appears to be, in each national context, a process of construction of new organizational solutions that starts from local foundations. Embedded as they are in powerful historical and institutional legacies, organizational differences are there to stay, we believe, beyond the period of transition and acute environmental dislocation.
The Coevolution of Network Alliances: A Longitudinal Analysis of an International Professional Service Network
Authors: Koza Mitchell P. , Lewin Arie Y.
Published: October 2008

This paper examines a single longitudinal case study of a professional service network in the public accounting industry, a network intentionally created and formally organized to pursue residual referral revenue for the member firms. Applying and extending a coevolutionary perspective (Koza and Lewin 1998), the paper explores the antecedents and stimuli for the formation of the network, the network's morphology, the motivation of the network members, and the ways in which the network coevolves with its environment and with the adaptation practices of its members. We find that the network was initially created with the strategic intent of producing incremental income in exchange for cross-border referrals. However, we also find that this strategy reveals asymmetric positive returns, which produce serendipitous opportunities for individual member firms to bypass the original intent of network by entering each other's market. We propose that such tensions may be endemic to alliance networks, and we explore their sources and consequences on a variety of characteristics, including network stability, member opportunism, and control. The paper concludes with a model of the coevolutionary process.
Argumentation Rationality of Management Decisions
Authors: v. Werder Axel
Published: October 2008

This article is concerned with the assessment of the substantiation of management decisions in practice. The necessity for this undertaking derives from the fact that to be successful, management must choose the right extent of analysis for preparing major decisions. Testing this hypothesis requires the ability to measure the thoroughness of a decision preparation and to relate different levels of thoroughness to the success of the decision outcomes. In this paper, the author first presents the conceptual framework of argumentation rationality which makes it possible to measure the thoroughness of a decision preparation—or in other words, the soundness of reasons given for the decision.

For a concrete-trial usage, the concept is then combined with the methodology of account analysis introduced by Lewin (Lewin 1996, Lewin and Hunter 1996, Hunter 1999) for the research project on “New Organization Forms in the Information Age” (NOFIA). The arguments given explicitly in the accounts express rationales for management decisions and thus give hints on the intensity of the decision preparation. Using a simplified version of the measuring concept which assesses the argumentation rationality on three selected rationality determinants (pro/contra relation, depth of arguments, and breadth of arguments), two different types of rationality analyses are carried out to illustrate the fruitfulness of the approach. First, on the basis of 16 accounts concerning an important strategic decision of Daimler-Benz made in 1985 (becoming an integrated technology group), the arguments discussed during that time are identified and structured for assessing the substantiation of decision preparation. The developed structure of reasoning not only allows a formal evaluation, but in addition offers starting points for a substantial discussion of the change action. Secondly, 138 accounts from the German automotive industry of the years 1990–1997 are analyzed in order to identify first typical patterns of management argumentation. Based on the available empirical foundation, four types of reasoning are isolated, which differ characteristically with respect to the considered rationality determinants. The paper closes with a perspective on significant questions for further elaborating as well as employing the concept in future research.
Coordination and Virtualization: The Role of Electronic Networks and Personal Relationships
Authors: Kraut Robert , Steinfield Charles , Chan Alice P. , Butler Brian , Hoag Anne
Published: October 2008

One view holds that organizations are virtual to the extent that they outsource key components of their production processes, and that electronic networks make it easier to do this. The goal of the present paper is to examine explicitly the effects that use of electronic networks for transactions with suppliers has on firms' degree of virtualization. In so doing, we also highlight factors that influence the use of networks for coordination with suppliers, and the impact such use has on coordination success. Contrary to much recent speculation, the use of electronic networks for transactions was not associated with increased outsourcing, but rather with greater dependence on internal production. Moreover, the use of interpersonal relationships for coordination, which many think of as an alternative to electronic network use, was positively associated with greater network use. Surprisingly, use of electronic networks was negatively associated with such outcomes as order quality and efficiency, and satisfaction with suppliers, while more reliance on personal linkages was associated with better outcomes and mitigated the negative consequences of using electronic networks.