bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Influence of a Convergence in Understanding Between Technology Providers and Users on Information Technology Innovativeness
Authors: Lind Mary R. , Zmud Robert W. 
Published: October 2008

The objective of this research was to determine if a convergence in understanding between providers and users of a technology would result in greater innovativeness regarding that technology. Two mechanisms were proposed for achieving greater convergence: (1) more frequent communication and (2) the use of richer communication channels. Here, convergence represents the degree of mutual understanding between the technology providers and the other business personnel about the firm's business activities and the importance of the technology in supporting those activities. Frequency of communication indicated the degree to which the technology providers and the business personnel had communication contact, while richness of communication was determined by the type of communication channel used. These means of communication ranged from face to face, computer mediated, to written channels of communication. The convergence construct was operationalized in terms of the value chain framework where 14 business activities (primary and secondary to the value chain) were identified. Convergence thus represents the degree of mutual understanding between the technology providers and the business personnel regarding the importance of these business activities and the importance of the technology in supporting these activities. Innovativeness was determined through expert evaluation of information technology innovativeness. This research was conducted in two United States divisions of a large multinational firm. The units of analyses for the research constructs were the departments in these two divisions. The constructs were measured over five periods of data collection so that longitudinal, causal analysis techniques (cross-lagged correlations and path analysis) were used to investigate the research model. The following results were obtained: (1) convergence was found to be a predictor of innovativeness, (2) communication richness was a predictor of convergence, and (3) communication frequency was a predictor of both convergence and communication richness. This study provided two important extensions to the often-studied relationship between communication behaviors and innovativeness. First, this research showed empirically that the richness of communication influences innovativeness and, in fact, may be the more relevant predictor variable. Secondly, this research showed that convergence is an important intervening construct in the communication activity/innovativeness relationship. Interestingly, the research model only suggested a causal relationship for convergence on the importance of the primary business activities. Thus, the intent of this study to examine the proposition that frequent and rich communication exchanges produce a convergence in understanding among technology providers and users and, that this convergence directly promotes organizational innovativeness was supported.
The Effects of American- and Japanese-Style Employment and Compensation Practices on Innovation
Authors: Quinn Dennis P. , Rivoli Pietra 
Published: October 2008

Success in the global marketplace increasingly requires that firms develop capabilities in innovation. In this paper we argue that firms can use employment and compensation practices to foster innovation and support for innovation by employees. Conversely, some employment and compensation systems will inhibit innovation. A system that allows gain sharing by employees and provides employment assurance will foster innovation in the firm. However, a system that compensates employees with a fixed wage and allows for termination at will contains anti-innovative incentives. The former system is the prototypical Japanese system (particularly in large firms), while the latter system is the prototypical American system. The commercial success of Japanese firms is increasingly attributed to successful innovation, particularly in processes. We argue that this success is partly attributable to the Japanese-style system of employment and compensation. None of this suggests, however, that the Japanese-style practices constitute a universally superior system of employment and compensation. The Japanese-style system will not necessarily be beneficial to firms, nor be preferred by employees. The preferences of both employees and firms will depend upon market circumstances. In stable domestic markets in relatively full employment economies, companies derive competitive advantage from mass production and scale economies. Under such circumstances, the American-style system is likely to be preferred by both employees and firms. However, when the firm operates in a volatile international market the preferences of both employees and firms will shift toward the Japanese-style system. The employment and compensation systems of both countries were well suited to the market circumstances under which they evolved.
Integrating Positivist and Interpretive Approaches to Organizational Research
Authors: Lee Allen S. 
Published: October 2008

The interpretive approach to organizational research has been gaining increasing attention as a legitimate alternative to the more traditional positivist approach. The organizational literature has already provided thorough descriptions of each approach, and clarified the differences between them. Indeed, it often appears that the two approaches are opposed, with the differences irreconcilable. This paper will go beyond the differences and establish an integrated framework for the two approaches. An actual, published organizational study will be used as an exemplar for the integrated framework (Nardulli 1978, 1979).
Technology Diffusion and Organizational Learning: The Case of Business Computing
Authors: Attewell Paul 
Published: October 2008

The dominant explanation for the spread of technological innovations emphasizes processes of influence and information flow. Firms which are closely connected to pre-existing users of an innovation learn about it and adopt it early on. Firms at the periphery of communication networks are slower to adopt. This paper develops an alternative model which emphasizes the role of know-how and organizational learning as potential barriers to adoption of innovations. Firms delay in-house adoption of complex technology until they obtain sufficient technical know-how to implement and operate it successfully. In response to knowledge barriers, new institutions come into existence which progressively lower those barriers, and make it easier for firms to adopt and use the technology without extensive in-house expertise. Service bureaus, consultants, and simplification of the technology are examples. As knowledge barriers are lowered, diffusion speeds up, and one observes a transition from an early pattern in which the new technology is typically obtained as a service to a later pattern of in-house provision of the technology. Thus the diffusion of technology is reconceptualized in terms of organizational learning, skill development, and knowledge barriers. The utility of this approach is shown through an empirical study of the diffusion of business computing in the United States, reporting survey and ethnographic data on the spread of business computing, on the learning processes and skills required, and on the changing institutional practices that facilitated diffusion.
Executive Succession and Organization Outcomes in Turbulent Environments: An Organization Learning Approach
Authors: Virany Beverly , Tushman Michael L. , Romanelli Elaine 
Published: October 2008

This paper explores executive succession as an important mechanism for organization learning and, thus, for organization adaptation. We argue that executive succession can fundamentally alter the knowledge, skills and interaction processes of the senior management team. These revised skills and communication processes improve the team's ability to recognize and act on changing environmental conditions. Especially in turbulent environments, succession may be critical for improving or sustaining the performance of the firm. We explore continuity and change of CEOs and their executive teams as associated with first- and second-order organization learning, which are differentially important under stable versus turbulent environmental conditions. We also link these organization learning ideas to the nature of organization evolution. A series of hypotheses link executive-team succession and strategic reorientation to subsequent organization performance. Results in a study of 59 minicomputer firms, all founded between 1968 and 1971, indicate that succession exerts a positive influence on organization performance. We also show that it is important to distinguish between CEO succession and executive-team change, which independently improve subsequent organization performance. The positive impact of succession is accentuated when it coincides with strategic reorientation. Finally we examined how longer term patterns in succession and reorientation affect organization performance. We discovered two modes of organization adaption in this turbulent industry. The most typical mode combines CEO succession, sweeping executive-team changes, and strategic reorientations. A more rare, and over the long-term more effective, adaptational mode involves strategic reorientation and executive-team change, but no succession of the CEO. Consistently high-performing organizations are managed to sustain a relatively high level of learning (through turnover of senior executives and strategic reorientation), and at the same time to maintain links with established organizational competencies (through retention of the CEO).
Task Analyzability, Use of New Media, and Effectiveness: A Multi-Site Exploration of Media Richness
Authors: Rice Ronald E. 
Published: October 2008

The present study explores the central tenet of media richness theory, derived from contingency theory: when (1) information processing capabilities match (2) information processing demands, (3) performance will improve. This article tests whether using communication media that differ (1) in media richness or social presence (2) in conditions of differing task analyzability (3) affects self-reported performance components such as quality of work, effectiveness, productivity, ability to obtain information, decision-making ability, access to others, etc. The article first reviews the theoretical constructs of media richness and social presence, task characteristics, and performance, with particular reference to organizational computer-mediated communication media. It also identifies important but untested assumptions that media richness theory has, to date, made about the forms of the relationships among these variables. The theory assumes that use-performance relationships are nonmonotonic, that is, that the relationship between use and outcomes is positive when a medium's richness “fits” task requirements, and negative when it does not. The theory also assumes that use-performance relationships are symmetric, that is, that the relationship between use and outcomes in different task conditions is similar but opposite for “rich media” and “lean media.” Hypotheses test the direction and form of relationships involving use of online databases in several pooled organizations, electronic mail in one organization, voice mail in two organizations, and videoconferencing in one organization, in task conditions varying in analyzability. Results are mixed, depending on analytical method and dataset used, but show modest support for the contingent effect of task condition on the relationship between use of these new media and performance components. Results are stronger for information-lean media than for information-rich media. The results are generally monotonic and asymmetric, thus qualifying prior media richness assumptions. Implications for theory and research include slight support but conceptual qualification of media richness theory, and an improved understanding of new organizational media. Implications for management and practice include a need to appreciate appropriate uses of and opportunities for different communication media in organizational contexts. This paper is written with the assistance of: Paul J. Hart, Ph.D., Computer and Information Systems Department, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida; Jack Torobin, Ph.D., Delphi Communication Services, Los Angeles, California; Douglas Shook, Ph.D., Communication Sciences, Los Angeles, California; Joyce E. Tyler, M.A., Arthur Andersen, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia; Lynne Svenning, Ph.D., Telecommunications Research Group, Wilmington, Delaware; John Ruchinskas, Ph.D., Telecommunications Research Group, Los Angeles, California, and Arden, Delaware.
Organizational Considerations in the Evaluation of Capital Assets: Toward a Resource-Based View of Strategic Investment by Firms
Authors: Robins James A. 
Published: October 2008

During the last three decades, sophisticated techniques for analysis of market investment have been developed by financial economists. At the same time, however, concepts and methods for analysis of resource allocation within firms have lagged behind market theory. The analysis of investment within firms has been based primarily on applications of economic theory that exhibit serious weaknesses. The special problems associated with analysis of investment in firms have become an important concern of strategic management. Recent “resource-based” approaches to strategy have developed valuable insights into the limitations of economic analysis of the firm. Although the resource-based work has not yet provided formal methods comparable to the Capital Asset Pricing Model, it has made important progress in building foundations for an alternative analysis of economic organization. This paper explores weaknesses in the financial economic analysis of the firm and examines alternative perspectives in the work on resource-based strategy. The paper focuses on problems associated with use of market models such as the CAPM for capital allocation within firms. Working from basic premises of transaction-cost economics, the paper identifies important flaws in financial-economic techniques for defining hurdle rates for capital projects. The paper discusses underlying logical problems associated with the application of market theory to complex organizations and examines ways that alternative approaches to resource allocation have begun to evolve within the field of strategic management.
The Structural Consequences of Downsizing
Authors: DeWitt Rocki-Lee 
Published: October 2008

This paper examines the impact of downsizing strategy on dimensions and types of organizational structure. Four downsizing strategies are developed to address organization and environment decline. Understanding where and how these strategies modify an organization's activities helps clarity how downsizing impacts organization structure. Propositions are offered that show how downsizing can result in both mechanistic and organic shifts in organization structure. Mechanistic shifts are caused by downsizing strategies that increase the domain of an organization and the structural processes used to support that domain. Organic shifts are caused by downsizing strategies that decrease the domain of an organization and the structural processes used to support that domain. The rationale provided for these shifts offers a strategic explanation for decreases in administrative intensity that lag decreases in organization size. Propositions about the impact of downsizing on organizational structure are offered as a stimulus to further thought and research.
Adapting to a Declining Environment: Lessons from a Religious Order
Authors: Ludwig Dean C. 
Published: October 2008

This study examines the ten U.S. provinces of the largest religious order of Catholic priests and brothers, the Jesuits, and explores the structural/organizational adaptations which these ten provinces employed to accommodate dramatic reductions in membership. The organizational placement of roughly 11,000 individual members of these provinces is traced between the years 1965 and 1979. The research indicates that, by increasing interorganizational cooperation and exchange of information and by enhancing the administrative component, these organizations were able to reduce slack resource requirements and were largely able to protect their core operations from the impact of decline. These observations differ dramatically from those reported in typical, for-profit organizations (e.g., Harrigan 1980). Finally, to the extent that cutback did reach the core, an attempt is made to examine the width and depth of retrenchment at both the divisional and departmental levels and to determine whether the mode of retrenchment affected individuals' willingness to subsequently invest in the organization. The analysis suggests that narrower, deeper cuts at the departmental level may have had a positive effect on members' willingness to invest in the organizations, while narrower, deeper cuts at the division level may have contributed to more members deciding to leave the organizations.
Capturing the Complexity in Advanced Technology Use: Adaptive Structuration Theory
Authors: DeSanctis Gerardine , Poole Marshall Scott 
Published: October 2008

The past decade has brought advanced information technologies, which include electronic messaging systems, executive information systems, collaborative systems, group decision support systems, and other technologies that use sophisticated information management to enable multiparty participation in organization activities. Developers and users of these systems hold high hopes for their potential to change organizations for the better, but actual changes often do not occur, or occur inconsistently. We propose adaptive structuration theory (AST) as a viable approach for studying the role of advanced information technologies in organization change. AST examines the change process from two vantage points: (1) the types of structures that are provided by advanced technologies, and (2) the structures that actually emerge in human action as people interact with these technologies. To illustrate the principles of AST, we consider the small group meeting and the use of a group decision support system (GDSS). A GDSS is an interesting technology for study because it can be structured in a myriad of ways, and social interaction unfolds as the GDSS is used. Both the structure of the technology and the emergent structure of social action can be studied. We begin by positioning AST among competing theoretical perspectives of technology and change. Next, we describe the theoretical roots and scope of the theory as it is applied to GDSS use and state the essential assumptions, concepts, and propositions of AST. We outline an analytic strategy for applying AST principles and provide an illustration of how our analytic approach can shed light on the impacts of advanced technologies on organizations. A major strength of AST is that it expounds the nature of social structures within advanced information technologies and the key interaction processes that figure in their use. By capturing these processes and tracing their impacts, we can reveal the complexity of technology-organization relationships. We can attain a better understanding of how to implement technologies, and we may also be able to develop improved designs or educational programs that promote productive adaptations.
Merging Professional Service Firms
Authors: Greenwood Royston , Hinings C. R. , Brown John 
Published: October 2008

The prevailing theory of mergers is that firms emphasize considerations of “strategic fit” in discussions prior to merger activity, and neglect considerations of “organizational fit”. The result is that immediately following a merger dysfunctional organizational behaviours occur. The number of empirical studies of mergers, however, is relatively modest and there are few case studies of the merger process. The present paper studies the merger involving two large accounting firms, over a period of four years. The unique features of accounting firms—in particular, their organization as professional partnerships—and of the accounting industry, make the case study an appropriate “tough” test of the general theory. Accounting firms are likely to take account of organizational fit in merger discussions. The case study rehearses the careful attention to issues of strategic and organizational fit (contrary to the general theory) but also maps the unfolding behavioural problems that followed formal merger. Interestingly, the specific difficulties observed in previous studies were less salient in the present case: problems and difficulties were of a kind peculiar to the type of organization, which suggests that theories of mergers should be sensitive to the context and setting of merger activity. The paper concludes by elaborating elements of a more systematic model of the merger process. These elements include the difference between mergers and acquisitions, the structure of governance, organizational capacity, sector cohesiveness and technology.
Integrating Organizational and Individual Information Processing Perspectives on Choice
Authors: Corner Patricia Doyle , Kinicki Angelo J. , Keats Barbara W. 
Published: October 2008

Existing information processing theories of strategic choice focus on either the organizational or individual level of analysis. This single level focus makes these theories incomplete representations of how strategic decisions are actually made in organizations. We believe an integration of these two levels is necessary for a comprehensive view of choice. This paper thus proposes a parallel process model of strategic decision making that integrates organizational and individual level information processing perspectives. The integrated, comprehensive view afforded by the proposed model enhances understanding of strategic decision making by identifying (1) multiple ways in which bias can enter into choices and (2) dual level influences on decision activities such as information gathering and alternative generation. The proposed model portrays strategic decision making as complex, multilevel information processing and choices as emergent outcomes of that processing. The model is developed as follows. First, the individual level of the model is generated by recognizing that people process information in stages. The notion of stages is used because it depicts the basic structure of information processing and is widely supported by empirical research. Second, the organizational level of the model is articulated by acknowledging organizations (1) process information in stages and (2) exhibit information processing activities analogous to those at the individual level. Third, a series of linking mechanisms connecting individual information processing stages to analogous organizational level ones is proposed. These linking mechanisms thus conceptually operationalize the integration of the two levels. Fourth, three contingency variables are presented to flesh out the model and formulate propositions. Contingency variables specifically acknowledge differences in information processing across organizations. A final section of the paper explains how key variables in the proposed model can be operationalized and outlines a test for the presence of multiple levels of information processing in a strategic choice context.