456 research outputs found
Theories of managerial action and their impact on the conceptualisation of executive careers.
In this paper I outline one of the developments in the social sciences and macro organizational theory that could be of special profit for academic work on careers. I argue that a theory of action perspective is timely because its assumptions fit extremely well with the heterogeneity and lability of todayâs structures and the plurality and unpredictability they bring to careers. I suggest there are two basic potential contributions of theories of action to the field of careers. First, they endorse the relevance of the shift in the basic image of managersâ careers, from the analogy of an ascendant trajectory of positions, to that of an idiosyncratic sequence of experiences loosely related to an organisational architecture. Second, they reinforce Weickâs arguments (1996) that careers cannot be conceived of merely as a dependent variable, as just âfollowingâ structures. Both contributions spring from a notion of management work in theories of action as essentially local, tactical, and pragmatic, with enacting or social constructionist effects on structure and organizations.executive careers; structure; organizations;
A Corporative Theory of Corporate Law and Governance
ABSTRACT
This book investigates how a corporation, as a legal entity with certain specific attributes, but lacking human form, can take action in the real world of human activity. It contends that a corporation must take such action through, and by means of, an organization, both inside and outside its corporate legal limits, consisting of real individual persons and groups of persons. The corporation thus presents itself both as a legal entity assuming the legal form of a corporation and as a social entity taking the form of an organization. One form overlays the other. Those with whom it has legal relations, its legal counterparties, are also, in respect of its organization, participants in that organization. This theory of, or perspective on, the corporation and its governance is explicated here as corporative. The corporation comes into being, is situated, participates, and is embedded, in a complex sociopolitical-economic environment, which includes its legal counterparties and organizational participants. In addition to shareholders, they include employees, customers, suppliers, creditors, local, regional, and national communities, polities and governments, and non-governmental and other organizations, including those whose objectives include the environment, sustainability, governance, and social responsibility. Despite arguments from advocates of shareholder primacy and maximizing shareholder value, neither the corporation nor any of its participants, including shareholders, have any single objective. Instead, such participants have a variety of objectives which may be consistent to varying degrees with those of each other and with those of the corporation. However, the prosperity and well-being of corporations and their organizational participants, and the groups and other organizations of which organizational participants are members, at a macro-level, are, in many ways, interdependent. Today, prompted by various concerns (including the environment, sustainability, technology, changes in employment and other economic engagement patterns, and increasing income disparities), corporations, industry groups and NGOs, like governments, educational institutions, and other organizations, are facing challenges to the continued viability of contemporary capitalism and of its paradigmatic vehicle, the corporation. Addressing these challenges requires that corporations be considered in the context of the complex socio-political-economic environment in which they are situated and of which they partake. Drawing on analysis of corporate statutes and other relevant law, and historical, social, political, economic, organizational, business, and other theory, information and analysis, this work elucidates the corporative theory of, or perspective on, the corporation. It outlines how this might be applied in analyzing the corporation and its governance from a legal perspective. It illustrates how organizational participants may, and do, influence the behaviour of the relevant corporations; and how corporations may, and do, influence the behaviour of organizational participants. This contributes to understanding how such relationships may be employed, not only to save capitalism and the corporation, but to advance common interests in human prosperity, happiness, meaning, and even simple sustenance
A Corporative Theory of Corporate Law and Governance
This book investigates how a corporation, as a legal entity with certain specific attributes, but lacking human form, can take action in the âreal worldâ of human activity. It contends that a corporation must take such action through, and by means of, an organization, both inside and outside its âcorporateâ legal limits, consisting of real individual persons and groups of persons. The corporation thus presents itself both as a legal entity assuming the legal form of a corporation and as a social entity taking the form of an organization. One form overlays the other. Those with whom it has legal relations, its legal counterparties, are also, in respect of its organization, participants in that organization. This theory of, or perspective on, the corporation and its governance is explicated here as âcorporativeâ. The corporation comes into being, is situated, participates, and is âembeddedâ, in a complex sociopolitical-economic environment, which includes its legal counterparties and organizational participants. In addition to shareholders, they include employees, customers, suppliers, creditors, local, regional, and national communities, polities and governments, and non-governmental and other organizations, including those whose objectives include the environment, sustainability, governance, and social responsibility. Despite arguments from advocates of shareholder primacy and maximizing shareholder value, neither the corporation nor any of its participants, including shareholders, have any single objective. Instead, such participants have a variety of objectives which may be consistent to varying degrees with those of each other and with those of the corporation. However, the prosperity and well-being of corporations and their organizational participants, and the groups and other organizations of which organizational participants are members, at a macro-level, are, in many ways, interdependent. Today, prompted by various concerns (including the environment, sustainability, technology, changes in employment and other economic engagement patterns, and increasing income disparities), corporations, industry groups and NGOs, like governments, educational institutions, and other organizations, are facing challenges to the continued viability of contemporary capitalism and of its paradigmatic vehicle, the corporation. Addressing these challenges requires that corporations be considered in the context of the complex socio-political-economic environment in which they are situated and of which they partake. Drawing on analysis of corporate statutes and other relevant law, and historical, social, political, economic, organizational, business, and other theory, information and analysis, this work elucidates the corporative theory of, or perspective on, the corporation. It outlines how this might be applied in analyzing the corporation and its governance from a legal perspective. It illustrates how organizational participants may, and do, influence the behaviour of the relevant corporations; and how corporations may, and do, influence the behaviour of organizational participants. This contributes to understanding how such relationships may be employed, not only to âsaveâ capitalism and the corporation, but to advance common interests in human prosperity, happiness, meaning, and even simple sustenance
A co-evolutionary model of newcomersâ psychological contract formation: the role of social networks
The psychological contract, the perceived mutual obligations between employer and employee, is a critical construct for understanding employment relationships and how their management informs employeesâ attitudes and behaviors. Extensive work has focused on the outcomes of the contractâs operation, but there remains a paucity of research examining its formation and the role of âothersâ, within and outside the organization, in the development process. While important work has drawn on social network theorizing to explore how social interactions shape contract perceptions, the relationships posited remain largely uni- directional, highlighting another overarching limitation in the contract literature: a lack of dynamic theorizing. To address these gaps, our conceptual paper adopts a process-based lens to calibrate a co-evolutionary model of contract formation that explicates the reciprocal relationship between newcomersâ social networks and their psychological contract development. Grounded in a structuration perspective (Giddens, 1976), we draw on a range of dynamic theories to move the contract literature beyond examining static relationships to comprehensively theorize contracting as a process co-evolving with social network development in early socialization stages. We conclude by highlighting the theoretical and practical implications of our model
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Social Capital Activation during Times of Organizational Change
This dissertation contributes to our understanding of how people build and use social capital â resources embedded in social relations â in organizational settings. Whereas the extant literature has tended to focus on the structure of interpersonal networks within organizations and the link to various indicators of individual attainment, this dissertation instead uncovers the dynamics of network action. I tackle two central questions: (1) During times of organizational change, how do organizational actors use the social resources accessible to them by virtue of their position in the structure? and (2) What organizational interventions can help people forge valuable new connections in the workplace? Core to this investigation is the concept of social capital activation â that is, the conversion of latent social ties into active relationships. Three empirical studies illuminate different facets of social capital activation during commonly experienced forms of organizational change: (1) an organizational restructuring; (2) large-scale transformations that create individual-level threat or opportunity; and (3) the introduction of a novel employee cross-training program. Because organizational change is often accompanied by significant shifts in resources and power, network activation choices in these periods can have significant consequences for individual attainment and organizational performance. I draw on unique data from three disparate settings â a global information services firm; a large health care organization; and a software development lab based in Beijing, China. Multiple research methods, including a large panel data set of archived electronic communications, qualitative interviews, experimental studies conducted with samples of working professionals, and a longitudinal field experiment, are used to identify how organizational actors marshal social resources through individual-level network activation choices. Findings from these studies contribute to research on: (1) organizational social capital; (2) the structural dynamics of organizational change; (3) ascriptive inequality in organizations; (4) cognition and social networks; and (5) workplace practices and network change
LEARNING FROM INTERORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCT FAILURE EXPERIENCE IN THE MEDICAL DEVICE INDUSTRY
Much research examines the causes of product failures such as the Ford Pinto gas tank design. Research also examines the consequences of product failures such as new product introductions resulting from the need to improve failed products. However, little is known about how the causes and consequences of product failures interact across different firms, and generate inter-organizational learning, within the same industry. Specifically, limited research has examined if a firm learns to reduce its own annual rate of product failures (e.g., experiences fewer product-related adverse events) by attending to the product failures and new product introductions of its competitors. In addition, we also do not know (1) how delayed reporting of product failure influences interorganizational learning, and (2) how the introduction of new products by one company impacts another firmâs effort to learn from this competitorâs product failures. To address these gaps, this dissertation develops and tests relationships between (1) inter-organizational learning from product failures, (2) product failure reporting delays, and (3) new product introductions. Regression analysis of 98,576 manufacturing firm-year observations from the medical device industry over a ten-year period (1998 to 2008) supports the proposed model. Specifically, the analysis supported two insights: (1) As expected, a competitorâs reporting delays can inhibit learning from othersâ failures by increasing the chance of making poor inferences about the failure. Unexpectedly, however, delays can also improve inter-organizational learning because in reports that have taken longer to file, a clearer understanding of the failureâs cause-effect relationships is developed. iii (2) As expected, a competitor\u27s new product introductions positively impact interorganizational learning by transferring knowledge of product design between firms. Unexpectedly, a competitorâs new product introductions can also negatively impact inter-organizational learning from product failure by distracting the observing firmâs attention away from the competitorâs failures. The thesis contributes to the inter-organizational learning literature by: (1) modelling learning from othersâ product failures, (2) highlighting the effects of reporting delays, and (3) showing how othersâ new product introductions can distract. This thesis shows that learning from othersâ product failures and new product introductions has significant benefits because it prevents serious injury and death among device users
Configurations of Control: A Transaction Cost Approach
In this paper, I present a theory of management control based on Transaction Cost Economics.This theory seeks to integrate into a single framework a set of insights as to the natureof the organization's activities, the control problems that are inherent in these activities,and the unique problem solving potential of various archetypal control structures. The gistof the argument is that activities predictably differ in the control problems to which theygive rise, whereas control archetypes differ in their problem-solving ability, and thatalignments between the two can be explained by delineating the efficiency properties of thematch. This is a contingent configuration approach. It is a configuration theory in that itoffers a set of ideal types, conceived of as internally consistent and discriminating clustersof attributes from multiple dimensions that have a specific effect on control structureeffectiveness as the variable to be explained. But it is also a contingent approach in that itspecifies the conditions in which each of the archetypes is most effective.transaction cost economics;management control theory;configuration theory
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