What is Strategic Competence and Does it Matter? Exposition of the Concept and a Research Agenda

Drawing on a range of theoretical and empirical insights from strategic management and the cognitive and organizational sciences, we argue that strategic competence constitutes the ability of organizations and the individuals who operate within them to work within their cognitive limitations in such a way that they are able to maintain an appropriate level of responsiveness to the contingencies confronting them. Using the language of the resource based view of the firm, we argue that this meta-level competence represents a confluence of individual and organizational characteristics, suitably configured to enable the detection of those weak signals indicative of the need for change and to act accordingly, thereby minimising the dangers of cognitive bias and cognitive inertia. In an era of unprecedented informational burdens and instability, we argue that this competence is central to the longer-term survival and well being of the organization. We conclude with a consideration of the major scientific challenges that lie ahead, if the ideas contained within this paper are to be validated

A Business Intelligence Model for SMEs Based on Tacit Knowledge

This paper proposes a specific model of business intelligence in relation with SMEs practices, culture and competitive environment. This model is based on the mobilization of corporate tacit knowledge and informal information, aiming at interpreting anticipatory environmental information and assist strategic decision making. An empirical survey assessing the existing business intelligence practices in 20 French SMEs has identified seven necessary acceptance conditions of a business intelligence project as well as a managerial tool allowing tacit knowledge traceability.business intelligence; tacit knowledge; SMEs; sense-making

Cultural Intelligence as a Prism between Workforce Diversity and Performance in a Modern Organization

In today’s globalizing world it is of importance for managers to manage the constantly growing workforce diversity. Besides the generally promoted idea of diversity management, often limited to fair employment, less attention has been paid to the advantages and hidden potentials of diversity. Previous research that has emphasized the link between diversity and organizational performance has indicated very different results. However it highlights mainly only the easily detectable level of diversity. In the present article a theoretical background is created proposing cultural intelligence as a tool linking different levels of workforce diversity and performance in organizations.workforce diversity; values; cultural intelligence; multicultural organizations.

Are Leader Behavior and Emotional Intelligence related to Teacher Efficacy?

There is general agreement and the research supports the contention that school leadership is related to student learning/achievement (Hallinger & Heck, 1996; Ross & Gray, 2006; Francera & Bliss, 2011; Shatzer, Caldarella, Hallam, & Brown, 2014). However, the nature and strength of that relationship is still uncertain. Identifying the effects, whether direct or indirect, leaders have on student learning/achievement is imperative to the further development of school leadership theory. Direct leader effects on student achievement/learning may be identified at some point. However, given that a leader impacts many factors related to student achievement/learning indirectly, the identification of indirect leader effects on student achievement/learning seems more likely. This study examined the relationships between and among school leader behaviors, leader emotional intelligence, and teacher efficacy. The findings revealed that leader behaviors were found to be inversely correlated to general teaching efficacy but that leadership behaviors and leader emotional intelligence were positively correlated. Also, leader emotional intelligence was found to be positively correlated (though weakly or moderately) to general teaching efficacy, and/or personal teacher efficacy

Earning the Right to Lead in Defining Moments: The Act of Taking Leadership

True leaders emerge and earn their right to lead — not as a result of an organization’s day-to-day activities — but through courageous acts exhibited during the organization’s defining moments, whether such moments be characterized as stable or disastrous. Remaining strong and steadfast in testy situations while demonstrating the ability to bond to earn the trust of others are the predominant emotional and interpersonal characteristics on display when a leader earns his or her right to lead

The Living and Working Together Perspective on Creativity in Organizations

Although creativity represents a cornerstone for organizations that want to keep up with competitors, customers, and the current socio-economic context, there is a dearth in the literature of systemic and comprehensive models focused on the complexity and addressing several dimensions and factors. In this context, we propose the perspective of “working and living together in organizations” to enrich the scientific dialogue with a proposition that aims to hold together different variables of interaction and relationship between different parts of the organization (Gozzoli, 2016a,b). In fact, according to our previous studies (Frascaroli et al., 2016; Gorli et al., 2016; Marta et al., 2016; Saita et al., 2016; Tamanza et al., 2016), a generative living and working together environment is itself directly linked to creativity and innovative processes. This is because in a generative living and working together environment relationality – that is, the possibility of exchange among workers mediated by the object of work – is enabled. With this study, we intend to provide a contribution to the creativity study field, applying our perspective to an extensive level of analysis. The model was tested using the Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling methodology with EQS-6.3. Our results found some interesting elements in support of the theory behind this study

The issue of design in managerial decision making

It is argued that the design of decisions is a process that in many ways is shaped by social factors such as identities, values, and influences. To be able to understand how these factors impact organizational decisions, the focus must be set on the management level. It is the management that shoulders the chief responsibility for designing collective actions, such as decisions. Our propositions indicate that the following measures must be taken in order to improve the quality of organizational decisions: 1. The identity of the people, involved in organizational decision making, affects the quality of decisions and should be taken into account in the design of decisions. 2. The decision maker or designer of decisions should engage the members of an organization to create a shared vision. 3. Getting the members of an organization to express and share common values should improve the decision making process. 4. Being able to socially influence the members of an organization, or other stakeholders involved, as well as letting them participate in the process, should improve the quality of decisions