Making Design Rules: A Multi-Domain Perspective

This study analyzes the processes whereby organizations develop radical innovations in response to environmental transformations. It explores the changes in organizational structures, practices and business strategies entailed by the implementation of such innovations. From the literature on modularity, we borrow the idea that the evolutionary dynamics of artifacts and organizations are linked by design rules, i.e. a set of principles that allocate functions to components, identify the operating principle of each component and determine the interfaces among modules. Through an in-depth case study of radical innovation in tire manufacturing, we study the joint dynamics of technical and organizational change during the transition from old to new design rules. We argue that technical change and organization adaptation are linked, but that such relationship is mediated and rendered open-ended by the evolution of the underlying bodies of knowledge.organizational change, innovation, technological change, modularity, tire manufacturing

Different Ambidextrous Learning Architectures and the Role of HRM Systems

During the past decade ambidexterity has emerged as the central research stream in organization science to investigate how organizations manage to remain successful over time. By using the lens of organizational learning, ambidexterity can be defined as the simultaneous pursuit of exploration and exploitation. However, the link between ambidexterity and the human resource management of a firm is still a blind spot on the ambidexterity research map. To shed light on this issue, we show how different ambidextrous learning architectures can be created and maintained by the means of consistent HRM systems. By doing so, we show how HRM systems as specific bundles of HRM practices facilitate ambidextrous learning. Thereby we emphasize the challenge of creating and sustaining the horizontal and vertical fit of an HRM system with regard to different ambidextrous designs.Ambidexterity; Exploration; Exploitation; Organizational Learning; HRM; Strategic Human Resource Management

Satanic Mills or Silicon Islands? The Politics of High-Tech Production in the Philippines

[Excerpt] So how do we make sense of high-tech production as it emerges in developing countries like the Philippines? What explains the changes and wide variation in how work is organized? What can these changes tell us about the transformation of work in a globalizing economy? And finally, what consequences do these changes have for workers, the vast majority of whom are women? This book engages these key research questions by taking them up at a strategically crucial and empirically grounded flashpoint: a local site of global production and the local labor market in which it is embedded

Management control of supplier relationships in manufacturing: a case study in the automotive industry.

This paper studies management control design of supplier relationships in manufacturing, a supply chain phase currently under-explored. Compared to supplier relations during procurement and R&D, which research found to be governed by a combination of formal and informal controls, supplier relations in manufacturing are more formal, so that they could be governed by more formal and less informal controls. To refine the management control system and influencing contingencies, we propose a theoretical framework specifically adapted for the manufacturing stage. This framework is investigated by an in depth case study of the supplier management control of a Volvo Cars production facility. We identify three types of suppliers visualizing the associations in the framework and illustrating the framework’s explicative power in (automotive) manufacturing. Furthermore, the case contradicts that supplier relations in the manufacturing phase are governed by little informal control, because the automaker highly values the role of trust building and social pressure. Most notably, a structured supplier team functions as a clan and establishes informal control among participating suppliers, which strengthens the automaker’s control on dyadic supplier relations.management control; supplier relationships; manufacturing; contingency theory; case research;

Contract Governance and the Canadian Public Sector

This essay examines the changing character of public sector work in the Canadian federal public service context. It is based on an empirical examination of various forms of contractual relations currently operative within the Canadian state and on a comparative approach of other western liberal state reform initiatives. We argue that contract governance is an ongoing process involving distinct interrelations between the public and private sectors. In this context, we identify various forms of contract governance and flexibility schemes that have been enfolded and refolded into the conventional structures of governance, and unfolded into a liminal space between the state and civil society through the establishment of nonstandard work and the creation of alternative service delivery programmes

Conducting of the linkage between information systems strategy (ISS) and Operation Strategy in the case of 'X' Airlines in Arabic gulf country

The integration of IS/IT strategy with other business units' strategies has become an important issue. The layer of integration through business strategies requires an explanation of interrelationships so that business objectives appropriate to the available resources and market conditions can be established. This study is a comprehensive examination of the relationship between IS and operational strategy at 'X' Airlines. Operation is considered one of the core activities at 'X'. In this study, the researcher employs a qualitative method, presenting the literature on IS integration and utilising a case study approach to understand the how and why of using IS at 'X'. This study discusses the existing frameworks, both theoretical and practical, for IS strategic integration. The results show that there are strong relationships but as a traditional kind of back office support of IS for operational strategy within 'X'