Reframing the Role of Computers in Organizations The Transaction Costs Approach

The traditional role of computer-based information systems is to provide support for individual decision making. According to this model, information is to be seen as a valuable resource for the decision maker faced with a complex task. Such a view of information systems in organizations does however fail to include such phenomena as the daily use of information for misrepresentation purposes. The conventional systems analysis methods; whether they be data- or decision-oriented, do not help in understanding the nature of organizations and their ways of processing information. This paper proposes what appears to be a more realistic approach to the analysis and design of information systems. Organizations are seen as networks of contracts which govern exchange transactions between members having only partially overlapping goals. Conflict of interests is explicitly admitted to be a factor affecting information and exchange costs. Information technology is seen as a means to streamline exchange transactions, thus enabling economic organizations to operate more efficiently. Examples are given of MIS, data base and office automation systems, where both the organization and its information system were jointly designed. These examples illustrate the power of the approach, which is based on recent research in the new institutional economics

The Law and Economics of Norms

The Evolution of Norms Within Economics and Law: Why Norms Were Ignored and Why They Matter Under Realistic Models of Behavior in Which Norms Emerge as the Outcome of Exchange to Reduce Cost

An Islamic approach to the theory of the firm : the views of Malaysian managers

The conventional approach to the theory of the firm has not been adequate to respond to external, internal, and human dynamism. The market-based theory of the firm emphasises on the industrial organizational perspective only of the firm, which is lack of dynamism. The evolutionary approach into resource-based and knowledge-based of theory of the firm is also unable to provide a satisfactory theory of the firm due to lacks of spirituality foundation to sustain intellectual contribution from knowledge workers. Thus, this study explores an Islamic approach, which is based on Tawhidic paradigm to the theory of the firm as a mean to achieve organizational sustainable innovation and competitive advantage. The study obtained views through personal interview with 10 managers from companies that practice Islamic management system. The informants argued that the current practice emphasized on profit maximization and competitive advantage at the cost of human spirituality development

A unified theory of the firm from tawhidic worldview: the views of mu’amalat management and economics scholars

The theory of the firm subscribes to mainstream economic theories that emphasize on profit maximization and cost minimization. Despite its usefulness, the scope of the theory is inadequate to address the contemporary dynamism. A unified theory of the firm bears strong influence of the industrial cost minimization. This study argues a unified theory of the firm from Tawhidic paradigm for a comprehensive theory to describe the nature of the firm, the scope and boundaries of assessment on organizational environments, and the assessment of internal organizations to formulate, implement and evaluate organizational strategies. The conventional approach to the theory of the firm seems inadequate to respond to external and internal environments of the firm, and human dynamism and spiritual identity. The market-based theory of the firm emphasizes primarily on the industrial organizational perspective of the firm. The evolutionary approach of resource-based and knowledge-based theory of the firm is also unable to provide a unified theory of the firm due to lack of spirituality foundation to sustain intellectual contribution from knowledge workers. As an alternative, this study proposes a unified theory of the firm Tawhidic worldview as a mean to achieve organizational sustainable innovation and competitive advantage. The study uses focus group discussion with scholars in management, economics, and Shari’ah studies to provide input on the development of the model of Islamic theory of the firm. The feedback from the experts is used as input to enhance the understanding of Tawhidic worldview in the development of a unified theory of the firm. The results of the study should be considered tentative, or work-in-progress. Future research should incorporate more informants to further debate the dynamics of key components in the subject matter of the study

Design and governance of multichannel sales systems: Financial performance consequences in business-to-business markets

Multichannel sales systems in business-to-business markets vary substantially in their designs and thereby either attenuate or aggravate agency conflicts between manufacturers and sales partners. Drawing on multiple agency theory, the authors introduce direct and indirect channel usage as focal design dimensions of multichannel sales systems and investigate each channel’s performance effects using a matched manufacturer–sales partner data set. Whereas direct channel usage predominantly lowers agency conflicts in terms of information asymmetry and sales partner moral hazard, indirect channel usage amplifies moral hazard concerns. How those sales partner effects translate into manufacturer performance outcomes critically depends on governance mechanisms, confirming predictions from governance value analysis: formalization enhances performance outcomes for manufacturers in the case of indirect channel usage but diminishes performance in the case of direct channel usage. The authors observe converse effects for centralization and information exchange: centralization and information exchange enhance outcomes of direct channel usage but diminish outcomes of indirect channel usage. The focal managerial implication is that managers must align the design of their multichannel sales systems with effective governance mechanisms

Outsourcing of activities related to international transportation of system packages for ships in Havyard

Confidential until 3 January 201

Dzielenie się wiedzą wśród pracowników o zróżnicowanym stażu organizacyjnym – wyniki badań przeprowadzonych wśród polskiej kadry menedżerskiej

The paper investigates the issue of knowledge sharing by employees at different stages of seniority and has two aims: a cognitive one and an empirical one. The cognitive aim is to provide a synthesizing presentation of selected models of knowledge organization. The context shall be a concept of the functioning of employees of varying seniority developed by one of the Authors of the paper. The empirical aim is to answer the question: Is there a correlation between employees’ level of seniority and their knowledge sharing level? In order to achieve the empirical aim, a survey was conducted among 58 Polish managers from 13 medium-sized enterprises who assessed knowledge sharing of 272 employees by means of the validated Questionnaire on the characteristics of employees of varying seniority. The study revealed that there is a correlation between employees’ knowledge sharing level and their seniority levels (which, however, fades after 14 years of employment).Przedmiotem opracowania jest problematyka dzielenia się wiedzą wśród osób o zróżnicowanym stażu organizacyjnym. Opracowanie realizuje dwa cele: poznawczy i empiryczny. Poznawczym celem jest syntetyczne zaprezentowanie modeli organizacji wiedzy w kontekście autorskiej koncepcji funkcjonowania pracowników o zróżnicowanym stażu organizacyjnym. Empiryczny cel to uzyskanie odpowiedzi na pytanie: czy jest zależność między stażem organizacyjnym pracowników a poziomem dzielenia się wiedzą? Aby zrealizować cel empiryczny, zaplanowano badanie, w którym uczestniczyło 58 przedstawicieli polskiej kadry kierowniczej z 13 średniej wielkości przedsiębiorstw. Oceniali oni poziom dzielenia się wiedzy łącznie 272 pracowników za pomocą skali zwalidowanego kwestionariusza charakterystyki pracowników o zróżnicowanym stażu pracy. W wyniku przeprowadzonych badań okazało się, że istnieje zależność między poziomem dzielenia się wiedzą a stażem pracy pracowników posiadających dłuższe doświadczenie organizacyjne, jednak zależność ta nie występuje w przypadku osób o stażu organizacyjnym powyżej 14 lat