Organizational learning and emotion: constructing collective meaning in support of strategic themes

Missing in the organizational learning literature is an integrative framework that reflects the emotional as well as the cognitive dynamics involved. Here, we take a step in this direction by focusing in depth over time (five years) on a selected organization which manufactures electronic equipment for the office industry. Drawing on personal construct theory, we define organizational learning as the collective re-construal of meaning in the direction of strategically significant themes. We suggest that emotions arise as members reflect on progress or lack of progress in achieving organizational learning. Our evidence suggests that invalidation – where organizational learning fails to correspond with expectations – gives rise to anxiety and frustration, while validation – where organizational learning is aligned with or exceeds expectations – evokes comfort or excitement. Our work aims to capture the key emotions involved as organizational learning proceeds

Continuity and change - The planning and management of long distance walking routes in Scotland

In recent years a number of changes have taken place in Scotland in respect of issues of land management, access and the natural environment. These include the creation of Scotland’s first National Parks in 2002 and the introduction of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, which has enshrined in legislation the principle of responsible access in the countryside. The aim of this study was to consider the implications of these changes for a specific type of recreational land use in Scotland, Long Distance (Walking) Routes (LDRs). Using semi-structured interviews with representatives of a number of agencies and with other individuals closely involved with LDRs, the research considered the extent to which these changes have or may alter the rationale for the provision of LDRs, their funding and their management. The research indicates a need and a willingness to build on existing stakeholder approaches to management with a view to engaging a broader range of communities of interest. The main challenge for those involved with LDRs is how to fund future development of these routes. One aim of a more participatory stakeholder management approach is to help route managers to use public funds to lever funds from other source

Does family involvement in management reduce the risk of business failure? The moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation

This study explores the question of whether—and under which circumstances—family involvement helps avoid business failure. We hypothesize that it is family involvement in management, rather than ownership, which reduces the risk of failure during economic downturns; however, this effect is negatively affected by the firm’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO). We argue that EO hinders reaching consensuses on and commitment to family-centered goals, which are focused on long-term survival. We analyze 369 manufacturing firms in Spain from 2007 to 2013, and find that family involvement in management reduces the risk of business failure, but this effect decreases as EO increases

Does Family Involvement in Management Reduce the Risk of Business Failure? The Moderating Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation

This study explores the question of whether - and under which circumstances - family involvement helps avoid business failure. We hypothesize that it is family involvement in management, rather than ownership, which reduces the risk of failure during economic downturns; however, this effect is negatively affected by the firm's entrepreneurial orientation (EO). We argue that EO hinders reaching consensuses on and commitment to family-centered goals, which are focused on long-term survival. We analyze 369 manufacturing firms in Spain from 2007 to 2013, and find that family involvement in management reduces the risk of business failure, but this effect decreases as EO increases.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This study has been partially supported by financial aid from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Projects ECO2012-36160, ECO2014-58799-R and ECO2015-67296-R) and from the Project S2015/HUM-3417 (cofinanced by the Communtiy of Madrid and European Social Fund)

Tourism Firms’ Vulnerability to Risk: The Role of Organizational Slack in Performance and Failure

This study explores the influence of political risk on firms in the tourism industry. It addresses a research gap regarding the impact of political risk on firm-level performance and failure and uncovers the role of organizational slack in this relationship. Firm-level political risk is estimated from 2002 to 2019 financial data for firms across six tourism sectors in a developed economy, the United States. Such risk is found to be significantly associated with firm performance and business failure. From the perspectives of the resource-based view and the threat-rigidity hypothesis, the results support the moderating effects of absorbed and unabsorbed slack on links between risk, performance, and business failure. Given that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the tourism industry’s vulnerability, this study will be of interest to tourism firms seeking to improve business sustainability and resilience

THE ROLE OF INTERDEPENDENCE IN THE MICRO-FOUNDATIONS OF ORGANIZATION DESIGN: TASK, GOAL, AND KNOWLEDGE INTERDEPENDENCE

Interdependence is a core concept in organization design, yet one that has remained consistently understudied. Current notions of interdependence remain rooted in seminal works, produced at a time when managers’ near-perfect understanding of the task at hand drove the organization design process. In this context, task interdependence was rightly assumed to be exogenously determined by characteristics of the work and the technology. We no longer live in that world, yet our view of interdependence has remained exceedingly task-centric and our treatment of interdependence overly deterministic. As organizations face increasingly unpredictable workstreams and workers co-design the organization alongside managers, our field requires a more comprehensive toolbox that incorporates aspects of agent-based interdependence. In this paper, we synthesize research in organization design, organizational behavior, and other related literatures to examine three types of interdependence that characterize organizations’ workflows: task, goal, and knowledge interdependence. We offer clear definitions for each construct, analyze how each arises endogenously in the design process, explore their interrelations, and pose questions to guide future research

Resist or Comply:The Power Dynamics of Organizational Routines during Mergers

The role of power and agency in the development of organizational routines is under-theorized. In this paper, we draw on an in-depth qualitative case study of a merger between two academic institutions, a college of art and a university, and examine the diverging responses of two organizational routines (admissions and budgeting) during the course of the merger to understand how power dynamics contribute to resistance/compliance of routines. Our findings suggest that the differences in routines’ responses to a merger initiative can be explained by applying Bourdieu's theory of practice and by employing the concepts of field and symbolic capital to unpack power relations in the context of organizational routines, and to disclose why some routine participants can exercise their agency while others cannot. We find that (a) the field within which a routine operates and (b) the actors’ symbolic capital and position-taking during change implementation shape routines’ responses to organizational change initiatives

Physics of systems with motivation as an interdisciplinary branch of science

The paper discusses the fundamental characteristics distinguishing the natural and social systems from each other. It considers in detail the basic approaches, prospects, and possibilities of constructing mathematical description for social systems as well as develops the appropriate notions required to do this. The main attention is focused on systems with motion treated as a characteristic example of social systems where the development of mathematical description should demonstrate the crucial ideas of fusing natural and social sciences