Replication of Routines and Capabilities: From Knowledge Transfer to Replication as a Social Practice

Replication of routines and capabilities has been largely neglected in recent research. In this paper we present the current state of research on replication and suggest conceptualizing replication as a social practice. Replication as a social practice goes beyond knowledge transfer between a replicator and a replicatee and involves how routines and capabilities as well as the process of replication itself are constructed and shaped by multiple actors in the organization. Moreover, this perspective acknowledges the role of artefacts in the process of replication. Based on recent literature on routines and organizational rules we differentiate replication into three interrelated sub-practices: rule (re-) creation, rule translation and rule performance. The theoretical framework suggested in this paper has several significant theoretical implications for research on replication. In addition, we point out important research design implications for future empirical research

An exploratory study of how a Korean chaebol’s learning culture facilitates customer service

This paper explains how the organizational learning concept is used by managers in a global Korean company to promote group work, information sharing and an open communication style in order to produce a high level of customer service. Previously collected data from a set of in-depth personal interviews undertaken with three senior managers in a Korean electronics company were analyzed and interpreted using the grounded theory approach, and a number of propositions are put forward. The research findings show that managers in a chaebol deploy organizational learning to identify skilled and knowledgeable staff, and improve the organization’s capability by placing emphasis on developing harmonious, mutually oriented relationships that permeate throughout the organization. Top management demand that staff identify with government economic objectives and align the organization’s strategy accordingly so that the products produced are marketable. To achieve this, the organization fosters continual interaction among managers throughout the organization’s hierarchy. The chaebol’s organizational learning model encapsulates a “corollary” (continual communication) and “tools” (cultural influence and relationship management), and manifests in a unique strategy that allows management systems to evolve naturally

Producers of Engineered Nanomaterials-What Motivates Company and Worker Participation in Biomonitoring Programs?

Production and handling of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) can yield worker exposure to these materials with the potential for unforeseen negative health effects. Biomonitoring enables regular exposure and health assessment and an effective risk management. We aimed to identify factors influencing biomonitoring acceptance according to hierarchical positions of ENM producers. Managers and workers were invited to complete an online questionnaire. Forty-three companies producing or handling ENMs such as titanium dioxide (61%) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (44%) participated. The majority of managers (72%) and all workers responded positively to participating in biomonitoring studies. The main reasons for refusing participation included concerns about data confidentiality and sufficient knowledge about ENM health and safety. Acquisitions of individual study results, improvement of workers' safety, and help to the development of ENM-specific health and safety practice were among the most valuable reasons for positively considering participation. All workers indicated feeling comfortable with biomonitoring procedures of exhaled air sampling-about half were similarly comfortable with exhaled breath condensate, urine, and buccal cell sampling. The majority of both workers and managers stated that participation in a biomonitoring program should take place during working hours. Although our survey only had limited participation, our results are useful in designing appropriate biomonitoring programs for workers exposed to ENMs

Managerial coordination challenges in the alignment of capabilities and new subsidiary charters in MNEs

Subsidiary-level change requires the alignment of subsidiary charters and capabilities. Yet, the mechanisms through which the alignment of charters and capabilities unfolds are not yet well understood. In this paper, we investigate alignment from the perspective of managerial coordination. Drawing on a longitudinal study of a global IT firm, we identify three coordination mechanisms (charter-, experience-, and interaction-based coordination). By tracing the shifts in these coordination mechanisms over time and by specifying the implications of each mechanism for capability level change, we explain how managerial coordination influences alignment via subsidiary level capability change as well as alignment via the potential renegotiation of charters. This also allows us to provide new insights into situations of misalignment by explaining that particular mechanisms of coordination may become a source of decoupling between subsidiary actions and HQ mandates and may also result in capability level inertia. Moreover, while prior research has already acknowledged the role of interaction-based coordination for capability level change we show how and why such a mechanism of coordination emerges. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHO

Sustainable change: long-term efforts toward developing a learning organization

Globalization and intensified competition require organizations to change and adapt to dynamic environments in order to stay competitive. This article describes a longitudinal action research study supporting the strategic change of a trading company. The strategic change was accompanied by planned changes in organizational structures and processes, management systems, emerging changes in leadership, and organization members’ attitudes and behaviors, and it was supported by management development activities. Longitudinal data over a 4-year period including participant observation and interviews reveal that a systemic approach, a learning and becoming perspective toward change, trust, an appropriate role perception, and the specific use of management instruments contribute to sustained change that resulted in performance improvements and a move toward a learning organization. We conclude with implications for strategic change and suggestions for further research in this area

Mobilisation of arsenic from bauxite residue (red mud) affected soils: effect of pH and redox conditions

The tailings dam breach at the Ajka alumina plant, western Hungary in 2010 introduced ~1 million m3 of red mud suspension into the surrounding area. Red mud (fine fraction bauxite residue) has a characteristically alkaline pH and contains several potentially toxic elements, including arsenic. Aerobic and anaerobic batch experiments were prepared using soils from near Ajka in order to investigate the effects of red mud addition on soil biogeochemistry and arsenic mobility in soil–water experiments representative of land affected by the red mud spill. XAS analysis showed that As was present in the red mud as As(V) in the form of arsenate. The remobilisation of red mud associated arsenate was highly pH dependent and the addition of phosphate to red mud suspensions greatly enhanced As release to solution. In aerobic batch experiments, where red mud was mixed with soils, As release to solution was highly dependent on pH. Carbonation of these alkaline solutions by dissolution of atmospheric CO2 reduced pH, which resulted in a decrease of aqueous As concentrations over time. However, this did not result in complete removal of aqueous As in any of the experiments. Carbonation did not occur in anaerobic experiments and pH remained high. Aqueous As concentrations initially increased in all the anaerobic red mud amended experiments, and then remained relatively constant as the systems became more reducing, both XANES and HPLC–ICP-MS showed that no As reduction processes occurred and that only As(V) species were present. These experiments show that there is the potential for increased As mobility in soil–water systems affected by red mud addition under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions

Conceptualizing and measuring strategy implementation – a multi-dimensional view

Through quantitative methodological approaches for studying the strategic management and planning process, analysis of data from 208 senior managers involved in strategy processes within ten UK industrial sectors provides evidence on the measurement properties of a multi-dimensional instrument that assesses ten dimensions of strategy implementation. Using exploratory factor analysis, results indicate the sub-constructs (the ten dimensions) are uni-dimensional factors with acceptable reliability and validity; whilst using three additional measures, and correlation and hierarchical regression analysis, the nomological validity for the multi-dimensional strategy implementation construct was established. Relative importance of ten strategy implementation dimensions (activities) for practicing managers is highlighted, with the mutually and combinative effects drawing conclusion that senior management involvement leads the way among the ten key identified activities vital for successful strategy implementation

Challenges in establishing global collaboration:temporal, strategic and operational decoupling

Collaboration among the subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs) can lead to major synergies and efficiency gains. Despite these benefits, global collaboration is still only partly corporate reality. Research indicates that major obstacles still lie in establishing subsidiary collaboration. Initiating global collaboration requires strategic renewal with profound implications for MNEs’ local operations. In this article we investigate the process of strategic renewal leading to global collaboration and the challenges involved. We present a longitudinal case of an international IT company and its effort to establish global collaboration among its subsidiaries. The case analysis reveals that the establishment of global collaboration was affected by a decoupling of headquarters and subsidiaries along three dimensions: temporal, strategic and operational. Our findings have implications for research on global collaboration as well as strategic renewal. Practitioners can benefit from a discussion of challenges in the establishment of a collaborative strategy in MNEs and suggestions for how these challenges can be overcome