Dynamic Organizations: Achieving Marketplace and Organizational Agility with People

Driven by dynamic competitive conditions, an increasing number of firms are experimenting with new, and what they hope will be, more dynamic organizational forms. This development has opened up exciting theoretical and empirical venues for students of leadership, business strategy, organizational theory, and the like. One domain that has yet to catch the wave, however, is strategic human resource management (SHRM). In an effort to catch up, we here draw on the dynamic organization (DO) and human resource strategy (HRS) literatures to delineate both a process for uncovering and the key features of a carefully crafted HRS for DOs. The logic is as follows. DOs compete through marketplace agility. Marketplace agility requires that employees at all levels engage in proactive, adaptive, and generative behaviors, bolstered by a supportive mindset. Under the right conditions, the essential mindset and behaviors, although highly dynamic, are fostered by a HRS centered on a relatively small number of dialectical, yet paradoxically stable, guiding principles and anchored in a supportive organizational infrastructure. This line of reasoning, however, rests on a rather modest empirical base and, thus, is offered less as a definitive statement than as a spur for much needed additional research

Is There a New HRM? Contemporary Evidence and Future Directions

[Excerpt] Is there a new human resource management? Yo. That is, yes and no. A new perspective -- strategic human resource management -- emerged during the 80s to take its place alongside the more traditional operational and programmatic perspectives as a major influence on the field. This perspective has rapidly progressed in terms of theory and research (if not practice). But, it continues to take many shapes and forms, and even with its various permutations, is far from universally embraced by scholars or practitioners. What follows is a brief look at the strategic perspective of the field. It begins with a summary of some common themes. This is followed by an illustrative review of extant theory,which in particular distinguishes between the two dominant theoretical streams which have thus far emerged: (1) the multiple model theorists (MMTs) who are given to building typologies of human resource strategies and describing or prescribing the conditions under which the various types work or should work best and (2) the dominant model theorists (DMTs) who are rather less preoccupied with contingencies and rather more concerned with the details and promulgation of their preferred models or strategies within and across firms. Next comes a look at the extent to which these two views show up in actual practice.The evidence is sparse, but their diffusion appears to be rather limited thus far. This naturally gives rise to a discussion of the factors which seem to encourage and, especially, discourage diffusion. Particular attention is paid to the adoption of the so-called strategic business partner role by human resource executives, managers, and professionals, and to the adequacy of this role as a catalyst for the diffusion of the strategic perspective across the U. S. and Canadian economies. Finally, suggestions are made regarding future theoretical and empirical work which might help keep the strategic perspective moving ahead

International Human Resource Studies: A Framework for Future Research

[Excerpt] The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework for research in a broadened and redefined field of international human resource studies. Interest in international aspects of human resource management (HRM) and policy has increased markedly in recent years\u27. This should not be surprising, given the growing importance of international economic activity in general, and, in particular, the increased mobility of technology, capital, and human resources across national boundaries. We are concerned that current research falling under this label is both too narrowly conceived and ignores important work from allied areas and disciplines. We also believe that the theoretical appeal and practical value of this work would be strengthened by includng contributions from a broader array of scholars, policy makers, and practitioners who share interests in employment and industrial relations issues

Crafting A Human Resource Strategy To Foster Organizational Agility: A Case Study

A decade ago, the CEO of Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (AEHN), anticipating a tumultuous and largely unpredictable period in its industry, undertook to convert this organization from one that was basically stable and complacent to one that was agile, “nimble, and change-hardy”. This case study briefly addresses AEHN’s approaches to business strategy and organization design, but focuses primarily on the human resource strategy that emerged over time to foster the successful attainment of organizational agility. Although exploratory, the study suggests a number of lessons for those who are, or will be, studying or trying to create and sustain this promising new organizational paradigm

Tritrophic interactions in tropical versus temperate communities

Journal ArticleThe latitudinal gradient in diversity is one of the oldest (e.g., Wallace, 1878) and most obvious trends in ecology, and a wealth of literature is devoted to understanding both the causes and consequences of this gradient (Dobzhansky, 1950; also reviewed by Rohde, 1992). Given the enormous latitudinal differences in both diversity and productivity between temperate and tropical habitats, it is likely that relationships among trophic levels may also be fundamentally different

A letter concerning Leonetti's paper `Continuous Projections onto Ideal Convergent Sequences'

Leonetti proved that whenever $\mathcal I$ is an ideal on $\mathbb N$ such that there exists an~uncountable family of sets that are not in $\mathcal I$ with the property that the intersection of any two distinct members of that family is in $\mathcal I$, then the space $c_{0,\mathcal I}$ of sequences in $\ell_\infty$ that converge to 0 along $\mathcal I$ is not complemented. We provide a shorter proof of a more general fact that the quotient space $\ell_\infty / c_{0,\mathcal I}$ does not even embed into $\ell_\infty$

Collective Bargaining and the Quality of Work: The Views of Local Union Activists

[Excerpt] The purpose of the present study was to assess the views of local union officers and activists on these matters. Specifically, the study was designed to answer the following questions: Do local union leaders and members see so-called quality of work issues as equal in importance to the more traditional issues of collective bargaining? Do they tend to agree or disagree on these ratings of importance? Do they see quality of work issues as more integrative; that is, as those on which the goals of management and the union are pretty much the same? Is the collective bargaining process perceived to be (a) effectively responding to the goals which are rated as being most important; (b) more effective on issues on which there is general agreement regarding their importance than on those where larger individual differences exist; and (c) more effective on issues that are perceived to be more distributive than integrative? Do these individuals feel that quality of work issues should be handled through bargaining, or do they feel the need for new approaches to union-management relations? In particular, are there issues which are viewed as important, but as not being handled effectively through collective bargaining, and, thus, as holding strong potential for joint programs of organizational change

Species Richness and Host Associations of Lepidoptera-Attacking Tachinidae in the Northeast Ecuadorian Andes

Most of the unknown biological diversity of macro-organisms remaining to be discovered and described lies in the tropical regions of the world and consists primarily of insects. Those insects with parasitoid lifestyles constitute a significant portion of insect diversity, yet parasitoids are among the most poorly known of major insect guilds in the humid tropics. Here we describe and analyze the richness of one diverse taxon of parasitoids, flies in the family Tachinidae, reared from Lepidoptera as part of a biological survey of Lepidoptera and their parasitoids in one mid-elevation (2000 m) area in the northeast Ecuadorian Andes. One hundred fifty-seven separable tachinid “morpho-species” were reared from approximately 160 species of Lepidoptera in 16 families. These tachinid flies were recovered from a sample of over 12,800 successful caterpillar rearing events that resulted in either adult Lepidoptera or parasitoids. Tachinid species accumulation and rarefaction curves exhibit no sign of reaching an asymptote and richness estimators indicate that the community likely consists of nearly twice this number of species (at minimum). Most tachinid species were reared infrequently, with 50% being represented by a single individual. The majority of species appeared to be relatively specialized on one or a few related hosts, but sampling was insufficient to make strong inferences regarding host range. The tribes Blondeliini and Goniini were the best represented, but some tribes that were expected to be common such as Tachinini and Winthemiini were poorly represented. The estimates of tachinid species richness derived here are suggestive of a far more diverse tachinid community than in temperate localities in North America. Additional rearing of Lepidoptera, as well as other herbivorous insect taxa, along with the use of additional collecting methods will be necessary to achieve a more accurate understanding of the richness of tropical Tachinidae and their contribution to broader patterns of tropical biodiversity

New larval host records for Tortricidae (Lepidoptera) from an Ecuadorian Andean cloud forest

A biological inventory focused on plant-caterpillar-parasitoid associations at Yanayacu Biological Station, Ecuador, yielded 81 adult specimens of Tortricidae (Lepidoptera: Tortricoidea) representing 42 species in 13 genera. Based on this material, new host records are presented for species in the following genera: Lypothora Razowski, 1981; Inape Razowski, 1988; Orthocomotis Dognin, 1905; Paraptila Meyrick, 1912; Runtunia Razowski and Wojtusiak, 2008; Transtillaspis Razowski, 1987; Xoser Razowski and Pelz, 2003; Argyrotaenia Stephens, 1852; Anacrusis Zeller, 1877; Sisurcana Powell, 1986; Amorbia Clemens, 1860; Paramorbia Powell and Lambert, 1986; and Episimus Walsingham, 1892. Tortricids were reared from 46 plant species representing 24 plant families, with Piperaceae, Melastomataceae, and Asteraceae supporting the most tortricid herbivores (six species each). Un inventario biológico centrado en relaciones parasitoide-oruga-planta desarrollado en la Estación Biológica de Yanayacu, en Ecuador, dio lugar a 81 ejemplares adultos de Tortricidae (Lepidoptera: Tortricoidea) representativos de 13 géneros y 42 especies. Basándose en este material, se presentan nuevos registros de plantas huésped para especies de los siguientes géneros: Lypothora Razowski, 1981; Inape Razowski, 1988; Orthocomotis Dognin, 1905; Paraptila Meyrick, 1912; Runtunia Razowski y Wojtusiak, 2008; Transtillaspis Razowski, 1987; Xoser Razowski y Pelz, 2003; Argyrotaenia Stephens, 1852; Anacrusis Zeller, 1877; Sisurcana Powell, 1986; Amorbia Clemens, 1860; Paramorbia Powell y Lambert, 1986; y Episimus Walsingham, 1892. Los tortrícidos se criaron a partir de 46 especies de plantas representativas de 24 familias de plantas. Las familias Piperaceae, Melastomataceae y Asteraceae resultaron ser las que soportan la mayor parte de los tortrícidos (seis especies cada una)

Trophic diversity in two grassland ecosystems

The roles of consumers (top-down forces) versus resources (bottom-up forces) as determinants of alpha diversity in a community are not well studied. Numerous community ecology models and empirical studies have provided a framework for understanding how density at various trophic levels responds to variation in the relative strength of top-down and bottom-up forces. The resulting trophic theory can be applied to understanding variation in insect diversity at different trophic levels. The objective of this research was to elucidate the strengths of direct and indirect interactions between plants and entire arthropod communities to determine the effects of trophic interactions on arthropod diversity. Grassland plant and insect diversity was measured in July 2001 to document patterns of diversity at multiple trophic levels. The study site includes riparian grasslands in North-Central Colorado on the Carpenter Ranch, owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy. This pastureland consists of sites with different management regimes: unmanaged pasture intermixed along riparian forest, and cattle grazed pasture with flood irrigation. Plant abundance and richness were higher on the grazed-irrigated pasture versus the unmanaged field. Path analysis revealed strong effects of herbivore diversity on diversity of other trophic levels. For the managed fields, top-down forces were important, with increases in enemy diversity depressing herbivore diversity, which in turn depressed plant abundance. For the unmanaged fields, bottom-up forces dominated, with increases in plant diversity causing increased herbivore diversity, which in turn increased enemy diversity. These results support hypotheses from other empirical studies, demonstrating that changes in diversity of a single trophic level can cascade to effect diversity at other, nonadjacent trophic levels