Strategy Implementation as Performative Practice: Reshaping Organization into Alignment with Strategy

Much of the existing scholarly work on strategy implementation focuses on factors that either catalyze or obstruct the infusion of strategy into the organization. While this renders valuable knowledge about factors enabling or frustrating implementation, the actual process of strategy implementation is treated as a black box and as a step in the strategy model which is not further explained. To understand this process, this conceptual paper draws from performativity literature in which a strategy is conceptualized as a performative device. This means that a strategy triggers practices which reshape the organization so that the strategy is actualized in the organization. Specifically, we explain the idea of routinization as an instrument for enacting strategy into the organization by means of organizational routines. An illustrative empirical vignette is used to exemplify our conceptual point. Our study contributes to strategy implementation literature by introducing an alternative though complementary lens for studying strategy implementation and offers inspiration for strategy practitioners who aim to develop new implementation strategies

Strategy implementation as performative practice:Reshaping organization into alignment with strategy

Much of the existing scholarly work on strategy implementation focuses on factors that either catalyze or obstruct the infusion of strategy into the organization. While this renders valuable knowledge about factors enabling or frustrating implementation, the actual process of strategy implementation is treated as a black box and as a step in the strategy model which is not further explained. To understand this process, this conceptual paper draws from performativity literature in which a strategy is conceptualized as a performative device. This means that a strategy triggers practices which reshape the organization so that the strategy is actualized in the organization. Specifically, we explain the idea of routinization as an instrument for enacting strategy into the organization by means of organizational routines. An illustrative empirical vignette is used to exemplify our conceptual point. Our study contributes to strategy implementation literature by introducing an alternative though complementary lens for studying strategy implementation and offers inspiration for strategy practitioners who aim to develop new implementation strategies

How teachers’ expectations influence their experiences with activity-based workplaces in higher education

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of teachers’ expectations on their experiences and satisfaction response dregarding the introduction of activity-based workplaces (ABWs) in a Dutch university of applied sciences. Design/methodology/approach: The first author executed a three-year at-home ethnographic study as senior lecturer at the university in which the research was executed. Findings: Teachers have will expectations, should expectations and want expectations that relate to the stages before, during and after the introduction of ABWs. Unmet should and will expectations negatively affect want expectations and not only influence teachers’ affective commitment to their work but also generate dissatisfaction and even anger toward the organization, showing the importance of monitoring all three types of expectations. Research implications: Users evaluate their expectations against their experiences which can lead to the formation of (dis)satisfaction regarding the introduction of ABWs. To explain the satisfaction response, research should consider expectations and experiences. Practical implications: Discrepancies between users’ expectations and experiences lead to dissatisfaction with ABWs. Involving users and aiming to capture their expectations in the design support professionals predicting satisfaction and preventing the organization from costly re-refurbishments. Social implications: Exploring users' expectations creates an understanding of users' everyday processes and underlying values which can improve the fit between users and building and reduce costs. Reducing accommodation costs benefits society, as more money can be spent on education. Originality/value: This paper integrates Lefebvre’s spatial theory and Oliver’s disconfirmation theory to study the influence of expectations on users’ experiences and describes the process before, during and after introducing ABWs

Editing in organisations: reconstructing narrative meaning in Dutch education industries

In this paper, we focus on the (internal and external) dynamics of NPM in the daily life of organisations in the educational sector. We concentrate on the ways in which the NPM is shaped, adapted, transformed through a wide variety of organisational editing and 'editors' through a case of organisation transformation at Edu, an educational institution. The contribution aims to fill some blind spots in the current debate on narrative transformation and explores the question which alternative forms and related types of 'editors' can be identified in a process of narrative transformation in the education sector. For this, we focus on Edu, an organisation which offers intermediate vocational education. In the article four alternative types of organisational editors are identified varying from 'fixers', 'rationalisers', 'brokers' to 'shapers'. The main distinction lines for these subtypes seem to be the focus on either the social or cognitive dimension, although these dimensions cannot be entirely separated, and the front or backstage dominance. The research illustrates that organisational editing provides a powerful source for meaning reproduction and modification.narratives; stories; realities; inclusions; organisational editing; organisational transformation; vocational education; social; cognitive dimension; new public management; narrative transformation; organisational editors.

Urgency for safety in construction:Narrative struggles of carpe diem, memento mori, and negotiated safety

This study on safety culture focuses on the way people make sense of safety in urgency narratives in small–medium construction enterprises in the northeastern Netherlands, the so-called “earthquake region.” Three composite narratives are frequently revisited in the conversations among the employees, managers, and Vlink team. Employees turn to a carpe diem narrative, regarding safety as not a real problem, while appreciating the freedom of that comes with this type of work. In this practice, safety is predominantly the responsibility of the employee—incidents and unsafety are accepted as part of the job. Managers narrate a carpe pecunia narrative, supporting the carpe diem narrative through the logic that employees are responsible for safety while the project budget and satisfying the client carries much weight. Thereby, safety is negotiated on a constant basis and often outpaced by other concerns. These narratives create a cultural practice that demoralizes construction workers to work safely. The memento-narrative, developed by a team of consultants, is a narrated change attempting to influence this cultural practice and stresses the moral obligation of leaders to evaluate the risks of the work they assign to their (or external) employees. The logic of the narrative is that safety should be the main concern and not part of a negotiation. This study shows how the memento-narrative cannot always gain a foothold when narrators adopt certain narrative techniques, like blocking and reframing. Only in small remarks and specific moments during conversations are there opportunities for further conversation on and sharing of the memento-narrative