Borgs in the Org? Organizational Decision Making and Technology

Data warehousing and the development of the World Wide Web both augment information gathering (search) processes in individual decision making by increasing the availability of required information. Imagine, for example, that one wanted to buy new golf clubs. Thirty years ago, the cost of information gathering would likely have limited an individual\u27s search process to geographically proximal vendors and the golf clubs they stocked. Today, a prospective purchaser can log onto the World Wide Web to find out what types of golf clubs are available anywhere; consult databases, chat rooms, and bulletin boards (e.g., epinions.com) to gather product information and user opinions; and compare prices across vendors around the world

Building top management muscle in a slow growth environment: How different is better at Greyhound Financial Corporation

The turbulence experienced in the 1980s in the U.S. business environment has led to something of a motivational crisis among corporate managers. Increased competition, budget constraints, and changing demographics are forcing companies into adopting strategies geared toward downsizing and flatter organizational structures. While corporate America probably has begun to accept its leaner profile, it has not yet successfully addressed the issue of how to keep the best managerial talent tuned in and turned on in an era of dwindling resources. This article describes and assesses one corporation\u27s efforts to maintain top-managerial motivation through a unique form of job swapping called the Muscle Building program at Greyhound Financial Corporation in Phoenix, Arizona. Muscle building. a top-management job rotation program, helps prevent career gridlock, fosters management diversity, and provides for top-management succession. Hidden costs and benefits of the program and issues concerning its implementation are discussed

A Nation Scared: Children, Sex and the Denial of Humanity

Review of the monograph:Klaus Grütjen, Lokale Selbstverwaltung im Spannungsfeld von afrikanischer Tradition und europäischer Moderne: Dezentralisierung und Dekonzentration in den frankophonen Staaten Westafrikas am Beispiel Burkina Fasos, Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag (Recht in Afrika, 3), 2011, ISBN 978-3-89645-623-6 (hardcover), XXXVIII + 822 pp.Besprechung der Monographie:Klaus Grütjen, Lokale Selbstverwaltung im Spannungsfeld von afrikanischer Tradition und europäischer Moderne: Dezentralisierung und Dekonzentration in den frankophonen Staaten Westafrikas am Beispiel Burkina Fasos, Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag (Recht in Afrika, 3), 2011, ISBN 978-3-89645-623-6 (hardcover), XXXVIII + 822 Seite

Leaving Nothing to Chance: Modeling the Proactive Structuration of a New Technology

Adaptive structuration theory (AST, DeSanctis and Poole 1994) describes how people come to understand and use a technology. In this paper we develop the idea of proactive structuration--how social networking can be proactively managed in order to speed the comprehensive adaptation of a technology within a community of users. We examine two facets of proactive structuration--formal institutionalization of a community of practice and socialization of users--and stochastically model the impact of proactive structuration on comprehensive adaptation latency. Implications for the effective management of new technology adoption are discussed.

AIDS drugs for Africa!' a case study examining transnational AIDS treatment activism and the reduction of global antiretroviral prices from 1996 to 2001

Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references

Promises, pitfalls, and paradox: Cognitive elements in the implementation of new technology

Offers a model of new technology implementation (NTI) that elaborates the role of cognitions, specifically user and implementer frames in NTI. The model reveals the paradox of value (PV) and the paradox of experience (PE). The PV occurs when the divergence between user frames (the balanced information that users need) and implementer frames (the unbalanced information that implementers provide) creates negative surprises for users when they experience a new technology. The PE is that these negative surprises need not be costly and may be key components of successful implementation. The key proposition is that the pitfall of unbalanced implementation frames and the PV and PE may be turned into promises of successful implementation. Managers must prepare and accept the costs of the users learning to become experts. Managers wanting to apply this philosophy to their NTI need only to challenge their users with the technology

Testing the Waters: Using Collective Real Options To Manage the Social Dilemma Of Strategic Alliances

We extend real options research by introducing the concept of collective real options and model how collective real options provide strategic alliances a mechanism to manage social uncertainty. Collective real options manage social uncertainty by producing relational small wins that develop trust. The amount of trust developed by acquiring a collective real option depends on the exposure of alliance partners. Alliance partner reputation also plays an important role in the impact of collective real options

Performance Benefits Of Reward Choice: A Procedural Justice Perspective

Reward choice – employees\u27 ability to exercise control over the formal rewards they receive from work – is an important part of many HRM strategies. Reward choice is expected to increase employee performance, but conflicting findings highlight the need to better understand how and when it will do so. Based on fairness heuristic theory, we predicted that procedural justice mediates reward choice\u27s influence on performance, and that choice attractiveness moderates that influence. A field study and an experiment both had similar results, supporting our predictions. Reward choice can increase performance by as much as 40 per cent, but only when the available choices are attractive to employees

Surface-Level Diversity and Decision-Making in Groups: When Does Deep-Level Similarity Help?

We examined how surface-level diversity (based on race) and deep-level similarities influenced three-person decision-making groups on a hidden-profile task. Surface-level homogeneous groups perceived their information to be less unique and spent less time on the task than surface-level diverse groups. When the groups were given the opportunity to learn about their deep-level similarities prior to the task, group members felt more similar to one another and reported greater perceived attraction, but this was more true for surface-level homogeneous than surface-level diverse groups. Surface-level homogeneous groups performed slightly better after discovering deep-level similarities, but discovering deep-level similarities was not helpful for surface-level diverse groups, who otherwise outperformed surface-level homogeneous groups. We discuss the implications of this research for managing diversity in the workplace