Serendipity: why some organizations are luckier than others

Serendipity refers to the accidental discovery of something valuable. It is sometimes presented as an element of organizational learning but has been the object of scarce research. In this paper, I discuss the notion of serendipity in the organizational context, and elaborate a model of organizational serendipity. Four building blocks are considered: the conditions that facilitate serendipitous discovery, the search for a solution for a given problem, a process of bisociation leading to the combination of previously unrelated skills or information, and the discovery of an unexpected solution to a different problem. I also discuss what organizations can do to improve the chances of serendipity.serendipity; search; bisociation; chance; accidental discoveries; unintentional learning

Organizational time: a dialectical view

We present twelve propositions constituting a contribution to a contingency view of time in organizations and synthesize apparently opposite perspectives of time. To articulate them, we relate the planning, action and improvisation strategic orientations to the dependent, independent and interdependent perspectives of the environment. Then, we relate these strategic orientations related to approaches to the problems of scheduling, synchronization and time allocation. Action strategies rely on event time to handle scheduling, use entrainment to synchronize with their environment and view time as linear. Planning strategies use even time to handle scheduling, impose their internal pacing upon the environment and view time as cyclic. Improvisation strategies use even-event time to handle scheduling, synchronize via internal-external pacing and hold a spiral view of time. Our argument strengthens the case for a more deliberate approach to time in organizations and favors a dialectical view of organizational phenomena.action, contingency, dialectics, improvisation, planning, synthesis, time

Adopting or adapting? The tension between local and international mindsets in portuguese management

One of the effects of the globalization process has been the diffusion of international management mindsets. Such a process of diffusion may be contributing to an increasing homogeneity of managerial practice around the world, but important differences still remain. The research reported in this article analyzes management as a process in the making, i.e. as a dynamic interplay between local culture, history and conditions, and the diffusion/adoption of international managerial techniques. The topic is approached inductively, through interviews with 71 managers based in Portugal. The article makes two main contributions: it analyzes management as a dialectical interplay between local factors and imported management knowledge, and helps to describe management practice in this Latin European country. Results suggest that the change process occurring in managerial practice in Portugal derives from the tension between a parochial mindset, inherited from almost five decades of dictatorship and its confrontation with a new global mindset. Some managers may be approaching this tension dialectically, through the enactment of a synthesis, which some informants interpret as potentially leading to a new Latin managerial touchglobal management, management in Latin Europe, Portugal, dialectics

Bricolage in organizations

Theories of management and organization have traditionally overlooked the concept of bricolage. Focused on the rationality of resource allocation, scholars have missed the relevance of the skill of “inventing” resources from available materials. Changes in the nature of competition are, however, stressing the importance of speed and change as competitive factors in shifting environments. In these environments it may be impossible to search and wait for the presumably adequate resources. Bricolage, therefore, may be a relevant practice in these environments. This article discusses the concept of organizational bricolage by asking such questions as: What is bricolage? Why is bricolage a relevant practice? Why is bricolage so often ignored? How can it be facilitated?resources; resourcing; bricolage; improvisation

Impact of strategy, HRM Strength and HRM bundles on innovation performance and organizational performance

This study uses structural equation modeling to test a model of the impact of human resource management bundles on perceived organizational performance and innovation performance, on a large sample of companies. Strategic management orientation and innovation as a strategic factor are proposed to influence the existence of two types of HR bundles, functional flexibility and performance management, as well as contributing to stronger HR systems. HRM Strength, which integrates the metafeatures of an HRM system and provides a common interpretation of organizational goals, has a strong positive impact on both innovation and organizational performances. Finally, while both the functional flexibility and performance management bundles have a positive impact on organizational performance, they do not seem to affect innovation performance.

The dynamics of managerial ideology: analyzing the cuban case

After the collapse of state socialism in Eastern Europe, management researchers devoted considerable energy to investigate ways to smooth transition to market economies. But one country of the former Soviet bloc, Cuba resisted transition and reaffirmed loyalty to communism. Little is known about management in Cuba on the managerial impacts of the combination of two major environmental forces: the American embargo and the Soviet Union collapse, both of which have challenged the sustainability of the communist regime. This study intends to approach one particular aspect of management in Cuba: the relationship between national ideology and management practice. To analyze these topics, direct qualitative data from focus groups with Cuban managers and management professors was obtained and complemented with documentary analysis. Results suggest that the dynamics of managerial ideology can be understood as the interplay of several processes operating at distinct levels: institutional, professional, organizational and individual. The study provides a nested, multi-level understanding of management and organization as parts of a wider institutional context, which is both a source of constraint and a non-tangible resource to be used by ideological bricoleurs. The interplay between the acceptance of ideology and its use as a practical resource is a potential source of change. As such, the same professional class (managers) may be both a source of continuity and a trigger of change - a finding that is line with institutional theorys claim that it is necessary to understand both institutionalization and de-institutionalization for understanding organizational change and continuity.Cuba, managerial ideology, institutional change, ideological bricolage

Writing new scripts: redefining managerial agency in Cuba

Transitional societies are faced with particularly challenging and pressing problems. These usually involve the passage from a centralised, socialist-based society, to a decentralised, market-based economy. This paper addresses a somewhat different case: that of Cuba. According to the official discourse, the island is not in a state of transition. On the contrary, it is assumed that the conquests of the revolution are there to stay. Nonetheless, significant changes are taking place. The market logic is being adopted in a growing number of cases, ranging from empresas mixtas to the weak signals of entrepreneurial activity. Drawing on a series of eight focus groups with a total of 106 Cuban executives and management scholars, this paper addresses the uniqueness of the Cuban case on the basis of the theory of structuration. The paper reports how the need to keep the faith is being added with the adoption of Western management practices, and how the interplay between planned and emergent change is sculpting transition through the redefinition of managerial scripts.Cuba, managerial scripts, agency, structuration theory, focus groups

Teamworking and the "sharpening" of peripherical vision

Managers and organizations are normally focussed on a number of key issues and targets, such as strategic positioning, operations, competitors, internal processes, human relations, etc. Focus is fundamental to effective exploitation. Focus, however, carries with it some attendant risks. It may, for example, lead to an underestimation of critical moves taking place at the periphery outside the focus of attention. In such instances, peripheral vision becomes crucial to organizational survival. In this paper, we discuss how teams and teamworking may help re-educate attention and in so doing ‘sharpen’ peripheral vision in organizational contexts. A typology is built, which specifies how different types of teams deal with focus and periphery in practice. Next, we discuss the specific cases of the groups that are most oriented towards the periphery to uncover how they manage collective action and collective imagination. The paper finishes with a number of practical suggestions derived from the previous theoretical work. Six strategic practices are critically analyzed: zooming, improvisation, bricolage, scenario thinking, wild cards and weak signals.periphery, peripheral vision, teams, weak signals, minimal structures