Media Review: AI Commons - appreciativeinquiry.champlain.edu

This media review offers both a description and a critique of the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Commons website, housed by the David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry at Champlain College. The purpose of this media review is to highlight the resources available on the AI Commons website as well as to offer some suggestions for improvement

Capacity Building for Organizational Accomplishment: Lessons from a Network of Nonprofit Organizations

Organizational capacity is based upon internal relationships which exist within an organization with the goal of enhancing structure through the talents and competencies of its people. Although at times used by profit organizations as a means to strengthen company performance and assist with strategic planning, the use of capitalizing on the value of organizational capacity in nonprofits has been largely ignored. A study was undertaken to capture the essence of capacity building specifically for nonprofits. An appreciative inquiry process was utilized with favorable results toward assisting an organization to accomplish its mission of serving stakeholders effectively by building on the collaborative strengths, talents and skills of its human resources

Improvement of Leadership Competencies and Organizational Culture through Whole Brain Based-Interventions: A Case Study of Phoenix Thailand, Ltd.

Abstract  This action research aim to improve Leadership Competencies and Organizational Culture of the study group at leader and supervisors levels of Phoenix Ltd. through Whole Brain Based-Interventions, namely:  Whole Brain Appreciative Coaching (WBAC), Appreciative Inquiry (AI), and Appreciative Leadership (AL).  The Action Research was conducted using two dependent variables: Leadership Competencies and Organizational Culture; while three Whole Brain-Based Interventions comprised the Independent Variables.  Both qualitative and quantitative data were used for assessment of both control and study group.  The Competing Value Framework was utilized as the research instrument for both Organization Culture and Leadership Competencies.  The Organization Culture Assessment Indicator (OCAI) describes four organizational structures: Clan, Adhocracy, Market and Hierarchy.   The Managing Skill Assessment Indicator (MSAI) was used for Leadership competencies assessment including both transformational and transactional competencies.  Managing teams, Interpersonal Relation, Development of others, Innovation, Future and Continuous Improvement were assessed as Transformational dimensions.  Whereas, Managing Acculturation, Control System, Coordination, Competitiveness, Emerging employees and Customer Focus were assessed as Transactional dimension.  For the study group the results showed a statistically significant change in four out of the six competencies that support Transformational Leadership.  However, there was no significant change in the culture of either the study group or the control group.  These results show that the three interventions in total provided a useful enhancement to the leadership competencies of the study group. Keywords: leadership competencies, organizational culture, Competing Values Framework, Whole Brain Appreciative Coaching, Appreciative Inquiry, Appreciative Leadership

Perlukah Mempertahankan Keunggulan Kompetitif oleh UMKM? (Studi Kasus UMKM Semarang)

This study is to find out and analyze how Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) maintain their competitive advantage so that they can survive or even develop from the time they have been established until now. For achieving the goal, this research used a qualitative approach. It is intended to explore the managerial actions of SMEs in maintaining a competitive advantage. The results of the study show that a competitive advantage can be owned through SOAR (Strength, Opportunity, Aspiration, Result). The strength consists of skilled workers, loyal customers, products according to consumer tastes, product and production process innovations, and adequate business land. The opportunity consists of the quality of the production process, broadening the marketing reach from domestic to foreign, and managerial capabilities supported by International Standard for Organization (ISO) 9000-2000 quality management systems that have an impact on increasing consumer confidence. But not many SMEs have been able to implement a quality management system. The aspiration is to work with several souvenir sellers around them and with export brokers. The result is expected to increase sales by participating in online exhibitions and promotions and improving the production process so that the products tend to be near to zero defect rate

Consulting on the European Union's 2050 tourism policies: An appreciative inquiry materiality assessment

Stakeholder consultations serve as powerful legitimising devices upon the balance of participants, the quality of the process and its effective results. We propose a deliberative digital stakeholder consultation methodology based on an appreciative inquiry approach to materiality assessment. We illustrate its application in a four-month consultation for the European Commission (2020 European Tourism Convention, towards a European Agenda for Tourism 2050). An interactive, online consultation (due to COVID-19) enabled dynamism and co-creation. Appreciative enquiry introduced the human elements of ownership and legitimacy towards policy. The choice of topics, language and attitudes reframed problems into opportunities with shared responsibilities. Technology allowed to explore new forms of open, democratic and inclusive engagement, and materiality provided structure and transparency that legitimised the process

Strategic Renewal: Learning, Unlearning, and Organizational Wisdom

Sustaining long-term viability requires that firms undergo many changes throughout their lifecycles. When a firm recognizes that its current strategy is unsatisfactory, it may engage in strategic renewal—a process of redirecting the firm’s strategic intent and capabilities. But what exactly is being renewed and how does a firm go about this? I argue that strategic renewal involves renewing organizational knowledge through the mechanisms of technological innovation as firms alter their path dependence. In a series of three studies, my dissertation encompasses investigations of how organizational learning, unlearning, and wisdom relate to the process of strategic renewal. Study 1 proposes that organizational learning precedes strategic renewal as firms explore new knowledge while balancing internal exploitation of current knowledge and the external adoption of its current technologies. Study 2 introduces a process of unlearning as firms must shed obsolete or misleading knowledge in order to substantially change their knowledge bases for strategic renewal. Study 3 suggests that the strategic renewal process of changing knowledge through innovation results in achieving organizational wisdom

The role of wisdom in organisational leadership

This thesis begins with a review of the literature on wisdom models, theories of wise leadership, and existing wisdom measures. It continues with a review of how the concept of wisdom may add value to existing leadership models, highlighting the need to empirically identify the characteristics of wise leaders and develop a wise leadership measure. A nomological framework for wise leadership is then presented. Based on a review of the wisdom and leadership paradigms, a mixed-methods research design is described for three studies to define the characteristics of wise leadership in organisations; identify specific leadership challenges that might require wise responses; and to develop the wise leadership measure comprising of vignettes. The first study involves critical incident interviews with 26 nominated wise leaders and 23 of their nominators, which led to the identification of nine wise leadership dimensions which include Strong Ethical Code, Strong Judgement, Optimising Positive Outcomes, Managing Uncertainty, Strong Legacy, Leading with Purpose, Humanity, Humility, and Self-Awareness. The second study includes critical incident interviews with 20 leaders about organisational challenges associated with the nine dimensions, to elucidate the wise leadership measure. The third study includes the design of 45 vignettes based on organisational challenges that measure the nine wise leadership dimensions. The measure is then administered to 250 organisational leaders to establish its construct validity, leading to the selection of 18 vignettes forming the final wise leadership measure. Theoretical, methodological and practical implications of this research are then discussed with recommendations for future research