Different Ambidextrous Learning Architectures and the Role of HRM Systems

During the past decade ambidexterity has emerged as the central research stream in organization science to investigate how organizations manage to remain successful over time. By using the lens of organizational learning, ambidexterity can be defined as the simultaneous pursuit of exploration and exploitation. However, the link between ambidexterity and the human resource management of a firm is still a blind spot on the ambidexterity research map. To shed light on this issue, we show how different ambidextrous learning architectures can be created and maintained by the means of consistent HRM systems. By doing so, we show how HRM systems as specific bundles of HRM practices facilitate ambidextrous learning. Thereby we emphasize the challenge of creating and sustaining the horizontal and vertical fit of an HRM system with regard to different ambidextrous designs.Ambidexterity; Exploration; Exploitation; Organizational Learning; HRM; Strategic Human Resource Management

"Professoren haben weniger Probleme, die machen sie meistens": die Repräsentationsproblematik der Betriebsräte des wissenschaftlichen Personals an österreichischen Universitäten

"Der Betriebsrat wird in der Literatur überwiegend als monolithisch strukturierter Akteur konzipiert. Tatsächlich stellen Betriebsräte jedoch Gremien dar, in denen Individualakteure bzw. einzelne Gruppierungen mit teilweise unterschiedlichen Wertvorstellungen und unterschiedlichem Rollenverständnis agieren. Diese Thematik greift der vorliegende Beitrag auf, indem Spannungen innerhalb der neu konstituierten Betriebsräte des wissenschaftlichen Personals an den österreichischen Universitäten skizziert werden. Die empirische Datenbasis stellen Interviews mit 42 Betriebsratsvorsitzenden und stellvertretenden Vorsitzenden sowie Vertretern des Managements (Rektoren und Vizerektoren) an 14 österreichischen Universitäten dar. Wir zeigen, dass zwischen einzelnen Gruppen (Professorenschaft und Mittelbau) heterogene Ansichten in Bezug auf die Bedeutung einer institutionalisierten Interessenvertretung bestehen, und diskutieren Ursachen, die insbesondere im unterschiedlichen Selbstverständnis der beiden Gruppen zu finden sind, und Konsequenzen, insbesondere die Mehrgleisigkeit der Interessenvertretung gegenüber der Universitätsleitung." (Autorenreferat)"Works councils are usually regarded as homogenous actors rather than as a conglomeration of individual actors with heterogeneous values and norms. As a consequence, up-to-now tensions and discrepancies within works councils have remained an underresearched issue within the context of labor relations. In this paper, we draw on this issue by documenting and discussing tensions within the newly constituted works councils at the public Universities in Austria. Empirical data were collected by conducting qualitative Interviews at 14 Austrian Universities. We show that contrasting views exist regarding the need for an institutionalized representation of interests. Moreover, we discuss causes and consequences of these conflicting views." (author's abstract

Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing: The Role of Artifacts in Interpretive Schema Change

In this paper, we investigate the role of artifacts in a failed project that aimed at implementing a new culture of dealing with errors in a hospital by transferring safety standards from the aviation industry. We apply the interpretative method of objective hermeneutics to elucidate the role of artifacts as linking pins between diverging interpretive schemata and collective action during attempts to modify organizational routines. In particular, we show how the implementation of artifacts may serve as a means to satisfy a new espoused schema, while at the same time they are created and interpreted in ways that strengthen the old enacted schema. Although on the surface everyone would appreciate changes in treatment routines that help to avoid errors, the guiding norms of individual vigilance and self-centeredness, a culture that emphasizes hierarchy as a core value as well as the lack of sanctions for enacting the old schema led to a situation where the new espoused schema was never enacted. Instead, artifacts were used to stabilize a divergence between espoused and enacted schemata. Failure remained a cultural taboo.(VLID)342667

Developing a nature-based coastal defence strategy for Australia

Australia’s rapid coastal population growth coupled with the increased risk of hazards driven by climate change creates an urgent need to start adaptation planning for the future. The most common solutions for protecting the coast (seawalls, breakwaters) are expensive and non-adaptive (i.e., they need to be rebuilt, upgraded and maintained in response to a changing climate). There is international precedence for the development of nature-based solutions (i.e., the integration of natural habitats such as coastal vegetation and biogenic reefs) as a cost-effective and sustainable approach to shoreline protection from erosion and flooding. The development of nature-based approaches has been supported by large interdisciplinary teams to inform policy and decision-making. Nature-based coastal defence is currently not a tool widely used in Australia. Key to their wider implementation is: (1) improved scientific knowledge; (2) effective governance; and (3) social acceptance. Recently implemented pilot trials need to inform industry-accredited guidelines that can be integrated into coastal management and government policy. © 2019, © 2019 Engineers Australia

Issues and trends in causal ambiguity research : a review and assessment

Causal ambiguity relates to ambiguity as to how organizational actions and results, inputs and outcomes, or competencies and advantage are linked. Causal ambiguity is important because of its organizational performance implications. Over the last 25 years, research has analyzed the concept from various theoretical angles. As a result, the literature is fragmented and presents different, and sometimes contradictory, views on the concept. In this article, we systematically review the literature on causal ambiguity and develop a framework incorporating the types, antecedents, and consequences of causal ambiguity for both organizational performance and organizational learning. We disentangle the arrays of conceptualizations and operationalizations present in the literature, and we isolate distinct streams in causal ambiguity research. One stream of research concentrates on causal ambiguity as an interfirm barrier to imitation, a second relates to causal ambiguity as an intrafirm barrier to factor mobility, and a third focuses on causal ambiguity as a potential trigger for intrafirm learning. Our review also helps to consolidate research on the substitution dilemma, the causal ambiguity paradox, and the challenge of learning under causal ambiguity. Finally, we develop a coherent set of implications for management practice, and we provide an agenda for further research.(VLID)4698131Version of recor

'Professoren haben weniger Probleme, die machen sie meistens.' Die Repraesentationsproblematik der Betriebsraete des wissenschaftlichen Personals an oesterreichischen Universitaeten (Tensions within Works Councils at the Public Universities in Austria)

Der Betriebsrat wird in der Literatur ueberwiegend als monolithisch strukturierter Akteur konzipiert. Tatsaechlich stellen Betriebsraete jedoch Gremien dar, in denen Individualakteure bzw. einzelne Gruppierungen mit teilweise unterschiedlichen Wertvorstellungen und unterschiedlichem Rollenverstaendnis agieren. Diese Thematik greift der vorliegende Beitrag auf, indem Spannungen innerhalb der neu konstituierten Betriebsraete des wissenschaftlichen Personals an den österreichischen Universitaeten skizziert werden. Die empirische Datenbasis stellen Interviews mit 42 Betriebsratsvorsitzenden und stellvertretenden Vorsitzenden sowie Vertretern des Managements (Rektoren und Vizerektoren) an 14 oesterreichischen Universitaeten dar. Wir zeigen, dass zwischen einzelnen Gruppen (Professorenschaft und Mittelbau) heterogene Ansichten in Bezug auf die Bedeutung einer institutionalisierten Interessenvertretung bestehen, und diskutieren Ursachen, die insbesondere im unterschiedlichen Selbstverstaendnis der beiden Gruppen zu finden sind, und Konsequenzen, insbesondere die Mehrgleisigkeit der Interessenvertretung gegenüber der Universitaetsleitung.works councils, industrial relations, works councils at universities

Assessing Routing Algorithms for PCNs: Full Evaluation Results

Within this Technical Report, we present the full analysis of 61 routing protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) for the purposes of routing in Payment Channel Networks (PCNs). In addition, we present the full results of the implementation of the three algorithms E-TORA, TERP, and M-DART

CHITINASE-LIKE1/POM-POM1 and Its Homolog CTL2 Are Glucan-Interacting Proteins Important for Cellulose Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis[W][OA]

Cell wall and cellulose structure is imperative for proper cell elongation and, consequently, the architecture of plants, but components regulating cellulose structure are still elusive. This article shows that the secreted CTL1/POM1 and its close homolog CTL2 interact with glucan-based polymers and influence cellulose crystallinity and cell expansion