Duality and organizing forms in change management

Although the fervour proclaiming new forms of organizing as the latest management panacea has not yet subsided, the calls for caution and further investigation have been bolstered by empirical findings. A common outcome of studies concerned with new organizing forms has been a greater awareness of the tensions or dualities between traditional and new forms. In particular, the conventional assumption that the two forms represent contradictory, incompatible forces is coming under increasing scrutiny. The resulting either/or approach to organizing form may be viewed as an inappropriate perspective for researching organizational change as it ignores the complexity and subtlety of organizing form. The reality is that, as new forms of organizing are introduced, they are more likely to supplement rather than supplant existing forms (Sanchez-Runde and Pettigrew 2003). The way forward therefore is to learn how to work with, rather than eliminate, dualities in organizing forms. This paper contends that dualities represent a superior perspective for interpreting organizing forms, and perhaps, foreshadows the direction of a future organizational change research paradigm.

Duality theory and forms of organizing

This paper presents results from a survey of organizing forms in Australia's largest public companies between 2000 and 2004. The study sought to identify trends in forms of organizing and the extent to which the uptake of new forms led to a decrease in traditional forms of organizing. The analysis revealed changes across the organizational dimensions of structures, processes and boundaries. While Australian firms were clearly interested in exploring new forms of organizing, uptake was not universal, nor at the expense of traditional forms of organizing. An admixture of traditional and new, or dual, forms of organizing emerged as the preferred response to environmental turbulence. This paper employs and extends duality theory to explain the changes that occurred in Australian public companies over the four year period. Duality theory is operationalized in terms of five duality characteristics, which are employed to assess the composition and balance of traditional and new fOlms of organizing. The paper proposes that a dualities aware perspective offers a potential way forward in managing the balance between ostensibly contradictory forces of continuity and change.

Do political connections affect the role of independent audit committees and CEO Duality? Some evidence from Malaysian audit pricing

This study examines whether political connection to firms affects the association between audit committee independence and demand for higher quality audits. In line with Carcello et al. (2002), our findings show that there is a positive association between audit committee independence and audit fees thus supporting the hypothesis that more independent audit committees demand higher audit quality. However, we find that this relationship is weaker for politically connected (PCON) firms suggesting that the independence of audit committees in Malaysian PCON firms may be compromised. Additionally, we provide evidence that PCON firms that have CEO duality are perceived by audit firms as being of higher risk than CEO duality firms without political connection.

Organizing dualities and strategizing for change

This paper examines the role of organizing forms in strategizing for change. It argues that a duality approach aids in understanding how organizing influences and leverages strategizing for change. Three propositions are presented.

First, organizing is strategizing. This represents the interaction between organizing and strategizing, where organizing forms enable and constrain strategic change. Second, tension in forms of organizing can be the source of strategic advantage. The main challenge is to develop systems that function best in tension, delivering both efficiency and innovation. A dualities approach emphasizes the need not only to hold fast to routines but also to attempt to subvert them with innovations. It is this combination that facilitates strategic change. Third, heterogeneity in organizing forms offers strategic adaptability by providing increased opportunities for innovation.

This paper concludes that despite the appeal of calls for organizations to become capable of constant change, the advantages of flexibility are compromised by the disadvantages of instability and uncertainty. Furthermore, the study of organizing forms reveals that change is continuous at the micro level but discontinuous at the macro level. Thus the relationship between organizing and strategizing can subsequently be non-linear and recursive, with strategic advantages achieved through tension and heterogeneity in organizing.

Gender performativity and normalizing practices

In this chapter we examine the normalizing regimes of practice that impact on the various ways in which young people at school define desirable forms of masculinity and femininity. Attention is given to the particular role that compulsory heterosexuality and gender duality play in prescribing appropriate behavior for boys and girls. By drawing on interviews with adolescent boys, a 13-year-old self defined "tomgirl," and an adult transgender woman, and examining written responses by girls, we highlight the kinds of issues that impact on their lives at school. We also consider the invisibility of transgender
and intersexual perspectives in most educational debates on gender and sexuality.

Board structure and firm performance : evidence from India's top 500 companies

The objective of this paper is to investigate the relationship between internal governance structures in Indian companies and financial performance. The
study includes an examination of aspects of the effectiveness of boards of directors', including composition of the board, board size and aspects of board leadership including duality and board busyness.

Corporate governance, firm characteristics and risk management committee formation in Australian companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how a risk management committee (RMC), as a newly evolving sub-committee of the board of directors, functions as a key governance support mechanism in the oversight an organisation's risk management strategies, policies and processes. However, empirical evidence on the factors associated with the existence and the type of RMCs remains scant.

Design/methodology/approach – Using an agency theory perspective, this study investigates the association between board factors such as proportion of non-executive directors, Chief Executive Officer duality, and board size; as well as, other firm-related factors (e.g. auditor type, industry, leverage, and complexity), and the existence of a RMC, and the type of RMC (namely, a separate RMC versus one that is combined with the audit committee). Data was collected from the annual reports of the top 300 Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)-listed companies.

Findings – The results, based on logistic regression analyses, indicate that RMCs tend to exist in companies with an independent board chairman and larger boards. Further, the results also indicate that in comparison to companies with a combined RMC and audit committee, those with a separate RMC are more likely to have larger boards, higher financial reporting risk and lower organisational complexity.

Research limitations/implications – Data limited to top 200 top ASX-listed companies, thus restricting generalisability of the results.

Originality/value – The findings of this study provide additional information on the use and design of RMCs in a voluntary setting.

The existence and nature of risk management committees in Australian companies

A risk management committee (RMC), as a newly evolving sub-committee of the board of directors, functions as a key governance support mechanism in the oversight an organisation’s risk management strategies, policies and processes. However, empirical evidence on the factors associated with the existence and the type of RMCs remains scant. Using an agency theory perspective, this study investigates the association between board factors such as proportion of non-executive directors, CEO duality, and board size; as well as, other firm-related factors (e.g. auditor type, industry, leverage, and complexity), and (1) the existence of a RMC, and (2) the type of RMC (namely, a separate RMC versus one that is combined with the audit committee). Data was collected from the annual reports of the top 300 ASX-listed companies. The results, based on logistic regression analyses, indicate that RMCs tend to exist in companies with an independent board chairman and larger boards. Further, the results also indicate that in comparison to companies with a combined RMC and audit committee, those with a separate RMC are more likely to have larger boards, higher financial reporting risk and lower organisational complexity. The findings of this study provide additional information on the use and design of RMCs in a voluntary setting.

The relationship between innovation and entrepreneurship : easy definition, hard policy

The paper argues that innovation is the combination of an inventive process and an entrepreneurial process to create new economic value for defined stakeholders and focuses on the policy implications of this duality. Attention is concentrated on summarising the entrepreneurial process and its importance to innovation policy and avoids any detailed elaboration of the invention process. A very brief overview of the invention process is followed by a moderately detailed summary of Hindle's (2008) model of entrepreneurial process. With an understanding and formal articulation of entrepreneurial process it becomes possible to focus on the key issues that ought to inform the development of innovation policy. These key issues are discussed and the paper concludes where it began by emphasising the need to build innovation policy on the explicit recognition that innovation results from the blending of two processes, invention and entrepreneurship, and that viable innovation policy can never be created unless entrepreneurial process is properly understood and addressed.

Board structure and firm performance : evidence from India's top companies

Manuscript Type: Empirical

Research Question/Issue: This paper investigates the relationship between internal governance structures and financial performance of Indian companies. The effectiveness of boards of directors, including board composition, board size, and aspects of board leadership including duality and board busyness are addressed in the Indian context using two theories of corporate governance: agency theory and resource dependency theory.

Research Findings/Insights: The study used a sample of top Indian companies taking into account the endogeneity of the relationships among corporate governance, corporate performance, and corporate capital structure. The study provides some support for aspects of agency theory as a greater proportion of outside directors on boards were associated with improved firm performance. The notion of separating leadership roles in a manner consistent with agency theory was not supported. For instance, the notion that powerful CEOs (duality role, CEO being the promoter, and CEO being the only board manager) have a detrimental effect on performance was not supported. There was some support for resource dependency theory. The findings suggest that larger board size has a positive impact on performance thus supporting the view that greater exposure to the external environment improves access to various resources and thus positively impacts on performance. The study however failed to support the resource dependency theory in terms of the association between frequency of board meetings and performance. Similarly the results showed that outside directors with multiple appointments appeared to have a negative effect on performance, suggesting that "busyness" did not add value in terms of networks and enhancement of resource accessibility.

Theoretical/Academic Implications: The two theories of corporate governance, namely agency and resource dependence theory, were each only partially supported, by the findings of this study. The findings add further to the view that no single theory explains the nexus between corporate governance and performance.

Practitioner/Policy Implications: This study demonstrates that corporate governance measures utilized in developed economies related to boards of directors have some synergies and relevance to emerging economies, such as India. However, the nature of business structures in India, for example the large number of family businesses, may limit the generalizability of the findings and signals the need for further investigation of these businesses. The evidence related to multiple appointments of directors suggests that there may be support for restricting the number of directorships held by any one individual in emerging economies, given that the "busyness" of directors was negatively associated with firm performance.

The view from the cushion : zen challenges to duality in the contemporary practice situation

Based on participant-observation fieldwork, interviews with western Zen practitioners, public dharma talks and personal interviews given by two contemporary Sōtō Zen teachers (Hōgen Yamahata and Ekai Korematsu), this paper explores the challenges to 'everyday' dualistic thought structures that Zen practice poses to the questioning student and the ontological and epistemological significance of these challenges to the worldview of the experiencing student. First, the teaching styles and non-dual emphases of the two teachers in the context of teacher/student exchanges are examined; and, secondly, the experiential challenges and changes in worldview from the practitioner's point of view are phenomenologically explored. By teasing out the parallels and links between the phenomenology of Zen practice and the philosophical underpinnings of Zen practice instructions, foundational philosophical tenets can be shown 'in action' in the contemporary practice situation and a window is opened on the ontological and epistemological significance of the experiential impact of Zen teachings.

Structuration theory and information systems development - frameworks for practice

Giddens’ structuration theory (ST) offers an account of social life in terms of social practices developing and changing over time and space, which makes no attempt to directly theorize the Information Systems (IS) domain. IS researchers have long been interested in it as a way of deepening understanding; a common application is the analysis of empirical situations using Giddens’ ‘dimensions of the duality of structure’ model. Other writers, most notably Orlikowski, have used it help theorize the field. Often the mode of research employed has been the interpretative case study. However, direct attempts to influence practice (an important component of working in an applied field), perhaps through the vehicle of action research, have yet to be undertaken. There are at least three serious problems with attempting this. The first is the inaccessibility of the theory to IS researchers and practitioners. The second is the absence of specific theories of technology. The third is Giddens’ own disinterest in practical uses of his work – which leaves no obvious path to follow. This paper explores that path, in the context of information system development (ISD). Some frameworks for practice are suggested which are translated into forms of discourse that are more accessible to the IS community. In particular, we include an empirical illustration to demonstrate the potential of ISD tools based on structuration theory.

The compositor of the farce of dustiny : Lacan reading, and being read by, Joyce

"We have learnt to see Joyce as Lacan's own symptom," writes Jean-Michel Rabate, "and as the sinthome par excellence" (2006, 26). This duality of Joyce as an unreadable text permeated with enjoyment and at the same time as an enigma that Lacan wants to decipher supplies the key to an understanding of Seminar XXIII. Lacan's addition to the triad of the Real, the Symbolic and the Imaginary of a fourth term, the Sigma (or sinthome) firms up his late shift from the speakingbeing (parletre, the Lacanian neologism that indicates the insertion of the human being into the signifying chain) to MAN (LOM, a Lacanian play on l'homme). Instead of the human being as inserted into the Symbolic Order, Seminar XXIII presents Joyce as inserting himself into language, tying the signifier to the body in a special, unique way. For Lacan, the sinthome is eccentric to the registers of the Real, Symbolic and Imaginary, yet it paradoxically links them when the Name-of- the-Father fails. The implication is carried in the concept of "nomination" that the Name-of-the-Father (or its structural equivalents, such as "Woman," "God" and "Joyce") makes language possible for the individual.

Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility disclosures : evidence from an emerging economy

We examine the relationship between corporate governance and the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures in the annual reports of Bangladeshi companies. A legitimacy theory framework is adopted to understand the extent to which corporate governance characteristics, such as managerial ownership, public ownership, foreign ownership, board independence, CEO duality and presence of audit committee influence organisational response to various stakeholder groups. Our results suggest that although CSR disclosures generally have a negative association with managerial ownership, such relationship becomes significant and positive for export-oriented industries. We also find public ownership, foreign ownership, board independence and presence of audit committee to have positive significant impacts on CSR disclosures. However, we fail to find any significant impact of CEO duality. Thus, our results suggest that pressures exerted by external stakeholder groups and corporate governance mechanisms involving independent outsiders may allay some concerns relating to family influence on CSR disclosure practices. Overall, our study implies that corporate governance attributes play a vital role in ensuring organisational legitimacy through CSR disclosures. The findings of our study should be of interest to regulators and policy makers in countries which share similar corporate ownership and regulatory structures.