Doces práticas para matar : o papel de recursos humanos em downsizing e demissão

As transformações ocorridas a partir da década de 80 na economia, na maneira de administrar as empresas e nas relações de trabalho levaram à perda de emprego de milhares de pessoas. Downsizing e demissão passaram a ser comum tanto no Brasil como em outros lugares do mundo. Chama a atenção, entretanto, que a literatura na área de recursos humanos não contemple as atividades de gerenciamento das demissões. Fala-se dos quatro pilares da área de recursos humanos: recrutamento, seleção, avaliação de desempenho, desenvolvimento e remuneração, mas o tema da demissão parece estar discretamente omitido. O objetivo deste trabalho foi: a) apresentar uma revisão da literatura nacional e internacional com artigos sobre o tema e b) buscar como profissionais de recursos humanos e demissores descrevem as práticas de demissão, de modo a evidenciar o papel da área de recursos humanos (e de gestores) nestes processos. A retórica em Recursos Humanos, já descrita por Legge (1995), de que precisamos ser cruéis para amar, apresenta-se como uma ação fundamental na construção das práticas organizativas em demissão e downsizing.

Organizational design and incentive provision

We model the trade-off between the balance and the strength of incentives implicit in the choice between hierarchical and matrix or- ganizational structures. We show that managerial biases determine which structure is optimal: hierarchical forms are preferred when biases are low, while matrix structures are preferred when biases are high. Moreover, the results show that there is always a level of bias for which matrix design can achieve the expected profit obtained by shareholders if they could directly control the firm. We also show that the main trade-off, i.e., hierarchical versus matrix structure is preserved under asymmetric levels of bias among managers and when low-level workers perceive activities with complementary efforts.

Biased managers, organizational design, and incentive provision

We model the tradeoff between the balance and the strength of incentives implicit in the choice between hierarchical and matrix organizational structures. We show that managerial biases determine which structure is optimal: hierarchical forms are preferred when biases are low, while matrix structures are preferred when biases are high.

Organizational design as an enabler for innovation: evidence from a German Mechanical Engineering Company

Over the past two decades there has been a profusion of empirical studies of organizational design and its relationship to efficiency, productivity and flexibility of an organization. In parallel, there has been a wide range of studies about innovation management in different kind of industries and firms. However, with some exceptions, the organizational and innovation management bodies of literature tend to examine the issues of organizational design and innovation management individually, mainly in the context of large firms operating at the technological frontier. There seems to be a scarcity of empirical studies that bring together organizational design and innovation and examine them empirically and over time in the context of small and medium sized enterprises. This dissertation seeks to provide a small contribution in that direction. This dissertation examines the dynamic relationship between organizational design and innovation. This relationship is examined on the basis of a single-case design in a medium sized mechanical engineering company in Germany. The covered time period ranges from 1958 until 2009, although the actual focus falls on the recent past. This dissertation draws on first-hand qualitative empirical evidence gathered through extensive field work. The main findings are: 1. There is always a bundle of organizational dimensions which impacts innovation. These main organizational design dimensions are: (1) Strategy & Leadership, (2) Resources & Capabilities, (3) Structure, (4) Culture, (5) Networks & Partnerships, (6) Processes and (7) Knowledge Management. However, the importance of the different organizational design dimensions changes over time. While for example for the production of simple, standardized parts, a simple organizational design was appropriate, the company needed to have a more advanced organizational design in order to be able to produce customized, complex parts with high quality. Hence the technological maturity of a company is related to its organizational maturity. 2. The introduction of innovations of the analyzed company were highly dependent on organizational conditions which enabled their introduction. The results of the long term case study show, that some innovations would not have been introduced successfully if the organizational elements like for example training and qualification, the build of network and partnerships or the acquisition of appropriate resources and capabilities, were not in place. Hence it can be concluded, that organizational design is an enabling factor for innovation. These findings contribute to advance our understanding of the complex relationship between organizational design and innovation. This highlights the growing importance of a comprehensive, innovation stimulating organizational design of companies. The results suggest to managers that innovation is not only dependent on a single organizational factor but on the appropriate, comprehensive design of the organization. Hence manager should consider to review regularly the design of their organizations in order to maintain a innovation stimulating environment.

Sistema de controle: evidências da contribuição do sistema para a minimização de fraudes nas organizações

As organizações estão se conscientizando que a mudança decorrente da transição de estruturas tradicionais para funcionais, da implementação de estruturas, assim como da união de culturas organizacionais, está repleta de riscos. Esta mudança vem em decorrência de downsizing, fusões, incorporações, cisões, joint ventures, entre outras alternativas administrativas, societárias e comerciais praticadas. Com a necessidade de adaptar rapidamente o negócio às exigências externas, os riscos, muitas vezes, não são analisados ou o são superficial ou parcialmente, resultando na elevação dos mesmos e expondo os processos de negócios a potenciais fraudes. O ambiente de controle do negócio tem se mostrado uma área de preocupação, principalmente nos momentos de transição estrutural e organizacional, pelo desconhecimento conceitual do risco e da importância do controle, como também pela forma de implementação das mudanças. Verifica-se também que há empresas, normalmente as grandes, que possuem um sistema estruturado de controles implementado e outras, normalmente as médias e pequenas, que não o possuem, onde, de acordo com pesquisas realizadas, encontra-se um maior número de fraudes, que, proporcionalmente ao seu patrimônio, representa uma perda substancial aos seus negócios. Este estudo objetiva abordar a evidência de contribuição de um sistema estruturado de controle para a minimização de ocorrência de fraudes nas organizações.

Redes locais e downsizing de sistemas de informação : um estudo em bancos brasileiros

Ao optar por redes locais (LAN - Local Area Networks) de microcomputadores, em lugar de ampliar os investimentos nos sistemas de grande porte que já possuem instalados, diversas empresas do setor bancário no Brasil estão adotando o conceito de downsizing, expressão que identifica a política de redução do porte dos equipamentos de informática utilizados para executar o processamento de informações corporativas. A adoção deste tipo de política, longe de ser uma ocorrência episódica, tem características de tendência geral para o setor nos próximos anos. Este trabalho faz uma investigação do alcance dessa tendência no setor bancário brasileiro e uma análise dos fatores que têm impulsionado a implementação de diferentes estratégias de downsizing de sistemas de informação

Os sentidos da demissão : os sentidos que demissores e profissionais de recursos humanos atribuem a processos de downsizing

Os processos de downsizing tornaram-se tão freqüentes que é raro atualmente conhecer alguém que nunca tenha sido demitido. As demissões em massa se intensificaram no final da década de 80, atingiram seu ápice na década de 90 e continuam ocorrendo com freqüência. Poderíamos pensar que, já que ser demitido tornou-se quase corriqueiro, isso tornaria as demissões menos traumáticas para as pessoas. Porém isso não é atestado por vários estudos sobre demissões, que mostram que os processos de downsizing trazem, em geral, conseqüências bastante dramáticas para os indivíduos. Vários estudos já foram realizados sobre os efeitos das demissões para os demitidos e para os remanescentes. Este trabalho visa entender como as pessoas que demitem dão sentido à prática de demitir, ou seja, quais as justificativas que usam ao praticarem atos que geralmente causam dor e sofrimento a outras pessoas. A pesquisa investiga também como os profissionais de recursos humanos, responsáveis pelas políticas e práticas relacionadas às pessoas dentro das organizações, dão sentido às demissões em massa, atividade que hoje é, muitas vezes, mais comum do que a própria contratação de pessoas. Para desvendar os sentidos produzidos pelos demissores e profissionais de recursos humanos em processos de downsizing, foram analisadas, com a metodologia de análise de conteúdo, entrevistas com 12 demissores e 13 profissionais de recursos humanos, no total de 25 entrevistas. A coleta do material de pesquisa ocorreu com entrevistas em profundidade semi-estruturadas. A análise das entrevistas nos permite dizer que as demissões, em geral, trazem conseqüências muito dramáticas para as pessoas: demitidos, remanescentes e demissores. Para que seja possível lidar com as demissões, os demissores constroem sentidos e percebem as práticas de downsizing como resultado da objetivação da globalização. Além disso, os demissores reforçam a promessa de ajuda aos demitidos na busca de uma nova posição, seja por meio de programas de recolocação profissional, seja no esforço individual dos demissores. Os demissores revelaram também sua percepção de que, de alguma maneira, os demitidos encontrarão novas oportunidades de trabalho. Nossa pesquisa também desvendou maneiras de legitimação dos processos de downsizing, com a contribuição da retórica da administração de recursos humanos diante desses processos. Para praticar atos que, em geral, trazem dor e sofrimento, os demissores precisam amenizar, de alguma maneira, as conseqüências do próprio ato

Leader-organization fit: comparing the effectiveness of paternalistic and transformational leadership in different organizational cultures

Research on paternalistic leadership (PL) has been based exclusively on national cultures´ differences. However there are cues that other contextual variables can add to the explanation of this construct. Due to its capacity to influence expectations of individuals in organizations, organizational culture can contribute to fill this gap. To test if organizational culture influences the effectiveness of leadership style, we conducted two experimental studies using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, comparing effects of paternalistic and transformational leadership on followers’ outcomes. Using video clips and vignettes, we found that PL is better related to followers´ outcomes in cultures oriented to people than outcome, and that TL has a better relationship in cultures oriented to innovation than stability. The results suggest that organizational culture helps in explaining PL endorsement, and that further analysis of the influence of this variable to PL can provide a better understanding of the expression of this leadership style in organizations.

On paternalistic leadership fit: exploring cross-cultural endorsement, leader-follower fit, and the boundary role of organizational culture

Although cross-cultural leadership research has thrived in international business literature, little attention has been devoted to understanding the effectiveness of non-western theories beyond their original contexts. The purpose of this study is to examine the cross-cultural endorsement of paternalistic leadership, an emerging non-western leadership theory, using data from GLOBE project. Using multigroup confirmatory factor analyses we found measurement equivalence of a scale derived from GLOBE’s data, which enabled us to compare the endorsement of paternalistic leadership dimensions across 10 cultural clusters and 55 societies. Our study revealed that there are significant differences in the importance societies give to each dimension, suggesting that paternalism as leadership style is not universally nor homogeneously endorsed. Furthermore, results suggest that different patterns of endorsement of each of these dimensions give rise to idiosyncratic shades of paternalistic leadership across societies. Implications for theory and future research on international business are discussed.

The art of being together: a social constructionist perspective on dialogic methods in the organizational context

The purpose of this project is to understand, under a social constructionist approach, what are the meanings that external facilitators and organizational members (sponsors) working with dialogic methods place on themselves and their work. Dialogic methods, with the objective of engaging groups in flows of conversations to envisage and co-create their own future, are growing fast within organizations as a means to achieve collective change. Sharing constructionist ideas about the possibility of multiple realities and language as constitutive of such realities, dialogue has turned into a promising way for transformation, especially in a macro context of constant change and increasing complexity, where traditional structures, relationships and forms of work are questioned. Research on the topic has mostly focused on specific methods or applications, with few attempts to study it in a broader sense. Also, despite the fact that dialogic methods work on the assumption that realities are socially constructed, few studies approach the topic from a social constructionist perspective, as a research methodology per se. Thus, while most existing research aims at explaining whether or how particular methods meet particular results, my intention is to explore the meanings sustaining these new forms of organizational practice. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 25 people working with dialogic methods: 11 facilitators and 14 sponsors, from 8 different organizations in Brazil. Firstly, the research findings indicate several contextual elements that seem to sustain the choices for dialogic methods. Within this context, there does not seem to be a clear or specific demand for dialogic methods, but a set of different motivations, objectives and focuses, bringing about several contrasts in the way participants name, describe and explain their experiences with such methods, including tensions on power relations, knowledge creation, identity and communication. Secondly, some central ideas or images were identified within such contrasts, pointing at both directions: dialogic methods as opportunities for the creation of new organizational realities (with images of a ‘door’ or a ‘flow’, for instance, which suggest that dialogic methods may open up the access to other perspectives and the creation of new realities); and dialogic methods as new instrumental mechanisms that seem to reproduce the traditional and non-dialogical forms of work and relationship. The individualistic tradition and its tendency for rational schematism - pointed out by social constructionist scholars as strong traditions in our Western Culture - could be observed in some participants’ accounts with the image of dialogic methods as a ‘gym’, for instance, in which dialogical – and idealized –‘abilities’ could be taught and trained, turning dialogue into a tool, rather than a means for transformation. As a conclusion, I discuss what the implications of such taken-for-granted assumptions may be, and offer some insights into dialogue (and dialogic methods) as ‘the art of being together’.