The Supremacy of the Sequence: Key Elements and Dimensions in the Process of Change

How single organizations manage the process of change and why only some of them are able to actually reach radical change are central questions in today’s theoretical debate. The role played by the process of change and its dimensions (namely, pace, sequence and linearity), however, has been poorly investigated. Drawing on archetype theory, this paper explores: (i) whether a specific pace of radical change exists; (ii) whether different outcomes of change are characterized by different sequences of change in key-structures and systems (iii) how the three dimensions of the process of change possibly interact. As an example of organizational change the study takes into consideration processes of accounting change in three departments of two Canadian and two Italian municipalities. The results suggest the supremacy of the sequence of implemented changes over the other two dimensions of the process in order to achieve a radical outcome of change.

A Question of Legitimacy? A Dynamic Perspective on Multinational Firm Control

The control and coordination of a network of geographically and culturally dispersed subsidiaries is one of the most prominent challenges in international management. However, many empirical findings on the effectiveness of various control mechanisms and combinations thereof are still counterintuitive. This study uses longitudinal case studies and cross-sectional interview data to extend control theory by examining why, how, and in what sequence large multinational firms (MNCs) implement controls in their networks of foreign subsidiaries. Our analysis draws from literature on institutional theory, embeddedness, and organizational power to demonstrate that MNC headquarters need to overcome institutional duality when implementing their controls abroad. We find that headquarters do so by using social controls, primarily as a way of legitimizing and institutionalizing their process and output controls that are implemented subsequently.

How Organizations Engage with External Complexity: A Political Action Perspective

This paper offers a new insight into how organizations engage with external complexity. It applies a political action perspective that draws attention to the hitherto neglected question of how the relative power organizational leaders enjoy within their environments is significant for the actions they can take on behalf of their organizations when faced with external complexity. It identifies cognitive and relational complexity as two dimensions of the environment with which organizations have to engage. It proposes three modes whereby organizations may engage with environmental complexity that are conditioned by an organization's power within its environment. It also considers the intention associated with each mode, as well as the implications of these modes of engagement for how an organization can learn about its environment and for the use of rationality and intuition in its strategic decision-making. The closing discussion considers how this analysis integrates complexity and political action perspectives in a way that contributes to theoretical development and provides the basis for a dynamic political co-evolutionary approach. © The Author(s) 2011.

Information aggregation and belief elicitation in experimental parimutuel betting markets

This paper studies the impact of belief elicitation on informational efficiency and individual behavior in experimental parimutuel betting markets. In one treatment, groups of eight participants, who possess a private signal about the eventual outcome, play a sequential betting game. The second treatment is identical, except that bettors are observed by eight other participants who submit incentivized beliefs about the winning probabilities of each outcome. In the third treatment, the same individuals make bets and assess the winning probabilities of the outcomes. Market probabilities more accurately reflect objective probabilities in the third than in the other two treatments. Submitting beliefs reduces the favorite-longshot bias and making bets improves the accuracy of elicited beliefs. A level-k framework provides some insights about why belief elicitation improves the capacity of betting markets to aggregate information. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Dimensions of Expatriate Adjustment

A narrow and partial theoretical base has limited current concepts of expatriate adjustment and the research based upon them. This conceptual article explores one of the less theorized aspects of expatriate adjustment: the fact that it has multiple dimensions. We conceive of adjustment as a person-environment relationship that takes place in the three dimensions of cognitions, feelings, and behaviors. Combining these elements takes us one step closer to a comprehensive and more realistic understanding of the nature of expatriate adjustment. We include suggestions for future research that follow from our reconceptualization.

Dual-processes in learning and judgment:Evidence from the multiple cue probability learning paradigm

Multiple cue probability learning (MCPL) involves learning to predict a criterion based on a set of novel cues when feedback is provided in response to each judgment made. But to what extent does MCPL require controlled attention and explicit hypothesis testing? The results of two experiments show that this depends on cue polarity. Learning about cues that predict positively is aided by automatic cognitive processes, whereas learning about cues that predict negatively is especially demanding on controlled attention and hypothesis testing processes. In the studies reported here, negative, but not positive cue learning related to individual differences in working memory capacity both on measures of overall judgment performance and modelling of the implicit learning process. However, the introduction of a novel method to monitor participants' explicit beliefs about a set of cues on a trial-by-trial basis revealed that participants were engaged in explicit hypothesis testing about positive and negative cues, and explicit beliefs about both types of cues were linked to working memory capacity. Taken together, our results indicate that while people are engaged in explicit hypothesis testing during cue learning, explicit beliefs are applied to judgment only when cues are negative. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

Basic and Employability Skills

This is the editorial opening paper to a special issue of the International Journal of Training and Development focusing on basic skills and employability

Understanding how HR systems work: the role of HR philosophy and HR processes

Despite the proliferation of studies of HR systems, there are still substantial gaps in our understanding
of how such systems actually work. This article, by focusing on the neglected areas of HR philosophy
and HR processes in the composition of HR systems, and by using a qualitative, employee-centred
approach in the collection and analysis of data, provides new insights into the working of HR systems.
Using data from interviews with 56 knowledge workers employed in the information and
communications technology sector in Ireland and the UK, we explore employee-level reactions to two
different types of HR systems. We highlight the various ways in which HR processes interact with HR
practices and the different outcomes that may result, and we identify the key role of HR philosophy in
HR system operation.

Learning, fatigue and preference formation in discrete choice experiments

While the repeated nature of Discrete Choice Experiments is advantageous from a sampling efficiency perspective, patterns of choice may differ across the tasks, due, in part, to learning and fatigue. Using probabilistic decision process models, we find in a field study that learning and fatigue behavior may only be exhibited by a small subset of respondents. Most respondents in our sample show preference and variance stability consistent with rational pre-existent and
well formed preferences. Nearly all of the remainder exhibit both learning and fatigue effects. An important aspect of our approach is that it enables learning and fatigue effects to be explored, even though they were not envisaged during survey design or data collection.

Asking why

The growth of a solid, knowledge-intensive firm, OutSystems—an IT company recognized in 2003 by Fortune magazine as one of the most promising start-ups in the world—is accompanied by efforts to create a strong culture that preserves the traits that have driven OutSystems’ success and that drives innovation, adaptability, high performance, and accountability. The lessons OutSystems learned from previous international experiences are presented along with its latest growth model of branded local partners. The case study is intended to introduce concepts related to organizational culture, traits of cultures that drive innovation, national versus organizational culture, and the challenges of globalization. It is designed to be used in Organizational Behavior classes and is appropriate for MBA- and Master’s-level courses in the area of management. It is suggested as a guideline for 60- to 90-minute classes. Participants are invited to discuss the importance of organizational cultures and their fit with the company strategy. Participants are also encouraged to brainstorm about the best approach to face OutSystems’ new stage of growth, specifically the advantages and consequences of growing as a metanational company. Finally, in the conclusion, the most relevant findings taken from the discussions proposed are revisited: The importance of an organizational culture adapted to the market needs and the potential of innovation behind metanational companies. Other considerations are made about: how the case illustrates the importance of leadership, group age, and group size in the process of building a culture; and how OutSystems’ culture solves the apparent contradiction behind adaptable culture.

The challenges of building theory by combining lenses

The article presents a discussion of foundational issues in the field of management science, focusing on advances in management theory and research. The metaphor of explanatory lenses is used as a rubric to illustrate the theoretical challenges involved in elucidating the interrelationships of various factors in organizational behavior. The importance of clarifying such interrelationships is emphasized, from the standpoint of editing scholarly papers on such topics for publication. Topics discussed include communication and psychology in management, economics, and behavioral finance.

The effects of safety climate and trust on job satisfaction

Job satisfaction has been a frequently studied concept in organizational behavior. Past research has shown that trust in top management is an important factor influencing job satisfaction. To date, little attention has been paid to safety climate perceptions as a possible predictor of job satisfaction. In our study we investigated the direct and interactive effects of trust in top management and individual-level perceptions of safety climate in predicting job satisfaction. The findings of this study point to the importance of positive perceptions of safety climate on employees' job satisfaction when trust in top management is low.

Understanding value congruence : a sport organization case study

With the recent growth in cultural complexity, many organizations are faced with increasingly diverse employee pools. Gaining a greater understanding of the values that employees possess is the first step in effectively satisfying their needs and achieving a more productive workforce (lung & Avolio, 2000). Values playa significant role in influencing individual behaviours. It is therefore necessary to assess the qualities of employee value systems and directly link them to the values of the organization. The importance of values and value congruence has been emphasized by many organizational behaviour researchers (cf. Adkins & Caldwell, 2004; Erdogan, Kraimer, & Liden, 2004; Jung & Avolio, 2000; Rokeach, 1973); however the emphasis on value studies remains fairly stagnant within the sport industry (Amis, Slack, & Hinings, 2002). In order to examine the realities that were constructed by the participants in this study a holistic view of the impact of values within a specific sport organization were provided. The purpose of this case study was to examine organizational and employee values to understand the effects of values and value congruence on employee behaviours within the context of a large Canadian sport organization. A mUltiple methods case study approach was adopted in order to fully serve the purpose and provide a comprehensive view of the organization being examined. Document analysis, observations, surveys, as well as semi-structured interviews were conducted. The process allowed for triangulation and confirmability of the findings. Each method functioned to create an overarching understanding of the values and value congruence within this organization. The analysis of the findings was divided into qualitative and quantitative sections. The qualitative documents were analyzed twice, once manually by the researcher and once via AtIas.ti Version 4 (1998). The a priori and emergent coding that took place was based on triangulating the findings and uncovering common themes throughout the data. The Rokeach Value Survey (1973) that was incorporated into the survey design of the study was analyzed using descriptive statistics, as well as Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal Wallis formulas. These were deemed appropriate for analysis given the non-parametric nature of the survey instrument (Kinnear & Gray, 2004). The quantitative survey served to help define the values and value congruence that was then holistically examined through the qualitative interviews, document analyses, and observations. The results of the study indicated incongruent value levels between employees and those stated or perceived as the organization's values. Each finding demonstrated that varying levels of congruence may have diverse affects on individual behaviours. These behaviours range from production levels to interactions with fellow employees to turnover. In addition to the findings pertaining to the research questions, a number of other key issues were uncovered regarding departmentalization, communication, and board relations. Each has contributed to a greater understanding of the organization and has created direction for further research within this area of study.

Du bien-être psychologique au travail : fondements théoriques, conceptualisation et instrumentation du construit

Malgré la préoccupation croissante des chercheurs et praticiens pour la santé psychologique au travail, le concept de bien-être vécu au travail est encore mal compris de la communauté scientifique. En effet, peu d’efforts ont été consacrés à ce jour pour développer des connaissances sur le bien-être psychologique au travail arrimées à la réalité des employés. Cette thèse a donc pour objectif de développer une conceptualisation du bien-être psychologique au travail et une instrumentation psychométriquement fiable lui étant rattachée. Pour ce faire, deux études ont été réalisées. La première, de nature qualitative et exploratoire, fut menée auprès de 20 travailleurs canadiens francophones afin de répertorier, à partir d’incidents critiques vécus par ceux-ci, des manifestations de bien-être psychologique au travail. Celles-ci ont pu être classifiées selon un modèle en 2 axes, soit la sphère de référence dans laquelle le bien-être psychologique au travail se vit et la directionnalité selon laquelle il se développe. Ce modèle a ensuite été comparé aux conceptualisations génériques du bien-être psychologique existantes, et cette analyse a permis d’étayer la validité convergente et divergente du modèle. Dans un deuxième temps, l’Indice de bien-être psychologique au travail (IBEPT) a été créé sur la base des manifestations relevées lors de l’étude qualitative, afin d’en assurer la validité de contenu. Une version expérimentale de l’instrument a ensuite été soumise à une expérimentation auprès de 1080 travailleurs québécois. Les analyses factorielles exploratoires révèlent une structure interne en 25 items reflétant 5 dimensions, représentant elles-mêmes un construit de second ordre. La validité de construit de cette conceptualisation a ensuite été étudiée par l’analyse des intercorrélations avec une série de mesures du bien-être et de la détresse psychologique génériques. Les résultats appuient la validité convergente de l’instrument, et démontrent également sa validité divergente. Enfin, l’instrument affiche une cohérence interne satisfaisante. Au terme de cette recherche doctorale, les résultats des deux études sont interprétés en fonction de l’état actuel des connaissances sur le bien-être psychologique, les limites des études sont énoncées, et des pistes de recherche future sont avancées.