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Article
Publication date: 9 March 2015

Linda K. Gibson, Bruce Finnie and Jeffrey L Stuart

This paper aims to explore organizational structure, efficiency and evolution, and its relationship to bureaucracy. A new mathematical model is utilized to generate theoretically…

1467

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore organizational structure, efficiency and evolution, and its relationship to bureaucracy. A new mathematical model is utilized to generate theoretically consistent relationships between economic performance and organizational scale and structure, and to develop a taxonomy of organizational structure.

Design/methodology/approach

A systems approach is used to model structural evolution and generate consistent, testable hypotheses concerning organizational sustainability and financial performance. This theoretical treatment seeks to reconcile contradictory views of bureaucracy, modeling both positive and negative impacts on performance and behavior. A variant of agency theory is used as an organizing paradigm, based on three competing organizational needs: control, autonomy and ownership of consequences.

Findings

Simulations reveal that organizations evolve through five stages of development: from an entry (flat/parallel) stage, through a hybrid or mixed stage, to the massively serial (hierarchical) stage. As firms evolve, the risk/return ratio first falls as employment expands, but later rises as higher levels of hierarchy appear. Eventually, organizational complexity rises sufficiently to produce lower levels of managerial ownership of consequences and professional autonomy, as well as higher levels of control, leading to a collapse of organizational efficiency. A subtle variation of agency theory is revealed: upper-management may maximize organizational depth, increasing salary differences between levels.

Originality/value

This paper uses an internally consistent, deductive framework to elucidate relationships between task complexity, skill level, industry life-cycle and firm age – providing the first known attribute-based metric for organizational complexity. This approach is reminiscent of Perrow’s (1999) non-mathematical treatment of organizational systems complexity.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2008

Frederick Wolf, Bruce Finnie and Linda Gibson

The purpose of this paper is to examine a unique sociotechnical system in its historical context to better understand and appreciate how a naturalistic organization enacted five…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine a unique sociotechnical system in its historical context to better understand and appreciate how a naturalistic organization enacted five key characteristics identified as critical to sociotechnical systems by theorists hundreds of years after the fact.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents an examination of the history and context of this unique method of organizing. The literature of sociotechnical systems was examined and five guiding principles are identified which provide the framework for this evaluation.

Findings

A sociotechnical system with naturalistic origins is identified, described, and discussed; providing fresh insights into the nature of sociotechnical systems and there enactment.

Originality/value

This is a unique case not previously identified in the literature of management and organizations. It should be of particular interest to scholars interested in sociotechnical systems.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2006

Bruce W. Finnie, Linda K. Gibson and David E. McNabb

This paper seeks to use a multi‐disciplinary approach to analyze past and present economic and social explanations for development phenomena. A number of key factors may be…

1566

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to use a multi‐disciplinary approach to analyze past and present economic and social explanations for development phenomena. A number of key factors may be missing from the current paradigm.

Design/methodology/approach

Comparative country surveys of corruption, ownership, freedom, and individualism are analyzed and discussed. Measurements on nine separate indices are evaluated for 97 nations. These interact to form a model labeled the Triad of Strains with three composite axes: ownership‐responsibility, freedom‐actualization, and control‐corruption.

Findings

Three theses are suggested from the comparative analyses: without ownership there can be no responsibility, freedom and responsibility go hand‐in‐hand, and unwise use of political control severely undermines economic development.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include unavailable data for key areas such as North Korea.

Practical implications

Implications are that development policies should promote meaningful private ownership and personal freedom.

Originality/value

This research explores how ownership and freedom critically impact prosperity and provides a more complete, multi‐disciplinary framework for economic development.

Details

Humanomics, vol. 22 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0828-8666

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 July 2012

Lisa Evans and Ian Fraser

The paper aims to explore the social origins of Scottish chartered accountants and the accounting stereotype as portrayed in popular fiction.

10692

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to explore the social origins of Scottish chartered accountants and the accounting stereotype as portrayed in popular fiction.

Design/methodology/approach

The detective novels of the Scottish chartered accountant Alexander Clark Smith are used as a lens through which to explore the social origins of accountants and the changing popular representations of the accountant.

Findings

The novels contribute to our understanding of the construction of accounting stereotypes and of the social origins of Scottish accountants. They suggest that, while working class access to the profession was a reality, so was class division within it. In addition, Smith was ahead of contemporary professional discourse in creating a protagonist who combines the positive aspects of the traditional stereotype with qualities of a private‐eye action‐hero, and who uses accounting skills to uncover corruption and address (social) wrongs. However, this unconventional portrayal may have been incongruent with the image the profession wished to portray. The public image (or stereotype) portrayed by its members would have been as important in signalling and maintaining the profession's collective status as the recruitment of its leadership from social elites.

Originality/value

Smith's portrayal of accountants in personal and societal settings at a time of profound social change, as well as his background in the Scottish profession, provide a rich source for the study of social origins of Scottish chartered accountancy during the first half of the twentieth century. Further, Smith's novels are of a popular genre, and innovative in the construction of their hero and of accounting itself; as such they merit attention because of their potential to influence the construction of the accounting stereotype(s) within the popular imagination.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 25 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1988

Jo Carby‐Hall

An employee who is eligible to make a complaint for unfair dismissal has to prove that he has been dismissed by the employer if the employer contests that the employee has in fact…

1131

Abstract

An employee who is eligible to make a complaint for unfair dismissal has to prove that he has been dismissed by the employer if the employer contests that the employee has in fact been dismissed. If the dismissal is not contested, all the employee has to do is to show that he has been dismissed. This constitutes the first stage of the proceedings in an industrial tribunal.

Details

Managerial Law, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0558

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2003

Nobukaza Azuma and John Fernie

The emergence of global fashion has transformed the way fashion is perceived in the contemporary world. While it has brought the consumer the in‐vogue style at the right price, a…

11156

Abstract

The emergence of global fashion has transformed the way fashion is perceived in the contemporary world. While it has brought the consumer the in‐vogue style at the right price, a strong focus on standardization and low‐cost advantage has disbanded the traditional ethos of fashion design which is inspired by a variety of physical and psychological needs in a given precinct. Migration of fashion production offshore and resultant dependence on economies of scale not only threatens the existence of domestic small fashion manufacturers, but also prohibits up‐coming designers from creating intrinsic fashion on a small but sustainable scale. This paper, through a case study of a Japanese non‐profit organization, explores the way in which such an intrinsic fashion creation restores its salience as a counter style of global fashion capitalism. Emphases are placed on corroborating the necessity of intrinsic fashion in today’s society vis‐à‐vis the drawbacks of global fashion in cultural, ethical, ergonomic, and environmental terms.

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1993

Walt Crawford

There's never been a better time to buy a PC, whether it's your first system, a replacement, or an addition. Values have improved enormously in the past year, and you can now get…

Abstract

There's never been a better time to buy a PC, whether it's your first system, a replacement, or an addition. Values have improved enormously in the past year, and you can now get reasonably good values even from the traditionally high‐priced vendors. That doesn't mean you should automatically buy the best‐known brand. You'll still do much better by evaluating your needs, understanding what's important in a PC (and how to look for it), and looking over the marketplace carefully. If you're reading Library Hi Tech back‐to‐front, skip to Looking Back #1: it provides important background for this article. In this article the author discusses various aspects of PC purchasing in 1993, focusing on what matters now. He discusses the numbers that count, critical aspects of a system that are sometimes ignored in reviews, and the advantages and disadvantages of bundling. He offers some notes on brand names and suppliers, but cautions that completely safe purchases are nearly impossible. The article concludes with notes from the literature received between October and December 1992.

Details

Library Hi Tech, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1994

Walt Crawford

Somehow, without loading up on games or owning a sound card, the author has 28 CD‐ROMs at home, with more on the way. How did all these discs get there and what do they say (if…

Abstract

Somehow, without loading up on games or owning a sound card, the author has 28 CD‐ROMs at home, with more on the way. How did all these discs get there and what do they say (if anything) about the CD‐ROM marketplace? When are CD‐ROMs marvelous new publishing media, when are they essentially compact diskette replacements, and when are they wastes of good polycarbonate? The author goes through his motley collection, noting some highlights and some messy situations. After all this grumbling, the author adds notes on the personal computing literature for April through September 1994.

Details

Library Hi Tech, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2004

John Fernie and Nobukazu Azuma

The offshore migration of fashion manufacturing from established markets to offshore countries, and the increasingly complex nature of fashion consumption has played a crucial…

12640

Abstract

The offshore migration of fashion manufacturing from established markets to offshore countries, and the increasingly complex nature of fashion consumption has played a crucial role in transforming the way fashion is perceived in the contemporary world. Globalisation of the fashion industry has allowed consumers to gain easier access to the in‐vogue style at an increasingly inexpensive price. This paper explores the future direction of fashion in the industrialised economies through the experience of the Japanese fashion industry from a small manufacturers’ perspective. Empirical findings from a questionnaire survey reveal the fundamental gaps that exist between the theory and the practice, in light of the original premise that quick response (QR) could be the vehicle for a survival strategy of domestic apparel manufacturing in the industrial economies.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 38 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

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