This is Part II of a new approach to survey studies called knobby analyses of knobless survey items. In Part II, this approach is applied to a study of the national sales…
Abstract
This is Part II of a new approach to survey studies called knobby analyses of knobless survey items. In Part II, this approach is applied to a study of the national sales organization of a large high‐technology firm called here Euphoria BioTechnology. A 17 item Employee Opinion Survey (EOS) was constructed and administered concurrently with an Organizational Diagnostic Survey (ODS). The EOS inquired about the main features and properties of the organization and the ODS, based on the theory of the organizational hologram, provided a series of knobs which were used to “explain” their variance. Knobby analyses involve moving beyond data expertise to expert data. Data expertise is employed in both the EOS and the ODS surveys. However, knobby analyses allow one to leverage the EOS results to improve the derivation of the conclusions or meanings of the results of the survey data and to reach recommendations. Furthermore, knobby analyses allow follow‐up analyses of special management problems. Four examples of these subsequent analyses are provided in order to illustrate the process of producing expert data via the knobby analyses approach. It is inconclusive whether or not knobby analyses are more expensive than expert data processes using only the EOS results. However, knobby analyses did provide more and different information than an EOS could have done alone.
Carol A. Benoit and Kenneth D. Mackenzie
The ability to think organizationally helps an organization′s members tomanage the organization′s environments more effectively and to linkresults to the strategic direction…
Abstract
The ability to think organizationally helps an organization′s members to manage the organization′s environments more effectively and to link results to the strategic direction. Describes the organization level learning (OLL) model and the organizational diagnostic survey (ODS) process developed to support it. Identifies two major categories of organizational problems and integrates the ten‐step ODS process with five stages of organizational problem solving. Effective organizational learning is an organization‐level process which occurs when four key learning processes described in the OLL model are managed with purpose, discipline and persistence. Associates in effective learning organizations think organizationally.
Details
Keywords
Just what is the core concept of organizations? The question is posed as “what is the organization of organizations?” The answer is interdependence. Beginning with the concept of a…
Abstract
Just what is the core concept of organizations? The question is posed as “what is the organization of organizations?” The answer is interdependence. Beginning with the concept of a process and its framework, the notion of an entity is extended to Processual Agents. A Processual Agent is anything that can effect a process. The discussion turns to potential, defined, and manageable interdependencies with examples of each. Many traditional management methods are viewed in terms of their effects in reducing potential interdependence in order to cut it down to manageable proportions. The discussion of Processual Agents is extended to organizations. This leads to a proposed structure for levels of interdependence and a summarizing principle called the cascade principle. Next the discussion turns to a new analysis of organizational change which examines the concepts of an organizational space and the summarizing conclusion called the cushioning principle. It is argued that the cascade and cushioning principles provide processes for maintaining and stabilizing organizations in the face of change. Examples are provided for the major concepts. The text is formalized in the form of ten axioms, twenty‐two propositions, and two summarizing principles.
Companies often conduct general Employee Opinion Surveys (EOSs) to measure some features or outcomes of an organization. Converting data to results is routine and governed by the…
Abstract
Companies often conduct general Employee Opinion Surveys (EOSs) to measure some features or outcomes of an organization. Converting data to results is routine and governed by the design of the EOS and the use of standard statistical methods. However, as one moves away from results to their meanings or conclusions, and from conclusions to recommendations, other factors and variables come into play. These factors and variables are governed more by the context, the presence of constraints, the intuition of the decision makers, and the actions by engaged agents. Essentially EOSs produce ambiguous conclusions and recommendations because they are “knobless,” or lacking underlying processes which are controllable by management. The theory of the organizational hologram has evolved operationally into a family of Organizational Diagnostic Survey (ODS) forms which generate sets of results representing managerially controllable processes or combinations of processes. That is, the ODS provides a set of x‐axis variables that can be employed to explain variability in EOS results, which are viewed as dependent variables plotted on the y‐axis. Every item in an ODS form is “knobby.” The relationships among the questions and higher order results are causal and structured with known interdependencies. Combining ODS and EOS allows knobby analyses of knobless survey items.
This paper presents a framework consisting of seven logically linked considerations yielding nine strategies for managing risky situations. The framework provides a comprehensive…
Abstract
This paper presents a framework consisting of seven logically linked considerations yielding nine strategies for managing risky situations. The framework provides a comprehensive method any entity can use to determine its strategy for managing a risky situation. The framework goes beyond the issue of calculating risk to asking how it might be managed The framework is applied in an example involving a human resources manager making a series of three related choices. It is also applied to the choices of strategies for a chief financial officer facing currency rate fluctuations and excessive taxes on profit.
Given the immense variety of organizations and their purposes, is there some shared underlying reason for their existence? That is, is there a prime directive behind all of this…
Abstract
Given the immense variety of organizations and their purposes, is there some shared underlying reason for their existence? That is, is there a prime directive behind all of this variety? This paper argues that there is such a prime directive: to ensure the welfare of the commons. A commons is the organization, itself, and as such, it produces and yields resources shared by the members in a dynamic interplay of its characteristics. There is a commons‐level set of factors involving its environments, its strategic direction, its implementing commons processes, its resources and technologies, and the results it produces. There is also a member level set of factors involving the member's orientation to the commons, the member's position means of participation, and the results for the members. These eight characteristics must be consistent to ensure the welfare of the commons. These characteristics are continually in flux and the prime directive becomes, in practice, the attaining and sustaining of the dynamic congruency among them. Dynamic congruency implies specific sets of relationships that require balancing in the midst of change. Dynamic congruency can be employed to both assess and improve an organization. The expression of the prime directive has been evolving along with our understanding of organizations. Seeking to attain and sustain dynamic congruency provides a framework for ensuring the welfare of the commons.
ShiNa Li, Lawrence Hoc Nang Fong, Carol Xiaoyue Zhang and Mengxin Chen
This paper aims to identify peer-to-peer accommodation hosts’ perceived motivations and constraints, to examine the prediction of the motivation and constraint factors on hosts’…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify peer-to-peer accommodation hosts’ perceived motivations and constraints, to examine the prediction of the motivation and constraint factors on hosts’ intention to continue business based on hosts’ attitudes and to explore the moderating role of the business scale.
Design/methodology/approach
A scale for hosts’ perceived motivators and constraints was developed. Mixed methods were used to develop and analyse a conceptual framework for demonstrating how constraints and motivations influence hosts’ behavioural intentions. Findings from interviews with hosts interpretatively supported the survey results.
Findings
Chinese hosts’ perceived constraints and motivators are identified and explained. The survey results indicate that constraints lower intention to continue one’s business and motivators heightens it. Motivators have a higher effect on attitudes and intentions than constraints do. The business scale was confirmed as a moderator in the constraint–attitude link but not in the motivator–attitude relationship.
Practical implications
This paper offers policy implications for governments, online platforms and hosts in terms of establishing incentives and solving problems so that Chinese hosts can sustainably operate their businesses.
Originality/value
This paper identifies constraints and motivators and develops a measurement scale for both simultaneously, which provides a holistic explanation of hosts’ attitude and behavioural intention. It also reveals the moderating role of the business scale. In investigating the thoughts of existing hosts operating on global and local platforms in China, this paper complements the literature, which mainly focuses on the Western context and a single global platform.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical commentary on Bebbington, Larrinaga‐Gonzales and Moneva, published in Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 21 No…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical commentary on Bebbington, Larrinaga‐Gonzales and Moneva, published in Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 21 No. 3.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides an analysis and critique of Bebbington et al., with particular reference to the position it takes on where the literature in the field is at, where it is going, where it should go and the contribution their paper makes.
Findings
The paper finds that the approach taken by Bebbington et al. may hinder the contribution that reporting researchers can make to improving social and environmental performance.
Research limitations/implications
The paper suggests that rather than follow the approach of Bebbington et al., future research seeking to understand the role of reporting in a reputation risk management strategy might take a holistic approach to that strategy and engage with organisational participants.
Originality/value
The authors paper gives a different perspective on the contribution of Bebbington et al..
Details
Keywords
The following bibliography focuses mainly on programs which can run on IBM microcomputers and compatibles under the operating system PC DOS/MS DOS, and which can be used in online…
Abstract
The following bibliography focuses mainly on programs which can run on IBM microcomputers and compatibles under the operating system PC DOS/MS DOS, and which can be used in online information and documentation work. They fall into the following categories:
The process approach to multi-level organizational behavior is based on the assumption that multi-level organizational behavior is processual in nature. This article defines group…
Abstract
The process approach to multi-level organizational behavior is based on the assumption that multi-level organizational behavior is processual in nature. This article defines group and organizational processes and their representation as process frameworks. Both functional and inclusional classes of levels exist, each of which has at least five categories of levels. All ten categories are special cases of process frameworks. This article provides examples of each category level, which it uses to illustrate new models of organizational work, extended models of interdependence, a new typology of theories based on their levels of processes, and a new tool for survey research called knobby analyses. After explaining the basic idea of knobby analysis, the article briefly describes the processual theory of the organizational hologram, the use of linear programming, and causal-chain analysis to provide multi-level explanations of employee opinion data. These ideas are embodied in conducting a strategic organizational diagnosis, which is the first stage of organizational design. Organizational design encompasses multiple stages, each of which itself involves multiple, multi-level phenomena and analyses. The basic point is that the processual nature of multi-level organizational phenomena gives more hope for improvements in theory building and their application if one uses the process approach rather than a variable approach.