Search results

This paper aims to explore Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled monitoring in a multi-national petrochemical organization in Qatar and finds that the technology does not negatively influence employee perceptions of fairness, challenging current propositions on monitoring and highlighting the emerging role of culture, competition and paradoxical leadership in moderating the relationship between IoT-enabled monitoring and perceptions of fairness.

The authors adopted qualitative research as the methodological premise to explore the relationship between IoT-enabled monitoring and perceptions of fairness. They collected data from an oil and gas organization in Qatar to test the validity of the proposed hypotheses.

While I0T-enabled monitoring was perceived as pervasive, tracking every move and recording conversations, the diffusion of the technology throughout Qatar desensitized employees who felt it was the new reality around workspaces. The following three important factors reshaped employees’ perceptions toward IoT-enabled monitoring: a culture that is driven by productivity and strongly adheres by policies and standards to reach set goals; a highly competitive job market; and a paradoxical leadership who balances between the competition and lucrative rewards.

The limitation of this research is that the authors conducted a case study in similar organizations within the oil and gas industry in the State of Qatar to refute the theory that electronic monitoring of employees in the workspace elicits perceptions of unfairness. Future research can conduct quantitative surveys of employee perceptions in different industries within different cultures to be able to generalize and evolve a universal theory.

The research findings shed light on the escalating pressure global competition exerts on employees that nervousness about pervasive monitoring systems is replaced with fear of job loss and analytics on monitoring data is welcomed as a means of readjusting behavior to meet performance expectations.

The case study is the first to highlight the desensitization of employees to monitoring and the increasing pressure competition plays in motivating them to exceed expectations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the ability of enterprise systems and embedded controls to prevent unethical behavior within organizations.

The authors use a case study to explore how the configuration of information technology (IT) controls within enterprise systems and their effectiveness in preventing unethical behavior is compromised by the tone at the top.

The study highlights the decisive role of cultural values and leadership in moderating the relationship between IT controls and unethical behavior and the realization that ethical environments are socially constructed not enforced.

The limitation of this research is that the authors conducted one case study in an institution of higher education to refute the theory that IT controls embedded within enterprise systems can prevent unethical, and thus, the results may not be generalizable to other industries.

An important implication of the research is that the configuration of information system controls is affected by the organizational culture and the ethical values embraced by top management. When the tone at the top does not emphasize the ethical code of conduct, the configuration of IT controls will be compromised leaving organizations vulnerable at all levels.

Although the authors have a wealth of knowledge on ethics and theories that explain why unethical decision-making continue to surface to the headlines, they have little explanation as to why enterprise systems fail to stop unethical behavior in organizations. This study explores technical, organizational and individual factors that contribute to unethical decision-making.

Advances in electronic performance monitoring (EPM) have raised employees’ concerns regarding the invasion of privacy and erosion of trust. On the other hand, EPM promises to improve performance and processes. This paper aims to focus on how the alignment of EPM design and organizational culture through effective organizational mechanisms can address privacy concerns, and, hence, positively affect employees’ perception toward technology.

Based on a theoretical lens extending two conceptual frameworks, a qualitative approach was used to analyze interview data collected from a comparative case study of two organizations in the USA and Qatar within the oil and gas sector. These two contexts were selected to emphasize the cross-cultural and organizational differences in employees’ acceptance of EPM.

The study revealed that national and corporate cultures affected employees’ perception and acceptance of monitoring in both countries. Because of diversity, though EPM was better accepted in Qatar, as they are an easy way to enforce standardization and to push employees to adapt to a dominating corporate culture. Conversely, in the USA where culture is more innovation-oriented, organizational mechanisms shifted the perceptions of EPM to being mean to obtain feedback rather than to impose standards.

This qualitative study is based on a descriptive comparative case study of two organizations with two cultural contexts. The limited sample size and cross-sectional nature of data may need to be extended to a larger cultural scope that is observed over a longer period to safely generalize the findings.

Decision-makers in multinational corporations with different cultural backgrounds may benefit of this study’s outcomes, as it emphasizes the importance of the fit between EPM designs and the cultural settings. Furthermore, organizations aiming to conduct analytics on EPM data have to justify and prove its benefits to employees to facilitate acceptance.

The study shows that employees in Qatar have a different cultural frame of reference in their perception of fairness and ethics than their counterparts in the USA because of changes in the meaning of social relations, personal goals and behavioral norms.

The originality of this study lays in its empirical validation of a composite framework examining both national and corporate cultures on employees’ reactions to EPM systems. It also proves the critical importance of organizational mechanisms to align the EPM design with the organization cultural settings.

In this study, the authors explore the boundaryless careers of faculty and adopt the intelligent career framework to examine success factors for academic careers.

The authors conducted a field study of 36 researchers in the management information systems field from 22 institutions in the US, Australia and Canada. The authors selected the participants representing four strata of researchers: luminaries (high expertise status and high citizenship behavior), experts (high expertise status but low leadership roles), statesmen (low expertise status but high leadership) and journeymen (low expertise status and low leadership). Data regarding the participants' experience of social relationships and social resources as well as entrepreneurial motivations were collected and analyzed.

Results show that faculty who “know-why”, “know-how”, and “know with whom” possess socially valued resources and are successful in advancing their careers. They establish high social status and exercise power within their networks to mobilize resources that promote their careers. On the other hand, faculty who fall short of these competencies impose social closure on themselves and do not strive to exploit resources available through their contacts. The study advances a number of theoretical propositions to guide future research on boundaryless intelligent careers.

Social relationships and social resources do not substitute individual competence, leadership and entrepreneurial motivations; individuals need to develop competence valued by their professional communities and exploit available opportunities and assume leadership roles in order to effectively establish instrumental relationships and mobilize social resources to achieve career advancement.

In this study, we attempt to extend career development research through an examination of the bidirectional relationship between know-why, know-how and know-who in academia.

This article attempts to begin the process of removing the cloak of causal ambiguity by examining the role that knowledge management has in the creation of the wide variety of competitive advantages found in some organizations. Specifically, this article aims to extend understanding in the field of knowledge management by examining how knowledge management can affect organizational performance, and by examining one possible determinant of an organization's capacity to manage knowledge.

Reviews literature on resources‐advantage theory of the firm, social capital and knowledge management to propose ways within the organization to improve their ability to manage knowledge and achieve sustained superior performance. The paper is structured around the following constructs: resource‐advantage theory of the firm, social capital, and knowledge management.

Describes the relationship between social capital and knowledge management and how both help organizations achieve a sustained superior performance within the market. Suggests that organizations with high levels of social capital have more knowledge‐management capabilities than organizations with low levels of social capital.

This article extends prior research of knowledge management by proposing how social capital can positively impact the ability of organizations to manage knowledge.

Since resources within all businesses are relatively limited, and particularly so when the business is small relative to its competitors, the revelation that social capital can lead to more effective knowledge management makes the decision to support and nurture social‐capital development much more credible.

Because there is no existing literature that has examined the relationship between social capital, knowledge management, and organizational performance, this paper provides a foundation for future studies that examine the relationship between social capital and knowledge management.

This article proposes an adaptive strategy for managing knowledge in complex organizations. Specifically, this article aims to extend understanding in the field of knowledge management (KM) by examining how an adaptive strategy for managing knowledge can help organizations become innovative and build dynamic capabilities.

Literature on complexity theory and KM is reviewed to propose the development of an adaptive strategy that will assist organization in managing knowledge and becoming innovative. The paper is structured around the following constructs: complexity theory, complex adaptive systems, and KM.

A link between an adaptive strategy for managing knowledge, innovation and dynamic capability is established. The central proposition of the article is the organizations that follow adaptive complex processes for managing knowledge are better able to compete in the market today.

This article extends prior research on KM by proposing complexity theory as a framework for establishing adaptive strategies for managing knowledge and fostering innovation.

With the dramatic environmental changes and fierce competition that organizations are faced with today, managing knowledge becomes critical for driving creativity and adapting to changing markets. Organizations lack direction on how best to develop an adaptive strategy for managing knowledge. The revelation of adaptive processes for managing knowledge in complex systems can lead to more effective KM practices and a higher rate of creativity and flexibility.

The study answers recent calls for defining processes for the second generation of KM that shift focus from the codification and transfer of knowledge to the creation of new knowledge. Although previous studies have established a link between complex adaptive systems and KM, this study takes it one step further in defining an integrative strategy for the creation of knowledge based on the processes of complex adaptive systems. The paper provides a foundation for future studies to test the causal relationship between adaptive processes for knowledge creation and innovation.

This article aims to explore how organizational architecture (OA) for an information technology organization can balance between exploring new information technologies (IT) that promise significant but uncertain growth opportunities, and exploiting already existing IT that guarantee immediate survival.

The literature on organizational architecture (OA) and the balance between the exploitation and exploration of knowledge is reviewed. Data collected from in-depth case study of a global IT consulting firm highlights the importance of OA in balancing exploitation and exploration.

Four elements of OA emerged as critical in balancing exploitation and exploration: embedding autonomous exploratory units within large exploitative sectors; creating organizational roles to integrate between exploration and exploitation; developing technology solutions that support the interplay between exploitation and exploration; and establishing a reward structure that fosters the cooperation between exploring and exploitative agents.

Results of the study suggest that the switch between exploration and exploitation is key to emerging dynamic capabilities in IT firms. It is important for organizations to define: strategic goals that highlight the importance of both exploration and exploitation for the organization; roles that specifically focus on exploration, exploitation and the coordination between the two capabilities, technologies that support both exploration and exploitation; and reward both capabilities. These four elements of the architecture interact together to support a structure of large exploitative units with embedded small explorative units to support recombination and innovation at the project, the department, and the organization levels.

There is limited research on the effect of organizational design on IT development capabilities. Organizational architecture that balances between exploiting stable domain knowledge and emerging new technologies is crucial in today's global and competitive environment. In this study, a new framework emerges that provides a starting point for future quantitative research on how OA can balance conflicting organizational capabilities for firms engaging in IT development. The paper provides a foundation for future studies to test five propositions on the effect of strategy, structure, roles, technology, and reward on the dynamic capabilities of exploitation and exploration.

This paper aims to develop and test a theoretical framework that examines the capacity of electronic open networks and closed interpersonal networks in building social capital and creating new knowledge. Specifically, this article aims to extend understanding in the field of knowledge management by examining how social networks can accumulate social capital and build up potential and absorptive capacity for the creation of new knowledge.

The authors reviewed the literature on open electronic social networks and closed interpersonal networks, social capital and absorptive capacity to examine how different types of networks accumulate different dimensions of social capital and develop different measures of absorptive capacity. A model was developed that hypothesizes that open networks can impact the structural and cognitive dimension of social capital but have less than a moderate effect on the relational dimension. The model is tested in the academic community using a sample of 22 research faculties from ten different research institutions within the MIS departments and five from Marketing.

The paper posits that electronic open networks have a significantly higher impact on the structural and cognitive dimension of social capital and a less than moderate impact on the relational dimension. Electronic open networks are, thus, best suited for acquiring and assimilating new knowledge, however the transformation and exploitation of knowledge require the cohesive ties of closed networks.

The combinative effect of electronic open networks and closed interpersonal networks is critical for the development of a potential and realized absorptive capacity and the creation of new knowledge. It is essential for researchers to examine the effect of different types of social networks on the process of knowledge creation and whether social capital accumulated in interpersonal networks can be leveraged in electronic open networks to enhance the process of knowledge creation.

Businesses benefit from this line of research in knowing how well different types of social network are suited to the different phases of knowledge creation. Leveraging the capacity of open electronic networks and closed interpersonal networks can foster innovation.

There is no existing literature that has examined the relationship between different types of social networks, social capital, absorptive capacity, and knowledge creation. This paper provides a foundation for future studies that examine the combinative effect of closed interpersonal and open electronic networks.

The purpose of this paper is to understand better the organizational social capital (SC) levels and their impact on organizations by focusing on personal SC and intra-organizational SC as well as their different connections to organizational gossip and employee performance.

Participants in a field study included 617 employees from five Israeli organizations in the field of aviation and shipping. Levels of personal SC, intra-organizational SC, gossip and self-evaluated performance were measured, and connections between them detected.

The results indicate that intra-organizational SC is positively connected to employee performance, while personal SC is positively linked to gossip. Personal SC also leads to performance with the mediation of intra-organizational SC, although gossip was not found to be connected to performance.

The contributions of this study are both conceptual and practical. The distinction between organizational SC levels is refined, improving organizational research accuracy and facilitating a better grasp of the connections between SC and other variables. The scant research on organizational gossip has been expanded. From a practical perspective, clarification of the link between organizational SC and performance can be beneficial to employees and organizations.