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Article
Publication date: 19 December 2019

Emmanuel Mastio, Eng Chew and Kenneth Anthony Dovey

This paper aims to explore the relationship between the concept of the learning organization and that of the co-creation of value.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the relationship between the concept of the learning organization and that of the co-creation of value.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is conceptual in nature and draws on data from a case study of a small highly innovative Australian company.

Findings

The authors show that, from a value co-creation perspective, the learning organization can be viewed as an open, collaborative, social/economic actor engaged in social/economic activities with other interdependent actors (organizations or stakeholders) in a network or ecosystem of actors to serve its mission/purpose and the well-being of the ecosystem.

Research limitations/implications

As a conceptual paper, the authors rely primarily on previous research as the basis for the argument. The implications of the findings are that, as value co-creation practices are founded upon the generation and leveraging of specific intangible capital resources, more research located in alternative research paradigms is required.

Practical implications

There are important implications for organizational leadership in that the practices that underpin value co-creation require the leadership to be able to work constructively with multiple forms of systemic and agentic power.

Social implications

In increasingly turbulent and hyper-competitive global operational contexts, sustainable value creation is becoming recognized as a collective achievement within a broad eco-system of collaborators. This has implications for the relational capabilities of all collaborators.

Originality/value

The authors introduce a new perspective on the role of power management in the facilitation of the co-creation of value. Arguing that value creation is becoming recognized as a “collective achievement”, they focus on the collaborative practices that enable such an achievement.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

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Article
Publication date: 24 October 2019

Emmanuel Mastio and Kenneth Dovey

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the role of abstract forms of power in organizational change by exploring the role of such forms of power in the…

694

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the role of abstract forms of power in organizational change by exploring the role of such forms of power in the recent structural transformation of an iconic Australian Intellectual Property law firm. The research literature reflects relatively few studies on the increasing complexity of power dynamics in organizational and institutional arrangements.

Design/methodology/approach

The complexity of the investigated phenomena led to the adoption of three qualitative methods in order to access the specific forms of data that were perceived to be relevant to answering the research question (“How did abstract power dynamics influence the nature and outcomes of the firm’s structural transformation?”). Ethnography was used in the attempt to discern, through participation and observation, the assumptions that manifested in action and/or inaction; phenomenology in the exploration through unstructured interviews with 41 staff members and 4 clients of the firm, of their interpretation and “sense-making” of their “lived experience” of “what was going on” in the firm; and narrative enquiry in establishing a narrative of critical events, and their impact on “what was going on” in the firm, including those that had occurred over the years prior to this research initiative.

Findings

The research shows the effects of contradicting forms of abstract power (namely, hegemonic (ideological) power, dominant institutional logic and structural power) as the firm struggled to address challenges to its existence. The impact of these forms of power upon the partners’ apprehension and interpretation of the emerging challenges to the firm’s business performance remained inconspicuous throughout the period of transformation. However, these contradictory forms of abstract power insidiously created tensions within the organization which were poorly addressed, resulting in organizational dysfunction and destructive sectarian conflict. The results show that the inability of partners to discern the nature of the forms of power which were influencing their responses to the crisis was a consequence of under-developed collectively reflexive capabilities and an absence of collaborative problem-solving practices. This resulted in a negative outcome for the firm.

Research limitations/implications

The research has significant implications for collective endeavor in global business operations that are becoming increasingly complex. In particular, the complexity of power relations, as insidious ideological forces supported by ubiquitous technologies threaten to subsume agentic power in ways that domesticate and neutralize it, requires the development of sophisticated forms of collective ways of “working with power” – capabilities that include the ability to demystify the abstract forms of power that can shape the experience of social realities as “inevitable and natural.” Further research into these forms of power, and the surreptitious role they play in organizational arrangements, is an important requirement. With respect to limitations, as the research is located in the interpretivist research paradigm, the issue of interpretation is problematic. A strong effort was made to limit unwitting interpretive bias but the possibility of such bias cannot be ruled out, especially as, in some cases, the data are an interpretation of prior interpretations of events and/or experiences (as, e.g., in the interview data).

Practical implications

Working constructively with various forms of power is becoming a critical capability within organizations. This has implications for the relational and communicative skills that underpin effective collaboration of staff and other stakeholders. Such collaboration needs to include the collective ability to make explicit through critical dialogue the surreptitious influence of abstract forms of power upon the prevailing organizational arrangements and routines. To achieve this, these forms of power have to become demystified through constructive critique of the taken-for-granted aspects of everyday organizational life. This has important implications for leadership development practices and educational programs.

Social implications

Unless leaders develop the ability to make the influences of abstract forms of power more conspicuous, and develop collaborative capabilities to work with insight into their management, they run the risk of agentic power becoming subsumed and neutralized by such forms of power. This has important implications for organizational agency and, especially, for the creative agency of the individuals who work within organizations. On a broader scale, it has implications for institutional arrangements and for the critical apprehension of global ideologies.

Originality/value

Studies of abstract forms of power are relatively rare in the research literature. This is probably a result of the long-standing dominance of positivism, with its realist ontological assumptions and its objectivist epistemological assumptions. In exploring the influence exerted by abstract forms of power on the inability of the partners of a professional services firm to apprehend their situation more accurately, and to interpret their strategic options with greater insight, this research makes an original contribution to the understanding of the influence of abstract power dynamics in organizational change, and in organizational arrangements more generally.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 39 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

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Article
Publication date: 6 May 2014

Eng Chew and Kenneth Anthony Dovey

This paper aims to report on case-study research that explores the role of leadership practices, in particular, in enhancing the capacity of an enterprise to learn to create new…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to report on case-study research that explores the role of leadership practices, in particular, in enhancing the capacity of an enterprise to learn to create new value from a diverse range of sources. The capacity to sustain value creation over time, and across turbulent environments, increasingly differentiates enterprise performance. Under the umbrella term of “dynamic capabilities”, a range of practices have been identified in the literature as contributing to an enterprise’s ability to learn to perform this task successfully.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on case studies of three enterprises whose founders have sustained the creation of new value for customers over decades. Through a series of unstructured interviews with each founder, the tacit knowledge gained from years of learning how to create, and re-create, value, is made explicit through hermeneutic analysis of the interview transcripts.

Findings

The data identify four key areas of leadership practice that underpin the capacity to learn to continuously create new value over significant periods of time. The most important of these are the social practices that generate and leverage the intangible capital resources (in particular, the resource of trust) that underpin the collaborative learning on which value creation processes depend.

Research limitations/implications

As interpretive research, the knowledge accessed through this research is context-dependent and cannot be readily generalised. The validity of the knowledge is high, however, as the epistemological and ontological assumptions of the interpretive research paradigm recognise the political nature of organisations and, thus, of learning and value creation. As such, the knowledge generated by the case analyses offers a rich alternative perspective on the issue under research.

Practical implications

The cases illuminate the nature of learning that supports continuous value creation in enterprises. Such learning is framed by several leadership practices that enable the self-reflexivity that underpins the continuous conversion of action-generated tacit knowledge into more strategically useful explicit knowledge. At the core of these leadership practices is stakeholder collaboration and intellectual humility.

Social implications

The results show that learning to create sustainable value over time and diverse contexts, has a socio-political dimension in that it depends heavily on generating and leveraging the intangible resources (such as trust, commitment, ideas) that reside within social relationships.

Originality/value

The research is located within the interpretive research paradigm and thus offers an alternative view to that of conventional positivist research. Furthermore, the results indicate that learning is a strategic priority in rapidly changing environments and, thus, is a key leadership responsibility. Furthermore, the results show that value creation is a collaborative stakeholder achievement.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

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Article
Publication date: 15 December 2020

Strong emphasis on learning can help organizations more closely engage with customers to co-create value for them. Collaboration is vital and leadership plays an important role in…

275

Abstract

Purpose

Strong emphasis on learning can help organizations more closely engage with customers to co-create value for them. Collaboration is vital and leadership plays an important role in establishing the conditions needed for a collective approach to innovation across all levels of the firm.

Design/methodology/approach

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings

Strong emphasis on learning can help organizations more closely engage with customers to co-create value for them. Collaboration is vital and leadership plays an important role in establishing the conditions needed for a collective approach to innovation across all levels of the firm.

Originality/value

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Details

Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, vol. 35 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7282

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1955

J. BIRD

Contrary to what might be expected from the rather pessimistic view of library literature taken in another paper in this issue, the production of this annual review of the…

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Abstract

Contrary to what might be expected from the rather pessimistic view of library literature taken in another paper in this issue, the production of this annual review of the literature intended for special librarians becomes progressively more difficult, owing to the growth in the volume of the material from which the selection must be made. The aim of this survey has always been to pick out from the literature generally available in Great Britain in the year in question those items likely to be of practical assistance to library and information workers—particularly those with little experience or training working in small libraries. It therefore lists important reference works and tools which the special librarian ought to know about, even if he doesn't possess them, but omits all articles of purely theoretical interest, and those which describe practice in large libraries, except where they are capable of application in small libraries. Much of the increase in the volume of literature is due to an increase in the number of works of reference, many produced under the encouragement of bodies such as Unesco, but there is also a definite tendency for a closer link between theory and practice in much of the writing on library work. In these circumstances, the selection of a list of a hundred items becomes more than ever a matter of personal judgment, on which no two persons could be expected to agree, but it is hoped that all items included will prove useful, and that all sections of the field are fairly represented.

Details

Aslib Proceedings, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0001-253X

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2000

Steven H. Appelbaum and John Gallagher

Aims to understand how training and communication help an organization to learn and gain a competitive advantage. Explores the link between training, communication and measurement…

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Abstract

Aims to understand how training and communication help an organization to learn and gain a competitive advantage. Explores the link between training, communication and measurement with individual and organizational learning by conducting a specific qualitative analysis looking for insights into how the concepts sometimes work and how they fail. Also touches on the general themes that have shaken management and employees over the last 15 years as they struggle to survive and prosper in the global village, and compares this concept with ideas that have been prevalent in organizations since the early 1970s. The objective is to understand how organizations can tap their intangible assets and increase their value to the organization, the individual who holds the knowledge and the society that benefits from a healthy economy.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 12 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

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Article
Publication date: 1 November 1929

WE offer our readers again our best wishes for the joy that appropriately belongs to Christmas. The happy festival comes at the close of one of the most fruitful and useful years…

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Abstract

WE offer our readers again our best wishes for the joy that appropriately belongs to Christmas. The happy festival comes at the close of one of the most fruitful and useful years in library history: a year which has seen wide developments—not, indeed, in the establishment of new libraries, though these have not been wanting (the last month of the year, for example, has seen Lord Elgin open the new library at Hendon), but in a drawing together of existing organizations, the creation of a really new Library Association, and a degree of co‐operation which thirty years ago would have seemed difficult.

Details

New Library World, vol. 32 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1929

THE PRESIDENT of the Library Association for 1929–30 will be Lord Balneil, the son of the Earl of Crawford, and it is difficult to think of a better choice. Lord Balneil has an…

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Abstract

THE PRESIDENT of the Library Association for 1929–30 will be Lord Balneil, the son of the Earl of Crawford, and it is difficult to think of a better choice. Lord Balneil has an admirable bibliographical ancestry—if we may so put it—seeing that his grandfather, the 26th Earl of Crawford, was President in 1898; and the Haigh Hall Library at the family seat is one of the noble private libraries of England. Lord Balneil is the Chairman of the Appeal Committee for the endowment of the School of Librarianship and so has already identified himself in a practical manner with the cause of libraries.

Details

New Library World, vol. 31 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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Article
Publication date: 5 January 2015

Agnieszka Izabela Baruk and Anna Iwanicka

The purpose of this paper is to identify and to make an in-depth analysis of importance of the environmental elements of dairy product packaging during consumer buying decisions…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify and to make an in-depth analysis of importance of the environmental elements of dairy product packaging during consumer buying decisions process according to these elements’ compliance with consumer expectations.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is of theoretical and empirical character. In the theoretical part, the cognitive-and-critical analysis of the world’s literature on marketing and marketing management was applied. In the empirical part, such research methods were used as: questionnaire survey for gathering primary data and statistical analysis (including factor analysis and cluster analysis) for the analysis of the primary data and for the statistical reasoning, which made the basis for the final conclusions.

Findings

On the basis of the research, it is possible to state that: environmental features of dairy product packaging are of great significance for the respondents, and meeting their expectations in this respect influences positively their buying decisions.

Originality/value

The original contribution of the paper to theory is the identification of Polish purchasers’ expectations toward elements of dairy product packaging in the context of their buying decisions taken thanks to the fact that their expectations concerning the features of packaging are fulfilled. This knowledge makes it possible for offerers to manage efficiently and effectively dairy product packaging as a tool of influencing recipients, as well as to shape properly and use their marketing potential, which, in turn, determines the applicability value of the research and the conclusions drawn on the basis of the results.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 117 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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