Roy K. Smollan and Rachel L. Morrison
The purpose of this paper is to compare different employee perceptions of the success of one change: a move to new offices and an open-plan design.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare different employee perceptions of the success of one change: a move to new offices and an open-plan design.
Design/methodology/approach
In sum, 25 interviews were carried out in a New Zealand law firm that six months earlier had moved to new premises.
Findings
Contrary to academic and practitioner reports that open-plan offices are disliked, participants appreciated the new office space. A well-planned and highly participative program of change management led to positive perceptions of aesthetic design, open communication, collegiality, egalitarianism and inclusiveness.
Research limitations/implications
Given the small sample used in one organization, the study highlights the need for more research into the processes and outcomes of office space changes.
Originality/value
The roles of communication and culture, in particular, collegiality and egalitarianism, were salient factors in a complex web of causes and consequences in this context of change.
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Cecilia Isabel Calderón-Valencia, Judith Cavazos-Arroyo and Alfonso López Lira-Arjona
Enrique Claver, Juan Llopis and José L. Gascó
In this article, after laying the conceptual foundations of communication and corporate culture, we revise the disagreement on whether their role in their mutual relationship is a…
Abstract
In this article, after laying the conceptual foundations of communication and corporate culture, we revise the disagreement on whether their role in their mutual relationship is a minor or a fundamental one. Then, we define “communication in corporate culture”, as the foundation of the communication‐culture system. Building on this idea, we suggest a model for organizational reinforcement. Finally, we define the basic patterns in order to strengthen and reinforce the proposed cycle.
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Increasing trade union pressure for worker participation in industrial decision‐making, and the growing willingness of employers to concede the point, will have important…
Abstract
Increasing trade union pressure for worker participation in industrial decision‐making, and the growing willingness of employers to concede the point, will have important implications for colleges offering accounting courses for the non‐accountant.
CAMBRIDGE did not disappoint the expectations of the more than one thousand persons who attended the conference. The organization worked without a creak in its machinery, thanks…
Abstract
CAMBRIDGE did not disappoint the expectations of the more than one thousand persons who attended the conference. The organization worked without a creak in its machinery, thanks to the work of Mr. W. A. Fenton, the Honorary Local Secretary, and his distinguished committee; the hospitality was liberal; the excursions well chosen and successful. As for the papers and addresses, which, after all, are the official reason for conferences, even if there was little that was epoch‐making, they were interesting, sometimes provocative, and almost invariably stimulating. Most of us returned to our libraries inspired and encouraged with the undoubted vitality of the library movement as manifested at Cambridge.
C.M.J. van Woerkum, M.N.C. Aarts and K. de Grip
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the relationship between creativity and planning perspectives.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the relationship between creativity and planning perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
Creativity is considered to be the source of new and competitive ideas through which an organization positions itself in its environment. A distinction is made between means‐end planning and emerging alternative approaches to planning. It is argued that in means‐end planning schemes creativity is predominantly a problem solving activity seeking to find an ideal mix of instruments to meet a clearly stated goal.
Findings
Demonstrates that creativity can be much more if other perspectives on planning are accepted. A broadened concept of creativity is presented, pointing to strategic devices that promote and facilitate creativity in an organization.
Originality/value
Is of value by stressing that “being creative” should be a part of an organization's everyday experiences, a component of normal meetings, and a reality for all members of an organization.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of a multidimensional model from the field of media reception for analyzing how a value statement in a Danish windmill company led…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of a multidimensional model from the field of media reception for analyzing how a value statement in a Danish windmill company led to employee identification as well as organizational antecedents that influenced this identification. Further, the paper evaluates whether the proposed model can enhance understanding of the study of employee identification in a specific organizational situation and context.
Design/methodology/approach
The identification model extends a multidimensional model for media reception originally proposed by Schrøder in the field of media reception studies. The proposed model includes the following reception dimensions: comprehension, discrimination, implementation, motivation, and position.
Findings
This paper illustrates how employees from a Danish windmill company receive a value statement. A systematic application of the multidimensional model makes it possible to gain detailed insight into the active and complex process of employee identifications with organizational texts and how they may fluctuate in a specific context.
Research limitations/implications
This analysis only focuses on the reception of a value statement. Future research could include the analysis of employee readings of other types of organizational texts.
Originality/value
The multidimensional identification model is an extension of a media reception model and is new in the field of organizational identification. The model offers a method for analyzing the complexity and multiplicity of employee readings of different types of organizational texts. This may be crucial for both researchers and managers as the model may help to uncover the antecedents that influence how employees receive organizational texts while taking the historical and situational context of the organization into consideration.
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Pui Yuen Lee and Kung Wong Lau
The rise of social media marketing has brought significant implications for advertising industry and its organizations. The traditional role of advertising professionals had been…
Abstract
Purpose
The rise of social media marketing has brought significant implications for advertising industry and its organizations. The traditional role of advertising professionals had been changing from a clear identity to an unclear one. However, previous research has studied relatively little about advertising professionals’ roles and identities or how they may be changing in the social media marketing era. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative, interpretive approach was taken in this study. It involved 32 in-depth interviews with advertising professionals in advertising organizations differing in size, digital focus and ownership in different multinational full-service advertising organizations and digital organizations.
Findings
The findings indicated that the role of advertising professionals is innovating from a traditional “idea generator” to a “solution facilitator” in response to the social media marketing.
Originality/value
This study identified the key experiences of advertising professionals that they were found to have divergent role identities linked to their identification with traditional and digital organizations.
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The aim of this article is to explore how the employees of a Danish family-owned company identify with the heritage identity of their company. More specifically, the purpose is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this article is to explore how the employees of a Danish family-owned company identify with the heritage identity of their company. More specifically, the purpose is to study how the employees interpret certain historical events and values in their efforts to make sense of which heritage identity traits have remained meaningful for them over the passage of time and what these historical events and traits mean to their identification with the company.
Design/methodology/approach
The investigation is based on 19 in-depth interviews with employees. A critical discourse analysis approach is adopted to uncover the discursive dynamics appearing across the employees' interpretations of historical events and values.
Findings
The study indicates that heritage identity represent a complex and dynamic resource for employees' organizational identification. Therefore, this article argues that it could be a challenge for management to maintain a stable and enduring heritage identity, because the employees' interpretations and consequently their organizational identification is subject to continual revision and under influence by a dynamic and constantly changing social context.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study is limited to the specific context of one company. Further research could investigate the same topics when interviewing employees across the national borders of a global family company in times of change.
Practical implications
Management need to identify whether different generations of employees develop a strong or weak identification with certain heritage identity traits and whether there are competing or compatible targets of heritage identification among these generations.
Originality/value
This study illuminates the potential challenges related to the maintenance and preservation of heritage identity in a company with roots to a strong founding family, which operates in a constantly changing environment.
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The aim of this paper is to explore the notion of organizational learning as a way of collective knowledge construction to achieve long‐term competitive advantage. It proposes a…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to explore the notion of organizational learning as a way of collective knowledge construction to achieve long‐term competitive advantage. It proposes a theoretical framework based on action systems and process leadership perspective, integrating five key themes: systems, interaction and relationship, teambuilding, change, and renewal.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature review was adopted to determine the main streams of theoretical contribution on organizational learning and knowledge acquisition. Five distinct yet interrelated themes have been identified as contributing to the theoretical framework proposed.
Findings
It has been found that leaders play a crucial role in facilitating systems dynamics, influencing the rate and degree at which organizational members learn. Two such intervening factors as dialogue and reflection have been found to be the leitmotif of learning and knowledge co‐construction in the workplace.
Research limitations/implications
The paper provides a number of pointers for further theoretical development, motivating both exploratory and explanatory empirical research in organizational learning and knowledge sharing. Of importance is the linking mechanism between different levels of learning and people involved in the learning.
Practical implications
A list of strategies has been suggested to help leaders manage and develop organizational learning. These views have arisen according to theoretical insights drawn from the literature review and the author's practical experience.
Originality/value
The paper offers both researchers and practitioners a useful perspective on the various aspects of organizational learning and knowledge building. Of practical value is the paper's attempt at making simple the complex process of learning and knowledge generation in ever‐changing organizational contexts.