Search results

Aside from a few groundbreaking studies, there has been little empirical exploration into the structure of American police organizations. Traditional organizational inquiries have suggested that structural characteristics can be differentiated between those that represent complexity or differentiation within the organization and those that represent control mechanisms to coordinate and manage the complexity. This research investigates whether these various structural elements are indicative of two latent constructs by developing and testing measurement models representing structural complexity and control. Organizational scholars have also argued that structural complexity increases the demand for structural control. Maguire investigated this issue in the context of police organizations and found little support for the hypothesis. The paper reexamines this relationship by extending and replicating Maguire’s analysis to ascertain if a different specification and sample sustain his conclusion. Utilizing data from the 1997 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey and a survey conducted by Edward Maguire, the paper explores these issues using a sample of 401 large, municipal police organizations in the USA. The results indicate that structural control is unidimensional, while structural complexity is not. This study also provides modest evidence supporting an association between structural complexity and control.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which community policing within campus law enforcement agencies is influenced by the organizational structure, agency characteristics and campus characteristics.

This study utilizes ordinary least squares regression modeling to examine community policing implementation. Data were drawn from a sample of 242 US colleges and universities included in the 2011–2012 Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Survey of Campus Law Enforcement Agencies (SCLEA).

Findings show that within-campus law enforcement agencies, greater levels of community policing are associated with more formalization, larger numbers of employees, a higher task scope and higher rates of on-campus property crime.

Use of secondary data and reported crime rate limits the study. Future research should implement specialized surveys and qualitative methods to identify the specific needs and implementations of community policing.

This paper adds to the limited body of literature on the community policing in campus law enforcement through more recent data and the inclusion of campus community variables.

The authors set out to study institutional work under complexity building on the struggle for legitimacy of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community in Israel as their case study. The authors took a discursive approach and were interested in what actors claim they do. The findings suggest that actors manipulate the intentions and outcomes of their acts, thereby claiming for actorhood or negating it. These differential constructions are not random but echo the norms of the discursive spaces within which they are presented and interact with other actors’ work. Overall, the authors argue that actorhood is not a pre-condition for institutional work, nor is it its outcome, but rather an integral part thereof.

Organizations today operate in highly dynamic environments and are becoming more complex. Helping their organizations master this complexity is a major leadership challenge. To better understand how managers’ behaviors aggravate or reduce complexity, we reviewed 1,400 responses to a proprietary organizational complexity survey. Analysis identified specific managers’ behaviors that contribute to perceived complexity. We draw from these findings, literature on complex adaptive systems, and our consulting experiences to identify specific strategies managers can use to make it simpler for people to get things done, and even to “master” complexity by turning it into a source of strategic advantage.

While there is no set definition of what constitutes “complexity,” some general classes of definitions have emerged across the writings of several fields of science. The basis for the classifications and a general definition used in this issue are presented. The papers of this issue are classified into the general categories and introduced to the reader.

There has been a great deal of interest in ensuring that organisational strategy is successfully implemented in order to meet business objectives. More recently, reports of the failure of information systems and technology (IS&T) projects have become more regular and the reported failures more spectacular. This has added to a growing perception that IS&T implementation approaches currently utilised are struggling to add value to customers and users, leading to calls for a re‐think of how IS&T is introduced into organisations. This paper seeks to develop a customer experience strategy which will give a key group of stakeholders, customers, a major input in the IS&T development process.

The approach taken to examine IS&T implementation at this stage of the development of this theme is empirical. The failed introduction of a new IS&T system in a major service organisation in the UK is used as a case study. Data were gathered from 22 face‐to‐face interviews with key stakeholders in the IS&T project.

The paper finds that the failure was driven by a number of factors, including poor project management and a lack of understanding of how systems can negatively affect organisations and customer relationships. The paper re‐emphasises the need to ensure that customer and user perceptions are taken into consideration during any major systems introduction project. An interesting aspect of these systems is that a version is being used today by the organisation.

The customer experience journey (CEJ) framework will be improved by being validated within another organisation.

The paper recognises that, in the future, a clear framework to support the CEJ needs to be well thought out before a major systems introduction project commences. This is increasingly important as many roll‐outs are trans‐national and involve customers and supply chains.

The paper contributes to work practice relating to customer‐driven IS&T service introduction.