Organizational underpinnings of interactive decision making: an empirical inquiry

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 310-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Fedele ◽  
Luca Brusati ◽  
Mario Ianniello

Purpose – Interactive decision making has become a recurrent practice across countries, policy sectors and tiers of government. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how organizational arrangements, i.e. the way the interactive process is designed, influence its outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – The research is carried out through a multiple case study. Four cases of interactive decision making are analyzed using a qualitative framework. Findings – Findings can contribute to shed light on the organizational underpinnings of the outcomes of interactive decision making. Accessibility, in particular meant as process openness, i.e. the intensity of the decision-making powers that are devolved to the public, seems to represent the key factor in producing positive outcomes, especially if associated to less-formalized arrangements. Practical implications – On the practice oriented side, findings provide decision makers with insights about how to design interactive mechanisms to improve the chances they would “work.” Specifically, finding suggest to launch interactive initiatives only when the public’s expectations in terms of process openness can be satisfied. Originality/value – The way organizational arrangements influence outcomes is likely to be affected by context-specific factors interacting with the formers in generating the latters. Therefore, in order to reach meaningful research results it might be necessary to systematically factor context-specific features in the analysis. Here lies the relative novelty of the paper: although the relation between arrangements and outcomes of interactive decision making has been already investigated by other contributions, the present analysis purposefully focusses on cases occurred in the same policy sector, in one homogeneous geographical location and characterized by the same administrative tradition in order to discount the influence of these factors.

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Figueira ◽  
Rui Torres de Oliveira ◽  
Daniel Rottig ◽  
Francesca Spigarelli

PurposeThis paper constitutes an explorative study into post-acquisition implementation of emerging market acquisitions in developed countries. More specifically, the study aims to better understand how low capability Chinese firms are able to capture value when acquiring high-capability targets in developed countries through a novel post-acquisition integration approach. In so doing, we set out to contribute to the literature on, and managerial insights into, the factors that determine the success of emerging market acquisitions, in general, and the context-specific use of post-acquisition implementation approaches, in particular.Design/methodology/approachThe study follows a qualitative analysis and multiple case study design based on a phenomenon-based research approach. Data and information were collected through semi-structure executive interviews, observations, secondary sources, company report and media accounts.FindingsBased on institutional theory, this study develops a conceptual framework for a tacit value approach toward the integration of acquisitions of developed market targets by emerging market acquirers.Originality/valueThe proposed tacit value approach of post-acquisition integration, which refers to the creation of intangible value over time, differs from the explicit value approach that is associated with the transaction-cost literature and more focused on the creation of tangible value in the short-term.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-194
Author(s):  
Megan Divett

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate perceptions of leaders and team members on productivity, satisfaction and leader-led team dynamics within an activity-based, flexible environment compared to an open plan workplace. Design/methodology/approach This study uses cross-sectional (N = 1,275) and longitudinal survey data (N = 138) collected from three offices in Australia. Baseline responses were collected 3–12 months prior to the transition into a new environment and comparison responses were collected after at least three months of working in the new environment. Paired sample t-tests and linear regression were used. Findings Team members were more satisfied and felt more productive within the activity-based working (ABW) environment compared to the open plan workplace. Leaders were more satisfied and felt team productivity improved, yet individual productivity for leaders remained the same. Occupants felt the key drivers of productivity were team Interaction and decision-making. Research limitations/implications This study focused on one activity-based building based in Australia that was consciously designed for individual focus, team working and cross-team collaboration. This style of workplace may not be representative of all activity-based environments. Originality/value Most research into ABW has relied on cross-sectional data. This study also adopts a within group, longitudinal approach to directly compare the perceptions of the same individuals over time. Activity-based environments are changing the way we think of leaders and the way they encourage productivity. This study showed that despite relinquishing an office, leaders were more satisfied and equally productive within an activity-based environment. The study also showed that teams realise greater productivity by focussing on team interaction and effective decision-making.


2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 1100-1117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine L. Ritch ◽  
Douglas Brownlie

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore social dynamics around food and clothing provisioning for young families and how involvement in environmental concerns shapes those dynamics and presents challenges and opportunities to in terms of evolving consumer tastes. Through collecting and analysing narratives of mothering, the authors explore the influence of children on decision making in household provisioning; in particular, how their education into sustainable concepts through the European initiative of eco-schools impacts provisioning. Design/methodology/approach The exploratory research design specifically sought the demographic profile identified in extant literature as engaging with sustainability issues to explore how they were interpreted into familial consumption. This resulted in 28 unstructured interviews exploring a range of related topics with a group of highly educated working mothers with a profession. Findings The study finds that family consumption behaviour is mediated by relations towards environmental concerns and taste positions taken by both parents and children. It illustrates how care for children’s safety, social resilience and health and well-being is habitus informed as well as being the subject of wider institutional logics including educational interventions such as school eco-status and participation in mother and child activity groups. However, tensions arose surrounding the children’s socialisation with peers and space was provided to help the children self-actualise. Research limitations/implications The exploratory goal of the study limited the scope of its empirical work to a small group of participants sharing consumer characteristics and geographical location. Practical implications The research provides ideas for retailers, brands and marketers to better position their product offering as it relates to growing family concerns for ecological issues and sustainable consumption, as well as what motivates sustainable behaviours, from both the child and mothers perspective. Social implications The research identifies the immersion of sustainability into family households when there are no financial implications, influenced through campaigns, schools and society. This provides examples of what motivates sustainable behaviours for retailers and marketers to develop strategies that can be capitalised on. Originality/value The originality of the research emerges through examining how children influence sustainability within households and decision making, moving beyond health implications to educate children to be responsible consumers through play and authentic experiences.


2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (02) ◽  
pp. 107-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
LIMPHO LETSELA ◽  
ANDRE PELSER ◽  
MAITLAND SEAMAN

Sustainability assessment processes are increasingly being applied towards integration of the sustainability agenda within diverse decision-making jurisdictions. This paper seeks to contribute insights from a process undertaken within rural areas in Lesotho. A learning-by-doing and people-centred approach was explored within a qualitative multiple case study to integrate biodiversity considerations within the broader livelihoods sustainability context. Stakeholders collectively determined interpretations, aspirations and priorities for action planning and pathways that sustain biodiversity. This process yielded a functional context-specific sustainability assessment framework to guide stakeholders when embarking on biodiversity interventions that enhance supply of ecosystem services in and outside protected areas. However, the effectiveness of the process requires that it should be nested within an enabling environment characterised by relevant international and national biodiversity policy and strategic frameworks, decision- making structures, funding, tools and expertise, sensitisation and capacity-building.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-202
Author(s):  
Namkyung Oh

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the applicability of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to collective decision-making of local and state disaster managers for their efficient and effective allocation of limited financial resources.Design/methodology/approachFor the implementation of AHP, this study conducted an AHP survey with state and local disaster managers in post-Katrina Louisiana, the USA.FindingsThe AHP analysis disclosed a preference gap between local and state managers. It also identified frequent interaction with partners, leadership and communication, as the most critical capabilities to develop for effective emergency management.Research limitations/implicationsThis study discussed the value of consistent and careful management of the collaborative relationship. This study is context-specific in disaster type (Hurricane) and locality (Louisiana). Other AHP studies or similar multi-criteria decision-making models should be implemented in different contexts.Originality/valueEven with clear advantages of collective decision-making in the emergency management field, a model for collective decision-making has been rare. This study explored the applicability of AHP to the collective decision-making for the efficient and effective allocation of limited financial resources.


2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Farmaki ◽  
Katerina Antoniou ◽  
Prokopis Christou

Purpose This study aims to examine the factors shaping the intentions of people to visit a hostile outgroup. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory, qualitative research approach was followed. Specifically, 77 semi-structured interviews with citizens of the divided island of Cyprus were conducted. Findings This study identifies several categories of visitors and non-visitors, depicted along a continuum, and concludes that there is a multiplicity of factors in the socio-political environment which influence the travel intentions of people. Originality/value This study not only imparts insights into the way travel decision-making evolves in politically unstable situations but also serves as a stepping stone towards understanding the conditions under which reconciliation between hostile nations may be encouraged by travel.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Fallahpour ◽  
Morteza Yazdani ◽  
Ahmed Mohammed ◽  
Kuan Yew Wong

PurposeIn the last decade, sustainable sourcing decision has gained tremendous attention due to the increasing governmental restrictions and public attentiveness. This decision involves diverse sets of classical and environmental parameters, which are originated from a complex, ambiguous and inconsistent decision-making environment. Arguably, supply chain management is fronting the next industrial revolution, which is named industry 4.0, due to the fast advance of digitalization. Considering the latter's rapid growth, current supplier selection models are, or it will, inefficient to assign the level of priority of each supplier among a set of suppliers, and therefore, more advanced models merging “recipes” of sustainability and industry 4.0 ingenuities are required. Yet, no research work found towards a digitalized, along with sustainability's target, sourcing.Design/methodology/approachA new framework for green and digitalized sourcing is developed. Thereafter, a hybrid decision-making approach is developed that utilizes (1) fuzzy preference programming (FPP) to decide the importance of one supplier attribute over another and (2) multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA) to prioritize suppliers based on fuzzy performance rating. The proposed approach is implemented in consultation with the procurement department of a food processing company willing to develop a greener supply chain in the era of industry 4.0.FindingsThe proposed approach is capable to recognize the most important evaluation criteria, explain the ambiguity of experts' expressions and having better discrimination power to assess suppliers on operational efficiency and environmental and digitalization criteria, and henceforth enhances the quality of the sourcing process. Sensitivity analysis is performed to help managers for model approval. Moreover, this work presents the first attempt towards green and digitalized supplier selection. It paves the way towards further development in the modelling and optimization of sourcing in the era of industry 4.0.Originality/valueCompetitive supply chain management needs efficient purchasing and production activities since they represent its core, and this arises the necessity for a strategic adaptation and alignment with the requirement of industry 4.0. The latter implies alterations in the avenue firms operate and shape their activities and processes. In the context of supplier selection, this would involve the way supplier assessed and selected. This work is originally initiated based on a joint collaboration with a food company. A hybrid decision-making approach is proposed to evaluate and select suppliers considering operational efficiency, environmental criteria and digitalization initiatives towards digitalized and green supplier selection (DG-SS). To this end, supply chain management in the era of sustainability and digitalization are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingyan Ye ◽  
Duanxu Wang ◽  
Kai Zeng

PurposeEmployee entrepreneurship has recently become an emerging area of investigation. However, due to the fragmentation of the turnover and entrepreneurship literature, no coherent theoretical framework has been developed to provide an adequate description of the employee entrepreneurial process. The purpose of this paper is to gain a deeper understanding of why and how an employee in an established organization progresses toward starting a new venture by exploring the key decision-making processes during the initial stages of employee entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachThis study addresses the following research questions: What are the key decision-making processes during the initial stages of employee entrepreneurship? How are these decisions made, and how do they interact? This study employed a multiple case study approach, which enabled the authors to gain valuable insight into these “what” and “how” questions. The data consist of 28 in-depth employee entrepreneurship cases.FindingsBased on an in-depth study of 28 cases, this study constructs a comprehensive model of the dynamic and interactive decision-making processes that lead to employee entrepreneurship. In particular, the findings reveal that rather than being a linear staged activity, employee entrepreneurship is an inherently iterative process that involves a set of interrelated subdecision-making processes related to turnover, team entrepreneurship and partner recruitment that entail multiple iterations and feedback loops based on an individual's cognitive judgment.Originality/valueBy illustrating and clarifying the importance of the effects of different initial motivations and the attributes of the network in the course of the employee entrepreneurship decision-making process, this study integrates the turnover and entrepreneurship literature and makes significant contributions to the current literature on employee entrepreneurship. Moreover, this study complements research investigating entrepreneurial team formation by providing a detailed understanding of how the lead entrepreneur and the prospective partner make mutual choices during the entrepreneurial team formation process.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Watson

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how organisations can remove the barriers that they are currently coming up against to increase their workforce collaboration. Playing a key role in workforce transformation, HR faces pressures to remove the barriers that stand in the way of effective collaboration and decision-making; and Andrew Watson explores in this piece the ways in which organisations can empower employees to take a more collaborative approach to work. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on Andrew’s extensive experience in HR, this is a thought led opinion piece. Findings The findings of the paper show that to empower employees to foster greater collaboration, organisations require a broader cultural shift in organisation. Although there are new challenges such as hybrid working models and siloed departments, Andrew’s paper reveals that to become a more collaborative workplace, employees need a platform that will allow them to come together and cultivate openness and transparency. Technology has the power to break down the communication barriers that stand in the way of effective ideas and knowledge sharing strategies. It can also help teams make incremental improvements quickly without having to wait for multiple approvals. Originality/value Drawing on Andrew’s extensive experience in HR to share insights.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Liu ◽  
Robin Bell

Purpose This paper aims to investigate four successful Chinese ICT enterprises to determine what initiated their business-model innovations and the process they went through by exploring how they adapted and innovatively renewed four key elements of their business models. Design/methodology/approach This investigative and exploratory research adopted a multiple-case-study design exploring four purposively selected successful Chinese ICT enterprises which had all engaged in significant business model innovation since their inception. Data for the case studies were collected through in-depth interviews with the founders and analyses of the companies’ history to gain a detailed account of the evolution of the firms’ business models since their formation. Findings The research identified three key initiating factors to business model innovation in the firms studied, namely, constant and rapid product iteration, along with an emergent strategy, leading to business model innovations to take full advantage of the firms’ competitive advantages; a reaction to threats and environmental changes; and an opportunistic behaviour to extend the business model to new markets. The research found that networks were a key factor in the process, including the customer base, financial investors and network collaborators. Research limitations/implications This research is limited to four successful Chinese ICT firms; this in-depth approach means the information may have only limited transferability but provides depth on a burgeoning Chinese sector. Originality/value This research addresses the call for more research and a greater understanding of what initiates business model innovation and the process firms go through to develop the key elements of their business models by looking at a purposively selected sample of successful Chinese enterprises in a fast-moving and technologically driven market.


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