Proposal of a temporality perspective for a successful organizational change project

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wafa Boulagouas ◽  
Rachid Chaib ◽  
Mebarek Djebabra

PurposeImprovements to health and safety at work constantly involve organizational changes (OCs). However, the OC initiatives often fail at achieving their intended goals despite efforts to draw knowledge from various disciplines, such as sociology, psychology and information sciences, to guide the change implementation. This paper proposes a temporality approach to manage the resistance during an OC project based on the capitalization of the actors' behaviors (i.e. alignment/resistance) for successful OC implementation.Design/methodology/approachEmployees in an industrial company (N = 186) undergoing an OC answered a questionnaire survey. The statistical analysis approach was used to measure the influence of the constructs of the proposed temporality capitalization approach on the OC conduct.FindingsResults indicate that the considered constructs have positive and significant correlations with OC development. It has also been found that the employees' alignment is highly correlated with the opportunities they might gain from the OC.Practical implicationsThe proposed temporality capitalization approach shows that providing the employees with clear objectives is not sufficient to support the change, and it is suggested that the change management has to move a step further and seek to target the perspectives of the employees to energize them around the OC and maximize their alignment.Originality/valueIn this paper, change management is approached through the temporality capitalization that confirms the importance of monitoring the change development through the alignment. In other terms, the curve of the adaptation of the change receivers matters and should attract more attention rather than the change implementation speed.

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 755-770
Author(s):  
Maria Krambia-Kapardis

Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop a profile of whistleblowers and to determine whether whistleblowing legislation would encourage those individuals to bring to light some illegal or unethical behaviour that otherwise would remain in the shadows. Design/methodology/approach Having identified whistleblowing correlation, a survey was carried out in Cyprus of actual whistleblowers and could-have-been whistleblowers. Findings Males between 46 and55 years of age, regardless of whether they have dependents or hold senior positions in organizations are significantly more likely to blow the whistle. However, could-have-been whistleblowers did not go ahead because they felt that the authorities would not act on their information. Research limitations/implications Because of the sensitive nature of the research topic and the fact that only whistleblowers or intended whistleblowers could participate in the study, the sample size is limited as a result. This, in turn, limits both the number of respondents in each category (actual and intended) as well as constrains the statistical analysis that could be carried out on the data. Practical implications It remains to be seen whether EU Member States shall implement the European Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union Law, in its entirety by the due date, namely December 2021. Originality/value This study provides a literature review of whistleblowing and reports an original survey against the backdrop of the European Directive.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
Candace Ten Brink ◽  
Betsy D. Gelb ◽  
Robert Keller

Purpose This paper aims to examine technology-based firms that successfully turned around a decline in performance, to report what they did and what characterized the firms themselves, relating those actions and characteristics to effective rebounds. Design/methodology/approach The authors use published data, including financial data, to examine 59 successful rebounds, and then apply regression analyses to relate firm actions and characteristics to performance. Findings Strategic moves by these firms included layoffs, new products and new inter-company relationships. However, none of those actions predicted rebound success, either individually or in combination. Successful rebounds were associated only with smaller size and a deeper decline – from exceeding the industry performance median to falling far below it. Research limitations/implications Technology firms may or may not represent all middle-aged companies in terms of authors’ implications, that a one-size-fits-all turnaround formula is unavailable. Practical implications Wise managers will therefore consider various scenarios to prepare for decline and test several if possible. Further, the finding that dramatic drops in performance are associated with successful rebounds should warn managers who think that a competitor’s major problems mean they will disappear; they may be likelier to rebound than a competitor experiencing only a mild performance decline. Originality/value Managers who think they have THE answer to decline can profit from the news that one cannot count on layoffs, on new products or on new relationships to turn around performance decline. And, the small-is-beautiful (for rebounds) result suggests rethinking the assumption that bigger is better and making organizational changes in large organizations to allow them to imitate the flexibility advantages that a smaller firm achieves.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-29

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Findings show that unionized employees perceive less manager–employee consultation, health and safety, dispensability, time flexibility, workload flexibility, managerial trust, fair treatment, and pay equity. Practical implications The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. 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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-432
Author(s):  
Rafif Al-Sayed ◽  
Jianhua Yang

Purpose This paper aims at studying the concept of innovation ecosystems and investigating the factors affecting them based on their interrelationships with respect to different innovation archetypes. Design/methodology/approach The methodology is based on using multivariate statistical analysis of the inter-correlations among a number of variables which led to extracting a reduced set of new significant factors that affect China’s innovation ecosystem. Findings The results showed that innovation archetypes differ significantly with respect to the majority of the new factors. Practical implications Through identifying these challenges, decision-makers can develop a better understanding of the variables affecting each archetype of innovation and act accordingly. Originality/value The study is the first to fill the gap of addressing a large number of variables affecting innovation and analyzing their interrelationships.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 166-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Grint ◽  
Clare Holt ◽  
Peter Neyroud

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider a challenge to an occupational jurisdiction in the British police. Historically, street cops have defended the importance of operational credibility as a way of sustaining the value of experience, and inhibiting attempts to introduce external leaders. This has generated a particular form of policing and leadership that is deemed by the British Government as inadequate to face the problems of the next decade. Design/methodology/approach The project used the High Potential Development Scheme of the British police to assess the value of operational credibility and the possibilities of radical cultural change. Data are drawn from participants on the program, from those who failed to get onto the program, and from officers who have risen through the ranks without access to a fast-track scheme. Findings Most organizational changes fail in their own terms, often because of cultural resistance. However, if we change our metaphors of culture from natural to human constructions it may be possible to focus on the key point of the culture: the lodestone that glues it together. Operational credibility may be such a cultural lodestone and undermining it offers the opportunity for rapid and radical change. Research limitations/implications The scheme itself has had limited numbers and the research was limited to a small proportion of the different categories outlined above. Practical implications If we change our metaphors for culture and cultural change – from natural to constructed metaphors – (icebergs and webs to buildings), it may be possible to consider a much more radical approach to organizational change. Originality/value Most assessments of cultural change focus on those charged with enacting the change and explain failure through recourse to natural metaphors of change. This paper challenges the convention that cultural change can only ever be achieved, if at all, through years of effort.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anatoliy G. Goncharuk

Purpose – The paper is devoted to develop the methodological technique for the implementation of competitive benchmarking in an industrial company in strategy of “the follower”. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – In the research, a non-parametric methodology of efficiency analysis is used. To solve the problem of finding the best competitor, the author proposes to apply the method of free disposal hull (FDH). Findings – The proposed methodological technique for the implementation of competitive benchmarking in an industrial company in strategy of the follower enables to gradually develop and make informed strategic decisions that ensure the achievement of efficiency frontier and a leadership in its market segment. Research limitations/implications – The research is limited by a single industry (dairy products). This is explained by requirement of technology (product, service) homogeneity when using FDH model. Practical implications – By a case of 60 Ukrainian dairies, the paper demonstrates how the author can use the proposed technique in a practice and what steps the author should make to find company benchmark and improve the efficiency. It is possible to use the results of this research to make competitive benchmarking for the other industries. Originality/value – This paper adopts FDH model for competitive benchmarking and implementing the strategy of the followers. The proposed technique enables to improve the various activities of the analyzed dairies.


Author(s):  
John McMackin ◽  
Patrick Flood

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework for the social pillar of lean (SPL), which is a neglected topic in the lean management literature.Design/methodology/approachThe authors first identify shortcomings in research on the SPL that are attributable to neglect of relevant perspectives in organisational research. The authors then present a theoretical case outlining the factors that should be considered in SPL research, how they relate to one another and how they should be integrated in future studies of lean change implementation.FindingsThe theoretical framework for the SPL proposes a categorisation of factors and their relationships across levels of analysis that are relevant to the SPL. The inclusion of previously neglected perspectives, such as the relational coordination theory, within this framework offers new insights and directions for research.Practical implicationsBy emphasising relationships, the SPL framework sheds light on the scale and complexity of the management challenges involved in lean implementation.Originality/valueThe proposed framework promises to enhance the efficacy of lean research by focussing on factors, such as relationships, that are most relevant to lean implementation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 31-33

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings This research paper addresses retailer IKEA's strategic challenges surrounding corporate sustainability activity and branding across their diverse markets. The employee respondents' sustainability perceptions of IKEA included its organizational personality, the presence of competing forces in-store, and IKEA leading by example as a sustainability enabler. Varying perceptions on sustainability caused uncertainty and instability in IKEA's business model; for example, some store managers felt uncomfortable funneling sustainable messaging onto in-store customers. Therefore individual manager approaches to sustainability are a key driver in IKEA's sustainable delivery. Three change implementation phases were identified in an attempt to remedy these location-based inconsistencies. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists 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.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Tavares ◽  
Eulália Santos ◽  
Vasco Tavares

PurposeThis work aims to characterize the risks companies deal with in the context of a pandemic, and to ascertain which risk type is most present in Portuguese organizations. It is also intended to verify whether there are differences in the various risk types between companies that had or did not have a plan or strategy to act in a pandemic, such as the one caused by COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative methodology was used, based on the application of a questionnaire survey targeting the Portuguese companies. The sample is composed of 1,647 Portuguese companies, which were queried through a questionnaire survey that analyses different risk types. Then, the software R was used to treat the results.FindingsThe results show that companies are exposed and vulnerable to uncertain events, and five risk types were formed: legal, image, financial, strategic and operational. There is a bigger concern about the management of financial risks.Practical implicationsAcademics and companies can become more aware and master the concept of risk and its different branches, which consequently favours the adoption of strategies to better manage and plan risk.Originality/valueThe literature on international businesses and their risks assumes that all crises are the same. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, besides causing a recession, obliges people and companies to adapt to a new scenario. Risks become more important to companies, in a way that had not been academically studied.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 312-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nnedinma Umeokafor

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the involvement of communities – geographical or geopolitical units, which identifies culture, interest and ethnicity – in construction health and safety (H&S) and the implications. This stems from the unexamined hence poorly understood roles of many stakeholders in the construction H&S management and regulatory regime in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachInterviews with contractors and key informants and a survey of contractors were conducted. Descriptive and inferential statistics and thematic analysis were used.FindingsThere is evidences of community interventions: negotiating with contractors on H&S issues; strongly stipulating that H&S measures are adopted and implemented; and enforcing H&S through both violent and non-violent means. These have no legal backing. There is a relationship between the locations of the projects, urban area and rural area, and six community intervention variables. The study also reveals that among the implications of community interventions in H&S are contractors contextualising H&S in these communities and the tension between parties in construction projects. Again, there is a relationship between the location of the projects and six of the implications including the tension between communities and contractors and between contractors and clients.Practical implicationsIn adequately addressing construction safety, health and environment issues in Nigeria, geographic location and socio-cultural consideration are pertinent, a point for policymakers, communities and contractors.Originality/valueThe study draws attention to the geographic location and socio-cultural explanations for the differences in the H&S management, performance and attitudes of contractors in Nigeria. This is the first study that examines the involvement of communities in H&S and the implications.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document