Power of positive words: communication, cognition, and organizational transformation

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Senthil Kumar Muthusamy
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Organizational Transformation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Positive Communication ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Management Professionals ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose In the extant organizational change literature scant attention has been given to the communication and cognitive processes consequential to organizational transformation. From the communication and sense-making perspectives, this study discusses the role of positive communication involving stories, metaphors or axioms in fostering socio-cognitive routines necessary for organizational change. The study further examines the empirical link between positive communication and organizational transformation with the survey data from professionals who have experienced the organizational change episode. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The study examines the empirical link between the positive communication and organizational transformation with a survey data collected from 174 management professionals who have recently experienced the organizational change episodes such as restructuring, reengineering, TQM adoption or new strategy implementation. With the content analysis of narratives containing metaphors, axioms and stories, the study unravels the underlying clusters of organizational and socio-cognitive dimensions associated with organizational transformation. Findings The study results affirm the importance of positive communication and its effects on the emotional buy-in, learning and transformation occurring at the individual level, and attest to the transformational effect of positive axioms, metaphors or stories on the organization. The study also revealed that the positive communication diffusing social, cognitive or emotional attributes such as commitment, trust or optimism produces the desired transformational effect. Practical implications It is imperative for managers to understand the relationship between socio-linguistic processes and cognitive attributes such as trust, commitment and learning. With the help of right metaphors, stories and axioms that resonate with changing industry conditions, managers can effectively orchestrate the strategic intent and organizational transformation. Originality/value Most studies on the relationship between managerial communication and organizational transformation are primarily qualitative case studies focusing on the dialectics of organizational change. This study carries the strong external validity by capturing the connection between managerial communications and their transformational effect with the help of data collected from the management professionals across multiple industries.

The individual side of ambidexterity

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 592-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés Salas Vallina ◽  
Maria D. Moreno-Luzon ◽  
Anna Ferrer-Franco
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Exploration And Exploitation ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Learning Capability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine whether inspirational leadership of heads of specialized medical units is related to individual ambidexterity of their dependent physicians; and second, to study the possible mediating role of organizational learning capability (OLC) in the relationship between inspirational leadership and individual ambidexterity.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modeling was used on a sample of 194 medical specialists from Spanish public hospitals.FindingsResults show that inspirational leadership is positively related to individual ambidexterity among healthcare physicians. In addition, the results of the study revealed that the relationship between inspirational leadership and individual ambidexterity is mediated by conditions that facilitate learning, namely, OLC.Research limitations/implicationsThis study uses cross-sectional data, which do not guarantee causality relationships among the examined variables.Practical implicationsThe results of this paper suggest first that heads of healthcare units should inspire followers to achieve both exploration and exploitation. Second, it is also necessary to consider that inspirational leaders promote those conditions that facilitate learning, which should be particularly taken into account to enhance both physician’s exploration and exploitation.Originality/valueIn stressing an evident gap in the relationship between leadership and ambidexterity at the individual level, this paper attempts to advance in the leadership literature by revealing how the action or power of moving the intellect or emotions, and enhancing enthusiasm and confidence, empowers physicians to both explore and exploit knowledge. The results also indicate that the inspiration transmitted by the heads of medical services, facilitate physician’s perceived learning conditions which, in turn, fosters their individual ambidexterity.

The value of human capital within Canadian business schools

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 836-855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajantha Velayutham ◽  
Asheq Razaur Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Structural Capital ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Academic Salaries ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate whether an individual’s knowledge, skills and capabilities (human capital) are reflected in their compensation. Design/methodology/approach Data are drawn from university academics in the Province of Ontario, Canada, earning more than CAD$100,000 per annum. Data on academics human capital are drawn from Research Gate. The authors construct a regression analysis to examine the relationship between human capital and salary. Findings The analyses performed indicates a positive association between academic human capital and academic salaries. Research limitations/implications This study is limited in that it measures an academic’s human capital solely through their research outputs as opposed to also considering their teaching outputs. Continuing research needs to be conducted in different country contexts and using negative proxies of human capital. Practical implications This study will create awareness about the value of human capital and its contribution towards improving organisational structural capital. Social implications The study contributes to the literature on human capital in accounting and business by focussing on the economic relevance of individual level human capital. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature on human capital in accounting and business by focussing on the economic relevance of individual level human capital. It will help create awareness of the importance of valuing human capital at the individual level.

Do empowered employees absorb knowledge?

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evangelia Siachou ◽  
Panagiotis Gkorezis
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Area ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Manufacturing Organizations ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The present study aims to contribute to the limited empirical research regarding the individual level antecedents of absorptive capacity (AC). In this vein, the authors examined the impact of employees' psychological empowerment (PE) dimensions on their AC. Moreover, the authors explored the magnitude of the relationship between one of PE four dimensions, namely competence, and AC compared to that of the rest three dimensions of PE. Design/methodology/approach – The authors collected data from 100 private employees working in two manufacturing organizations. In order to investigate the hypotheses, the authors conducted hierarchical regression and usefulness analysis. Findings – As predicted, the present results showed that all four PE dimensions affected employees' AC. Furthermore, competence demonstrated the strongest impact among all PE dimensions. Research limitations/implications – Data were drawn from two manufacturing organizations located in specific geographical area. Thus, this may constrain the generalizability of the results. Also, the cross-sectional analysis of the data cannot directly assess causality. Originality/value – To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical study examining the relationship between PE and AC.

Does job position moderate the relationship between gender and ethics?: a cross-cultural analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chung-wen Chen
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Performance Orientation ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Job Position

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between gender and ethics, the interaction of job position and gender on ethics, and the three-way interacting effects of cultural values, job position, and gender on ethics. Design/methodology/approach – The individual-level data were from the 2005-2008 wave of World Values Survey data set and the cultural values were from the GLOBE study. The research contained 26,639 subjects from 30 nations and used HLM to conduct data analysis. Findings – Results showed that men are more likely than women to justify ethically suspect behaviors. In addition, under high in-group collectivism, the ethical difference between genders tends to decrease at high job positions and under high performance orientation, the ethical difference between genders tends to increase at high job positions. Research limitations/implications – This research depends on secondary data; it is therefore impossible for the author to control the data collection process, which could be an issue for discussion. In addition, because of limited available studies to refer to, the formation of the individual-level moderator, job position, might cause some attention. Practical implications – Corporate education and training in regards to ethical issues becomes even more vital, especially for men, since the statistical results showed that men are more likely than women to be deviant. Meanwhile, organizations can help themselves by recruiting a greater number of females, as this study shows that females are seen to make more ethically sound decisions than males. Furthermore, under the contexts of high in-group collectivism and low performance orientation, both genders in higher job positions tend to be more unethical than people in lower positions. Since people in higher positions have the right and the power to set the ethical tone for the organization (Clinard, 1983; Posner and Schmidt, 1992), it becomes particularly essential for firms to pay close attention to ethical issues in higher job positions. Originality/value – The study proved that the relationship between gender and ethics is more complicated than expected; job position, and cultural values can jointly influence the individual-level relationship. In addition, since human behavior is complicated, employing multilevel method to investigate humane behaviors in the field of management becomes necessary in the future.

scholarly journals Toward understanding three phases of individual responses to paradox

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Birkelund
Keyword(s):  
Future Research ◽  
Individual Response ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Paradox Theory ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Three Phases

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to further paradox research at the individual level through applying a framework of three phases of individual response to paradox – recognition, understanding and behaviour.Design/methodology/approachCritical and integrative review of previous studies of individual responses to paradox.FindingsThe role of individual understanding is limited in extant research on individual responses to paradox. Individual understanding tends to be equated with behaviour, and thus knowledge of understanding is not differentiated enough, neither is the link between understanding and behaviour sufficiently developed.Research limitations/implicationsThe review does not consider the relationship to interactional, organisational and environmental contexts. The recommendation for future research is to explore individual responses to paradox more entirely, to provide an adequate ground for extending paradox theory across individual and broader levels of analysis.Originality/valueThe review contributes to paradox theory by separating individual understanding and then providing a framework in which recognition, understanding and behaviour can be reintegrated in new ways. In addition to more accurate discernment of individual understanding and of combinations of responses across phases, the three-phase framework facilitates investigation of more intricate influences across phases and paths of evolution of such responses over time.

“Reinventing the wheel, over and over again”. organizational learning, memory and forgetting in doing diversity work

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marieke van den Brink
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Diversity Studies ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance knowledge of organizational change towards diversity by bringing together concepts from organizational learning and diversity studies. Design/methodology/approach This longitudinal study was conducted over two years. It involved interviews, observation of meetings and consultation of documentation and the analysis focused on organizational learning. The key research question was how do organizational members institutionalize their individual learning process to change in organizational cultures, routines and structures in a sustainable way? Findings The results showed that there had been learning at the individual level but this did not necessarily mean that participants had been able to transfer their learning into behaviour change. Research limitations/implications The research suggested that training alone may not be sufficient to promote effective organizational change regarding diversity. Additional measures are likely to be required, for example, including diversity targets in performance management plans and reviews. Practical implications In order to achieve greater diversity, organizations are likely to need to use a number of methods to supplement initial training. Social implications This research gives insight into how greater diversity may be achieved in organizations. Originality/value Previous literature understates the complexity of the change processes for enhanced diversity to be sustained in organizations. This study has originality in its focus on organizational learning.

Envy climate and group performance in full-service hotels: the roles of intragroup relationship conflict and competitive climate

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Wu ◽  
Dan Ni ◽  
Shaoxue Wu ◽  
Lu Lu ◽  
Xijing Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Group Performance ◽  
Relationship Conflict ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Functional Perspective ◽  
Group Members ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The extant literature mainly focuses on the antecedents and outcomes of envy at the individual level. Workgroups have become ideal units for research on envy given the ubiquitous teamwork in organizations. This study aims to examine whether, how and when envy climate can influence group performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyzed data collected in three waves from a sample of 72 groups with 475 team members in full-service hotels in China. Findings Envy climate was negatively associated with group performance via intragroup relationship conflict. Furthermore, competitive climate moderated the effect of envy climate on intragroup relationship conflict and the indirect effect of envy climate on group performance through intragroup relationship conflict. Practical implications The present research offers organizations valuable insights into how to minimize the climate of envy and competition within a group and relieve the relationship conflict that may damage group performance. Originality/value Drawing on a social functional perspective of emotions, this study enriches the envy research by conceptualizing envy climate as a collective perception and clarifying its effect on group performance. The authors extend the understanding of envy climate by showing how a climate of envy embedded in a group influences group performance and also explain when group members may be more likely to act in a destructive way to respond to such a climate.

scholarly journals Mediation of job embeddedness and satisfaction in the relationship between task characteristics and turnover

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 248-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aristides I. Ferreira ◽  
Luis F. Martinez ◽  
José Pereira Lamelas ◽  
Rosa I. Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Turnover Intention ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Job Embeddedness ◽  
Task Characteristics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Hotel Managers ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Employees’ turnover intention is a key problem that hotel managers face daily. This is partially explained by the inevitability of performing tasks with little significance and low identity. This study aims to understand how job embeddedness and job satisfaction could lessen the undesirable effect of task characteristics on turnover intentions. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 525 employees operating in 46 Portuguese hotels was used in this study. The questionnaire included demographic variables and four reliable instruments used to measure job satisfaction, job characteristics, job embeddedness and turnover intentions. The study used a multilevel statistical approach considering both the individual and the hotel levels of analysis. Findings Through multilevel statistics, the findings suggest that both at the individual level and the hotel level of analysis, job satisfaction and job embeddedness fully mediated the relationship between different task characteristics (significance and identity) and turnover intentions. Research limitations/implications Despite a possible absence of common method variance, due to the confirmatory factor analysis, social desirability bias may exist because of the self-reported nature of the survey. Practical implications Managers should increase the perceived costs of employees leaving the hotel by introducing training programs and plans for career development. Also, to increase job embeddedness, managers should also rethink the organizational dynamics of this industry. Originality/value This research provides empirical evidence of the antecedents and mediators of employees’ intentions to leave the hotel industry both at the individual and at the hotel level (multilevel approach).

scholarly journals The hybrid identity of micro enterprises

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco G. Nunes ◽  
Janet E. Anderson ◽  
Luis M. Martins ◽  
Siri Wiig
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Pharmacies ◽  
Hybrid Identity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Normative Identity ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Level Of Analysis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of ownership of community pharmacies on the perception of organizational identity and its relationships with organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach A survey was carried out on a sample of pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Portugal. The sample comprised 1,369 pharmacists, of whom 51 percent were owner-managers. Measures of pharmacies’ normative (community health oriented) and utilitarian (business oriented) identities, identity strength (clear and unifying), substantive (stockholder focused) and symbolic (society focused) performance were included. Findings Both owners and employed pharmacists rated the normative identity of pharmacies higher than the utilitarian identity. Compared with employed pharmacists, owners perceive a lower level of utilitarian identity, the same level of normative identity, and higher levels of identity strength. Normative identity and identity strength predicted symbolic performance. Normative and utilitarian identities and identity strength predicted substantive performance. The relationship between utilitarian identity and substantive performance was significant among owner pharmacists but not among employed pharmacists. Research limitations/implications The limitations include the use of perceptive measures and the focus on the individual level of analysis. Practical implications In order to improve pharmacies’ performance, pharmacists who manage community pharmacies are challenged to reconcile tensions arising from the co-existence of business and community health identities and from their own agency (self-serving) and stewardship (altruistic) motives. Originality/value This study draws on institutional, identity and stewardship theories to understand how pharmacists, owners and employees, view the identity of community pharmacies and how identity relates to organizational performance.

National systems of entrepreneurship: goals of sustainability

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-364
Author(s):  
Mario Raposo ◽  
Cristina I. Fernandes ◽  
Pedro M. Veiga
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Institutional Characteristics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Core ◽  
Systemic Factor ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
National Systems

PurposeNational systems of entrepreneurship (NSE) broadly act as a means of allocating resources driven by the constant search for opportunities at the individual level through the launching of new businesses and firms with such activities, and their results are governed by the specific institutional characteristics of each country. In contrast to the institutional emphasis on innovation systems, in which such institutions establish and regulate actions, institutions are only able to regulate those who act with the results stemming from such individual actions, the core driver of national entrepreneurship systems.Design/methodology/approachGiven the challenges faced by companies and societies in general over mitigating climate change, support for sustainable entrepreneurship is fundamental. However, there has to be any study of the impact of national entrepreneurship systems on sustainability. This research therefore analyses the impact of national entrepreneurship systems on the sustainability of countries.FindingsThe authors conclude that those countries deploying higher level national entrepreneurship systems return better results in terms of their sustainability.Originality/valueThe authors, thus, seek to contribute towards the academic throughout deepening the knowledge prevailing on the relationship between entrepreneurship and sustainability. The authors also seek to enable managers, entrepreneurs and politicians to grasp how entrepreneurship is a systemic factor, and it is at this level that it may make its greatest contribution to bringing about sustainability.

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