How to intentionally forget rules in newly introduced agile projects

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 470-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel F. Volland

Purpose While much empirical research has examined how routines are unlearned, little is known about the intentional forgetting of rules in organizations. This paper aims to combine the literature on organizational rules and that on intentional forgetting with the aim of studying the relationship between power types of rule imposition and the process of intentional forgetting. Design/methodology/approach This study is a single-case analysis carried out in a multinational automotive company that introduced an agile project into the development department. The case was chosen because the introduction of agility was grounded on a dominantly created set of rules. Access to unique data was provided to study processes of intentional forgetting when actors have to apply new rules. In all, 33 interviews and further observations were conducted in a two-year study. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) was used for data analysis. Findings This case study demonstrates the importance of two forms of power, domination and self-organization, when it comes to forgetting rules intentionally. A rule will be intentionally forgotten if it is created by domination, does not originate from conventional working practices and does not determine an organizational unit (development team). Furthermore, the findings point to the importance of self-organization when it comes to intentional forgetting. Research limitations/implications This research relies on a single-case study and presents first results on intentionally forgetting rules. Practical implications Organizations implementing new forms of working such as agile working in their existing structures should be aware that processes of intentional forgetting can occur. Managers should consider why organizational members stop following dominantly created rules. Ignoring such a phenomenon could be a threat to the organization’s success. Originality/value While many studies examined the process of unlearning routines, little is known about the intentional forgetting of rules in organizations. Rules are different from routines because they are imposed and encompass a normative component. The imposition of a rule is based on power. Two forms of power are presented in this article: domination and self-organization. In addition, the QCA was carried out at a micro-level.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Deflorin ◽  
Maike Scherrer ◽  
Katrin Schillo

PurposeThe coordination of a manufacturing network is a challenging task and may be contingent upon the manufacturing environment. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and manufacturing network coordination relate.Design/methodology/approachBased on a single case study, the paper at hand provides insights on IIoT enablers and the relationship to manufacturing coordination mechanism. The data sample is based on 15 group interviews with overall eight employees from headquarters and business units.FindingsThe derived results show that the IIoT enablers (digital technologies, connectivity, data, capabilities and management) are highly related to the manufacturing network coordination mechanism. The results indicate that IIoT initiatives and manufacturing network coordination should be designed to support each other.Originality/valueThe implementation if IIoT initiatives is often analysed in isolation without considering the manufacturing network and more specifically the manufacturing network coordination mechanism. The results highlight how the implementation of IIoT initiatives may act as trigger to adapt formal manufacturing network coordination mechanism.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanna Gillberg ◽  
Ewa Wikström

PurposeThis study was undertaken in order to show how talent management (TM) was performed in practice in a multinational organization as well as how the TM practices affected both different groups of workers and the perception of talent within the organization.Design/methodology/approachPerforming talent management was reassessed in the relationship between TM practices, view and identification of talent, attributed positioning and self-positioning of older and younger workers; retrieved from an exploratory single case study in a multinational organization, based on interviews.FindingsThe findings illustrate that despite the struggling to fill key positions with skilled workers, the studied organization adopted approaches to TM that excluded older workers' talent. First, central to performing TM was how talent was viewed and identified, and second, two types of positioning acts were important: the organizations (re)producing of talent management through attributive positioning acts on older/younger workers and older workers' self-positioning of their own talent. The two sides of performing talent management were complex and intertwined resulting in an age-based devaluation of talent at work.Practical implicationsThe study points to important issues in designing and performing TM that may be useful to HR and managers as a point of departure in the development of more inclusive approaches to TM.Originality/valueThe concept “performing talent management” was developed as an intertwined relationship between on-going positioning acts and (re)production of status, talent and age at work; recognizing preferences of what was viewed and identified as valued talent as main drivers made it possible to develop an understanding of exclusion and inclusion mechanisms in performing TM.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linyan Liu ◽  
Yilei Wang

Purpose This paper aims to take International SPOrt (ISPO) as a typical case to study how exhibition organizers can reshape their relationship with users through business model innovation to answer the question that how enterprises can help the exhibition industry to upgrade and develop through business model innovation in the internet environment. Design/methodology/approach Faced with the development of internet technology, the impact of online platforms, the relationship between exhibition organizers and their customers are facing unprecedented challenges. On the basis of the literature review, this study analyzed the innovation of exhibitors’ business model from three modules: value proposition, revenue logic and cost base and how to reshape their interaction with users through innovation. This study systematically analyzed the innovation of the ISPO business model and the process of reshaping its relationship with users and dynamic interaction with a single case study method. Findings The main conclusions are as follows: the starting point of reshaping the relationship between exhibition organizer and users in the internet era is to re-understand the needs of customers, the key point of reshaping the relationship is to further cultivate the industrial value and the sustainability of the relationship lies in the customer life cycle management. Originality/value From the perspective of exhibition organizers filling the gap of case study in the field of the exhibition. In the area of the exhibition, previous studies rarely started from the perspective of exhibition organizers, but, this paper discusses the interaction between exhibition organizers, exhibitors and visitors from this perspective in this study.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 562-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Ferramosca ◽  
Alessandro Ghio

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how organization’s resources and community aspects shape intellectual capital (IC) performance in developing countries. In fact, it is still unclear to what level organizational aggregation can influence forms of IC performance in the simultaneous presence of strong traditional legacy and eagerness for development. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a project of aggregation of artists in Kenya. It uses a mixed methods approach. Findings The analysis first documents that multiple capital resources, i.e., human, social, and organizational contribute to improve IC performance. Social and organizational resources have the largest positive effects. This study then supports the importance of community aspects in fostering IC performance. In this light, it appears to facilitate knowledge interaction and interrelationship networks rather than accentuate possible pre-existing groups’ rivalry. Research limitations/implications The results are inferred from a single case study, and so the reader is given the caveat that the results cannot be easily generalized. The evidence gathered can represent a useful ground on which to build future studies comparing different legal, social, cultural, and economic contexts. Practical implications This study gathers insights on how organization’s resources can lead to IC performance in developing countries and in a setting characterized by a high degree of institutional complexity. It also addresses the call for more research on programs implemented at local level to leverage IC and to valorize traditional knowledge in a sustainable and concrete way. Originality/value Evidence on IC in developing countries is still scant, besides their potential for growth. This study attempts to address this gap. Moreover, it pays attention to the context by analyzing the community aspects. Finally, the use of mixed methods further validates previous evidence on the relationship between organization’s resources and IC performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1937-1955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Liu ◽  
Beverley Sparks ◽  
Alexandra Coghlan

Purpose This paper aims to use a concurrent mixed method approach to explore the key variables that can influence customer experience at a food and wine event. Design/methodology/approach A concurrent mixed methods approach, using a participant-generated image (PGI) method, together with a recall survey, provided images with associated narratives, descriptive statistics, correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analysis to explore how attendees appraise their experiences based on their goals and the link between experience appraisals and overall evaluations. Findings Through the PGI method (N = 25), the authors determined that customer experience at the event could be viewed as a hierarchical model, comprising a fundamental sensory experience together with three higher-order customer experience components (fun, discovery and inspiration). A separate concurrent recall study (N = 598) demonstrated the relationship between the same four customer experience components and overall satisfaction as well as recommendation and repeat visitation. Practical implications The results suggest that to promote positive customer experiences, along with the product of the event itself, event managers should focus on activity programs that are fun, inspirational and novel, as well as sensory. Originality/value This study focuses on a single case study of an event to examine and extend our understanding of customer experience. The use of a concurrent mixed methods approach provides us with different types of data from two separate samples of participants. By integrating data from each study the authors are able to build a conceptual model of the salient dimensions of customer experience and then quantitatively analyze how these salient dimensions are related to outcome variables.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 726-733
Author(s):  
Thommie Burström

Purpose – It is common that junior researchers struggle in finding their own way of doing research. The purpose of this paper is therefore to use the theory of “Muddling through” in order to theorize about the junior vs senior researcher collaboration process. Design/methodology/approach – The theory of “Muddling through” is used in order to reflect on the qualities of shared collaboration between a junior and senior research colleague. Findings – The research process share the characteristics of policy making where goals many times are fuzzy, and the relationship between means to end is far from self-evident. The research process therefore demands from the senior colleague to act firm, fair and friendly in order to support and inspire junior research colleagues. Research limitations/implications – It is a personalized single case study; still it provides advice for both junior and senior research colleagues that are in the process of research collaboration. Practical implications – Junior colleagues need to have the courage of actively suggesting research topics to senior colleagues; they also need to actively reflect on the quality of their shared research collaboration process. Originality/value – The study provides the research community with a sensemaking example of coaching, inspiration and mentoring in the research collaboration process.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daragh O’Reilly ◽  
Kathy Doherty ◽  
Elizabeth Carnegie ◽  
Gretchen Larsen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how music consumption communities remember their past. Specifically, the paper reports on the role of heritage in constructing the cultural memory of a consumption community and on the implications for its identity and membership. Design/methodology/approach Drawing upon insights from theories of cultural memory, heritage, and collective consumption, this interpretive inquiry makes use of interview, documentary, and artefactual analysis, as well as visual and observational data, to analyse an exhibition of the community’s popular music heritage entitled One Family – One Tribe: The Art & Artefacts of New Model Army. Findings The analysis shows how the community creates a sense of its own past and reflects this in memories, imagination, and the creative work of the band. Research limitations/implications This is a single case study, but one whose exploratory character provides fruitful insights into the relationship between cultural memory, imagination, heritage, and consumption communities. Practical implications The paper shows how consumption communities can do the work of social remembering and re-imagining of their own past, thus strengthening their identity through time. Social implications The study shows clearly how a consumption community can engage, through memory and imagination, with its own past, and indeed the past in general, and can draw upon material and other resources to heritagise its own particular sense of community and help to strengthen its identity and membership. Originality/value The paper offers a theoretical framework for the process by which music consumption communities construct their own past, and shows how theories of cultural memory and heritage can help to understand this important process. It also illustrates the importance of imagination, as well as memory, in this process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cigdem Baskici

Purpose Although there have been a considerable number of studies regarding subsidiary role typology in multinationals’ management literature, there appear to be few studies that consider knowledge-based role typology from the network-based perspective. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap and extend the study of Gupta and Govindarajan (1991). Thus, the study focuses on answering the following research question: Do subsidiaries have different roles in terms of knowledge flows within a multinational company (MNC)? Design/methodology/approach This empirical study has been carried out as an explorative single case study. An MNC with 15 foreign subsidiaries headquartered in Turkey, which operated in the manufacturing of household appliances and consumer electronics, has been selected as the case. Knowledge transfer is analyzed in this MNC from the network perspective. Findings Four role typologies are detected for subsidiaries of the MNC: collector transmitter, collector diffuser, converter transmitter and converter diffuser. Research limitations/implications Findings of this study are specific to this case. Testing the findings in a sample consisting of subsidiaries of MNCs producing transnational products may contribute to the generalizability of these roles. Practical implications This study offers potentially important findings for MNC managers to use. First, in this study, knowledge flows' route could be defined within MNCs’ dual network. Second, role typologies could inform MNC managers to design their MNCs’ knowledge network. Originality/value The suggested typologies are expected to more accurately define the roles of subsidiaries within contemporary MNCs which are accepted to be transformed from hierarchical structures to network-based organizations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 254-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asad Ul Lah ◽  
Jacqui Saradjian

Purpose Schema therapy has gone through various adaptations, including the identification of various schema modes. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that there may be a further dissociative mode, the “frozen child” mode, which is active for some patients, particularly those that have experienced extreme childhood trauma. Design/methodology/approach The paper is participant observer case study which is based on the personal reflections of a forensic patient who completed a treatment programme which includes schema therapy. Findings The proposed mode, “frozen child”, is supported by theoretical indicators in the literature. It is proposed that patients develop this mode as a protective strategy and that unless recognised and worked with, can prevent successful completion of therapy. Research limitations/implications Based on a single case study, this concept is presented as a hypothesis that requires validation as the use of the case study makes generalisation difficult. Practical implications It is suggested that if validated, this may be one of the blocks therapists have previously encountered that has led to the view that people with severe personality disorder are “untreatable”. Suggestions are made as to how patients with this mode, if validated, can be treated with recommendations as to the most appropriate processes to potentiate such therapy. Originality/value The suggestion of this potential “new schema mode” is based on service user initiative, arising from a collaborative enterprise between service user and clinician, as recommended in recent government policies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 84-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Marasquini Stipp ◽  
Márcio Lopes Pimenta ◽  
Daniel Jugend

Purpose The aim of this paper is to characterize how innovation may happen through cross-functional teams (CFT) in an organization of the public sector. Design/methodology/approach A case study helped to characterize several behavior patterns, team structures and respective links with generating innovation in internal processes and public answering contexts. Findings The results highlight that formal-temporary teams present a higher capacity to generate incremental innovation in products, whereas permanent-informal teams have a higher capacity to generate innovation in the internal processes and public answering contexts. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this research relate to the fact that this is a single case study, and although it is an important case to examine innovation and CFTs, by its very nature, it is not possible to extend and generalize the obtained data to other organizations. The evaluation of its propositions was merely qualitative, and future research is needed to validate its characteristics. Practical implications Several settings of CFTs are presented, as well as their ability to generate different types of innovation, such as the computerization of documents, petitions and papers, which decreases the time to answer the taxpayer. Moreover, CFTs can help to create products, such as computer programs that can be used not only locally but also in several public organizations related to tax management. Originality/value The field research provides the perceptions of the respondents regarding CFT characteristics that can lead to specific types of innovation, as well as the types of products or services that can be generated by these processes.


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