The Comparative Statics of Optimal Hierarchies

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Cheng Chen ◽  
Wing Suen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Simple Approach ◽  
Comparative Statics ◽  
Organizational Characteristics ◽  
Organizational Decision Making ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Delay Cost ◽  
Hierarchical Organizations ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Different Levels

Several classes of models of hierarchical organizations share two common properties: the characteristics at different levels of the hierarchy are complementary, but this complementarity does not extend beyond adjacent levels. We propose a unified yet simple approach to study comparative statics of organizational characteristics with endogenous number of hierarchical layers in all these models. We use this new approach to study organizational decision making, and show that increased delay cost incentivizes the organization to empower lower level employees more than upper level employees. (JEL D21, D23, L23, M10)

Childcare Teachers' Job Satisfaction: Effects Of Personality, Conflict-handling, and Organizational Characteristics

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanglim Kim ◽  
Sungeun Yang
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Organizational Characteristics ◽  
Personality Profiles ◽  
Organizational Decision Making ◽  
Childcare Centers ◽  
Individual Personality ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Conflict Handling

We aimed to examine the comprehensive effects of individual personality traits, interpersonal conflict-handling styles, and organizational characteristics on job satisfaction as perceived by childcare teachers. The sample comprised 179 childcare teachers in South Korea. Survey results revealed that organizational characteristics, such as rewards, director support, collegial relationships, and participation in organizational decision making, positively affected job satisfaction. In addition, job satisfaction was increased by the influence dimension of personality profiles, whereas it was not significantly influenced by conflict-handling styles. The findings in this study suggest that the structural and operating conditions of childcare centers should be improved to increase teachers' job satisfaction.

Relining the garbage can of organizational decision-making: modeling the arrival of problems and solutions as queues

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-142
Author(s):  
Peter W Glynn ◽  
Henrich R Greve ◽  
Hayagreeva Rao
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Independent Action ◽  
Organizational Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Hierarchy ◽  
Garbage Can Model ◽  
Problem Resolution ◽  
Queuing Models ◽  
Problems And Solutions ◽  
Problem Solvers ◽  
Different Levels

Abstract The garbage can account of organizations where problems, solutions, and people chase each other is often invoked but rarely studied since its publication 44 years ago. It has been critiqued for being a metaphor rather than a model, and offering a deterministic rather than stochastic account. We reline the garbage can model of organizational decision-making by modeling the arrival of problems, people, and solutions as queues that get matched randomly. We show that queuing models allow us to understand the effect of using either experts, supervisor approval, teams, and deviation from supervision on problem resolution and oversight. Our approach shows that manager approval increased the standard deviation of problem resolution, whereas queues are processed faster and have lower variance when there is oversight or teamwork, or when manager approval is bypassed due to independent action by problem solvers. It also shows the costs of using an organizational hierarchy to address problems with different levels of difficulty, or specialization to address a mixture of fundamentally different problems. Thus, a stochastic garbage can model provides insights into why organizations make many decisions but often fail to resolve problems!

The Emergence and Maintenance of Ethical Leadership in Organizations

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silke Astrid Eisenbeiß ◽  
Steffen R. Giessner
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Leadership Behavior ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Organizational Characteristics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Environmental Complexity ◽  
Group Influence ◽  
Analysis Society ◽  
Different Levels

The present paper gives a review of empirical research on ethical leadership and shows that still little is known known about the contextual antecedents of ethical leadership. To address this important issue, a conceptual framework is developed that analyzes the embeddedness of organizational ethical leadership. This framework identifies manifest and latent contextual factors on three different levels of analysis – society, industry, and organization – which can affect the development and maintenance of ethical leadership. In particular, propositions are offered about how (1) societal characteristics, notably the implementation and the spirit of human rights in a society and societal cultural values of responsibility, justice, humanity, and transparency; (2) industry characteristics such as environmental complexity, the content of the organizational mandate, and the interests of stakeholder networks; and (3) intra-organizational characteristics, including the organizational ethical infrastructure and the ethical leadership behavior of a leader’s peer group, influence the development and maintenance of ethical leadership in organizations. This list of factors is not exhaustive, but illustrates how the three levels may impact ethical leadership. Implications for managerial practice and future research are discussed.

Collaborative Action Research In Academic Administration

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-252
Author(s):  
Bradley C. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Collaborative Action Research ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Academic Administration ◽  
Leadership Culture ◽  
Collaborative Action ◽  
Working Together ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
Action Process

This research involved a study exploring the changes in an academic institution expressed through decision-making in a shifting leadership culture. Prior to the study, the school was heavily entrenched in authoritarian and centralized decision-making, but as upper-level administrators were exposed to the concept of collaborative action research, they began making decisions through a reflection and action process. Changing assumptions and attitudes were observed and recorded through interviews at the end of the research period. The research team engaged in sixteen weekly cycles of reflection and action based on an agenda they mutually agreed to and through an analysis of post-research interviews, weekly planning meetings, discussions, and reflection and action cycles. Findings revealed experiences centering around the issues of:  The nature of collaboration- it created discomfort, it created a sense of teamwork, it created difficulty.  The change of environment in the process- team members began to respect each other more, and the process became more enjoyable.  The freedom and change in the process- freedom to voice opinions and to actively listen, the use of experience to lead elsewhere in the school.  How issues of power are better understood by working together- the former process was less collaborative, politics will always be part of the process. As a result of this study, members have started using this decision-making methodology in other areas of administration.

scholarly journals The Biography of an Algorithm: Performing algorithmic technologies in organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 263178772110046
Author(s):  
Vern L. Glaser ◽  
Neil Pollock ◽  
Luciana D’Adderio
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Capabilities ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Organizational Decision Making ◽  
Computational Tools ◽  
Dynamic Perspective ◽  
Over Time

Algorithms are ubiquitous in modern organizations. Typically, researchers have viewed algorithms as self-contained computational tools that either magnify organizational capabilities or generate unintended negative consequences. To overcome this limited understanding of algorithms as stable entities, we propose two moves. The first entails building on a performative perspective to theorize algorithms as entangled, relational, emergent, and nested assemblages that use theories—and the sociomaterial networks they invoke—to automate decisions, enact roles and expertise, and perform calculations. The second move entails building on our dynamic perspective on algorithms to theorize how algorithms evolve as they move across contexts and over time. To this end, we introduce a biographical perspective on algorithms which traces their evolution by focusing on key “biographical moments.” We conclude by discussing how our performativity-inspired biographical perspective on algorithms can help management and organization scholars better understand organizational decision-making, the spread of technologies and their logics, and the dynamics of practices and routines.

A new simpler approach to measure the strength of toe plantar flexion requiring no mechanical restraint with a light-weight device

2021 ◽  
pp. 095441192110029
Author(s):  
Yuko Komuro ◽  
Yuji Ohta
Keyword(s):  
Plantar Flexion ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Simple Approach ◽  
Light Weight ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Mechanical Restraint ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Ankle Joints ◽  
The Mean

Conventionally, the strength of toe plantar flexion (STPF) is measured in a seated position, in which not only the target toe joints but also the knee and particularly ankle joints, are usually restrained. We have developed an approach for the measurement of STPF which does not involve restraint and considers the interactions of adjacent joints of the lower extremities. This study aimed to evaluate this new approach and comparing with the seated approach. A thin, light-weight, rigid plate was attached to the sole of the foot in order to immobilize the toe area. Participants were 13 healthy young women (mean age: 24 ± 4 years). For measurement of STPF with the new approach, participants were instructed to stand, raise the device-wearing leg slightly, plantar flex the ankle, and push the sensor sheet with the toes to exert STPF. The sensor sheet of the F-scan II system was inserted between the foot sole and the plate. For measurement with the seated approach, participants were instructed to sit and push the sensor with the toes. They were required to maintain the hip, knee, and ankle joints at 90°. The mean values of maximum STPF of the 13 participants obtained with each approach were compared. There was no significant difference in mean value of maximum STPF when the two approaches were compared (new: 59 ± 23 N, seated: 47 ± 33 N). The coefficient of variation of maximum STPF was smaller for data obtained with the new approach (new: 39%, seated: 70%). Our simple approach enables measurement of STPF without the need for the restraints that are required for the conventional seated approach. These results suggest that the new approach is a valid method for measurement of STPF.

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