Dealing With Paradoxes, Manufacturing Governance: Organizational Change in European Third-Sector Organizations

Third-sector organizations (TSOs) in Europe have been confronted with profound changes to their regulatory and societal environments. By applying the concepts of “organizational paradoxes” and “governance,” we analyze how TSOs have adjusted their governance as a response to these environmental challenges. Based on organizational case studies in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, we argue that TSOs have found multiple ways to address tensions at the organizational level, for example, by mobilizing and combining resources, re-arranging their organizational governance and by adopting new legal forms. These changes have resulted in hybridization and increased organizational complexity that might translate into the emergence of new paradoxes at the organizational level. Therefore, dealing with paradoxes constitutes an ongoing process for TSOs that goes beyond incremental adjustments.

Time wasting behaviour: how to identify and address it as the team leader

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to help leaders and managers understand what is going on behind time-wasting behaviors they see in their teams and support them in making productive changes. Design/methodology/approach Taken from Time Mastery: Banish Time Management Forever by Karen Meager and John McLachlan. This study uses an integrative psychology approach drawing on modalities such as transactional analysis, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), cognitive behavioral theory (CBT) and traditional leadership models, and integrating those with the authors’ practical experience working in organizations over the past 15 years. Findings Team members’ time management issues can be addressed if leaders take a more holistic view of their behavior. Traditional time management approaches do not work for everyone, so leaders need to tailor their style to adapt. There are some common time-wasting behaviors that are easily addressed, once identified. Originality/value Taken from the newly published Time Mastery: Banish Time Management Forever by Karen Meager and John McLachlan, this study combines the psychology of how we process, communicate, and use time from a number of psychological methodologies and combines them with practical organizational case studies and experience.

Coordination mechanisms in four accountable care organizations

New organization theory posits that coordination mechanisms work by generating three integrating conditions: accountability (clarity about task responsibilities), predictability (clarity about which, when, and how tasks will be accomplished), and common understanding (shared perspectives about tasks). We apply this new theory to health care to improve understanding of how accountable care organizations (ACOs) are attempting to reduce the fragmentation that characterizes the US health care system. Drawing on four organizational case studies, we find that ACOs rely on a wide variety of coordination mechanisms that have been designed to leverage existing organizational capabilities, accommodate local contingencies. and, in some instances, interact strategically. We conclude that producing integrating conditions across the care continuum requires suites of interacting coordination mechanisms. Our findings provide a conceptual foundation for future research and improvements.

Organizational Networks and Recovery following the Canterbury Earthquakes

Following a disaster, the recovery of organizations is influenced by the flow of resources and information through organizational networks. The 2010–2011 earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand, had major direct and indirect impacts on local organizations and the regional economy. This paper utilizes 47 organizational case studies to assess the role of organizations’ networks in their response and short-term recovery activities, and to explore the effects of networks on regional reconstruction and related sectors. The results are organized around four thematic analyses, focusing on organizations’ support network characteristics, the types of support mobilized to aid recovery, network adaptations for new post-quake demands, and the economic impacts of organizational networks in reconstruction. The paper discusses how organizations managed and utilized networks to reduce the impacts of the earthquakes and to adapt to altered post-quake environments. These empirical observations of post-quake organizational behavior can also inform regional economic impact and resilience modeling.

Enhancing Performance Through Knowledge Management

Knowledge management (KM) has gained increasing attention since the mid-1990s. A KM strategy involves consciously helping people share and put knowledge into action. However, before an organization can realize the promise of KM, a fundamental question needs to be asked: What performance goal(s) is the organization trying to achieve? In this paper, we develop and offer a framework that provides a holistic view of the performance environment surrounding organizational knowledge work. We illustrate the KM framework using two organizational case studies. Then, based on the KM framework and further insights drawn from our case studies, we offer a series of steps that may guide and assist organizations and practitioners as they undertake KM initiatives. We further demonstrate the applicability of these steps by examining KM initiatives within a global software development company. We conclude with a discussion of implications for organizational practice and directions for future research.

A Multi-Level Performance Framework for Knowledge Management

Knowledge management (KM) has gained increasing attention since the mid-1990s. A KM strategy involves consciously helping people share and put knowledge into action. However, before an organization can realize the promise of KM, a fundamental question needs to be asked: What performance goal(s) is the organization trying to achieve? In this chapter, we develop and offer a multi-level framework that provides a view of the performance environment surrounding organizational knowledge work. We illustrate the KM framework using two organizational case studies. Then, based on the KM framework and further insights drawn from our case studies, we offer a series of steps that may guide and assist organizations and practitioners as they undertake KM initiatives. We further demonstrate the applicability of these steps by examining KM initiatives within a global software development company. We conclude with a discussion of implications for organizational practice and directions for future research.

Enhancing Performance Through Knowledge Management

Knowledge management (KM) has gained increasing attention since the mid-1990s. A KM strategy involves consciously helping people share and put knowledge into action. However, before an organization can realize the promise of KM, a fundamental question needs to be asked: What performance goal(s) is the organization trying to achieve? In this paper, we develop and offer a framework that provides a holistic view of the performance environment surrounding organizational knowledge work. We illustrate the KM framework using two organizational case studies. Then, based on the KM framework and further insights drawn from our case studies, we offer a series of steps that may guide and assist organizations and practitioners as they undertake KM initiatives. We further demonstrate the applicability of these steps by examining KM initiatives within a global software development company. We conclude with a discussion of implications for organizational practice and directions for future research.

Influence of the Organizational Culture into IT Department Structure, User Relationships and Motivators

This chapter presents two organizational case studies of Brazilian companies: a cutlery multinational with both domestic and international plants, including in the USA, and a public university. The chapter describes their organizational culture and the Information Technology (IT) structure resulting from that culture, how IT responds to business requests, and the main drivers, indicators, and motivators of the IT area. At the end, some questions are raised about organizational and individual culture, how these elements can influence IT personnel, and their attitude towards the problems of users, as well as how they can sometimes change patterns of behavior in the organization.