Supply chain environmental management: Elements for success

As environmental concerns reach the corporate boardrooms and the offices of upper management, firms continue to struggle with improving environmental performance throughout the entire organization. While changing the environmental performance from within is difficult, it is even more difficult to move outside of the organization. This process is especially challenging as firms look to improve environmental performance throughout the entire supply chain.In this article, Steve Lippman, the program manager in the Business and Environmental Program at Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), reports on the latest thingking in supply chain environmental management. The article shares the lessons that BSR has learned from leading firms about the types of activities companies are undertaking to influence their suppliers, the characteristics of effective supply chain environmental management programs, and the key steps for initiating or expanding these activities.     

Partners in new product development: SC Johnson and the alliance for environmental innovation

In the previous issue of CES (Winter 1999), SC Johnson's early efforts at integrating core business decisions with environmental concerns were explored by researchers at INFORM, Inc. By gaining upper management attention, explicitly aligning environmental concerns with key business goals, and designing consistency into the overall company management system, SC Johnson was able to “break down the green wall” in the organization.In this follow-up article, CES explores a recent effort between the Alliance for Environmental Innovation and SC Johnson to further integrate environmental decision making throughout the organization. The project focused on: (1) creating practical tools to identify environmental considerations at the earliest stages of new product development, and, (2) addressing consumers' environmental needs in the conception and marketing of “greener” products. The Alliance and SC Johnson formed a task force that included both staff members from the Alliance, as well as members of the environmental, product development, product safety and marketing staffs at SC Johnson. This unique partnership has aided SC Johnson by more directly linking consumer and company environmental objectives to the new product development process.     

Innovation management in context: environment, organization and performance

Several decades of research into innovation management have failed to provide clear and consistent findings or coherent advice to managers. In this paper, I argue that this is because innovation management 'best practice' is contingent on a range of factors, and that we need better characterizations of the technological and market contingencies which affect the opportunity for, and constraints on, innovation. I review research on innovation together with relevant studies from organizational behaviour and strategic management, and develop a model which may help to guide future innovation research on the relationships between environmental contingencies, organization configurations and performance. I identify uncertainty and complexity as the key environmental contingencies that influence organizational structure and management processes for innovation.     

Limitations to Freedom: is there a Choice for Human Resource Management?

There is a great variety in human resource management (HRM) practices, not only in terms of policies and personnel activities, but also with regard to the parties involved and the procedures for decision-making. But which factors can best account for these differences? Are they due to organizational and environmental characteristics or are they basically due to the interests, preferences and power positions of the parties concerned - parties like management, employees, personnel management staff, trade union representatives, members of the works council and so on? Based on elements of industrial relations theory, organization theory and organization sociology, a research project was set up with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the factors which can shape HRM practices. The empirical part of the research consisted of paired comparative case studies from different industries. The result is a conceptual model which not only encompasses the relevant forces in the shaping of HRM, but also states the conditions determining the amount of room for manoeuvre the parties concerned have to make their own strategic choices with regard to HRM.     

EH&S preparation-meeting the needs of hiring managers

Sound environmental management systems add value to business by reducing liability and fines for non-compliance. Increasingly, these systems are being used to address sustainable enterprise challenges of the next century. The well-prepared professional environmental manager is critical to advancing the state of environmental protection and leading the organization to create greater stewardship. Carol Singer Neuvelt, Executive Director of the National Association for Environmental Management, describes a business/education survey and subsequent Summit on understanding how business and environmental management education schools view these critical skills.     

Cooperation Versus Confrontation: A Comparison of Approaches to Environmental Risk Management in Japan and the United States1

This paper compares approaches to environmental risk management in Japan and the United States. The paper includes an historical examination of two case studies of environmental risk management: synthetic detergents and lead in gasoline. In addition, the paper discusses several important differences between Japan and the United States, including (a) different attitudes toward separating environmental risk management from environmental risk assessment, and (b) different approaches toward environmental risk management. Specifically, the Japanese approach is based largely on a cooperative model of risk management, with a strong emphasis on negotiation and consensus-building, while the U.S. approach is based largely on a confrontational model of risk management, with a strong emphasis on rigorous scientific analysis and open adverserial processes.     

虚拟企业基于质量功能配置的多功能质量小组选配

多功能质量小组是虚拟企业质量保证的基本组织结构,它以产品对象为核心动态组建,以产品全生命周期质量管理作为中心职责。为了组建满足顾客需求的多功能质量小组,利用扩展的质量功能配置模型建立顾客需求到质量职能单元的映射,并由此建立多功能质量小组选配整数规划模型,从而实现了虚拟企业多功能质量小组的优化配置。     

基于多Agent仿真的组织学习与知识水平关系研究

运用多智能体仿真模型从微观层面构建组织知识学习仿真模型,研究在组织内部人员流动和组织外部环境变动的情况下,组织知识编码策略、组织内部人际学习速度和组织人员编码知识学习速度对组织知识水平的影响.研究结果表明,在外部环境变动的情况下.适当的人员变动有利于提高组织知识水平,二者的关系呈倒U型结构;在内外环境稳定的情况下,人际学习速度与组织知识水平的关系也呈倒U型结构,但在组织内外环境变动的情况下,高人际学习速度有利于提高组织知识水平;频繁的组织知识编码能在短时间内提高组织知识水平,但影响组织知识的异构性,不利于组织长期知识水平的提高;在外部环境变动的情况下,适当的知识编码策略有利于缓解环境变动对组织知识水平的负面影响.从理论上扩展和验证了现有模型,从实践上为组织文化氛围建设、知识编码管理和人力资源管理提供启示.     

企业项目管理成熟度模型的构建与应用研究

项目管理成熟度模型(PMMM)是用来帮助项目管理组织评估和改进自身项目管理水平的一种方法和工具,对于我国企业项目管理实践有着重要的指导意义。本文结合我国项目管理知识体系与企业应用特点,研究提出了基于项目过程的企业项目管理成熟度等级模型,建立了评价指标体系,并阐述了各等级的关键实践活动,最后本文探索了我国企业采用该项目管理成熟度等级模型的途经与方法。     

组织演化理论视角下的股权结构与子公司生存——环境突变、冗余资源的调节作用

本文运用组织演化理论、公司治理和资源基础观理论,以1932家非国有企业的子公司为样本,研究了股权结构、子公司冗余资源等因素对子公司应对环境变化能力的影响,对环境变化和子公司生存状况的动态演化进行了分析。研究发现,在环境较稳定时,合资子公司的失败危险高于独资子公司;而当环境发生突变时（如经济危机）,合资子公司的失败危险则低于独资子公司。冗余资源、资源使用效率和能力的不同是导致子公司在环境变化中生存状况差异的一个重要因素,子公司的股权结构在一定程度上会影响这种效率和能力。本研究证实了子公司的自治程度有助于培养其应对环境变化的能力,从而提高子公司的生存率。以往研究对股权结构与绩效关系多采用静态分析,本文将环境变化和冗余资源引入到分析框架中进行动态分析,丰富了该领域的研究成果。     

神舟项目管理成熟度模型

本文简要介绍一种我国自行开发的项目管理成熟度模型——神舟项目管理成熟度模型(SZ-PMMM)。该模型是由面向企业级组织和项目级组织的两个相对独立的项目管理成熟度模型组成的集成模型,突破了“项目管理成熟度即项目管理过程成熟度”的传统框架,从更广泛的领域评价项目管理成熟度;同时,关注了企业级组织中多项目间管理能力的差异性,强化了企业级组织项目管理能力提升的动力机制,对各级组织项目管理能力的评价与改进有指导意义。     

Sustainability in the Construction Business — A Case Study

Skanska is among the world's five largest construction companies, with construction-related activities and project development operations in some 60 countries. A strategic approach to environment was adopted in 1995. In 1998 a decision was made to introduce certified environmental management systems. The drivers behind these steps were pressures from the market, future legislation and public opinion.By the end of 2000, all business units of Skanska had environmental management systems certified according to ISO 14001. Newly acquired companies are required to have certified systems within two years after acquisition. While environmental management systems provide the necessary framework, more technical tools are also needed. Some examples of such tools are presented in this article.ISO 14001 is an important element in focusing the attention of the organization on environmental issues, but for leadership in environment, a number of guiding principles are also presented and discussed.Finally, corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be seen as a framework for all types of issues where a company is regarded as having certain obligations toward society at large, because of direct or indirect effects from its business operations. It is only logical that Skanska, following its work with ISO 14001 and the move toward leadership in environment, now has decided to develop a CSR platform.     

ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT,DIFFERENTIATION AND PERCEIVED ENVIRONMENTAL UNCERTAINTY1

Four propositions are derived from an a priori model which relates environmental characteristics, organizational differentiation, and perceived environmental uncertainty. The four propositions are: (P₁) the greater the magnitude of each of several task environmental dimensions confronting an organization, the greater the degree of organizational differentiation, (P₂) the greater the degree of task environment change, the greater the degree of organizational differentiation, (P₃) the greater the size of the organization, the greater the organizational differentiation, and (P₄) the greater the organizational differentiation, the less the degree of perceived environmental uncertainty seen by top administrators. These propositions were tested on 23 Employment Service District Offices with objective environmental and organizational differentiation measures and with self report indices of perceived environmental uncertainty. Zero-order correlational and regression analyses supported propositions P₁, P₃, and P₄. Based on the empirical findings, a revised model of environment, differentiation and uncertainty was developed. Suggestions for future research and theorizing are offered.     

A path analytic study of the effect of top management support for information systems performance

Information systems (IS) have become a vital component of an organization's competitive practices. Organizations have tried to differentiate themselves based on their use and adaptation of new information technology. Top management support (TMS) is a significant factor in influencing the effectiveness of the IS function in an organization. The literature has conceptually supported this notion, but empirical evidence has been sparse. This paper develops a two-tiered framework for studying the relationship between top management support, the IS function, and IS performance. This conceptual model was empirically tested using structural equation modeling based on data collected through a survey instrument. The results support the direct and indirect relationships depicted in the model between top management support and IS performance.     

Unpacking the circular economy: A problematizing review

Transitioning to a circular economy (CE) model has been proposed to solve many grand environmental challenges. While research on CE has been extensively reviewed, less is known about the implicit underlying assumptions of this work. Understanding these assumptions is critical as they typically go unchallenged yet play a significant role in shaping research fields. In this paper we conduct a problematizing review to critically analyse and make explicit the in-house, root metaphor and ideological assumptions that inform the framing of CE. Firstly, we demonstrate various in-house assumptions about CE, such as an emphasis on the business case for CE and the relationship between CE and corporate sustainability. Secondly, root metaphor assumptions include circularity and industrial relationships resembling biological metabolisms. Finally, the dominant ideological assumptions-neoliberalism and ecological modernization-guide scholarly thinking about growth, consumption and profit maximization. Based on our analysis and drawing on the ongoing CE debates within broader environmental studies, we suggest new agendas for future research. We contribute to the growing literature on CE in business, management and organization studies by identifying assumptions that may be misleading or limiting for future CE research, as well as to the conversations on grand challenges by discussing the implications of how challenges and solutions are framed.     

3 Critical Management Studies

Abstract

Critical management studies (CMS) offers a range of alternatives to mainstream management theory with a view to radically transforming management practice. The common core is deep skepticism regarding the moral defensibility and the social and ecological sustainability of prevailing conceptions and forms of management and organization. CMS's motivating concern is neither the personal failures of individual managers nor the poor management of specific firms, but the social injustice and environmental destructiveness of the broader social and economic systems that these managers and firms serve and reproduce. This chapter reviews CMS's progress, main themes, theoretical and epistemological premises, and main projects; we also identify some problems and make some proposals. Our aim is to provide an accessible overview of a growing movement in management studies.     

基于知识管理的敏捷组织学习二维度模型框架

如何在知识管理先进思想的基础上,充分利用信息技术来促进组织学习,是当前企业管 理的主要研究问题之一. 在剖析了两个具有代表性的组织学习模型基础上,提出了一种基于知 识管理的敏捷组织学习二维度模型框架. 在该模型框架中,充分考虑了组织学习的核心内容, 并围绕学习主体和学习工具的互动关系,对组织学习过程进行了构建. 文章不仅详细给出了该 模型框架的建立过程以及实施要素、原则和方法,而且通过一个案例具体说明了该模型框架在 企业项目建设中的实际意义和应用价值.     

Decision Processes for Developing Strategic Applications of Information Systems: A Contingency Approach*

Strategic applications of information systems (IS) are considered by IS researchers to be determined by contextual factors such as environmental uncertainty, and influenced by attributes of the processes preceding them, such as planning and top management support. For better management of the process leading to these applications, it is essential to understand the relationship between process attributes and contextual factors. Utilizing a contingency approach, this article takes a step toward such an understanding. Based on successful strategic IS applications from 81 large companies, it examines the relationship between the context of these applications and the decision-making process leading to them. The results indicate that the external environment is related to whether a rational or political decision-making process is used. The IS function seems to influence the use of the decision process implied by IS researchers, one in which the top management champions the strategic application, while the IS managers contribute by conducting in-depth analysis. However, the organization structure was not related to any decision process attribute. The implications of these findings for future research and practice are also discussed.     

Interdisciplinary and Interorganizational Research: Establishing the Science of Enterprise Networks

We review and discuss the evolution of interdisciplinary and interorganizational research in operations management and suggest directions for future investigations. The proposed operations management research focus is one that embraces a more holistic view of an “extended enterprise” which involves working with a new business model—the organization as a network. This methodology starts by treating the organization as a system that is enabled by information technology and is characterized by ubiquitous information sharing across traditional enterprise. Proper integration of technology, business processes and people factors needs to be developed to create higher value from networked enterprises. Operations management research future lies in establishing this science from an interdisciplinary perspective. We analyze this perspective in the context of papers published in the first 50 issues of Production and Operations Management and the related literature.