Working Under a Black Cloud: How to Sustain Organizational Identification after a Merger*

This article argues against the merger folklore that maintains that a merger negatively affects well‐being and work attitudes primarily through the threat of job insecurity. We hold that the workplace is not only a resource for fulfilling a person's financial needs, but that it is an important component of the self‐concept in terms of identification with the organization, as explained by social identity theory. We unravel the key concepts of the social identity approach relevant to the analysis of mergers and review evidence from previous studies. Then, we present a study conducted during a merger to substantiate our ideas about the effects of post‐merger organizational identification above and beyond the effects of perceived job insecurity. We recommend that managers should account for these psychological effects through the provision of continuity and specific types of communication.     

The Identity‐Matching Principle: Corporate and Organizational Identification in a Franchising System*

This paper examines corporate and organizational identification in franchisee organizations from the perspective of the social identity approach. We propose the identity‐matching principle (IMP) as a heuristic for understanding and predicting the different effects of nested identifications. According to the IMP, when identifications and relevant behavioural or attitudinal outcomes address the same level of categorization, their relationship will be stronger. A study is presented with employees (n=281) matched to managers (n=101). Supporting the IMP, organizational identification (but not corporate identification) predicted customer‐oriented behaviour on the level of the local organization, whereas corporate identification (but not organizational identification) predicted attitude toward corporate citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, multilevel analyses showed that these relationships were enhanced in organizations where managers displayed the respective behaviours themselves to a greater extent. Implications for theorizing about leadership and organizational attachments are discussed alongside recommendations for organizational practitioners.     

The Scientific Visualization of Organizations: A Rationale for a New Approach to Organizational Modeling*

This article examines the rationale for the application of a new research tool, scientific visualization, to the study of organizations. Based upon a general theory of visualization, the ability to simultaneously display both variables and organizational entities should allow for easier and more widespread analysis of organizational research issues. Applications and future directions for both research and praxis are discussed.     

Getting New Staff to Stay: The Mediating Role of Organizational Identification

Newcomer turnover is a major cost to organizations, and the quality of new employees' experiences in the first few months is critical in determining whether they decide to stay or leave. In a study that focused on the first stage of newcomer socialization, we investigate the impact of perceptions of social validation from the team and the team leader, and perceived fairness of treatment on newcomers' identification with their work team and the organization, specifically measuring the group self‐investment components of identification. The mediating role of these levels of group self‐investment and of the imbalance (i.e. difference) between levels of self‐investment on turnover intentions was also tested. New staff (N=569) joining a large public‐sector organization completed a questionnaire about their socialization experiences in their first 6 months of their employment. Structural equation modelling revealed that social validation by the team and team leaders, and fairness of treatment, predict increased investment with the organization and with the team. Organizational‐level self‐investment and an imbalance in favour of investment with the organization over that of the team mediated decreases in turnover intentions. We conclude that organizations should provide newcomers with validation that promotes identification with their organization during this critical stage of socialization.     

Organizational Identity and Employer Image: Towards a Unifying Framework*

This study aims to bridge two research streams that have evolved relatively apart from each other, namely the research streams on organizational identity and on employer branding (employer image). In particular, we posit that it is crucial to examine which factors company outsiders (applicants) as well as company insiders (employees) associate with a given employer. To this end, this study uses the instrumental–symbolic framework to study factors relating to both employer image and organizational identity of the Belgian Army. Two samples are used: a sample of 258 Army applicants and a sample of 179 military employees. Results show that both instrumental and symbolic perceived image dimensions predict applicants' attraction to the Army. Conversely, symbolic perceived identity dimensions best predict employees' identification with the Army. Results further show that employees also attach importance to outsiders' assessment of the organization (construed external image). Theoretical and practical implications for managing organizational identity and image are discussed.     

International Evidence on the Determinants of Organizational Ethical Vulnerability

This paper proposes a model to explain what makes organizations ethically vulnerable. Drawing upon legitimacy, institutional, agency and individual moral reasoning theories we consider three sets of explanatory factors and examine their association with organizational ethical vulnerability. The three sets comprise external institutional context, internal corporate governance mechanisms and organizational ethical infrastructure. We combine these three sets of factors and develop an analytical framework for classifying ethical issues and propose a new model of organizational ethical vulnerability. We test our model on a sample of 253 firms that were involved in ethical misconduct and compare them with a matched sample of the same number of firms from 28 different countries. The results suggest that weak regulatory environment and internal corporate governance, combined with profitability warnings or losses in the preceding year, increase organizational ethical vulnerability. We find counterintuitive evidence suggesting that firms’ involvement in bribery and corruption prevention training programmes is positively associated with the likelihood of ethical vulnerability. By synthesizing insights about individual and corporate behaviour from multiple theories, this study extends existing analytical literature on business ethics. Our findings have implications for firms’ external regulatory settings, corporate governance mechanisms and organizational ethical infrastructure.     

Determinants of Organizational Flexibility: A Study in an Emerging Economy

This paper examines the processes of organizational adaptation and competitiveness of firms in an emerging economy. The study is set in the Argentinian context of the 1990s when a combination of economic and political change triggered a massive change in the competitive context of indigenous firms. Two highly flexible firms and two less‐flexible firms are studied from the pharmaceutical and edible oil industries and longitudinal data are supplied to explore the determinants of organizational flexibility in those organizations.     

组织创新氛围对员工创新行为的影响:创新自我效能感的中介作用

如何激发员工的创新行为已成为当前人力资源管理研究者与实践者共同面对的重要课题,本研究尝试从组织创新氛围和创新自我效能感这两个视角来回答这个问题。研究采用问卷调查法,通过对478名在职员工的调查,对组织创新氛围、创新自我效能感和员工创新行为之间的关系进行了分析。研究内容与实证结果包括:首先,实证检验了在中国情境下组织创新氛围对员工创新行为的影响;其次,在社会认知理论的基础上,实证检验了创新自我效能感对员工创新行为的影响,这是中国情景下的开拓性研究;最后,创造性地将创新自我效能感引入到组织创新氛围与员工创新行为的关系之中,构建并验证了组织创新氛围→创新自我效能感→员工创新行为作用机制模型,打开了组织创新氛围对员工创新行为的影响机制这一黑箱。这些研究成果不仅为社会认知理论提供了强有力的支持,还为后续研究提供了良好的研究视角和基础,对企业管理实践也具有重要的参考价值。     

构建组织工作新格局

组织部门要学习、领会和全面贯彻落实好十六大精神，卓有成效地开展工作，成为实践“三个代表”重要思想的表率部门，必须与时俱进，开拓创新，构建开放、民主、规范、和谐的组织工作格局，为推进我国的政治文明建设，做出应有的贡献。构建开放、民主、规范、和谐的组织工作新格局，是全面贯彻落实党的十六大精神和《干部任用条例》的需要，是适应社会主义市场经济新形势、新任务要求的需要，是切实履行好自身职责的需要。构建开放的组织工作格局，必须在更新思想观念、改进方式方法上下功夫思想是行动的先导，更新观念的实质是使主观认识符…     

The Determinants of DSS Success: An Integrated Model*

The results of a field study investigating the determinants of decision support systems (DSS) success are presented. A multivariate model was developed and tested using multiple regression hierarchical analysis on responses from 118 DSS users. Several specific hypotheses are also proposed and tested. Data analyses indicate that DSS success, as measured by DSS satisfaction and perceived benefits, depends on several factors: previous user experience with DSS, user involvement, user training, top management support, information sources, the level of managerial activity, and task structure, difficulty and interdependence. Based on the research results, several suggestions are made to improve the likelihood of successful DSS implementation.     

Determinants of the Job Satisfaction of Public Officials: Testing the Mediation Effect of Organizational Commitment

Public Organization Review - Extant public management research investigated the determinants of public employees’ job satisfaction. However, most public management studies tested the...     

Organization Structure from a Loose Coupling Perspective: A Multidimensional Approach*

Organizational theories frequently rely on notions of sharing and dependence among organizational participants, but researchers usually focus on characteristics of the actors themselves instead of the relational patterns among the actors. Loose coupling is one conceptual tool that emphasizes relational patterns. Loose coupling, however, is an abstract metaphor that is simultaneously fertile and ambiguous. This paper develops a rigorous and comprehensive framework that sharpens the theoretical contributions of loose coupling to our understanding of structural relationships. Characteristics of loose coupling capture some important and underexplored features of multidimensional fit and interdependence in organizations. The proposed framework clarifies these theoretical contributions of loose coupling with concepts and equations modified from network analysis. Testable hypotheses are proposed with respect to three key independent variables that may affect patterns of coupling: organization strategy, technology, and environmental turbulence. Additional hypotheses are advanced with respect to the use of the multidimensional approach to loose coupling in studying new organizational forms. Initial psychometric and empirical evidence are presented.     

员工社会化、组织认同与组织公民行为——基于中国科技制造企业的实证研究

组织社会化的策略、内容及其对员工态度和行为影响的研究已经比较丰富,但在结果变量上对组织公民行为的分析和实证研究都很不足。本文选取了组织社会化中的历史、语言、价值观和目标社会化三项内容,考察它们对组织公民行为的影响及其机制,尤其是组织认同在其中的中介作用。层级回归、结构方程建模分析的结果表明,历史、语言、价值观和目标社会化正向影响组织公民行为,组织认同在语言、价值观和目标社会化与组织公民行为的关系中起完全中介作用,在历史社会化与组织公民行为的关系中起部分中介作用。     

Organizational Change and the Importance of Embedded Assumptions*

‘Managing change’ appears a simple enough term. However, no common ontological assumption underlies either the notion of ‘managing’ or that of ‘change’. In this paper, we identify different assumptions about both what it means to manage and the nature of change outcomes. From these assumptions we derive six different images of managing organizational change: directing, navigating, caretaking, coaching, interpreting and nurturing. We show how each image is underpinned by different organization theories. We then take each image and show how the differing ontological assumptions about managing and change outcomes are associated with different research agendas. We illustrate this by focusing on three elements commonly associated with managing organizational change: vision, communication and resistance.     

组织公平与人格特质对员工创新行为的交互影响研究

采用方便抽样的方式对企业340名员工就大五人格特质、组织公平、员工创新行为等变量进行调研,通过交互作用分析得出,人格特质中的外倾性、尽责性、宜人性、开放性均正向预测创新行为,而神经质负向预测创新行为。研究结果表明,组织公平4个维度均对创新行为有显著正向影响。组织公平正向调节外倾性、开放性、尽责性与创新行为之间的关系,反向调节宜人性与创新行为之间的关系,但对神经质与创新行为之间的关系没有调节作用。     

Managing the International Strategic Sourcing Process as a Market-Driven Organizational Learning System*

This study examines the effects of market-driven organizational learning on a select set of strategic sourcing outcomes involving the sourcing function of a Fortune 500 multinational corporation. The focus is on the dyadic activities and relationships between the domestic and international strategic business units (SBUs) and the corporate buying center. The hypothesized relationships are tested on the overall sample and based on a two-by-two matrix framework defined by international versus domestic settings and frequent versus infrequent sourcing scenarios. Based on a sample of 179 domestic and 167 international SBUs, the results suggest that market-driven organizational learning in the strategic sourcing units influences customer satisfaction, relationship commitment, and cycle time of the sourcing process. However, while the set of learning orientations appears to be strategically robust across the four quadrant scenarios (moderator settings), the sourcing situations differ somewhat in the specific tactical learning orientations preferred.     

组织部长的新特性

组织部长是党委系统的一个重要领导岗位,肩负着为党委提供干部和组织保证的重大责任。如何在新形势下当好一名合格的组织部长,我的体会是必须运用辩证思维的方法,把握好新形势下组织工作的三个特性。 一、外向性。社会主义市场经济条件下,组织工作已……     

努力实现组织工作新突破

组织工作担负着为国民经济和社会发展提供坚强组织保证的重要任务,必须主动适应形势任务发展的需要,按照“三个代表”重要思想的要求,坚持与时俱进的改革创新精神,大胆实践,勇于探索,不断推进思维方式、工作内容以及工作方法等方面的创新与发展,实现组织工作的新突破。一、探索     

Local Labour Markets Identification: a United Point of View*

Abstract. In this paper a unifying point of view is discussed of the methodologies and algorithms actually proposed for the identification of local labour market. The emphasis is on the main contributions to two broad methodological areas of functional regionalization and homogeneous spatial clustering. Most Italian contributions are considered in detail and some critical notes are pointed out in order to show that the methodological background is just the same for both approaches. The interpretations of the outputs of the proposed methodologies is discussed in terms of local labour markets.