How power relations structure the evaluation process for HRD Programmes

Centring on the impact of power and politics embedded in the evaluation of training programmes, this study aimed to understand how organizational power relations affect the evaluation process for a training programme. A qualitative case study for the managerial leadership development programme of a Korean insurance company was designed. The HRD practitioners held control throughout the evaluation, and their dominant power was maintained and reproduced by other stakeholders' recognition of their expertise in training and development area. However, due to the structural relationship between the HRD unit and the corporate management, the HRD practitioners perceived themselves as marginalized. Unequal power relations were sustained in the evaluation mostly by stakeholders' self-regulation of their conduct in terms of norms, standards and expectations about their roles. This study found that despite the immense criticism of reaction measures, their continuing use in evaluation could be traced to their meaning as a political bargaining tool.     

Evaluating organizational-level work stress interventions: Beyond traditional methods

Abstract

Since the early 1990s, there has been a growing literature on organizational-level interventions for work-related stress, and associated calls for such interventions to be evaluated. At the same time, doubts have been expressed about the adequacy of traditional scientific research methods in applied psychology (the natural science paradigm) in providing an effective framework for such evaluations. This paper considers some of the philosophical and methodological issues raised by evaluation research in relation to organizational-level interventions for work-related stress. Four key issues are discussed: the concept of a study being “fit for purpose” in relation to research designs and the nature of acceptable evidence; the issue of control of research conditions in real-world studies; the need to evaluate process as well as outcome, including the interrelated nature of process and outcome; and the interpretation of imperfect evidence sets. The starting point of this paper is the reality of organizational life, which is complex and continually changing. Its main objective is not to offer an alternative to a scientific approach but to argue for a more broadly conceived and eclectic framework for evaluation that acknowledges the limitations of the traditional approach. It espouses an approach that is reflective of the reality of organizational life and in which the methods used for evaluating an intervention are fit for purpose. The paper concludes by offering an outline framework for this broader approach to the evaluation of interventions.     

Evaluating organizational-level work stress interventions: Beyond traditional methods

Since the early 1990s, there has been a growing literature on organizational-level interventions for work-related stress, and associated calls for such interventions to be evaluated. At the same time, doubts have been expressed about the adequacy of traditional scientific research methods in applied psychology (the natural science paradigm) in providing an effective framework for such evaluations. This paper considers some of the philosophical and methodological issues raised by evaluation research in relation to organizational-level interventions for work-related stress. Four key issues are discussed: the concept of a study being “fit for purpose” in relation to research designs and the nature of acceptable evidence; the issue of control of research conditions in real-world studies; the need to evaluate process as well as outcome, including the interrelated nature of process and outcome; and the interpretation of imperfect evidence sets. The starting point of this paper is the reality of organizational life, which is complex and continually changing. Its main objective is not to offer an alternative to a scientific approach but to argue for a more broadly conceived and eclectic framework for evaluation that acknowledges the limitations of the traditional approach. It espouses an approach that is reflective of the reality of organizational life and in which the methods used for evaluating an intervention are fit for purpose. The paper concludes by offering an outline framework for this broader approach to the evaluation of interventions.     

组织创新、组织学习与绩效——一个调节效应模型的实证分析

以我国珠江三角洲地区217家企业为调查对象,对组织创新、组织学习与绩效之间的互动影响,以及基于三者关系建立的调节效应模型进行了实证研究.层次回归分析结果表明,组织学习在组织创新与绩效关系之间确实具有显著的调节效应,说明组织学习的高低水平会影响组织创新与绩效之间的关系,企业组织学习的水平越高,组织创新对绩效的促进影响作用越显著.     

组织学习的模型、案例与实施方法研究

本文应用作者提出的组织学习过程模型,分析评估了北京华翔电子有限公司组织学习的现状和障碍,并给出了改进的建议。最后,文章初步提出了组织学习的实施过程和方法。     

组织邻近和组织背景对组织合作创新地理距离的影响

地理邻近与创新的关系是多年来学术界一直关注的热点,但地理邻近对创新影响机理的研究仍存在不足。基于组织合作视角,在分析地理邻近对组织合作创新直接作用机理的基础上,选取2006年至2011年中国钢铁产业的发明专利作为研究样本,采用最小二乘法和序列逻辑回归方法实证研究组织邻近和组织背景对组织合作创新所跨越的地理距离的影响,分析组织合作创新的地理邻近程度与组织邻近和组织背景之间的关系,探讨地理邻近对组织合作创新的间接作用机理。研究结果表明,组织合作创新的地理邻近程度随组织邻近程度和组织背景的变化而变化。组织邻近程度越高,组织合作创新的地理邻近程度越低,组织合作创新跨越距离越大。3种组织背景不同的合作创新类型中,学术机构合作创新的地理邻近程度最高,合作创新跨越的距离最小;产学研合作创新次之,距离居中;企业合作创新最低,距离最大。     

以组织犬儒主义为中介的组织支持感、组织公平感对反生产行为影响的研究

基于文献回顾构建了组织支持感、组织公平感、组织犬儒主义和反生产行为之间的关系模型,并以企业员工为调查对象,对反生产行为采用他评和配对样本的方式进行问卷调查.研究结果表明:组织支持感、组织公平感与反生产行为负相关;组织犬儒主义与反生产行为正相关;组织支持感、组织公平感对组织犬儒主义存在负向影响;组织犬儒主义在组织支持感与反生产行为、组织公平感与反生产行为的关系中均发挥中介作用.此外,对组织犬儒主义和反生产行为的防范和管理提出了有关管理建议.     

知识吸收能力与组织绩效关系:组织学习视角的实证研究

在中国情境下,构建了基于组织学习的知识吸收能力和组织绩效的整合研究模型。采取滚雪球抽样的方法获取221个有效样本,利用结构方程模型检验调查数据,知识吸收能力、组织学习和组织绩效的整合研究模型得到实证支持。研究结论为员工能力和员工激励对知识获取、信息分发、信息解释与组织记忆产生影响,进而影响财务绩效和创新绩效。     

政治关系与组织绩效的关系研究

以组织学习和动态能力、政治关系对绩效的影响为中介变量,构建了一个政治关系、组织学习、动态能力与绩效关系的理论模型;然后以广东珠三角地区166家企业为调查对象,采用SEM方法进行实证检验。研究结果发现,政治关系是否影响以及如何影响组织绩效,在很大程度上取决于企业所在行业的特征与企业本身的特点:对于非知识密集型企业而言,政治关系可以通过组织学习与动态能力间接地提高绩效水平;对于知识密集型企业而言,政治关系对于组织绩效、动态能力以及组织学习均没有显著的影响。     

组织学习能力综合评价模型研究

构建了组织学习能力的评价指标体系,并建立了组织学习能力的综合评价模型,使定性问题能够定量化处理。此外,应用实际例子讨论了模型在企业中的应用情况,并对受试企业的组织学习能力状况作了分析,使企业能够客观、正确地认识和评价自身的组织学习能力状况,为其进一步提高组织学习能力提供科学有效的理论依据。     

绩效评价对组织公民行为的影响:组织承诺的中介作用

本文构建了一个结构方程模型,探讨了组织承诺在绩效评价和组织公民行为关系之间的中介作用。研究结果显示：绩效评价对组织公民行为产生正向影响,而组织承诺对绩效评价和组织公民行为间的关系具有中介作用。组织承诺的中介作用在绩效评价的不同层面上有所区别：对绩效评价系统与组织公民行为的关系,具有完全中介作用;对绩效评价程序与组织公民行为的关系,具有部分中介作用。以此为基础,本文对今后同类研究的方向和管理实践提出了建议。     

组织结构对组织学习与知识转化关系影响研究

创新依赖于组织学习。但是,知识如果没有在组织中被充分的分享,那么它的作用是有限的。即,为了实现知识的转化,知识分享的支持系统——有效的组织结构必须存在。本文通过组织学习的角度,探讨组织学习与知识转化的关系,以及组织结构的障碍在其中如何发挥作用。     

组织学习的过程模型研究

组织学习是当今企业最重要的核心能力之一 .本文对现有的组织学习过程模型进行分析 ,指出其不足并加以改进 ,建立了修正的组织学习模型 .基于此模型 ,本文分阶段讨论了影响组织学习的各种障碍 ,并提出了相应的解决措施 .最后 ,应用该模型对国内外两个实际案例进行了分析 ,以加深读者对组织学习过程模型的理解     

基于文化差异观的组织文化友好性和一致性对组织变革的影响

本文在组织文化的价值层面、事实层面及其两层面差异的视角上,研究组织文化友好性和一致性对组织变革的认知反应和行为反应的影响,并以我国302个中高级管理者代表的企业为样本进行实证研究。结果表明:相对于价值层面的组织文化友好性,事实层面的组织文化友好性对变革认知反应和行为都具有推动作用;两层面文化友好性的差异仅推动变革认知反应;相对于价值层面的组织文化一致性,事实层面的组织文化一致性仅对变革行为反应具有阻碍作用;两层面文化一致性的差异阻碍变革认知反应和行为反应。     

组织冗余的利用对中国企业创新产出的影响

从冗余的控制权的角度将企业已吸收的冗余划分为分散冗余和组合冗余,分析了这两种冗余的利用对企业创新的影响,构建了一个包含冗余、吸收能力与创新之间关系的结构方程模型,并运用在607家企业进行的问卷调查所获取的数据实证检验了这个模型。结果显示,分散冗余和组合冗余分别与产品创新和过程创新存在显著的正相关关系,不同的冗余与不同的吸收能力之间存在一定的匹配关系,这种关系能够导致不同的创新产出。结果表明,中国企业的冗余与西方企业的冗余一样,都能够促进企业的创新产出,因此,广泛采用一刀切式的“减员”手段未必是中国企业“增效”的最有效率的策略。     

Changing a Leopard's Spots: A New Research Direction for Organizational Culture in the Operations Management Field

Operations Management (OM) research on organizational culture has to change to be able to inform practice. Currently, organizational culture research in OM is largely confined to narrow topical and methodological niches and culture is most frequently used as an explanatory variable in quantitative, survey‐based research. We argue that the relegation of culture to this niche is due to self‐imposed methodological blinders that hobble the OM field. We then present four research imperatives to reinvigorate organizational culture research within our field. We urge OM scholars to view culture as a dynamic concept that can be influenced, to adopt alternative methods, to use non‐traditional data sources, and to rethink assumptions about dependent variables. We also identify gaps in the current knowledge and new research questions for the OM domain. We conclude that the field of OM could greatly expand its understanding of organizational culture and in so doing greatly improve business practice, but that to do so will require a change in the culture of the operations management research community.     

A process evaluation of individual and organizational occupational stress and health interventions

There is reason to believe that many health and stress interventions fail due to inattention to the effects of intervention implementation processes, but evaluations of these processes are found only rarely in the literature. The objective of the present study was to explore the issue of obstacles to implementation that may occur when stress and health interventions are introduced in work organizations. The study was conducted as a process evaluation of seven different individual and organizational interventions. Interviews were conducted in 22 post offices, 12 organizational units (such as care homes and local administrative units) of a Norwegian municipality, and in 10 shops in a shopping mall. The interviews took place before and after the interventions. The following key process factors were identified: (1) the ability to learn from failure and to motivate participants; (2) multi-level participation and negotiation, and differences in organizational perception; (3) insight into tacit and informal organizational behaviour; (4) clarification of roles and responsibilities, especially the role of middle management; and (5) competing projects and reorganization. For improved studies of interventions in the future we recommend that qualitative and quantitative methods be combined, that researchers build more on natural interventions that occur naturally within the organization, and that a pilot study be undertaken in order to investigate the cultural maturity of the organization.     

A process evaluation of individual and organizational occupational stress and health interventions

There is reason to believe that many health and stress interventions fail due to inattention to the effects of intervention implementation processes, but evaluations of these processes are found only rarely in the literature. The objective of the present study was to explore the issue of obstacles to implementation that may occur when stress and health interventions are introduced in work organizations. The study was conducted as a process evaluation of seven different individual and organizational interventions. Interviews were conducted in 22 post offices, 12 organizational units (such as care homes and local administrative units) of a Norwegian municipality, and in 10 shops in a shopping mall. The interviews took place before and after the interventions. The following key process factors were identified: (1) the ability to learn from failure and to motivate participants; (2) multi-level participation and negotiation, and differences in organizational perception; (3) insight into tacit and informal organizational behaviour; (4) clarification of roles and responsibilities, especially the role of middle management; and (5) competing projects and reorganization. For improved studies of interventions in the future we recommend that qualitative and quantitative methods be combined, that researchers build more on natural interventions that occur naturally within the organization, and that a pilot study be undertaken in order to investigate the cultural maturity of the organization.     

市场导向对组织创造力的非线性作用机理——组织二元结构文化与创业导向的影响研究

在我国加快实施创新驱动发展战略中,如何提升企业组织创造力以促使企业创新变得至关重要。企业战略是影响组织创造力和创新的重要情境因素。市场导向和创业导向是新兴经济体国家的企业发展的战略核心。然而,现有研究对市场导向与企业创造性产出之间关系的观点却不一致。创业导向如何影响市场导向对组织创造力的作用也尚未得到关注和研究。本研究以145家企业的979份高层管理人员与核心员工的套问卷数据为样本,研究发现：市场导向对组织创造力产生倒U型影响,且倒U型影响通过二元结构文化（一致性文化与适应性文化）的不同传导机制而产生,即：一致性文化在市场导向与组织创造力之间正向中介效应随市场导向的增强而减弱,并在高度市场导向时转变为负向中介效应,而适应性文化在市场导向和组织创造力之间发挥部分中介效应。研究还发现：市场导向对组织创造力的倒U型影响受创业导向的调节作用,即：当创业导向较高时,市场导向对组织创造力的积极影响随市场导向的增强而逐渐增强,反之,则逐渐减弱。研究结论为提升企业组织创造力提供新的思路和理论参考。     

动态环境下组织即兴对创业导向的影响机制研究

分析130家样本企业的调查数据,构建了组织即兴、环境动态性和创业导向之间的关系模型。研究发现:组织即兴由即时性和创造性两个维度构成,且这两个维度分别对创业导向有正向显著影响;环境动态性正向调节了创造性与创业导向之间的关系,但并不影响即时性与创业导向之间的关系。