Rich Ties and Innovative Knowledge Transfer within a Firm

We show that contacts in formal, informal and especially multiplex networks explain transfer of innovative knowledge in an organization. The contribution of informal contacts has been much acknowledged, while that of formal contacts did not receive much attention in the literature in recent decades. No study thus far has included both these different kinds of contacts in a firm, let alone considered their combined effect. The exact overlap between formal as well as informal contacts between individuals, forming multiplex or what we call rich ties because of their contribution, especially drives the transfer of new, innovative knowledge in a firm. Studying two cases in very different settings suggests these rich ties have a particularly strong effect on knowledge transfer in an organization, even when controlling for the strength of ties. Some of the effects on knowledge transfer in an organization previously ascribed to either the formal network or the informal network may actually be due to their combined effect in a rich tie.     

Integrating a Top‐Down and a Bottom‐Up Approach: Formal and Informal Risk‐Handling Strategies in a Utility Company

In this study, we bring together a top‐down and a bottom‐up approach of risk handling. We do so by conceptualizing and qualitatively and quantitatively measuring formal and informal risk‐handling strategies in a Dutch utility company. We conceive of formal risk handling as regulating, training, and educating safety and enforcing rule compliance, while we distinguish three different informal risk‐handling strategies: discretionary specialization, tacit knowledge, and taking personal responsibility. We show that the formal risk‐handling strategy and the three informal risk‐handling strategies can be measured separately. Hence, we have validated the measurement of all four strategies derived from two different risk‐handling approaches. Moreover, we have demonstrated that the perceived use of the four strategies has different effects on unsafe behavior: formal risk handling and tacit knowledge decrease it, discretion increases it, and taking personal responsibility has no effect on unsafe behavior.     

More Formally: Rediscovering the Missing Link between Formal Organization and Informal Social Structure

Abstract

Although foundational organization theory recognized the role of both formal and informal elements, for the past two decades scholarship appears to have primarily attended to the role of informal social structures (i.e. social networks) in explaining organizational functioning. This trend, however, has left a disconnect between the literatures on formal organization and informal social structure such that crucial questions and problems at the intersection of the two streams of research have been neglected. In this essay, we make the case for rediscovering the inherent interplay between formal organization and informal social structure given their common basis of interactions in organizations. We argue that by bridging the gap between formal organization and informal social structure scholarship we can advance our understanding of both the origins and evolution of social networks and the design and effective functioning of organizations. As a first step towards achieving greater integration of research on formal organization and informal social structure we: consolidate existing scholarly understanding in this area, profile the few studies that have begun to bridge the disconnect between formal and informal elements, identify conceptual logics for linking formal and informal elements, and propose an agenda for future research.     

基于正式结构与非正式网络的企业内部知识共享优化方法

从社会网络视角提出一种基于正式结构与非正式网络的企业内部知识共享优化方法;从解构企业内部社会网络的角度出发,对承载企业内部知识共享的正式结构、非正式网络及其4个子结构(被忽视的正式结构、被利用的正式结构、被利用的非正式网络和潜在的非正式网络)进行分析;依据网络特征识别关键的知识代理人和任务导向的知识共享缺口,在此基础上对企业内部知识共享进行优化。     

How do formal and informal institutions influence firm profitability in emerging countries?

Drawing from institutional economics, we examine how the quality of formal institutions (e.g. protection of property rights, efficiency of the judicial system and government regulations) and a particular aspect of informal institutions, trust, influence the profitability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) vis-à-vis large firms. Our theoretical framework, which is supported by an analysis of over 205,000 observations in 16 emerging countries in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region, explains why informal and formal institutions have a considerably different effect on the profitability of SMEs and large firms, and indicates that while SMEs benefit from formal institutional quality more than large firms do, large firms benefit from trust in society more than SMEs. It further shows that formal institutions and trust substitute each other in influencing firm profitability and that this substitution effect is stronger for large firms.     

民间金融与中国宏观经济——理论机制与实证分析

作为中小企业的主要融资渠道,民间金融对中国经济发展具有重要作用。本文理论探究了民间金融对中国主要宏观经济变量的作用机制,并以此为基础选取全国地区性民间借贷综合利率指数作为民间金融的代理指标,建立VAR模型分析了民间金融对这些宏观经济变量的影响。研究发现：民间金融在理论上能直接以及通过货币政策间接影响经济增长和通货膨胀;而民间金融与货币政策的互动依赖于宏观经济变量之间的联系或正规金融的传导。从实证分析来看,民间金融的发展对经济增长有显著影响,作用方式是先促进后抑制;同时民间金融也能显著影响通货膨胀,其利率升高会加剧通货膨胀;但是民间金融和货币政策无显著关系,这是由于经济增长和通货膨胀没有起到传递作用以及民间金融和正规金融无明显的互动,由此表明民间金融并不能通过货币政策间接影响经济增长和通货膨胀。本文的研究有助于深入理解民间金融与宏观经济的关系,对制定相应的经济政策和管控民间金融风险具有重要的借鉴意义。     

Skill Acquisition in the Informal Economy and Schooling Decisions: Evidence from Emerging Economies

Informal jobs offer skill acquisition opportunities that may facilitate a future switch to formal employment for young workers. In this sense, informal training on the job may be a viable alternative to formal schooling in an economy with a large and diverse informal sector. In this paper, I investigate if these considerations are relevant for the schooling decisions of young individuals using panel data for 17 Latin American countries and micro‐level data for Turkey. Specifically, I ask if the prevalence of informal jobs distorts schooling attainment. I concentrate on three measures of schooling outcomes: (1) secondary education enrollment rate; (2) out‐of‐school rate for lower secondary school; and (3) tertiary education graduation rate. I find that the secondary education enrollment rate is negatively correlated with the size of the informal economy, whereas the out‐of‐school rate is positively correlated. Moreover, the tertiary education graduation rates tend to fall as the informal employment opportunities increase. This means that informal training on the job may be crowding out school education in developing countries. Policies that can potentially affect the size of the informal sector should take into consideration these second‐round effects on aggregate schooling outcomes.     

Informal Mentoring as an Organisational Resource

Mentoring is a mechanism for supporting junior managers but until now little research on the benefits to the organisation has been reported. This paper reports on a survey of managers in a UK local government authority to ascertain their views of the benefits of informal mentoring to the organisation. Both mentors and protégés perceived mentoring as investment in a future pool of managers and a tool for the management of change. Mentoring was also seen as assisting in the transfer of knowledge, organisational learning and cross-departmental communication—in other words, as nodes in an information network. Further research is suggested into mentoring as a micro-level knowledge-producing community of practice. As informal mentoring is likely to bring longer-term advantages to the organisation, the paper also discusses how to capture the benefits of informal mentoring when designing formal schemes.     

Political behavior in organizations—A cross-cultural comparison

The purpose of this study is to explore the differences in the meaning attached to organizational politics (OP) across cultures. A critical incidents scale was distributed to two samples of university faculty, one in Canada and one in Israel. Three aspects relevant to the perception of OP were investigated : (1) the role that elements previously identified in the literature play in the actual perception of OP by employees; (2) the extent to which OP is perceived as moral; and (3) the degree to which OP is perceived to be prevalent or likely to occur in the subjects’ organization. The results showed that the Canadian sample perceived the various elements in the scale as generally more political, less moral, and less prevalent in their organization than the Israeli sample. Both samples considered informal influence attempts as more political than formal or illegal ones. The two samples also considered illegal influence attempts as less moral than formal or informal ones. Elements defined in our study as circumstantial, i.e, “conflict,” “power attainment,” “concealment of motive,” and “acting against the organization,” were found to make a smaller contribution to the perception of situations as political than elements defined as behavioral, i.e., “formal,” “informal,” and “illegal,” influence attempts.     

Crafting effective environmental strategies: A “model of learning” from the chemical and pharmaceutical industries

While creating and implementing effective environmental strategies, firms collect and process information from many interconnected “learning environmental.”These “models of learning” serve to develop environmental knowledge and cultural beliefs that guide, coordinate and synchronize actions at the corporate and subsidiary levels. In this way, best environmental practice becomes institutionalized within the organization.This article examines both the formal and informal processes that firms use to identify and transform environmental strategies into accepted organizational practices. Environmental, health and safety (EH & S) managers, in particular, should embrace the notion that systematically gathering and sharing such information across the organization can have profound implications for a firm's environmental performance. Firms that capture and disseminate the critical environmental knowledge of their members can be well positioned to attain environmental leadership roles in their industries.     

政府监管与隐形契约共同作用下集群企业创新合作的演化博弈研究

考虑政府监管下的正式契约与非正式组织监管下的隐形契约对集群企业间创新合作的约束作用,运用演化博弈方法,建立政府、非正式组织与集群企业的非对称博弈模型,分析了三方参与主体的演化稳定策略,并运用数值仿真分析进一步验证博弈研究。研究结果表明：无论是政府的正式规章制度还是非正式的集群隐形契约,都能够对集群企业的合作创新产生良好的约束作用,其中正式规章制度相较于隐形契约的约束强度更大,并且在集群发展初期对集群企业间的创新合作行为起到重要约束作用,而隐形契约对集群企业的约束效果更加稳定持久。通过探究集群企业创新合作的行为过程,进一步了解产业集群的监管与约束机制,以推动我国产业集群的转型升级,引导集群企业间的创新合作,增强我国产业发展的核心竞争力。     

Web 2.0 support for individual,group and organizational learning

This article explores how Web 2.0 interactive technologies are valuable for generative, learner-driven, instructor-facilitated virtual learning processes integrated with work tasks for solving problems and coping with challenges. This is in contrast to the earlier generation of one-way technologies that is traditionally used for adaptive, instructor-driven online learning programs for skills and knowledge training, and communicating corporate policies and procedures. Learning professionals need to be open to encourage employees' experimentation with new software tools and techniques, value technology gatekeepers in their organization and promote informal learning.     

Replenishment Strategies for Micro‐Retailers in Developing Countries

When formal distribution channels are absent in developing countries, micro‐retailers travel a long distance to replenish their stocks directly from suppliers. This “informal” replenishment strategy is inefficient due to high imputed travel costs involved in the replenishment process. To improve efficiency, one “hybrid” replenishment strategy has emerged under which one of the micro‐retailers in a neighborhood, while continuing its own retail business, also operates as a wholesaler to serve other micro‐retailers in the neighborhood. A major obstacle for the transition from the informal strategy to the hybrid strategy is that the micro‐retailers are reluctant to source from a wholesaler who also competes with them in the retail market. Thus, it is not clear when the micro‐retailers adopt the hybrid strategy instead of the informal strategy. Meanwhile, the micro‐retailers may prefer the “formal” strategy: a traditional replenishment strategy under which one of the micro‐retailers relinquishes its retail business and operates purely as a wholesaler. We examine a situation when competing micro‐retailers contemplate with the three potential aforementioned replenishment strategies. Our equilibrium analysis of the two‐store model reveals that the dominant strategy is: (a) the hybrid strategy when the travel cost is high; (b) the formal strategy when the travel cost is medium; and (c) the informal strategy when the travel cost is low. This key insight is shown continue to hold when we extend the two‐store model to incorporate other issues including: quantity discounts from the supplier, variable operating costs, price competition, local monopolies, and different decision sequences. One additional finding is that the transition from the informal strategy to the hybrid strategy could benefit consumers if the micro‐retailers receive quantity discounts from the supplier. Furthermore, when there are more than two stores, we show that the formal strategy is never dominant. Moreover, when the number of stores increases, the hybrid strategy becomes more preferable to the informal strategy.     

风险环境下企业信息系统项目控制对绩效的影响机制研究:基于项目经理和用户代表的双重视角

虽然当前项目管理水平不断提高,但是企业信息系统项目实施的成功率仍然不容乐观。项目干系人缺乏准确的相互认知和角色定位,以及风险与控制的关系无法有效处理是导致项目绩效偏低的重要原因。为了从不同视角探索风险和控制对企业信息系统项目绩效的共同作用,通过对65位项目经理和63位用户代表所经历的128个项目的调查,利用结构方程模型进行实证分析,并采用层次回归分析技术进行检验。实证结果表明,正式控制和非正式控制对信息系统项目绩效都具有积极的影响,但是项目经理认为正式控制具有更加重要的作用,而用户代表认为非正式控制的作用更为显著。此外,项目经理和用户代表均认为组织风险和技术风险会减弱正式和非正式控制对绩效的有效作用。因此在控制方式的选择和组合上不仅要基于项目自身的特点,而且要基于干系人的角色。同时,信息系统项目绩效并非单纯由成功或失败因素所决定,而是取决于两类因素的均衡程度。研究结论为信息系统项目的风险控制提供了全新的理论依据和决策支持。     

Minimum Wages and Trainers' Dilemma

This paper examines how a minimum wage, viewed as an incentive to trainers, would affect the informal help provided through on‐the‐job training. In the work environment, experienced employees play a significant role in training new employees. However, the more help they provide to trainees, the less likely that the trainers themselves will be promoted. This is the trainer's dilemma: help trainees or work for promotion. We show that a minimum wage alleviates the trainer's dilemma, as it increases the earnings of non‐promoted workers and reduces the net benefit of promotion for experienced employees. Hence, minimum wage regulation encourages informal help and enhances welfare, although it reduces the firm's profit.     

Die psychodramatische Organisationsskulptur als Weiterentwicklung des Organigramms

The psychodramatic organization sculpture as a further development of the organigramThe psychodramatic organization sculpture represents a further development of the organigram. It provides the opportunity to analyse psychological aspects in a demonstrative and vivid way. By discussing four case examples of working with the psychodramatic organization sculpture, the article informs the reader about (1) formal and informal role aspects, (2) external role demands, (3) personal role demands and (4) social and sociometric criteria.     

The Informal Sector: A Review and Agenda for Management Research

Despite its connotations of non‐compliance, illegality, social exploitation and marginality, the informal sector is a substantial contributor to economic life in developing countries and, increasingly, in more technologically advanced activities. Its prevalence in developed economies has also become more widely recognized. In light of its significance, this paper reviews research on the informal sector from a management and organization scholarship perspective, rather than from an entrepreneurship view, as has been the focus until now. It sets out the atypical management practices that are inherent in the sector, explores the under‐researched relationship between formal and informal firms, and highlights definitional, conceptual and other limitations in extant research. As a step in resolving these issues, the authors present a conceptual model of formality and informality in a three‐dimensional framework that highlights an organizational infrastructure dimension, a view of firms operating along a continuum, and a multi‐level analytical context. Building on this, the authors detail opportunities for enhanced appreciation of in situ management and organizational practices in the informal sector and outline tools for pursuing a management and organization scholarship agenda. Overall, the authors argue that management scholarship has great potential to improve understanding of the informal sector, and that the informal sector provides opportunities to advance management theory, research and practice.     

Does Modern Organization and Governance Threat Solidarity?

This article focuses on solidarity behaviours of employees to team members (horizontal solidarity behaviour) and to their manager (vertical solidarity behaviour). The question is asked to what extend and how are both types of solidarity related to three aspects of modern organization and governance: dual earner families, flexible labour contracts, and formal and informal governance structures. Survey data of 17 Dutch organizations (N = 1347) show in relation to dual-earner families that having children has a positive relationship with horizontal solidarity behaviour, and working overtime has a positive relationship with vertical solidarity behaviour. Related to the flexible labour contracts, no relationship was found with type of labour contract and expected years within the organization. Finally, some traits of informal and formal governance structures, namely information on rules and the presence of explicit fair play rules are fond to be positively related to solidarity.She worked on this article during a visit at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.     

THE PERILS OF EXCELLENCE: BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE PROCESS IMPROVEMENT IN PRODUCT-DRIVEN FIRMS

Several authors have suggested that a focus on manufacturing capability and on continued process improvement may be a powerful source of competitive advantage, yet many firms appear to have encountered great difficulties in taking advantage of this insight. This paper reports on the results of five these conducted under the auspices of the MIT Leaders for Manufacturing program at the Microwave Technology Division of the Hewlett-Packard Company. We found considerable evidence that the marginal returns to process development within the division were probably considerably higher than the division's cost of capital, suggesting that process improvement probably was underfunded despite the fact that improving manufacturing capability had been identified as a key strategic priority. We found no evidence that this “underfunding” reflected either a failure to recognize the problem or an overly hierarchical or rigid organization. Rather it appeared to flow from the historical strengths of the division. A devotion to leading-edge technical solutions and to immediate customer service at almost any price had created barriers to the effective funding of process improvement that were deeply rooted in the organizational structures, information systems, and formal and informal incentive structures that had evolved to support the division's historical emphasis on excellence on product design. Our results highlight the problems that very successful product-driven companies may encounter in attempting to make continual process improvement central to their strategic mission.     

Zwischen den Zeilen der Organisation

Between the lines of an organization. On postmodern thinking and its impact on organization theory and consultancyFollowing the discursive concept of postmodernism introduced by Jean-François Lyotard, this paper focuses on the impact of postmodern thinking (understood as a theory of difference) for organization theory and consultancy. Crucial for an application are basic organizational differences, like the relationship between formal and informal organization. By drawing on this difference this paper exemplifies that the main interest of postmodern thinking for our conceptual idea of organizations lies in a modified understanding and analysis of such fundamental organizational distinctions. Finally the implications of this postmodern understanding of organizations are outlined for the field of organization consultancy.