When outsourcing fragments: customer creativity and technological transmutations

One of the most fundamental decisions made in firms is about what functions or activities the firm should perform within its own hierarchy, and which of these it should rely on the market to perform. Outsourcing is ‘an agreement in which one company contracts out a part of their existing internal activity to another company’. However, this article contends that outsourcing has changed, and is changing in ways that make the application of neat, legal and technically correct definitions hard to use, and even harder to apply in strategy. Under the new outsourcing paradigm, technology is not a passive ‘substance’, rather it is an active ‘force’. We aim to look at the ways in which technologies are re-shaped and transmuted by consumers. Through this analysis, we add the consumer activity to the conventional definition of outsourcing. We focus on one of the most highly anticipated and influential new products of 2007 – the Apple iPhone.     

基于VIKOR和诱导广义直觉梯形模糊Choquet积分算子的多属性群决策方法

针对属性值为直觉梯形模糊数,决策者间和属性间存在相互关联的多属性群决策问题,引入模糊测度和Choquet积分的概念,在直觉梯形模糊数的运算法则基础上构建了诱导型广义直觉梯形模糊choquet积分平均(IG-ITFCA)算子和诱导型广义直觉梯形模糊choquet积分几何(IG-ITFCG)算子,探讨上述算子的若干性质及一些特例,进而提出了基于诱导型广义直觉梯形模糊Choquet积分算子和多准则妥协优化解(VIKOR)的直觉梯形模糊多属性群决策方法。实例分析验证该方法的有效性和合理性。     

A Subjective Spin on Roulette Wheels

We provide a simple behavioral definition of ‘subjective mixture’ of acts for a large class of (not necessarily expected‐utility) preferences. Subjective mixtures enjoy the same algebraic properties as the ‘objective mixtures’ used to great advantage in the decision setting introduced by Anscombe and Aumann (1963). This makes it possible to formulate mixture‐space axioms in a fully subjective setting. For illustration, we present simple subjective axiomatizations of some models of choice under uncertainty, including Bewley's model of choice with incomplete preferences (2002).     

Evaluating the performance capability of a multi-organization system

A model for evaluating the performance capability of a multi-organization system is introduced. The model is based on hierarchical-modular decomposition of the components which determine system performance up to the level where they can be measured quantitatively, or at least qualitatively, in an objective or subjective manner. Performance measures are obtained by incorporating these components into multi-attribute evaluation functions. The model provides decision makers with a tool for quantitative assessment of performance, identification of bottlenecks, a framework for ‘what-if’ simulation and a mean for conflict resolution during planning. Application of the model to the Israeli Water Resources Development System provides an illustrative example.     

Safety culture: under-specified and overrated?

Is the measurement of ‘safety culture’ a valid management tool in the effort to reduce accident rate and improve safety performance, or is it a fuzzy academic concept, lacking empirical validation? The answer to this question seems to depend on whom one asks. The UK Health and Safety Commission has encouraged companies to improve their safety performance through the development of a ‘positive safety culture’. However, academic discussions in this area suggest that the concept remains vague, lacks empirical validation and is used as an ‘umbrella term’ for all the social and organizational factors that affect accident rate. This paper reviews the existing literature on safety culture and provides some clarification in terms of definition, empirical evidence and theoretical development. A theoretical framework of the mechanisms by which safety culture affects safety behaviours in organizations is proposed. The implications for practical management issues are discussed and future challenges and areas for further research are identified.     

The emergent ‘coaching industry’: a wake-up call for HRD professionals

Recent years have seen the rapid growth of an emergent ‘coaching industry’ in many countries with some scholars calling for the development of a ‘coaching profession’ replete with its own clear identity, clear boundaries and unique body of knowledge. Yet, at the same time, coaching has also been conceived as a necessary area of expertise and skill set among contemporary HRD professionals. Therefore, this article reports the results of a comparative study of the different conceptualizations and definitions of ‘coaching’ and contemporary HRD as reported in the literature. Results suggest that the intended purposes and processes associated with both fields of practice are virtually the same. The challenge and dilemma posed by these results are described from both a coaching and HRD perspective, and are discussed in terms of seeing the findings of this comparative study as a wake-up call for HRD professionals.     

Aristotle's fallacy: A hypergame in the oil shipping business …

In this paper, an attempt is made to illustrate and validate some predictions of the ‘hypergame’ model of decision-making, a generalisation of the conventional game model as first described by von Neumann and Morgenstern. The hypergame concept, which can take players' differing perceptions, misperceptions and information conditions into account, is formally defined and two simple criteria of stability and choice are given. The core of the article consists of a case study involving decision-making under misperceptions. One result of the analysis is to show that decisions which at first sight appear ‘stupid’ and remain ‘irrational’ in a conventional game model, are indeed ‘rational’ if the players' perceptual limitations and their differing information conditions are considered. The conclusion is that the hypergame can be a useful extension of the traditional theory of games, and as such is one step on the way toward conceptually more complex and ‘realistic’ model building.     

电子中介中具有数量折扣的多属性商品交易匹配问题研究

针对电子中介中卖方对多数量的商品交易存在数量折扣的情形,研究了具有数量折扣的多属性商品交易匹配问题。首先,给出了新的买卖双方多属性商品交易匹配度的概念和计算方法,并且确立了卖方商品的数量折扣曲线。然后,以最大化买卖双方加权匹配度为目标,建立了电子中介中具有数量折扣的多属性商品交易匹配模型,并根据模型的非连续和非线性特点,设计了嵌入混沌扰动的捕食搜索算法对模型进行求解。最后,通过多个实例的计算,并与遗传算法进行对比分析,结果表明模型与算法是可行和高效的。     

电子中介中基于公理设计的多属性交易匹配研究

电子中介的出现为多属性商品交易的买方和卖方提供了新的模式和平台,并已成为电子商务活动中的重要渠道.针对电子中介中具有多属性评价信息的商品交易匹配问题,给出电子中介中买方与卖方多属性商品交易匹配的问题描述,提出一种基于公理设计的买卖双方交易的多属性匹配程度计算方法,构建关于电子中介中买卖双方交易匹配的多目标优化模型,并采取隶属度函数加权和方法将多目标优化模型转化为单目标优化模型,通过求解优化模型可以得到买卖双方交易的匹配结果.通过一个实例分析说明给出方法的可行性和实用性.     

The lost art of planning

The purpose of this article is to present and illustrate planning as a generic and highly skilled activity. Central to this approach is a clear understanding of the objective of planning as reflected in the definition of the problem to be dealt with. It is the ability to make this essential judgement of ends and means that constitutes the ‘lost art’ of planning. Four distinct types of problems are identified: simple problems, compound problems, complex problems and meta-problems. This typology is used to show how the nature of what is to be planned determines how far planning can be expected to help and how best to go about doing it. A detailed example is provided to illustrate how a problem can be made more or less ‘manageable’ and the advantages and disadvantages that this entails. Finally, four different strategies are outlined for dealing with each of the four types of problems.     

Towards a theoretical clarification of the ‘spillover’ and ‘compensatory’ work/leisure hypotheses

Two thorny problems have attracted the interest of work/leisure researchers in recent years: (1) the failure of previous research to clearly isolate the relationship between work and non-work from the effects of other confounding variables, and (2) a widespread failure to distinguish between the meanings that people attribute to work (and non-work) and the forms of work (and non-work) people perform. The argument for phenomenological research is made; in this way, empirically-grounded ‘common sense’ definitions of work and leisure could be created and these definitions could be used as a solid research base to test ‘spillover’ and ‘compensatory’ theories of the work/leisure relationship. The author then demonstrates, through the development of an analytic framework for viewing the work/leisure relationship, the fact that ‘compensatory’ and ‘spillover’ hypotheses are potential alternative modes of explanation. Unless the conditions under which each might apply can be specified, one or the other hypothesis can explain a given empirical relationship between the two variables. This further supports the need for solid phenomenological research.     

Workplace Bullying,Mobbing and General Harassment: A Review

Research into workplace bullying has continued to grow and mature since emerging from Scandinavian investigations into school bullying in the late 1970s. Research communities now exist well beyond Scandinavia, including Europe, the UK, Australia, Asia and the USA. While the terms ‘harassment’ and ‘mobbing’ are often used to describe bullying behaviour, ‘workplace bullying’ tends to be the most consistently used term throughout the research community. In the past two decades especially, researchers have made considerable advances in developing conceptual clarity, frameworks and theoretical explanations that help explain and address this very complex, but often oversimplified and misunderstood, phenomenon. Indeed, as a phenomenon, workplace bullying is now better understood with reasonably consistent research findings in relation to its prevalence; its negative effects on targets, bystanders and organizational effectiveness; and some of its likely antecedents. However, as highlighted in this review, many challenges remain, particularly in relation to its theoretical foundations and efficacy of prevention and management strategies. Drawing on Affective Events Theory, this review advances understanding through the development of a new conceptual model and analysis of its interrelated components, which explain the dynamic and complex nature of workplace bullying and emphasize current and future debates. Gaps in the literature and future research directions are discussed, including the vexing problem of developing an agreed definition of workplace bullying among the research community, the emergence of cyberbullying, the importance of bystanders in addressing the phenomenon and the use of both formal and informal approaches to prevention and intervention.     

A dynamic perspective on the resilience of firms: A systematic literature review and a framework for future research

This study aims to answer the following research question: how is the resilience of firms defined in the business and management field? In doing so, we answer recent calls for research about a more thorough conceptualisation of the resilience of firms and its definition. We conducted a systematic literature review of 66 selected papers published between 2000 and 2017. By means of inductive content analysis, we analyse the definitions of ‘resilience’ and elaborate a novel conceptual framework that introduces a dynamic perspective on the resilience of firms. The proposed framework overcomes existing definitional fragmentation and raises awareness of the temporal dimension in the conceptualisation of the resilience of firms. We contribute to extant business and management literature on the resilience of firms by proposing a model that articulates two main paths for explaining organisational resilience, i.e. absorptive resilience and adaptive resilience paths. We also identify a set of key capabilities needed to be successfully resilient at the different stages of the two paths.     

Book reviews and books received

Abstract

In the field of stress research it is often assumed that social support as well as coping behaviour contributes to feelings of health and well-being. However, until now it has not been altogether clear whether a main-effect model or a buffer model was the more appropriate for explaining the role of these factors in response to stressful situations. In this paper, a research project is described in which both the direct and indirect effects of social support and coping were studied in the work situation of nurses. The results offer more support for a main-effect model than for a buffer or moderating-effect model, especially with regard to the coping strategies ‘active problem-solving’ and ‘palliative behaviour’. However, some moderating effects on nurses‘ reactions to their work situation were found for social support and for ‘comforting cognitions’ as a coping strategy.     

Conflict of values— the central strategy problem

There is growing evidence that the central strategy question for business is no longer ‘what business are you in?’ but‘why are you in business?’ The traditional answers to this question—‘to make profits’, ‘to grow’ and ‘to give an adequate return to the shareholder’, are all being questioned. In their place others are being suggested—‘to provide satisfying jobs’, ‘to help solve social problems’, ‘to assist in urban and regional development’.In this article, Bernard Taylor suggests that the conflict between business goals and social goals has become the central strategy problem. Business enterprises like other organizations tend to develop their own distinctive sub-cultures with their own value systems which may differ markedly from the values accepted in society generally. The more effective the selection, training and reward systems, the more these business values will be reinforced.But this can lead to difficulties when society begins to reject business values in favour of other social goals; particularly at a time when the power and autonomy of management is being challenged and Corporate Planning is being transformed from an internal dialogue between managers at headquarters and managers in divisions into an open debate involving public servants, employees and self-appointed representatives of community interests.     

The application of filter theory to the study of supply chain dynamics

Recently, there has been a rebirth of interest in supply chain demand amplification, a trend accelerated by the availability of a wide range of simulation packages. However, although this approach provides some guidance on design improvements possible in a given situation, it rarely offers insight for the future. In the present paper the use of simple filter theory is proposed to help bridge this gap. The example chosen to illustrate the approach is a three-echelon system in which there are factory, distributor, and retailer activities. The results vividly confirm an optimal design previously obtained via a multi-attribute utility technique (MAUT) expert system. However, the knowledge gained via filter theory should improve yet further the effectiveness of the expert system. This is because the sequential steps to be followed when varying the echelon dynamics as part of the search procedure can be greatly improved. The paper concludes by showing how simulation results might be used to confirm the supply chain dynamic design which will minimize stockholdings in the presence of demand fluctuations. However, it should be noted that in common with the successful application of systems dynamics techniques in production-distribution systems generally, the solutions are most applicable to the medium-term operations horizon. The latter term may need re-definition for use in ‘lean’ supply chains. Our intuitive reaction is that a scientific definition may well turn out to be a multiple of the largest remaining process lead-time in the slimmed down supply chain rather than being the customary arbitrary choice of, for instance, a 12-month period.     

属性值为区间数的多属性决策对象排序研究

多属性决策问题的实质利用已有决策信息,通过一定方式对备选方案进行排序和择优。针对属性值为区间数的多属性决策对象排序问题,首先,提出决策对象优势关系这一概念,再次,得出决策对象的优势关系与其属性值两端点的实数值之和存在等价关系;最后,利用属性值为区间数的多属性决策实例对该算法进行了实例分析,并利用优势关系对决策对象进行排序并择优。     

Coping with complexity

We offer a new typology of problems according to such attributes as the fuzzy set of possible solutions, the fuzzy set of properties a solution should have, the fuzzy set of knowledge necessary and sufficient to find a solution, deadlines and constraints. Problems are ranked by degree of ‘structuredness’ from well-structured to ill-defined. Some real problems are shown to be ill-defined and the causes of their inherent imprecision are traced. A model for coping with ill-defined problems enables us to estimate an optimal degree of precision in both dealing with the problem and in requesting information to help cope with it. This has interesting implications for the design of information systems.     

Examining the role of Donald Trump and his supporters in the 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol: A dual-agency model of identity leadership and engaged followership

This article develops a dual-agency model of leadership which treats collective phenomena as a co-production involving both leaders and followers who identify with the same social group. The model integrates work on identity leadership and engaged followership derived from the social identity approach in social psychology. In contrast to binary models which view either leaders or followers as having agency, this work argues that leaders gain influence by defining the parameters of action in ways that frame the agency of their followers but leave space for creativity in how collective goals are accomplished. Followers in turn, exhibit their loyalty and attachment to the leader by striving to be effective in advancing these goals, thereby empowering and giving agency to the leader. We illustrate the model primarily through the events of 6th January 2021 when Donald Trump’s exhortations to his supporters that they should ‘fight’ to ‘stop the steal’ of the 2020 election was followed by an attack on the United States’ Capitol. We argue that it is Trump’s willing participation in this mutual process of identity enactment, rather than any instructions contained in his speech, that should be the basis for assessing his influence on, and responsibility for, the assault.     

Some debates and challenges in the literature on action learning: the state of the art since Revans

Action learning has travelled in some new directions and become an evolving practice since Revans first articulated his great idea. This paper focuses on some key challenges in the literature, some of which relate to these more recent directions in theory and practice. In particular, we consider the persistent problem of defining action learning and the varieties in practice which are in evidence, the nature of ‘action’ in action learning and the developing theory and practice of critical action learning as contrasted with the ‘classical’ approach to action learning. These debates are chosen for consideration here because they appear to strike at the heart of what action learning is for and because they are in evidence across a range of action learning literature. Some implications of these debates for human resource development (HRD) are also considered, including the potential action learning has for making a contribution to organizational learning, especially in treating ‘wicked’ problems and ill-structured challenges.