Authority and the pursuit of order in organizational performance

The paper seeks to examine the site of performance, the spatial context of the dramatic act, and to consider the various ways in which performance is regulated, ordered and sustained. In particular, the paper is concerned with the relationship between authority and propriety in the regulation of the performance site and with the transformational metaphors which sustain the trajectory of the performance. The basic premise on which the argument rests is that there is a equivalence of sign-imagery as appropriate to liturgical performance which is the basis of some forms of organisational behaviour and that this equivalence permits more than the mere playing out of ritualistic behaviour: it appropriates the image in the reproduction and re-presentation of its forms. Consequently, the significance of the elevation, for instance, of The Cross or the consecrated Host, the notion of ritualistic cleansing, of humiliation, of redemptive acts, of public confession, become emblematic means of achieving organisational incorporations and of achieving movement from the isolated “I” to the collective “We”.     

The hostility triad: The contribution of negative emotions to organizational (un‐)wellness

The discourse of organisational wellness with its emphasis on the positive is seen here as too one‐sided. With discussion of three negative emotions—summarised as the hostility triad in the literature—and on the basis of a little incident that occurred during a major change in a large corporation, it will be shown how contempt, anger and disgust take place in everyday actions in organisations. A thesis deriving from research in cross‐cultural psychology will be presented indicating that negative emotions, compared to reasoning, play a more important role in moral judgement than often acknowledged. Disagreeable as the hostility triad may be, it deserves attention so we are able to take its effects on the relationship of different groups in organisations into consideration.     

Exploring Digital Culture in Virtual Teams: Implications for Leading and Developing Distributed Organisations

Understanding human communication in the technological age is becoming more complex as advances in technology and its use in human exchange are being magnified. New studies show that technology is no longer just a device for human connections; it is an integrated artefact in the human exchange and communication process. As a result, we are witnessing and experiencing new norms and patterns of behaviour, values in human connections, expectations of one another, language, and other symbol systems: a digital culture. This article explores further development of the digital culture model in relation to organisational work culture. Specifically, the dimensions related to digital communication and online group dynamics are further articulated from a literature review. The findings are also presented from a study of e-process teams in a distributed organisation based on data from a digital culture inventory, focus group observations, and participant reflections, which illustrate changes in behaviour, language, group dynamics, and communication exchange between team members working in a distributed organisation. The article aims to contribute new insights which could inform approaches to organisational development that view organisational culture as central to the process.     

The mouths of others: The linguistic performance of race in Bermuda

This paper examines the behaviour of one linguistic feature among one black and one white group of Bermudian men over the age of 50. The acoustic analysis of the mouth vowel, one of the most heavily stereotyped sounds of Bermudian English, is used as a window onto linguistic parody observed in the white group, a community of practice known locally for theatrical dialect performance. In combination with contextual analysis, and in light of social conditions in Bermuda, phonetic findings suggest that this linguistic practice is not only a performance of “Bermudian‐ness,” but also a performance of a racialized stereotype which reflects and reinforces the raciolinguistic hierarchies of contemporary Bermudian society. The paper introduces this under‐researched and unusual sociolinguistic setting to the literature on racialized mock language, as well as attesting further to the usefulness of methods that examine highly self‐conscious speech.     

Is interpersonal trust a necessary condition for organisational learning?

Abstract

The organisational behaviour and management literature has devoted a lot attention on various factors affecting organisational learning. While there has been much work done to examine trust in promoting organisational learning, there is a lack of consensus on the specific type of trust involved. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of interpersonal trust in promoting organisational learning and propose a research agenda to test the extent of interpersonal trust on organisational learning. This paper contributes to the existing organisational learning literature by specifying a specific form of trust, interpersonal trust, which promotes organisational learning and proposing a future research direction. The paper is organised as follows: firstly, a common conceptualisation of organisational learning is revisited. Secondly, the existing literature on trust reviewed and salient points on how interpersonal trust enhances organisational learning discussed. Finally, a research agenda to test the extent of interpersonal trust on organisational learning is being set out.     

Standardisation—the end of professional discretion?†

This article analyses and discusses standardisation in human service organisations and its implications for professionals and for professionalism in social work. The theoretical framework derives from neo-institutional theory and theories regarding professionalism. By highlighting the role of professionals within a field influenced by organisational demands and market endeavour, this article contributes to the understanding of increased standardisation as a way to reduce uncertainty and enhance legitimacy for human service organisations, but at the expense of traditional professional discretion. This development has been interpreted as de-professionalisation and as an adjustment to organisational demands. It could also be seen as a professional strategy to strengthen professional trust and provide a sense of certainty for professionals. It can also lead to professional uncertainty about how to handle the discretion in the light of standardised tools. This development might, depending on the organisational context and the individual professional's choices, result in a manual-mental specialised professionalism as well as a strictly mechanical form of work. Standardisation thus puts high demands on professionals and how they use the professional discretion, since professionalism requires professionals capable of handling a mix of logics without totally yielding discretionary power and making professional judgement.     

Withdrawal from the public employment service by young unemployed: a matter of non-take-up or of non-compliance? How non-profit social work initiatives may inspire public services

In their effort to increase labour market participation, several EU welfare states are currently confronted with the problem of an ‘off-register NEET generation’, that is, a significant group of unemployed youngsters who do not register with the public employment service (PES) or withdraw early. Their behaviour is puzzling as they risk a penalty in the form of a reduction or a loss of benefits. Combining insights from non-compliance theory and non-take-up theory, this article argues that this withdrawal cannot be fully explained by the calculations of risks, costs and benefits that these youngsters make, nor by problematic attitudes. At least as important are the factors at the organisational level which prevent the youngsters from taking up their rights. An alternative activation approach based on private non-profit social work practice, namely integrated guidance, is proposed in order to improve participation in PES services. The findings are based on a study of nine pilots involving hard-to-reach young unemployed people in Belgium. A triangulation of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to collect and analyse the data.     

Early Medieval Irish Monastic Communities: A Premodern Model with Post-Modern Resonances

This paper is a contribution to the emerging focus on premodern concerns in organisational studies. It provides an historical account of early medieval Irish monastic communities highlighting the unusual fusion of structure, community and spirituality as a way of explaining the considerable success and longevity of this unusual organisation form. Key insights arising from this study are then applied to contemporary debates on post-modern organisational forms.     

Filling the ‘empty space’: Site-specific dance in a techno club

While organisational space has received broad scholarly attention, movement in organisational spaces remains under-researched. This paper introduces the notion of site-specific dance from dance theory to consider the dynamic relationship between space and people, emphasising that movements are a response to a space, its materiality and context. Berghain, in Berlin and one of the world’s most famous techno clubs, is discussed as a case. An interdisciplinary analysis shows how a site-specific performance is created through the interplay of the architecture, the sound and the music organised by the DJ, and the dancing crowd. Methodologically, the dance and performance studies approach develops suggestions for how to analyse movement interaction in organisational space. Reference to dance theory broadens our understanding of how organisational spaces and human interaction enable, produce and negotiate experiences that are transitory, embodied and difficult to pin down.     

Detecting self-organised behavioural patterns in workplace settings: Towards a lay epistemic theory

Abstract

Several theorists have called for people who work in organisations to become more proficient at discerning the subtle, self-organised patterns that emerge in their organisations. Such theorists argue that the capacity to detect such patterns can enable managers to understand what drives organisational behaviour, and what stands in the way of organisational transformation. This paper presents findings of a study on how some organisational practitioners detect and understand self-organised behavioural patterns that emerge in the workplace. It seeks, therefore, to integrate processes used by successful practitioners with a theoretical foundation grounded in systems and organisational research.     

Maltreated Children: A Systems Approach to Treatment Planning in Clinical Settings

Children exposed to significant abuse, neglect and household dysfunction often present a confusing and difficult‐to‐treat clinical picture. This paper discusses the use of systems theory to develop treatment plans for maltreated children in clinical settings. Although its value is well recognised in the literature, systems thinking is not easy to implement in ordinary clinical settings and the systemic approach is not universally practised. Systems theory is an integrative theory, which helps clinicians identify and prioritise key areas of difficulty, and organise information from multiple system levels into a well‐defined treatment plan. Treatment plans take into account not only patient but also service factors, and to be viable in clinical settings must function within the limits of organisational reality. A case vignette is provided.     

Stakeholder Performance Measurement in Nonprofit Organizations

According to recent findings, nonprofit organizations should address the relationships of nonprofit service quality, satisfaction, loyalty, and organizational identification when planning and evaluating donor surveys. This article presents a donor satisfaction barometer that can be used to gain insights into the strength of these key relationships and thereby establish a basis for calculated relevant indices. With such indices, nonprofit organizations can compare stakeholder performance over time and benchmark themselves against other organizations. Data from 2,599 blood donors to one section of the German Red Cross, collected through the proposed donor satisfaction barometer, show that service quality drives satisfaction, and donor satisfaction and organizational identification both exert significant positive effects on donor loyalty. Therefore, nonprofit organizations should use a combined strategic approach that improves both donor satisfaction and organizational identification to increase donor loyalty. The successful application of the donor satisfaction barometer also suggests its value for other nonprofit industries and offers important insights for managers.     

Understanding and working in welfare organisations: Helping students survive the workplace

In preparing students to function as competent social workers, educational establishments have to be mindful both of the need to communicate the ideals and values of the profession and the requirement to produce practitioners who are capable of functioning productively within the organisational environment. It cannot be assumed that these two tasks are necessarily complementary. Feedback from former students suggests they feel less well prepared for the latter. This paper explores the way in which one Diploma in Social Work programme attempts to prepare its students for the realities of the organisational context of their work with service users. It focuses on a module which aims to teach students about some of the key tensions inherent in social welfare organisations by arranging for them to interview managers and practitioners in their chosen pathway setting. Their findings are analysed in relation to the theoretical teaching given at the start of the module. The positive feedback from the students suggests the overall learning experience for the student group is very positive.     

Co-producing Across Organisational Boundaries: Promoting Asylum Seeker Integration in Scotland

This paper questions whether asylum seeker integration is promoted through inter-organisational relationships between non-profit and voluntary organisations (NPVOs) and government agencies. It focuses particularly on the role of NPVOs in service delivery (co-management) and in the delivery and planning of public services (co-governance). It presents a research study on the public services provided to asylum seekers in Glasgow and asks the following questions: What role do NPVOs play in the planning and delivery of public services? When planning and delivering public services, to what extent do NPVOs work across organisational boundaries and what kind of relationships exist? And in practice, what makes inter-organisational relationships work? This paper offers new empirical evidence and also contributes to the theoretical debate around the integration of asylum seekers.     

Challenges to the notion of publics in public relations: implications of the risk society for the discipline

The notion risk society offers a conceptual framework for understanding the emergence of new communicatively powerful publics. Focusing on the role of the public for the firm, this paper argues that the emergence of the powerful consumer and the critical public is not coincidental but a symptom of the emergence of the risk society. In looking at the consequences of the risk society at the individual, the institutional, and social political levels, the paper argues that new forms of political discourse are emerging which change the “ground rules” of the interaction between the firm and its publics. Linking the growing interest in identity with risk communication, the paper sheds light on the nature of the arenas in which these public operate and the consequences for business. It is argued that the emerging sub-political arena of direct action and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has the capability of catapulting public relations into a central role in organisational sustainability.     

Organising principles for international advocacy associations

Recent decades have witnessed a significant increase in the number of voluntary non-profit associations established to address solutions to major international social problems. Many of these associations concentrate on advocacy work, as opposed to service delivery, and are international in scope rather than based in a single country. This paper is concerned with the challenges to organising this particular type of voluntary association.While rapid progress in communications and transportation technology has undoubtedly facilitated the development of these associations, such organisations still face formidable problems. The paper argues that international advocacy associations are successful when they adopt particular organisational structures and strategies to accommodate these problems. In particular, decentralised and federated structures appear to be more viable for the international advocacy arena.This paper reviews relevant literature and elaborates on the theoretical expectations for successful structuring of international associations devoted to advocacy on global issues. Hypotheses are set forth and investigated in a preliminary way through the examination of case studies of three associations.This paper was originally prepared for the Annual Conference of the Association of Voluntary Action Scholars, London, July 1990. The author wishes to thank David Cooperrider and Bill Pasmore for their encouragement to undertake this work, the team of the Social Innovations Project in the Department of Organizational Behavior of the Weatherhead School of Management for allowing him the benefits of their field studies, and David Mason and Herman Stein for their helpful suggestions and useful insights.     

The role of networks of practice and webs of influencers on farmers' engagement with and learning about agricultural innovations

Drawing on the UK research project, ‘Farmers’ understandings of GM crops within local communities’, this paper considers the application of the concepts of communities of practice and networks of practice in the agricultural context. A brief review of theories about communities of practice and networks of practice is given and some of our findings are discussed in the context of those theories.Farmers were found to be a particular type of network of practice, characterised by a weak organisational framework but with a relatively stable network of other communities of practice (or networks of practice) they interact with, which we have called a ‘web of influencers on practice’. Together, farmers’ network of practice and their web of influencers on practice represent the whole environment in which learning may occur, and so provide insights into their social learning system. Most farmers have to work at the boundary of their network of practice and their web of influencers, which creates a significant load on their knowledge management. This is in contrast to other networks of practice where only some members take on this boundary brokering role. The paper concludes that these theories (on networks and communities of practice) provide a useful lens through which to view farmers and their practice, highlighting important points for policy. However, in such contexts these theories need to be extended to include the role of a broader ‘web of influencers on practice’.     

A limited entitlement for community care: how members use services

The goal of this paper is to show how members of three Social HMOs use a limited entitlement for community-based long-term care to meet their needs and solve their problems. The paper is based on in-home interviews with 48 aged Medicare beneficiaries who joined Social HMOs and are eligible for the entitlement. Members' experiences with case management (called service coordination), benefits for covered services, and cost-sharing requirements are explored. Members (and their informal caregivers) are found to have complex lives, into which community care fits (or does not fit) in varied ways, depending on preferences, experiences with providers, informal care, financial resources, and other factors. The paper provides insights into what kinds of problems people want to solve and how community care systems can be better designed to empower service users to solve them.     

Management consultants: systems development, power and the translation of problems

This paper aims to shed light on the exercise of power during the development and implementation of organisational information systems. Considering the use of Information Technology (IT) to help solve organisational problems, we employ the concept of the ‘sociology of translation’ to theorise the process by which the organisational problem is constituted and for which the appropriate IT solution is proposed. Discussing the nature of the power relationship between external management consultants in IT and client or user organisations, the paper considers the role of symbolic resources such as managerial discourse, and the differential access to IT knowledge and skills, as important aspects of power in that relationship.