转型背景下企业有效应对组织复杂性的机理研究

如何借助不同类型的组织复杂性为企业创造效能已成为当前理论界及实践界研究的热点.本文基于文献研究提出了不同组织复杂性与组织效能的关系及影响这一关系的复杂适应性机理的假设.实证研究表明,转型经济环境下,结构复杂性与组织效能存在倒U型曲线关系,战略复杂性与组织效能存在U型曲线关系,目标复杂性与组织效能存在倒U型曲线关系;在复杂适应性的五个维度中,动态适应在组织复杂性与组织效能关系中起完全中介作用;自组学习及自主创新在这一关系中起部分中介作用;自发变革和柔性协作的中介作用不显著.研究结论对企业有效应对组织复杂性有重要指导意义.     

Top management team diversity and high performance: An integrative approach based on upper echelons and complexity theory

This paper analyses Top Management Team (TMT) composition diversity as an antecedent of firm performance in accordance with a recent paradigm based on Complexity Theory. Research into TMT diversity is commonly seen as a double-edged sword because inconclusive results have been achieved in prior studies. This controversy has reinforced the call to employ a more appropriate methodology by moving beyond the reliance on multiple regression analysis and towards the use of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The study provides various TMT diversity configurations that lead to high performance. The study therefore contributes towards the TMT diversity literature by utilising asymmetric testing to advance in the understanding of the diversity of TMT attributes as an antecedent of high firm outcome. The paradigm currently facing TMT internal complexity is doubly relevant for managers, to ascertain the best TMT diversity compositions to achieve the best strategic goal and thereby the highest firm outcome, and for new research avenues in the demographic literature, to obtain richer insights from TMT data, which might provide additional information on the complex relations established within these TMTs.     

Strategic renewal: Can it be done profitably?

Industry transformation requires strategic renewal at the level of individual firms. Executives then face the dilemma of choosing renewal paths in the face of uncertainty over the competitive environment of the future, and hence the profitability of potential strategies. This dilemma motivates us to study industry transformation from the perspective of strategic renewal among 208 large firms in the global pulp and paper industry. The findings of our qualitative comparative analysis show that only a minority of firms in our sample succeeded in profitable proactive renewal. Content-wise, there were similarities in the pursued strategies over the wider population, but only a few maintained superior profitability while proactively renewing. Our results, overall, highlight the importance of understanding the processual nature and execution of strategic renewal.     

Keeping things simple: why the Human Development Index should not diverge from its equal weights assumption

Using a range of statistical criteria rooted in Information Theory we show that there is little justification for relaxing the equal weights assumption underlying the United Nation’s Human Development Index (HDI) even if the true HDI diverges significantly from this assumption. Put differently, the additional model complexity that unequal weights add to the HDI more than counteracts the improvement in goodness-of-fit. This suggests that, in some cases, there may be limited validity in increasing the complexity of a range of other composite sustainability indices.     

The problem with knowledge ambiguity

This paper proposes a new conceptualisation of the construct of knowledge ambiguity. This new conceptualisation is essential because (1) past researchers have tended to narrowly define and operationalise knowledge ambiguity in terms of causal ambiguity or tacitness and (2) the prevalent non-comprehensive conceptualisation constrains our ability to overcome the problem of knowledge ambiguity. Knowledge ambiguity has been identified as a major obstacle to effective knowledge transfer and to the implementation of overall knowledge management systems. The new conceptualisation proposes that knowledge ambiguity is composed of two types of ambiguity: component ambiguity and causal ambiguity. Component ambiguity is uncertainty about knowledge content, whereas causal ambiguity is uncertainty about how to use the knowledge. This re-conceptualisation is supported by previous studies on knowledge characteristics, absorptive capacity and cognitive learning. In this paper, theoretical propositions are developed to demonstrate the compatibility of the new conceptualisation with the current understanding of these concepts. The present paper not only advances our understanding of knowledge ambiguity, it also points towards solutions for overcoming the problems associated with knowledge ambiguity. Different measures are required to overcome problems created by component ambiguity vs. causal ambiguity. This paper’s re-conceptualisation of knowledge ambiguity makes it easier to theorise about and operationalise the concept. It aligns the definition of knowledge ambiguity with current definitions of related constructs such as absorptive ambiguity and cognitive learning that are used in the broader knowledge transfer and knowledge management literatures.     

Executive catalysts: Predicting sustainable organizational performance amid complex demands

We propose a conceptual model to better understand core capacities that equip some executives to be effective catalysts of organizational performance over time. Drawing on constructivist theory of ego development, we suggest that the combined effects of self differentiation/complexity and self-integration are individual level predictors of being an effective catalyst. We assert that capacity for meaning making at the individual level is a prerequisite for the type of sense giving that coordinates stakeholder actions. From coordinated action outstanding leadership performance becomes possible. We link our contribution with leadership theory on the importance of vision and complexity. We offer measures and propositions to support empirical testing. We also address directions and implications for further research with emphasis on how executives may develop these capacities.     

复杂性科学在大学管理创新中的应用

本文介绍了复杂性科学的基本概念、研究方法及其在管理中的成功应用;对大学进行了复杂性分析,论述了大学是开放的复杂巨系统;提出大学管理应遵循开放的复杂巨系统发展运行规律的观点,并构建了大学宏观管理体系框架。这些内容为大学管理创新方面的研究提供了有益的参考。