Perceived technological turbulence and individual ambidexterity – The moderating role of formalization

Today's turbulent environment, with fast and unpredictable technological changes, requires employees to increasingly act ambidextrously, i.e., to simultaneously incorporate exploitative and explorative tasks in their work roles. To improve our understanding of how to foster individual ambidexterity in technologically turbulent environments, we draw on organizational management theories by arguing (1) that perceived technological turbulence directly affects individual ambidexterity in a positive way and (2) that organizations can strengthen this effect by providing employees with internal stability in these times of external changes through high degrees of formalization. Using data collected in a three-wave online survey of 739 German employees, this study demonstrates that employees who perceive high degrees of technological turbulence in their organization's environment show high degrees of ambidexterity in their work. In addition, we show that formalization in the form of written rules, procedures, and instructions positively moderates this relationship so that employees' ambidexterity is highest when both perceptions of technological turbulence and formalization are high. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for the ambidexterity literature, for future research and managerial practice.     

语言逻辑与形式化

语言逻辑是一门新兴的学科,是现代逻辑与现代语言学发展结合的产物。语言逻辑有狭义与广义之分,对于它的研究对象,学术界尚无定论。是否采用形式化方法,这是存在于广义语言逻辑与狭义语言逻辑之间的激烈论争。应当坚持用辩证的观点看待该论争:一方面应该承认形式化方法在语言逻辑领域具有重要的意义,另一方面也要看到形式化方法在语言逻辑领域具有相当的缺陷。     

社区建设的形式化问题与对策分析——以山东省滨州市的社区建设为例

推行社区建设有利于社会的和谐发展,我国早在1990年代就大力推行社区建设,并在一定程度上改善了社区的环境卫生、社区安全等问题。但是,社区在进一步的发展中却遇到了制度性的瓶颈问题。改革的具体策略是在新形势下要充分相信民众的能力,形成民主选举氛围,使民众自觉融入到社区建设中去。只有这样,校地合作才能建立一种真正意义上的合作关系。     

Formalizing the Precautionary Principle Accounting for Strategic Interaction,Natural Factors,and Technological Factors

Four dimensions of the precautionary principle (PP), involving threat, uncertainty, action, and command, are formalized at the level of set theory and the level of individual players and natural and technological factors. Flow and decision diagrams with a feedback loop are developed to open up a new research agenda. The role of strategic interaction and games in the PP is underdeveloped or nonexistent in today's literature. To rectify this deficiency, six kinds of games are identified in the four PP dimensions. The games can be interlinked since player sets can overlap. Characteristics are illustrated. Accounting for strategic interaction, the article illustrates uncertainty in the PP regarding which game is played, which players participate in which game, strategy sets, payoffs, incomplete information, risk attitudes, and bounded rationality. The insurance and lottery games analyzed earlier for the safe minimum standard (SMS) for species extinction are revisited and placed into a broader context illustrating strategic interaction. Uncertainty about payoffs illustrates transformations back and forth between the chicken game, battle of the sexes, assurance game, and prisoner's dilemma.     

Brand deletion implementation: The effect on performance of context and process factors

Although brand deletion (BD) is a key strategic decision within brand portfolio management, it has received very little attention in the scientific literature. This research expands the knowledge base on the BD strategy, particularly in the execution phase. Based on the literature addressing strategic change and marketing strategy implementation, this study explores the main and interaction effects of context (decentralization and consensus) and process (formalization and communication) implementation factors on the success of BD, measured in terms of its contribution to the firm’s economic performance. Using a representative sample of 155 cases of BD, we show that the four factors are related to BD performance, although these relations are complex and intertwined. Consensus, communication, and decentralization positively affect BD performance, with consensus being particularly influential. Formalization is found to be a double-edged sword as the effects of formalizing the execution of the deletion are particularly convoluted.