Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons^™

Re-Theorizing The “Structure–Agency” Relationship: Figurational Theory, Organizational Change And The Gaelic Athletic Association, John Connolly, Paddy Dolan

Articles

This article illustrates how the figurational sociology associated with Norbert Elias provides an alternative theoretical framework for explaining the relationship between, ‘individualorganization- society’ and organizational change, and in so doing transverses what is conceived as a false dichotomy between structure and agency. Through an historical case study of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland, the ‘individual-organization-society’ relationship is conceptualized as overlapping figurations and organizational change is explained as figurational dynamics—the shifting social interdependencies between the individuals and groups comprising an organization, between that organization and other organizations, between social groups on a higher level of integration and competition. In tandem …

Business As Usual : The Nonprofit Sector In The U.S. National Elite Network, Scott Vincent Dolan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Research on the structure and distribution of power in the United States has focused mostly on the relative power of business, and has largely neglected the nonprofit sector. This is despite evidence that points to the emergence and growth of large-scale, bureaucratic, and elite-led nonprofit organizations. When the political role of the nonprofit sector has been examined, it has come predominantly from two sets of literature: the civic engagement/social capital tradition or the interest group tradition. I argue that both sets of literature, however, start with faulty assumptions about the nature of power and politics, and thereby fail to situate …

The Myth Of Endless Accumulation: A Feminist Inquiry Into Globalization, Growth, And Social Change, Martha Freymann Miser

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This theoretical dissertation examines the concept of growth and its core assumption—that the continual accumulation of wealth is both socially wise and ecologically sustainable. The study challenges and offers alternatives to the myth of endless accumulation, suggesting new directions for leadership and social change. The central question posed in this inquiry: Can we craft a more ethical form of capitalism? To answer this question, the study examines conventional and critical globalization studies; feminist scholarship on standpoint, political economy, and power; and the Enlightenment notions of progress and modernism, drawing on a number of works, including Aristotle on the three intelligences, …

Organizational Centralization As Figurational Dynamics: Movements And Counter-Movements In The Gaelic Athletic Association, John Connolly, Paddy Dolan

Articles

In this paper we develop aspects of Elias’s figurational approach within organisational studies by using some of the core theoretical constructs as a model to explain organi­sational change through an empirical investigation of the dynamics of centralisation–decentralisation processes in an Irish sports organisation. Based on historical analysis, the paper documents the expanding interdependencies, figurational dynamics and shifting power balances which led to a gradual, non-linear movement towards greater integration and centralisation within the organisation.

Exercising Control At Sports Rehab Network, Mark Mensch, Barry Armandi, Herbert Sherman

Organization Management Journal

This is a field-based disguised case describing how an entrepreneur who develops a successful rehabilitation business now must operate within the confines of a bureaucratic hospital setting. The CEO of the hospital who had ordered him not to seek any new ventures given the hospital’s cash flow problems was stymieing his entrepreneurial orientation. The case has a difficulty level appropriate for a junior level course in small business management and entrepreneurship. The case is designed to be taught in one class period (may vary from sixty minutes to one hundred minutes depending upon the course structure and the instructional approach …

Exercising Control At Sports Rehab Network, Mark Mensch, Barry Armandi, Herbert Sherman

Organization Management Journal

This is a field-based disguised case describing how an entrepreneur who develops a successful rehabilitation business now must operate within the confines of a bureaucratic hospital setting. The CEO of the hospital who had ordered him not to seek any new ventures given the hospital’s cash flow problems was stymieing his entrepreneurial orientation. The case has a difficulty level appropriate for a junior level course in small business management and entrepreneurship. The case is designed to be taught in one class period (may vary from sixty minutes to one hundred minutes depending upon the course structure and the instructional approach …

An Empirical Investigation Into The Power Behind Empowerment, Raymond D. Gordon

Organization Management Journal

Using the four dimensional frame that Hardy and Leiba-O’Sullivan (1998) developed to conceptually explore the “power behind empowerment” the study empirically illustrates how a police organization’s reform program, which was designed to empower lower level officers, foundered on its own innocence. The reform program adopts a resources dependency approach to power, which resonates with the first of the four dimensional frames of power; unobtrusive forms of power embedded at a deeper level of the organizations social system, which are consistent with the third and fourth dimensional frames, remain unaccounted for. A research and methodological framework is developed to bring the …

An Empirical Investigation Into The Power Behind Empowerment, Raymond D. Gordon

Organization Management Journal

Using the four dimensional frame that Hardy and Leiba-O’Sullivan (1998) developed to conceptually explore the “power behind empowerment” the study empirically illustrates how a police organization’s reform program, which was designed to empower lower level officers, foundered on its own innocence. The reform program adopts a resources dependency approach to power, which resonates with the first of the four dimensional frames of power; unobtrusive forms of power embedded at a deeper level of the organizations social system, which are consistent with the third and fourth dimensional frames, remain unaccounted for. A research and methodological framework is developed to bring the …

Do Suppliers Benefit From Collaborative Relationships With Large Retailers? An Empirical Investigation Of Efficient Consumer Response Adoption, Daniel Corsten, Nirmalya Kumar

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Collaborative manufacturer-retailer relationships based on efficient consumer response (ECR) have become ubiquitous over the past decade. Yet academic studies of ECR adoption and its impact on marketing relationships are relatively scarce. Inspired by the relational view of competitive advantage, the authors empirically investigate whether the extent to which suppliers of a major retailer adopt ECR has a beneficial impact on their outcomes. The results demonstrate that whereas ECR adoption has a positive impact on supplier economic performance and capability development, it also generates greater perceptions of negative inequity on the part of the supplier. However, retailer capabilities and supplier trust …

Should Critical Management Studies And Organization Development Collaborate? Invitation To A Contemplation, Maxim Voronov

Organization Management Journal

In this article, the author argues that despite important differences between Critical Management Studies (CMS) and Organization Development (OD), there is enough common ground to make a dialogue worthwhile for both fields and for management practice. The author outlines some major "objectives" of each field, noting some important but frequently overlooked similarities and complementarities between them. Power and empowerment are offered as examples of focal topics around which the two disciplines could have a productive discussion, suggesting that such an exchange would help CMS’ important insights about power to have more of an impact on organizational practice while enhancing OD's …

Stereotype Reactance At The Bargaining Table: The Effect Of Stereotype Activation And Power On Claiming And Creating Value, Laura J. Kray, Jochen Reb, Adam D. Galinsky, Leigh Thompson

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Two experiments explored the hypothesis that the impact of activating gender stereotypes on negotiated agreements in mixed-gender negotiations depends on the manner in which the stereo-type is activated (explicitly vs. implicitly) and the content of the stereotype (linking negotiation performance to stereotypically male vs. stereotypically female traits). Specifically, two experiments investigated the generality and limits of stereotype reactance. The results of Experiment 1 suggest that negotiated outcomes become more one-sided in favor of the high power negotiator when masculine traits are explicitly linked to negotiator effectiveness. In contrast, the results of Experiment 2 suggest that negotiated outcomes are more integrative …

Identifying Critical Knowledge For Projects, Timothy Kotnour, Rafael Landaeta

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This article is the result of an investigation of the challenge faced by project managers in identifying critical knowledge for projects. Five major areas of project knowledge are identified. The literature defines knowledge as information that has been given meaning.

The critical knowledge for projects was identified through the literature and by our experience as applied researchers. Managers of multi-project organizations can use this article as a guide for identifying the critical knowledge that is vital for their projects.