1,721,042 research outputs found
Are academics and practitioners that different after all? An entanglement perspective for the theory-practice debate in management
No full textThe article contributes to a better understanding of the relation between organization theory and managerial practice, by providing a systematic review of the theory-practice debate and proposing a new integrative position called entanglement. A careful analysis of the debate highlights a dichotomist pattern (science versus commonsense, rigor versus relevance and cognition versus action) that propels a circling debate. To reconcile dichotomies, we propose an entanglement position that re-conceptualizes relations between academics and practitioners as loops of trans-epistemic boundary work. We identify three loops that explain how and why academics and practitioners alternate between science and commonsense (legitimation), translate standards of rigor into multiple systems of relevance (mobilization), and form common action-cognition meshes (enactment). We show that not all loops require the same relational effort, which explains some of the contrasting findings in the theory-practice debate. We try to advance the debate by proposing new research directions for each loop
Backing up emergency teams in healthcare and law enforcement organizations: strategies to socialize newcomers in the time of COVID-19
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic is putting significant pressure on emergency teams in healthcare and law enforcement organizations. In order to provide rapid backup, new workers must be socialized rapidly and effectively. In addition to considering the pros and cons of various newcomer socialization strategies and tools, healthcare and law enforcement organizations may need to design hybrid socialization strategies at the light of four essential processes of emergency teams: roles, knowledge, interpersonal relations and emotion management. We suggest that emergency teams based on the combined resources of old-timers and newcomers where the more experienced team members contribute actively to the socialization of new members can have unexpected positive effects on the team
Strategic Alignment Matrix: supporting management coordination in complex organizations
No full textPurpose The paper proposes a framework, labeled Strategic Alignment Matrix, to attain organizational alignment by integrating the horizontal dimension of performance (results driven by activities carried out by multiple organizational units) and the vertical dimension (results of single units) through the use of a sophisticated information structure composed of quantitative measures and management processes. Design/methodology/approach A science-based design approach was adopted. A review of the literature on Strategic Performance Management Systems (SPMS) and coordination allowed the identification of a set of design principles (guidelines reflecting the accumulated knowledge in the literature). The design principles guided the design of the proposed framework. The framework was tested in a tiles company on the new product development process. Findings Five design principles are presented for the design of a working SPMS: (1) to integrate the horizontal and vertical dimensions of performance; (2) to have all the relevant information in one place (package); (3) to understand how actors contribute to the overall performance; (4) to favor the emergence of integrating conditions for coordination; (5) to enrich the role of quantitative non-financial information to attain inter-functional integration. During the test of the framework, managers highlighted their increased ability to coordinate actions and the existence of a double-loop learning. Research limitations/implications The model was tested in one organization. The study should be replicated in other contexts connecting the Strategic Alignment Matrix to the budgeting and incentives systems. Originality/value Working at the interface between science and design helps to address the theory-practice gap that has been a priority in management studies for a long time
From Lone Wolves to Members of the Pack: Exploring interpersonal identity work within identity workspaces
Full text linkIndividuals can experience the urge to realize their desired work selves, inspired either by the 'roads not taken' in the past or positive images of the self in the future. Based on a qualitative study of healthcare professionals working in Italian community hospitals, we develop a process model of how communities of individuals who are unable to enact their desired work selves in their current occupations create new entities to act as identity workspaces to host their identity work. They may do so even if they hold different desired work selves, engaging in interpersonal identity work. The processes of identity work and collective creation of an identity workspace are intertwined since the identity work of one individual is in an ongoing dynamic relation with the identity work of other individuals. People converge to play out their desired work selves in an identity workspace which is supportive. However, the heterogeneity of the desired work selves involved can lead to the individual's identity work encroaching on the identity work of the others, and this heterogeneity results in impasse. This impasse is resolved only when individuals engage in interpersonal identity work, through mutual exploration and enactment of expanded work selves in an enabling identity workspace
Report on the To.Sca.Lake Workshop, Total Scattering for Nanotechnology, held at Como Lake
No full textAlgorithmic work-life balance: How algorithms influence gig-workers perceptions of work-life boundaries on platforms
Full text linkWith the rising trend of individuals embracing freelance work on online labor markets, it becomes crucial to comprehend how platforms and algorithms influence their experiences of well-being. This study employs a mixed methods approach to explore the effects of platforms and various algorithms, including matching, control, and rating algorithms, on freelancers' work-life balance. Drawing on preliminary data collected through surveys and interviews with freelancers on a major online labor market platform, our findings reveal that control and rating algorithms negatively impact work-life balance by amplifying feelings of insecurity among freelancers. However, we also discovered that freelancers who perceive the platform they work on as useful exhibit greater proficiency in navigating the boundaries between their work and family life. Our study sheds light on the intricate dynamics between platforms, algorithms, well-being, and work-life balance for freelancers and emphasizes the need for further exploration of algorithmic interventions that promote work-life balance in the online freelance context
Reputation in the Workplatforms: How Crowdworkers Manage Algorithmic Scores in Online Labor Markets
No full textManaging Reputation in the Workplatform: How Freelancers Interpret Algorithmic Scores in OLM
No full textAlthough considered independent from the platforms they work from, freelancers in online labor markets need to develop an ‘algorithmic competence’ to become and stay competitive. To increase the likelihood of being hired, in particular, they need to deal with algorithmically calculated reputation, which is a standardized score associated to their quality as workers. By drawing on signaling theory, this research aims to explore how freelancers working on online platforms interpret algorithmic calculated reputation and with what consequence for their work. The grounded model we developed through interviews and documents collected with freelancers from a major platform reveals two phases through which freelances manage their reputation. First, freelancers interpret algorithmic scores as barriers and strive to build their initial reputation with emotional consequences in terms of feelings of hardship and loneliness. In a second phase, freelancers develop three different strategies to manage reputation, that we labelled as instrumental, relational, and indifferent. The interpretations and behaviors associated to the different strategies lead to different, although mainly negative, emotional responses, i.e. emotion regulation, anxiety, and frustration. We believe our model offers implications for theories on imposed reputation signals, gig work, and emotions in new work contexts.
From gaps to tangles: A relational framework for the future of the theory-practice debate
No full textThe article contributes to a better understanding of the relation between management theory and managerial practice by providing an integrative and historically contextualized review of the theory-practice debate among management scholars, and by proposing a new integrative position which we call entanglement. The integrative review reveals that since its origins in the 1950s up to the last decade, positions in the debate have shifted according to a rigor-relevance pendulum, portraying academics and practitioners as members of distinct, closed communities. To advance this debate, we propose an entanglement position which re-conceptualizes relations between academics and practitioners as trans-epistemic networks of interest within which knowledge can travel via three different boundary spanning strategies: legitimation, mobilization, and enactment. By showing the different degrees of relational intensity (i.e. required boundary spanning effort) of these strategies, we reconcile and integrate contrasting findings in the theory-practice debate. We advance the debate by proposing new research directions in relation to each strategy
What drives alignment between offered and perceived well-being initiatives in organizations? A cross-case analysis of employer–employee shared strategic intentionality
No full textThis study investigates the conditions of alignment between an organization’s business strategy, the well-being initiatives (WBIs) offered to employees and employees’ perceptions of the latter. We conducted a comparative study on the conditions of alignment between offered and perceived WBIs in three companies with different business strategies. Findings highlight that the alignment between offered and perceived benefits depends on what we label as ‘shared strategic intentionality’: (1) how employers’ use their understanding of the organization’s business strategy to craft WBIs and (2) employees’ perceptions of WBIs at the light of the attributions about why their employers offer WBIs the way they do, and of the broader understanding of the organization’s business strategy. We contribute to the Strategic HRM literature by proposing an integrative position with respect to the macro (i.e., employer-focused) and micro (i.e., employee-focused) research traditions. Our position has the advantage of looking at employers’ intentions and at employees’ attributions of intentions simultaneously and unravels the central role of business strategy in shaping their alignment. From a practical standpoint, not only do we bring a more nuanced understanding of the strategic HRM challenges faced by employers and employees in settings with different business strategies, but also initiate a discussion about the traps and best practices associated to configuring effective WBIs in organizations
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