Knowledge that Transforms

ABSTRACT This article contrasts the characteristic structural and control profiles of educational organizations with those of technical organizations. A group of primary and secondary schools and the operating units of an industrial firm differed both in structural variables and in three activities of control: buffering, smoothing, and forecasting. the article suggests that educational organizations emphasize modes of control that operate on components peripheral rather than central to the organization's technical core.

ABSTRACT It is argued that the belief that the intraorganizational environment is necessarily a political one represents a myth propagated and entertained to address various needs of organizational members. One consequence of subscription to the myth of the corporate political jungle is a belief in the necessity for, and as a result the performance of, ‘political’ behaviour itself. ‘Political’ responses by others to this behaviour empirically support the myth and justify the behaviour. It is argued that political behaviour incurs dysfunctional consequences that warrant its reduction or elimination. Because political behaviour responds to belief in its inevitability, reduction of political behaviour ultimately depends upon acceptance of the argument presented in this discussion that the workplace is not inherently political.

ABSTRACT Previous research validating the Vroom‐Yetton leadership model has provided support for all the prescriptions of the model except the Conflict Rule. This rule prescribes group decision‐making methods when conflict among subordinates is anticipated and acceptance of the decision is critical, on the grounds that a group process provides a more effective vehicle for conflict resolution than other less participative methods. the present experiment tests the Conflict Rule against an alternative hypothesis that predicts conflict intensification and polarization in group settings. Forty groups of five members each considered a decision task chosen for its likelihood of generating task‐based conflict. the 2x2 design (decision‐making process by leader reward structure) created conditions in which a particular decision‐making process either conformed to or violated the normative prescriptions of Vroom and Yetton's model. Both attitudinal and behavioural measures of decision acceptance revealed that the interactive group process was significantly more effective than one‐to‐one consultation in generating support for a leader's solution. A secondary analysis treating the quality of the leader's decision as a covariate revealed no significant variation in the pattern of subordinate acceptance explained by this factor. Overall, the results support Vroom and Yetton's Conflict Rule and suggest that subordinates are far more likely to accept a leader's decision following an interactive group process regardless of either the leader's desire to reach consensus or the technical quality of the decision.

ABSTRACT The literature on marketing planning is largely prescriptive in nature, with little reporting of empirical research. Additionally, the latter has been mostly concerned with classifying the official planning procedures that organizations have adopted. This article reports research which has investigated the perceptions of individual managers towards marketing planning. the overall result is that many differences of perception were identified, including major differences between managers in the same organizations. This insight also allowed for the development of a number of theoretical propositions.

ABSTRACT This paper examines the establishment of two large dry food warehouses or distribution centres (DCs) each of which involved much technological innovation. We explore whether the introduction of the same technology into two similar DCs in one corporation leads to similar outcomes and to what extent such a technological change may influence organizational behaviour. We assess the managerial strategies and tactics associated with the technological change and the subsequent experiences at each site. In short, distribution centre A (DC A ) was plagued by industrial disruption and had low productivity. By contrast, distribution centre B (DC B ) had virtually no disruption and had high productivity. Following a change of corporate strategy, DC A was contracted out to a third party independent operator and became DC X . the new management immediately reduced the industrial disruption there and appeared to increase the productivity too; thus DC X was transformed in comparison with DG A . These contrasts are explained in terms of differing managerial strategies, patterns of industrial relations and work organization. We conclude that these three factors are crucial in determining the success of technological change and are more important determinants of organizational behaviour than is the particular type of technology.

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the pattern of relationship that develops over time between a state‐owned firm and its owner. the main hypothesis is that there is not a single, permanent pattern of relationship. Instead, it is proposed that there are three possible modes of interaction, which can be combined into a cycle. the state‐SOE relationships are thus shown to evolve from mutual dependance and co‐operation to autonomy via an adversarial stage. The article first provides detailed examples of the various types of relations that have been revealed by research, then combines them into the idea of cycle, before investigating the forces that lie under the cycle. It finally offers several implications for both practice and research.