Ayse Saka-Helmhout

Antecedents and Consequences of Organizational Change: ‘Institutionalizing’ the Behavioral Theory of the Firm

In this paper, we highlight the conditions under which organizations initiate changes in two distinct institutional contexts. While the focus within behavioral research has been on aspiration-driven organizational change, the effect of institutional dynamics on the probability of change has been given limited attention. Pooled cross-sectional data covering the period 1920-2001 in the baseball industry are regressed to examine a set of hypotheses that predict the drivers of organizational change in periods of institutional stability and instability, as well as the impact of these changes on performance. Our findings show that the role of aspiration-driven organizational change diminishes in environments characterized by institutional instability. Rather, mimetic and cognitive pressures pave the ground for responses to institutional dynamics. We also shed light on how the relative stability/instability of the institutional environment heterogeneously influences the implications of behavioral changes for organizational performance.

Learning in multinational enterprises as the socially embedded translation of practices

Purpose – With a few exceptions, the mainstream literature on learning in multinational enterprises (MNEs) has shown little concern for the transformational nature and the social constitution of learning. This paper aims to address this gap by drawing on Scandinavian institutionalism, social learning perspectives, and comparative institutionalism.Design/methodology/approach – A comparative case study of two subsidiaries of the same MNE was conducted. The subsidiaries received similar practices from headquarters (HQ) but displayed contrasting learning outcomes.Findings – It is shown that learning outcomes differed based on the varying extent to which practices were translated, which depends on the participation of local actors. The difference in participation pattern, in turn, is rooted in differences in the institutional context of the two subsidiaries.Research limitations/implications – It is recognized that apart from institutional influences, organizational idiosyncrasies may be at work. In addition, t...

Bringing context and structure back into situated learning

Practice-based studies have progressed thinking in the knowledge, learning and innovation fields by emphasizing the continual negotiation of social structures and meaning through participation. Yet, only a few contributions discuss how participation and learning are affected by broader structures. This is an inconsistency in the understanding of ‘situated’ learning where learning through participation is restricted to the immediate community involved in a social activity. We aim to address this inconsistency by investigating the effects of the interplay between institutional and organizational structures on patterns of participation and, in turn, learning outcomes. We develop a framework of situated learning in multinational enterprises, and explore its value through a comparative case study of the introduction of new practices in four subsidiaries of two multinational enterprises in two contrasting national institutional systems.In contrast to older views, our case findings suggest that while the interplay between institutional context and organizational structure indeed matters, it does not determine collective participation and situated learning as actors can actively create solutions when structural conditions and institutioanl demands are less aligned.

The MNE as a Challenge to Institutional Theory: Key Concepts, Recent Developments and Empirical Evidence

The co-existence of multiple, often contradictory, institutional demands pose challenges to organizations. Despite the intriguing context that multinational enterprises (MNEs) present for the study of organizational action to such demands, research has focused on organizational fields. To more deeply consider the MNE context, we argue that MNEs offer an opportunity to examine the role of society in the ‘management’ of multiple institutional logics. Further, we highlight organizational attributes such as economic ties, foreignness, and location strategy that filter institutional complexity in the context of MNEs. The papers in this Special Issue explore how the dynamic interaction between MNEs and the varying institutional demands across their multiple environments creates avenues for active agency.

Learning from the Periphery: Beyond the Transnational Model

Purpose – Numerous studies have proliferated on the salient role of the subsidiary in multinational enterprise learning and innovative capability building. However, this role has not been considered outside the structural properties of the transnational or integrated network configuration. This paper aims to highlight the role of agency in learning beyond effective configurations.Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on case studies that systematically compare the ways in which parent company knowledge embedded in a transnational and an international structure is transferred to subsidiaries in the European chemical industry.Findings – The paper demonstrates that an international structure can also promote higher levels of learning, despite the absence of learning-facilitating structural properties, when subsidiaries’ orientation to enact acquired knowledge or their “effortful accomplishments” are considered.Practical implications – The findings point to the significance of agency or adaptation to contexts that require either idiosyncratic or ongoing changes, where structural properties of a multinational enterprise are not conducive to higher levels of learning. In the absence of these structural properties, employees need to be guided to change their recognisable pattern of interdependent actions.Originality/value – The learning implications of Bartlett and Ghoshal’s MNE structures are fine-tuned with the conceptualization of learning as practice. By adopting an agency-based understanding of learning, the two aspects of learning are reconciled, i.e. knowledge transfer and the actor’s orientation to acquired knowledge for a more refined understanding of the concept within the MNE context.

Changing Business Models and Employee Representation in the Airline Industry: A Comparison of British Airways and Deutsche Lufthansa

In recent years, the notion of business models has gained momentum in management research. Scholars have discussed several barriers to changing business models in established firms. However, the national institutions of market economies have not yet been discussed as barriers, even though they can constrain the latitude of action of a firms management. Based on interviews and a longitudinal content analysis, we analyse the extent to which full service carriers in two countries (British Airways in the UK and Deutsche Lufthansa in Germany) have adopted elements of a low cost model over time. Furthermore, we investigate how this process has been influenced by the differences in each national institutional context. We particularly focus on the role of the rights of employee representatives in changes in business models. Our results show that British Airways has moved its business model more in the direction of low cost carriers than Deutsche Lufthansa, although the business model of the former airline still differs significantly from that of a typical low cost carrier. We identify national institutions that potentially strengthen the position of employee representatives as a factor that can influence, and also act as a barrier to, business model change.

In and Between Societies: Reconnecting Comparative Institutionalism and Organization Theory:

Recently, the state and future of organization theory have been widely debated. In this Perspectives issue, we aim to contribute to these debates by suggesting that organizational scholarship may benefit from greater understanding and consideration of societal institutions and their effects on the collective organizing of work. We also illustrate that the literature on comparative institutionalism, a strand of institutional thought with a rich tradition within Organization Studies, provides useful insights into these relations. We highlight several of these insights and briefly introduce the articles collected in the associated Perspectives issue of Organization Studies on comparative institutionalism1. We end with a call for greater cross-fertilization between comparative institutionalism and organization theory at large.

The effects of R&D intensity and internationalization on the performance of non-high-tech SMEs:

Research and Development (R&D) investment is seen as a fundamental driver of high-tech small and medium-sized (SME) firm performance. However, the same driver may be constraining growth among non-high-tech SMEs as it increases the level of risk faced by such firms. We challenge this argument by examining the relationship between R&D intensity and performance among non-high-tech SMEs. While the size of R&D investments is, by definition, limited in the non-high-tech sector, our study shows that such investments are important for non-high-tech firms. There is, however, an inverted U-shaped relationship between R&D intensity and performance among non-high-tech SMEs. Furthermore, increased internationalization leads non-high-tech SMEs to exploit their R&D investment more effectively to enhance firm performance, provided that R&D investment levels exceed a critical threshold.

Transforming Subsidiary Institutional Distinctiveness into Non-location-Bound Capabilities

The differentiated MNE hinges on specialized subsidiaries that tap into and leverage localized capabilities in host countries. The rich literature on knowledge creating subsidiaries and subsidiary ...

Exploring the interaction of firm-level change and national institutional environments in shaping employment and union relations: a comparative case study of four European airlines

Abstract Drawing on the example of the airline industry, this paper explores in a longitudinal comparative case study the question of how firm-level changes and national institutional environments interact in shaping employee and union relations. Adding to previous research in comparative institutional analysis and comparative employment relations, we illustrate that the way in which industry pressures and national-level effects play out to influence employee and union relations depends on firm-level changes, mainly in the form of firm growth, acquisitions and the foundation of new subsidiaries. We show in particular that depending on firm-level changes, the very same firm might engage differently with a given institutional context at different points in time. Hence, our work illustrates the importance of firm growth, acquisitions and the foundation of new subsidiaries in explaining the shifting interaction between the firm and its institutional environment, and its implications for changing employee and union relations within firms.