Barbara Imperatori

Organizing Individual and Collective Creativity: Flying in the Face of Creativity Clichés

The growing complexity of problems requires collective solutions to produce creative outcomes. Organizational theory on creativity has been extensively developed in recent decades, but two problematic issues remain. First, no current comprehensive model explains the development of collective creativity. Second, no empirical research has been conducted on the process of theory dissemination and its relevance within the managerial community. This paper provides evidence which can inform the design of collective creative projects within organizations, flying in the face of some managerial cliches. We design a research project which enables managerial sensemaking to emerge and which proposes a comprehensive approach to the design of team creativity. From a research design involving 24 managers and 98 eleven-person groups, results confirm that creativity is not only about creative genius, and design for creativity is not a matter of linear correlation but implies a more sophisticated and integrative approach according to which individual creative skills, team dynamics and organizational solutions interact with each other to produce a collective creative performance.

Organizing Individual and Collective Creativity. Flying in the face of creativity clichés: some empirical evidences

The growing complexity of problems requires collective solutions to produce creative outcomes. Organizational theory on creativity has been extensively developed in recent decades, but two problematic issues remain. First, no current comprehensive model explains the development of collective creativity. Second, no empirical research has been conducted on the process of theory dissemination and its relevance within the managerial community. This paper provides evidence which can inform the design of collective creative projects within organizations, flying in the face of some managerial cliches. We design a research project which enables managerial sensemaking to emerge and which proposes a comprehensive approach to the design of team creativity. From a research design involving 24 managers and 98 eleven-person groups, results confirm that creativity is not only about creative genius, and design for creativity is not a matter of linear correlation but implies a more sophisticated and integrative approach according to which individual creative skills, team dynamics and organizational solutions interact with each other to produce a collective creative performance.

The Unexpected Side Of Relational E-Hrm: Developing Trust in the Hr Department

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the organizational redesign opportunities currently offered by web-based technological innovations contribute to rebuilding and strengthening the employee-HR department relationship, rendering personnel management policy criteria more transparent, increasing perceived fairness and thus helping to instil trust in the HR department, albeit in a diverse virtual context. Design/methodology/approach – The authors designed a survey involving 526 Gen Y employees and tested the hypotheses using structural equation modelling analyses. Findings – The results confirm a positive relationship between relational e-HRM system adoption, procedural justice and trust in the HR department. Research limitations/implications – The results provide evidence that technology can support the development of institutional trust in virtual environments and thus contribute to the growing e-HRM literature, to the more consolidated strategic HRM research domain and to the debate ...

Designing a social enterprise: Organization configuration and social stakeholders’ work involvement

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine, drawing on organization studies and stakeholder theories, the organizational configuration that enables the social enterprise to succeed by combining social and economic imperatives in a sustainable way. Design/methodology/approach – The research project is based on the analysis of a multiple cross-national case study consisting of seven social enterprises that are active in the drug rehabilitation context. Multiple rounds of data gathering and analysis combined with within-case analysis and cross-case comparison enabled the authors to evaluate the perceived, declared and subjective organizational perspectives. Findings – Results suggest that organizational performance – measured as the ability to achieve social goals, generate resources and pursue sustainability over time – depends on the implementation of a participative organizational configuration defined by the interaction of six organizational components (i.e. time and space designed for collective ...

Facing e-HRM: the consequences on employee attitude towards the organisation and the HR department in Italian SMEs

Adopting the employee-organisation relationship framework, our paper explores the consequences of e-HRM systems on employee attitude towards both the organisation and the HR department in Italian SMEs. Through a large-scale survey of 494 employees, data confirm that the consequences of e- HRM are not always entirely positive or negative. In detail, with reference to Italian SMEs, operational e-HRM practices seem to enhance the perceived internal efficiency of the HR department but have no impact on employee organisational commitment. On the other hand, relational and transformational e-HRM practices positively influence employee commitment as well as their perceptions of the competence of HR departments. Our evidence suggests several theoretical and managerial implications and would serve as a prelude to the growing body of theory and research seeking to explain the emergence of the e-HRM challenge in shaping the employee-organisation relationship and in influencing the role of the HR department in SMEs.

Recruiting Gen Yers Through Social Media: Insightsfrom the Italian Labor Market.

Originality/value Results contribute in understanding how social media can better sustain employer branding and recruitment activities, especially considering the needs and expectations of talented young employees and professionals in the Italian context. Italy is an emblematic context, where the social media potential appears to be extremely interesting, considering its high rate of social media penetration.

A rhizomatic learning process to create collective knowledge in entrepreneurship education: Open innovation and collaboration beyond boundaries:

Entrepreneurship literature has proven the efficacy of an experiential and collaborative learning approach that promotes entrepreneurial capabilities, that is, risk-taking, positive thinking, vision, intuitive decision-making, creative problem-solving, managing interdependency, tolerating ambiguity and innovation. To advance this, we propose a Deleuzian-inspired theoretical framework for entrepreneurship learning around innovation based on a rhizomatic perspective. We offer an illustrative case and identify the advantages and challenges of a rhizomatic approach to learning.

ICT AND CHANGING WORKING RELATIONSHIPS: RATIONAL OR NORMATIVE FASHION?

This work explores the consequences of the managerial discourses on flexible work mediated by technology. The study – based on a multiple case analysis – points out the relevance and the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on both “rational” firm’s productivity and “normative” employees’ psychological contract. Finally, we suggest some implementation guidelines for successful ICT work solutions.

Overview of Employee Engagement Literature: The What and Why Issues

The discrepancy between the perceived importance of engagement and the level of engagement that exists in organizations underlines a significant opportunity for HRM scholars and professionals to develop a research agenda and practical strategies to address this gap. The starting point of any serious consideration of this concept is a better understanding of the ultimate significance of ‘people engagement’. The chapter presents the main research results on people engagement at work starting from the original engagement definition, arguing its positive and negative outcomes in relation to both employees and organizations. The discussion proposes evidence-based and effective managerial guidelines distinguishing between organization and job engagement, and flying in the face of the most popular engagement cliques. This is a necessary premise to proposing effective and serious lines of action and bridging the gap between research and practice.

Overview of Employee Engagement Literature: The How Issue

Notwithstanding the numerous research on engagement antecedents, findings are not easy to generalize. This implies the risk of an ineffective approach. The chapter presents the research evidence on the determinants of employee engagement and clarifies the theoretical rationales to inform managerial actions, starting from solid and accurate theoretical explanations and evidence that enable more effective decisions in relation to people management practices. First, three engagement theoretical rationales are presented: motivation theory, job demands and job resources model; social exchange theory. Second, research distinguishes five levels of the engagement antecedents: job characteristics, interpersonal relationships, personal features, HRM practices, organization solutions. Finally, research suggests that three significant ingredients contribute to building employee perceptions of their work relationship: meaningfulness, safety, and resource availability. They are related to the role of cultural values and frames (national but also organizational culture) that provide sense; the role of HRM practices that contributes to building a fair work environment; the role of management and leadership styles and behaviours as organizational processes that intermediate the relationship between employees and the organization. At the end of the chapter, some widespread cliches of employee engagement are discussed and reviewed in light of the research evidence.