Charles McMillan

The Cultural Context of Organizational Control: An International Comparison

This is a revised version of a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, August 1974, in Montreal, Canada. The research project on which it is based has been supported by the Canada Council; Columbia University, East Asian Institute; Joint Committee on Japanese Studies of the Social Science Research C ouncil and the American Council of Learned Societies; Management Center, University of Bradford; Research Council, Rutgers University; Swedish Social Science Research Council; and Umea University. Professor Horvath is at Umea University, Sweden; Professor McMillan, at York University, Canada; Professor Azumi, at Rutgers University, USA; and Professor Hickson, at the University of Bradford, England.

Centrally Planned Development: A Comparison of Polish Factories with Equivalents in Britain, Japan, and Sweden

The first data collected by Aston Programme methods in Eastern Europe are reported from Poland. In a sample of factories matched for size, product, and unit status with equivalents in Britain, Japan, and Sweden, striking results are obtained. First, relation ships among size, interorganizational dependence, and technology, and structural characteristics of formalization, specialization, and centralization continue to support the hypothesis that these relationships will be similar in all societies. Second, and more importantly for this particular cross-national comparison, the Polish factories are found to be uniquely and uniformly formalized, functionally specialized, and centralized, to a high degree. This distinctiveness is attributed to the dual effects of an economy which is both a late developer and state planned.

Five competitive forces of effective leadership and innovation

Purpose – This paper sets out a model of organizational innovation, where leadership and innovation are defined as organizational processes embedded in decision streams in the organization.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the organizational literature on successful and unsuccessful decision processes, placing less on individuals and more on embedded organizational systems that impede quality outcomes.Findings – The paper defines five forces of leadership and innovation that provide a model of decision processes: skills and capabilities, capacity to learn, capacity to listen, capacity to motivate, and innovation.Practical implications – The article provides managers with benchmark tools to assess an organizations decision system, its capacity to learn, and its feedback mechanisms.Originality/value – The paper raises serious questions about traditional bureaucratic hierarchies, conventional models of leadership and innovation, and offers a fresh perspective on quality organizational innovation.

Wicked problems: turning strategic management upside down

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critique the existing decision-making models of organizational theory and the ability of strategic managers to address unconventional problems using these models. Strategic management models presume reasonable stability in the task environment and the organizational design features. However, complex problems, or wicked problems, are prolific in a global world. They change profoundly the nature of strategic management, where management faces a deep paradox – an environment of unprecedented interdependence, yet unpredictable forces of chaos and volatility, a landscape of wicked problems. In this paper, the authors address wicked problems within the context of strategic management. Design/methodology/approach – The authors review and critique the organizational theory literature, namely, microeconomics, bounded rationality, organizational failure and the theory of creative destruction within the context of wicked problems. Findings – The authors find that the contemporary models of strategic management are incapable of assisting managers in addressing the reality of wicked problems. They argue that organizational pathologies rest in executive action: pursuit of goals and objectives with a false sense of causation, feedback filters that exaggerate good news and restrict bad news and actions that give only token measures to correct faulty design decisions and faulty decision processes, including more emphasis on vertical channels than horizontal task interdependencies. Originality/value – The authors conclude that wicked problem-solving is by temperament and time horizon, a multilayered, multitasked, organizational challenge, and requires fundamentally different mindsets for design and performance systems for senior executives. The study of wicked problems requires a new corporate mindset, new collaborative models to address them and new corporate processes and executive training tools who increasingly have to address them. This research is a first step toward extending our understanding of how to address the world of wicked problems.

What causes international variations in length of stay: A comparative analysis for two inpatient conditions in Japanese and Canadian hospitals:

Hospital average length of stay varies considerably between countries. However, there is limited patient-level research identifying or discounting possible reasons for these differences. This study compares the length of stay of patients in Japan, where it is the longest in the OECD, and Canada, where length of stay is closer to the OECD mean. Administrative patient-level data, including age, gender, co-morbidities, intervention, discharge plan, outcome and length of stay were collected from two Japanese and two Ontario, Canada hospitals for two diagnoses: colorectal cancer surgery and acute myocardial infarction. Analyses examined linkages between patient characteristics, hospitals and countries and length of stay. When controlling for patient demographic characteristics, the incidence of co-morbidities and discharge plan practices, Japanese length of stay tended to be significantly longer than that in Canada for both diagnoses. Mortality rates were not significantly different; however, the readmission rate (28 days or less) for acute myocardial infarction was higher in the Canadian hospitals. The findings indicate that non-clinical factors contribute to sustained international differences in length of stay. These factors may include professional or cultural norms, differing payment schemes and access to long-term care facilities. The study also introduces a protocol that can be used for international patient-level comparisons that can enable effective policy and management learning.

Qualitative Models of Organisational Decision-Making

One of the most pervasive themes in the vast literature on management is the role of the manager as decisionmaker(1). Similarly in economics, the theory of the firm analyses the entrepreneur as a decision-maker(2), and in organisation theory, the works of Bernard (3) and Simon (4) have placed decision-making in the main stream of current analysis. Yet over the years, the models, theories and concepts of the decisionmaker and decision-making have varied tremendously. Just why this is so may be explained by the sheer complexity of the field, and by the heroic assumption that a few simple models can be used to represent reality. There can be little doubt that a major reason for the generally restrictive utility of decision models has been an overreliance on the economic theory of rational choice(S) as the major model for managerial decision-making and, by extension, for reliance on the classical, profit maximising theory of the firm not just for explanations of the resource allocation process by the price system in an economy(6), but for the explanations of the internal decisionmaking system within organisations generally(7). At least five serious consequences have resulted from this over-reliance and often misuse of the

Industrial Planning in Japan

The performance of the Japanese economy has outpaced that of many Western market economies over the past decade or more. Industrial planning in Japan has played a critical role as an educational and forecasting tool for private and public sector decision makers. What is the relation between Japans use of trade and technology flows and its industrial structure and export and foreign investment patterns? Japans arrangements are now the model for other countries in Southeast Asia.

On docility: a research note on Herbert Simon’s social learning theory

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the core concept of docility in Simon’s learning theories and elaborate docility as a missing link in organizational performance structures. In his book, Administrative Behavior, first published in 1947 with three subsequent editions, Herbert A. Simon introduced a new concept to the emerging field of organizational theory, docility. Design/methodology/approach – In Administrative Behavior, Herbert A. Simon introduced to management and organization theorists the concept of docility. Simon adopted the concept and meaning from E.C. Tolman’s (1932) classic work, Purposive Behavior in Animals and Men, and his novel views on learning processes and key concepts like purpose (goals), thought processes (cognitive psychology) and cognitive maps. This paper elaborates on docility mechanisms and the implications for social learning in organizations. Findings – This paper addresses this lacuna in the organizational literature, and the implications for current theories ...

Aggressive Predator or Passive Investor: Multinationals in the Mining Industry - A Case Study in an Emerging Country

Abstract This paper is a case study of foreign direct investment in a large gold mine in a developing country, Kyrgyzstan, located in Central Asia. Using a cost-benefit economic framework, this exploratory study addresses the investment and income stream for the foreign investor, Cameco Corporation, a leading Canadian multinational enterprise, as well as the economic and financial net benefits for the host country. Related issues in the case include analysis of the Resource Curse, the limited development of institutions and property laws in the host country, and the impact of this mining project on incoming foreign direct investment in Kyrgyzstan.

Canada, Asia, and the Pacific Century

By geography, population, and public policy, Canada is a Pacific Rim country. Despite grandiose plans and rhetoric, however, Canadas economy is in retreat, dominated by the southern direction of investment and trade ties with the United States and reinforced by the huge levels of foreign investment that are increasingly rationalized along North American triad lines. The western Canadian provinces are the most Asian oriented, but Canadas business elites, scoring ever lower on measures of international competitiveness, are withdrawing to a regional base. Canadas capacity to diversify the industrial base and build new trade alliances is deeply constrained by the countrys deficit and debt problems, as well as business and political elites who remain wedded to an Atlantic Rim focus.