Daniel Dauber

A Configuration Model of Organizational Culture

The article proposes a configuration model of organizational culture, which explores dynamic relationships between organizational culture, strategy, structure, and operations of an organization (internal environment) and maps interactions with the external environment (task and legitimization environment). A major feature of the configuration model constitutes its well-defined processes, which connect the elements of the model systematically to each other, such as single- and double-loop learning, operationalization of strategies, legitimization management, and so on. The model is grounded in a large review of literature in different research areas and builds on widely recognized models in the field of organization and culture theory. It constitutes a response to the call for new models, which are able to explain and facilitate the exploration of the empirical complexity that organizations face today. The configuration model of organizational culture is of particular interest to scholars who investigate into cultural phenomena and change over time.

Opposing positions in M&A research : culture, integration and performance

Purpose – “Culture” has become a critical factor for success in todays international business environment. In particular, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are known to suffer from a high failure rate, due to culture differences. Studies on M&As suggest different and often controversial relationships between culture, integration and performance. The purpose of this paper is to identify major sources of inconsistent results, thereby providing promising directions for future research.Design/methodology/approach – Findings are based on an extensive literature review including 58 papers from 20 learned international journals. Main selection criteria were keywords (merger/acquisitions and integration/culture) applied to the database “EBSCO Business Source Premier” and the h‐index calculated with the help of Harzings Publish or Perish. Each article was coded and categorized.Findings – The analyzed articles reveal three major reasons for the inconsistent findings in M&A research: first, most scholars refer to “i...

The Gains and Pains of Mixed National Group Work at University.

ABSTRACT According to a recent report, the top skill that employers are looking for in graduates is an ability to work collaboratively with teams of people from a range of backgrounds and countries. So as universities seek to internationalise, an important question is how successful they are in developing this skill. Both research and anecdotal evidence suggest that it is a challenging task and that universities are struggling to achieve it. In this paper, we report a study on working in mixed national groups and its relation to intercultural skills. A total of 2000 students at a UK university responded to a questionnaire that had both closed and open questions. A range of statistical analyses were carried out on the quantitative data, and the open-ended comments were analysed thematically. The responses were compared across national/regional clusters and our findings indicate that mixed national group work is widely perceived across the clusters as enriching and not particularly challenging. Correlations indicate that students perceive such group work as more important for the development of intercultural skills than cross-national friendships.

Slawek Magala’s view on management of meaning and organisational change: An essay in honour of Slawek Magala

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that Slawek Magala’s theory of management of meaning in organisations can be considered as a step towards a generic theory of organisational change. Design/methodology/approach – The authors are integrating Slawek Magala’s views on the processes, which play a role in changing organisations (i.e. framing, reflecting, negotiating, and seeking new windows of opportunities) with the related types of narratives as developed by David Boje (2001, 2008) and with further extensions by Fink and Yolles (2012), which are based on a model of paradigm change. Findings – The authors develop a theoretical framework, which might serve as a basis for analysis of change processes emerging from different contexts within or outside a firm and offer some reflections about comparing research into issues of organisational change. Research limitations/implications – This is a theoretical viewpoint paper. Practical implications – The extension of Magala’s model offers a practical guid...

Hybridisation in Social Systems: A Conceptual Perspective

This conceptual paper sketches the hybridisation process in M&As, which refers to the blending of organisational cultures. First, hybridisation is defined as an intermediary stage of integration and assimilation. Second, seven forms of hybridisation are grouped into organisational and individual/group level. It is found, that hybridisation may help to stabilise social systems or destabilise them, depending on how properly this phenomenon is managed. Finally, hybridisation is highlighted as a strategy to improve sensemaking. The paper concludes with a call for further research on hybridisation processes, to develop a valid theory based on empirical research that helps to improve the performance of future M&A deals.

UNDERSTANDING NORMATIVE PERSONALITY

Organization theory has not demonstrated that it is able to adequately represent organizational complexity, especially in its inability to recognize and predict organizational conduct/misconduct. A promising approach comes from organizational culture theory, which is used in order to create a new model for normative personality that is seated in the strategic part of the organization. This takes the idea of corporate personality beyond its more usual metaphorical use. The theory of normative personality is developed by using a cybernetic frame of reference, drawing on socio-cognitive and trait theory. As a compact way of connecting traits into the model, mindscape theory is adopted. The outcome of this approach illustrates the control processes through which an organization operates and will have the capacity of not only identifying patterns of behavior/operative conduct but also misconduct.