Diego Maria Macri

A Grounded Theory for Resistance to Change in a Small Organization

This paper focuses on the process that generates resistance to change in a small organization. We build a grounded theory that interprets resistance to change in terms of interdependencies between the characteristics of the economic environment and of the industry, the dispositions of individuals, and the patterning of their actions within the social network. These three levels of analysis are mainly investigated separately from one another in empirical studies. An Italian small manufacturing firm was the object of our field study. Observations, ethnographic interviews and analysis of documents were the techniques employed.

Spontaneous Self-Managing Practices in Groups: Evidence from the Field

This study, based on qualitative research, accounts for a process of collective and spontaneous self-managing practices in a group formally structured as a manager-led team. It explains the group members’ reactions to different types of work arrangements and their coordination in terms of their need to affirm their professional identity. The characteristics of the organizational context, of the labor market, and of the technology involved favor the emergence of self-management, too. The authors employed observation, ethnographic interviews, and analysis of documents in conducting this research.

The Use of Ethnography and Grounded Theory in the Development of a Management Information System

This work presents new evidence on how ethnography and the grounded theory approach can be integrated within a participatory information system development process. We conducted an ethnography in a hospital unit, collecting data from observations, interviews, and documents. The discussion about emergent themes with the actors in their natural context and the development of a grounded model allowed us to identify widespread discomfort felt by personnel and to code it as process conflict, that is a particular type of conflict caused by inefficiencies in the organization of work activities. The grounded model was the starting point for conducting a series of focus groups during which the organizational actors were allowed to face process conflict while defining the requirements of a new management information system. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our study for IS researchers and practitioners.

From Broker to Platform Business Models: A Case Study of Best Practices for Business Model Innovation in Hybrid Interorganizational Partnerships

This study is concerned with how hybrid partnerships – i.e., multiparty cross-sector partnerships dealing with broad problems that go beyond the scope and scale of single partners – set up, implement, and then innovate business models. In particular, we draw on a hybrid partnership for open innovation where six public and private organizations came together with the intention to set up and implement joint innovation projects with large-scale impact at the regional level. Two business models of hybrid partnerships are discussed in this chapter, the brokering model and the platform model, as well as the mechanisms of transition from the first to the latter. Our findings suggest that while the platform model seems more appropriate for complex projects in which a wide number of heterogeneous interests coexist, both models present advantages and disadvantages. We suggest that advantages and disadvantages of hybrid partnership business models should be considered in a relational manner, by focusing on how the business model innovation will impact on each parameter of the current model and, at the same time, on how manageable the parameters of the new model are in terms of partnership strategy, structure, and mobilizable resources.

Brokers or platforms? A longitudinal study of how hybrid interorganizational partnerships for regional innovation deal with VUCA environments

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role played by turbulent environments in the evolution of hybrid (i.e. multi-party, cross-sector) partnerships for regional innovation. Although extant research suggests that organizations decide to participate in such partnerships to cope with their turbulent environments, little is known about how actual perceptions of turbulent environments influence the setup and evolution of a partnership.,The qualitative study adopts a longitudinal design to investigate the evolution of a cross-sector regional innovation partnership between ten very different organizations. With the help of the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) model proposed by Bennett and Lemoine (2014a), the authors study the relation between partners’ initial perceptions of environmental turbulence and the models adopted for the partnership throughout its lifecycle (emergent, brokering and platform).,The authors show that partners’ intentions to solve perceived environmental turbulence through collaboration can have the unexpected consequence of triggering perceived turbulence inside the collaboration itself. Specifically, the authors show that perceived partnership VUCA at each stage is a result of partners’ attempts to cope with the perceived VUCA in the previous stage.,The study highlights a set of common traps that both public and private organizations engaged in hybrid partnerships might fall into precisely as they try to lower VUCA threats in their environments.,The work accounts for the relationship between external and internal perceptions of VUCA in hybrid partnerships for regional innovation, and, in particular, provides a better understanding of what happens when organizations choose to enter hybrid partnerships in order to deal with perceived threats in their environments.

How the social network can boycott a technological change: a grounded theory for innovation failure in a small organization

A technological change can be partially or totally boycotted during its implementation. The initial sponsors of an innovation can end up causing its failure. It is only within a social network that the implications of an innovation become visible to the actors thus creating a misfit between their professed and performed attitudes. A study of the introduction of a new information system in a small Italian firm has been carried out.