Elisa Mattarelli

The role of networks of practice, value sharing, and operational proximity in knowledge flows between professional groups

This article investigates the process of knowledge sharing between individuals in different professional groups. Through an ethnographic study in a hospital unit, we examine the individuals’ involvement in networks of practice, their sharing of organizational values, and their operational proximity. Recent attention to networks of practice has led to a view of organizations as crossroads of networks; accordingly, boundary relations between different networks of practice are of core relevance to ensure knowledge diffusion in organizations, but empirical evidence is still lacking. Our grounded theory supports the idea that working side-by-side and having common organizational values are important bases for knowledge transfer between professional groups which belong to different networks of practice. Boundary knowledge transfer evokes new kinds of organizational citizenship behaviours. Professionals who initiate the transfer exhibit extra-role behaviours which, in turn, require the recipient to perform extra-role behaviours as well. Implications of knowledge sharing between professional groups are discussed together with recommendations for managerial action.

Offshoring of Intangibles: Organizational and Strategic Issues

*Department of Management, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, **Department of Engineering Science and Methods, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy, Department of Business, Statistical, Technological and Environmental Sciences (DASTA), University G. d’Annunzio, Chieti-Pescara, Italy, Science and Technology Policy Research (SPRU), University of Sussex, Brighton, UK, {School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai, China

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.

Design of a role-playing game to study the trajectories of health care workers in an operating room

Drawing on an ethnographic study of hospital work in an operating room, we present the design and implementation of a web-based role-playing application of a master schedule. We show how we simulate the coordination mechanisms and trajectories of hospital personnel as they move patients in and out of OR. Experiments are proposed to show how active and passive notification systems (interruptions) are expected to affect trajectory management and performance over time.

An Experiment on the Effects of Interruptions on Individual Work Trajectories and Performance in Critical Environments

Interruptions are a central characteristic of work in critical environments such as hospitals, airlines, and security agencies. Often, interruptions occur as notifications of some event or circumstance that requires attention. Notifications may be delivered actively as disruptions requiring immediate attention, or passively as unobtrusive background messages. This research hypothesizes that the way notifications are delivered can have an impact on how work unfolds over time, which in turn can affect performance. Based on theories of interruption and observations in an actual operating room, a computer-based role-playing game simulating the scheduling of surgeries in an operating room unit was developed. An experiment was conducted using the game to examine the effects of different types of notification delivery on work trajectories and performance. Results indicate that the way notifications are delivered can indeed influence work trajectories and, consequently, performance

Third-World “Sloggers” or Elite Global Professionals? Using Organizational Toolkits to Redefine Work Identity in Information Technology Offshore Outsourcing

Organizations increasingly rely on teams that span national and organizational boundaries, yet team members in emerging countries and vendor firms are not treated as professional peers by their Western and client-based peers. To understand how they respond to this identity threat, we integrate two literatures that suggest two possible answers: an organizational response, based on the critical literature on top-down identity regulation, and an individual response, based on the positive literature on bottom-up identity construction. Drawing on in-depth interviews and archival data from three Indian information technology (IT) offshore outsourcing firms, we examine how organizational and individual identity processes work in tandem to address this threat. We find that firms do not resolve this threat by regulating employee identity directly as they claim, but instead provide workers with an organizational toolkit —a set of organizationally available cultural resources (e.g., frames and stories) and political resources (e.g., policies and procedures) that workers use selectively and strategically to construct positive identities. By bringing a toolkit perspective to identity processes, we contribute to theory and research on cross-level identity linkages, the strategic nature of identity processes, and the local context of global identity.

The Dynamics of Inter-organizational Hybrid Partnerships in Technology Transfer

Drawing on the literature on inter-organizational and hybrid partnerships, we put forth a process-based perspective on the evolution of regional innovation systems (RIS), with particular attention to the changing role of TTOs throughout the RIS lifecycle. We theorize on how perceptions of environmental turbulence (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, in short VUCA) may influence partners’ decisions to adopt a given organization model for the broker/TTO that manages the partnership. We show that perceptions of environmental turbulence may lead to a set of possible decision pathologies at the partnership level that interfere with the organizational structure of the TTO. We suggest that perceptions of turbulence and decision pathologies play an important part in explaining RIS may deviate from the intended direction or produce outcomes that are unexpected.

Making matters worse by trying to make them better? Exploring vicious circles of decision in hybrid partnerships

Our research is concerned with how and why vicious circles of decision occur in hybrid partnerships. The literature reports three types of decision dysfunctions that can alter the trajectory of multi-stakeholder collaborations: escalation of commitment, procrastination and indecision. While previous studies focused on one dysfunction at a time, we inquire about cases in which dysfunctions coexist and interact in the same partnership. Employing multiple sources of qualitative data, we conducted a longitudinal field study in a cross-sector partnership that co-created and managed a science park. We offer an in-depth account of ‘vicious circles of decision’ in which partners’ attempts to solve a dysfunction paradoxically led to the accumulation of additional dysfunctions. We explain that the process is more likely to happen when solutions are (1) conditioned by the very risk–opportunity tensions they try to solve and (2) inscribed in material artefacts for greater visibility. As well as augmenting the literature on hybrid partnerships, we contribute to the debate in organization studies about the evolution of collaborations within frames of concurrent risk–opportunity tensions and theorize about the role of materiality in such processes.

On the Impact of Multiple Team Membership on a System of Teams’ Performance

In this study, we investigate the complex and conjoint effects of Multiple Team Membership and other related system design characteristics on the performance of a system composed of teams. This is ...

Doing what you are or becoming what you do: the interplay between identity and dynamic capabilities

We surprisingly know little about the process through which dynamic capabilities are generated and developed within organizations. When organizations cope with changes, they need to challenge the very essence and reflect upon the core attributes that make their employees respond to the question of ‘who are we as an organization?’, i.e. organizational identity. In this study we investigate the interplay between organizational identity and the development of dynamic capabilities. Our two qualitative case studies of Italian companies show that the search for coherence between the new routines introduced from outside (i.e. consultants) and organizational identity engenders the development of dynamic capabilities. In the first case, the introduction of new routines triggered the definition of a new organizational identity coherent with the underlying practices, and turned into the development of replication dynamic capabilities. In the second case, an enduring identity inspired the redefinition of the routines and contributed to the development of adaptation dynamic capabilities. The paper discusses contributions to the literatures about dynamic capabilities and organizational identity, as well as practical implications.