Maria L. Nathan

No Pain, Yet Gain Vicarious Organizational Learning from Crises in an Inter-Organizational Field

This study uses a social learning theory framework to explore how members of an inter-organizational field surrounding the chemical industry learned vicariously from crises. In this context, the article examines the four vicarious learning processes: attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation. The article analyzes strategies used by the American Chemistry Council that correspond with these processes to explain why vicarious learning occurred among multiple organizations in the industry. Finally, the article suggests propositions for future research and discusses implications for practice.

How past becomes prologue: a sensemaking interpretation of the hindsight-foresight relationship given the circumstances of crisis

Foresight is rooted in deep understanding [A.N. Whitehead. Lecture notes from address to the Harvard Business School, 1931]. Such understanding requires that we shall have first looked back to the past before venturing forward into the future. This paper uses Weick’s and colleagues’ sense making perspective in order to explore this critical relationship between the past and the future [Communication Monographs 44 (1977) 171; Strategic Management Journal, 9 (1986) 559; Human Resource Management, 34(1 Spring) (1995) 27; Academy of Management Journal, 33 (1990) 286; K.E. Weick, The Social Psychology of Organizing, 2nd edn, Random House, Inc., New York, 1979; K.E. Weick, Sense Making in Organizations. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California, 1995]. In particular, key sense making properties will be applied to a crisis, an occurrence of school-place violence that occurred in the United States in 1999. We shall then ask how this organization and its diverse external stakeholders used their understanding of this event to learn how to prevent such crises from occurring in the future. In other words, how capably was hindsight constructed and then how was it used to strengthen foresight into the future? This paper will conduct a theory-based empirical examination of a crisis event and its aftermath to understand how hindsight can be sharpened and then used to improve organizational foresight.

'Lighting tomorrow with today': towards a (strategic) sustainability revolution

Galbreath (2009), recognising the need for firms to more consciously link sustainability to core strategy, developed a sustainability-strategic issues framework. This article reinforces this framework by making assessment and feedback integral to the sustainable strategy process. Additional opportunities for sustainable competitive advantage through sustainability and beyond Galbreath are offered here. They are rooted in the core competencies of the firm and are made integral to the strategic management process. Galbreath is tentative as to whether the sustainability movement is like the industrial revolution in scope. This article seeks to reinforce that a revolution of just such a magnitude is at hand.

The Leader of the Future: New Visions, Strategies, and Practices for the Next Era

The article reviews the book “The Leader of the Future: New Visions, Strategies, and Practices for the Next Era,” edited by Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith, and Richard Beckhard.

White-Collar Blues: Management Loyalties in an Age of Corporate Restructuring

The article reviews the book “White-Collar Blues: Management Loyalties in an Age of Corporate Restructuring,” by Charles Heckscher.