Mary Crossan

A Multi‐Dimensional Framework of Organizational Innovation: A Systematic Review of the Literature

This paper consolidates the state of academic research on innovation. Based on a systematic review of literature published over the past 27 years, we synthesize various research perspectives into a comprehensive multi-dimensional framework of organizational innovation – linking leadership, innovation as a process, and innovation as an outcome. We also suggest measures of determinants of organizational innovation and present implications for both research and managerial practice.

Organizational learning: debates past, present and future

In this paper we attempt to map the development of organizational learning as a field of academic study by examining the rise and fall of specific debates. This does not pretend to be a comprehensive review of the field since there is now far too much material available to allow full coverage in any single publication. Rather, we have identified some of the key debates, and these have been organized along the simplistic time-line of past, present and future. Our purpose is two-fold: first, to note how the nature and language of the key ideas in organizational learning have changed over time; and second, to locate the papers in this Special Issue within the context of the developing field. It is perhaps no accident that we see most of the papers as closely associated with new, and emerging, issues, but we also find it interesting to note that many of these current or emergent issues actually have roots within some of the earlier debates.

The Blackwell handbook of organizational learning and knowledge management

Organizado em duas partes, este livro trata da aprendizagem organizacional e das organizações de aprendizagem sob a perspectiva técnica e social. Na primeira parte, os artigos trazem importante contribuição ao apontar dificuldades e limitações à construção do campo teórico e ao realizar uma revisão crítica da literatura existente. Já a segunda parte reúne estudos práticos de implementação da aprendizagem organizacional em ambientes organizacionais, com base em diversas metodologias de intervenção, mesclando teoria e prática.Once upon a time the publication of an edited handbook constituted a landmark event that brought together the worlds leading authorities within a major field of study to map out the territory, reflect comprehensively on the main theoretical, methodological, and empirical developments that had occurred from the fields inception, drawing out, where necessary and appropriate, the implications for practice, and giving clear pointers to where the field might move next, say, over the coming two decades or so. Dunnettes (1976) handbook, which remains a citation classic some thirty years on (despite there having been a four-volume second edition little over a decade ago) is in many ways a prototypical exemplar of handbooks falling within this genre, as is Marchs (1965) handbook, which made the initial statement of what organization theory is.

From Questions to Answers: Reviewing Organizational Learning Research

Prior reviews of organizational learning (OL) have noted an exponential growth in the literature through the 1990s and have expressed concerns about the lack of empirical research. In this paper, we review the literature published during the period 1990-2002 and take stock of the state of empirical research in OL. Based on the 123 articles reviewed, we note a phenomenal growth in empirical research and the emergence of a learning perspective. We discuss key research findings pertaining to internal and external learning, and the facilitators of organizational learning. We discuss the implications of the empirical research and suggest directions for future research.

The Nature of Entrepreneurial Opportunities: Understanding the Process Using the 4I Organizational Learning Framework

In this article, we drew upon insights from two rather disparate streams of literature—entrepreneurship and organizational learning—to develop an informed understanding of the phenomenon of entrepreneurial opportunities. We examined the nature of entrepreneurial opportunities from two contrasting views—Schumpeterian and Kirznerian—and delved into their ontological roots. By applying the 4I organizational learning framework to entrepreneurial opportunities, we were able to not only resolve the apparently conflicting explanations of opportunities arising out of the contrasting ontological positions but also to achieve a level of pragmatic synthesis between them. In highlighting the articles contributions to theory and practice, we suggest that just as research on entrepreneurial opportunities benefits from applying organizational learning theory, so is organizational learning informed by research arising within the field of entrepreneurship studies.

Theatrical Improvisation: Lessons for Organizations

This article uses the improvisational theatre metaphor to examine the performance implications of improvisational processes in firms. We recognize similarities and differences between the concepts of performance and success in both theatre and organizations, and extract three main lessons from improvisational theatre that can be applied to organizational improvisation. In the first lesson, we start by recognizing the equivocal and unpredictable nature of improvisation. The second lesson emphasizes that good improvisational theatre arises because its main focus, in contrast to the focus of firms, is more on the process of improvising and less on the outcomes of improvisation. Lastly, in the third lesson, we look at the theatre techniques of ‘agreement’, ‘awareness’, ‘use of ready-mades’, and ‘collaboration’, and translate them into concepts that are relevant for organizations in developing an improvisational capability.

Creating Economic Value Through Social Values: Introducing a Culturally Informed Resource-Based View

The resource-based view (RBV) has historically privileged the firms internal resources and capabilities, often at the exclusion of its institutional context. In this paper, we introduce a culturally informed RBV that explains how cultural elements in the firms institutional context shape the economic value associated with a firms strategy. We posit that a firms institutional context may create or destroy economic value. If the strategy inadvertently becomes associated with a social issue, it poses a risk for the firm. Firms that recognize the dynamic interplay between their resources and their institutional context in the face of social issues can engage in important cultural work, and thereby preserve their strategys economic value.

Dominant CEO, Deviant Strategy, and Extreme Performance: The Moderating Role of a Powerful Board

This study examines the effect of dominant CEOs – defined as CEOs who are very powerful relative to other executives in their top management teams – on firm strategy and performance. Based on a sample of 51 publicly traded, single-business firms from the US computer industry for the period 1997–2003, our results suggest that firms with dominant CEOs tend to have a strategy deviant from the industry central tendency and thus extreme performance – either big wins or big losses. Further, powerful boards weaken the tendency of dominant CEOs towards extremeness and, more important, improve the likelihood of dominant CEOs having big wins versus big losses. This study reconciles the pessimistic and heroic views regarding dominant CEOs, and suggests that the notion of power balance should be considered in a broader context.

Knowledge transfer in knowledge-intensive organizations: the crucial role of improvisation in transferring and protecting knowledge

Purpose This paper aims to answer the question: how do knowledge workers’ improvisation processes promote both knowledge transfer and protection in knowledge-intensive organizations (KIOs)? A model is proposed identifying how effective improvisation can strengthen the effect of four specific knowledge transfer mechanisms – an experimental culture, minimal structures, the practice of storytelling and shared mental models – on knowledge transfer inside the organization and knowledge protection outside of it. Design/methodology/approach The paper builds on a knowledge translation perspective to position improvisation as intrinsically intertwined with knowledge transfer and knowledge protection. Findings Improvisation is proposed as the moderating factor enhancing the positive impact of an experimental culture, minimal structures, storytelling practice and shared mental models on knowledge transfer and knowledge protection. Practical implications The paper argues against a “plug-and-play” approach to knowledge transfer that seeks to replicate knowledge without considering how people relate to the routines and the context and highlights to leaders of KIOs the importance of developing awareness, understanding and motivation to improvise to internalize new knowledge being transferred and to create imitation barriers. Originality/value The paper proposes that KIOs’ success in transferring and protecting knowledge emerges not directly from formal knowledge transfer mechanisms but from knowledge workers’ improvisation processes.

Toward a Framework of Leader Character in Organizations

While the construct of character is well grounded in philosophy, ethics, and more recently psychology, it lags in acceptance and legitimacy within management research and mainstream practice. Our research seeks to remedy this through four contributions. First, we offer a framework of leader character that provides rigor through a three‐phase, multi‐method approach involving 1817 leaders, and relevance by using an engaged scholarship epistemology to validate the framework with practicing leaders. This framework highlights the theoretical underpinnings of the leader character model and articulates the character dimensions and elements that operate in concert to promote effective leadership. Second, we bring leader character into mainstream management research, extending the traditional competency and interpersonal focus on leadership to embrace the foundational component of leader character. In doing this, we articulate how leader character complements and strengthens several existing theories of leadership. Third, we extend the virtues‐based approach to ethical decision making to the broader domain of judgement and decision making in support of pursuing individual and organization effectiveness. Finally, we offer promising directions for future research on leader character that will also serve the larger domain of leadership research.