Miguel P. Caldas

Reductionism and complex thinking during ERP implementations

In this paper, the authors contrast complex thinking and reductionism in organizational transformation processes, focusing on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. ERP has been promoted as a management panacea, and has resulted in immense investments by companies around the globe. Not surprisingly, many implementations fail to match expectations. For those dealing with organizational change, the ERP phenomenon may sound uncomfortably familiar: change theorists and practitioners have witnessed the coming and going of management panaceas for quite some time. This study presents an exploratory survey of 28 implementation experiences and discusses reductionism in the realm of ERP implementations. It is argued that by applying complex thinking we may open new avenues to explain these processes.

Resistência a mudança: uma revisão crítica

When implementing changes and innovations, organizations often have todeal with resistance to change. Maybe because few subjects pertaining toorganizational transformation are so broadly and consistently covered inthe popular literature, we may have been induced to believe we must knowall about it. If we know so much, why resistance is still a major barrier toorganizational transformation, and why so many change agents still strive to overcome it? In this article, we attempt to respond this question by questioning the predominant models of resistance and the assumptions of the several “recipe-oriented” approaches to deal with resistance in organizations. Our understanding is that such “recipes” are not particularly helpful because they use a model of resistance to change that was built upon several questionable assumptions, according to which resistance is a) a “natural”, inevitable fact; b) malignant to the organization; c) employeedriven; and d) collective. Based on counter-assumptions to each of these widespread premises and on Psychology of Perception, a new Model of Individual Resistance to Change is proposed. The model represents the individual’s perceptual process during organizational change, from exposure to stimuli until behavior adoption. The seven-stage model culminates in four possible outcomes: resistance, resistance overcoming, indecision, or change adoption. Implications for theory and practice, limitations of the model and suggestions for future development are presented.

Americanizing Brazilian management

– This paper aims to discuss, from a post‐colonial perspective, the context and process of the Americanization of Brazilian management., – The paper first briefly discusses post‐colonialism and “Latin‐America”. After this, it analyzes the content of US management and its prevalence in the world. The paper then presents the process of the intentional Americanization of Brazil, in order to contextualize this process in management. It follows an essayist style., – The paper argues that the Americanization of Brazilian management is an intentional process that resembles colonialism., – The papers contribution is to analyze the establishment and growth of what is one of the largest management academies in the world, showing how it was created under colonial logics. This case may also suggest how these logics have a wider influence on how management knowledge is produced and reproduced in developing economies.

Fads and fashions in management: the case of ERP

Discuss the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) rage. erp represents immense investments for companies arounde the globe and has been promoted as a management panacea. Say that is not surprisingly, many implementations fail to match expectations. Propose a broader perspective to comprehend the substantive, institutional, and political factors involved in the ERP phenomenon, as an alternative to the techno-reductionism tha has characterized the prevailing approach on the subject. Present a exploratory survey of 29 implementation experiences, concentrating on the process of adoption, chosen implementation approaches and outcome assessment. (AU)

IHRM in developing countries: does the functionalist vs. critical debate make sense South of the Equator?

A recent debate has taken place in International Human Resource Management (IHRM) theory and practice between the so-called functionalists and the critical approaches. This paper reviews the literature on mainstream, functionalist IHRM and the critical approaches, and theoretically discusses their fit to emerging countries realities and multilatinas experience. The essays main objectives and contributions are: (a) to argue that this debate, overly typical of the American-European context, may not be fully applicable to ambiguous and contradictory contexts, such as most developing countries and, particularly, Latin America; (b) to argue that the disputes between both functionalist and critical IHRM theorists, in equally richer countries, is inadequate for other (non-rich-involving) contexts; and (c) to propose redirection possibilities for this debate, particularly, in Latin America.

Casamento, estupro ou dormindo com o inimigo? Interpretando imagens e representações dos sobreviventes de fusões e aquisições

Este artigo analisa 120 desenhos, obtidos atraves de entrevistas em pesquisa de campo com 56 empresas que passaram por processos de fusao e aquisicao no Brasil. Tomamos neste artigo somente as representacoes de grupos em processos de FA (parte da amostra, aqui nao considerada, focava o individuo e a organizacao como nivel de analise) e analisamos os desenhos de acordo com a classificacao de Bion (1975) sobre os pressupostos basicos das dinâmicas dos grupos, que o autor denomina de luta-fuga, dependencia e acasalamento. O estudo e as representacoes dos desenhos dos entrevistados sugere que, quando enfocado o nivel de analise grupal em processos de FA, (i) acontecem fortes lutas de poder entre os grupos envolvidos, em geral com riscos e perdas significativas para todos; e (ii) longe de constituirem casamentos felizes, as unioes que decorrem destes processos mostram sinais de crueldade e dominacao. Finalmente, o artigo discute potenciais implicacoes de pesquisa e sugere caminhos de investigacao para sua complementacao.

Enxugamento de pessoal no Brasil: podem-se atenuar seus efeitos em empresa e indivíduo?

This paper summarizes an empirical qualitative study, exploratory in nature, which seeks to empirically illustrate how certain factors (moderators – independent variables) under the organization’s discretion can mediate the effects (dependent variables) of layoffs, on the organization itself, on dismissed personnel and on survivors. The study’s method consisted of an in-depth comparative analysis of a 4-case panel, composed of firms that conducted major layoffs in Brazil in the last few years; the study included data gathered (through detailed interviews) from each firm’s management, union representatives, community leaders, dismissed personnel and survivors, as well as the structured comparison of such data across the cases in the panel.

O triste destino da área de O&M - I

This article is the first of a two-part study investigating what happened to the Organization and Methods (O&M) function and career in Brazilian organizations since 1985. The research aims to empirically verify whether or not, as some authors have argued, since the prosperous 1970s and 80s, O&M has suffered changes leading to its virtual extinction in today’s organizations. The evolution of the O&M departments from 1985 through 1997 in a sample of 60 firms in Sao Paulo is investigated via questionnaires.

EMPRESAS BRASILEIRAS E O DESAFIO DA COMPETITIVIDADE

The theme of competitiveness has been subject of research in different academic realms, such as economy, strategy, operations management and organization studies. As expected, each of these disciplines deal with competitiveness according to its own perspectives and theoretical background. In this essay, we seek to integrate a number of different perspectives, encompassing diverse analysis’ levels. As leitmotiv, we take thecompetitive capability of Brazilian companies vis-a-vis the present business environment. The paper is based on the current literature. Emphasis is given to studies focusing the Brazilian context. Our main objective is to offer a general framework about competitiveness in the Brazilian context.We also speculate on how Brazilian fi rms could improve their competitiveness. Finally, we indicate limitations of the study and indicate directions for future research.

Relational Perspectives on Leaders’ Influence Behavior The Mediation of Western Leader–Member Exchange and Chinese Guanxi

To understand leader influence behavior in organizations, it is essential to understand how subordinates interpret the different influence strategies used by their superiors. In this study, we examine the effect of influence behavior on organizational commitment from two relational perspectives with employees from Chinese and Western societies. Drawing on relational attribution theory, we develop a multiple mediation model to determine whether the relationships between influence behavior and organizational commitment are meditated by leader–member exchange (LMX) and/or guanxi. We also examine whether the effects vary across the two broad cultural samples. Results indicate the mediating effect is contributed mainly by LMX, not guanxi. Results show no significant cross-cultural differences, suggesting the theoretical framework we propose may be generalizable across cultures. Implications and ideas for future research are provided.