Zhiang Lin

Organizational designs suited to high performance under stress

This paper discusses the role of organizational design in affecting organizational performance. Using a computational framework, CORP, various aspects of organizational design are examined; e.g., training, communication and command structure, and resource access. Organizational performance is evaluated under both optimal operating conditions and stressed conditions (such as information errors and turnover), given both a simple and a complex task. These analyses suggest that when the organization is facing a choice task where all options are equally likely then the best performing organizational structures are simple (i.e., operational training, teams, and lack of overlap in access to information). In contrast, when the task is biased, i.e., one outcome is more likely than another, then the best performing organizational structures are more complex (i.e., training that relies on experience, hierarchies, and overlap in information access). >

DYCORP: A computational framework for examining organizational performance under dynamic conditions

In an attempt to systematically address what factors affect organizational performance, we built a dynamic computational framework for examining organizational performance in which organizations are composed of intelligent adaptive agents. Using this framework the user can contrast organizations with different designs, existing in different task environments, and subject to different stresses. We demonstrate the value of this model by examining how training and stress affect organizational performance.

Beyond CEO Tenure The Effect of CEO Newness on Strategic Changes

Prior research on strategic changes has asserted that long-tenured CEOs are less likely to initiate strategic changes. The authors argue that this assertion may exclude CEOs’ prior experiences since it implicitly assumes that all new CEOs have the same inclination toward change. By viewing CEOs as individuals embedded within experiences and relationships throughout their careers, the authors propose that CEO newness—a concept integrating prior board experience, prior heir apparent experience, and length in the current position—can provide a more complete assessment of a new CEO’s tendency toward change. They further argue that the impact of CEO newness on strategic changes will be moderated by the strategic distance between a focal firm and a CEO’s previous firm, as well as by industry similarity between the two firms. The authors’ analyses of U.S. computer firms from 1994 to 2007 support their arguments, suggesting that it is useful to adopt the concept of CEO newness while considering its boundary conditions in order to better understand strategic changes.

Promotion Systems and Organizational Performance: A Contingency Model

This study explores the organizational impact of a variety of important promotion systems commonly practiced in organizations including up-or-out systems, absolute merit-based systems, relative merit-based systems, and seniority-based systems. Through the computer simulation of organizations in a distributed decision making setting, the results indicate that the effectiveness of any promotion system is dependent on a range of factors including the nature of the task environment, the design of the organizational structure, the frequency of monitoring, the criteria of performance, and the transferability of task knowledge. This study has implications not only for understanding organizational promotion systems from the contingency perspective, but also for bridging the fields of strategic human resource management and computational organization theory.

Adapting to the Changing Environment: A TheoreticalComparison of Decision Making Proficiencyof Lean and Mass Organization Systems

In this paper weexamine the adaptability of the Japanese style leanorganization system and the traditional American style mass organizationsystem under changing environments. From an organizational designperspective, key structural aspects of the two organizations are modeled ina problem solving context using computational methods. Organizational-levelperformance in terms of decision making accuracy and severity of errors ismeasured as an indicator of organizational adaptability under conditionswhere the task environment shifts between predictable to unpredictable orvise versa. Our study shows that both organizations have their respectiveadvantages under different task environments and that they adapt toenvironmental shifts in different forms. Specifically, when the timepressure is high the lean organization systems performance isvirtually identical to the mass organization system, even though the leanorganization systemÆs members are more proactive. When the timepressure is low, the mass organization system shows a much fasteradaptability when the environment shifts to a predictable one but it is alsomore vulnerable when the environment shifts to an unpredictable one. Incontrast, the lean organization systemÆs response to the changingenvironment is characterized by its slower adaptability. When theenvironment shifts to an unpredictable one, the lean organization systemshows a gradual improvement till reaching a high level. When the environmentshifts to a predictable one, however, the lean organization system shows agradual decrease of performance. Our study further shows that the leanorganization system, with its strong team decision making emphasis, can bemore successful in avoiding severe errors when compared with the massorganization system, even under a predictable task environment.

Structural Versus Individual Perspectives on the Dynamics of Group Performance: Theoretical Exploration and Empirical Investigation

This study contrasts the structural perspective with the individual perspective in explaining group performance in a dynamic setting. The authors argue that these perspectives are not mutually exclusive but have different predictive powers at different group stages. Results from 45 project groups show (a) group structures provide stronger performance predictions at the later stage, whereas individual-based attributes do so at the earlier stage, and (b) different group structures and individual-based attributes provide distinctive insights at respective stages. This indicates the need to explore the potential bridge between the two perspectives in advancing group studies.

The dynamics of inter-organizational ties during crises: Empirical evidence and computational analysis

Organizations often rely on social networks in order to garner resources for survival, in particular when faced with a crisis. From a resource dependence perspective, this paper addresses two issues regarding the dynamics of inter-organizational ties during crisis situations: (a) what is the usual process organizations use, and (b) how efficient is such a process? Two real world crisis cases show that, in a crisis situation, organizations tend to follow a cascade process in which they rely on stronger ties first until there is additional resource needs before activating weaker ties. This process can go on until all the resource needs are met and the stable stage is reached. Results from a computational model simulating such a cascade process and a contrast process, the sequential/random process, show that organizations following the cascade process can exhibit much higher efficiency, though there is a decreasing effect as the severity of the crisis increases. This study has not only illustrated the real world process of organizational ties during crises empirically but also provided theoretical rationales for such inter-organizational dynamics. 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Organizational restructuring and the impact of knowledge transfer

This paper examines the impact of knowledge transfer in organizational restructuring using a computer simulation model. The study demonstrates that the direction of the change, the nature of the external environment, and the learning mechanism can all influence how knowledge transfer affects organizational performance. Specifically, the study shows that organizations may suffer the most performance degradation through a vertical structural change. It also reveals that expansions tend to cause a greater impact on organizational performance while downsizings in an unpredictable environment can also be highly risky. The study further indicates that learning can be a very effective mechanism for rebuilding organizational knowledge and buffering the negative effect of organizational expansions, though its benefit may be limited under a predictable environment or in organizational downsizings.

The Performance Consequences of Top Management Successions The Roles of Organizational and Environmental Contexts

As an exploratory step toward integrating differing views in the field of top management succession, this study takes an open system’s perspective and examines the effect of top management succession on organizational performance, in particular decision-makingaccuracy, under conditions where various organizational and environmental factors can interact. Through a formal computer simulation model that captures the basic behaviors of human decision making and the fundamental characteristics of organizational and environmental settings, the results show that whether top management successions may affect organizational performance, and if so, how organizational performance may be affected, depends on such contextual variables as industry environment, organizational structure, succession type, and organizational age. This study has also demonstrated the importance of moving toward a more systematic and precise contingency approach and the power of computer modeling in understanding the multilevel process of top management succession in complex and dynamic organizations.

Organizational decision making and error in a dynamic task environment

Organizational theorists have attributed organizational performance to a variety of factors including time pressure, training, organizational complexity, environment complexity, and the match between the organization and its environment. Using a computational model of organizational performance based on an information processing and resource dependency view of organizations the effects of these factors are simultaneously compared and their potential relative impact deduced. Following such an analysis we find that time pressure, training, organizational complexity, and organizational environment are stronger determinants of organizational performance than the match between the organization and its environment.