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1
Rossiter, P. G. "Organisational improvement through learning organisation theory." Thesis, University of Salford, 2007. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/2256/.
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A research study was conducted of the management theories and quality philosophies that have been expounded throughout the twentieth century. This study included the modem thinking for quality improvement and business excellence to include the modem concept of Learning Organisations. This research project was undertaken with the aim of producing a framework based on the culture of Learning Organisation Theory and including within it the external influences on such a culture. The framework consisted on a core of human values, divided into five areas that are deemed important to learning organisations. These were surrounded by the basic values of Trust, Honesty and Openness thus protecting the core from outside influence. Elements from traditional management systems theory provided the outer casing for the framework, these elements influencing the core for both good and bad. The contents of the framework were then studied in three organisations of differing background with a view to firmly establishing the elements and areas within the framework for validity in these three organisations. The common theme between all the organisations chosen was that they had all in the recent past been involved in major management and internal change. One study involved the development of a questionnaire and supporting matrices in order to identify the areas and elements of the framework, thus establishing their existence. Active research techniques were used in the other studies in order to establish both 'why' the elements are important and any interrelationship between the areas. As a result of these studies suggestions for modification to the framework were established in order to strengthen the thinking and these were encompassed in to the framework. Probably the most significant of these changes was the inclusion of 'Leadership' as being a major factor in the filtering of undesirable elements. The outcome from the research is that the aim was achieved and a framework was developed that, for the first time, was drawn up in such a way that the elements and areas can easily be recognised and an understanding of what they represent is clearly shown. The reasons as to why these elements are important are also established. This is regarded as an advancement in this field of study.
2
Ma, Ching To. "Incentive contracts and organisation theory." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.363261.
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Sheard, Stephen. "The myth of 'organisation' : towards a novel histographic perspective on socio-economic organisations." Thesis, University of Kent, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.297350.
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Dale, Karen. "Under the knife : embodiment and organisation theory." Thesis, University of Warwick, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.272499.
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5
Tesio, Enrico. "Theory of self-organisation in cold atoms." Thesis, University of Strathclyde, 2014. http://oleg.lib.strath.ac.uk:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=23099.
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Since the first realization of a laser source in 1960, tremendous progresses have been made in the theoretical understanding and experimental control of interacting atomic-optical systems. Optical fields can nowadays be used to engineer long-range interactions in cold atomic gases, manipulating the external degrees of freedom of the atoms via optical forces. This opens the possibility for the study of highly controllable and tunable long-range interacting systems, in which a complex dynamics for the motional properties of the gas can arise due to the effective atom-atom coupling induced by the field. In this thesis the spontaneous emergence of spatial structures in non-equilibrium atom-optical systems is theoretically and numerically investigated, for different geometries and physical configurations. Extending previous research in hot atomic gases, self-organising instabilities involving the external degrees of freedom are studied, and in contrast to other cold-atom spatial instabilities the spontaneous breaking of continuous symmetries is predicted. The main focus of the work presented in this thesis is on dynamical instabilities in cold gases. However, connections are found with other fields of nonlinear physics, such as synchronisation of coupled oscillators and phase transitions in many-body systems. Part of the research presented here has been conducted in the context of a collaboration with the Photonics group at Strathclyde and the Institut non Linéaire de Nice, in which experimental observations of self-organisation and continuous symmetry breaking were obtained.
6
Leivesley, Robert, and n/a. "Images of technology in organisation and society contexts." University of Canberra. Management, 1990. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20060817.100531.
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An original project for a taxonomy of organisation-technology became over time
an exploration of some of the meanings and contexts of technology. The
exploration began with the critique of selected instances of landmark
theorising and empirical research on the technology concept.
The critique raised issues in epistemology and methodology which caused this
writer to address the philosophy of the social sciences and the philosophy of
technology at certain points: the question of technological determinism;
language and metaphor; ideology; construct validity. Chapters One and Two
of this thesis reflect the quest for connections in meta-theory, as the
remaining chapters reflect the quest for meanings and contexts of technology
in organisation and society.
The case studies of landmark theory and research on technology led into more
of a generic enquiry into the nature and claims of a contingency theory of
organisation and management. An analysis of landmark cases and of contingency
theory suggested that a formalist or empiricist approach to technology and
organisation had produced no clear conceptualisation of technology, nor of any
other contextual or performance factors. No panacea for organisation-design
has emerged from this quarter.
A rather broader arena of the division and re-combination of labour was then
approached. Analysis suggested that technology and the division of labour are
not mere surrogates of managerial control but arenas continually contested by
organisation and society participants. They are not givens with resident
characteristics to be read out but occasions of choice ongoingly negotiated.
Whereas the thesis began with notions of a static and cognitivist taxonomy it
developed into a study of certain images of technology, with the valencies of
technology deriving from its various contexts of meanings and matrices of
values. The thesis concludes with the view that formalism of much
contemporary organisation-theory needs to be amplified by a broadly
phenomenological understanding.
7
Dowse, Andrew Information Technology & Electrical Engineering Australian Defence Force Academy UNSW. "The diverse organisation : operational considerations for managing organisational information resources." Awarded by:University of New South Wales - Australian Defence Force Academy. School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, 2007. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/38677.
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Sharing and exploitation of information resources across a diverse organisation can confer a significant competitive advantage but also can be a substantial challenge in coordinating across structural and specialisation boundaries. This challenge reflects the difficulties traditionally associated with lateral relations, which were recognised by classical organisational theorists but are more pronounced with the emergence of information as a critical resource. Notwithstanding the benefits of information sharing across the organisation, the classical concept of specialisation remains fundamental to organisational theory; thus there is potential for friction between requirements for specialisation and coordination. This research therefore examines information management arrangements to balance specialisation and coordination in a diverse organisation. The research takes advantage of organisational and systems theory literature to appreciate complex information management requirements in terms of differentiation/cohesion and integration/coupling of organisational elements. Information management???s business and technology perspectives define the conceptual framework, within which gaps in the literature are identified and become the focus of the research. The two key research areas are the opportunities enabled by technology for business integration through collaborative decision-making and the management of organisation-wide information technology infrastructure. Collaborative decision-making is an integrating mechanism that can provide balance between specialisation and coordination contingent upon the nature of decision tasks and their organisational context. Propositions associated with an adaptive approach to collaborative decision-making were tested in laboratory experiments, with positive support for the contingency model albeit constrained by individual cognitive variances. Organisations increasingly are adopting centralised approaches to the provision of IT services, with IT governance as an integrating mechanism and a need for multiple business-IT alignments to add value according to the differentiation required by organisational elements. Propositions relating to the adaptation of IT management arrangements based upon organisational characteristics were tested using a multi- iv -discipline approach, which resulted in support for the model although practical difficulties were experienced in the action research component. This research provides a framework for maintaining effective variety of information capabilities commensurate with the diverse organisation???s mission and environment, while also exploiting the synergies and economies of shared information resources for holistic benefits.
8
Sapi, Geza [Verfasser]. "Three Essays on Industrial Organisation Theory / Geza Sapi." Düsseldorf : Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 2012. http://d-nb.info/1022195638/34.
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9
Benyaapikul, Pornthep. "Essays in individual organisation and applied microeconomic theory." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.543715.
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10
Böhm, Steffen. "The political event : impossibilities of repositioning organisation theory." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2003. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/55588/.
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In this thesis I outline a political problem of positioning organisation theory. I maintain that there are projects of positioning, depositioning and repositioning, which articulate organisation in different political ways. To dialectically critique the politics of these projects I discuss the way philosophers of destruction, deconstruction and impossibility conceptualise the political event. I argue that these speculative philosophies share a political belief in the need to question and show the limits of the ways social reality is positioned in the realms of modernity, capitalism and `Empire', and explore possibilities of how the world might look different. I maintain that the politics of the positioning project is to turn organisation into the hegemony of management, which I show by engaging with the particular discourse of knowledge management. The politics of the depositioning project is to resist the hegemony of management in multiple ways; I discuss particularly how organisation theorists emphasise the precariousness, plurality and locality of processes of organising. Although the political resistances by the depositioning project are of great importance, I argue that there is a tendency to not link their politics to questions of hegemony, which I show to have certain depoliticising effects. In response to these failures, the politics of the repositioning project aims to repoliticise organisation theory by speculating about a new hegemony of social organisation. My engagement with the so-called 'anticapitalist movement' and questions of its organisation and politics shows, however, that such an attempt of repositioning is itself an impossible or undecidable event. Nevertheless, I argue that it is precisely this political event of impossibility that calls for a speculative decision to be made; a decision, however, which will always fail to fully represent social organisation.
11
Bolton, Patrick. "The role of contracts in industrial organisation theory." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1986. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.434872.
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12
Faris, Nezar. "Embracing Basics: A Grounded Theory of Organisational Leadership in Islamic Organisation within a Western Society." Thesis, Griffith University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366007.
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This research was undertaken to fill a gap in the literature by addressing the issue of leadership process within an Islamic organisation operating in a Western context. With a few notable exceptions, leadership scholars have largely avoided the distinctive leadership dynamics within Islamic groups and organisations. This research has three primary aims: First, to generate a theory of leadership process within an Australian Islamic organisational context. Second, to generate better understanding of the interactions between the dynamics of Islamic leadership principles and Western leadership perspectives. Third, to generate a conceptual model that fits the specific features of the leadership process in this substantive setting. To fulfil the aim, the research applies grounded theory methodology. This thesis triangulates multiple data sources to inform about the essence of the leadership process. The data sources include interviews, observations and document analysis. The analysis of this multi-sourced data generates a processual theory of leadership. It derives a contextualised theory of leadership that explains the manifestation of leadership process within a substantive setting. The grounded theory and the basic social process is ‘Embracing Basics’.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Business School
Griffith Business School
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Petersen, Rasmus Strange. "The Neural Field Theory approach to cortical self-organisation." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.286436.
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Strandli, Portfelt I. "The University; A Learning Organization? : An Illuminative Review Based on System Theory." Doctoral thesis, Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Education, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-780.
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There are voices in the research field suggesting that universities should become learning organisations in order to be more competitive and efficient. However, the proposal is mainly based on theoretical and normative discussions rather than on empirical research. Therefore, this study has explored and reviewed in what way a university organisation has organised its inner life and illuminate in what way its local organisation matches the characteristics of a constructed theoretical model of a learning organisation. The study has furthermore explored in what way the organisational characteristics interact with one another in order to find out whether they support or hinder organisational learning.
15
Gilge, Steffen. "Die Universität als lernende Organisation?" Doctoral thesis, Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2009. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-ds-1240344451018-07164.
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Der anhaltende Misserfolg des politikgetriebenen Reformstakkatos verstärkt seit einer Dekade die Tendenz zu einem Reformmodus, der Universitäten höhere Autonomie zuspricht und auf deren Selbstorganisation gegen die teilweise dramatisch diskutierte Entfremdung von der Gesellschaft setzt. Mit Experimentierklauseln oder gar Hochschulfreiheitsgesetzen wird die Möglichkeit zur Selbstreferenz geschaffen – die Universität ist fortan für sich selbst verantwortlich. Diese Möglichkeit ist gleichwohl nur eine der notwendigen Bedingungen für erfolgreiche Selbstreferenz. Die Fähigkeit dazu liefert die „Entfesselung“ nicht. Dazu muss sich die Universität eingebettet in die sie umfassenden Zusammenhänge begreifen und mögliche Wechselwirkungen zwischen Organisation und Umwelt berücksichtigen können. Diesen voraussetzungsvollen Fall, dass eine Organisation die Auswirkungen ihrer Operationen auf ihre Umwelt sowie daraus entstehende Rückwirkungen auf sich selbst reflektiert, kann mit LUHMANN (1984, S.617) rationale Selbstreflexion genannt werden. Die Arbeit widmet sich dem Managementinstrument der Leitbildentwicklung und untersucht, wie es zur rationalen Selbstreflexion der Universität beitragen kann. Mit der Perspektive der Theorie sozialer Systeme werden drei Bedingungen herausgearbeitet, die im Prozess der Leitbildentwicklung zu berücksichtigen sind, um das orientierende und koordinierende Nutzenpotential dieses Managementinstruments zu entfaltenDue to the persisting failure of ever continuing reforms driven by politics a new mode of reform has been established during the last decade: Universities are granted higher autonomie with respect to decisionmaking aiming at strengthening their capability of self-organisation. With flexible clauses in new higher education laws the possibility for self-reference has been created - Universities are responsible for themselves. This possibility is nevertheless just one of the required conditions for sucessful self-reference. The second required condition, the ability for self-reference, is not fulfilled automatically by just "loosening the chains". In order to develop this ability Universities have to recognize themselves as embedded in a tight network of relationships and they have to be able to incorporate reciprocal effects between themselves and its environment into their decisionmaking. This case of an organisation being able to reflect on its impact on its environment as well as on the backlashes created by that, can be termed "rational reflexivity" with LUHMANN (1984, p.617). This paper adresses the management instrument of creating mission statements and analyses, how this instrument can contribute to the rational reflexivity of Universities. Using the theory of social systems three conditions are suggested that should be accounted for when aiming to unreveal the potential of the orienting and coordinating management instrument mission statements
16
Valsecchi, Irene. "Labour rewards and labour organisation in teams." Thesis, University of York, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.292551.
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Sorensen, Steen Wernberg. "An actor network theory analysis of innovation, technology and organisation." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/8469.
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18
Ehala, Martin. "Self-organisation and language change : the theory of linguistic bifurcations." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1995. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/252057.
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19
Houchin, Kathleen. "Applying complexity theory to the strategic development of an organisation." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2003. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/1811/.
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How useful is complexity theory for describing the strategic development of an organisation? I begin by using Whittington’s framework to give an overview of mainstream strategy literature. I highlight some of the shortcomings in current approaches to strategy and suggest that a new approach is needed. Complexity theory is offered as a new approach. I examine the complexity theory literature. I discuss rules based and connectionist approaches to complexity theory and the use of complexity theory concepts as metaphors. The complexity theory concepts of sensitivity to initial conditions, disequilibrium, positive and negative feedback and emergence of order are identified. Shortcomings in using the theory to describe a social system are then given. I examine the research paradigms open to researchers and conclude that to apply complexity theory to a social system, research within a phenomenological paradigm is required. I present an three and a half year ethnographic study of AYTAG, a public sector regulatory organisation. I use narrative to describe its development in terms of complexity theory concepts. The organisation set out to become flexible and flat structured, with multiskilled professionals and a strong centre to drive it forward. What emerged was an hierarchical organisation with powerful operational departments, a weak centre and a traditionally skilled workforce. AYTAG retained its primary role of regulator but failed to promote its influencing role. I found that order emerged at the boundary between the organisation’s legitimate and shadow systems. The underlying dynamic which led to the order that emerged was the need to reduce anxiety. I examine the usefulness of each complexity theory concept to our understanding of the development of AYTAG. I describe the difficulties involved in determining the exact nature of initial conditions in social systems and the need to consider disequilibrium as a social state rather than a particular action or event. In particular I highlight the use of the concept of feedback as an interesting avenue for studying organisations. I examine the nature of feedback processes at the level of organisation and at individual system level. I describe the interplay between them and its effect on the order emerging in AYTAG. I draw attention to some of the difficulties I found in applying complexity theory concepts to a social system, such establishing precise definitions of the different concepts.
20
Ball, Steven. "An interactive perspective on corporate branding using organisation identity theory." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.324116.
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Gehrke, Alexander. "Anreizkompatible Entlohnung im Rahmen der Organisation des Kreditprozesses /." Aachen: Shaker, 2003. http://www.gbv.de/dms/zbw/364440937.pdf.
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Ludlow, Brian Alan. "Information systems strategy - theory and practice within a multi-divisional organisation." Thesis, Henley Business School, 1989. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.232937.
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Vachhani, Sheena. "Investigating changing formations of identity : towards a theory of embodiment organisation." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2008. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.668319.
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Jones, Renae Allison. "So what is flexibility? : toward a multi-level theory of organisational, group, and individual flexibility." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2005. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16129/1/Renae_Jones_Thesis.pdf.
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Flexibility is a term that is presumed to be meaningful across different levels of analysis in an organisation. It has been suggested that flexibility is required by organisations, groups, and individuals to deal with an increasingly complex and dynamic organisation and global environment. Authors have proposed that organisational flexibility enables a firm to achieve a better 'fit' with their environment and create a sustainable competitive advantage. The group level literature promotes flexibility at this level of analysis as important for group effectiveness and successful project completion. The individual flexibility literature suggests that people who are flexible are more likely to be satisfied and effective than individuals who are inflexible. Despite the importance placed on the construct of flexibility, it is a relatively under explored construct, both theoretically and empirically. This is due in part to the lack of definitional precision and inconsistency in the operationalisation of flexibility at each level of analysis. Consequently, little is known about the meaning of flexibility and the relationship of this construct with contextual and performance variables. This research addresses the limitations of the current literature on flexibility by developing a testable multi-level framework of flexibility. Flexibility is defined in this research as an organisation's, group's, and individual's ability to be proactive, adaptable, and resilient.
Three primary research questions were addressed in this thesis. The first question addressed what are the characteristics of flexibility at the organisation, group, and individual level of analysis. The second overarching research question of interest in this thesis examines how flexibility at each level of analysis is related to performance. The third overarching research question examined what factors impact flexibility at each level of analysis. To address these three research questions at each level of analysis, a theoretical review and an empirical study were conducted.
The first empirical study, focused on flexibility at the organisational level of analysis. This study involved the exploration of seven specific research questions that were developed from the theoretical review. This study used cross-sectional secondary data of private sector Australian organisations. Flexibility was defined as proactivity, adaptability, and resilience. This research examined the relationships between each of the flexibility components and improvements in several organisational level outcomes. Also, the impact of the contextual variables level of organisational control, degree of structure, and competition changes on the flexibility-performance relationship was investigated. Analysis techniques included moderated regression analysis. Results showed support for the positive association between flexibility and performance. Flexibility interacted with competition and structure to influence performance, but control was found to have no moderating effect on the flexibility-performance relationship.
The second empirical study investigated group flexibility. This study took a sequential, mixed method research approach, using qualitative data to explore group flexibility and quantitative analysis to explore the broad relationships found among variables from the qualitative research. Using this approach, this study addressed five specific research questions that were developed from a theoretical review, including defining group flexibility, the nature of group flexibility conceptualisation, the relationship between flexibility and group performance, factors that may enhance group flexibility, and factors that may reduce group flexibility. Findings showed group flexibility was described consistently between participants and the existing literature, proposing group flexibility is a group's ability to search and consider alternatives, be adaptable, and resilient. Results also suggested a positive relationship between group flexibility and several outcomes, including stakeholder satisfaction, personal development and satisfaction, group morale, and group confidence.
The final study examined individual level flexibility. Based on the theoretical exploration of individual flexibility, in this study, individual flexibility was defined as the ability to be proactive, adaptable, and resilient. This empirical research focused specifically on managerial level flexibility. Due to the similarities in descriptions of individual flexibility and managerial flexibility in the literature, the definition of individual flexibility was applied to the managerial level. The study investigated changes in flexibility levels over time using executive coaching as the literature promotes executive coaching as an individual flexibility developmental tool. This study examined eleven leaders undertaking executive coaching with individual flexibility being measured at three points in time, pre coaching, the middle of coaching, and post coaching. Findings were consistent with the proposition of the positive impact of executive coaching on flexibility as the data showed leaders' individual flexibility levels increased from pre coaching to post coaching, with a significant linear trend over time.
The results of these three studies are integrated to inform the multi-level framework of flexibility which was developed in this thesis. This framework provides a systematic, comprehensive, and tangible definition of flexibility at each level of analysis, providing a rich description of the characteristics of each flexibility component. This research advances our understanding of flexibility, which I hope will encourage further research on the construct. For managers and practitioners, this research provides a clear description of flexibility at each level of analysis and offers indicators of flexibility at each level to encourage the measurement and development of organisational, group, and individual flexibility. Also, this research provides empirical evidence of the benefits of flexibility, helping to provide legitimacy for the inclusion of flexibility into the organisation, in areas including strategic planning, organisational design, group design, recruitment and selection, and training and development. Furthermore, this multi-level model allows practitioners to be more focused in developmental efforts for organisation, group, and individual flexibility. This research provides several interesting areas for future research.
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Jones, Renae Allison. "So What is Flexibility? Toward a Multi-Level Theory of Organisational, Group, and Individual Flexibility." Queensland University of Technology, 2005. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16129/.
Full textAbstract:
Flexibility is a term that is presumed to be meaningful across different levels of analysis in an organisation. It has been suggested that flexibility is required by organisations, groups, and individuals to deal with an increasingly complex and dynamic organisation and global environment. Authors have proposed that organisational flexibility enables a firm to achieve a better 'fit' with their environment and create a sustainable competitive advantage. The group level literature promotes flexibility at this level of analysis as important for group effectiveness and successful project completion. The individual flexibility literature suggests that people who are flexible are more likely to be satisfied and effective than individuals who are inflexible. Despite the importance placed on the construct of flexibility, it is a relatively under explored construct, both theoretically and empirically. This is due in part to the lack of definitional precision and inconsistency in the operationalisation of flexibility at each level of analysis. Consequently, little is known about the meaning of flexibility and the relationship of this construct with contextual and performance variables. This research addresses the limitations of the current literature on flexibility by developing a testable multi-level framework of flexibility. Flexibility is defined in this research as an organisation's, group's, and individual's ability to be proactive, adaptable, and resilient. Three primary research questions were addressed in this thesis. The first question addressed what are the characteristics of flexibility at the organisation, group, and individual level of analysis. The second overarching research question of interest in this thesis examines how flexibility at each level of analysis is related to performance. The third overarching research question examined what factors impact flexibility at each level of analysis. To address these three research questions at each level of analysis, a theoretical review and an empirical study were conducted. The first empirical study, focused on flexibility at the organisational level of analysis. This study involved the exploration of seven specific research questions that were developed from the theoretical review. This study used cross-sectional secondary data of private sector Australian organisations. Flexibility was defined as proactivity, adaptability, and resilience. This research examined the relationships between each of the flexibility components and improvements in several organisational level outcomes. Also, the impact of the contextual variables level of organisational control, degree of structure, and competition changes on the flexibility-performance relationship was investigated. Analysis techniques included moderated regression analysis. Results showed support for the positive association between flexibility and performance. Flexibility interacted with competition and structure to influence performance, but control was found to have no moderating effect on the flexibility-performance relationship. The second empirical study investigated group flexibility. This study took a sequential, mixed method research approach, using qualitative data to explore group flexibility and quantitative analysis to explore the broad relationships found among variables from the qualitative research. Using this approach, this study addressed five specific research questions that were developed from a theoretical review, including defining group flexibility, the nature of group flexibility conceptualisation, the relationship between flexibility and group performance, factors that may enhance group flexibility, and factors that may reduce group flexibility. Findings showed group flexibility was described consistently between participants and the existing literature, proposing group flexibility is a group's ability to search and consider alternatives, be adaptable, and resilient. Results also suggested a positive relationship between group flexibility and several outcomes, including stakeholder satisfaction, personal development and satisfaction, group morale, and group confidence. The final study examined individual level flexibility. Based on the theoretical exploration of individual flexibility, in this study, individual flexibility was defined as the ability to be proactive, adaptable, and resilient. This empirical research focused specifically on managerial level flexibility. Due to the similarities in descriptions of individual flexibility and managerial flexibility in the literature, the definition of individual flexibility was applied to the managerial level. The study investigated changes in flexibility levels over time using executive coaching as the literature promotes executive coaching as an individual flexibility developmental tool. This study examined eleven leaders undertaking executive coaching with individual flexibility being measured at three points in time, pre coaching, the middle of coaching, and post coaching. Findings were consistent with the proposition of the positive impact of executive coaching on flexibility as the data showed leaders' individual flexibility levels increased from pre coaching to post coaching, with a significant linear trend over time. The results of these three studies are integrated to inform the multi-level framework of flexibility which was developed in this thesis. This framework provides a systematic, comprehensive, and tangible definition of flexibility at each level of analysis, providing a rich description of the characteristics of each flexibility component. This research advances our understanding of flexibility, which I hope will encourage further research on the construct. For managers and practitioners, this research provides a clear description of flexibility at each level of analysis and offers indicators of flexibility at each level to encourage the measurement and development of organisational, group, and individual flexibility. Also, this research provides empirical evidence of the benefits of flexibility, helping to provide legitimacy for the inclusion of flexibility into the organisation, in areas including strategic planning, organisational design, group design, recruitment and selection, and training and development. Furthermore, this multi-level model allows practitioners to be more focused in developmental efforts for organisation, group, and individual flexibility. This research provides several interesting areas for future research.
26
Kay, R. P. "An analysis of the use of metaphor in voluntary organisations." Thesis, Cranfield University, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.305407.
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Symons, Veronica Jean. "Evaluation of information systems : multiple perspectives." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.279415.
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Seldeslachts, Jo. "Interactions between the Internal Dynamics of Organisations and their Operations in Markets." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/4051.
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Las organizaciones son organismos complejos de los cuales tenemos solo un conocimiento muy reducido, en parte porque se tiende a investigar solo una parte de ellas. El objetivo de esta tesis es aprofundizar en el conocimiento económico de las dinámicas de las organizaciones, señalando que las empresas no solo interactúan en los mercados ni funcionan como entidades aisladas, sino que hay interacción entre el funcionamiento interno y externo. El primer capitulo postula que si los trabajadores de una empresa bloquean las reformas que pueden perjudicarles, entonces interviniendo también en la manera en la que las empresas tienen que competir en los mercados puede crear efectos positivos para los empleados, consiguiendo que al final estén también de acuerdo con las reformas. Combinar reformas crea externalidades positivas, que si están bien planteadas puede reducir la resistencia para los cambios necesarios.
El segundo capitulo considera un mercado muy concentrado y estudia los efectos de las decisiones en inversión y la organización interna de las empresas fusionadas en la eficiencia y en la estabilidad de las fusiones. No se asume que les fusiones generaran automáticamente ganancias en eficiencia: aunque pueden generar economías de escala, y por lo tanto costes más bajos, las empresas necesitan invertir para conseguirlas. Además, estas inversiones pueden ser frustradas por el conflicto que puede haber entre las empresas fusionadas. Se muestra que, incluso cuando no hay conflicto, les empresas no siempre invierten para conseguir ganancias en eficiencia aunque para ellas es beneficioso fusionarse. Cuando hay conflicto incluso puede haber pérdidas en eficiencia y por lo tanto hay muchas fusiones que no son beneficiosas. Como consecuencia, si los directores de las empresas subestiman la posibilidad de conflicto, consideraran que es positivo fusionarse aunque después se encontraran con una empresa menos eficiente y con beneficios inferiores a los que tenían por separado.
El tercer capitulo ofrece una explicación formal de porque unas fusiones fracasan al mismo tiempo que otras son exitosas. Conseguimos predicciones investigando la interacción entre dos aspectos importantes de las fusiones, problemas de integración entre las empresas fusionadas y la recopilación de información sobre las sinergias que se produce antes de la fusión. Diferencias culturales y pocos esfuerzos de integración son recurrentemente mencionados en la prensa como el principal factor que explica el fracaso de la obtención de las sinergias. Estudios en teoría de las organizaciones argumentan que, aunque mejores resultados son asociados con seleccionar un mejor emparejamiento, el grado de éxito depende del proceso de implementación de la fusión. Pero, según nuestros conocimientos, explicar fracasos de fusiones modelando el proceso post-fusión es una novedad en la literatura económica.
The aim of this thesis is broadening the reach of economic research on mergers and industry dynamics, pointing out that mergers are not only done because of firms' needs and do not only create effects in firms' markets. Indeed, dynamics are largely driven by managers and have their impact on employees. We have created some situations were internal functioning and external operating of firms interact.
The first chapter claims that if employees in a firm block law reforms that could hurt them, then intervening also in the way how firms should compete in their markets may create positive effects for employees, making them in the end to agree on reforms. Combining reforms creates positive externalites, which if well used can lower resisitance for necessary changes. This is because reforms in the labour and product markets are complementary, and therefore the loosing side of one reform will be the winning side of the other reform. Also, reforms in both markets increase welfare more than a single reform and show thus synergy effects. Moreover, it offers a possible way out of the so called "sclerosis" effect. When frictions in markets are high, interest groups enjoy higher rents and oppose more reforms and thus the markets that need most a reform, are most stuck in a sclerosis. But high frictions in one market make it easier to reform the other market and therefore the sclerosis in one market can cancel out the sclerosis in the other market.
In the second chapter we reconsider the market power-effciency trade-off made by competition authorities and stress the importance of both strategic decision making of managers and internal organisation issues after mergers have taken place. The possibility that a merged firm may become more efficient does not mean that these gains will be actually realised as is now widely assumed in the economics literature. A newly merged firm brings together different management teams, which can lead to distrust and conflict and therefore possibly less investment. Our approach facilitates the understanding of why some mergers may fail to become more efficient or even fail to happen. Moreover, it allows us to pin down some pitfalls for the regulator when taking into account efficiency gains in merger decisions. Our model gives also a potential explanation for merger failures. If the managers underestimate the potential conflict, they may end up in an unprofitable merger.
The third chapter offers a formal explanation of why some mergers fail and others succeed. We achieve predictions by investigating the interaction between two important aspects of merging: post-merger integration difficulties and the pre-merger gathering of information about obtainable merger synergies. Organisation theorists argue that the a meger success is likely to occur depends upon the process of implementing the merger. But in the economics literature it is a novalty to explain merger failures from the explicit modelling of the post-merger process. Some of our results are intuitively clear as is the fact that less precise information leads to more failures. Less precise information makes it easier to make judgement mistakes and to rely too much on the good news that your partner wants to merge with you. When costs of merging are lower, more merger failures are encountered. For example, during stock market booms when it is easier to find funding for buying up other firms, considerably more failures are indeed encountered. One of our most interesting results finally is that when the punishment of not-integrating is higher, the possibility for failures is reduced. The cultural differences that could derail effective synergy realisation are more carefully attended to because of managers' heightened sensitivity.
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van, Dijk Sander Gerrit. "Informational constraints and organisation of behaviour." Thesis, University of Hertfordshire, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2299/15436.
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Based on the view of an agent as an information processing system, and the premise that for such a system it is evolutionary advantageous to be parsimonious with respect to informational burden, an information-theoretical framework is set up to study behaviour under information minimisation pressures. This framework is based on the existing method of relevant information, which is adopted and adapted to the study of a range of cognitive aspects. Firstly, the model of a simple reactive actor is extended to include layered decision making and a minimal memory, in which it is shown that these aspects can decrease some form of bandwidth requirements in an agent, but at the cost of an increase at a different stage or moment in time, or for the system as a whole. However, when combined, they do make it possible to operate with smaller bandwidths at each part of the cognitive system, without increasing the bandwidth of the whole or lowering performance. These results motivate the development of the concept of look-ahead information, which extends the relevant information method to include time, and future informational effects of immediate actions in a more principled way. It is shown that this concept can give rise to intrinsic drives to avoid uncertainty, simplify the environment, and develop a predictive memory. Next, the framework is extended to incorporate a set of goals, rather than deal with just a single task. This introduces the task description as a new source of relevant information, and with that the concept of relevant goal information. Studying this quantity results in several observations: minimising goal information bandwidth results in ritualised behaviour; relevant goal and state information may to some point be exchanged for one another without affecting the agent’s performance; the dynamics of goal information give rise to a natural notion of sub-goals; bottlenecks on goal memory, and a measure of efficiency on the use of these bottlenecks, provide natural abstractions of the environment, and a global reference frame that supersedes local features of the environment. Finally, it is shown how an agent or species could actually arrive at having a large repertoire of goals and accompanying optimal sensors and behaviour, while under a strong information-minimisation pressure. This is done by introducing an informational model of sensory evolution, which indicates that a fundamental information-theoretical law may underpin an important evolutionary catalyst; namely, even a fully minimal sensor can carry additional information, dubbed here concomitant information, that is required to unlock the actual relevant information, which enables a minimal agent to still explore, enter and acquire different niches, accelerating a possible evolution to higher acuity and behavioural abilities.
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Anderson, Stuart Charles. "The publicness puzzle in organisation theory : a study of pharmacy in hospitals." Thesis, Birkbeck (University of London), 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.249381.
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Ross, Andrew David. "A model of contingency factors affecting contractors' economic organisation of projects." Thesis, University of Salford, 2005. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/2169/.
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The identification of factors that affect the performance of temporary multi disciplinary organisational teams has been a central aim of management research in the construction industry for over 40 years. This study contributes to what is known about the formation of a construction project organisation by identifying the contingent factors that affect contractor's gathering and analysis of price information from supply chain organisations during the ex ante processes to contract formation. The research methodology adopted a combined approach to data collection and analysis, and used a theoretical framework adapted from transaction economics to identify and explicate a model of contingency factors. The research method for data collection in the dominant quantitative first phase used a postal survey of 760 estimators working for contracting organisations in the United Kingdom in December 2003. The resultant data set was analysed using descriptive statistics. A multi variable general linear model and principal component analysis defined the parameters of a model that informed the second phase of data collection and analysis. This model was explicated using a multiple case study approach that gathered and analysed interview data from estimators working for organisations that had been purposively selected. The findings of this research identified the contingency factors that affect contractors', seeking, gathering, analysing and synthesising of supply chain price data, that can be grouped into four categories, which are; external environment, project environment, task environment and inter-organisational relations. The research also found that the existence and strength of effect of the contingency factors was differentiated by organisational size, and identified the factors that may be influenced by the intervention of the client procurement system, (or the organisation) in the ex ante process of supply chain organisation team development.
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Eckert, Manfred. "The German financial market : an empirical investigation into the natural Stackelberg situation and initial public offering." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.288474.
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Björnfors, Martin. "Insurgent Organisation Structure : A Neglected Subject?" Thesis, Écoles de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-1419.
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On 1 November, 1954 an armed insurgency against French rule commenced with a large scale terrorist attack throughout various parts of Algeria. France responded by sending troops from the continent to Algeria and was soon involved in a full out counterinsurgency against the Front Liberé National (FLN), a revolutionary movement organised in a classical communist insurgent pattern. Many of the experiences the French gained conducting counterinsurgency in Algeria have been examined by writers of COIN literature. The conclusions have been incorporated into counterinsurgency doctrines of many countries, and the works of Galula, who experienced the war, is considered basic literature for many counterinsurgency courses. This has been inherited by modern COIN literature. The US FM 3.24 draws from the French experiences and theorists in its main body. This essay examines whether modern counterinsurgency literature derived from French experiences and theories gained, fighting FLN fails to address the question on how the insurgent organisation is structured. It provides a few arguments why we should know this, such as knowing your enemy’s structure will help you understand his vulnerabilities. To archive this and lay a foundation for the argumentation it first compares the Algerian FLN to modern day Taliban to establish if their organisational structures are different or similar.
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Rollo, Michael John. "Managing mega infrastructure projects - Linking theory with practice." Thesis, University of Sydney, 2020. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24018.
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Mega infrastructure projects in Australia have grown substantially in size, scale and number in the ten years to 2020. However, evidence suggests that the project managers of these mega infrastructure projects are struggling to manage the levels of complexity involved, and to successfully realise the project objectives. Literature relating to the management of mega infrastructure projects suggests that traditional project management, which has been described as reductionist and mechanistic, is not suited to the management of mega infrastructure projects due to the size, scale, pace, levels of complexity and uncertainty that these mega infrastructure projects involve. Limited research, testing these theories in practice from a delivery construction contractor’s perspective, was identified as a research gap. To address this gap, research was designed, applying contingency theory as a lens, to explore the actual practices being adopted by construction contractors in managing mega infrastructure projects, with a focus on their approach to organisational systems and the relationship between the approach adopted and the achievement of project objectives. A qualitative research methodology was applied, using four case studies embedded in two mega infrastructure projects. Data was collected from semi-structured interviews with 35 project participants, participant observations and project artefacts, as well as through the use of a research questionnaire. Analysis followed a pragmatic approach. The research findings contribute to theory and practice by providing support for a number of the theoretical approaches proposed for managing mega infrastructure projects, while challenging others. Previous research has suggested that an organic approach to organisational systems is required to manage the complexity of megaprojects. This was found to be valid for implicit organisational factors relating to employee engagement and commitment. However, complex mega infrastructure projects, as temporary organisations, were found to need to establish routines and processes to maintain a level of control and to ensure efficiency. This requirement calls for a mechanistic approach, particularly in relation to establishing roles and responsibilities, clear levels of authority and project controls.
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Beadle, Ron. "'Goods, virtues, practices, institutions' : defending, applying and extending Alasdair MacIntyre's theory of organisation." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2008. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/876/.
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This PHD by Published Work comprises single and jointly authored papers published between 2002 and 2008. These have sought to defend, apply and extend the work of moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre in the context of organisation theory and management studies (OT/MS). The specific contributions they have made are to provide the field of OT/MS with: 1. a thorough review of Maclntyre's thought on organisations and the literature that has used his thinking (publications 1,2,3,8) 2. defences of Maclntyre's position against misinterpretation in the literature (publications 2,3) 3. a rationale for and examples of empirical work that can be conducted within a Maclntyrean framework (publications 4,5,6) 4. an heuristic device through which to structure future work using a MacIntyrean framework (publication 7) An Introduction outlines the extant treatment of Macintyre's work within OT/MS in 2002 and identifies the contribution that the papers make within this context. The publications are considered in three broadly defined sections — defences of Maclntyre's work against misinterpretation, empirical applications of his 'goods — virtues — practices — institutions' framework and theoretical extensions to his work. The papers in these sections are briefly appraised in overviews of each. A Conclusion evaluates the contributions made by these papers and outlines their implications for the development of work in the future.
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Stevenson, Joanne Rosalie. "Organisational resilience after the Canterbury earthquakes : a contextual approach." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Department of Geography, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/10032.
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Following a disaster, an organisation’s ability to recover is influenced by its internal capacities, but also by the people, organisations, and places to which it is connected. Current
approaches to organisational resilience tend to focus predominantly on an organization's internal capacities and do not adequately consider the place-based contexts and networks in which it is embedded. This thesis explores how organisations’ connections may both hinder and enable organisational resilience.
Organisations in the Canterbury region of New Zealand experienced significant and repeated disruptions as a result of two major earthquakes and thousands of aftershocks
throughout 2010 and 2011. This thesis draws upon 32 case studies of organisations located in three severely damaged town centres in Canterbury to assess the influence that organisations’ place-based connections and relational networks had on their post-earthquake trajectories.
The research has four objectives: 1) to examine the ways organisations connected to their local contexts both before and after the earthquakes, 2) to explore the characteristics of the formal and informal networks organisations used to aid their response and recovery, 3) to identify the ways organisations’ connections to their local contexts and support networks influenced their ability to recover following the earthquakes, and finally, 4) to develop
approaches to assess resilience that consider these extra-organisational connections.
The thesis contests the fiction that organisations recover and adapt independently from their contexts following disasters. Although organisations have a set of internal
capacities that enable their post-disaster recovery, they are embedded within external structures that constrain and enable their adaptive options following a disaster. An approach which considers organisations’ contexts and networks as potential sources of organisational
resilience has both conceptual and practical value. Refining our understanding of the influence of extra-organisational connections can improve our ability to explain variability in
organisational outcomes following disasters and foster new ways to develop and manage organisational resilience.
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Phillips, Richard. "Political economy of the artificial : towards an alternative paradigm of business organisation." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.341077.
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Contemporary capitalism appears to be undergoing deep-seated transformations in the organisation of business enterprise. Business organisation has traditionally been understood in terms of a model of corporate development confined to a single administrative hierarchy, offering current debates a focus to contrast and gauge the historical changes occurring in modem economies. "Chandlerism" has provided a guiding assumption that increasingly complex, diversified businesses would evolve ever-larger administrative structures to manage operations. Yet many believe that business organisation now operates under a different set of assumptions in the era of "Alliance Capitalism". Changes in business organisation appear to embody a new chapter of business history, challenging the traditional assumptions that Chandlerism embodies. Stripped of previous assumptions, attempts to develop an alternative paradigm have searched for a new explanation for the strategies and motivations associated with interfirm networking. Yet an unacknowledged problem in this literature is that current accounts embody an assumption that modem forms of competition and strategy occur within organisational boundaries, albeit shifting boundaries, captured by classificatory concepts such as "alliances", "networks", etc. Few pursue the idea that business enterprise does not simply exist within organisational boundaries but, indeed, develops through the creation and maintenance of new organisational forms. In synthesising an extensive range of secondary material, this thesis argues that business pursuits are inextricably organisational in nature. Business organisation is not simply a by-product of business enterprise but a theoretical problematique underlying Chandlerism and equally relevant to contemporary capitalism. At the heart of this problematique is the idea that business organisation is tied to the 'practicalities of capitalism' , concrete problem-solving activities which, in both latent and explicit ways, design the organisational pursuit of business enterprise. The basic aim and contribution of this thesis lies in developing a fundamentally different organisational thinking-a different conceptual, analytical and theoretical system-through which to more effectively articulate this problematique.
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Britan, Jeanette, and Linnéa Mattsson. "Delaktighet och motivation i en stor organisation." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Psykologiska institutionen, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-104656.
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Motivation, engagemang och delaktighet bland medarbetare är viktiga faktorer i organisationers ekonomiska framgång och överlevnad på marknaden. Huvudsyftet med denna studie var att undersöka om det fanns skillnader i inre motivation och delaktighet utifrån grad av tillfredsställelse av de tre grundläggande psykologiska behoven mellan organisationens olika yrkeskategorier. Vidare syften var att undersöka om ohälsa kan prediceras med grad av inre motivation samt om det fanns skillnader i skattningarna av delaktighet på arbetsplatsen och inom organisationen. En web-baserad enkät skickades ut till samtliga 914 medarbetare i organisationen och 205 valde att delta. Resultaten visade att det inte fanns någon skillnad i tillfredsställelse av de grundläggande psykologiska behoven kopplat till yrkeskategorier samt att medarbetarnas inre motivation kunde användas som prediktor för deras självskattade ohälsa. Resultatet av studiens explorativa frågeställningar visade att delaktighet och inre motivation i arbetet skattades som viktigt av medarbetarna. Resultaten indikerade att Organisationen hade en stark organisationskultur med fokus på delaktighet, som delades av medarbetare från olika yrkeskategorier.
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Henry, Valda Frederica. "An investigation into the structure and governance of the social security organisations in the member states of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2001. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/2961/.
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Social security systems have come under attack with claims that they negatively impact savings, capital formation and the labour supply. This, together with the near-bankruptcies of some social security systems have led to a series of reforms, including the privatisation of the system with the assignment of individual accounts to contributors. There have, however, been little efforts in isolating the cause of the failure of the social security systems and in the identification of the factors which may enhance performance. It is this gap, which this study attempts to fill by investigating the relationship between governance, performance and administration of the social security systems by addressing the key question "How do governance factors impact on the performance and administration of social security systems in the Member States of the Organisation Of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)?" The main findings of the study are that autonomy and independence of the social security organisations, accountability, transparency, diversification of the investment portfolio, professional expertise, partnership-building among the stakeholders and involvement or the plan participants at the board level are important in enhancing the performance and administration of the social security organisations. The results of the analysis also suggest that it is important to ensure that the persons chosen to represent the plan participants at the board level are persons of integrity with the requisite qualifications and qualities. This study, it is hoped will inform and lead to a re-examination of the reform debate to include the role of governance in the reform and sustainability of social security organisations worldwide.
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Blaschke, Steffen. "Structures and dynamics of autopoietic organizations : theory and simulation /." Wiesbaden : Gabler, 2008. http://www.gbv.de/dms/zbw/559437838.pdf.
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Nicollier, Luciana A. "Essays on industrial organisation : the role of consumers' generated information." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2012. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/56794/.
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A variety of economic agents rely on information generated by the consumers when making their decisions. Not only consumers' rely on other consumers' ex- periences when making their buying decisions, but also some governmental agen- cies rely on customers' complaints to make inferences about the functioning of some markets. Little is known, however, about how this information interacts with the rms' investing and pricing decisions. A common denominator of the various types of information generated by the consumers is that its content de- pends on consumers' incentives to transmit information, which are not always obvious and may vary across markets and time. This thesis studies the role of the information generated by the consumers in two di erent contexts. The rst chapter studies whether customers' complaints about the quality provided by a regulated monopolist are informative about the rm's investment decisions. The second chapter considers the pricing decision of a monopoly rm when the con- sumers' buying decision is based on the reviews completed by previous consumers. The main contributions are twofold. First, by endogenising consumers deci- sion to lodge a complaint or complete a review, I am able to derive conclusions about the informational content of consumers behaviour and about its strategic interaction with the rms decisions. Second, the thesis makes a methodologi- cal contribution because it proposes a novel way of dealing with the free riding problem that lies at the very root of the generation of information by consumers.
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Andriani, Pierpaolo. "The emergence of self-organisation in social systems : the case of the geographic industrial clusters." Thesis, Durham University, 2003. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4011/.
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The objective of this work is to use complexity theory to propose a new interpretation of industrial clusters. Industrial clusters constitute a specific type of econosphere, whose driving principles are self-organisation, economies of diversity and a configuration that optimises the exploration of diversity starting from the configuration of connectivity of the system. This work shows the centrality of diversity by linking complexity theory (intended as "a method for understanding diversity"') to different concepts such as power law distributions, self-organisation, autocatalytic cycles and connectivity.I propose a method to distinguish self-organising from non self-organising agglomerations, based on the correlation between self-organising dynamics and power law network theories. Self-organised criticality, rank-size rule and scale-free networks theories become three aspects indicating a common underlying pattern, i.e. the edge of chaos dynamic. I propose a general model of development of industrial clusters, based on the mutual interaction between social and economic autocatalytic cycle. Starting from Kauffman's idea(^2) on the autocatalytic properties of diversity, I illustrate how the loops of the economies of diversity are based on the expansion of systemic diversity (product of diversity and connectivity). My thesis provides a way to measure systemic diversity. In particular I introduce the distinction between modular innovation at the agent level and architectural innovation at the network level and show that the cluster constitutes an appropriate organisational form to manage the tension and dynamics of simultaneous modular and architectural innovation. The thesis is structured around two propositions: 1. Self-organising systems are closer to a power law than hierarchical systems or aggregates (collection of parts). For industrial agglomerations (SLLs), the closeness to a power law is related to the degree of self-organisation present in the agglomeration, and emerges in the agglomeration’s structural and/or behavioural properties subject to self-organising dynamic.2. Self-organising systems maximise the product of diversity times connectivity at a rate higher than hierarchical systems.
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Brook, Sapoty, and mikewood@deakin edu au. "A physical theory of organisation and consequent neural model of spatio-temporal pattern acquisition." Deakin University. School of Architecture and Engineering, 1987. http://tux.lib.deakin.edu.au./adt-VDU/public/adt-VDU20050825.121850.
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A neurone model (the FORMON) is proposed which provides a mathematical explanation for a range of psychological phenomena and has potential in Artificial Intelligence applications. A general definition of organisation in terms of entropy and information is formulated. The concept of microcodes is introduced to describe the physical nature of organisation.
Spatio-temporal pattern acquisition and processing functions attributable to individual neurones are reviewed. The criterion for self-organisation in a neurone is determined as the maximisation of mutual organisation. A feedback control system is proposed to satisfy this criterion and provide an integrated long-term memory of spatio-temporal pattern. This pattern acquisition system is shown to be applicable to dendritic pattern recognition and axonal pattern generation. Provision is also made for adaptation, short-term memory and operant learning.
An electro-chemical model of transmission and processing of neural signals is outlined to provide the pattern acquisition functions of the Formon model. A transverse magnetic mode of electrotonic propagation is postulated in addition to the transverse electromagnetic mode.
Configurations of the Formon are categorised in terms of possible pattern processing functions. Connective architectures are proposed as self-organising models of acquisitive semantic and syntactic networks.
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Marquez, Jose Manual Malave. "Systems, networks and structures : an essay on organisation theory as a strategy of representation." Thesis, Lancaster University, 1992. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.357258.
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Emberson, Michael. "The equity theory of motivation : an ethnographic case study of a voluntary sector organisation." Thesis, University of Kent, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.274310.
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Kirsch, Anja. "Union mergers in Australia and Germany a comparative study from an organisation theory perspective /." [S.l. : s.n.], 2004. http://www.bsz-bw.de/cgi-bin/xvms.cgi?SWB11103955.
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Yezdani, Omer. "Toward a Theory of Emergence: The Role of Social Influence in Emergent Self-Organisation." Thesis, Griffith University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/380295.
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The creation of perpetual novelty has long puzzled organisational theorists, scientists and philosophers. Over the last 100 years, numerous strands of inquiry have woven together to form a superstructure of ideas, concepts and principles known as complexity theory, to understand the spontaneous emergence or order. The study of complex systems has given rise to many empirical advances, including a deeper understanding of time, evolution, and the organisation of living systems. Despite being surrounded by complexity, the real-world application in organisational theory appears to have gained only few of its potential benefits. Furthermore, prior studies have failed to produce a theory for emergent self-organisation, its anchor-point phenomenon. After many years of direct theory to phenomena translations, this study reveals their tenuous link to root theory and numerous gaps in the existing body of knowledge to translate central ideas of complexity to applied social science.
In organisations faced with considerable uncertainty and responsibility for the control of immense resources, it is surprising to find an emergent, iterative approach is ingrained within key strategic activities. In an uncertain global climate, a better understanding of the capacity to adapt without explicit plans or centralised coordination could not be more timely or important. Human social systems and the mechanics of their organisation is one of the most pervasive topics of applied social science, leadership and management, and has relevance to almost all economic, political and social research that concerns dynamic interaction between people.
Drawing on pragmatic foundations, this study explores how complex organisations adapt through emergent self-organisation, with a focus on the role of social influence between agents. The study argues that social influence is a principal mechanism for energetic transfer in complex human social systems. The study examines two primary research questions, concerning: the function, and process of emergence in human social systems. Furthermore, the role emergence plays in adapting to new or acute pressures, and the general process for such a mechanism. An interview driven, multiple case study approach is used to observe the interactions and behaviours of agents within complex systems.
Data collection and analysis is without parallel in both cases, comprised of 47 interviews and over 3.2 million transcribed words. Case one focuses on the operation of Wivenhoe Dam during the Brisbane Floods Crisis of 2011, Case two examines the actions of seven investment firms at the epicentre of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis in late 2008.
The case study approach has yielded rich analysis and findings, applicable to similar firms in times of turbulence. Findings reveal a distinctly emergent process of decision making in structured organisations, and a surprising method of post hoc strategy labelling, where structural inertia has perverse impacts on risk intensification, irreversibility and the amplification of small change. Analysis extrapolates the mechanics of amplification associated with the use of structured investment products, collateralisation and bundling of risky assets, generating increased risk velocity and the erosion of strategic choice. Findings deliver a practical application of downward causation, and many recursive theoretical developments, with regard to autonomy, information coupling, sustainability and immunity of emergent, self-organising forms and the role of information and people in groups. Findings shed a number of new insights into the anatomy of crisis that unfolded in both cases, and areas for potential improvement in the practical application of theory and research outcomes. Over 40 unique contributions to the body of knowledge are noted.
The findings of this study have several important implications, to aid a more comprehensive understanding of the latent potential for emergent self-organisation in human social organisation. The study develops and proposes further sophistication and robustness in methods to continue research into complex phenomena within the field of applied social science research. The study explores warning signals, systemic risk factors, and their relationship to leadership, management and corporate strategy. While the findings of this study contribute to the body of knowledge, further research is proposed through a research extension agenda. Following the extensive review of literature and presentation of findings, the study concludes a theory of emergence is in a nascent state, and is not yet fully developed, refined or tested. This study makes a contribution toward a theory of emergence, in particular to better understand the function and process of influence in complex human social systems.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Dept Intnl Bus&Asian Studies
Griffith Business School
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Hallqvist, Philip, Jon Hedenmalm, and Ferreira Pierre Marante. "Prospero: En idealtyp för Generation Z : En konstruktion av en framtida organisation." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för organisation och entreprenörskap (OE), 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-54414.
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Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att genom tolkning och analys av värderingar och attityder hos Generation Z konstruera en idealtyp av en organisation, som kommer att kunna användas som ett redskap för förståelse för hur organisationer skulle kunna se ut i framtiden för att passa Generation Z. Metod: En intervjustudie som behandlar generationsforskning ur ett organisationsperspektiv. Studien har genomförts med en induktiv metod och en kvalitativ strategi. Slutsats: I Generation Z:s uttalade värderingar och attityder framträdde en paradox. Generation Z värdesatte motstridiga aspekter inom arbetslivet. Resultatet av studien är därför idealtypen ”Prospero”, baserad på Generation Z:s uttalade värderingar och attityder. En tvådelad organisationsstruktur som kombinerar hierarkisk ordning och struktur med adhocratisk kreativitet. Arbetsdagen är uppdelad mellan dessa båda delar, denna uppdelning regleras genom stämpelklockan ”Miranda”.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to, through interpretation and analysis of values and attitudes of Generation Z, construct an ideal type of organization, which can be used as a tool for the understanding of how organizations could look like in the future to accommodate Generation Z. Methodology: An interview study that addresses the topic of generational research from an organizational perspective. The study was conducted with an inductive approach and a qualitative method. Conclusions: From Generation Z's spoken values and attitudes a paradox emerged. Generation Z valued conflicting aspects of working life. The result of the study is therefore the ideal type “Prospero”, which is based on Generation Z's spoken values and attitudes. A dual-sided organizational structure that combines hierarchical order and structure with an ad hoc creativity. The workday is divided between the two sides, this transition is controlled by the punch clock “Miranda”.
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Askervall, Karl. "Talibanerna som organisation : En studie av strukturen på styret av talibanernas organisation 2009." Thesis, Försvarshögskolan, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-2726.
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Sedan attacken på USA 11 september 2001 har åtskilliga rapporter skrivits om Talibanernaför att skapa underlag för styrkorna som bekämpar dem. Syftet med uppsatsen är att försökaåskådliggöra en struktur på styret av talibanernas organisation 2009 och förklara varför dehade denna struktur på styret med utgångspunkt i den religiösa utbildningen. Och i och meddetta bidra till forskningsläget om talibanerna. Frågeställningen som besvaras i uppsatsen är:Vilken struktur hade styret av talibanernas organisation 2009 och varför hade styret dennastruktur? Denna frågeställning löses ut av följande 2 frågor: Fråga 1 - Kan strukturen påstyret av talibanernas organisation 2009 beskrivas med hjälp av en strukturellorganisationsteori? Fråga 2 - Kan den religiösa utbildningen vara en förklaring till dennastruktur på styret?Med hjälp av en strukturell teori om organisationers form och två sociologiska teorier sombehandlar varför människor och grupper handlar som de gör utifrån deras bakgrund ska jagförsöka uppfylla uppsatsens syfte och beskriva hur strukturen på styret av talibanernasorganisation såg ut 2009 och förklara varför den såg ut så.Uppsatsen använder en kvalitativ metod där divisionaliserad organisation, habitus och dendolda läroplanen används som teorier. I den första analysen som svarar på den första frågangörs en fallstudie på ett dokument som beskriver regler och förhållningssätt för talibanernaunder Mullah Omar med hjälp av divisionaliserad organisation. Därefter för att svara påuppsatsens andra fråga analyseras talibanernas habitus utifrån den religiösa utbildningen föratt sedan analyseras med hjälp av Pierre Bourdieus habitusteori och Donald Broadys dendolda läroplanen.Resultatet av analyserna visar att strukturen på styret av talibanernas organisation 2009 tillstor del kan beskrivas med teorin om divisionaliserad organisation och att habitusteorin medstöd av den dolda läroplanen kan ge en förklaring till varför deras styre hade denna struktur2009 utifrån de enskilda individernas religiösa utbildning i södra Afghanistan och Pakistan.Since the attack on The United States of America September 11 2001 numerous reports hasbeen written about the Taleban to provide information to the forces fighting them. Thepurpose of my thesis is to try to illustrate a structure on the rule of the Taliban organisation2009 and explain why they had this structure on their rule based on religious education. Andby this contribute to the current research about the Taliban. To fulfil this purpose I willanswers the following question in the thesis: What structure did the Taliban have on the ruleof their organisation in 2009 and why did the rule have this structure? This main questionwill be answered through two sub questions: Question 1 – Can the structure of the rule of theTaliban organisation 2009 be described by using a structural theory about organisations?Question 2 – Can the religious education be an explanation to this structure of their rule?With the help of one structural theory about organisations and two sociological theory’sthat concerns why people and groups act the way they do based of their background I will tryto fulfil the purpose of the thesis and describe the structure of the rule of the Talibanorganisation 2009 and explain why the rule had this structure.The thesis uses a qualitative method and divisionaliserad organisation, habitus and thehidden curriculum as theories. In the first analyse that answers to the first question I make acase study on a document that describes rules and regulations for the Taliban’s under MullahOmar using Henry Mintzbergs theory of divisionaliserad organisation. Thereafter to answerthe second question I first analyse the Taliban habitus based on their religious education.Then I continue the analysis using Pierre Bourdieus theory of habitus and Donald Broadysthe hidden curriculum.The result of the two analyses shows that the structure of the rule of the Talibanorganisation 2009 can be described fairly well using the theory of divisionaliseradorganisation. It also shows that the theory of habitus with the support of the hiddencurriculum can give an explanation to why their rule had this structure 2009 based on theindividual’s religious education in southern Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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Johnson, Craig L. "Standing on the Toes of Giants: Social Movement Theory and the Case of the Learning Organisation." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/5143.
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The thesis examines two interrelated topics; the perception of management theory in general, and the efficacy of the learning organisation in particular. The purpose of this thesis, therefore, is to compare the rhetoric espoused in the learning organisation literature with a survey of senior managers in large, commercial organisations.
The results revealed a positive disposition towards business and management theory in general. The survey also demonstrated that leadership is considered the most important variable in the success of a company. This is facilitated through the attraction and retention of the appropriate staff and creating sufficient space for them to operate. Learning is embedded by anticipating the future, learning from the past and enabling good communication. However, the latter is balanced through change management. This is derived through legitimate authority and a reliance on planning. Finally, a strategy of experimentation is balanced by challenging industry rules. Themes involving politics, corporate alignment and corporate longevity were found to have relatively little convergent validity. The third section of the questionnaire reveals a positive disposition towards the learning organisation.
The contribution of this thesis is in three areas. First, it is the only work to evaluate the anti-guru school. Second is the development of a syncretic model of learning organisation concept using structural equation modelling. Finally, it explains and examines the largely misunderstood concept of management fashions.