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Modern businesses constantly operate in an environment filled with unpredictability. Such unpredictability and heightened dynamism require rapid responses, mainly prompted by the realization that such irregular phenomena cannot be dealt with using conventionally structured and organized approaches alone. In line with this ongoing conversation fuelled notably by the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated digital acceleration, in this paper, we lay out the case for how "actively embracing disorganization” as a new work form can be a mechanism that facilitates the creation and enactment of important dynamic capabilities thus enhancing a firm's ability to cope with unpredictable environments. In doing so, we attempt to make a novel contribution outlining the relationship between disorganization and dynamic capabilities through propositions and an accompanying conceptual framework. In this article, we position disorganization as a form of organizational design capable of enabling the link between dynamic capabilities and performance.
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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an overarching framework to guide the understanding of the allocation and deployment of strategic human capital assets within an organization. Using the concept of medical triage with business units analogous to "patients” and their performance to "symptoms or injuries,” the framework suggests a "steal from the poor” perspective that is counter to conventional organizational decline literature.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper proposing that there are five different categories of business unit need for human capital assets: expectant, deceased, immediate, delayed or minimal;all based on the type of environment and holistic performance of the business unit. Based on a business unit's specific situation, the authors suggest a process model guiding how to conduct a triage analysis to optimize the allocation of strategic human capital assets within an organization.FindingsThe authors argue that current trends in assessing strategic human capital assets which make comparisons across organizations are necessary but insufficient (e.g. comparing a store to other stores in its district or region). Each business unit has its own unique internal capabilities and external constraints that also must be accurately assessed to make an informed organizational-level decision about where and how to deploy strategic human capital assets.Originality/valueBorrowing from medical science, this paper demonstrates a new conceptual framework with propositions for researchers and guidance for practitioners.
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What do leaders do when they interact with followers and stakeholders in a time of crisis? What networking behaviours do leaders manifest in such a context of emergency? We answer these questions through qualitative research and cluster analysis conducted on a sample of leaders involved in community management in the most affected region in northern Italy during the three key phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings span a period of 18-months and show that leaders display a behavioural repertoire that includes six networking actions. Grouped together, these actions identify three clusters of leaders: Churners, who engage mainly in network generation and network termination;Divergent leaders, who manifest high levels of network conflict and re-construal;and Sense-makers, who are high in network deepening and teleology. Our research contributes to unveil the idiographic micro-foundations of networking behaviour during organizational jolts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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PurposeAlthough a body of studies investigates how networking capabilities (NCs) form and maintain interorganizational relationships that affect firm performance, little is known about this relationship in crisis contexts. This article explores managers' perceptions of environmental uncertainties and how this perception influences NC development and subsequent firm performance, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a quantitative research approach to complete this objective, utilizing primary data from a survey of North American firms (N = 212), mostly (62.3%) small- and medium-sized. Data were analyzed via the partial least squares structural equation modeling technique.FindingsThe authors found that managers' perception of environmental uncertainties positively impacts the NCs to initiate and develop relationships, which is associated with better firm performance during crises. The capability to initiate and develop relationships supports the firm's access to relevant resources that may be converted into business performance.Originality/valueBy analyzing managers' perceptions of environmental uncertainties and the development of NCs, the study results expand upon previous research by highlighting that starting new relationships and developing existing ones may be an efficient managerial response immediately after a crisis occurs.
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Purpose: This article investigates how micro-foundations of sustainability can build supply chain resilience (SCRes). Specifically, by defining supply chains as social-ecological systems, this article explores how sustainability as a supplier capability leads to the transformative development of SCRes capabilities. Design/methodology/approach: Longitudinal multi-case studies were developed over the first year of the COVID-19 outbreak. A total of 52 interviews were conducted with managers and employees of 12 global supplier firms as well as associated local cooperative and consultancy managers. Secondary data were also used for triangulation. An inductive approach was used for data analysis to elaborate theory through a metaphor. Findings: Nine micro-foundations of sustainability were identified and categorised using the dynamic capabilities steps: sensing, seizing and reconfiguring. They were found to move together with the preparing, responding and transforming steps of SCRes, respectively, and thus to perform as dance partners using our dance performance metaphor. Moreover, ten supplier cases were found to be adopting a transformative social-ecological perspective as they performed all key stages of our dance performance metaphor. The transformations all resulted from either institutional or social sustainability, and the associated micro-foundations generated six main SCRes capabilities, most commonly linking visibility and organisation with institutional and social sustainability respectively. Practical implications: A deeper understanding of sustainability micro-foundations is provided for supply chain managers to enhance the development of SCRes strategies in preparation for future sustainability-related crises. Originality/value: Unlike previous research, this article explores an intertwined understanding of SCRes and sustainability during a crisis. Through the micro-foundations of sustainability we explain how sustainability capability builds transformative SCRes using a supplier perspective. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
ABSTRACT
What do leaders do when they interact with followers and stakeholders in a time of crisis? What networking behaviours do leaders manifest in such a context of emergency? We answer these questions through qualitative research and cluster analysis conducted on a sample of leaders involved in community management in the most affected region in northern Italy during the three key phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings span a period of 18-months and show that leaders display a behavioural repertoire that includes six networking actions. Grouped together, these actions identify three clusters of leaders: Churners, who engage mainly in network generation and network termination;Divergent leaders, who manifest high levels of network conflict and re-construal;and Sense-makers, who are high in network deepening and teleology. Our research contributes to unveil the idiographic micro-foundations of networking behaviour during organizational jolts.
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PurposeDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, huge numbers of employees shifted to remote working, with various consequences for their family and working lives. This study aims to focus on the factors that affect their creativity while working from home. As individual creativity is shaped by context, the authors investigate the moderating role of the domestic environment on employees' creative contributions while working remotely. Design/methodology/approachThe authors base the arguments on the complexity perspective on innovative work behaviour (IWB) and consider innovation a recursive process in which innovative behaviour can inform, and not simply follow, subsequent creative acts. The sudden spur of the pandemic interrupted the natural recursiveness of the creativity-innovation process and allowed them to empirically investigate the direct and indirect effects that levels of pre-pandemic IWB had on individuals' creative behaviour. The authors hypothesise that this relationship is moderated by two resource-conserving contextual factors: work-home conflict and a feeling of social isolation. The participants were 803 employees from several Italian corporations. The data were collected during the first lockdown period (April-May 2020). FindingsThe findings support the existence of a three-way interaction, suggesting that IWB affects further creative behaviours when both work-home conflict and social isolation are low. Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that investigates what happened to employees' creativity during the COVID-19 massive remote working situation. The results should be interpreted beyond the unique context because remote working will continue.
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PurposeThis article investigates how micro-foundations of sustainability can build supply chain resilience (SCRes). Specifically, by defining supply chains as social-ecological systems, this article explores how sustainability as a supplier capability leads to the transformative development of SCRes capabilities.Design/methodology/approachLongitudinal multi-case studies were developed over the first year of the COVID-19 outbreak. A total of 52 interviews were conducted with managers and employees of 12 global supplier firms as well as associated local cooperative and consultancy managers. Secondary data were also used for triangulation. An inductive approach was used for data analysis to elaborate theory through a metaphor.FindingsNine micro-foundations of sustainability were identified and categorised using the dynamic capabilities steps: sensing, seizing and reconfiguring. They were found to move together with the preparing, responding and transforming steps of SCRes, respectively, and thus to perform as dance partners using our dance performance metaphor. Moreover, ten supplier cases were found to be adopting a transformative social-ecological perspective as they performed all key stages of our dance performance metaphor. The transformations all resulted from either institutional or social sustainability, and the associated micro-foundations generated six main SCRes capabilities, most commonly linking visibility and organisation with institutional and social sustainability respectively.Practical implicationsA deeper understanding of sustainability micro-foundations is provided for supply chain managers to enhance the development of SCRes strategies in preparation for future sustainability-related crises.Originality/valueUnlike previous research, this article explores an intertwined understanding of SCRes and sustainability during a crisis. Through the micro-foundations of sustainability we explain how sustainability capability builds transformative SCRes using a supplier perspective.
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Purpose - Rethinking how to build resilience in supply chains is once again highlighted by COVID-19. Research on supply chain resilience has established flexibility as a firm-level antecedent that contributes to supply chain resilience. However, the authors know little about how supply chain flexibility is developed within a firm. Drawing on social capital theory, the authors claim that the way supply chain managers are embedded in their social networks plays a critical role in developing this antecedent. Specifically, the authors hypothesize that supply chain managers' structural and relational embeddedness in their reference network, comprised of individuals from whom they seek advice, is instrumental to developing supply chain flexibility, which subsequently enhances the firm's supply chain resilience. Design/methodology/approach - Survey data collected from 485 manufacturing firms in Australia and Hayes and Preacher's (2014) parallel multiple mediator model were employed to empirically test the hypotheses. Findings - The findings of the study establish that supply chain managers' structural and relational embeddedness in their reference network indeed have implications for developing supply chain resilience. Furthermore, the mediator through which managers' social embeddedness influences supply chain resilience is identified in the current study. Originality/value - The study contributes to the extant literature on supply chain resilience, investigating the role that supply chain managers' social capital play in developing the resilience of their firm.
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Purpose The business sector plays a major role in achieving comprehensive economic development goals in emerging economies. Consequently, the effects of business responses to the COVID-19 pandemic are receiving increasing research attention from an organizational management development perspective. This article aims to examine the role of leadership in charting the course in an extraordinary crisis context. Design/methodology/approach Using institutional leadership theory, leadership contingency theory and dynamic leadership capability theory, the authors present a research framework that defines macrochallenges and organizational level responses and outcomes. The article adopts a case study approach, which includes the identification of four target companies and conducting in-depth interviews with senior management professionals within those companies at different time periods. Findings Based on the interviews, the steps that Indian companies adopted to respond to the COVID-19 challenge are identified. Expanding the insight from the case study, the findings suggest that although feeling overwhelmed at first, organizational leaders combine prudent (i.e. timely and speedy actions for survival first) and bold (i.e. future envisioning for expansion and growth) actions enabling these firms to weather two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in India. Originality/value These multiple case studies are unique in exploring MNEs from different industries. This study also highlights the dynamic relationships between leadership practices, risk management strategies and performance outcomes based on a sound theoretical model and rigorous study methods.
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The circular economy is promoted as a contributor to sustainable development;however, the process of circular business model innovation remains under-explored to date, hindering its implementation. Dynamic capabilities research provides a theoretical perspective to explore how incumbent firms can innovate in rapidly changing environments. An abductive qualitative research is done through an exploratory multiple case study on 10 incumbents that implemented a circular business model innovation. We identify 26 practices, aggregated in 12 micro-foundations of the dynamic capabilities of sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring. By integrating the few empirical studies characterizing dynamic capabilities for sustainability-oriented business model innovation, we offer a comprehensive framework of 33 practices. This study proposes that the most relevant practices for circular business model innovation processes are adopting a lifecycle perspective, employing sustainability-oriented instruments, ideating sustainable value propositions, developing a sustainability strategy and culture, and engaging and coordinating stakeholders in the business ecosystem. We also suggest seven particularly relevant practices for long-term business model transformations (e.g., top management commitment), four for innovations focused on short and medium loops of the circular economy (e.g., early customer engagement), and four for long loops (e.g., business ecosystem coordination). This study corroborates and expands recent research on dynamic capabilities for sustainability-oriented innovation and provides practitioners with a set of 33 skills, processes, procedures, and activities to be prioritized to successfully innovate their business models for the circular economy.
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The world is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Humanitarian service systems are being empowered to tackle this crisis through the use of vast amounts of structured and unstructured data to protect vulnerable individuals and communities. Analytics has emerged as a powerful platform to visualise, predict, and prescribe solutions to humanitarian crises, such as disease containment, healthcare capacity, and emergency food supply. However, there is a paucity of research on the microfoundations of the humanitarian analytics empowerment capability. As such, drawing on dynamic capability theory and by means of a systematic literature review and thematic analysis, this study proposes an analytics empowerment capability framework for humanitarian service systems. The findings show that analytics culture, technological sophistication, data-driven insights, decision making autonomy, knowledge and skills, and training and development are crucial components of the analytics empowerment's capability to sense, seize, and remedy crisis situations. The paper discusses both theoretical and practical research implications.