Publications - Research

Expanding the organizational design space

Burton, R. M., Obel, B., Håkonsson, D. D. — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 22:14:53 +0100

AI robot bosses are becoming increasingly prevalent in organizations, and they expand the traditional organizational design space. Organizations can benefit from utilizing both robots and humans as bosses, as they can substitute for each other and work together as complements across different organizational structures. This expanded design space includes different kinds of AI robots and humans as bosses, rather than limiting robots to just being helpers. By considering the different capabilities and relationships of humans and robots, we argue that the organizational design space is expanded to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency. However, the effectiveness of a robot boss depends on the organizational situation. Robots excel at managing organizational rules and processing large data sets for certain environments. AI robots also excel at predicting future patterns based on large sets of data, while humans are better suited for uncertain situations requiring judgement and creativity. We develop four types of AI robot bosses based on: explainability or how easy it is to understand and explain the decisions made, and supervised learning or how the robots learn and are trained over time in usage. These four types are then matched with leadership styles and organization forms. Organizational charts, or hierarchy charts, visually depict an organization’s structure, showcasing reporting relationships and chains of command. Employees’ names, titles, and job positions are typically represented in boxes or circles connected by lines, indicating their affiliations. However, traditional organization charts lack icons or representations of Artificial intelligent or AI robot bosses. This discrepancy prompts the question not of their inclusion, but of why they are omitted.

Effective Information Infrastructures for Collaborative Organizing

Håkonsson, D. D., Larsen, E. R., Eskildsen, J. K. — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 22:14:53 +0200

This study focuses on how collaborative organizing is achieved in a natural-resource commons, organized as an actor-oriented structure. In a framed field experiment, teams of Maasai livestock owners played a board game related to sustainable usage and preservation of a commons (in this case, grazing areas). We examine team decisions over time and draw inferences about the difference between two information infrastructures: one that enables learning about the ecosystem and one that enables shared situational awareness. We also examine the effectiveness of these information infrastructures in obtaining sustainable usage and preservation of a commons, finding that participants who are subjected to an information infrastructure that enables shared situational awareness are more effective than those subjected to an information infrastructure that only enables learning about the ecosystem. This, we argue, is because shared situational awareness enables members to address their interdependencies related to both task and knowledge interdependence. In other words, without shared situational awareness, they are less efficient at coordinating their actions, despite sharing collaborative values. Based on our findings, we argue that actor-oriented structures should be designed to include information infrastructures that specifically address members’ interdependencies.

Designing a sustainable organization

Obel, B., Kallehave, P. — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 22:14:53 +0200

Sustainability provides new opportunities where firms need to create a sustainable business model with the optimal fit between the rising demands of a sustainable economy and their business model, strategy, structure, incentives, human skills, IT systems, and all the other aspects of the organizational design of the firm. Sustainability creates an important driver for organizational design: the way organizations operate and the way they should be designed. New thinking is required for designing organizations focusing on: strategy, structure, processes, and human skills and values to create a sustainable organization for the future. Sustainability must penetrate all activities and all relations in the firm. Integrating such a perspective into production, communication, supply chain, marketing, as well as in strategy, structure, processes, resources, products, and customer relations takes appropriate incentives and understanding of what drives people to create impact and change the way they do things. It all comes down to: how can we create Incentives to stimulate Innovation through the Integration of sustainability in a way that creates the biggest Impact? In this point-of-view paper, we make three points: (1) Sustainability will be a major driver for business strategy now and in the future. (2) For a sustainable organization, the organization design has to follow fundamental design principles based on the four I’s: Incentives, Innovation, Integration, and Impact. (3) Within the frame of the four I’s, the design should be based on a contingency perspective.

Teknologiens indflydelse på organisationsdesignet

Sørensen, H. B. — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 22:14:53 +0200

Organisational determinants and consequences of diagnostic discrepancy in two large patient groups in the emergency departments

Tipsmark, L. S., Obel, B., Andersson, T., Søgaard, R. — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 22:14:53 +0100

BACKGROUND: Diagnostic discrepancy (DD) is a common phenomenon in healthcare, but little is known about its organisational determinants and consequences. Thus, the aim of the study was to evaluate this among selected emergency department (ED) patients.

METHOD: We conducted an observational study including all consecutive ED patients (hip fracture or erysipelas) in the Danish healthcare sector admitted between 2008 and 2016. DD was defined as a discrepancy between discharge and admission diagnoses. Episode and department statistics were retrieved from Danish registers. We conducted a survey among all 21 Danish EDs to gather information about organisational determinants. To estimate the results while adjusting for episode- and department-level heterogeneity, we used mixed effect models of ED organisational determinants and 30-day readmission, 30-day mortality and episode costs (2018-DKK) of DDs.

RESULTS: DD was observed in 2308 (3.3%) of 69,928 hip fracture episodes and 3206 (8.5%) of 37,558 erysipelas episodes. The main organisational determinant of DD was senior physicians (nonspecific medical specialty) being employed at the ED (hip fracture: odds ratio (OR) 2.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.15-3.51; erysipelas: OR 3.29, 95% CI 2.65-4.07). However, 24-h presence of senior physicians (nonspecific medical specialty) (hip fracture) and availability of external senior physicians (specific medical specialty) (both groups) were negatively associated with DD. DD was associated with increased 30-day readmission (hip fracture, mean 9.45% vs 13.76%, OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.28-1.66, p < 0.001) and episode costs (hip fracture, 61,681 DKK vs 109,860 DKK, log cost 0.58, 95% CI 0.53-0.63, p < 0.001; erysipelas, mean 20,818 DKK vs 56,329 DKK, log cost 0.97, 95% CI 0.92-1.02, p < 0.001) compared with episodes without DD.

CONCLUSION: DD was found to have a negative impact on two out of three study outcomes, and particular organisational characteristics seem to be associated with DD. Yet, the complexity of organisations and settings warrant further studies into these associations.

Using action research and organization design to plan in-home hospital treatment

Duvald, I. — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 22:14:53 +0100

Health-care systems currently face great challenges, including an increasing elderly population. To respond to this problem, a hospital emergency department, three municipalities, and self-employed general practitioners in Denmark decided to collaborate with the aim of reorganizing treatment of elderly acute ill patients. By establishing a small-scale collaborative community and through an action research process, we show, how to jointly explore and develop a new organization design for in-home hospital treatment that enables the health professionals to collaborate in new ways, and at the same time to investigate and improve this cocreation process and codesign of knowledge among multiple different stakeholders.

Når metoder spiller hinanden gode

Duvald, I. — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 22:14:53 +0100

Temaredaktørens forord: Organisationsdesign - et studie af informationsstrømme og omgivelser

Håkonsson, D. D. — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 22:14:53 +0200

Ude af øje, ude af sind

Håkonsson, D. D., Larsen, E. R. — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 22:14:53 +0200

Organisationsdesigns betydning for kvaliteten af patientbehandling

Duvald, I., Konzag, H., Obel, B. — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 22:14:53 +0100

Med udgangspunkt i de danske akutafdelinger belyses, hvordan organisationers design har betydning for organisationens målopfyldelse, herunder den kvalitet, organisationen leverer. Grundet få og ikke specifikke nationale retningslinjer er akutafdelingerne organiseret meget forskelligt. Nogle afdelinger ændrer også organisering i løbet af døgnet og ugen. Vi belyser, hvordan disse organisationsforskelle har betydning for kvaliteten af patientbehandlingen og risikoen for at dø efter en indlæggelse. Dødelighed er en hyppig anvendt parameter for kvalitet af patientbehandling. En patients risiko for at dø efter en indlæggelse bestemmes ud fra kliniske parametre. Risikoen er ligeledes afhængig af den behandlingskvalitet, hospitalet kan levere. Hospitalets ressourcer, organisering af ressourcerne, samt kommunikation og beslutningsprocesser spiller en væsentlig rolle. Vi giver i artiklen et overblik over de organisationsdesignelementer, der er væsentlige: den grundlæggende organisering, brug af IT-systemer og organisering på forskellige tidspunkter, herunder natte- og weekendskift. Vi præsenterer ligeledes et værktøj, der kan vurdere organisationsdesignet – et værktøj, alle kan anvende.

Omstillingsparadokset:

Jensen, J. D., Elbæk, C. T., Anand, R. — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 22:14:53 +0100

Covid19 has economic effects on Danish firms. Using survey data collected from 237 Danish SMEs during Covid19, our study provides pre liminary evidence that those firms using more freelancers are those that perceive the largest amount of uncertainty and coordination prob lems, following an exogenous shock such as the pandemic. We argue that this can be explained by the fact that freelancers cannot rely on tacit coor dination to the same extent as regular workers. Tacit coordination mechanisms, however, are often useful for coordinating when it becomes harder to specify how tasks should be done. Thus, firms using more freelancers before the shock might perceive greater impact and more coordination problems, due to freelancers’ need for clearly specified tasks. We conclude with sug gestions to how firms can manage the tradeoff between using freelancers and benefitting from robust coordination mechanisms.

Organizational Design

Burton, R., Obel, B., Håkonsson, D. D. — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 22:14:53 +0200

Ant colonies

Moffett, M., Garnier, S., Eisenhardt, K. ., et al. — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 22:14:53 +0100

Thus far the articles in the series JOD calls the “Organization Zoo” have employed the notion of a “zoo” metaphorically to
describe an array of human institutions. Here we take the term literally to consider the design of the most complex organizations
in the living world beside those of humans, a favorite of insect zoos around the world: ant colonies. We consider
individuality and group identity in the functioning of ant organizations; advantages of a flat organization without hierarchies
or leaders; self-organization; direct and indirect communication; job specialization; labor coordination; and the role of errors
in innovation. The likely value and limitations of comparing ant and human organizations are briefly examined.

Managing organizational redesign how organizations relate macro and micro design

Livijn, M. — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 22:14:53 +0100

Smart Home

Kavin, L. D., Obel, B., Carugati, A., Hubert, M., Kallehave, P. — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 22:14:53 +0100

Academic leadership

Eskildsen, J. K., Obel, B. — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 22:14:53 +0100

New trends in organization design

Burton, R. M., Håkonsson, D. D., Larsen, E. R., Obel, B. — Fri, 01 May 2020 22:14:53 +0200

Consumption Network Effects

De Giorgi, G., Frederiksen, A., Pistaferri, L. — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 22:14:53 +0100

In this article we study consumption network effects. Does the consumption of our peers affect our own consumption? How large is such effect? What are the economic mechanisms behind it? We use administrative panel data on Danish households to construct a measure of consumption based on tax records on income and assets. We combine tax record data with matched employer-employee data to identify peer groups based on workplace, which gives us a much tighter and credible definition of networks than used in previous literature. We use the non-overlapping network structure of one's peers group, as well as firm-level shocks, to build valid instruments for peer consumption. We estimate non-negligible and statistically significant network effects, capable of generating sizable multiplier effect at the macro-level. We also investigate what mechanisms generate such effects, distinguishing between intertemporal and intratemporal consumption effects as well as a more traditional risk sharing view.

Exploring reasons for the weekend effect in a hospital emergency department

Duvald, I. — Tue, 01 Jan 2019 22:14:53 +0100

This study examines fits and misfits between information processing requirements and capacities in a hospital emergency department in order to identify possible explanations for the “weekend effect.” Previous research has shown that acute patients admitted to hospital emergency departments on a weekend experience, on average, worse outcomes than those admitted on a weekday. Why the weekend effect exists remains unclear. Based on an ethnographic field study conducted in an emergency department and by applying an information processing perspective, my findings indicate multiple changes in the organizational design that leads to substantial misfits which appears to be an explanation to why the quality of care provided by the emergency department differs on weekdays and weekends. The findings provide a new and more nuanced perspective on the causes of the weekend effect by investigating the setting in which patient care is delivered, and how it varies between weekdays and weekends.

Risk of death within 7 days of discharge from emergency departments with different organizational models

Møllekær, A., Kirkegaard, H., Vest Hansen, B., et al. — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 22:14:53 +0100

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the association between emergency department (ED) organizational models and the risk of death within 7 days of ED discharge.

Patients and methods: We included Danish ED discharges between 1 January 2011 and 24 December 2014 that led to death within 7 days of discharge. The inclusion criterion was age older than 18 years. The exclusion criterion was further in-hospital admission. First model (Virtual): other departments employ interns who perform ED tasks. They are responsible for ED patient care and prioritize their task order between their own department and the ED.

Second model (Hybrid): the ED/other departments perform tasks; interns/consultants are employed by the ED/other departments. The ED/other departments have patient care responsibility.

Third model (Independent): the ED performs all tasks; employs interns/consultants; and have patient care responsibility.

Sex, age, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, and primary diagnosis were used to describe patient characteristics. We calculated the risk of death within 7 days of discharge using multiple logistic regression analysis.

Results: In 805 out of 201 299 discharges included in the study, the patient died within 7 days. Compared with the Virtual model, the odds ratio for death within 7 days of discharge was 0.72 (95% confidence interval: 0.59–0.92) for the Independent model and 0.75 (95% confidence interval: 0.61–0.92) for the Hybrid+Virtual model. Increased risk was associated with male sex, older age, and a medium or a high Charlson Comorbidity Index score.

Conclusion: Compared with discharges from a Virtual model, the risk of death within 7 days of discharge was lower if the ED had an Independent or a Hybrid+Virtual model.

Remote Real-Time Ultrasound Supervision via Commercially Available and Low-Cost Tele-Ultrasound

Jensen, S. H., Duvald, I., Aagaard, R., et al. — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 22:14:53 +0200

Minor emergency departments (ED) struggle to access sufficient expertise to supervise learners of lung and cardiac point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). Using tele-ultrasound (tele-US) for remote supervision may remedy this situation. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of real-time supervision via tele-US when applied to an everyday ED clinic. We conducted a mixed methods study that assessed practical feasibility, determined performance, and explored users' acceptability of supervision via tele-US. Technical performance was assessed quantitatively by the ratio in mean gray value between images on site and as received by the supervisor, and by after-compression frame rate. Qualitatively, 12 exploratory semi-structured interviews were conducted with exposed junior doctors and supervisors. Remote supervision via tele-US was performed with 10 junior doctors scanning 45 included patients. During performance assessment, neither alternating internet connection nor software significantly changed the mean gray value ratio. The lowest median frame rate of 4.6 (interquartile range [IQR]: 3.1-5.0) was found by using a 4G internet connection; the highest of 28.5 (IQR: 28.5-29.0) was found with alternative computer and local area network internet connection. In interviews, supervisors stressed the importance of preserving frame rate, and junior doctors emphasized a need for shared ultrasound terminology. In the qualitative analysis, setup mobility, accessibility, and time consumption were emphasized as being of key importance for future clinical implementations. Remote supervision via a commercially available and low-cost tele-US setup is operational for both junior doctors and supervisors when applied to lung and cardiac POCUS scans of hospitalized patients.

The organization of Danish emergency departments

Moellekaer, A., Duvald, I., Obel, B., Madsen, B., Eskildsen, J., Kirkegaard, H. — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 22:14:53 +0200

INTRODUCTION: Twenty-one new Danish emergency departments (EDs) were established following a 2007 policy reform that included ED autonomy to self-organize. The aim of this study was to describe the organization of the 21 departments and their organizational challenges.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: We used a qualitative design based on COREQ guidelines. All 21 EDs participated, and 123 semi-structured interviews with hospital and ED leaders, physicians, nurses, and secretaries were performed between 2013 and 2015. We used the framework matrix method to investigate the ED goals, setting, structure, staff, task coordination, and incentive structure.

RESULTS: We identified three generic models (virtual, hybrid, and independent). All had goals of high quality of care and high efficiency. The virtual model was staffed by junior physicians and tasks were coordinated by other departments. The hybrid model was staffed by junior physicians and senior physicians according to other departments and the ED. The ED coordinated all activities. The independent model was staffed by junior physicians and senior physicians, and activities were coordinated by the ED. Of the EDs, 19 utilized different organizational models at different times during a 24-h period and on weekdays and weekends. The main challenge of the virtual and hybrid models was high dependency on other departments. The main challenge of the independent model was establishing a high level of quality of emergency medicine.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: We identified three organizational ED models (virtual, hybrid, and independent). Nineteen EDs used more than one organizational model depending on the time of day or day of the week.

Forming a Collaborative Community

Obel, B., Håkonsson, D. D., Snow, C., Bach, L. — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 22:14:53 +0100

A collaborative community is an organizational form that is increasingly being used in knowledge-intensive industries to accelerate innovation via collaboration. This study examines key design issues faced by a bilateral broker collaborative community at the point of its formation: (1) whether a critical mass of members is required for community survival, (2) the nature of the match between member skills and community challenges, and (3) how the mix of member skills needs to be adjusted over time to sustain community growth. Findings from our agent-based simulation study indicate that, contrary to suggestions in the literature, a critical mass of members is not necessary for a bilateral broker community to survive early on. The literature also suggests that there should be a match between the skill levels of community members and the skill requirements of the challenges that the community must solve in order for it to grow. We find that a match between skill levels and challenge requirements is necessary but not sufficient: the skill levels of community members must significantly exceed the skill requirements of the challenges. Lastly, we find that the appropriate amount of heterogeneity in member skills is contingent on several factors associated with how the community adapts over time. Implications of these findings for the theory and practice of organization design are discussed.

The intellectual structure of research in ISO 9000 standard series (1987–2015): a Bibliometric analysis

Hussain, T., Eskildsen, J. K., Edgeman, R. — Sat, 01 Aug 2020 22:14:53 +0200

Since its inception in 1987, the ISO 9000 standards series has received remarkable appreciation as a quality management system as well as a prolific field of research. The substantial amount of ISO standards scholarly research has contributed over the years to the accumulation of sound scientific knowledge. This article aims to develop a better view of ISO 9000 standards, as a field of research, by investigating the intellectual structures of summative knowledge, underlying dynamics, temporal progression, current development, and future evolution of research dimension. The Elsevier Scopus Bibliometric database searched for journal articles largely focused on ISO 9000 series, published during 1987–2015 period. The synchronised use of Bibliographic Coupling Technique and Factor Analysis yields eight prominent research streams. The study suggests that within the domain of ISO 9000 standards, some issues have been more frequently researched, such as organisational motives behind seeking ISO 9000 certification, perceived operational, marketing, business outcomes, and cultural transformation essential for successful adaption of ISO 9000 standards. Secondly, research is still inconclusive about some other well-researched issues: comprehended performance outcomes, challenges in acquiring, registering, and maintaining certification, lessons learned, and effectiveness of certification, internal and external challenges, and the trade-off between cost and benefits.

Adverse events and registration practice in an emergency department

Pedersen, I. D. — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 22:14:53 +0200

Challenges in the collaboration with other departments, weekdays and weekends

Pedersen, I. D. — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 22:14:53 +0200

Solving shortage with a temporary ‘emergency’ physician – challenges and advantages

Pedersen, I. D. — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 22:14:53 +0200

Virtuous Cycles

Edgeman, R., Hammond, S., Keller, C., McGraw, J. — Sat, 01 Aug 2020 22:14:53 +0200

We live in a changed world. In times past many resources could be found in abundance: intellectual, financial, social and natural capital domains alike. Population growth was generally slow and total human population was well below the carrying capacity of the planet. In such times, enterprise consideration for social and environmental performance was generally quite low and the upper boundaries of those considerations were generally by legal or other external means, rather by an internal conscience. Times have changed, with positive and negative elements of change. Many of the social, environmental, and enterprise challenges that enterprises and we as individuals are confronted by are far too large, with consequences far too extreme to be approached without help. Rapid, highly-innovative, and highly-productive collaboration is needed. A key pre-condition for such collaboration is trust, with higher trust levels leading to higher levels of cyclical virtuous or positive reciprocal behaviour. Explored are the relationships among trust, reciprocal behaviour, leadership, and collaboration with respect to innovation and enterprise excellence.

The Science of Organizational Design: fit between structure and coordination

Burton, R. M., Obel, B. — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 22:14:53 +0100

Organization design is a major factor determining an organization’s performance and how the people work together in these organizations. In the paper, we argue that designing organizations should be scientific-based and forward-looking. This raises challenges in designing organizations in contexts and situations that are new and have not been seen before. Experimentation of what is and what might be is the basis for exploring and examining what makes a good science for organizational design. Experimentation permits us to examine what might be for organization designs, which are not well understood or may not exist yet. Collaborative communities, new ventures, agile organizations, and temporary organizations are examples; experimentation permits us explore and examine what is and what might be and to examine the organizational design problem and perform experiments to understand the relationship between structure and coordination mechanisms of information, communications, decisions, trust, and incentives—the basis for the multi-contingency theory of organizational design. An organizational design must specify the fit between the structure of division of tasks in the organization with its coordination, or how to make these tasks work in concert. These tasks can be interdependent and uncertain. To design good organizations, we need empirical evidence about what is and exploration about what might be; we need a good theoretical basis for being able to generalize our knowledge. To illustrate our point, we examine two experiments on the classic M-form hypothesis—a computer simulation that examines coordination, organization structure, and interdependency and a laboratory experiment that examines the effect of incentives on opportunism and performance. Together, we find that the M-form is a robust organizational design, but with contingent conditions. Finally, we discuss how observation and experimentation together is the foundation for the development of scientific-based theory of organizational design.

Building a Collaborative Community: An Agent Based Simulation Study

Håkonsson, D. D., A. Bach, L., Snow, C., Obel, B. — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 22:14:53 +0100

In the middle of change

Holten, A., Hancock, G. R., Bøllingtoft, A. — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 22:14:53 +0100

Implementing a performance management system - an exploratory study of middle managers’ change leadership behavior and their employees’ perception hereof

Bøllingtoft, A., Holten, A. — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 22:14:53 +0100

The collaboration between the emergency department and the other departments at the hospital as a possible explanation of the weekend effect in an emergency department

Pedersen, I. D. — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 22:14:53 +0100

Adverse events in an emergency department weekdays and weekends

Pedersen, I. D., Graumann, O. — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 22:14:53 +0100

A within-country study of leadership perceptions and outcomes across native and immigrant employees

Holten, A., Bøllingtoft, A., Carneiro, I. ., Borg, V. — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 22:14:53 +0100

This study investigates the universality of transformational leadership with respect to employee perceptions and three outcomes: job satisfaction, self-rated health, and well-being. We do so among employees of different national and cultural backgrounds, yet within a shared national and sectorial setting. Our study has a repeated measures design based on survey data from 2,947 employees (2,836 natives Danes and 111 immigrants) in the Danish elder care sector. While we find no difference between native Danes and immigrants in their perception of transformational leadership, we find that transformational leadership is not a universal predictor of outcomes. Although transformational leadership predicts change in none of the outcomes for immigrants, it does predict change in job satisfaction and well-being for native Danes. Based on our findings, we suggest applying a combination of universalistic and contingency paradigms when leading composite employee groups.

Lex Donaldson, Colleague

Obel, B., Snow, C. — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 22:14:53 +0100

GitHub: Exploring the Space Between Boss-Less and Hierarchical Forms of Organizing

Tue, 07 Nov 2017 22:14:53 +0100

In this edition of the organizational zoo series, we take a closer look at an interesting organization design case—GitHub, a software company from California. Similar to Valve, the subject of the previous article in the series (Puranam and Håkonsson, J Organ Design 4: 2–4, 2015) GitHub is used to delegate the choice of projects and project allocation to its workers, fitting the recent trend in running organizations without bosses. The interesting fact about GitHub is that after years of praising its own unorthodox organizational structure, the company suddenly decided to abandon it for something much more traditional. We asked several renowned organization scientists to share their thoughts on this interesting case and discuss what we can learn from it.

Beyond Synchrony

Wallot, S., Mitkidis, P., McGraw, J. J., Roepstorff, A. — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 22:14:53 +0100

A variety of joint action studies show that people tend to fall into synchronous behavior with others participating in the same task, and that such synchronization is beneficial, leading to greater rapport, satisfaction, and performance. It has been noted that many of these task environments require simple interactions that involve little planning of action coordination toward a shared goal. The present study utilized a complex joint construction task in which dyads were instructed to build model cars while their hand movements and heart rates were measured. Participants built these models under varying conditions, delimiting how freely they could divide labor during a build session. While hand movement synchrony was sensitive to the different tasks and outcomes, the heart rate measure did not show any effects of interpersonal synchrony. Results for hand movements show that the more participants were constrained by a particular building strategy, the greater their behavioral synchrony. Within the different conditions, the degree of synchrony was predictive of subjective satisfaction and objective product outcomes. However, in contrast to many previous findings, synchrony was negatively associated with superior products, and, depending on the constraints on the interaction, positively or negatively correlated with higher subjective satisfaction. These results show that the task context critically shapes the role of synchronization during joint action, and that in more complex tasks, not synchronization of behavior, but rather complementary types of behavior may be associated with superior task outcomes.

Subjective Performance Evaluations and Employee Careers

Frederiksen, A., Lange, F., Kriechel, B. — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 22:14:53 +0100

Employees who work in complex environments are often evaluated by their supervisors. Data on these evaluations promise to be valuable for analyzing career dynamics and human resources practices. However, existing literature on subjective evaluations is based on data from individual firms. Furthermore, how supervisors evaluate workers and how firms use these evaluations might vary substantially with context, precisely because these evaluations are subjective. Thus, little is known regarding whether findings from single-firm studies generalize to broader settings. We examine personnel data from six large companies and establish how subjective performance ratings correlate with objective career outcomes. We find many similarities across firms in how these ratings correlate with base pay, bonuses, promotions, demotions, separations, quits, and dismissals and cautiously propose these as empirical regularities.

Job satisfaction and employee turnover

Frederiksen, A. — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 22:14:53 +0100

In this article I study how companies can use their personnel data and information from job satisfaction surveys to predict employee quits. An important issue discussed at length in the article is how employers can ensure the anonymity of employees in surveys used for management and human resources (HR) analytics. I argue that a simple mechanism whereby the company delegates the implementation of job satisfaction surveys to an external consulting company can be optimal. In the subsequent empirical analysis, I use a unique combination of firm-level data (personnel records) and information from job satisfaction surveys to assess the benefits for companies using data in their decision-making. Moreover, I aim to show how companies can move from a descriptive to a predictive approach.

Does the Dynamics of Fast Change Require New Organizational Forms?

Burton , R., Galbraith , J., Håkonsson, D. D., Ulhøj, J. P., Volberda, H. . — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:14:53 +0100

Dare We Ask More Questions About Employee Motivation

Jørgensen, F., Parm Ulhøi, J., Håkonsson, D. D., Jeppesen, H. J. — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:14:53 +0100

Specific Performance in Danish Contract Law