This article and the related Feature Topic at Organizational Research Methods were motivated by t... more This article and the related Feature Topic at Organizational Research Methods were motivated by the concern that despite the bourgeoning number and diversity of review articles, there was a lack of guidance on how to produce rigorous and impactful literature reviews. In this article, we introduce review research as a class of research inquiries that uses prior research as data sources to develop knowledge contributions for academia, practice and policy. We first trace the evolution of review research both outside of and within management including the articles published in this Feature Topic, and provide a holistic definition of review research. Then, we argue that in the plurality of forms of review research, the alignment of purpose and methods is crucial for high-quality review research. To accomplish this, we discuss several review purposes and criteria for assessing review research's rigor and impact, and discuss how these and the review methods need to be aligned with its ...
Corruption recovery is a critical but understudied organizational change. We gained unique access... more Corruption recovery is a critical but understudied organizational change. We gained unique access to a company that experienced multiple corruption incidents in the months prior to our survey rollout that garnered 2,300+ respondents (71%) across 19 business units. We explored how employee perceptions of leaders’ enactment of a core set of values and of CEO and business unit leaders’ ethical leadership were associated with organizational commitment as these leaders implemented change following corruption. Results indicated that ethical leadership and values enactment were associated with increased organizational commitment. Group-level membership in units implicated in corruption was associated with reduced commitment while membership in business units with increased customer contact was associated with increased commitment. Shared employee perspectives of the ethical leadership of business unit leaders, but not the CEO, were also associated with higher commitment. We also discuss fu...
We used survey and archival data to explore relationships between participation in organizational... more We used survey and archival data to explore relationships between participation in organizational change, complexity of criteria for assessing change, and ratings of its effectiveness. Participatio...
Despite the ubiquity as well as criticality of the management function, the theoretical reconcili... more Despite the ubiquity as well as criticality of the management function, the theoretical reconciliation of core management ideas and their broad-based central insights has long proved elusive. Manag...
Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2017
We review the recent development of evidence-based management (EBMgt), tracing its origins to lon... more We review the recent development of evidence-based management (EBMgt), tracing its origins to longstanding gaps between research and practice, discrepant findings across studies, and the emergence of evidence-based medicine (EBMed). We provide a definition of EBMgt and review four foundational articles advocating its use. We then review categories of articles that comprise the EBMgt canon: advocacy articles, essays or perspectives, teaching-related, empirical, reviews, and critiques and responses. Critiques include political, epistemological, and methodological issues directly pertinent to EBMgt as well as broader concerns about the scholarly research base on which EBMgt depends. Our suggestions for future research emphasize, first and foremost, increasing the production of high-quality empirical studies in EBMgt. Topics of particular interest include research co-creation by academics and practitioners, process and outcome studies of EBMgt implementations, and practitioners’ use of ...
The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 2002
Research on identity in organizations takes endurance overtime as a taken‐for‐granted expectation... more Research on identity in organizations takes endurance overtime as a taken‐for‐granted expectation, but then often explores how identity changes. Conversely, research on memory in organizations takes change as a taken‐for‐granted expectation and then explores how particular memories might be maintained by purposeful action. We used both of these literatures as a basis for exploring what happened to two aspects of an organizational group's identity over the course of its first seven years. One aspect of identity centered on the group's mission and the other on the group's internal processes. Based on analysis of the processes involved in the evolution of the group's identity, we suggest several factors that foster stability in identity and several factors that foster change in identity. From the identification of these factors, and based on Lewin's Field Theory approach, we suggest a more complex depiction of what identity stability or change might mean overtime.
Our longitudinal study of the sensemaking and responses to strategic change of the senior managem... more Our longitudinal study of the sensemaking and responses to strategic change of the senior management team of a UK multinational subsidiary provides unusual data that enable us to explore the complexity of senior team change related sensemaking. We show senior teams to be distinct interpretive communities rather than one homogeneous category of change agents, as typically portrayed in change literature, who at times of center-led strategic change occupy a complex dual recipient/change agent role. By adopting a narrative approach, we show the shared sensemaking of such a team to be impacted by the locally differentiated nature of its interpretive and relational contexts, leading to context specific interpretations of center-led change and locally distinct responses, with consequences for change outcomes. We found that because of their dual role, senior managers construct two sets of interwoven and interacting change narratives which mediate the relationship between the wider organizat...
This article uses a joint insider-outsider research approach to understand the cognitive dynamics... more This article uses a joint insider-outsider research approach to understand the cognitive dynamics associated with implementation of a new empowerment schema. The schema was experientially developed by the founders of a group of teachers in a network of schools. An outside researcher and the two founders (the insiders) collaborated in a study of the dynamics associated with the implementation of the schema, focusing on the founders' implicit expectations regarding implementation and the cognitive processes involved in the teachers' reception of the schema. These expectations and cognitive processes were uncovered through analysis of dilemmas experienced when the founders implemented the schema at a faculty institute. On the basis of these dilemmas, the article suggests that certain cognitive processes are likely to be evoked in a group or organization when a new schema is introduced and that conflicts are likely to arise because of these cognitive processes.
This article discusses how recent developments in the cognitive sciences, especialy the concept o... more This article discusses how recent developments in the cognitive sciences, especialy the concept of schemata (organizing frameworks for understanding events), can illumine the practice of organization development. On the basis of a cognitive perspective, the authors discuss the relationship between organizational change and schemata, describing the following orders of change that might result from OD: first-order change, or incremental changes occurring within particular schemata already shared by members of a client system, second-order change, or modifications in the shared schemata themselves; and third-order change, or the development of the capacity of the client system to change the schemata as events require. To show how understanding the differences among orders of change can help clarify problems and solutions from an intervention, the authors discuss how a paternalism schema affected a particular quality of working life intervention. They conclude by suggesting implications...
This study focuses on the interpretations and experiences of change recipients, those who carry o... more This study focuses on the interpretations and experiences of change recipients, those who carry out organizational interventions initiated by others. Based on the ways nurses experienced a shared governance initiative implemented in their hospital, the authors investigated change recipients’ sensemaking about organizational change through their ascribed meanings, emotional responses, and perceptions of its impacts on them. Survey data demonstrated how nurses subjectively assessed their gains and losses from the change initiative. Participation in the initiative increased the experience of gains, as did membership in a unit where change was implemented more fully. Textual analysis of open-ended responses to the survey indicated that gains were linked with interpretations of the change initiative and pleasant feelings and that there was considerable emotional contagion within work units. Such effects are particularly likely in employee empowerment initiatives as experiences are linked...
In this article, the authors describe characteristics of design science as a type of organization... more In this article, the authors describe characteristics of design science as a type of organization development (OD) intervention and as an approach to actionable theorizing. The authors discuss ways that design science approaches are typically but not necessarily consistent with OD’s values as well as the types of intervention motors they typically use. That is, they often reflect humanistic values, but they need not necessarily do so. Design science typically uses action research and participation intervention motors but does not include as much self-reflection as is the case in much OD work. Design approaches focus much more on action than do most current OD interventions; thus they add an important dimension to OD practice. In addition, they suggest ways of linking this focus on action with hypothesis testing and theorizing more than do most current OD interventions. Thus, they offer the possibility of revitalizing OD.
This study investigated the relationship between client influence, public accountant (partner and... more This study investigated the relationship between client influence, public accountant (partner and manager) role stress, and various work-related outcomes. Client influence increased partners' role conflict and overload. It also increased managers' role overload, but decreased their role conflict and ambiguity. Both role ambiguity and overload (but not conflict) were associated with job related anxiety, propensity to leave the organization, and
Third‐order change in organizations refers to attempts to help organizational members to transcen... more Third‐order change in organizations refers to attempts to help organizational members to transcend their shared schemata. It has not previously been explored in depth. Uses mystical experience as a model of how the third‐order change process may occur. Discusses several characteristics of mystical experience, focusing in particular on the central characteristic of transconceptual understanding. Presents an example of Teresa of Avila, a Spanish woman from the sixteenth century whose mystical life was reflected in her organizing activities. Suggests how mystical experience can inform understanding of the third‐order organizational change process and presents a preliminary model of ways in which the third‐order change capacity might be developed.
ABSTRACTThis article explores a behavioural counterpart to the changes in interpretive schemes th... more ABSTRACTThis article explores a behavioural counterpart to the changes in interpretive schemes that characterize organizational transformation. It investigates the experiences of organizational members (especially lower level members) who introduce new perspectives through the work they carry out during transformation. Results of a multi‐year study in a religious order undergoing transformation indicated that members engaged in work that enacted a new perspective were less likely than other members to be appointed to organizational committees and more likely to leave the order. Members involved in work enacting a new perspective who remained in the order came to perceive themselves as less important to leaders but more influential in the order than other members did.
In this article, the authors trace how meanings of the construct empowerment evolved between 1966... more In this article, the authors trace how meanings of the construct empowerment evolved between 1966 and 2000 across six disciplines: religion, psychology, sociology, education, social work, and management. Meanings of empowerment expanded considerably during this time period, as the construct waxed, waned, and then waxed again in popularity. Empowerment was introduced in religion in the 1960s and expanded by sociology in the early 1970s, and in these disciplines it focused primarily on sharing real power. As empowerment was introduced into education, psychology and social work in the next several years, it added a focus on fostering human welfare. Its introduction in management led to a new emphasis on fostering productivity, something very different from the original use of the term. The authors’ findings have important implications for the understanding of the evolution of constructs and issues associated with their meanings in management scholarship.
The authors propose that research teams in which one or more members are relative insiders to a s... more The authors propose that research teams in which one or more members are relative insiders to a setting and one or more members are relative outsiders offer distinct advantages for integrating diverse perspectives on organizational activities. The approach taken builds on insights about insider/outsider collaboration presented by Evered and Louis (1981). This article develops a rationale for using insider/outsider teams, indicates their advantages and disadvantages, and contrasts this mode of inquiry with other forms of collaborative research. An example of the processes and products of such collaboration helps illustrate the issues associated with the implementation of insider/outsider research.
This article and the related Feature Topic at Organizational Research Methods were motivated by t... more This article and the related Feature Topic at Organizational Research Methods were motivated by the concern that despite the bourgeoning number and diversity of review articles, there was a lack of guidance on how to produce rigorous and impactful literature reviews. In this article, we introduce review research as a class of research inquiries that uses prior research as data sources to develop knowledge contributions for academia, practice and policy. We first trace the evolution of review research both outside of and within management including the articles published in this Feature Topic, and provide a holistic definition of review research. Then, we argue that in the plurality of forms of review research, the alignment of purpose and methods is crucial for high-quality review research. To accomplish this, we discuss several review purposes and criteria for assessing review research's rigor and impact, and discuss how these and the review methods need to be aligned with its ...
Corruption recovery is a critical but understudied organizational change. We gained unique access... more Corruption recovery is a critical but understudied organizational change. We gained unique access to a company that experienced multiple corruption incidents in the months prior to our survey rollout that garnered 2,300+ respondents (71%) across 19 business units. We explored how employee perceptions of leaders’ enactment of a core set of values and of CEO and business unit leaders’ ethical leadership were associated with organizational commitment as these leaders implemented change following corruption. Results indicated that ethical leadership and values enactment were associated with increased organizational commitment. Group-level membership in units implicated in corruption was associated with reduced commitment while membership in business units with increased customer contact was associated with increased commitment. Shared employee perspectives of the ethical leadership of business unit leaders, but not the CEO, were also associated with higher commitment. We also discuss fu...
We used survey and archival data to explore relationships between participation in organizational... more We used survey and archival data to explore relationships between participation in organizational change, complexity of criteria for assessing change, and ratings of its effectiveness. Participatio...
Despite the ubiquity as well as criticality of the management function, the theoretical reconcili... more Despite the ubiquity as well as criticality of the management function, the theoretical reconciliation of core management ideas and their broad-based central insights has long proved elusive. Manag...
Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2017
We review the recent development of evidence-based management (EBMgt), tracing its origins to lon... more We review the recent development of evidence-based management (EBMgt), tracing its origins to longstanding gaps between research and practice, discrepant findings across studies, and the emergence of evidence-based medicine (EBMed). We provide a definition of EBMgt and review four foundational articles advocating its use. We then review categories of articles that comprise the EBMgt canon: advocacy articles, essays or perspectives, teaching-related, empirical, reviews, and critiques and responses. Critiques include political, epistemological, and methodological issues directly pertinent to EBMgt as well as broader concerns about the scholarly research base on which EBMgt depends. Our suggestions for future research emphasize, first and foremost, increasing the production of high-quality empirical studies in EBMgt. Topics of particular interest include research co-creation by academics and practitioners, process and outcome studies of EBMgt implementations, and practitioners’ use of ...
The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 2002
Research on identity in organizations takes endurance overtime as a taken‐for‐granted expectation... more Research on identity in organizations takes endurance overtime as a taken‐for‐granted expectation, but then often explores how identity changes. Conversely, research on memory in organizations takes change as a taken‐for‐granted expectation and then explores how particular memories might be maintained by purposeful action. We used both of these literatures as a basis for exploring what happened to two aspects of an organizational group's identity over the course of its first seven years. One aspect of identity centered on the group's mission and the other on the group's internal processes. Based on analysis of the processes involved in the evolution of the group's identity, we suggest several factors that foster stability in identity and several factors that foster change in identity. From the identification of these factors, and based on Lewin's Field Theory approach, we suggest a more complex depiction of what identity stability or change might mean overtime.
Our longitudinal study of the sensemaking and responses to strategic change of the senior managem... more Our longitudinal study of the sensemaking and responses to strategic change of the senior management team of a UK multinational subsidiary provides unusual data that enable us to explore the complexity of senior team change related sensemaking. We show senior teams to be distinct interpretive communities rather than one homogeneous category of change agents, as typically portrayed in change literature, who at times of center-led strategic change occupy a complex dual recipient/change agent role. By adopting a narrative approach, we show the shared sensemaking of such a team to be impacted by the locally differentiated nature of its interpretive and relational contexts, leading to context specific interpretations of center-led change and locally distinct responses, with consequences for change outcomes. We found that because of their dual role, senior managers construct two sets of interwoven and interacting change narratives which mediate the relationship between the wider organizat...
This article uses a joint insider-outsider research approach to understand the cognitive dynamics... more This article uses a joint insider-outsider research approach to understand the cognitive dynamics associated with implementation of a new empowerment schema. The schema was experientially developed by the founders of a group of teachers in a network of schools. An outside researcher and the two founders (the insiders) collaborated in a study of the dynamics associated with the implementation of the schema, focusing on the founders' implicit expectations regarding implementation and the cognitive processes involved in the teachers' reception of the schema. These expectations and cognitive processes were uncovered through analysis of dilemmas experienced when the founders implemented the schema at a faculty institute. On the basis of these dilemmas, the article suggests that certain cognitive processes are likely to be evoked in a group or organization when a new schema is introduced and that conflicts are likely to arise because of these cognitive processes.
This article discusses how recent developments in the cognitive sciences, especialy the concept o... more This article discusses how recent developments in the cognitive sciences, especialy the concept of schemata (organizing frameworks for understanding events), can illumine the practice of organization development. On the basis of a cognitive perspective, the authors discuss the relationship between organizational change and schemata, describing the following orders of change that might result from OD: first-order change, or incremental changes occurring within particular schemata already shared by members of a client system, second-order change, or modifications in the shared schemata themselves; and third-order change, or the development of the capacity of the client system to change the schemata as events require. To show how understanding the differences among orders of change can help clarify problems and solutions from an intervention, the authors discuss how a paternalism schema affected a particular quality of working life intervention. They conclude by suggesting implications...
This study focuses on the interpretations and experiences of change recipients, those who carry o... more This study focuses on the interpretations and experiences of change recipients, those who carry out organizational interventions initiated by others. Based on the ways nurses experienced a shared governance initiative implemented in their hospital, the authors investigated change recipients’ sensemaking about organizational change through their ascribed meanings, emotional responses, and perceptions of its impacts on them. Survey data demonstrated how nurses subjectively assessed their gains and losses from the change initiative. Participation in the initiative increased the experience of gains, as did membership in a unit where change was implemented more fully. Textual analysis of open-ended responses to the survey indicated that gains were linked with interpretations of the change initiative and pleasant feelings and that there was considerable emotional contagion within work units. Such effects are particularly likely in employee empowerment initiatives as experiences are linked...
In this article, the authors describe characteristics of design science as a type of organization... more In this article, the authors describe characteristics of design science as a type of organization development (OD) intervention and as an approach to actionable theorizing. The authors discuss ways that design science approaches are typically but not necessarily consistent with OD’s values as well as the types of intervention motors they typically use. That is, they often reflect humanistic values, but they need not necessarily do so. Design science typically uses action research and participation intervention motors but does not include as much self-reflection as is the case in much OD work. Design approaches focus much more on action than do most current OD interventions; thus they add an important dimension to OD practice. In addition, they suggest ways of linking this focus on action with hypothesis testing and theorizing more than do most current OD interventions. Thus, they offer the possibility of revitalizing OD.
This study investigated the relationship between client influence, public accountant (partner and... more This study investigated the relationship between client influence, public accountant (partner and manager) role stress, and various work-related outcomes. Client influence increased partners' role conflict and overload. It also increased managers' role overload, but decreased their role conflict and ambiguity. Both role ambiguity and overload (but not conflict) were associated with job related anxiety, propensity to leave the organization, and
Third‐order change in organizations refers to attempts to help organizational members to transcen... more Third‐order change in organizations refers to attempts to help organizational members to transcend their shared schemata. It has not previously been explored in depth. Uses mystical experience as a model of how the third‐order change process may occur. Discusses several characteristics of mystical experience, focusing in particular on the central characteristic of transconceptual understanding. Presents an example of Teresa of Avila, a Spanish woman from the sixteenth century whose mystical life was reflected in her organizing activities. Suggests how mystical experience can inform understanding of the third‐order organizational change process and presents a preliminary model of ways in which the third‐order change capacity might be developed.
ABSTRACTThis article explores a behavioural counterpart to the changes in interpretive schemes th... more ABSTRACTThis article explores a behavioural counterpart to the changes in interpretive schemes that characterize organizational transformation. It investigates the experiences of organizational members (especially lower level members) who introduce new perspectives through the work they carry out during transformation. Results of a multi‐year study in a religious order undergoing transformation indicated that members engaged in work that enacted a new perspective were less likely than other members to be appointed to organizational committees and more likely to leave the order. Members involved in work enacting a new perspective who remained in the order came to perceive themselves as less important to leaders but more influential in the order than other members did.
In this article, the authors trace how meanings of the construct empowerment evolved between 1966... more In this article, the authors trace how meanings of the construct empowerment evolved between 1966 and 2000 across six disciplines: religion, psychology, sociology, education, social work, and management. Meanings of empowerment expanded considerably during this time period, as the construct waxed, waned, and then waxed again in popularity. Empowerment was introduced in religion in the 1960s and expanded by sociology in the early 1970s, and in these disciplines it focused primarily on sharing real power. As empowerment was introduced into education, psychology and social work in the next several years, it added a focus on fostering human welfare. Its introduction in management led to a new emphasis on fostering productivity, something very different from the original use of the term. The authors’ findings have important implications for the understanding of the evolution of constructs and issues associated with their meanings in management scholarship.
The authors propose that research teams in which one or more members are relative insiders to a s... more The authors propose that research teams in which one or more members are relative insiders to a setting and one or more members are relative outsiders offer distinct advantages for integrating diverse perspectives on organizational activities. The approach taken builds on insights about insider/outsider collaboration presented by Evered and Louis (1981). This article develops a rationale for using insider/outsider teams, indicates their advantages and disadvantages, and contrasts this mode of inquiry with other forms of collaborative research. An example of the processes and products of such collaboration helps illustrate the issues associated with the implementation of insider/outsider research.
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Papers by Jean Bartunek