T his research helps to link theories of sticky information with organizational design and governance. It suggests that information embodied in process material can allow downstream tasks to uncover information about upstream tasks. It shows that downstream operators can use this information to negotiate interdependence problems with upstream operators. Data presented in this article begin to uncover when such information retrieval and exchange occurs, and how managers can encourage it. Finally, the article discusses implications for theories of operational design and governance.

doi 10.1287/orsc.1080.0387

Cross-national variation in institutional environments adds uncertainty to foreign operations, which in turn affects international strategy decisions such as when to enter a market, the entry mode used if entering, and the performance of foreign entries. Although all firms are exposed to the influence of a host country's institutional environment, firms exhibit differential responses to this influence based on resident capabilities. Managers in a multinational firm must therefore work to align their strategies with both the hazards and opportunities they face in a given institutional environment, as well as with the firm-specific knowledge and capabilities at their disposal. Rather than taking institutions as an immutable constraint when making decisions, a firm can cultivate and exploit its ability to successfully manage diverse institutional hazards in its host country environments.

This article introduces the Special Issue and discusses the microfoundations of routines and capabilities, including why a microfoundations view is needed and how it may inform work on organizational and competitive heterogeneity. Building on extant research, we identify three primary categories of micro-level components underlying routines and capabilities: individuals, social processes, and structure. We discuss how these components, and their interactions, may affect routines and capabilities. In doing so, we outline a research agenda for advancing the field’s understanding of the microfoundations of routines and capabilities.

Many electronic networks, such as forums, provide interaction spaces where participants collaborate on complex issues over extended periods of time. However, while inter- and intra-organizational collaboration has been widely studied, collaboration practices in electronic networks need further investigation. Extant research on electronic networks has mainly emphasized availability of expertise, by focusing on factors such as individual resources and participant diversity. We call for a closer examination of the collaboration practices that allow such expertise to be leveraged for successful outcomes. We argue that an examination of collaboration practices in different technology-enabled contexts is essential to the study of knowledge work, which increasingly occurs in electronic networks. Therefore, in this paper, we provide a starting point by investigating the structure of collaboration that enables one group to engage in “deep discussion ” and sense-making, develop perspectives, and create knowledge. Specifically, in the context of discussion threads, which are the locus of collaboration in many electronic networks, we explore the structure of interaction that leads to effective collaboration. We propose that two dimensions—initiating dialogue and sustaining dialogue—predict the effectiveness of collaboration in discussion threads. The hypotheses are tested on six months of message data collected from an electronic network focused on methodological issues in the social sciences. We find that the proposed interaction variables contribute to knowledge work over and above the traditional variables that have been studied in the literature such as individual resources and participant diversity.

The implementation of Integrated Operations (IO) for oil and gas recovery – a real-time linkage among platform-based facilities, on-shore control centers and suppliers – is anticipated to reduce operating costs by 30%, extend the lifetime of current production fields by five years or longer and maintain Norwegian Continental Shelf production for 50-100 years. The changes in operating procedures require extensive training to ensure continued personal and environmental safety. Vulnerabilities may emerge during the rollout of updated techniques and integration of IO technology with existing work practices. We focus on user knowledge as key to successful change. A system dynamics simulation is presented that defines work process and knowledge transition. Interviews and historical records assisted in parameterizing the model. The simulation suggests that great care should be taken to facilitate and monitor the rate of knowledge maturation, even in the face of expensive implementation delays, to reduce the risk of catastrophic failure from endemic incidents. 1 1 The group model-building workshops described herein are part of the AMBASEC (A Model-based Approach to Security Culture) and the IRMA (Incident Response Management) projects funded

The threat of terrorism is at the forefront of security issues in the society. Terrorism must be dealt with through collaboration of multiple types and lev-els of agencies. Public sector interagency collaboration is explored through collective mind and beliefs of collaboration necessity in terrorism situations. It is found that the presence of a collective mind increases the likelihood that public sector representatives recognize and form beliefs that collaboration is necessary. It is also found that aggregates of representatives were more likely to actually collaborate with one another in addressing these cyber-terrorism threats when more shared the belief of collaboration necessity.

need for risk management to evolve to assure a culture of safety*

This paper is work in progress and I am thankful for any comments and suggestions regarding it. Errors and omissions might remain in the paper and the intention is not to implicate any of them to the many scholars that have moved the field forward. Please do not quote without prior permission from the author. This paper examines how managers create and develop strategy in practice. It reports findings of an in-depth investigation of managerial activities and associated learning dynamics in strategy creation, the generation and development of radically new strategies. Managerial and learning activities on different organizational levels, their influence on strategy development, and relationship to strategic change are examined. A dual longitudinal case methodology, including a single in-depth case study combined with a multiple retrospective case study is used, involving four multinational companies. The findings show a twofold character of strategy creation including an adaptive and a creative strategy motor of strategic change involving fundamentally different learning dynamics, reflecting their diverse location and social embeddedness. Adaptive learning dynamics were based on exploitation and refinement of prevailing industry and resource structures and involved a deductive reasoning or sensemaking as regards strategy, including knowledge assimilation activities such as formal intelligence and routine experiences. Creative learning dynamics evolved in the periphery of the organizations and were more remote from existing values and beliefs. They predominantly involved exploration and inductive sensemaking, including activities like informal noticing and creative experiments. The exploration/exploitation trade off interaction between the two strategy motors resulted in tension, which finally triggered strategic change.

Abstract not found