Intuition, Reflection and Organizational Adaptation to Discontinuous Change

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
pp. 16417
Author(s):  
Marlon Fernandes Rodrigues Alves ◽  
Vincenzo Vastola ◽  
Simone Galina ◽  
Maurizio Zollo
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Adaptation ◽  
Discontinuous Change

When Reflection Hurts: The Effect of Cognitive Processing Types on Organizational Adaptation to Discontinuous Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlon Fernandes Rodrigues Alves ◽  
Vincenzo Vastola ◽  
Simone Vasconcelos Ribeiro Galina ◽  
Maurizio Zollo
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Organizational Adaptation ◽  
Dual Process ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Simulation Game ◽  
Discontinuous Change ◽  
Organizational Responses ◽  
Individual Level

Technological breakthroughs, institutional disruptions, and natural disasters often alter the course of organizations and entire industries. Such discontinuous changes threaten organizations’ survival by affecting the value of the knowledge accumulated in routines and capabilities. Although it is widely acknowledged that managerial cognition is a critical antecedent of organizational responses to discontinuous change, the role of type 1 (intuitive) and type 2 (reflective) processing in the adaptation of shared patterns of behavior, that is, routines, remains understudied. Drawing on dual-process theory, we propose that particular features of type 1 processing render this approach superior to type 2 processing, especially in highly ambiguous environments in which information is limited and difficult to verify. We tested our hypotheses in a longitudinal experiment linking individual-level factors with organizational-level practices of routine adaptation. Experienced managers, paired in 80 groups, developed routines in a first round of a simulation game; in a second round, we then introduced a discontinuous change making previous routines obsolete in order to observe how they adapted. The data show that priming type 1 processing facilitates organizational adaptation more than type 2 processing by providing faster, more routinized, efficiently coordinated, and optimal responses. In addition, type 1 appears to be more functional in highly ambiguous environments, whereas type 1 and type 2 processes yield similar levels of performance under low levels of ambiguity. Overall, our study advances the understanding of the nondeliberative dimension of organizational adaptation to discontinuous change.

Adapting Tactical Military Structures to the Current and Future Operational Environments

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-162
Author(s):  
Paul Tudorache ◽  
Lucian Ispas
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Organizational Adaptation ◽  
Common Denominator ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
The Future ◽  
Military Units

AbstractUsing the lessons learned from recent military operations such as Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) from Syria and Iraq, we proposed to investigate the need for tactical military units to adapt operationally to grapple with the most common requirements specific to current operational environments, but also for those that can be foreseen in the future. In this regard, by identifying the best practices in the field that can be met at the level of some important armies, such as USA and UK, we will try to determine a common denominator of most important principles whose application may facilitate both operational and organizational adaptation necessary for tactical military units to perform missions and tasks in the most unknown future operational environments.

Benefiting from Others in Organizational Adaptation

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Moran ◽  
Gianluca Vagnani ◽  
Michele Simoni
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Adaptation

scholarly journals Different Reasons for Different Responses: A Review of Incumbents’ Adaptation in Carbon-Intensive Industries

2020 ◽  
pp. 108602661989399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Sump ◽  
Sangyoon Yi
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Organizational Adaptation ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
External Shocks ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Organizational Responses ◽  
Environmental Pressure ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Performance Heterogeneity

Organizations often respond in different ways to common external shocks. To advance theories on organizational adaptation and performance heterogeneity, it is essential to understand different reasons for different organizational responses. We examine how incumbents in carbon-intensive industries adapt to heightened environmental pressure to reduce carbon emissions. Based on a review of the literature, we propose three dimensions along which diverse organizational responses can be efficiently mapped out: goal, timing, and scope. Building on our proposed dimensions, we develop a typology of five different organizational responses. With this, we show that organizational responses are more diverse than a one-dimensional scale could show but that the heterogeneity is somehow limited as the positions on the dimensions are not independent but correlated. To understand this observed limited heterogeneity, we proceed by identifying reasons behind different organizational responses. Furthermore, we discuss the theoretical implications of our findings for research on organizational adaptation and sustainability.

scholarly journals Bringing the biophysical to the fore: Re-envisioning organizational adaptation in the era of planetary shifts

2021 ◽  
pp. 147612702198998
Author(s):  
Jennifer Howard-Grenville ◽  
Brooke Lahneman
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Organizational Adaptation ◽  
Business Organizations ◽  
Adaptation Theory ◽  
Social Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Ecological Theories ◽  
External Environments

The nature and scope of changes in organizations’ external environments is without precedent due to planetary shifts, or major changes in earth’s biophysical systems. Our theories of organizational adaptation lack the capacity to explain what will be needed on behalf of business organizations, and their strategists and managers, to adjust to these shifts. In this essay, we review organizational adaptation theory and explain why it falls short of offering adequate explanations in an era of planetary shifts. We then draw on ecological theories of adaptation, with their focus on social-ecological systems and panarchy, to suggest ways to advance organizational adaptation theory for our times.

scholarly journals A Scoping Review of Organizational Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Schools: A Complex Systems Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Puspa Khanal ◽  
Fabio Bento ◽  
Marco Tagliabue
Keyword(s):  
Scoping Review ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Organizational Adaptation ◽  
Open Communication ◽  
Organizational Responses ◽  
Additional Element ◽  
Systems Perspective ◽  
School Settings

This study is a scoping review of the literature on organizational adaptation in school settings during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dramatic and unexpected environmental changes raise questions about the capacity of schooling organizations to adapt to in response to the pandemic. Different management practices have implications for the selection of organizational behaviors, electively in school settings. The research literature on school responses is analyzed from a selectionist perspective. The aim of this study is to identify and describe three constituting elements of this perspective: variation, interaction, and selection. An additional element is considered in this analysis and comprises the mechanisms of exploration and exploitation in the context of organizational adaptation. Sixteen studies met the selection criteria of describing emergent processes in schools. The findings highlight the emergence of exploration, as teachers actively experimented with a range of strategies and methods in order to maintain educational activities in the complex and uncertain context of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, several questions are raised regarding the effects and maintenance of new practices in the post-pandemic scenario. Management practices that facilitate variation and open communication about learning processes can contribute to the process of organizational adaptation.

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