In this paper, we contribute to research on enterprise artificial intelligence (AI), specifically to organizations improving the customer experiences and their internal processes through using the type of AI called machine learning (ML). Many organizations are struggling to get enough value from their AI efforts, and part of this is related to the area of explainability. The need for explainability is especially high in what is called black-box ML models, where decisions are made without anyone understanding how an AI reached (...) a particular decision. This opaqueness creates a user need for explanations. Therefore, researchers and designers create different versions of so-called eXplainable AI (XAI). However, the demands for XAI can reduce the accuracy of the predictions the AI makes, which can reduce the perceived usefulness of the AI solution, which, in turn, reduces the interest in designing the organizational task structure to benefit from the AI solution. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the need for XAI is as low as possible. In this paper, we demonstrate how to achieve this by optimizing the task structure according to sociotechnical systems design principles. Our theoretical contribution is to the underexplored field of the intersection of AI design and organizational design. We find that explainability goals can be divided into two groups, pattern goals and experience goals, and that this division is helpful when defining the design process and the task structure that the AI solution will be used in. Our practical contribution is for AI designers who include organizational designers in their teams, and for organizational designers who answer that challenge. (shrink)

Background: Nurses’ ethical competence has been identified as a significant factor governing high quality of care. However, nurses lack support in dealing with ethical problems, and therefore managerial support for nurses’ ethical competence is needed. Research questions: This study aimed to analyse, from the perspective of nurse and nurse leaders, the level of nurses’ and nurse leaders’ ethical competence, perceptions of support for nurses’ ethical competence at the organisational and individual levels and background factors associated with this support. Research (...) class='Hi'>design: A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was employed. The Ethical Competence and Ethical Competence Support questionnaires were used to measure the main components. Descriptive statistics and multifactor analysis of variance were used for data analysis. Participants: The participants were 298 nurses and 193 nurse leaders working in specialised (48%/52%), primary (43%/36%) or private healthcare (5%/7%) in Finland. Ethical considerations: Ethical approval was obtained from the university ethics committee. Results: Nurses estimated their own ethical competence to be at an average level, whereas nurse leaders estimated their own competence at a high level. Nurses’ and nurse leaders’ perceptions of provided support for nurses’ ethical competence was not at a high level. The positive agreement percentage related to organisational support was 44% among nurses and 51% among nurse leaders. The positive agreement percentage related to individual support was lower, that is, 38% among nurses and 61% among nurse leaders. University education had a positive association with some items of individual support. Conclusion: Despite the findings that ethical competence was estimated at a high level among nurse leaders, perceptions of support for nurses’ ethical competence were not at a satisfactory level. At the organisational level, nurse leaders need to inform of ethical procedures and practices in orientation; encourage multidisciplinary ethics discussions and collaboration; and support nurses at an individual level to participate in ethics education, multidisciplinary ethics discussions and in solving ethical problems. (shrink)

This paper looks beyond the mostly technical and business issues that currently inform the design of knowledge-based systems (e.g., expert systems) to point out that there is also a social and organisational (a socio-organisational) dimension to the issues affecting the design decisions of expert systems and other information technologies. It argues that whilst technical and business issues are considered before the design of Expert Systems, that socio-organisational issues determine the acceptance and long-run utility of the technology after (...) it has been implemented. It shows how four issues within the organisation can affect the design or the after-effects of the design and implementation of the technology. It also shows how the four issues can be considered within the structured phases of expert system development. (shrink)

Some interesting exceptions notwithstanding, the traditional logic of economic efficiency has long favored hierarchical forms of organization and disfavored democracy in business. What does the balance of arguments look like, however, when values besides efficient revenue production are brought into the picture? The question is not hypothetical: In recent years, an ever increasing number of corporations have developed and adopted socially responsible behaviors, thereby hybridizing aspects of corporate businesses and social organizations. We argue that the joint pursuit of financial and (...) social objectives warrants significant rethinking of organizational democracy’s merits compared both to hierarchy and to non-democratic alternatives to hierarchy. In making this argument, we draw on an extensive literature review to document the relative lack of substantive discussion of organizational democracy since 1960. And we draw lessons from political theory, suggesting that the success of political democracy in integrating diverse values offers some grounds for asserting parallel virtues in the business case. (shrink)

Background: Palliative carers constantly face ethical problems. There is lack of organised support for the carers to handle these ethical problems in a consistent way. Within organisational ethics, we find models for moral deliberation and for developing organisational culture; however, they are not combined in a structured way to support carers’ everyday work. Research objective: The aim of this study was to describe ethical problems faced by palliative carers and develop an adapted organisational set of values to support the handling (...) of these problems. Research design: Ethical problems were mapped out using focus groups and content analysis. The organisational culture were developed using normative analysis and focus group methodology within a participatory action research approach. Main participants and research context: A total of 15 registered nurses and 10 assistant nurses at a palliative unit (with 19 patient beds) at a major University Hospital in Sweden. Ethical considerations: The study followed standard ethics guidelines concerning informed consent and confidentiality. Findings: We found six categories of ethical problems (with the main focus on problems relating to the patient’s loved ones) and five categories of organisational obstacles. Based on these findings, we developed a set of values in three levels: a general level, an explanatory level and a level of action strategies. Discussion: The ethical problems found corresponded to problems in other studies with a notable exception, the large focus on patient loved ones. The three-level set of values is a way to handle risks of formulating abstract values not providing guidance in concrete care voiced in other studies. Conclusion: Developing a three-level set of values adapted to the specific ethical problems in a concrete care setting is a first step towards a better handling of ethical problems. (shrink)

This paper aims to provide a philosophical and theoretical account of biological communication grounded in the notion of organisation. The organisational approach characterises living systems as organised in such a way that they are capable to self-produce and self-maintain while in constant interaction with the environment. To apply this theoretical framework to the study of biological communication, we focus on a specific approach, based on the notion of influence, according to which communication takes place when a signal emitted by a (...) sender triggers a change in the behaviour of the receiver that is functional for the sender itself. We critically analyse the current formulations of this account, that interpret what is functional for the sender in terms of evolutionary adaptations. Specifically, the adoption of this etiological functional framework may lead to the exclusion of several phenomena usually studied as instances of communication, and possibly even of entire fields of investigation such as synthetic biology. As an alternative, we reframe the influence approach in organisational terms, characterising functions in terms of contributions to the current organisation of a biological system. We develop a theoretical account of biological communication in which communicative functions are distinguished from other types of biological functions described by the organisational account (e.g. metabolic, ecological, etc.). The resulting organisational-influence approach allows to carry out causal analyses of current instances of phenomena of communication, without the need to provide etiological explanations. In such a way it makes it possible to understand in terms of communication those phenomena which realise interactive patterns typical of signalling interactions – and are usually studied as such in scientific practice – despite not being the result of evolutionary adaptations. Moreover, this approach provides operational tools to design and study communicative interactions in experimental fields such as synthetic biology. (shrink)

Objectives To conduct an independent evaluation of the first phase of the Health Foundation’s Safer Patients Initiative (SPI), and to identify the net additional effect of SPI and any differences in changes in participating and non-participating NHS hospitals. Design Mixed method evaluation involving five substudies, before and after design. Setting NHS hospitals in the United Kingdom. Participants Four hospitals (one in each country in the UK) participating in the first phase of the SPI (SPI1); 18 control hospitals. Intervention (...) The SPI1 was a compound (multi-component) organisational intervention delivered over 18 months that focused on improving the reliability of specific frontline care processes in designated clinical specialties and promoting organisational and cultural change. Results Senior staff members were knowledgeable and enthusiastic about SPI1. There was a small (0.08 points on a 5 point scale) but significant (P<0.01) effect in favour of the SPI1 hospitals in one of 11 dimensions of the staff questionnaire (organisational climate). Qualitative evidence showed only modest penetration of SPI1 at medical ward level. Although SPI1 was designed to engage staff from the bottom up, it did not usually feel like this to those working on the wards, and questions about legitimacy of some aspects of SPI1 were raised. Of the five components to identify patients at risk of deterioration—monitoring of vital signs (14 items); routine tests (three items); evidence based standards specific to certain diseases (three items); prescribing errors (multiple items from the British National Formulary); and medical history taking (11 items)—there was little net difference between control and SPI1 hospitals, except in relation to quality of monitoring of acute medical patients, which improved on average over time across all hospitals. Recording of respiratory rate increased to a greater degree in SPI1 than in control hospitals; in the second six hours after admission recording increased from 40% (93) to 69% (165) in control hospitals and from 37% (141) to 78% (296) in SPI1 hospitals (odds ratio for “difference in difference” 2.1, 99% confidence interval 1.0 to 4.3; P=0.008). Use of a formal scoring system for patients with pneumonia also increased over time (from 2% (102) to 23% (111) in control hospitals and from 2% (170) to 9% (189) in SPI1 hospitals), which favoured controls and was not significant (0.3, 0.02 to 3.4; P=0.173). There were no improvements in the proportion of prescription errors and no effects that could be attributed to SPI1 in non-targeted generic areas (such as enhanced safety culture). On some measures, the lack of effect could be because compliance was already high at baseline (such as use of steroids in over 85% of cases where indicated), but even when there was more room for improvement (such as in quality of medical history taking), there was no significant additional net effect of SPI1. There were no changes over time or between control and SPI1 hospitals in errors or rates of adverse events in patients in medical wards. Mortality increased from 11% (27) to 16% (39) among controls and decreased from 17% (63) to 13% (49) among SPI1 hospitals, but the risk adjusted difference was not significant (0.5, 0.2 to 1.4; P=0.085). Poor care was a contributing factor in four of the 178 deaths identified by review of case notes. The survey of patients showed no significant differences apart from an increase in perception of cleanliness in favour of SPI1 hospitals. Conclusions The introduction of SPI1 was associated with improvements in one of the types of clinical process studied (monitoring of vital signs) and one measure of staff perceptions of organisational climate. There was no additional effect of SPI1 on other targeted issues nor on other measures of generic organisational strengthening. (shrink)

The paper starts with a case study of a medium-sized company in which a strong and successful change in the organisational form and job design took place. A bureaucratic organisation with highly-specialised jobs was converted into a new organisation in which employees became much more autonomous in managing their own work. This not only entailed new techniques and managerial systems but also a new anthropological vision. Bureaucratic rules were reduced, but not eliminated completely, and management became less authoritarian. Employees (...) could therefore apply greater entrepreneurial spirit, developing their talents in pursuit of the company’s common goals. It is argued that this new organisational form is ethically superior to the old, and reflects the basic requirements of the principle of subsidiarity. The ethical principle of subsidiarity holds that a larger and higher-ranking body should not exercise functions which could be efficiently carried out by a smaller and lesser body; rather the former should support the latter by aiding it in the coordination of its activities with those of the greater community. While the principle has usually been applied in a political context, this paper explores the principle as a moral base for organisational forms within business organisations. Finally, the principle of subsidiarity is analysed in the context of business organisations and proposed as an ethical guideline for organisational forms. This would help to mitigate the effects of those bureaucracies in which individuals, with their dignity, freedom, diversity and capacity for undertaking business activities with entrepreneurial spirit, are often not fully appreciated. (shrink)

Background: Demand for organisational ethics capacity is growing in health organisations, particularly among managers. The role of clinical ethicists in, and perspective on, organisational ethics has not been well described or documented in the literature. Objective: To describe clinical ethicists’ perspectives on organisational ethics issues in their hospitals, their institutional role in relation to organisational ethics, and their perceived effectiveness in helping to address organisational ethics issues. Design and Setting: Qualitative case study involving semi-structured interviews with 18 clinical ethicists (...) across 13 health organisations in Toronto, Canada. Results: From the clinical ethicists’ perspective, the most pressing organisational ethics issues in their organisations are: resource allocation, staff moral distress linked to the organisation’s moral climate, conflicts of interest, and clinical issues with a significant organisational dimension. Clinical ethicists were consulted in particular on issues related to staff moral distress and clinical issues with an organisational dimension. Some ethicists described being increasingly consulted on resource allocation, conflicts of interest, and other corporate decisions. Many clinical ethicists felt they lacked sufficient knowledge and understanding of organisational decision-making processes, training in organisational ethics, and access to organisational ethics tools to deal effectively with the increasing demand for organisational ethics support. Conclusion: Growing demand for organisational ethics expertise in healthcare institutions is reshaping the role of clinical ethicists. Effectiveness in organisational ethics entails a re-evaluation of clinical ethics training to include capacity building in organisational ethics and organisational decision-making processes as a complement to traditional clinical ethics education. (shrink)

This article explores the management and organisational context for capturing and retaining knowledge transferred through the design process. It is widely acknowledged that our ability to successfully organise and transfer design knowledge is dependant upon the context in which it is situated. However the knowledge generated through the creative process is often viewed from the perspective of the artefact rather the process itself. An understanding of the socially complex knowledge-based resources operating within design groups could enhance competitiveness (...) and organisational development. Yet, a systematic literature review of leading design and educational management journals found limited empirical evidence that shed light on the influence of knowledge management on design group performance. The article addresses this gap in the literature. Based on two in-depth case studies with interior design companies implementing new digital asset management systems over a 2-year period, the paper explores the findings in relation to design practice and policy, alongside implications for the contribution of the creative industries to the knowledge economy. (shrink)

Social reporting has become an increasingly important dimension of the corporate social responsibility process. The growing necessity to include the social dimension in reporting practices raises important questions about the nature of social responsibility and its impact on corporate and individual behaviour and performance. The literature has yet to provide a reliable theoretical definition of corporate social responsibility and performance, however. Based on the approach proposed by Simons, we argue that organisational reporting about social responsibility can be viewed as a (...) learning tool in some instances. Under this view the design and implementation of corporate social reporting procedures may lead to individual and organisational dynamic changes that foster organisational performance. Research propositions are then derived from the analysis. (shrink)

When we design information technology we risk building specific metaphors and models of human activities into the technology itself and into the embodied activities, work practices, organisational cultures and social identities of those who use it. This paper is motivated by the recognition that the assumptions about human activity used to guide the design of particular technology are made active, in use, by the interaction design of that technology. A fragment of shared design work is used (...) to ground an exploration of different solutions to one of the technical problems that arise when technology is used to support similar work over distance. The argument is made that some solutions to design problems are better than others because they enable human interaction in different ways. Some solutions enhance the possibilities for human agency, others diminish it. This means that there can be a moral basis for choosing between alternative interaction design decisions that might otherwise be considered equivalent in terms of the functionality and usability of the technology. (shrink)

The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the temporal dynamics of ethical organisational culture and how it associates with well-being at work when potential changes in ethical culture are measured over an extended period of 6 years. We used a person-centred study design, which allowed us to detect both typical and atypical patterns of ethical culture stability as well as change among a sample of leaders. Based on latent profile analysis and hierarchical linear modelling we found longitudinal, (...) concurrent relations and cumulative gain and loss cycles between different ethical culture patterns and leaders’ well-being. Leaders in the strongest ethical culture pattern experienced the highest level of work engagement and a decreasing level of ethical dilemmas and stress. Leaders who gave the lowest ratings on ethical culture which also decreased over time reported the highest level of ethical dilemmas, stress, and burnout. They also showed a continuous increase in these negative outcomes over time. Thus, ethical culture has significant cumulative effects on well-being, and these longitudinal effects can be both negative and positive, depending on the experienced strength of the culture’s ethicality. (shrink)

More and more frequently, the organisation of design fits into a project organisation where different designers have to cooperate with flexibility and reactivity. In order to help these cooperative design processes, we have to respond to new types of needs: a relatively unformalised coordination that requires permanent mutual adjustment, the fact that members of the team are geographically distant, the difficulty of building a shared reference via design documents and technical and organisational decisions that structure the project. (...) In order to provide computer support for these needs, asynchronous Group Ware is often recommended. However, the efficiency of these tools depends on the models that structure the work processes and the knowledge exchanged. In this paper, we present ABRICo, a new Design Rationale formalism that permits the recording of cooperative decision-making processes in complex design situations. We describe the formalism and explain how we intend to use it to specify cooperative design tools usable via an Intranet for computing projects. (shrink)

Environmental protection activities in industry have rapidly increased in number over the last years. Additionally, surveys of environmental activities have identified a change in the kind or in the approaches used to environmental problem solving. A new paradigm ‘Clean Technology’ has been developed which gradually seems to replace the ‘Clean-up Technology’ paradigm and the older ‘Dilute and Disperse’ paradigm. The new ‘Clean Technology’ paradigm brings with it not only a new way of looking at environmental protection, but also a range (...) of ‘rules’ guiding the application of technology and the design of technological systems. This paper presents a few case studies highlighting and evaluating Clean Technology activities. (shrink)

This article provides a cross-case analysis of four art and design research centres operating within UK universities. Findings from autobiographical and semi-structured interviews with researchers, research managers, and research leaders indicate that they encounter similar issues in trying to establish internal legitimacy within the university alongside the need to gain external support and recognition. In dealing with these challenges, art and design research centres tend to pass through four broadly identifiable phases: (i) Origination (utilising credentials and leadership capacity), (...) (ii) Establishment (securing resources and embedding dedicated systems and processes), (iii) Development (furthering profile, diversifying, and retaining autonomy), and (iv) Sustainability (enhancing research culture, networks, and influence). Many interesting parallels are evident with the way small businesses strive to establish themselves within competitive market environments. Lessons for research managers and directors are explored to consider such similarities in key areas of responsibility that cover leadership, managing people and processes, developing organisational capacity, and building external networks. The research suggests research centre directors must demonstrate many intrapreneurial qualities to overcome obstacles in the development of a successful research team and that university departments can make substantial organisational interventions to help them succeed. (shrink)

BackgroundWork stress is a serious problem in primary education. Decades of research underline the importance of participatory, organizational-level work stress prevention approaches. In this approach, measures are planned to tackle causes of work stress in a participatory manner and implemented by a working group consisting of members of the organization. This approach can only be effective if the measures contain effective ingredients to decrease work stress risks and are successfully implemented. The aim of this paper is to present an (...) outline of a work stress prevention approach that is evaluated in primary education. To ensure the appropriateness of measures, a logic model of change is built as part of the risk assessment to facilitate the selection of appropriate measures. Progression on target behaviors as well as implementation factors are real-time monitored during implementation and fed back to the working groups, to provide the opportunity to adjust action plans when needed to optimize implementation.MethodsThe approach consists of five steps: preparation: installing an advisory board and working groups, risk assessment: inventory of work stress risks. In addition, a behavioral analysis is performed to build a logic model of change to facilitate selection of measures, action planning: conducting an action plan with appropriate measures, implementation: implementing the action plan. During implementation progression on target behaviors and implementation factors are monthly monitored and fed back to the working groups, and evaluation: effects of the approach are studied in a controlled trial with measurements at baseline, 1 year, and 2 years follow-up. A process evaluation is carried out using quantitative and qualitative data to study the implementation process of all steps of the work stress approach.DiscussionWe believe that building a logic model of change and real-time monitoring of implementation could be of added value to improve the success of the work stress prevention approach. With this study, we aim to provide more insights into work stress intervention research, especially in primary education.Clinical Trial RegistrationThe study is registered in Netherlands Trial Register. (shrink)

PurposeAnomic feelings are predicted to play a moderating role in the relationship between organisational justice perceptions and the citizenship use of the organisation's internet access, or cybercivism. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesise that, just as AFs are supported in prior research as able to intensify the negative effects of organisational justice on cyberloafing, they will also intensify the positive effects of OJ on cybercivism.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 270 of the 1,547 respondents at a public university.FindingsExcept in (...) the case of procedural justice, the results support that AF act as a moderator of the OJ‐cybercivism link because, among employees with comparatively less AF, the perceptions of the OJ under study had a stronger impact on cybercivism.Research limitations/implicationsTo generalise from a convenience sample of 17 per cent to the entire University is unfeasible, let alone the “public sector” as a whole for a whole culture/country. Therefore, the paper only aims to be an early exploration of actual phenomenon, and to provide new insights necessary to understand the impact of pervasive new media and information and communication technologies on individual behaviour in virtual work settings.Practical implicationsThe findings contribute to an improved understanding of the influence of OJ on cybercivism. As a moderator, anomia is supported in our sample as one of the key “controllers” of the OJ predictions on cybercivism and sets a new scenario in seeking electronic business effectiveness. By encouraging convincing values and equity in the workplace, organisational management seems be on the right path to create the proper context for cybercivism to occur.Originality/valueEmployee AFs are shown to be a moderator in the relationship between OJ and cybercivism. This is the first empirical test of this interaction. (shrink)

How can free and equal people cooperate to solve conflicts and common problems in a rational and legitimate way? In this article I deduce principles for doing so from the requirements of rational communication set out in the discourse theory of Jürgen Habermas. I apply them in defining a process of efficient decision making. What I call ‘communicative design’ denotes the design of a reason giving process in which the practice of proposing and assessing claims with regard to (...) rulemaking and problem solving is undertaken on an equal and autonomous basis. Two sets of prescriptions are given: organisational principles for the composition of groups and argumentative principles for deliberation. However, any procedure aimed at achieving a rational consensus in decision making in organisations has to deal in practice with limitations of time, participation and the information available. Communicative design may not guarantee strictly rational decisions, then, but the procedure it constructs does promise relatively ‘more valid’ decisions than might be expected if another procedure had been adopted. (shrink)

Organisations are increasingly transforming themselves to remain profitable and obtain sustainable competitive advantages. Business processes are as important as technology in promoting organisational transformation. Organisational transformation ultimately entails combining existing business components, whether or not with the same use and design, with new ones to generate novel products and services. For example, one particular type of organisation transformation is digital transformation. This notion, which covers even the subjective aspects of organisational transformation, is currently under intensive discussion and suffers from (...) the semantics terms fluctuation related to the notion of ‘organisational transformation’. We argue that this topic could strongly benefit from an ontological analysis and conceptual clarification of these notions. This paper contributes with an attempt in this direction by proposing a Core Ontology of Organisational Transformation (COOT). This ontology comprises concepts and relations central to creating a reference model representing the organisational transformation paradigm. COOT was applied in a real-world case study on a car rental company. (shrink)

This paper makes the two following claims: 1) The legal dimension of loyalty within organizations goes beyond duties. The governance design aimed at ensuring loyalty may strongly affect standards that characterize each layer of the organization. The interaction between standards of duty and the governance dimension of loyalty should, therefore, be more tailored to specific legal forms and their functional correlation with ownership and financing. 2) There is a greater divergence than has so far been acknowledged between the function (...) of loyalty in vertically integrated firms and in networks of small firms. This difference, created by the relationship between the duty and the governance dimensions, should have repercussions on the definitions of legal standards. In particular, it should reflect the different relationships between hierarchy, monitoring, and loyalty and the choice between prohibitory, authorization-based, and compensatory rules. The analysis concentrates on the key variables that may affect the choice between vertical and horizontal monitoring to ensure compliance with loyal behavior in two polar models: hierarchical firms and networks of small firms. It reveals the importance of considering the governance design when defining duties of loyalty and related standards to evaluate party-related transactions in both cases but, at the same time, the necessity of using different interpretive categories. (shrink)

Most of the work in agent-based social simulation has assumed highly simplified agent models, with little attention being paid to the details of individual cognition. Here, in an effort to counteract that trend, we substitute a realistic cognitive agent model (CLARION) for the simpler models previously used in an organizational design task. On that basis, an exploration is made of the interaction between the cognitive parameters that govern individual agents, the placement of agents in different organizational structures, (...) and the performance of the organization. It is suggested that the two disciplines, cognitive modeling and social simulation, which have so far been pursued in relative isolation from each other, can be profitably integrated. (shrink)

This paper explores types of organisational ignorance and ways in which organisational practices can affect the knowledge we have about the causes and effects of our actions. I will argue that because knowledge and information are not evenly distributed within an organisation, sometimes organisational design alone can create individual ignorance. I will also show that sometimes the act that creates conditions for culpable ignorance takes place at the collective level. This suggests that quality of will of an agent is (...) not necessary to explain culpable ignorance in an organisational setting. (shrink)

PurposeAnomic feelings are predicted to play a moderating role in the relationship between organisational justice perceptions and the citizenship use of the organisation's internet access, or cybercivism. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesise that, just as AFs are supported in prior research as able to intensify the negative effects of organisational justice on cyberloafing, they will also intensify the positive effects of OJ on cybercivism.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 270 of the 1,547 respondents at a public university.FindingsExcept in (...) the case of procedural justice, the results support that AF act as a moderator of the OJ‐cybercivism link because, among employees with comparatively less AF, the perceptions of the OJ under study had a stronger impact on cybercivism.Research limitations/implicationsTo generalise from a convenience sample of 17 per cent to the entire University is unfeasible, let alone the “public sector” as a whole for a whole culture/country. Therefore, the paper only aims to be an early exploration of actual phenomenon, and to provide new insights necessary to understand the impact of pervasive new media and information and communication technologies on individual behaviour in virtual work settings.Practical implicationsThe findings contribute to an improved understanding of the influence of OJ on cybercivism. As a moderator, anomia is supported in our sample as one of the key “controllers” of the OJ predictions on cybercivism and sets a new scenario in seeking electronic business effectiveness. By encouraging convincing values and equity in the workplace, organisational management seems be on the right path to create the proper context for cybercivism to occur.Originality/valueEmployee AFs are shown to be a moderator in the relationship between OJ and cybercivism. This is the first empirical test of this interaction. (shrink)

BackgroundThis manuscript presents a framework to guide the identification and assessment of ethical opportunities and challenges associated with electronic patient records (EPR). The framework is intended to support designers, software engineers, health service managers, and end-users to realise a responsible, robust and reliable EPR-enabled healthcare system that delivers safe, quality assured, value conscious care.MethodsDevelopment of the EPR applied ethics framework was preceded by a scoping review which mapped the literature related to the ethics of EPR technology. The underlying assumption behind (...) the framework presented in this manuscript is that ethical values can inform all stages of the EPR-lifecycle from design, through development, implementation, and practical application.ResultsThe framework is divided into two parts: context and core functions. The first part ‘context’ entails clarifying: the purpose(s) within which the EPR exists or will exist; the interested parties and their relationships; and the regulatory, codes of professional conduct and organisational policy frame of reference. Understanding the context is required before addressing the second part of the framework which focuses on EPR ‘core functions’ of data collection, data access, and digitally-enabled healthcare.ConclusionsThe primary objective of the EPR Applied Ethics Framework is to help identify and create value and benefits rather than to merely prevent risks. It should therefore be used to steer an EPR project to success rather than be seen as a set of inhibitory rules. The framework is adaptable to a wide range of EPR categories and can cater for new and evolving EPR-enabled healthcare priorities. It is therefore an iterative tool that should be revisited as new EPR-related state-of-affairs, capabilities or activities emerge. (shrink)

Networked service organisations are increasingly adopting a ‘smarter networking’ philosophy in their design of more agile and customer-focused supply models. Changing consumer behaviours and the emergence of transformative technologies—industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, the Internet of Things—are driving a series of innovations, in terms of ‘products’ and business models, with major implications for the industrial enterprise, in their design of more ‘digitalised’ supply chains. For B2B systems, emerging ‘product-service’ offerings are requiring greater visibility, alignment and integration (...) across an increasingly complex network of multiple partners and collaborators, in order to deliver a better service and customer ‘experience’. To support the design and operation of these multi-organisational service networks, we outline a concept of operations architecture here, underpinned by the literature and network theory, and demonstrate application using a series of exemplar case studies. Focusing on relational elements and the processes key to network integration within service supply networks, the cases inform a set of operating principles and protocols—applicable to all stakeholders ‘cooperating’, within a ‘shared’ environment. Equally critical is to understand how digital technologies may influence future operating philosophies. This article extends our theoretical understanding of network organisations, from a traditional ‘product’ perspective to that of ‘services’, and presents the case for developing a common, unified approach to designing diverse forms of multi-partner service networks. (shrink)

An accountability-based privacy governance model is one where organizations are charged with societal objectives, such as using personal information in a manner that maintains individual autonomy and which protects individuals from social, financial and physical harms, while leaving the actual mechanisms for achieving those objectives to the organization. This paper discusses the essential elements of accountability identified by the Galway Accountability Project, with scholarship from the Centre for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams LLP. Conceptual _Privacy by Design_ principles (...) are offered as criteria for building privacy and accountability into organizational information management practices. The authors then provide an example of an organizational control process that uses the principles to implement the essential elements. Initially developed in the ‘90s to advance privacy-enhancing information and communication technologies, Dr. Ann Cavoukian has since expanded the application of _Privacy by Design_ principles to include business processes. (shrink)

It is a truism that the design and deployment of information and communication technologies is vital to everyday life, the conduct of work and to social order. But how are individual, organisational and societal choices made? What might it mean to invoke a politics and an ethics of information technology design and use? This editorial paper situates these questions within the trajectory of preoccupations and approaches to the design and deployment of information technology since computerisation began in (...) the 1940s. Focusing upon the dominant concerns over the last three decades, the paper delineates an interest in design and use in relation to socio-technical theories, situated practices and actor-network theory. It is argued that each of these approaches is concerned with a particular form of politics that does not explicitly engage with ethics. In order to introduce ethics into contemporary debates about information technology, and to frame the papers in the special issue, it is argued that Levinas’ ethics is particularly valuable in problematising the relationship between politics and ethics. Levinas provides a critique of modernity’s emphasis on politics and the egocentric self. It is from a Levinasian concern with the Other and the primacy of the ethical that a general rethinking of the relationship between politics, ethics and justice in relation to information and communication technologies can be invoked. (shrink)

Previous Responsible Innovation (RI) research has provided valuable insights on the value conflicts inherent to societally desirable innovation. By observing the responses of firms to these conflicts, Value-sensitive Absorptive Capacity (VAC) captures the organizational capabilities to become sensitive to these value conflicts and thus, innovate more responsibly. In this article, we construct a survey instrument to assess VAC, based on previous work by CSR and RI scholars. The construct and concurrent validity of the instrument were tested in an empirical (...) study, including 109 employees of 30 food manufacturing firms. The results from the survey were then compared with the conceptual VAC dimensions. With this comparison, we do not only contribute to the substantiation of the VAC construct, but we also show how inductive and deductive approaches can be combined to build theory regarding RI in a transdisciplinary manner. (shrink)

Purpose This paper aims to develop a system view of the organizational culture, given entropy of theoretical and methodological outlooks on the phenomenon alongside simultaneous growth of number of research reports. -/- Design/methodology/approach Sequential structural and ontological analysis of the Schein’s (2004) point of view on organization culture enabled to form a way of system comprehension of the respective object field on conscious and unconscious levels. -/- Findings Structural ontology of organizational culture represented by the mythopoetic concept (...) of organization, which is a composition of unconscious motives reflecting standard and management peculiarities of functioning characteristic of a certain group. -/- Research limitations/implications The proposed methodological discourse actualizes a hypothesis on organizational unconscious as a specific factor of organizational culture and begets a respective direction of the further researches. -/- Originality/value This is the first methodological concept, that provides a system comprehension of the object field of organizational culture. The concept has important implications for methodological designs of further researches and systematization of already obtained data within the domain. (shrink)

Using a time-lagged design, we tested the main effects of Islamic Work Ethic (IWE) and perceived organizational justice on turnover intentions, job satisfaction, and job involvement. We also investigated the moderating influence of IWE in justice–outcomes relationship. Analyses using data collected from 182 employees revealed that IWE was positively related to satisfaction and involvement and negatively related to turnover intentions. Distributive fairness was negatively related to turnover intentions, whereas procedural justice was positively related to satisfaction. In addition, procedural (...) justice was positively related to involvement and satisfaction for individuals high on IWE however it was negatively related to both outcomes for individuals low on IWE. For low IWE, procedural justice was positively related to turnover intentions, however it was negatively related to turnover intentions for high IWE. In contrast, distributive justice was negatively related to turnover intentions for low IWE and it was positively related to turnover intentions for high IWE. (shrink)

As a topic, organization design is poorly understood. While it is featured in most management books as a chapter dedicated to organizational structures, it is unclear whether organization design is a one-off event or an ongoing process. Thus, it has traditionally been understood to be the same as an organizational configuration, with neat lines of communication and distribution of responsibilities following pre-set typologies. Yet what can be said to constitute organizational structure in this first half (...) of the 21st century? The extraordinary growth of digital communications, the decreasing relevance of hierarchical bureaucracies, and the general demise of command-and-control have all but decimated the traditional notion of organizational structure. Organization design needs a theoretical revamping. Using a mix of design and social science theories and concepts, Rodrigo Magalhães outlines a new human-centric interpretation of design, design principles, and design culture. He puts forward a paradigm where the organization, for purposes of its design, is considered to be a social actor in a permanent state of transformation, with significant repercussions for social and economic life. He also proposes a model of 'leaderful organization design', distinguished as practice-based, guided by values of democratic participation, and driven by design logics which places meaning-making and meaning-taking at the center of organizational life and can be adopted and adapted to suit different environments. (shrink)

What do corporations look like when they have integrity, and how can we move more companies in that direction? Corporate Integrity offers a timely, comprehensive framework- and practical business lessons - bringing together questions of organizational design, communication practices, working relationships, and leadership styles to answer this question. Marvin T. Brown explores the five key challenges facing modern businesses as they try to respond ethically to cultural, interpersonal, organizational, civic and environmental challenges. He demonstrates that if corporations (...) are to meet the needs of civil society, they must facilitate inclusive communication patterns based on mutual recognition and civic cooperation. Corporate Integrity is essential reading for professionals in organizational ethics, business leaders, and graduate students looking for practical and reflective insights into doing business with integrity and purpose. (shrink)

The organizational climate is the work environment conceived by emotions and motivation of an organization and, an optimal way of increasing participation is with working groups in the dependencies to improve: objectives, processes, conflicts, leadership. Thus the objective was to determine the characterization of variables. The method incorporates the quantitative approach, non -experimental design, descriptive level, applied and transversal type, analysis and deductive methods. The results show, there is a high organizational climate level, due to the contribution (...) of three dimensions or aspects that are: economic conditions, management values and organizational policies. (shrink)

This book deals with solving a pressing organizational challenge of bringing employees up to speed faster. In the fast-paced business world, organizations need faster readiness of employees to handle the complex responsibilities of their jobs. The author conducted an extensive doctoral research study with 85 global experts across 66 project cases to explore the practices and strategies that were proven to reduce time to proficiency of employees in a range of organizations worldwide. This book provides the readers with a (...) first-hand account of findings exclusively related to training and learning strategies, instructional methods, and curriculum design. This book delivers over 21 training and learning strategies across online learning, classroom instructions, and on-the-job learning. These strategies will allow training designers and learning specialists to design workplace training programs that hold the potential to shorten time to proficiency of employees. The book not only describes findings of the study and theoretical underpinnings, but it also provides practical guidance for implementation to equip corporate learning specialists, HR professionals, training leaders, performance consultants, and direct managers. (shrink)

This paper examines the relationship between organizational ethical culture in two large international CPA firms, auditors'' personal values and the ethical orientation that those values dictate, and judgments in ethical dilemmas typical of those that accountants face. Using an experimental task consisting of multiple judgments designed to vary in "moral intensity" (Jones, 1991), and unique as well as tried-and-true approaches to variable measurements, this study examined the judgments of more than three hundred participants in our study. ANCOVA and path (...) analysis results indicate that: (1) Ethical judgments in situations of high moral intensity are affected by personal values and by environmental variables, such as the professional code of conduct (direct and indirect effects) and previous ethics instruction (direct effect only). (2) Corporate ethical culture, and a relatively strong firm rules-orientation, affect auditors'' idealism but not relativism, and therefore indirectly affect ethical judgments. Jones'' (1991) moral intensity argument is supported: differences in the characteristics of specific judgment tasks apparently result in different decision processes. (shrink)

Purpose: The main aim of this study was to examine the influence of organizational culture on strategy implementation in Kenya Government Tourism Agencies. Materials and Methods: The study used a positivist approach research philosophy. The research designs employed in this study were explanatory and descriptive research designs. The study population comprised of the tourism industry. The study included the ministry of tourism itself since it is the parent ministry that regulates and oversees the operations of the tourism agencies to (...) give a total of 10 areas of study. A sample of 327 was achieved based on the following formula. This study used primary data. The study used questionnaires and interview guides to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative data was analyzed through scientific methods using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS version 22) while qualitative data was analyzed thematically. The descriptive statistics was first used to analyze the demographic factors of the respondents using frequencies and charts. Inferential statistics such as correlation and multiple linear regression analysis were used to test the relationship among the variables as per the study hypothesis. Findings: The culture of an organization was found to play a critical role in implementation of strategies and consequently realizations of set objectives and profits in organizations. Organizational norms, ethics, employee training and organizational climate are very key in achieving success while implementing strategies. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: It is recommended that organizations (tourism industry) create strategy implementation promoting culture, culture of timeliness, innovative culture, ethics and one which promotes team spirit. These aspects of culture need to be reinforced and strengthened to ensure implementation of strategies is smooth and quick enough. This study thus bridges the gap between theory and practice, offering a nuanced understanding of the interplay between organizational culture and strategy implementation in a critical sector for Kenya's economy. (shrink)

An emerging class of theories concerning the functional structure of the brain takes the reuse of neural circuitry for various cognitive purposes to be a central organizational principle. According to these theories, it is quite common for neural circuits established for one purpose to be exapted (exploited, recycled, redeployed) during evolution or normal development, and be put to different uses, often without losing their original functions. Neural reuse theories thus differ from the usual understanding of the role of neural (...) plasticity (which is, after all, a kind of reuse) in brain organization along the following lines: According to neural reuse, circuits can continue to acquire new uses after an initial or original function is established; the acquisition of new uses need not involve unusual circumstances such as injury or loss of established function; and the acquisition of a new use need not involve (much) local change to circuit structure (e.g., it might involve only the establishment of functional connections to new neural partners). Thus, neural reuse theories offer a distinct perspective on several topics of general interest, such as: the evolution and development of the brain, including (for instance) the evolutionary-developmental pathway supporting primate tool use and human language; the degree of modularity in brain organization; the degree of localization of cognitive function; and the cortical parcellation problem and the prospects (and proper methods to employ) for function to structure mapping. The idea also has some practical implications in the areas of rehabilitative medicine and machine interface design. (shrink)

Background Healthcare worker retention and burnout are confounding issues. Trust among workers and their employer, that is, organization, is an important yet underexplored concept in research. Research aim The aim of this qualitative study is to explore organizational actions and systems that promote or denigrate trust among registered nurses and patient care aides (aides). Research design The study uses the Model of Psychological Contract as a theoretical framework. Focus groups were conducted to explore the concept of organizational (...) trust and the consequences of broken trust. Participants Registered nurses (RNs) (n=6) and aides (n=6) participated in the study. Six focus groups (three RN and three aide) were conducted, with two participants per group. Focus groups were conducted online. Ethical considerations The study's methods were reviewed by the University of Pittsburgh Institutional Review Board. Findings Among RNs and aides, a sense of trust and feeling valued were important to their sense of relationship with their employers. Trust was breached when resources were scarce, employees did not feel validated and listened to, and problems were not addressed. RNs and aides described feeling devalued when compensation practices were unjust or inequitable, they had limited autonomy, and the employer created an organizational climate where business needs superceded human caring. Consequences of trust breach included burnout, dejection, and feelings of non-belonging. Discussion Tangible organizational resources (compensation and staffing) and intangible resources (value, respect, autonomy) are important to RNs and aides alike. Inability to provide these resources diminishes trust and even causes a sense of betrayal. Conclusion Future research can explore the concepts of organizational justice and interventions to restore lost trust and improve healthcare worker well-being. This is one of only a few identified studies to explore organizational factors and well-being among aides and more research among this healthcare worker population is warranted. (shrink)

Background: Today, healthcare organizations are challenged to retain nurses’ generation and to maintain justice that is a predictor of nurses’ behaviors in their work environment. Acquiring knowledge about the level of organizational justice and workplace deviance could help in identifying factors amenable for change that can make a difference in enhancing nurses’ dedication and loyalty to their organizations. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate nurses’ perception of organisational justice and workplace deviance in their hospital, and to (...) determine the relationship between perceived organisational justice and workplace deviance. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used with a convenient sample of all nurses (N = 400) who were working in inpatient care units at two Egyptian hospitals affiliated to the university and private health sectors in Alexandria governorate, Egypt. Organisational justice and workplace deviance questionnaires proved valid and reliable to measure studied variables. Descriptive analysis, Student’s t-test, Pearson correlation (r), and regression analysis (R2) were used for statistical analysis. Ethical considerations: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee at the Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University. Informed consent, information confidentiality, and voluntary participation were guaranteed. Results: This study showed that overall nurses’ perceptions of organisational justice and workplace deviance are lower than the average. Organisational justice significantly related negatively to workplace deviance (r = −0.152, p = 0.002) and organisational justice as an independent variable contributed a significant predictive power of workplace deviance (R2 = 0.023). Conclusions: This study highlighted important implications for hospital and nurse managers to create and maintain a healthy and supportive work environment that promotes organisational justice and decreases workplace deviance. To achieve this, a culture of respectful communication, justice in policies, and a proper procedure for allocating resources, workload, and rewards systems is a must. Educational interventions to increase nurses’ awareness of workplace deviance and its potential consequences and coping strategies are imperative for the health of the nursing profession. (shrink)

Despite the appeal of the stakeholder concept, little work had been done with respect to the development of specific structures for the management of stakeholder relations. This paper draws upon the organizational justice literature to demonstrate how many of its concerns coincide with those of the stakeholder management literature. It shows that organizational justice can provide specific advice for the design of stakeholder relations, while stakeholder theory can broaden the scope of current inquiries into organizational justice.

This article uses Acker's theory of gendered organizations to frame an analysis of the ways in which policies and practices in a men's and a women's prison reflect and reproduce gendered inequalities. The article offers a working definition of one of Acker's key theoretical concepts, the notion of “gendered organizational logic.” Then, using interview data collected from correctional officers in a men's and a women's prison, the article examines the ways in which officer training and assignments, although designed to (...) be nominally generic, assume a male worker and disproportionately benefit male officers working in men's institutions. These findings imply that the perspective could more usefully be conceived as a theory of “masculinized” organizations. (shrink)

Proper functionalism explicates epistemic warrant in terms of the function and normal functioning of the belief-forming process. There are two standard substantive views of the sources of functions in the literature in epistemology: God (intelligent design) or Mother Nature (evolution by natural selection). Both appear to confront the Swampman objection: couldn’t there be a mind with warranted beliefs neither designed by God nor the product of evolution by natural selection? Is there another substantive view that avoids the Swampman objection? (...) There are two. The first is the generalized selected-effects theory of functions. The second is the organizational theory of functions. Both, however, require some history to assign functions, for both are etiological theories of functions: past effects help explain current function. Swampman can then acquire functions, perhaps soon after creation, though he has none at the moment of inception. (shrink)

. American businesses and corporate executives are faced with a serious problem the loss of public confidence. Public criticism, increased government controls, and growing expectations for improved financial performance and accountability have accompanied this decline in trust. Traditional approaches to corporate governance, typified by agency theory and stakeholder theory, have been expensive to direct and have focused on short-term profits and organizational systems that fail to achieve desired results. We explain why the organizational governance theories are fundamentally, inadequate (...) to build trust. We advance a conceptual framework based on stewardship theory characterized by “covenantal relationships” and argue that design of governance mechanisms using a covenantal approach is more effective in building trust in organizations. A covenantal relationship is a specialized form of a relational contract between an employee and his or her organization. We argue that regardless of incentives and control mechanisms carefully designed through contractual mechanisms, in the absence of covenantal relationships it is extremely difficult to build trust within organizations. We propose that organizations are more likely to build trust – both at the organizational level and at the interpersonal level – when they create reinforcing and integrated systems that honor implied duties of “covenantal relationships.”. (shrink)

How is it that ordinary people decide to take part in genocides? Philosophers and psychologists have attempted to provide explanations of how genocidal organizations bear on the moral judgement of genocide participants. Here, I resituate those findings within the field of human resource management. I highlight how basic principles of management and HR management can lead ordinary individuals to judge their participation in a genocide as acceptable. Although initially only designed to increase motivation and productivity, these techniques also affect individuals’ (...) awareness of ethical issues. Consequently, participants shift their judgements in favour of the genocidal organization, forgetting the victims. Management studies have seldom addressed the topic of genocide, despite clues in the literature that genocides are organizational in nature. By combining the three fields of management, business ethics and genocide studies within an approach based on transdisciplinary analysis, I hope to show that genocides constitute a legitimate subject for management studies. (shrink)

There is a need of further research to understand how social capital in the organization can be fostered. Existing literature focuses on the design of reciprocity norms, procedures and stability employment practices as the main levers of social capital in the workplace. Complementary to these mechanisms, this paper explores the impact of ethical managerial behaviour on the development of social capital. We argue that a managerial behaviour based on the true concern for the well-being of employees, as well as (...) their motivational and ethical development, can be particularly important for the generation of social capital in the organization. It is suggested that manager's behaviour should be based on three principles: following examplary behaviour, helping the employees to value the consequences of their actions in other persons, and not betraying employee's trust. When the manager conforms to those principles, he can ease the process through which employees develop associability and identification-based trust with the firm, the two main components of 'Organizational Social Capital'. Bringing ethics into the debate of social capital creation seems to us fundamental, as social capital in the firm is likely to be influenced by the ethical and motivational development of its members. (shrink)