Caren Siehl and Joanne Martin discuss how the quantity of organizational culture research has increased dramatically during the last decade (e.g., Barley, Meyer, & Gash, 1988), in part because so much of it has held out a tantalizing promise: that culture may be a key to enhancing financial performance.
Research and Insights Archive
Research and Insights from the Center for Effective Organizations
Available Content
Alternative Pay Systems, Firm Performance and Productivity
D. Mitchell, D. Lewin and Edward E. Lawler III explain that the 1970s and 1980s are perceived, with hindsight, as periods of economic change and adjustment. Given that environment, a willingness to experiment in human resource (HR) practices developed, including practices relating to compensation systems.
The Shaping of Creativity in Organizations
Nirmal K. Sethia analyzes the distinctive attributes of creative individuals and resources required for creative work. The knowledge thus gleaned is used for illustrating how creativity is shaped significantly by its organizational context, in particular, by leadership, organizational structure, and reward system.
Designing Performance Appraisal Systems
Allan M. Mohrman, Susan M. Resnick-West and Edward E. Lawler III. (Jossey-Bass, 1989)
Designing performance appraisal systems is no longer the back room task for experts that it used to be. For appraisal systems to be central to the management of the business and useful to employees, it is critical that the entire organization be involved in their design.
Organizational Impact of Executive Compensation
Edward E. Lawler III states that reward systems are one of the most prominent and frequently discussed features of organizations. Indeed, the literature in organizational behavior and personnel management is replete with the examples of their functional as well as their dysfunctional role in organizations.
New Organization Forms for Competitiveness
Jay R. Galbraith reports that the Center Project on Organizing in 1990’s is examining what manufacturing firms are doing to change their organizations to become more competitive in the 1990’s.
Corporate Restructuring Team
This case by Susan G. Cohen explores the functioning of a top management team, charged with the responsibility of restructuring a rapidly growing, high-involvement firm.
Personality Measures as a Selection Tool for High Involvement Organizations
R. Nathan, Gerald E. Ledford, David E. Bowen, and Thomas G. Cummings discuss how measures of growth needs and social needs from the Personality Research Form, or PRF (Jackson, 1984) are shown to be a valid selection tool for a high involvement organization, based on the criterion of performance in a content valid pre-employment training program.
Chief Executive Compensation: A Study of the Intersection of Markets and
A model of the determinants of chief executive (CEO) compensation is presented and tested by Sidney Finkelstein and Donald C. Hambrick.
International Competitiveness and the Design of Organizations
Many American businesses have lost their competitive advantage. But the focus of this paper by Edward E. Lawler III is not on proving the case, that has already been done; it is on what strategies organizations can take to recapture the advantage.
Technology and Global Strategies and Organizations
Jay Galbraith discusses how technology is viewed as a pervasive force bringing about today’s global competition.
Beyond the Clash: Managing High Tech Professionals
Susan Resnick-West and Mary Ann Von Glinow recall how on January 28, 1986 millions watched as the Spaceship Challenger blew up only seconds after take off. Some say the incident was avoidable. Hours before the tragedy, Thiokol project engineers pleaded with authorities to delay the launch.