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A Study On Organizational Alertness In Enterprises’ Change Decision-making

Posted on:2015-07-18Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:H H HuFull Text:PDF
GTID:1109330467950861Subject:Entrepreneurial management
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As comprehensively deepening reform and opening up in China, the SMEs are stepping into the fifth phase of transformation and upgrading. Facing the business environment’s dynamism, intense global competition, normalization of business model innovation, popularization of crossover cooperation and coexistence of opportunities and threats, some traditional Chinese companies successfully remapped the business landscape (e.g., Geely, Chint and Wanxiang), and some new ventures successfully rooted and grew in new industrial sections (e.g., Xiaomi and91Wireless). However, some former superstars, missed the opportunities to change, ignored the threats and fell into terminal decline, like UTStarcom, Suntech, Lining and so on. If looking wider, the failure cases of Kodak and Blackberry showed the brutal reality in global industry revolution. So, why some companies could stay alert to the opportunity and threats and grow great by choice? This is our basic research question.Based on the literature of entrepreneurial alertness, utilizing the organizational cognition theory and several related perspectives (attention-based theory, organizational learning and organizational change), this study looked into the question that how organizational alertness is emerging, developing and functioning under the context of enterprises’decision-making in business transformation and upgrading, which including three theoretical issues:(1) identifying the characteristics of Chinese companies’decision-making in change and developing and validating the multi-dimensional construct of organizational alertness in the change decision-making context (Study1);(2) delineating the generation and evolvement mechanism of organizational alertness under change decision-making context (Study2);(3) exploring the effect mechanism of organizational alertness on the organizational change actions (Study3). In response to the above issues, three studies were conducted.Study1developed the construct framework of organizational alertness in the context of decision-making in change. Applying qualitative cross-case study method, I firstly analyzed the contextual characteristics of enterprises’change decision-making events, than explored specific organizational alertness behaviors in these key change-decision events. Based on the cross-case analysis, a four-dimensional of organizational alertness were extracted, including multi-source attending, interactive anticipating, prospective judging and goal inspiring. Later, I empirically tested the construct of organizational alertness in the change decision-making context. In the phase of scale development, a18-item organizational alertness scale with four dimensions were developed, based on the literature review and9semi-structural interviews with different companies, then, by using the data from126companies, the exploratory factor analysis revealed a14-item scale with four distinct dimensions; in the phase of scale validation,149companies were surveyed and the confirmatory factor analysis results showed the four-factor model fit best.Study2examined the generation and concurrency mechanism of organizational alertness in the enterprises’change decision-making process. This study was divided into two sub-studies. In the first one, based on the organizational learning41framework, I utilized the longitudinal case study method and described the contributing and restraining factors in each critical process of organizational alertness. In the second sub-study, by using the attention-based theory, results of questionnaire survey (N=101, from three different industrial sectors) showed that the interaction between business model innovation and social networks had significant impact on organizational alertness in the change decision-making process. Moreover, decision complexity moderated the relationship between time urgency and organizational alertness, that when companies involved in the highly complex decision task, the relationship between time urgency and organizational alertness was positively strengthened.Study3demonstrated the mechanism of organizational alertness on two types of change actions (incremental change action and radical change action). There were also two sub-studies. In the sub-study1, by applying the information processing theory, resource-based view and organizational ambidexterity theory as the framework, the mediating role of organizational reflexivity, and organizational responsiveness were examined, and the zoom-out and zoom-in effects were relatively found. Empirical results from large-scale companies in Zhejiang province (N=109) showed organizational reflexivity mediated the relationship between organizational alertness and radical change action (the zoom-out effect), and organizational responsiveness mediated the relationship between incremental change action (the zoom-in effect). Moreover, there was a strong interactive effect of incremental change and radical change on organizational effectiveness (market performance and emplyoee satisfaction). In the sub-study2, based on the "organization-environment" fit theory, the interactive mechanism between organizational alertness and industrial competitive intensity was examined with the method of scenario simulation and experiment. The results showed that the interaction between organizational alertness and competitive intensity had significant impact on radical change action. Specifically, when the industry was characterized as highly competitive, the more alert companies would prefer radical change action.Based on the results above, key theoretical contributions were summarized in regards to why some companies are more alert during the business transformation and upgrading. Finally, managerial implications as well as limitations and future research directions were discussed.
Keywords/Search Tags:organizational alertness, organizational learning, attention-based theory, resource-based view, decision-making in change
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