Administrative Science Quarterly Table of Contents Alert: September 2023, Vol. 68, No. 3
Announcing the newest issue of ASQ! We have two papers tackling equity and inclusion. Whether you study markets, organizations, teams, or individuals, this issue has something for everyone. Along with four terrific book reviews, you will find recognition of the two award-winning papers that were announced at the Academy of Management meetings in Boston. Enjoy!
The Dynamics of Team Learning: Harmony and Rhythm in Teamwork Arrangements for Innovation
Jean-François Harvey, Johnathan R. Cromwell, Kevin J. Johnson, and Amy C. Edmondson
Drawing from music theory, the authors theorize how a team's performance depends on temporal dynamics: how and when innovation teams combine their learning activities. Within the same teamwork episode, some learning activities combine to have harmonious positive effects on performance (e.g., all exploitation), and others combine to have dissonant negative effects (e.g., combining exploration and exploitation). For teams to achieve a positive rhythm of team learning, dissonant activities of exploration and exploitation must be spread across teamwork episodes.
Blog post is here.
The Equality Policy Paradox: Gender Differences in How Managers Implement Gender Equality‒Related Policies
Vanessa M. Conzon
Conzon finds that female managers (who openly support gender equality) are more likely than male managers to limit employees' use of flexible work policies. Why this equality policy paradox? Female managers are rewarded for their engagement with subordinates, and these interactions are made more difficult by flexible policies. Male managers, in contrast, focus on technical and client work rather than active supervision of employees. These differences in role performance lead women managers to be more resistant to flexible policies than men managers in this organization.
Blog post is here.
Resourcing a Technological Portfolio: How Fairtown Hospital Preserved Results While Degrading Its Older Surgical Robot
Matthew Beane
What happens to old technology when new technology is introduced? When the hospital studied here purchased a new surgical robot, the new robot was given the best operating rooms, and less-experienced surgeons and staff were assigned to it so they could gain skills. To maintain results, more-experienced surgeons found ways to make do with the old technology without negative patient outcomes -and cope with the stress of doing so. This prevented the hospital from recognizing the deterioration of the old technology as a result of how resources had been allocated.
The Aesthetic Evolution of Product Categories
Anders Dahl Krabbe and Stine Grodal
Why did e-cigarettes start with a cigarette aesthetic and morph to that of a USB drive? Or mobile phones from metallic squares to colorful devices with soft contours? Drawing on the history of hearing aids, the authors investigate how radial aesthetic change (i.e., from decorative to bodily to high tech) accompanies category transformation when faced with cultural-category misalignment and new product forms. Without misalignment preceding a new product form, the dominant aesthetic is elaborated but not changed.
Doing Organizational Identity: Earnings Surprises and the Performative Atypicality Premium
Paul Gouvard, Amir Goldberg, and Sameer B. Srivastava
How do organizations reconcile pressures to fit in or stand out? Most research has focused on categorical atypicality, determined by an organization's products and services. Yet how organizations interact with stakeholders can create a different type of atypicality (think of Elon Musk at Tesla). This "performative atypicality" can lead to evaluation premiums, especially when those interactions align with that of celebrated innovators. The results deepen our understanding of when and how organizations benefit from or are penalized by atypicality.
Artisanal or Just Half-Baked: Competing Collective Identities and Location Choice Among French Bakeries
Laura Dupin and Filippo Carlo Wezel
How do firms decide where to locate? Studying French artisan bakers, Dupin and Wezel found that traditionalists (who emphasize autonomy) and modernists (who seek consistency) chose locations where those with the same identity had previously been located. Although firms generally seek to distance themselves from competitors, the authors demonstrate how collective identities shape location choices in unexpected ways. Traditionalists are more likely to locate near the upstart modernists, seeing themselves as more distinctive than their modernist competitors.
Blog post is here.
(Not) Paying for Diversity: Repugnant Market Concerns Associated with Transactional Approaches to Diversity Recruitment
Summer R. Jackson
What keeps firms from succeeding in their DEI initiatives? In an ethnography of a technology company, Jackson found that when recruiting racial minority candidates, managers balked at using some of the same transactional platforms they used for recruiting traditional candidates. Managers perceived these platforms as objectifying, exploiting, and targeting racial minority candidates and preferred platforms with a developmental approach. An unintentional consequence of this managerial resistance was the hiring of diverse employees at lower levels in the organizational hierarchy.
Book Reviews
Martin Kornberger. Strategies for Distributed and Collective Action: Connecting the Dots
Elisabeth S. Clemens
Erica S. Simmons and Nicholas Rush Smith (eds.). Rethinking Comparison: Innovative Methods for Qualitative Political Inquiry
Jennifer Woolley
Thomas Piketty. A Brief History of Equality, translated by Steven Rendall
Mike Savage
David Gelles. The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America-and How to Undo His Legacy
Christopher McKenna
Many of our articles are featured on Henrich Greve's blog site Organizational Musings. Our student-run ASQ Blog features interviews with ASQ authors that offer insights into the research and writing process. To stay informed, connect with ASQ on social media: follow us on Twitter (@ASQJournal) and LinkedIn.
Christine Beckman, University of Southern California
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Christine Beckman
University of Southern California
Los Angeles CA
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