The Influence of Business Cultures in Europe, 2017
The socioeconomic and political history of Germany is marked by forces working towards both inter... more The socioeconomic and political history of Germany is marked by forces working towards both international openness and provincial governance marked by corporatism. Coping with a succession of catastrophic events led to a unique combination of the capacity for the standardized management of large-scale problems with the case and situation specific solving of problems. A profession and occupation specific regulation of work and human resources led to a reluctance to accept general management ideas. Business and management institutions have become geared to the prevalence of medium-sized industrial enterprises, with technically demanding products and an orientation towards international markets, organized and run to resemble “well-oiled machines”. The institutional patterns of capitalism are marked by more long-term orientation and a lesser importance of stock markets. In management culture, this shows in the propensity to prepare for contingencies and uncertainty, in cohesive work forces with an emphasis on direct and sober interaction.
Challenges for European Management in a Global Context, 2002
One of the recurrent themes in international organization studies is what happens to organization... more One of the recurrent themes in international organization studies is what happens to organizational practices as enterprises are increasingly exposed to internationalizing influences. Such influences can be divided into two main areas: 1. On the one hand, enterprise activities are internationalized through exposure to customers, suppliers or alliances outside a society or domestic economy of origin, regulated by common and relatively homogeneous institutions. This kind of internationalization culminates in the formation of a multinational company if and when non-marginal company functions are localized in subsidiaries outside the country of origin. 2. On the other hand, even enterprises which are not internationalized or multinational are subject to competitive pressures, regulatory norms and imitation influences, which emerge from an international search for good or best organizational practices. This debate continues, partly under new auspices, along a well-established track, which focuses on the extent of and explanations for convergence and divergence. The literature has used these concepts in different ways. An authoritative definition by reputed scholars states that: ‘The subject of organizational convergence is concerned with how far organizations in different countries have traveled along a path to global convergence in operations and management and, conversely, how far the influence of specific cultural factors must be understood and planned for if the manager is to be effective in cross-cultural situations’ (Pugh and Hickson 1996: 3899; see also the overview in Geppert et al. this volume, based on Child, 2000).
SAMENVATTING Samenwerken is een strategie die door allerlei bedrijven wordt toegepast. Denk bijvo... more SAMENVATTING Samenwerken is een strategie die door allerlei bedrijven wordt toegepast. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan samenwerking op het gebied van R&D, productontwikkeling of logistiek. Ook bij het betreden van internationale markten kan samenwerking interessant zijn, de partner kan hierbij bijvoorbeeld specifieke marktkennis of benodigd kapitaal leveren. In dit artikel kijken we naar het internationalisatieproces van Nederlandse MKB-bedrijven, en de keuze die zij maken om al of niet met andere organisaties samen te werken. Het onderzoek richt zich op twee zeer verschillende sectoren; de metaalindustrie en de softwaresector. We verwachten dat MKB-bedrijven vooral zullen kiezen voor een coöperatieve strategie boven een autonome strategie en dat deze keuze met name wordt genomen vanuit ‘resource dependency’ overwegingen. Uit de resultaten blijkt dat de MKBbedrijven een evolutionair internationalisatiepad volgen en dat de meerderheid inderdaad een coöperatieve internationalisatiestrategie pre...
Two years ago, I embarked on this project not really knowing what I was getting myself into. I wa... more Two years ago, I embarked on this project not really knowing what I was getting myself into. I was driven by the sheer lack of teaching material in the field of comparative international management. It was hard, if not impossible, to find material that was accessible for my undergraduate and graduate students, and that would provide them with a broad and critical view on international business or international management. Now, two years on, and looking back on the process of writing and redrafting, I must admit that the challenge of writing a truly comparative international textbook, covering as many topics as we have in this book, was often a daunting task and could not have been completed without the unfailing support of my colleagues and co-authors. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to them. I am also most grateful to Ad van Iterson from
Social scientists often use everyday words in a very restricted way. In the process, a lot of the... more Social scientists often use everyday words in a very restricted way. In the process, a lot of the commonsense meaning is lost. This paper is devoted to two such words, 'organisation' and 'culture'. The argument is that the loss in commonsense-meaning by being defined too narrowly has also been a loss to social science. The discussion goes on to explore the wider meaning of these two terms and how this may help increase understanding in organisation behaviour.
The focus of this exploratory study is on the international organizational renewal strategies of ... more The focus of this exploratory study is on the international organizational renewal strategies of small- and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). We are interested particularly in whether firms' actions of internationalization are of an explorative or exploitative nature and whether firms' use of exploration and exploitation actions evolves over time. We examine the impact of firm and industry characteristics and focus on the relationship between explorative and exploitative behavior and the level of integration of the firm's international activities (autonomous vs. co-operative strategies). We include two sectors: an 'old economy' sector (i.e. mechanical engineering) and a 'new economy' sector (i.e. software production). Our study shows that conceptual development in this area needs further improvement. Empirical findings indicate that industry is indeed a major determinant of the use of renewal strategies by SMEs.
The literature has largely tended to consider organizations as distinct from societal processes a... more The literature has largely tended to consider organizations as distinct from societal processes and institutions, and to emphasize convergent and 'culture-free' elements of organization. By cross-national comparisons of closely matched factories in France, West Germany, and Great Britain, this paper shows that more pervasive differences exist than are usually recognized. Organizational processes of differentiation and inte gration can be seen to consistently interact with processes of educating, training, recruiting, and promoting manpower, so that both develop within an institutional logic that is particular to a society, and bring about nationally different shapes of organiza tion. Organizational differences can thus be considered as linked to different extents and dimensions of professionalty. Comparisons show that a multidimensional concept of professionality is called for, in contrast to the one-sided emphasis on the social status and formal knowledge dimension usually ...
We examine empirically how an organization that deliberately enhances interpersonal trus... more We examine empirically how an organization that deliberately enhances interpersonal trust to become a significant organizational phenomenon, is different from a similar organization without explicit trust enhancement policies. The point of departure is relational signalling theory, which says that trust is a function of consistently giving off signals that indicate credible concern, to potential trustors. A matched pair of two consulting organizations, with different trust policies but otherwise similar characteristics, were studied intensively, using survey research, participant observation and half-open interviewing, focused on the generation of trust and the handling of trouble when trust was threatened or destroyed. A higher stage of trust can be reached by an inter-related set of policies: promoting a relationship-oriented culture, facilitation of unambiguous signalling, consistent induction training, creating opportunities for meeting informally, and the day-to-day management of competencies. Such policies are in principle independent of recognized contextual contingencies.
SMEs are increasingly active in international markets. Absence of sufficient resources limits the... more SMEs are increasingly active in international markets. Absence of sufficient resources limits the strategic options available to SMEs. This study examines SMEs’ use of the cooperation strategy to internationalise, both from a cross-sectional and longitudinal perspective. An analysis of data collected in 54 multinational SMEs operating in technology-driven industries suggests an inverted U-shaped relationship between SMEs’ size and their tendency
For thirty years bodies of the EU (earlier: EEC = European Economic Community, then EC = European... more For thirty years bodies of the EU (earlier: EEC = European Economic Community, then EC = European Communities) have dealt with drafts of a European Company (SE) statute, destined for multinational enterprises, before a new version of the Statute came into force in 2001. There was in particular, with regard to any given draft, controversy around regulations concerning participation and co-determination. In the long run, there has been an increasing tendency towards re-nationalisation of co-determination regulations, and towards rather rudimentary material rights of participation. More general re-nationalisation tendencies and the international ascendancy of industrial relations following AngloAmerican rather than “Rhenish” patterns had an important role in this development. But it could also be seen that “apolitical” social research was able to anticipate or predict a good part of the regulation so painfully established: Enterprise-specific design of European Works Councils linked up...
Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Sorge, Arndt: Organisationskulturen: realer Hintergrun... more Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Sorge, Arndt: Organisationskulturen: realer Hintergrund und soziologische Bedeutung einer Modewelle. In: Haller, Max (Ed.) ; Hoffmann-Nowotny, Hans-Joachim (Ed.) ; Zapf, Wolfgang (Ed.) ; Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie (DGS) (Ed.): Kultur und Gesellschaft: Verhandlungen des 24. Deutschen Soziologentags, des 11. Österreichischen Soziologentags und des 8. Kongresses der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Soziologie in Zürich 1988. Frankfurt am Main : Campus Verl., 1989. ISBN 3-593-34156-5, 193-210.. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-148905
A conference examined the socioeconomic challenges of technological and educational change throug... more A conference examined the socioeconomic challenges of technological and educational change throughout the European community. One hundred fifty representatives from a cross section of countries and agencies involved in education, training, and employment gathered to discuss the following themes: the transition from initial training to employment with specific reference to the new technologies and the need for vocational education; training needs of management, employers, and employees in regard to new technologies; information technology and a changing society; and polarization or depolarization of qualification structures. The following were the main conclusions of the conference. Qualifications are not directly and narrowly determined by technical innovation. The relationship between present and future job contents and training is indirect and complex, and a cew relationship between education and training is needed to master skills in a future job. Although they may be unaware of it, politicians, trade unions, and employers play an important role in exercising choices shaping education and training arrangements and technological change. The considerable need for adult training and retraining has made consideration of new training methods an urgent matter. Small and medium-sized enterprises are faced with special problems, including greater difficulties in administering systematic training, and often a lower capacity for technical innovation. (MN)
The Influence of Business Cultures in Europe, 2017
The socioeconomic and political history of Germany is marked by forces working towards both inter... more The socioeconomic and political history of Germany is marked by forces working towards both international openness and provincial governance marked by corporatism. Coping with a succession of catastrophic events led to a unique combination of the capacity for the standardized management of large-scale problems with the case and situation specific solving of problems. A profession and occupation specific regulation of work and human resources led to a reluctance to accept general management ideas. Business and management institutions have become geared to the prevalence of medium-sized industrial enterprises, with technically demanding products and an orientation towards international markets, organized and run to resemble “well-oiled machines”. The institutional patterns of capitalism are marked by more long-term orientation and a lesser importance of stock markets. In management culture, this shows in the propensity to prepare for contingencies and uncertainty, in cohesive work forces with an emphasis on direct and sober interaction.
Challenges for European Management in a Global Context, 2002
One of the recurrent themes in international organization studies is what happens to organization... more One of the recurrent themes in international organization studies is what happens to organizational practices as enterprises are increasingly exposed to internationalizing influences. Such influences can be divided into two main areas: 1. On the one hand, enterprise activities are internationalized through exposure to customers, suppliers or alliances outside a society or domestic economy of origin, regulated by common and relatively homogeneous institutions. This kind of internationalization culminates in the formation of a multinational company if and when non-marginal company functions are localized in subsidiaries outside the country of origin. 2. On the other hand, even enterprises which are not internationalized or multinational are subject to competitive pressures, regulatory norms and imitation influences, which emerge from an international search for good or best organizational practices. This debate continues, partly under new auspices, along a well-established track, which focuses on the extent of and explanations for convergence and divergence. The literature has used these concepts in different ways. An authoritative definition by reputed scholars states that: ‘The subject of organizational convergence is concerned with how far organizations in different countries have traveled along a path to global convergence in operations and management and, conversely, how far the influence of specific cultural factors must be understood and planned for if the manager is to be effective in cross-cultural situations’ (Pugh and Hickson 1996: 3899; see also the overview in Geppert et al. this volume, based on Child, 2000).
SAMENVATTING Samenwerken is een strategie die door allerlei bedrijven wordt toegepast. Denk bijvo... more SAMENVATTING Samenwerken is een strategie die door allerlei bedrijven wordt toegepast. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan samenwerking op het gebied van R&D, productontwikkeling of logistiek. Ook bij het betreden van internationale markten kan samenwerking interessant zijn, de partner kan hierbij bijvoorbeeld specifieke marktkennis of benodigd kapitaal leveren. In dit artikel kijken we naar het internationalisatieproces van Nederlandse MKB-bedrijven, en de keuze die zij maken om al of niet met andere organisaties samen te werken. Het onderzoek richt zich op twee zeer verschillende sectoren; de metaalindustrie en de softwaresector. We verwachten dat MKB-bedrijven vooral zullen kiezen voor een coöperatieve strategie boven een autonome strategie en dat deze keuze met name wordt genomen vanuit ‘resource dependency’ overwegingen. Uit de resultaten blijkt dat de MKBbedrijven een evolutionair internationalisatiepad volgen en dat de meerderheid inderdaad een coöperatieve internationalisatiestrategie pre...
Two years ago, I embarked on this project not really knowing what I was getting myself into. I wa... more Two years ago, I embarked on this project not really knowing what I was getting myself into. I was driven by the sheer lack of teaching material in the field of comparative international management. It was hard, if not impossible, to find material that was accessible for my undergraduate and graduate students, and that would provide them with a broad and critical view on international business or international management. Now, two years on, and looking back on the process of writing and redrafting, I must admit that the challenge of writing a truly comparative international textbook, covering as many topics as we have in this book, was often a daunting task and could not have been completed without the unfailing support of my colleagues and co-authors. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to them. I am also most grateful to Ad van Iterson from
Social scientists often use everyday words in a very restricted way. In the process, a lot of the... more Social scientists often use everyday words in a very restricted way. In the process, a lot of the commonsense meaning is lost. This paper is devoted to two such words, 'organisation' and 'culture'. The argument is that the loss in commonsense-meaning by being defined too narrowly has also been a loss to social science. The discussion goes on to explore the wider meaning of these two terms and how this may help increase understanding in organisation behaviour.
The focus of this exploratory study is on the international organizational renewal strategies of ... more The focus of this exploratory study is on the international organizational renewal strategies of small- and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). We are interested particularly in whether firms' actions of internationalization are of an explorative or exploitative nature and whether firms' use of exploration and exploitation actions evolves over time. We examine the impact of firm and industry characteristics and focus on the relationship between explorative and exploitative behavior and the level of integration of the firm's international activities (autonomous vs. co-operative strategies). We include two sectors: an 'old economy' sector (i.e. mechanical engineering) and a 'new economy' sector (i.e. software production). Our study shows that conceptual development in this area needs further improvement. Empirical findings indicate that industry is indeed a major determinant of the use of renewal strategies by SMEs.
The literature has largely tended to consider organizations as distinct from societal processes a... more The literature has largely tended to consider organizations as distinct from societal processes and institutions, and to emphasize convergent and 'culture-free' elements of organization. By cross-national comparisons of closely matched factories in France, West Germany, and Great Britain, this paper shows that more pervasive differences exist than are usually recognized. Organizational processes of differentiation and inte gration can be seen to consistently interact with processes of educating, training, recruiting, and promoting manpower, so that both develop within an institutional logic that is particular to a society, and bring about nationally different shapes of organiza tion. Organizational differences can thus be considered as linked to different extents and dimensions of professionalty. Comparisons show that a multidimensional concept of professionality is called for, in contrast to the one-sided emphasis on the social status and formal knowledge dimension usually ...
We examine empirically how an organization that deliberately enhances interpersonal trus... more We examine empirically how an organization that deliberately enhances interpersonal trust to become a significant organizational phenomenon, is different from a similar organization without explicit trust enhancement policies. The point of departure is relational signalling theory, which says that trust is a function of consistently giving off signals that indicate credible concern, to potential trustors. A matched pair of two consulting organizations, with different trust policies but otherwise similar characteristics, were studied intensively, using survey research, participant observation and half-open interviewing, focused on the generation of trust and the handling of trouble when trust was threatened or destroyed. A higher stage of trust can be reached by an inter-related set of policies: promoting a relationship-oriented culture, facilitation of unambiguous signalling, consistent induction training, creating opportunities for meeting informally, and the day-to-day management of competencies. Such policies are in principle independent of recognized contextual contingencies.
SMEs are increasingly active in international markets. Absence of sufficient resources limits the... more SMEs are increasingly active in international markets. Absence of sufficient resources limits the strategic options available to SMEs. This study examines SMEs’ use of the cooperation strategy to internationalise, both from a cross-sectional and longitudinal perspective. An analysis of data collected in 54 multinational SMEs operating in technology-driven industries suggests an inverted U-shaped relationship between SMEs’ size and their tendency
For thirty years bodies of the EU (earlier: EEC = European Economic Community, then EC = European... more For thirty years bodies of the EU (earlier: EEC = European Economic Community, then EC = European Communities) have dealt with drafts of a European Company (SE) statute, destined for multinational enterprises, before a new version of the Statute came into force in 2001. There was in particular, with regard to any given draft, controversy around regulations concerning participation and co-determination. In the long run, there has been an increasing tendency towards re-nationalisation of co-determination regulations, and towards rather rudimentary material rights of participation. More general re-nationalisation tendencies and the international ascendancy of industrial relations following AngloAmerican rather than “Rhenish” patterns had an important role in this development. But it could also be seen that “apolitical” social research was able to anticipate or predict a good part of the regulation so painfully established: Enterprise-specific design of European Works Councils linked up...
Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Sorge, Arndt: Organisationskulturen: realer Hintergrun... more Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Sorge, Arndt: Organisationskulturen: realer Hintergrund und soziologische Bedeutung einer Modewelle. In: Haller, Max (Ed.) ; Hoffmann-Nowotny, Hans-Joachim (Ed.) ; Zapf, Wolfgang (Ed.) ; Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie (DGS) (Ed.): Kultur und Gesellschaft: Verhandlungen des 24. Deutschen Soziologentags, des 11. Österreichischen Soziologentags und des 8. Kongresses der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Soziologie in Zürich 1988. Frankfurt am Main : Campus Verl., 1989. ISBN 3-593-34156-5, 193-210.. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-148905
A conference examined the socioeconomic challenges of technological and educational change throug... more A conference examined the socioeconomic challenges of technological and educational change throughout the European community. One hundred fifty representatives from a cross section of countries and agencies involved in education, training, and employment gathered to discuss the following themes: the transition from initial training to employment with specific reference to the new technologies and the need for vocational education; training needs of management, employers, and employees in regard to new technologies; information technology and a changing society; and polarization or depolarization of qualification structures. The following were the main conclusions of the conference. Qualifications are not directly and narrowly determined by technical innovation. The relationship between present and future job contents and training is indirect and complex, and a cew relationship between education and training is needed to master skills in a future job. Although they may be unaware of it, politicians, trade unions, and employers play an important role in exercising choices shaping education and training arrangements and technological change. The considerable need for adult training and retraining has made consideration of new training methods an urgent matter. Small and medium-sized enterprises are faced with special problems, including greater difficulties in administering systematic training, and often a lower capacity for technical innovation. (MN)
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