Workshop on Organizational Structures and Alignments (Supported by: IISS Workshop, Jointly supported by: RIEB Seminar)

Date&Time Wednesday, February 5, 2014, 1:00pm-
Place RIEB Meeting Room (Annex 2nd floor)
Intended Audience Faculty, Graduate Students, Undergraduates, and People with Equivalent Knowledge
Language English
Note Copies of the paper will be available at Office of Promoting Research Collaboration

1:00pm～1:40pm

Speaker Joachim WOLF
Affiliation Kiel University
Topic Matrix Structures - For Which Firms Are They Appropriate and How Should Decisions Be Made?
Abstract While there has been little academic interest in matrix structures over the past 25 years, managers have clearly been busy changing and improving the way matrix structures function. Thus, it is important that scholars re-gain interest in this organizational form. In the first part of the presentation, I will try to outline for which firms (MNCs) the matrix structure is an appropriate organizational structure. Based on information-processing theory, strategy-structure fits will be presented and empirically tested. The presentation's second part will refer to the common view that firms using a matrix structures have a higher level of conflict than firms using an elementary structure. Based on an empirical study, it will be shown that only some types of matrix structures lead to higher levels of conflict. In the final part of the presentation, I will report on a qualitative research which explores how decision-making is (and should) be conducted in matrix structured firms.

1:40pm～2:20pm

Speaker Tomoki SEKIGUCHI
Affiliation Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University
Topic Management Fashions and Human Resource Management
Abstract This article reviews the literature on management fashion theory to understand the mechanism by which fashionable management techniques or practices emerge, rapidly gain popularity, diffuse in organizational fields, and finally fade. As a case of management fashions, the history and the trends of Japanese human resource practices after the collapse of the bubble economy are illustrated. The case indicates that management fashions in that period were in line with two different management fashion trends: The labor cost reduction and the effective management of a diverse workforce. Implications for strategy and human resource management are discussed.

2:20pm～2:40pm

Coffee Break

2:40pm～3:20pm

Speaker Martin HEMMERT
Affiliation School of Business, Korea University / Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University
Topic Relational Governance in New Product Development Collaborations: Evidence from Korea
Abstract A widely held belief suggests that interorganizational exchange in East Asia is governed by processes that are different from Western countries. With this study we seek to better understand the ways in which companies in East Asia govern interorganizational exchange to acquire external knowledge while achieving collaboration satisfaction. We disentangle the effects of relational and contractual governance on the performance of new product development (NPD) collaborations. Analysis of survey data from 119 new product development collaborations in South Korea provides some unique insights into the effects of governance mechanisms on the performance of East Asian NPD collaborations. While contractual governance does affect collaboration outcomes, its impact is weaker compared to the impact of relational governance. The combined use of contractual and relational governance should be considered with caution, as it reduces collaboration satisfaction. Relational governance facilitates favorable collaboration outcomes more so than developing detailed contractual safeguards. Managers engaged in NPD collaborations in East Asia should primarily focus on relational governance to enhance knowledge acquisition and relationship satisfaction.

3:20pm～4:00pm

Speaker Chie IGUCHI
Affiliation Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio University
Topic The Effects of Inter-Organizational Collaborative R&D Teams on MNEs' Innovation Systems
Abstract This research focuses on different pattern of R&D team members, e.g. inter-organizational collaborative R&D, to identify to what extent inter-organizational collaborative R&D teams have positive impacts on MNEs' innovation systems. We also look at types of organizations which MNEs' R&D teams are collaborating to analyze roles of different partners for MNEs' R&D.

4:00pm～4:10pm

Coffee Break

4:10pm～4:50pm

Speaker Nealia Sue BRUNING
Affiliation Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba / Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio University
Topic Expatriate and Organizational Alignment: Global Staffing Issues, Network Knowledge Exchange Relationships and International Performance Appraisals
Abstract The study focuses on knowledge transfer and role-making processes between expatriates and network partners in subsidiaries and home units; role alignment and performance appraisals. This presentation will present a literature review and proposed theoretical model. Knowledge of improved expatriate performance through better role alignment; and will help HR practitioners develop better performance appraisal systems across international contexts.

5:30pm～

After Session