IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/comaot/v23y2017i4d10.1007_s10588-016-9239-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Managerial influence on attitude formation in organizations: how to manage emergence

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Woensel

    (Free University of Amsterdam
    Department of Human Genetics)

  • Dick Gilder

    (Free University of Amsterdam)

  • Peter Besselaar

    (Free University of Amsterdam)

  • Peter Groenewegen

    (Free University of Amsterdam)

Abstract

The emergence of a shared attitude in organizations can be regarded as a self-organizing complex process in which a majority attitude emerges from the ensemble of interactions among individuals. Almost by definition, emerging processes seem beyond the control of management, which is in conflict with the task of management to steer an organization. By modeling the emergence of a shared attitude in organizations, we were able to demonstrate that management had a distinct influence on this process. Furthermore, the first round of interactions was decisive for the outcome. The key to influencing the emergence of a shared attitude is to reduce resistance against the preferred attitude. High levels of group conformity inhibited conversion to the preferred attitude. Although the emergence of a shared attitude can be influenced by management, there remains an intrinsic uncertainty in the outcomes of attitude development processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Woensel & Dick Gilder & Peter Besselaar & Peter Groenewegen, 2017. "Managerial influence on attitude formation in organizations: how to manage emergence," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 496-523, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:comaot:v:23:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s10588-016-9239-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10588-016-9239-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10588-016-9239-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10588-016-9239-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Todd H. Chiles & Alan D. Meyer & Thomas J. Hench, 2004. "Organizational Emergence: The Origin and Transformation of Branson, Missouri's Musical Theaters," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(5), pages 499-519, October.
    2. Alan D. Meyer & Vibha Gaba & Kenneth A. Colwell, 2005. "Organizing Far from Equilibrium: Nonlinear Change in Organizational Fields," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(5), pages 456-473, October.
    3. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    4. Philip Anderson, 1999. "Perspective: Complexity Theory and Organization Science," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(3), pages 216-232, June.
    5. Benoit Morel & Rangaraj Ramanujam, 1999. "Through the Looking Glass of Complexity: The Dynamics of Organizations as Adaptive and Evolving Systems," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(3), pages 278-293, June.
    6. R. A. Thiétart & B. Forgues, 1995. "Chaos Theory and Organization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(1), pages 19-31, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fabien Martinez, 2022. "Organizational change in response to environmental complexity: Insights from the business model innovation literature," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2299-2314, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bill McKelvey & Benyamin B. Lichtenstein & Pierpaolo Andriani, 2012. "When organisations and ecosystems interact: toward a law of requisite fractality in firms," International Journal of Complexity in Leadership and Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(1/2), pages 104-136.
    2. Phillips, Mark A. & Ritala, Paavo, 2019. "A complex adaptive systems agenda for ecosystem research methodology," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    3. Tamara Galkina & Irina Atkova, 2020. "Effectual Networks as Complex Adaptive Systems: Exploring Dynamic and Structural Factors of Emergence," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(5), pages 964-995, September.
    4. Devereux, Luke & Melewar, T.C. & Dinnie, Keith & Lange, Thomas, 2020. "Corporate identity orientation and disorientation: A complexity theory perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 413-424.
    5. Monika Winn & Manfred Kirchgeorg & Andrew Griffiths & Martina K. Linnenluecke & Elmar Günther, 2011. "Impacts from climate change on organizations: a conceptual foundation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 157-173, March.
    6. Arianna Dal Forno & Ugo Merlone, 2021. "Envy effects on conflict dynamics in supervised work groups," Decisions in Economics and Finance, Springer;Associazione per la Matematica, vol. 44(2), pages 755-779, December.
    7. Sergey Samoilenko, 2008. "Information systems fitness and risk in IS development: Insights and implications from chaos and complex systems theories," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 10(3), pages 281-292, July.
    8. Verena Komander & Andreas König, 2024. "Organizations on stage: organizational research and the performing arts," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 303-352, February.
    9. Deborah Dougherty & Danielle D. Dunne, 2011. "Organizing Ecologies of Complex Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1214-1223, October.
    10. Brice Dattée & James Barlow, 2017. "Multilevel Organizational Adaptation: Scale Invariance in the Scottish Healthcare System," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(2), pages 301-319, April.
    11. Accard, Philippe, 2015. "Complex hierarchy: The strategic advantages of a trade-off between hierarchical supervision and self-organizing," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 89-103.
    12. Ekinci, Esra & Mangla, Sachin Kumar & Kazancoglu, Yigit & Sarma, P.R.S. & Sezer, Muruvvet Deniz & Ozbiltekin-Pala, Melisa, 2022. "Resilience and complexity measurement for energy efficient global supply chains in disruptive events," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    13. Paul‐Brian McInerney, 2008. "Showdown at Kykuit: Field‐Configuring Events as Loci for Conventionalizing Accounts," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(6), pages 1089-1116, September.
    14. Jonathan Levie & Benyamin B. Lichtenstein, 2010. "A Terminal Assessment of Stages Theory: Introducing a Dynamic States Approach to Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(2), pages 317-350, March.
    15. Christo Coetzee & Dewald Niekerk & Emmanuel Raju, 2018. "Reconsidering disaster resilience: a nonlinear systems paradigm in agricultural communities in Southern Africa," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 90(2), pages 777-801, January.
    16. McGarraghy, Seán & Olafsdottir, Gudrun & Kazakov, Rossen & Huber, Élise & Loveluck, William & Gudbrandsdottir, Ingunn Y. & Čechura, Lukáš & Esposito, Gianandrea & Samoggia, Antonella & Aubert, Pierre-, 2022. "Conceptual system dynamics and agent-based modelling simulation of interorganisational fairness in food value chains: Research agenda and case studies," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 12(2).
    17. Alan D. Meyer & Vibha Gaba & Kenneth A. Colwell, 2005. "Organizing Far from Equilibrium: Nonlinear Change in Organizational Fields," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(5), pages 456-473, October.
    18. Arsev Umur Aydinoglu, 2013. "Toward a New Understanding of Virtual Research Collaborations," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(4), pages 21582440135, October.
    19. Philip Anderson, 1999. "Perspective: Complexity Theory and Organization Science," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(3), pages 216-232, June.
    20. Hongryol Cha & Masaaki Kotabe & Jie Wu, 2023. "Reshaping Internationalization Strategy and Control for Global E-Commerce and Digital Transactions: A Hayekian Perspective," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 161-192, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:comaot:v:23:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s10588-016-9239-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.