Although the widely used Competing Values Framework (CVF) has attracted considerable attention in the literature and has proven useful as an approach to organizational effectiveness, we know little about how it applies to voluntary organizations. We therefore combined CVF with rigorous action research methodology to analyze the organizational effectiveness of Right in the Community (RitC), a voluntary agency serving the developmentally disabled. As our results show, CVF’s three dimensions of organizational focus, structural preference, and managerial concern helped us improve the organization’s management of scarce resources, organizational structure and governance, and innovative capabilities. During the collaboration, we also observed tensions between heart and head that were particularly relevant for improving organizational effectiveness at RitC. We therefore propose extending CVF for voluntary organizations with a fourth dimension: motivational trait.

Purpose -Sound real estate decisions are both financially and strategically essential to corporate success. Given their importance, this paper aims to illustrate how the actor network theory (ANT) can be a valuable alternate lens to bounded rational and political perspectives in providing insights into corporate real estate decision-making processes. Design/methodology/approach -This exploratory investigation uses a case study approach to retroactively examine the real estate decision-making process over five to seven years in four organizations ranging in size from four to 125 employees. The study uses multiple data sources including 25 in-depth interviews, site visits, archival data, websites, documents, and email correspondence. Findings -Using the constructs of ANT, the findings reveal how real estate decision making involves iterative but identifiable phases through which heterogeneous actors seek to converge diverse interests and where artifacts affect behaviors and outcomes as much as or sometimes more than their human creators. Research limitations/implications -Given the case study method, this research lacks generalizability. Researchers are encouraged to test the findings in different contexts. Practical implications -The ANT perspective helps managers faced with real estate decisions to appreciate the relevant matrix of need, power, and interests; recognize and seek to control the power of artifacts; and, view real estate decision making not as simply making a choice among logical alternatives, but as orchestrating a long, complex process. Originality/value -This investigation compares the perspectives of ANT to the classical bounded rational and political lenses in examining corporate real estate decision making; demonstrates ANT's value in providing additional insights; and, discusses its implications for understanding and managing these complex processes.

The emerging body of research on business professional doctoral programs has focused primarily on the programs’ composition and management, offering limited insight into students’ motivations and the impact the degree has on graduates and their careers. However, understanding these student motivations and career impacts is valuable for several reasons. In addition to helping future candidates assess various programs and the business professional doctoral degree itself, it can help enrolled students maximize their academic experience and help administrators improve these programs so that they better meet students’ personal and professional expectations. To bridge this research gap, this study pursued a mixed-methods approach to glean insights into why people pursue professional doctorates in business, the ultimate personal and professional outcomes of students, and the educational process producing those outcomes. The study revealed that most students entered these programs with a desire for personal or professional transformation, including the possibility of entering academia or a new industry. Moreover, the vast majority of program graduates believed they had experienced such a transformation, often in both professional and personal ways. Further, while important to personal growth, alumni perceived that certain program elements—such as the student networks they created and non-research related coursework—had little to no effect upon their career and viewed their research and the research process as far more important to their professional development. Based upon these findings, the researchers propose a comprehensive process model to explain the personal and professional factors and outcomes for graduates of business professional doctoral programs. They also suggest practical steps that students and administrators can take to improve the business professional doctoral educational experience.

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