“…Vertical hierarchiesmechanistic systems that encourage passive mindsets and behaviors -may yield to organic structures with flexible lines of authority, low formalization, and wide spans of control (Courtright et al, 1989;Pennings and Woiceshyn, 1987), where there is both increased professional responsibility and the authority to function.…”
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.Abstract Empowered teachers participate in critical decisions that directly affect teaching and learning. Empowering work environments may enhance professionalism, facilitate teacher leadership, improve the quality of work life, and enable effective implementation of school reform. Process-based views of empowerment suggest associations between school organizational structures and teacher empowerment, while psychological perspectives on empowerment suggest potential relationships between the phenomenon and cognitive and affective outcomes. Empowerment is considered in terms of teams and teamwork in schools, and relationships between empowerment and commitment to the school are examined.
“…Vertical hierarchiesmechanistic systems that encourage passive mindsets and behaviors -may yield to organic structures with flexible lines of authority, low formalization, and wide spans of control (Courtright et al, 1989;Pennings and Woiceshyn, 1987), where there is both increased professional responsibility and the authority to function.…”
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.Abstract Empowered teachers participate in critical decisions that directly affect teaching and learning. Empowering work environments may enhance professionalism, facilitate teacher leadership, improve the quality of work life, and enable effective implementation of school reform. Process-based views of empowerment suggest associations between school organizational structures and teacher empowerment, while psychological perspectives on empowerment suggest potential relationships between the phenomenon and cognitive and affective outcomes. Empowerment is considered in terms of teams and teamwork in schools, and relationships between empowerment and commitment to the school are examined.
“…Organizations have been characterized as either mechanistic in structure, with high levels of standardization, formalization, specialization, and hierarchical authority; or organic in structure, with low levels of standardization, formalization, specialization, and hierarchical authority (Burns and Stalker, 1961; Courtright et al, 1989; Scott, 2002). Contingency theory argues that organizations will be more effective if their structure fits their primary task (Donaldson, 2001).…”
Six Sigma has been gaining momentum in industry; however, academics have conducted little research on this emerging phenomenon. Understanding Six Sigma first requires providing a conceptual definition and identifying an underlying theory. In this paper we use the grounded theory approach and the scant literature available to propose an initial definition and theory of Six Sigma. Our research argues that although the tools and techniques in Six Sigma are strikingly similar to prior approaches to quality management, it provides an organizational structure not previously seen. This emergent structure for quality management helps organizations more rigorously control process improvement activities, while at the same time creating a context that enables problem exploration between disparate organizational members. Although Six Sigma provides benefits over prior approaches to quality management, it also creates new challenges for researchers and practitioners. # 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.
“…In this case, individuals need not be locked into only one set of skills; their knowledge reflects coordinated group efforts and a focus on unit outcomes rather than individual performance. This coordination results not only in broader competence spanning multiple tasks or jobs (Courtright et al , 1989), but also a larger perspective of organizational processes and outcomes. While these mechanisms clearly build in a high degree of flexibility not seen in mechanistic structures, the higher interdependence and communication requirements pose significantly higher costs for implementing organic structures.…”
Section: Hypothesesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This reduces misunderstandings and facilitates a cohesive interpretation of the objectives for the work unit as a whole (Maitlis, 2005; Lyles and Schwenk, 1992; Walsh, Henderson, and Deighton, 1988). The processes of coordination and integration will lead individuals within an organic structure to have a more common grasp of critical work‐related issues (Courtright et al , 1989). We, therefore, suggest the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 2 (H2): Organic structures are associated with more similarly interpreted information by individuals than are mechanistic structures.…”
Section: Hypothesesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The literature on organizational design has noted that organizational structures vary in the distribution of responsibilities, scope of tasks, communication mechanisms, and governance modes (Burns and Stalker, 1961; Courtright, Fairhurst, and Rogers, 1989). We argue that these structural variations not only affect the nature of information readily available to individuals, but also their motivation to search for and employ other more elusive information for their decisions (Sheremata, 2000; Gibson and Birkinshaw, 2004).…”
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