Browsing by Subject "Organisationskultur"

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    A software for corporate entrepreneurship? The role of organizational culture for stimulating entrepreneurial orientation in family firms
    (2019) Arz, Christopher; Kuckertz, Andreas
    This doctoral thesis comprises three empirical studies which together seek to shed light upon the question of which and how specific manifestations of organizational culture (OC) are able to support entrepreneurial behaviors and activities in established organizations (corporate entrepreneurship; CE). As a whole, this thesis addresses a variety of research questions, relying on different methodological approaches and data sets. More specifically, I use both original and secondary data, and I draw on qualitative, interpretive as well as quantitative, positivist research design. The specific objectives, concepts, and methods of the studies are guided by the two overarching research questions of this thesis: 1) What are the dominant cultural patterns of family firms that create an organizational environment where corporate entrepreneurship flourishes? 2) How exactly do these cultural patterns operate and interact in the process of stimulating corporate entrepreneurship? The first study titled “Mechanisms of Organizational Culture for Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda” provides a broad overview of the current body of knowledge on the OC-CE relationship and synthesizes generic OC mechanisms supportive of CE into an explicit framework. Adopting the method of structured literature review and realist synthesis, it analyzes 46 empirical and conceptual papers published in peer-reviewed journals and strives to make sense of the diverse, and partly conflicting, theoretical predictions and empirical findings which currently characterize the field. To accomplish that, the study integrates eight generic OC dimensions and two basic layers of culture to enable CE-supportive cultural mechanisms to be synthesized into a clear matrix. Doing so allows for more a fine-grained understanding of how OC may create an environment where CE flourishes. Based on the synthesis, research avenues are identified to encourage future work on the topic. The second study titled “Bridging the Micro-Macro Gap: A Multi-Layer Culture Framework for Understanding Entrepreneurial Orientation in Family Firms” responds to the enduring unanswered call for qualitative research on the topic of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) that is located within an interpretivist-oriented philosophy. Employing an interpretivist single case study design, the study seeks to elaborate the theory of EO in family firms by delivering a rich and deeply contextualized understanding of the business-level mechanisms that operate between family-level values (micro level) and firm-level EO (macro level) in a second-generation German family firm. Specifically, it adopts a multi-layer theory of culture as interpretive framework to develop a grounded model that cuts across analytical levels of family and business. The illustration of the data, based on a qualitative content analysis of both archival data and ethnographic interview data, shows how the unique cultural patterns of the firm operate as social mechanisms to stimulate EO. Specifically, family-level values of altruism and preservation have been found to prepare the ground for an OC characterized by long-term- and involvement-oriented organizational values as well as psychological safety and empowerment climates. Eventually, these climates represent the most salient cultural layer and effectively support the firm’s competitive orientation toward corporate entrepreneurship. Finally, the third study of this thesis titled “Stimulating Entrepreneurial Orientation in Family Firms: A Multi-Layer Culture Model” takes a more technical (positivist) perspective on the phenomenon of OC and investigates how the specific business-level cultural mechanisms of family firms can transform the intimate connection between family and business into high levels of EO. To provide a deeper understanding of the forces that nurture EO in family firms, the study finds a way to bridge the gap between family-level characteristics and firm-level EO by integrating family commitment culture, long-term orientation, and stewardship climate into a multi-layer culture framework. The research model that derives from this perspective proposes a two-step mediation process, intending to explain how family commitment culture, as a family-level value orientation, is transformed into high levels of EO through OC mechanisms. The model was tested by analyzing data of 208 mature German family firms using covariance-based structural equation modelling (SEM). Consistent with the proposed multi-layer structure, the SEM model’s results support the hypothesis that, when high levels of EO are desired, family firms ought to focus on what type of cultural mechanisms are triggered at the business level through a family commitment culture.
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    Organisations- und Führungskultur als Vorbedingung für Veränderungsmanagement am Beispiel des Shopfloor-Managements
    (2018) Yavuz, Özkan; Pfeiffer, Sabine
    Businesses are at a crossroads between demographic, technological, economic, and social developments that lead to significant organizational challenges. In addition, companies not only operate in the domestic market, but are also largely exposed to international conditions. From the companys point of view, not only quality requirements are important factors, but also the ability to innovate. To meet these high standards, companies must have qualified specialists(Fischer et al. 2013, S. 57). Economic structural change, in particular the transformation of the present work society, is a special form of social change and is thus characterized by a certain relationship between structure and process, statics and dynamics. In production companies, concepts for lean management since the beginning of the 1980s have been discussed, focusing primarily on increasing productivity, reducing costs and general process optimization. Based on Japanese production methods of the automotive industry, new ways of organizing work have been developed, which not only involve employee involvement, but also that they independently deal with problem situations (Frerichs 2014, S. 15; Peters 2009, S. 15). The development stages range from the "Continuous Improvement Process" (CIP) to the Lean Enterprise, from the continuous improvement of individual processes to the ability of self-organization in companies. In this context, one speaks of integrated production systems, since not only individual company processes are changed, but also the management organization is included in the considerations. Nonetheless, one major point of criticism in the context of the optimization of production processes is that so far - as a significant aspect - the management system has received too little attention (Suzaki 2010, pp. 5 et seq., Peters 2009. Shopfloor Management (SFM) starts at this point. As a tool for change, it helps to "consistently and sustainably develop and optimize processes and processes at the place of added value" (Peters 2009, p. 11). Only a corresponding, dynamic organizational culture can ensure the sustainability of this change process (see Sackmann 2004, pp. 26-30). Organizations therefore face particular challenges, especially in terms of organizational and leadership culture. These massive changes in external and internal conditions place new demands on leadership, because general standard solutions are not very useful for a more complex work environment "(Steinkellner 2006, p. 88). In order to be able to handle this complexity, new management tools are needed that no longer see complexity as a flaw that one tries to get rid of by trivialization, routineization and bureaucratization (Steinkellner 2006, p. 88). In order to handle this complexity, new leadership tools are needed that no longer see complexity as a blemish trying to get rid of through trivialization, routineization and bureaucratization (Steinkellner 2006, p. 88). These circumstances result in complex challenges for companies that are far from having all the answers. The extent to which shopfloor management can contribute to optimizing the corporate and management culture and is able to increase the production efficiency of a company should be examined in this dissertation.