This volume highlights current research and developments on organizations and (their) performance against the background of ubiquitous complexity. It investigates some of the challenges and trends dominating the complex world of nowadays and the ways organizations are dealing with them in their continuous search for performance. The papers in the volume cover a series of hot and/or emerging topics (i.e. sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, green marketing, digital revolution, social media, global trade, intangible assets, economic intelligence and innovation). Built on an interdisciplinary perspective and a multi-level approach―global (trade, power, sustainable development), regional (EU, BRICS), national (country-based systems, cultures, policies, practices), industry (airlines, pharma, luxury, retailing, banking, tourism), local (communities, destinations), and organization (entrepreneurship, MNEs, public organizations: national and local)―the volume uniquely addresses issues of high interest for researchers, practitioners and policymakers.

Improve your company's ability to avoid or manage crises Managing the Unexpected, Third Edition is a thoroughly revised text that offers an updated look at the groundbreaking ideas explored in the first and second editions. Revised to reflect events emblematic of the unique challenges that organizations have faced in recent years, including bank failures, intelligence failures, quality failures, and other organizational misfortunes, often sparked by organizational actions, this critical book focuses on why some organizations are better able to sustain high performance in the face of unanticipated change. High reliability organizations (HROs), including commercial aviation, emergency rooms, aircraft carrier flight operations, and firefighting units, are looked to as models of exceptional organizational preparedness. This essential text explains the development of unexpected events and guides you in improving your organization for more reliable performance. "Expect the unexpected" is a popular mantra for a reason: it's rooted in experience. Since the dawn of civilization, organizations have been rocked by natural disasters, civil unrest, international conflict, and other unexpected crises that impact their ability to function. Understanding how to maintain function when catastrophe strikes is key to keeping your organization afloat. Explore the many different kinds of unexpected events that your organization may face Consider updated case studies and research Discuss how highly reliable organizations are able to maintain control during unexpected events Discover tactics that may bolster your organization's ability to face the unexpected with confidence Managing the Unexpected, Third Edition offers updated, valuable content to professionals who want to strengthen the preparedness of their organizations—and confidently face unexpected challenges.

This volume highlights current research and developments on organizations and (their) performance against the background of ubiquitous complexity. It investigates some of the challenges and trends dominating the complex world of nowadays and the ways organizations are dealing with them in their continuous search for performance. The papers in the volume cover a series of hot and/or emerging topics (i.e. sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, green marketing, digital revolution, social media, global trade, intangible assets, economic intelligence and innovation). Built on an interdisciplinary perspective and a multi-level approach―global (trade, power, sustainable development), regional (EU, BRICS), national (country-based systems, cultures, policies, practices), industry (airlines, pharma, luxury, retailing, banking, tourism), local (communities, destinations), and organization (entrepreneurship, MNEs, public organizations: national and local)―the volume uniquely addresses issues of high interest for researchers, practitioners and policymakers.

Outlines an approach to high-performance problem solving and decision making that draws on insights from survival guides, pop culture, and other sources.

Organizations are complex entities that must adapt the practices of their employees and management to meet the demands of a dynamic environment. Organizations are behavioral systems that coordinate interactions among its members and environment. Changing practices in one area of an organization can generate a reaction throughout the entire system, thus affecting the behaviors of those working within other areas, the experience of customers, and important organizational results. Behavioral Systems Analysis (BSA) focuses on these complex contingencies from the macro system all the way down to individual behavior. This book contains articles by internationally recognized experts in Behavioral Systems Analysis who discuss the role of organizational practices in their study of performance improvement and cultural change from both practical and conceptual perspectives. Business and non-profit managers will find tools and case studies to help understand and diagnose their organization’s dynamics. Scholars will appreciate articles’ theory and real-world descriptions when considering their own research direction. Finally, all students of management theory, behavior analysis, and human resources will find this collection a thought-provoking tool for their understanding of behavioral systems and their application in organizations. This book was published as a special issue in the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management.

Since the first edition of Managing the Unexpected was published in 2001, the unexpected has become a growing part of our everyday lives. The unexpected is often dramatic, as with hurricanes or terrorist attacks. But the unexpected can also come in more subtle forms, such as a small organizational lapse that leads to a major blunder, or an unexamined assumption that costs lives in a crisis. Why are some organizations better able than others to maintain function and structure in the face of unanticipated change? Authors Karl Weick and Kathleen Sutcliffe answer this question by pointing to high reliability organizations (HROs), such as emergency rooms in hospitals, flight operations of aircraft carriers, and firefighting units, as models to follow. These organizations have developed ways of acting and styles of learning that enable them to manage the unexpected better than other organizations. Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition of the groundbreaking book Managing the Unexpected uses HROs as a template for any institution that wants to better organize for high reliability.

The social sector is undergoing a major transformation. We are witnessing an explosion in efforts to deliver social change, a burgeoning impact investing industry, and an unprecedented intergenerational transfer of wealth. Yet we live in a world of rapidly rising inequality, where social sector services are unable to keep up with societal need, and governments are stretched beyond their means. Alnoor Ebrahim addresses one of the fundamental dilemmas facing leaders as they navigate this uncertain terrain: performance measurement. How can they track performance towards worthy goals such as reducing poverty, improving public health, or advancing human rights? What results can they reasonably measure and legitimately take credit for? This book tackles three core challenges of performance faced by social enterprises and nonprofit organizations alike: what to measure, what kinds of performance systems to build, and how to align multiple demands for accountability. It lays out four different types of strategies for managers to consider—niche, integrated, emergent, and ecosystem—and details the types of performance measurement and accountability systems best suited to each. Finally, this book examines the roles of funders such as impact investors, philanthropic foundations, and international aid agencies, laying out how they can best enable meaningful performance measurement.

Improving Performance is recognized as the book that launched the Process Improvement revolution. It was the first such approach to bridge the gap between organization strategy and the individual. Now, in this revised and expanded new edition, Gary Rummler reflects on the key needs of organizations faced with today's challenge of managing change in today's complex world. The book shows how to apply the three levels of performance and link performance to strategy, move from annual programs to sustained performance improvement, redesign processes, overcome the seven deadly sins of performance improvement and much more.

How to design a world in which we rely less on stuff, and more on people. We're filling up the world with technology and devices, but we've lost sight of an important question: What is this stuff for? What value does it add to our lives? So asks author John Thackara in his new book, In the Bubble: Designing for a Complex World. These are tough questions for the pushers of technology to answer. Our economic system is centered on technology, so it would be no small matter if "tech" ceased to be an end-in-itself in our daily lives. Technology is not going to go away, but the time to discuss the end it will serve is before we deploy it, not after. We need to ask what purpose will be served by the broadband communications, smart materials, wearable computing, and connected appliances that we're unleashing upon the world. We need to ask what impact all this stuff will have on our daily lives. Who will look after it, and how? In the Bubble is about a world based less on stuff and more on people. Thackara describes a transformation that is taking place now—not in a remote science fiction future; it's not about, as he puts it, "the schlock of the new" but about radical innovation already emerging in daily life. We are regaining respect for what people can do that technology can't. In the Bubble describes services designed to help people carry out daily activities in new ways. Many of these services involve technology—ranging from body implants to wide-bodied jets. But objects and systems play a supporting role in a people-centered world. The design focus is on services, not things. And new principles—above all, lightness—inform the way these services are designed and used. At the heart of In the Bubble is a belief, informed by a wealth of real-world examples, that ethics and responsibility can inform design decisions without impeding social and technical innovation.

This book offers an alternative to the industrial revolutionary paradigm of organization that we still live and work with today and instead argues that the environmental and economic complexity of the digital age require an evolutionary leap in the purpose, design, and traits of organization. Organizational Design in Business tackles the subject of organization development and design through an organic and purpose-driven approach and provides practical how-to tools for managers and leaders. This book challenges the idea that business as usual is a viable option in the digital economy. If performance is to be driven at an organizational level, and is to be sustainable, then business leaders and development professionals need to have a deep understanding of how to achieve balance in their organization in response to the complexity of the external business environment.