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- Why does performance management not perform?Publication . Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Vieira, Daniel Veiga; Rego, Arménio; Clegg, StewartPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to ask why poor performance management practices persist in Portugal, in the middle of claims to increase productivity. Design/methodology/approach – An inductive micro-practice analysis is used to understand barriers to management practice that do not require massive institutional changes. Findings – The practice of performance management in Portugal typically displays three weaknesses: (1) insufficient planning (2) process and integrity issues, and (3) a non-meritocratic logic. Research limitations/implications – The paper discusses the important topic of persistence of bad practices, showing how institutionalized patterns might be difficult to eradicate even they are suboptimal. Practical implications – The authors identity key issues in the functioning of performance management, therefore helping managers in developing remedies to improve the quality of their practice. Originality/value – The paper explains the persistence of bad management practice whose continuity hinders not only organizations’ effectiveness but also that of their members.
- Resilient leadership as paradox work: notes from COVID-19Publication . Giustiniano, Luca; Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Simpson, Ace V.; Rego, Arménio; Clegg, Stewart
- Through the looking glass: leader personhood and the intersubjective construction of institutionsPublication . Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Cardona, María José; Clegg, Stewart; Gomes, Jorge F. S.; Matallana, Manuela; Rego, Arménio; Sánchez, Iván D.Institutions have been mainly understood in a dualistic way: as abstract, macro cultural logics, or as inhabited socio-cultural sites. This form of dualism divided people into cognitive cultural dopes or persons with a heart. Scholars are now trying to overcome dualistic modes of thinking about people in institutions, through the consideration of the persons as whole human beings. In this new theoretical approach, it is crucial to understand how institutions frame individual action and how individuals shape institutions. We study this duality by considering the lived experience of Colombia’s presidential transition period from Uribe to Santos in the decade of the 2010s.
- "Heaven or Las Vegas": competing institutional logics and individual experiencePublication . Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Giustiniano, Luca; Rego, Arménio; Clegg, StewartSignificant research has been dedicated to the study of the dual constitutive core at the field and organizational levels but less attention has been paid to the micro-dimensions of the collision of competing logics, namely in terms of how individuals experience and navigate through them and how that influences organizational ethos and strategy. We study how one individual, founder of the organization behind the independent music label 4AD, made sense and lived through the fundamental clash of two logics: 'music as art' and 'music as business'. We analyse how the personal struggles of the founder allowed the construction and maintenance of a strong, solid and continued organizational identity for 4AD. We uncover four factors accounting for the protection of 4AD's sustained artistic integrity in face of a transforming industry.
- Mission impossible? The paradoxes of stretch goal settingPublication . Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Giustiniano, Luca; Rego, Arménio; Clegg, StewartStretch goal setting is a process involving multiple and nested paradoxes. The paradoxical side of stretch is attractive because it holds great promise yet dangerous because it triggers processes that are hard to control. Paradoxes are not readily managed by assuming a linear relation between the here and now and the intended future perfect. Before adopting stretch goal setting, managers should thus be prepared for the tensions and contradictions created by nested or interwoven paradoxes. Achieving stretch goals can be as difficult for the managers seeking to direct the process as for designated delegates. While the increasing popularity of stretch goal setting is understandable, its unexpected consequences must be taken into account. The inadequate use of stretch goals can jeopardize the social sustainability of organizations as well as their societal support systems.
- Explaining suicide in organizations: Durkheim revisitedPublication . Clegg, Stewart; Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Rego, ArménioDrawing on Durkheim’s concept of anomie, we address the under-explored phenomenon of anomic suicide in contemporary organizations and discuss the consequences of solidarity for organizations and society. The relations of social solidarity to issues of identity and insecurity are explored through the cases of France Telecom Orange and Foxconn. Remedial implications for organizing, considered as community building, are discussed. Durkheim wrote not only about anomic but also altruistic suicide. We will also analyze examples of this type of suicide. Some tentative suggestions are made for how to organize to minimize the incidence of suicidal violence in organizations.
- Stewardship as process: a paradox perspectivePublication . Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Rego, Arménio; Clegg, Stewart; Jarvis, Walter P.Long-term stewardship is usually represented as a stable structural condition and portrayed as a source of competitive advantage to firms (including family businesses) that use it as a mode of governance. Less is known about how organizations engage with stewardship as a process. We embrace a process approach to report a case study about the unfolding of stewardship in a multi-business family group. We conclude that stewardship is a process marked by critical tensions and paradoxes; by exploring the nature of these we uncover further dimensions and responses to the paradoxes of stewardship.
- Paradoxes of organizational change in a merger contextPublication . Cunha, Miguel Pina e; Neves, Pedro; Clegg, Stewart; Costa, Sandra; Rego, ArménioPurpose – The reorganization of the Portuguese national healthcare system around networks of hospital centers was advanced for reasons promoted as those of effectiveness and efficiency and initially presented as an opportunity for organizational transcendence through synergy. The purpose of this paper is to study transcendence as felt by the authors’ participants to create knowledge about the process. Design/methodology/approach – The paper consists of an inductive approach aimed at exploring the lived experience of transcendence. The authors collected data via interviews, observations, informal conversations and archival data, in order and followed the logic of grounded theory to build theory on transcendence as process. Findings – Transcendence, however, failed to deliver its promise; consequently, the positive vision inscribed in it was subsequently re-inscribed in the system as another lost opportunity, contributing to an already unfolding vicious circle of mistrust and cynicism. The study contributes to the literature on organizational paradoxes and its effects on the reproduction of vicious circles. Practical implications – The search for efficiency and effectiveness through strategies of transcendence often entails managing paradoxical tensions. Social implications – The case was researched during the global financial crisis, which as austerity gripped the southern Eurozone gave rise to governmental decisions aimed at improving the efficiency of organizational healthcare resources. There was a sequence of advances and retreats in decision making at the governmental level that gave rise to mistrust and cynicism at operational levels (organizations, teams and individuals). One consequence of increasing cynicism at lower levels was that as further direction for change came from higher levels it became interpreted in practice as just another turn in a vicious circle of failed reform. Originality/value – The authors contribute to the organizational literature on paradoxes by empirically researching a themes that has been well theorized (Smith and Lewis, 2011) but less researched empirically. The authors followed the process in vivo, as it unfolded in the context of complex strategic change at multiple centers.