The business environment has during the last decades gone through major dramatic changes. Rapid and radical technological development and continuous change in both business practices and behaviours of the population, to name a few, have complicated and put pressure on organizations’ new product development (NPD) processes. Having an effective and efficient NPD process while succeeding in innovation in today’s business environment is a big challenge. Organizations face multiple organizational and process type barriers to innovation and have difficulties in finding suitable successful and efficient tools and methods. The overall purpose of this paper is to investigate how organizations dealing with product development can increase their innovation and efficiency performance, i.e. organizational performance, with the use of Visual management (VM). The aim of VM is to improve organizational performance by connecting and aligning organizational vision, core values, norms, and goals with other management systems, work processes and workplace elements. The individual elements of VM can affect how encouraged the employees are to perform in the workplace, hence having an effect on organizational performance. However, there are still many questions to be answered and new knowledge to be gained regarding how to best utilize VM, such as the understanding of what factors mediate the impact VM has on performance. The overall purpose is further concretized in a research model with five related hypotheses. A hypothesis-testing is performed in a comparative study with four large organizations. The empirical data is primarily collected through surveys with employees utilizing VM, with a total of 144 respondents. In addition, semi-structured interviews are performed with each department utilizing the visual tool; the interviewees being knowledgeable in the design and process of utilized VM. VM appears to have a substantial effect on innovation and efficiency performance. However, it has no direct effect, rather it exhibits indirect effects. VM’s positive effect on efficiency IV performance is mediated by efficient behaviour, and VM’s positive effect on innovation performance is mediated by an increased cognitive ability. This paper contributes to the understanding of VM’s impact on organizational performance. By statistical analysis it highlights previous research stating that managerial tools and processes indirectly has an effect on organizational outcomes. Proposed framework is a beginning of visualizing the complex relationship existing between VM and organizational performance in a product development setting. Practical implications are that depending on desired outcome in the use of VM, the framework can act as a guidance in the procedure of VM meetings, by highlighting certain activities. For managerial, it highlights that the goal should not be to develop the most advanced or novel visual tool; rather focus on improving the employee’s cognitive ability and efficient behaviour. / Bolag har under de senaste decennierna upplevt stora förändringar. Snabb och radikal teknologisk utveckling och ständig förändring av både affärsmodeller och konsumtionsvanor, för att nämna några få, har gjort det komplicerat och lagt press på organisationers produktutvecklingsprocesser. Att ha en effektiv produktutvecklingsprocess och samtidigt lyckas innovera i dagens konkurrenskraft har visat sig vara en svår uppgift. Företag står inför flera utmaningar gällande innovation och affärsprocesser för innovation och har svårigheter att hitta lämpliga och effektiva verktyg och metoder. Det övergripandet syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka hur organisationer som jobbar med produktutveckling kan öka sin innovations- och effektivitetsförmåga genom att använda visuell projektledning. Syftet med visuell projektledning är att förbättra en organisationers förmåga att vara innovativa och effektiva genom att sammanfläta vision, värderingar, normer och mål med andra ledningssystem, arbetsprocesser och arbetsmoment. Anställda kan påverkas av visuell projektledning till den mån att organisationens prestation i helhet påverkas. Det finns fortfarande många frågor att besvara och ny kunskap att hämta om hur visuell projektledning nyttjas på bästa sätt. Till exempel förståelsen för vilka andra faktorer som kan mediera effekten visuell projektledning har på organisatorisk prestation. Det övergripande syftet av detta arbete konkretiseras i en forskningsmodell med fem tillhörande hypoteser. Hypotes-testning utförs i en jämförelsestudie med fyra stora organisationer. Empiriska data samlas främst genom enkäter med anställda som nyttjar visuell projektledning, där totalt 144 anställda svarande. Dessutom genomförs semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer kunnig i designen och processen av det använda visuella projektledningsverktyget. Studien visade att visuell projektledning inte har någon direkt effekt på innovation och effektivitet, utan snarare en indirekt effekt. Visuell projektlednings positiva effekt på effektivitet medieras av II effektivt beteende och den positiva effekten på innovation medieras av en ökad kognitiv förmåga hos de anställda. Detta arbete bidrar till förståelsen av hur visuell projektledning påverkar organisatorisk prestation. Genom statistiska analyser belyses tidigare forskning som visat på att ledningsverktyg och processer som bäst indirekt har en påverkan på organisatorisk prestation. Ett förslag till ramverk presenteras som en början på ett försök att visualisera det komplexa sambandet som finns mellan visuell projektledning och organisatorisk prestation. Praktiska implikationer är att ramverket kan användas som ett guidande verktyg för designande av proceduren för visuell projektledning genom att lyfta speciellt aktuella aktiviteter. För chefer betonas det att målet inte bör vara att utveckla det mest avancerade eller nya visuella verktyget; snarare fokusera på att förbättra de anställdas kognitiva förmåga och främja effektivt beteende.

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本研究之目的在於探討組織轉型能力之建構，並依此建構發展一套組織能力之評鑑工具。其次，融入組織核心能力、核心職能與轉型能力的概念，建構組織能力發展模式，以協助台灣中小企業有效診斷組織體質，進而提昇組織績效與競爭力。 本研究採用質量並重之研究方法進行探討，首先藉由「行為事例訪談法」進行深度訪談（N=5），並針對企業個案（美國奇異集團、大陸海爾集團、台灣宏碁集團）進行傳記文本分析，繼而編撰量表題目。本研究以台灣企業組織做為母群，以立意抽樣方式蒐集124份樣本，經過實證分析後，顯示本研究發展的「組織轉型能力量表」共包含組織領導、策略願景、心智模式與組織學習等四個構面，且在內部一致性信度(.973)、效標關聯效度(.611)、與建構效度等檢驗指標上，皆有顯著的效果。 此外，根據組織能力模式與績效的路徑分析結果顯示：1.組織轉型能力在組織核心職能與核心能力、組織績效之間具有中介效果。2.組織能力彼此之間具有顯著的關聯性，且皆對組織績效具有貢獻與影響。3.組織轉型能力中的心智模式與組織學習構面，以及組織的資源競爭核心能力，最能預測組織績效的表現。最後研究者則針對學術研究與實務應用方面提出具體的討論與建議。 / The purpose of this study was to investigate the constructs of organizational transformation competence and use them to develop an assessment tool for evaluating organizational competencies. Besides, the concepts of core competence (based on the strategic management theory), generic competence (based on the competence model), and transformation competence, were incorporated to construct a model of organizational competence development, so as to assist Taiwanese small and medium enterprises to effectively diagnose organizational itself and further of enhance organizational performance and competitiveness. This study adopted both qualitative and quantitative research methods for analysis. First of all, Behavioral Event Interview (BEI) was used to perform in-depth interviews with the research subjects (n=5). Besides, the biographical texts of the studied cases (America’s GE Group, China’s Haier Electronics Group, and Taiwan’s Acer Group) were analyzed to design the items of the questionnaire. Also corporate organizations in Taiwan were taken as the population, and a total of 124 samples were collected using purposive sampling. Through empirical analysis, it showed that the proposed “Organizational Transformation Competence Scale” encompassed four dimensions, namely organizational leadership, strategic vision, mental model, and organizational learning. In conclusion, the internal consistency validity (Cronbach’s α=.973), criterion-related validity (validity coefficient=.611), and construct validity were good and compliant. Moreover, according to the path analysis of the organizational competence model and performance, it was revealed that (1) organizational transformation competence had the mediating effect on the relationships between generic competence and organizational core competence and organizational performance; (2) organizational competencies were significantly correlated with one another, and contributive and influential to organizational performance; (3) the mental model and organizational learning dimensions of organizational transformation competence and the organizational core competence for resource competition could mostly predict organizational performance. Finally, substantial suggestions were proposed for follow-up academic studies and practical applications.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / O aumento da participação do setor privado no campo dos serviços de saúde vem ganhado destaque desde a década de 1980. O governo brasileiro, a partir da segunda metade da década de 1990, redesenhou o seu papel ao romper o monopólio estatal e permitir a expansão da atividade privada em diversos campos da economia, passando a ser mediador e regulador. Nesse contexto, a instituição da Agência Nacional de Saúde (ANS), em janeiro de 2000, marcou uma etapa da regulação do setor, que passou por diversas transformações que ocasionaram o aumento dos custos e diminuição do número de Operadoras de Planos de Saúde (OPS) em atividade. A interesse em ações que visam manter a saúde financeira dessas empresas é, portanto, o ponto de partida deste estudo. Trata-se de um estudo de caso que tem por objetivo investigar a influência de fatores organizacionais e ambientais, a partir da visão dos gestores de uma pequena cooperativa de trabalho médico (chamada de OPX), que contribuíram para a construção de desempenho organizacional superior, evidênciado em um estudo anterior. A investigação se faz a partir de quatro categorias analíticas que estão relacionadas ao desempenho organizacional: cultura organizacional, estrutura organizacional, gestão estratégica e ambiente externo. Os dados foram coletados a partir de três fontes de evidências: documentos, observação direta e entrevistas semi-estruturadas com a participação de gestores-chave da organização. Os dados foram analisados a partir do método de análise de conteúdo. Foram identificados elementos que caracterizam a cultura organizacional da cooperativa. Quanto ao tipo de estrutura, trata-se de burocracia profissional especializada. Os processos formais de gestão estratégica não são efetivamente utilizadas, mas as ferramentas operacionais de controle se mostraram rígidas. E a respeito do ambiente externo, mostraramse relevantes a concorrência, a regulação, o judiciário e a economia. Todos eles, em alguma medida, influenciaram o desempenho da organização. Não foi constatada nenhuma outra característica para a definição de nova categoria que pudesse ajudar a responder a pergunta de pesquisa. / The increased participation of the private sector in the field of health services has gained prominence since the 1980s. The Brazilian government, from the second half of the 1990s, has redesigned its role in breaking the state monopoly and allowed the expansion of private activity in various fields of economy, becoming a mediator and regulator. In this context, the establishment of the National Health Agency (ANS), in January 2000, marked a stage of sector regulation, which went through several transformations that led to the increase in costs and decrease in the number of Health Plans Operators (OPS) in activity. The concern with actions aimed at maintaining the financial health of these companies is therefore the starting point of this study. This is a case study that aims to investigate the influence of organizational and environmental factors, from the perspective of the managers of a small cooperative medical work (called OPX), which contributed to the construction of higher organizational performance, shown in a previous study. The investigation is based on four analytical categories that are related to organizational performance: organizational culture, organizational structure, strategic management and external environment. Data were collected from three sources of evidence: documents, direct observation and semi-structured interviews with the participation of key managers of the organization. Data were analyzed using Content Analysis method. Elements that characterize the organizational culture of the cooperative were identified. Regarding the type of structure, it is specialized professional bureaucracy. The formal process of strategic management are not effectively used, but operational control tools proved rigid . And about the external environment were relevant competition, regulation, the judiciary and the economy. All of them, to some extent, influenced the organization's performance. It was not found any other feature for defining new category that could help answer the research question. / Dissertação (Mestrado)

本研究之目的在於從學習型組織、文化、與領導，探討個人學習與組織訓練對績效、競爭力的影響，並藉由研究結果發展出「組織學習之競爭力模式」與問卷，以協助台灣企業進行組織診斷，進而有助於提昇個人、組織、與國家整體之績效、競爭力。 本研究運用文獻探討與問卷施測的方式，進行變項之間關聯性的探討，以國內企業作為研究對象，採立意抽樣方式共蒐集有效樣本153份。經過實證分析後，顯示本研究所使用之量表在內部一致性信度(.919~.973)與標準化迴歸係數(.469~.853)等檢驗指標上，皆達顯著的效果。 最後，根據路徑分析之結果顯示：1.「領導者學習型文化形塑能力」確實會對「學習型組織文化」之形塑，以及「組織績效」產生正向影響，2.「學習型組織文化」與「學習型組織」則分別對「個人競爭力」與「組織競爭力」產生正向影響，3.「組織訓練流程」對「組織競爭力」，以及「組織競爭力」對「組織績效」亦分別產生正向影響，因此本研究所建構之理論模式大致獲得支持，同時在各變項上的研究假設亦大多獲得驗證。最後研究者則針對學術研究與實務應用提出具體的討論與建議。 關鍵詞：領導者學習型文化形塑能力、學習型組織、學習型組織文化、個人學習技巧、組織訓練流程、個人競爭力、組織競爭力、組織績效 / The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the organizational competitiveness and performance from the learning organization, leadership, organizational culture, personal learning, and organizational training, and try to develop the ‘competitiveness model of organizational learning’, and questionnaires. At the same time, the author hopes the questionnaires can help the organizations of Taiwan, diagnose their organization and improve the competitiveness and performance of personal, organizational, and country. This study adopted literature review and questionnaire survey to collect research data. The sample of this study is 153 workers from organizations of Taiwan. Through the empirical data analysis, it showed that the questionnaires of this study have high reliability (.919~.973) and standard regression coefficient (.469~.853). According to the result of the path analysis: (1) ‘the ability of develop a learning organizational culture of leader’ has significant and positive influence of ‘learning organizational culture’ and ‘organizational performance’, (2) ’learning organizational culture’ has significant and positive influence of ‘personal competitiveness’, while ‘learning organization’ has significant and positive influence of ‘organizational competitiveness’, (3) ‘organizational training procedures’ has significant and positive influence of ‘organizational competitiveness’, and ‘organizational competitiveness’ has significant and positive influence of ‘organizational performance’. Moreover, the research data support the developed model and confirm most hypotheses of this study. Finally, substantial suggestions were proposed for follow-up academic studies and practical applications. Keywords: ability of develop learning organizational culture of leader, learning organization, learning organizational culture, personal learning skills, organizational training procedure, personal competitiveness, organizational competitiveness, organizational performance.

D. Tech. (Business, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology / Organisational performance in the public sector has emerged as a critical topic in the post-1994 era in South Africa. This could ostensibly be attributed to the inability of the majority of most public organisations in the country to deliver a satisfactory standard of service to the public. An intense controversy has also emerged the world over on the selection of performance measures that are appropriate for use in public organisations. This debate is actuated by the existence of a multiplicity of performance measurement indices as well as frameworks that can be applied to manage performance in organisations. The existence of these multiple measurement mechanisms tends to confound the entire process of managing organisational performance. Another unresolved controversy focuses on the extent to which various organisational resources impact on organisational performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between organisational performance and three organisational resources; specifically, the human factor, organisational systems and organisational processes. A quantitative design was adopted in which a survey questionnaire was administered to 272 managers and employees of a South African National Government Department. Respondents were selected using a blend of purposive sampling and convenience sampling approaches. Data were analysed using the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 20.0). Reliabilities were measured using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the human factors, organisational systems and organisational processes. Spearman’s correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were used to investigate the relationship between organisational performance and the sub-elements under each of the three organisational resources. The impacts of each of the three factors on organisational performance were compared using the mean-score ranking technique. Performance of the National Government Department was measured using the four performance yardsticks of the Balanced Scorecard; namely, customer satisfaction, financial performance, innovation and learning, and internal processes The findings of the study revealed that performance of the National Government Department was highest in four strategic areas; which are the promotion of good corporate ethics and values, client satisfaction, service quality and relations with external organisations. However, performance shortfalls were observed in four key areas; namely, organisational speed, attrition of manpower, overloading of employees and the overburdening of divisions with high workloads. Correlation analysis showed that there were positive relationships between organisational performance and the five human factor components; life satisfaction, quality of work life, ability utilisation, creativity and autonomy. Regression analysis indicated that there were significant and predictive relationships between organisational performance and three human factor elements; namely, quality of work life, ability utilisation and life satisfaction. Among the five human factor elements, life satisfaction exerted the greatest impact on organisational performance. Significant, positive and predictive associations were also found between organisational performance and three organisational system factors; quality, innovation and inter-organisational systems, with quality exerting the greatest impact on organisational performance. Significant, positive and predictive relationships were further observed between organisational performance and the four organisational process factors identified in the study; namely, organisational structure, organisational change, team processes and organisational change. Among these, team processes exerted the greatest influence on organisational performance. Overall, the human factor applied the greatest impact on organisational performance, followed by organisational processes with organisational systems having the least impact. Based on these findings, recommendations were made and implications for further studies were suggested. The findings of the study provide empirical confirmation of the effectiveness of the Balanced Scorecard as a tool for the measurement and management of performance in public sector organisations. Additionally, managers in different public organisations may enhance the performance of their organisations by optimising the sub-elements of the three organisational resources examined in this study.

本研究係以Sternberg的WICS領導模式出發，探討當領導者具備智慧、實用智力、分析智力、創造力，並將這些技能產生綜效時，是否能形塑組織文化，進而影響組織的顧客需求知覺、因應金融海嘯策略、與顧客滿意等方面的展現，而後對於組織競爭力與組織績效產生影響。此外，本研究亦嘗試發展一整合模式，以提供企業組織做為診斷與發展的重要參考。 本研究首先針對六位在職者進行訪談，以釐清研究架構與變項之內涵，並據以進行量表編製或引用相關量表，且以一般企業員工作為研究母群，採立意取樣方式進行樣本蒐集，總計蒐集到327份有效問卷。信效度及因素分析結果顯示，本研究量表擁有良好之內部一致信度(.90~.98)與效標關聯效度(.41~.74)。階層迴歸與結構方程模式驗證研究假設之結果顯示：1.領導技能對於組織文化、組織績效具有正向且顯著的影響、2.組織文化對於顧客需求知覺具有正向且顯著的影響、3.顧客需求知覺對於因應金融海嘯策略具有正向且顯著的影響、4.因應金融海嘯策略對於顧客滿意、組織競爭力具有正向且顯著的影響、5.顧客滿意對於組織競爭力具有正向且顯著的影響、6.組織競爭力對於組織績效具有正向且顯著的影響、7.標竿企業在上述變項皆顯著優於一般與虧損企業。最後，並將訪談結果來驗證研究之假設與架構。綜合而言，本研究採質化與量化兩者得兼之方式來進行研究架構與假設之驗證。 總而言之，本研究之具體貢獻為：理論整合與創新、實務應用與發展。除了整合「領導技能、競爭力、績效」之研究外，亦提出創新的顧客需求知覺之內涵，可幫助開啟後續相關研究，並以宏觀角度發展出「領導技能、顧客需求知覺、因應金融海嘯策略、顧客滿意」之整合模式，以提供企業組織變革與發展之依據。 / This study starts with Sternberg's WICS leadership model, investigating the effect of leaders' wisdom, practical intelligence, analytic intelligence, creativity, and synthesized on organizational culture, and perception of customer need, coping strategies of financial crisis, customer satisfaction, and ultimately, on organizational competitiveness, organizational performance. In addition, this study tries to construct a macro model, which assists organizations in diagnosing and developing. This study compiles related scales and use survey method to collect data. Moreover, it chooses employees in enterprises as research population and uses convenience sampling. The total number of effective sample is 327. All questionnaires were factor analysis examined, and confirmed to have highly reliability (.90~.98) and validity (.41~.74). The conclusion drawn from result of hierarchical regression analysis and structural equation modeling analysis indicates:1. leaders' skills have positive and significant effect on organizational culture and organizational performance; 2. organizational culture have positive and significant effect on perception of customer need; 3. perception of customer need have positive and significant effect on coping strategies of financial crisis; 4. coping strategies of financial crisis have positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction and organizational competitiveness; 5. customer satisfaction have positive and significant effect on organizational competitiveness; 6. organizational competitiveness have positive and significant effect on organizational performance; 7. above variables in benchmarking enterprises are significant better than normal and deficit enterprises. Furthermore, this study also applied interview with 6 professionals as a method to gather opinions on variables and confirm the model. Finally, the contribution of this study includes "integration and innovation of theories" and " practical applications". This study proposes the model of leadership, perception of customer need, coping strategies of financial crisis and customer satisfaction from macro view point. It not only initiates follow-up academic studies, but also provides an innovative model for enterprises to change and develop.

Performance measurements have been described as a tool by which management can communicate expected standards of behavior as well as a shared meaning among members regarding the intended direction of the firm. In parallel, the organizational identity field relies on the premise that members can answer the question “who are we as an organization?” through a sense of shared understanding. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implications a performance measurement system has on the employees’ perception of “who we are“, related to the theoretical framework of organizational identity. This paper utilizes a qualitative research method, a case-based approach of a Swedish life science company which is conducted in an exploratory manner. The case company is chosen due to its contextual setting regarding the newly implemented performance measurement system, along with the inherent characteristics of the industry in general, which is typically considered to be incongruent with such quantitative measurements. The empirical data is collected through eight interviews with members from the chosen case company, as well as through internal documents describing its performance measurement system. The authors propose a revised theoretical framework in which performance measurements and organizational identity are investigated through a conceptual model which explores their dynamic relationship. The findings reinforce well-known ideas of performance measurements and organizational identity, along with providing new insights on the dynamics between them. Keywords: Organizational Identity, Performance Measurement System, Performance Management, Identity-Dynamics

The purpose of this dissertation is to understand the managerial "action" of public administrators in the management of their organizations within the Brazilian context. The research seeks to understand the relationships between managers and formal management mechanisms by exploring the complementary nature of the effective managerial action in the face of structural deficiencies and flaws, considering the possibility of overcoming the structuralism-subjectivism dichotomy present in the construction of the Theory of Organizations. Initially, the study provides a review of the literature on organizational design. It highlights the "goodness of fit" proposition on strategic choice issues concerning the main organizational variables design and organizational goal attainment. It also calls special attention to the emerging interest of designing theorists on interpretivist approaches to the matter, such that of Karl Weick. A review of the the administrative reforms in Brazil is made from the perspective of the main stream organizational design conceptual framework. It highlights the complex dynamics of a constant search for differentiation and flexibilization subject to patterns of advances and reversals, due to the centrality, strength and pervasiveness of the bureaucratic model. It is concluded that in no single given moment, a public manager and his team, may count on a formal organizational design which attends the"congruency" criteria, devised by organizational design conceptual frameworks, to explain organizational results in different environmental sets. Although this conclusion may explain failure at the public sector, it can not provide understanding on the many instances of significative success attained by government operations in spite of inadequate formal administrative structures. This point calls for a better understanding from the interpretivist approach, on how public administrators, strongly associated with good organizational results, engage into transformative action, in order to superate administrative structures flaws and dysfunctional cultural patterns of conduct, structurally present and constantly reproduced, in vigorous developing countries, such as Brazil. The dissertation transcribes the testimony of four outstanding public administrators, doing a deep incursion in the managerial real world of public administration, as subjectively defined by them and transformed by their engagement into action.Through the thematic version of the Oral History methodology, full segments of the complete interviews are categorized into the thirty two managerial strategies captured which are presented on a recategorized manner under eight main strategies: (1) Interchanging Frames of Reference; (2) Exploring the Formal Limits; (3) Playing the Bureaucracy Game; (4) Inducing the Inclusion of Others (5)Promoting Internal Cohesion; (6) Creating Shields against Transgressions; (7) Overcoming Internal Restrictions; (8) Letting the Structures Blossom. Each one of these eight blocks of strategies presented, deserves further reflexive interpretation by the author, on the light of the interpretivist approach to organizational design. A final effort is made, now on theory building, for improving understanding on the matter. In order to find a significant meaning underlining all the strategies extracted from the "practical consciousness" of the interviewers as revealed in their report, the author resort to a metaphor. This metaphor helps to: (1) better describe and understand a not adequately treated phenomenon, namely, good results under inadequate structural social and organizational conditions; (2) reveal the logic and the meaning underlining all the strategies adopted to generate results under these unfaithful conditions; (3) name, accordingly to the nature of the managerial transformative social action involved, an open ended class of managerial interventions of a pragmatic sort driven by an ethics of results much common to good managers, that is, the concept of "managerial equalization"; and (4) give back to public administrators, represented by the interviewees, to be incorporated in their "discursive consciousness", something the most effective and experienced public managers already have as tacit knowledge built in their "practical consciousness", and so, help the education and development of new talents. / Ph. D.