Search Results (2)

The first aim of the article is to diagnose the barriers of agency (including resentment ones) that occur during the implementation of innovations in the selected Silesian small and medium-sized enterprises. The second goal is to explain how the structural and cultural resentment contexts and the type of reflexivity undertaken by the employees determine an innovative activity in the state of morphostasis (contextual continuity) and morphogenesis (contextual discontinuity) at selected companies. The theoretical basis of the research is Margaret Archer’s morphogenetic theory of structure and agency and her scheme of causal analysis. Based on this and using the qualitative analysis of data obtained during focus group interviews (FGI), a diagnosis is made regarding the presence of agency barriers in the innovation processes. A morphogenetic causal analysis of the emergence of agency barriers limiting the course of innovation processes in a business reality burdened with resentment contexts has been presented. On the theoretical and empirical level, the usefulness of the morphogenetic schema in the study of organizational behavior in small and medium enterprises was verified. Conducting diachronic causal analyzes among employees of selected SMEs made it possible to show the conditions between the scope of the existing resentment barriers (structural and cultural), the type of dominant reflexivity among their members, and the possibilities of innovation in these organizations. It has been shown that in organizational contexts burdened with group resentments, the agency of staff is mainly morphostatic. The dominant type of reflexivity (communicative, not autonomous) is focused on maintaining the existing contextual continuity and not on changing it. The results obtained from the research will allow the implementation of educational and implementation projects (research in action) in the future, adequate to the needs of the small and medium enterprise sector in terms of eliminating resentments in the structure and organizational culture. These aims will be implemented through the participation of external expert groups in the following areas of innovation of a given company: pro-innovative attitudes, competencies, processes, and strategies, perception of the environment, customer orientation, or branding. Full article

Agricultural digitalization emerged as a radical innovation, punctuating the gradual evolution of the agrifood sector and having the potential to fundamentally restructure the context within which extension and advisory organizations operate. Digital technologies are expected to alter the practice and culture of animal farming in the future. To suit the changing environmental conditions, organizations can make minor adjustments or can call into question their purposes, belief systems, and operating paradigms. Each pattern of change is associated with different types of organizational learning. In this conceptual article, adopting an organizational learning perspective and building upon organizational change models, we present two potential change and learning pathways that extension and advisory organizations can follow to cope with digitalization: morphostasis and morphogenesis. Morphostatic change has a transitional nature and helps organizations survive by adapting to the new environmental conditions. Organizations that follow this pathway learn by recognizing and correcting errors. This way, they increase their competence in specific services and activities. Morphogenetic change, on the other hand, occurs when organizations acknowledge the need to move beyond existing operating paradigms, redefine their purposes, and explore new possibilities. By transforming themselves, organizations learn new ways to understand and interpret contextual cues. We conclude by presenting some factors that explain extension and advisory organizations’ tendency to morphostasis. Full article