Timescapes in Management : Creative Enquiries and Critical Examinations 9781845442248, 9781845440602

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Journal of Managerial Psychology

ISSN 0268-3946 Volume 19 Number 8 2004

Timescapes in management: creative inquiries and critical examinations Guest Editors Ronald E. Purser, Jack Petranker and Barbara Adam

Access this journal online __________________________ 735 Editorial boards ___________________________________ 736 Abstracts and keywords ___________________________ 737 Guest editorial ____________________________________ 739 Time-span and risk of partner opportunism in strategic alliances T.K. Das ______________________________________________________

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Moments of trust: temporal and spatial factors of trust in organizations Hans Ra¨mo¨ ____________________________________________________

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Time and strategy: towards a multitemporal view of the firm Arabella Mocciaro Li Destri and Giovanni Battista Dagnino _____________

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Changing a cultural grammar? The pressure towards the adoption of ‘‘Northern time’’ by Southern European managers Miguel Pina E. Cunha and Rita Campos E. Cunha ______________________

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CONTENTS

CONTENTS continued

Perceptions and experience of time-space compression and acceleration: the shaping of leaders’ identities Sharon Turnbull ________________________________________________

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Managerial postalgia: projecting a golden future Sierk Ybema ___________________________________________________

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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD

Professor Neil Anderson Department of Work and Organization Psychology, University of Amsterdam

Dr Dean Bartlett University of North London, UK

Professor Chris Argyris Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, USA

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Professor Warren Bennis University of Southern California, USA Professor Frank Bournois Universite´ Panthe´on-Assas, Paris II, France Professor Cary Cooper University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, UK Alfred Crossman Rudgwick, West Sussex Professor Martin Evans Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Canada Dr Frank Heller Tavistock Institute, UK Professor Geert Hofstede Institute for Research on Intercultural Co-operation, The Netherlands Professor Paul Iles Teesside Business School, UK Professor Andrew Kakabadse Cranfield School of Management, UK, Founding Editor of Journal of Managerial Psychology Dr Bruce Kirkcaldy International Centre for the Study of Occupational and Mental Health, Du¨sseldorf, Germany Professor Harold J. Leavitt Stanford University, USA Professor Manuel London State University of New York, Stony Brook, USA Professor Dr Wolfgang Mayrhofer Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria Professor John B. Miner Consultant and writer, Eugene, Oregon, USA Professor Greg Northcraft Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, USA Dr Francisco Gil Rodriguez Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain Professor Zhong-Ming Wang Hangzhou University, China

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Dr Gayle Baugh University of West Florida, USA Dr Alf Crossman The University of Surrey, UK Dr Patricia Hind Ashridge Management College, UK Professor Henry S.R. Kao University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Dr Ute-Christine Klehe Programmagroep A&O Psychologie, Amsterdam Dr Robert Kovach and Brett Seamons RHR International Co., London, UK Dr Peter Liu Verity International Ltd, Toronto Dr Tuvia Melamed Quo Consulting Ltd, Redditch, UK Dr Michael Morley University of Limerick, Ireland Dr Chris Rees University of Manchester, UK Dr Ramon Rico Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain Dr Raymond Saner and Dr Lichia Yiu Centre for Socio-Economic Development, Geneva, Switzerland Dr Rene´ Schalk Tilburg University, The Netherlands Dr Ruth Simpson School of Business and Management, Brunel University, UK Dr Sherry E. Sullivan Bowling Green State University, USA Professor Gladys L. Symons Ecole Nationale d’Administration Publique, Universite´ de Quebec, Canada Dr Shay Tzafrir University of Haifa, Israel Dr Daniel Vloeberghs University of Antwerp, Belgium Dr Jacob (Yaacov) Weisberg Bar-Ilan University, Israel Professor Jack Wood Monash University, Australia

Time-span and risk of partner opportunism in strategic alliances T.K. Das Keywords Time study, Partnership, Risk management, Strategic alliances The temporalities of opportunism – a term that generally means ‘‘self-interest seeking with guile’’ – have not been adequately examined in the literature. This article suggests that opportunism is a variegated phenomenon that can be better appreciated by exploring the role of its temporal dimension. Adopting this temporal approach, the article proposes a framework of partner opportunism in strategic alliances that incorporates the two fundamental dimensions of time and risk. It then discusses four types of partner opportunism in this comprehensive time-risk framework. Finally, the article indicates directions for further research.

Moments of trust: temporal and spatial factors of trust in organizations Hans Ra¨mo¨ Keywords Trust, Time-based management, Virtual organizations, Philosophy Different forms of trust in the contemporary organizational settings of virtual organizations and time management (e.g., just-in-time, lean production, and total quality management) are discussed in conjunction with some Greek philosophical notions of human action, namely theoria/ episteme, poiesis/techne, and praxis/phronesis, together with the two notions of time, chronos/kairos and their spatial counterparts, chora/topos. It is suggested that time management concepts in production line settings are frequently based upon asymmetric power-relations and rigid timecontrol making most forms of organizational trust instrumental and/or weak. Virtual organization settings, on the other hand, are more likely to contain trust that appears to be fragile and temporal, and in demand of communication based on right moments to act judiciously.

Time and strategy: towards a multitemporal view of the firm Arabella Mocciaro Li Destri and Giovanni Battista Dagnino Keywords Resource management, Organizational theory, Corporate strategy, Time-based management This paper takes into consideration the main views underlying the theory of the resource based firm within strategy studies, underscoring their fundamental monotemporal nature and proposing a way to elaborate a multi-temporal view of the firm. By analyzing the link between the time concepts used as bases for the formulation of studies within the strategy field and the types of actor behavior implicitly (or explicitly) entailed by such time concepts, the paper shows the inadequacy of any one of the two monotemporal views of the resource-based firm to encompass all of the main actor behaviors on which the firm’s survival and success increasingly rests. The paper draws on the Austrian process view in economic studies to formulate a methodological framework which consents the elaboration of a multi-temporal view of the resource based firm, in which different time concepts are bridged and in which all main actor behaviors crucial for prolonged firm success are encompassed. Finally, the paper shows how the multitemporal view of the firm consents with the re-interpretation and maintenance of both the static and the dynamic concepts elaborated within the strategy literature and, eventually, also expands the causal relationships between strategic management and a number of other areas of inquiry in the management field, such as time-space relationships, the relationship between strategy and entrepreneurship, and the relationship between the former and the evolutionary perspective. Changing a cultural grammar? The pressure towards the adoption of ‘‘Northern time’’ by Southern European managers Miguel Pina E. Cunha and Rita Campos E. Cunha Keywords Time-based management, Management culture, National cultures, Managers, Portugal, Europe This study investigates one of the multiple aspects involved in the transfer of

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management knowledge between countries: the transfer of timeframes. More than an objective and macro-level variable to be managed, time is analyzed from the perspective of the individual experiences of a sample of managers located in Portugal. Portugal, together with the other SouthernEuropean cultures, has been presented as a polychronic culture. The Southern, polychronic timeframe, however is being openly criticized by managers, both Portuguese and foreign, on the basis of ‘‘time as money’’ assumption. The articulation of the macro and micro levels of analysis showed that the dialectical opposition between Northern and Southern times is being interpreted under three main perspectives: Latin time is deeply entrenched and difficult to change but is dysfunctional; time management in the Northern time is part of the good manager ‘‘toolkit’’ and hence must replace Southern time; a synthesis must be found to articulate in some virtuous manner the two previous perspectives. The paper contributes to the literature with an articulation between the macro level (national and occupational identity) and the micro perspective (the lived experience of time). It also contributes to the underresearched aspect of management in Southern Europe. Perceptions and experience of time-space compression and acceleration: the shaping of leaders’ identities Sharon Turnbull Keywords Leaders, Careers, Public sector organizations, United Kingdom, Narratives This research builds on Jenkins’ theory of time, identification and human nature through an empirical study of leaders’ experiences in a large UK public sector organisation. By applying Lewis and Weigart’s typology of social time to the accounts of the leaders studied within this research, the study finds

that the leaders’ self- identities are constituted through the discourses of self-time, interaction-time and organisational-time which are embedded, stratified and synchronised through social and organisational practices. In the leaders’ narratives of career, work, life and family the research identifies dominant discourses of time compression and acceleration, as well as both cyclic and linear discourses of time. Each of these temporal constructs is found to be embedded in and manifested through the continuous construction and shaping of identity. The implications of these findings for our understanding of the contemporary working life of leaders and their careers and identities are discussed.

Managerial postalgia: projecting a golden future Sierk Ybema Keywords Organizational change, Organizational theory, Nostalgia This article seeks to further understand the significance of ‘‘organizational nostalgia’’ for processes of organizational change and to develop the mirror concept ‘‘managerial postalgia’’. If nostalgia is a longing for a paradisical past, postalgia refers to a longing for a heavenly future, a desire that is central to change-talk and change-initiatives in organizations. The meaning and role of postalgia will be clarified in this paper by comparing and contrasting it with organizational nostalgia and by analyzing ethnographic studies that provide empirical support to substantiate the analogy. It is argued that the glorification of the past, just as the idealization of the future, are part of internal struggles in which organizational actors try to instigate or resist change by praising or dispraising the collective past, present and future. The argumentation demonstrates the significance of temporal constructions of change and continuity through organizational discourse.

Guest editorial About the Guest Editors Ronald E. Purser is Professor of Management in the College of Business at San Francisco State University. He is past Division Chair of the Organization Development and Change (ODC) division of the Academy of Management, and co-author of four books, The Search Conference ( Jossey Bass, 1996) (with M. Emery), The Self Managing Organization (Free Press, 1998) (with S. Cabana), and Social Creativity, vols. I and II (Hampton Press) (with A. Montuori). At the 2000 Academy of Management conference he co-chaired a featured symposium “Timescapes in management,” and his paper, ‘The coming crisis in real-time environments: a dromological analysis”, was selected for the Best Paper Proceeding. E-mail: [email protected] Jack Petranker holds a BA from Stanford, an MA in political theory from the University of California at Berkeley, and a JD from Yale Law School. He is an editor, educator, and writer and the author of articles on consciousness studies, organizational change, political transformation, the inner meaning of work, and various topics in Buddhism. A former Dean of the Nyingma Institute in Berkeley, CA, he is the founder and director of the Center for Creative Inquiry. E-mail: [email protected] Barbara Adam is professor of sociology at Cardiff University and Chair of the Research Centre for the Study of Knowledge in Practice (SKIP). She is founding editor of the Sage journal, Time and Societyand has written extensively on social time applied to subject matters across the social and environmental sciences. Two of her monographs on time have been awarded book prizes. For further details about her research and publications see her Cardiff University Web page http:// www.cf.ac.uk/SOCSI. Her new Oxford University book, Making Time. Time and Management in Modern Organisations, edited with Richard Whipp and Ida Sabelis, will be published in July 2002. E-mail: [email protected]

Time has been referred to as the hidden dimension (Hall, 1983), an implicit challenge that for many years went largely unanswered in the field of management studies. A few pioneers explored aspects of temporality in organizational studies (for an excellent review see Bluedorn, 2002; Das, 1986), but for the most part the discipline seemed content to go along with unexamined assumptions and peremptory conclusions. Perhaps the dawn of the new millennium has had something to do with it, but this era of neglect shows signs of coming to an end. Future theorists may mark the turning point as the annual conference of the Academy of Management held in Toronto in 2000, which took time as its theme. Thousands of academics and practitioners found themselves confronting hundreds of papers on the theme of time, and some came away with a sense of new ideas stirring. Following the conference, a special issue of the Academy of Management Review took up the theme of time as a research lens in organizations (Anconna et al, 2001). One of the sessions organized for the 2000 AOM Conference featured presentations by all three of the editors for this special issue of JMP. Organized by Ronald Purser in his capacity as Chair of the Organizational Development and Change Division of the AOM, the All-Academy session challenged organizational scholars to be more reflexive in their theorizing of time. The theme for the session was Barbara Adam’s

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notion of “timescapes,” which decenters linear, objectivist conceptions of time, opening discourse to temporal modes that are normally ignored or marginalized (Adam, 1998). In 2002, the three of us joined forces with a number of well-known scholars in the field to organize a small conference (about 20 participants) devoted to the theme of time. The conference title was “Dynamic time and creative inquiry in organizational change.” Precisely because time was the theme, we focused in on the time that conferees would spend together, and determined to depart from the usual conference format in several key respects. First, we required all presenters to make their papers available in advance on the website of the Center for Creative Inquiry (interested readers can find them at www.creativeinquiry.org/juneconference/library). Equally important, we asked them to submit short biographical statements and a photo. The site provided for exchanges on the papers, as well as on the design of the conference. These innovations, though relatively minor, had a tremendous impact on the conference. By the time participants gathered at a secluded site in Essex, MA, they shared a history. Though most of us had never met, we knew something about each other, and we had all already taken an active role in preparing for the conference. To build on this promising beginning, the conference organizers announced that this would be an “improvisational conference.” Although we established a structure intended to make sure that everyone would have a chance to present, we also agreed that we would feel free to modify that structure as we went along. On a micro-level, we asked participants to find ways to make their presentations more dynamic and improvisational. A few of the presenters took improvisation as their overt theme, but our aim was to have everyone share in the sense that we would be laying down our path as we walked it. At the very least, we reasoned, this commitment would make us more aware of the temporal dimension, since we would be confronting it at every turn – not in the usual mode of deadlines and tight schedules, but as an arena of open possibilities. The results were gratifying. No one wandering into the event would have mistaken it for a rave, but the participants seemed to share a sense of greater freedom and more meaningful exchanges. As one of us (Purser) had said in advance of the conference, at most conferences the most fruitful parts take place in the hallways between events; we were aiming for a conference that was “all hallways.” We surely fell short, but it was a good beginning. The present issue of JMP grows directly out of the Essex conference. Our original thought was that we would look for a forum to publish some of the papers that grew out of the conference, but as we thought it through, we realized it would be more fruitful – and more true to the theme of time as indeterminate – to invite contributions through a more traditional call for papers. We solicited contributions that could help “spark a creative inquiry into the multiplicity of temporalities that constitute managerial experience and organizational life,” and urged a transdisciplinary approach. The articles published here were selected from the many contributions we received in response. The papers collected here can be read individually as contributions to the field of management psychology that break new ground by introducing or exploring in new ways the multi-faceted timescapes within which organizational actors work, plan, and contrive to succeed. They can also be read as contributions to an ongoing dialogue that aims to rethink time at a deep level. Our sense is that the temporal dimension as it is

presently understood imposes limits on the possibilities for organizations, management, and managers – limits that we will begin to recognize more clearly only when we are on the way to overcoming them. In this broader sense, readers may want to read the articles in this special issue in light of one another. It would be foolish to impose an artificial unity on a collection of papers submitted by authors with widely differing concerns and backgrounds. Yet there are themes and approaches that carry across papers, so that each illuminates the others. Here we will trace one pathway through the collection, certain that others will find other, equally fruitful approaches. We begin with the article by T.K. Das, truly a pioneer in the field of temporal studies. His concern here is with the temporalities of opportunism: those situations in which a partner in a strategic alliance deliberately undermines that alliance for the sake of private advantage. Das assesses the conditions that make opportunism more or less like in terms of the temporal horizon (short-term or long-term) of possible opportunistic action, plotted against the degree of risk to the relationship that such an action will engender. The underlying issue here is one of identity: a business that enters a strategic alliance maintains its own identity intact, and thus can contemplate betraying the alliance without having to rethink its own image and commitments. Noteworthy about this analysis is that it takes the “standard” understanding of time for granted. Managers take actions now to get desired results in the future. In the logic appropriate to such a linear approach, opportunistic acts are always an option. The article by Ramos investigates the theme of trust, closely related to the issue of opportunism that concerns Das. However, he does so from a very different perspective. Ramos starts from the idea that existing timescapes lead to “excessive stress, unoriginality and even distrust,” and aims to sketch out an alternative. Focusing on the distinction between chronos (conventional linear time) and kairos (the right time, the time for appropriate action), he suggests that management could approach decisions in ways that invited the application of wisdom and judgment rather than simply good results. For Ramos, opportunism could never be “timely” in a kairotic sense; as he writes, a “partisan focus on organizational goals will never be reconcilable with trust”. This framework raises a number of important questions. Must one possess wisdom in order to act in a “timely” manner? If so, how shall such wisdom arise? Could a different approach to time itself lead to wisdom, and could such wisdom inform a different management ethos? Ramos rightly points out that due to external constraints, few managers will realistically be able to pursue such a possibility. Still, an important question has been raised. A different approach to time requires a different kind of knowledge, but what if the different knowledge in question is the knowledge of time? Perhaps the very act of naming and exploring kairos is a step toward such knowledge, and hence a step toward wisdom. With Li Destri and Dagnino, we return to a more conventional (though multiple) understanding of time. The authors contrast objective, Newtonian, linear time, in which all moments are homogeneous, with subjective, Bergsonian, qualitative time, in which each moment is uniquely conditioned by the web of memory and anticipation in which it arises. They link the former to classic economic rationalism, which reasons probabilistically from past patterns to future likelihoods, while they associate the latter with the entrepreneurial spark that reacts to the uncertainty of the future with creative solutions. Drawing on the Austrian process view, they suggest that each of these

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approaches has application at different times in the life cycle of an organization, and on this basis suggest that a focus on different kinds of temporality might make it possible to build a bridge between entrepreneurial studies and strategic management. Interestingly, the Bergsonian approach introduced in this article is not difficult to reconcile with the more conventional temporal analysis presupposed in Das, for opportunism anticipates what is possible in the unique circumstances and conditions of this precise moment, and in this sense is entrepreneurial. Perhaps the reason for this congeniality is that subjective approaches to time, like objective approaches, are founded in identity, and thus extend themselves across time in characteristic ways. Like Li Destri and Dagnino, the E Cunhas distinguish two kinds of time. In their case these are monochronic time, as practiced in northern Europe, and polychronic time, as practiced in southern Europe. There is a tendency to regard these two modes of time (originally identified by Hall) as akin to objective and subjective time, but the E Cunhas reject this comparison. Instead, they contend that polychronic time focuses on relationships rather than results; in another formulation, they suggest that it is maternal rather than paternal. The E Cunhas buttress these conclusions with references to an empirical study of eighty Portuguese managers and their difficulties in integrating the values learned in a polychromic society into an increasingly monochronic world economic order. Perhaps we could speak here of another kind of identity: not the objective identity of the organization or the subjective identity of the individual actor, but the relational identity that arises in community, giving rise to its own temporality. The interplay of subjective time, identity, and the temporal structures that shape the world of management also figures prominently in the article by Sharon Turnbull. The study on which this paper is based looked at senior managers nearing the age of retirement in a large public-sector organization going through significant changes. Accustomed to viewing their own careers as describing a linear trajectory through time, the study participants found themselves strangely at a loss when they reached a point where, their careers nearing an end, this model no longer held. In effect, they were forced to confront the existential question of how the reality of death (translated into the corporate realm as retirement) figures into the subjective experience of time. Turnbull’s discussion of this and related points helps clarify that subjective reactions to socially constituted temporal structures are often inseparable from those structures, which take on an “objective” life of their own. For the executives she studied, the unexpected disjunction between the subjective and objective left them in a state of temporal anxiety, struggling to fit their identities into alternative temporal modalities. The final article, by Sierk Ybema, is wholly at home in the realm of the subjective. Drawing an analogy to studies of organizational nostalgia, Ybema identifies an approach to the future that he calls “postalgia”: a way of framing a common destiny meant simultaneously to unite, to exclude, and to determine who shall hold power. He is explicit about the emotional component of this approach to time, reminding us that the “algia” in postalgia comes from a word meaning “grief” or “distress.” If Ybema, like the E Cunhas, throws us squarely into the middle of a world (and corresponding timescape) centered on group identity, he also suggests a way out. The kind of time on which he focuses is related to the telling of stories. Could the story could be told differently? Would it perhaps be possible to engage time in a way that told no

stories at all? If that happened, we would not be thrown back on the rational timescape of the economic decision-maker (for as Ybema notes, economic rationality is its own kind of story, perhaps a story at one remove from psychological realities). Instead, we might be in touch with a different dimension of time. Instead of competing for ownership of the present through nostalgic or postalgic accounts, we might be able simply to accept the present, and with it the past and the future. Could that approach relieve our grief and distress? Could this way of relating to time open the gate to wisdom? Time will tell. Ronald E. Purser, Jack Petranker and Barbara Adam Guest Editors References Adam, B. (1998), Timescapes of Modernity: The Environmental and Invisible Hazards, Routledge, London. Anconna, D., Goodman, P., Lawrence, B. and Tushman, M. (2001), “Time: a research lens”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 645-63. Bluedorn, A.C. (2002), The Human Organization of Time, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA. Das, T.K. (1986), The Subjective Side of Strategy Making: Managing the Future, Praeger, New York, NY. Hall, E.T. (1983), The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time, Anchor Press, Garden City, NY.

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Time-span and risk of partner opportunism in strategic alliances

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Baruch College, City University of New York, New York, USA

T.K. Das Keywords Time study, Partnership, Risk management, Strategic alliances Abstract The temporalities of opportunism – a term that generally means “self-interest seeking with guile” – have not been adequately examined in the literature. This article suggests that opportunism is a variegated phenomenon that can be better appreciated by exploring the role of its temporal dimension. Adopting this temporal approach, the article proposes a framework of partner opportunism in strategic alliances that incorporates the two fundamental dimensions of time and risk. It then discusses four types of partner opportunism in this comprehensive time-risk framework. Finally, the article indicates directions for further research.

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Introduction A notable feature of business in recent times is the accelerated formation of strategic alliances, or interfirm cooperative arrangements aimed at pursuing mutual strategic objectives. Despite this encouraging trend, the failure rate of these alliances has been remarkably high (Das and Teng, 2000a). One of the major reasons for alliance dissolutions has been the opportunistic behavior of partners. Opportunistic behavior refers to “self-interest seeking with guile” (Williamson, 1975, p. 9). In this article we attempt to better understand the dynamics of such opportunistic behavior. We suggest that opportunism is not a monolithic phenomenon, and that it would be useful, therefore, to develop a more comprehensive framework of opportunistic behavior. In that effort, we explore the temporal dimension that continues to be neglected in studies of both opportunism among firms and partner opportunism in strategic alliances. A review of the literature suggests that few guidelines are available for examining various types of opportunism. We believe that recognizing the temporal dimension is central to appreciating the essence of opportunism. Our approach to understanding opportunistic behavior focuses on its two fundamental dimensions: time-span and risk. The first dimension relates to the duration of potential negative impact of opportunistic behavior on confidence in partner cooperation. This temporal dimension, which we term as the time-span of opportunism, or “opportunism horizon”, has not been explored in the literature, and is somewhat akin to the well-known notion of time-span of decisions (Jaques, 1979). The second dimension, of risk, captures the degree of the potential negative impact of opportunistic behavior in terms of the apprehension that a partner may not be committed to mutual interests in an alliance. An appreciation of the roles of both these dimensions is necessary for an adequate understanding of the essential nature of opportunistic behavior. We believe the risk consequences of opportunistic behavior can be better understood, and more effectively controlled and prevented, if we recognize their potential in terms of the temporal categories that we propose here. The author wishes to thank N. Rahman for research assistance.

We divide the article into four parts. First, we elaborate on the temporal aspects of opportunistic behavior, introducing the notion of opportunism horizon, or the period of time during which there would be significant consequences from opportunistic behavior. Second, we examine the nature of opportunistic behavior in strategic alliances, clarifying, in particular, how the possibility of opportunism results in relational risk in alliances. We then propose a time-risk framework of opportunistic behavior based on the two dimensions of opportunism horizon and relational risk. Finally, we indicate directions for further research and mention some of the significant managerial implications of the framework. Temporal horizons of opportunism Opportunism in strategic alliances Opportunism is widely construed as seeking gain for oneself at the expense of others. Such behavior is usually associated with breaches of contract. We list in Table I some illustrative observations from the literature on opportunistic behavior in strategic alliances. As the table illustrates, scholars have focused on a wide variety of topics relating to opportunism. Opportunism takes various forms, depending on the mechanism used for the governance of business activities. Unlike in markets and hierarchies, strategic alliances attract substantial threats of opportunistic behavior, often a cause of their inherent instability. Given the negative connotations of opportunism, scholars have also investigated control mechanisms that might be used to curb opportunism. As alluded to earlier, the literature on opportunism has generally treated it in monolithic terms. Recently, however, Wathne and Heide (2000) offered a framework of four forms of opportunism – namely, evasion, refusal to adapt, violation, and forced renegotiation. These forms vary along two dimensions: existing vs. new circumstances, and passive vs. active behavior. In this framework, evasion and violation are opportunistic forms under existing circumstances, whereas refusal to adapt and forced renegotiation are opportunistic forms under new circumstances. Similarly, evasion and refusal to adapt are opportunistic forms that are passive, whereas violation and forced renegotiation are opportunistic forms that are active in nature. As will be evident from the framework that we propose in this article, the two dimensions in our framework are different from those used by Wathne and Heide. We are concerned with the degree of risk, our second dimension, not the mode of behavior. Our first dimension, being introduced here, is the temporal span of opportunistic behavior, or opportunism horizon. The threat of opportunistic behavior is an integral part of the alliancing phenomenon (Das and Rahman, 2002). Empirical investigations of various aspects of opportunistic behavior in the context of alliances have been undertaken only in relatively recent times. Lee (1998) finds support that decision-making uncertainty, cultural difference, and economic ethnocentrism increase the possibility of the alliance partner to behave opportunistically. Kale et al. (2000) introduce the notion of relational capital, which is based on trust and interaction, and show that relational capital deters partner opportunism. Deeds and Hill (1998) explore opportunistic behavior and its potential threat in biotechnology research alliances. They find significant evidence that a strong relationship between partners is a more effective deterrent of opportunistic behavior than is the use of mutual hostages or rigorous contractual arrangements.

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“While it is clearly in the interest of a group as a whole for everyone to be trustworthy and trusting, since that would greatly reduce transaction costs for all, individuals may be tempted to defect and be opportunistic while pretending to be trustworthy. The extent of this temptation increases as more people are trustworthy, and it further depends on the efficiency and reliability by which such defection can be detected and communicated, and the ensuing risk of a loss of reputation that is detrimental to future partnerships” (p. 989). “Prior estimates of propensity towards opportunism are adapted as a function of events. If no opportunism is perceived, the subjective probability of the partner’s taking advantage of opportunities for opportunism may decline; when opportunism is perceived, it will increase” (p. 1003) Weaver and Dickson (1998) “Perceived opportunism measures the difference between an alliance participant’s expectation of fairness and the perception that an alliance partner has behaved in such a manner as to benefit his or her own firm without regard for the best interests of others in the alliance. Perceived opportunism is the belief that an alliance partner has not adhered to the explicit or implicit controls governing the relationship” (p. 507). “The variance in alliance outcome quality attributed to the perception of opportunistic behavior is predicted to be above and beyond that explained by objective measures of opportunism as well as the variance explained by goal-based and firm-specific factors” (p. 510) Williamson (1975) “Opportunism refers to a lack of candor or honesty in transactions, to include self-interest seeking with guile” (p. 9). “Opportunism extends the conventional assumption that economic agents are guided by considerations of self-interest to make allowance for strategic behavior” (p. 26). “The strategic manipulation of information or misrepresentation of intentions . . . are to be regarded as opportunistic” (p. 26) Williamson (1979) “Where personal integrity is believed to be operative, individuals located at the interfaces may refuse to be a part of opportunistic efforts to take advantage of (rely on) the letter of the contract when the spirit of the exchange is emasculated. Such refusals can serve as a check upon organizational proclivities to behave opportunistically” (p. 240) Williamson (1996) “Because those who use transaction cost economics work out of a farsighted-contracting setup (contracts, albeit incomplete, are nonetheless viewed in their entirety), the main message of opportunism is not that of Machiavellian grabbing or Get them before they get us. Rather, upon looking ahead and recognizing the types of hazards that are posed by opportunism, the main message is to give and receive credible commitments (in cost-effective degree)” (p. 50)

Johnson, Cullen, and Sakano (1996) Nooteboom (1996)

John (1984)

Gassenheimer et al. (1996)

“The initial period in an alliance’s life will be characterized by low levels of opportunism. However, during the middle years, significantly higher levels of opportunism are likely to be perceived as the project progresses. Finally, after this period the level of opportunism begins to decrease” (p. 159) “Opportunism may stem from the reluctance of members to fulfill commitments to partners in cooperative arrangements” (p. 70) “As bureaucratic structuring increases, the lack of autonomy and self-control creates frustration. This frustration is particularly acute for the autonomy-oriented entrepreneurs in the wholesaling and retailing sectors of marketing channels. It is translated into aggressive retaliatory behavior that is characteristically opportunistic” (p. 280) “Results indicated that opportunistic tendencies did not diminish as the IJV relationship aged” (p. 79)

Deeds and Hill (1998)

Table I. Opportunistic behavior in strategic alliances Illustrative observations

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Authors

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They also find support for their claim that opportunism will vary within different stages of the alliance life cycle. Weaver and Dickson (1998) observe that alliances among small and medium sized firms are unique breeding grounds for opportunistic behavior. Johnson et al. (1996) find that, in international joint ventures, the threat of opportunism persists even after the relationship matures. It is critical, when studying alliance management, to assume the existence of opportunistic potential (Das and Teng, 1998). Opportunism can have several serious consequences for any interfirm collaboration. First, the potential for opportunistic behavior is a major source of transaction costs in interfirm alliances. Firms perceiving the threat of opportunism are faced with a greater need for screening, negotiating, and monitoring partners’ behavior, resulting in increased transaction costs. Second, given that firms strive to maximize gains, self-interest seeking behavior will be prominent in the alliance context. The failure to see beyond the short-term optimization of self-interest hampers cooperative effort that is essential to alliance success. Perceived potential for opportunism poses the most critical threat to satisfactory cooperation, and is instrumental in causing alliance dissolution. Finally, both scholars and practitioners need to appreciate the insidious nature of partner opportunism in terms of the relational risk (discussed later) that it directly generates. Importance of time in opportunism When scholars have attempted to incorporate the element of time in their discussions on opportunism, they have done so only in a tangential manner. Table II offers a glimpse of the literature that deals with opportunism and time. While temporal aspects have not been tied to opportunism in any systematic way in previous research, the role of time in understanding opportunism is undeniable from the brief review of the literature. This article directly links opportunism with time – to offer a better understanding of the temporal dynamics of opportunism. A member firm in an alliance, considered as the focal firm, can only realize the impact of its partner’s opportunism in the course of future alliance activities. Therefore, it becomes incumbent upon the focal firm to take preventive measures to safeguard itself from the consequences of potential partner opportunism in the future. There is, thus, a temporal span that the focal firm has to contend with to decide what kinds of preventive measures need to be adopted. The challenge for the focal firm is to “see” the potential threats of partner opportunism residing in the future (Das, 1987, 2004). Here, identifying the specific opportunism type is also important, for different types connote different dangers, and need to be curbed with unique combinations of deterrence mechanisms. As a general point, we should note that opportunistic behavior would hurt a firm’s image, reputation, and future business potential. Thus, a firm (the focal firm as well as its partner) that intends to continue operating in a specific market over the long haul (perhaps to exploit industry-specific competitive advantages) will not find such behavior a viable option (Axelrod, 1984; Heide and Miner, 1992). Indeed, as Hill (1990, p. 507) observes: “the invisible hand of the market is an evolutionary selection mechanism. In the long run, an efficient market will delete actors whose behavioral repertoires (decision rules) depress performance” (Alchian, 1950; Nelson and Winter, 1982). He argues that opportunistic behavior does not pay in the long run, even under conditions of high asset specificity, because the invisible hand of the market punishes

Partner opportunism

747

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Authors

Illustrative observations

Chiles and McMackin (1996)

“In a multiperiod prisoners’ dilemma, both parties act with the expectation that they may engage each other again. This expectation of future economic relations, known as the ‘shadow of the future’ (Axelrod, 1984, p. 126), constrains the actors’ opportunistic behavior in the current period” (p. 86) “The propensity for opportunistic behavior is usually effectively checked by the need to take account of the effect of the firm’s actions on future business” (p. 44) “RC [relational contracting] argues that concern for the long-term health of the relationship leads to self-monitoring on the part of the parties to the exchange and the deterrence of opportunistic action. Therefore, characteristics of the partners or the relationship that are conducive to the creation of a strong, long-term relationship should serve as deterrents to opportunism” (p. 145) “The invisible hand of the market mechanism selects organizations on the basis of their repertoires of behavior, suggesting that the distribution of cooperative and opportunistic actors is not exogenous to the economic system. Rather, over the long run, the invisible hand deletes actors who are habitually opportunistic” (p. 503) “It is reasonable to say that prior to transaction, one is uncertain about the partner’s potential opportunism, and hence should take opportunism into account. Once one takes time into account, in ongoing transactions, it is unreasonable to ignore the formation of perceptions about propensities towards opportunism, and the possibility of building trust” (pp. 987-988) “The potential for opportunistic behavior should be assessed before adopting budgetary reforms so that mechanisms can be developed for checking it. Opportunism in a budgeting context is usually associated with self-dealing by bureaucrats” (p. 206) “Provided that opportunism is examined in the context of farsighted contracting, the lesson is to look ahead, perceive possible hazards, and take hazard-mitigating actions” (p. 48)

Coase (1988) Deeds and Hill (1998)

Hill (1990)

Nooteboom (1996)

Patashnik (1996)

Table II. Temporal aspects of opportunistic behavior

Williamson (1996)

the opportunist by exposing its characteristics and eventually driving it out of the market. This will cause other firms within the market to be reluctant to get involved in such a high-risk relationship with the opportunistic firm. Evidently, there is a distinct, if subtle, temporal consideration that informs the appreciation (by the focal firm) of such potential opportunistic behavior (by the partner firm). Time-span of opportunism (or opportunism horizon) Time has been of abiding interest in many disciplines (see Das, 1990, for a compilation of research contributions in 21 categories), and has recently attracted increasing attention in the management field (e.g., Whipp et al., 2002). The notion of temporal horizon has been applied to planning and risk in management and organizational studies (Das, 1986, 1991, 1993; Das and Teng, 1997). Here, we introduce the notion of the temporal horizon of opportunism, which we call “opportunism horizon”. In the context of strategic alliances, opportunism horizon is the temporal distance between the time a partner firm engages in opportunistic behavior against the focal firm and the

intended point in the future when the substantive effects of the opportunism cease or peter out. The span or horizon of partner opportunism is the temporal distance between the moment the partner engages in opportunism to the point in time when the partner can no longer continue to engage in such behavior. That is not to say that the consequences or effects of that behavior will not continue to be felt by the focal firm. However, the consequences of various types of opportunistic behavior of a partner firm unfold at different points of time in the future. These consequences may have potency, for adversely affecting the focal firm, for a short duration or for a long duration. For example, payment delays can be considered a short-span opportunistic behavior by a partner firm, because its effects will be realized relatively soon after the initial act. Another example of short-span opportunism is the misappropriation of quasi-rent generated from specific investments, because the effect of the misappropriation can be felt soon after it takes place. Opportunism with a long-span horizon is evident when a partner firm withholds necessary information to prevent the focal firm from gaining a legitimate decision-making leverage. The effects of such an action may not usually be realized right away, so that the opportunist may continue to reap the unfair advantage from withholding information over an extended period of time. Misrepresenting information or intentions also has a long-span opportunism horizon because the effects of such actions would usually take some time to unfold.

Opportunism and risk in strategic alliances It is generally recognized in the strategy literature that the potential for partner opportunism adds to the element of risk in alliances. However, the precise nature of this risk needs to be identified. The construct of risk in interfirm alliances has been disaggregated into relational risk and performance risk (Das and Teng, 1996). Briefly, relational risk in an alliance is the probability that the partner will not cooperate fully. Performance risk refers to the probability of not attaining the performance goals even when partners cooperate fully. Clearly, opportunism, or deceitful self-interest seeking, generates only relational risk. Performance risk, by definition, does not relate to opportunism because it is based on the given condition of full partner cooperation. In a recent article, Ireland et al. (2002, p. 434) discuss these two types of risk in alliances in the following way: There are at least two types of alliance risks – relational and performance (Das and Teng, 2001). Relational risk is concerned with the probability and consequent actions when a partner does not appropriately commit to an alliance and fails to behave as expected. Thus, relational risk denotes decision makers’ concerns regarding the level of cooperation between partners. Opportunistic behaviors that are oriented to the individual firm’s benefit rather than to the good of the alliance demonstrate relational risk. Performance risk regards the factors that may impede achieving alliance objectives. Relational risk is internally oriented and is influenced in part by how each partner allocates and manages the resources it commits to an alliance. In contrast, performance risk is externally focused. Relational risk is associated with the relationship between partners; performance risk is grounded in the interactions of alliance partners with the external environment. Finally, performance risk is common to all strategic decisions while relational risk is idiosyncratic to individual strategic alliances (Das and Teng, 1996, 2000b, 2001). Alliance managers can have a much broader and deeper effect on relational risk, primarily by carefully managing the firm’s social capital.

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Thus, the construct of performance risk in interfirm alliances is no different from that in single firms. Relational risk, however, is unique to strategic alliances. We should note that the particular type of risk attendant to opportunism in alliances – namely, relational risk – has yet to be adequately explored in the literature. According to Das and Teng (1996, p. 831), “the term ‘relational risk’ addresses the possibility and the consequence that the partners in inter-firm alliances do not fully commit themselves to joint efforts”. We view relational risk in terms of the adverse consequences of possible partner misbehavior, so that the magnitude of the risk to the focal firm would be determined by the amount of potential damage. Therefore, the perceived opportunistic behaviors of the partner that may not cause any substantial harm to the focal firm can be said to entail low relational risk, whereas the behaviors that may severely damage the focal firm would pose high relational risk. Note that we are not using the notion of “risk” in the traditional sense of probability of negative variance. Rather, our treatment of the focal firm’s relational risk assessment is concerned with the adverse consequences of potential opportunistic behavior by the partner firm. Both scholars and practitioners need to appreciate the insidious nature of partner opportunism in terms of the relational risk that it directly generates. The degree of relational risk is also a relative issue. In other words, our assignment of riskiness to different opportunistic behaviors depends on the severity of the potential damage of one type of opportunistic behavior vis-a`-vis another. For the sake of simplicity, we group different types of opportunistic behaviors into two broad categories: low risk and high risk. Shirking, free-riding, and withholding full cooperation in an ongoing alliance are examples of opportunistic behavior whose potential occurrence could be sources of relational risk. The level of relational risk a firm will experience will be proportional to the perceived scope and consequence of opportunism. The higher the threat of opportunism, the more will be the resultant relational risk. Relational risk can, thus, be either low or high, depending on the threat level. Refraining from giving full effort for the success of a collaborative project, delaying payments to partners, providing sub-standard products, etc., are forms of opportunistic behavior that do not suggest the highest degree of hostility or non-cooperation. In other words, these behaviors would tend to result in low relational risk. Alternatively, there would be high relational risk in the presence of stealing proprietary technology, distorting key decision-making inputs, and similar activities. A time-risk framework of opportunistic behavior In this section we examine, in turn, the nature of short-span and long-span opportunistic behavior and then integrate these two time-span categories with the relational risk dimension, discussed earlier, to propose a time-risk framework of opportunistic behavior (see Table III). Short-span opportunism As we mentioned earlier, opportunistic behavior of a partner firm is short span when its effects can be realized by the affected focal firm soon after the opportunist’s guileful action. This kind of opportunistic act arises from a conscious short-term decision of the opportunist. Delivering substandard products, being deliberately wasteful of alliance resources, and taking advantage of the focal firm’s resource commitments are

Long-span

Short-span

Opportunism horizon Type 1 “misrepresenting one’s abilities” (Deeds and Hill, 1998, p. 143) “reluctance of members to fulfill commitments to partners in cooperative arrangements” (Gassenheimer et al., 1996, p. 70) Shirking “involves the withholding of full effort and cooperation in an ongoing relationship. Shirking, free riding, and stonewalling are examples of such behaviors” (Griesinger, 1990, p. 487) “shirking or failing to fulfill promises or obligations” (John, 1984, p. 278) Providing products that are of an inferior quality than originally agreed upon (Provan and Skinner, 1989, p. 204) non-adherence “to the explicit or implicit controls governing the relationship” (Weaver and Dickson, 1998, p. 507) Type 3 “withholding . . . information” (Deeds and Hill, 1998, p. 143; John, 1984, p. 278) Reacting dishonestly in response to contractual specifications to cause moral hazards (Klein, 1996, p. 461-462) “ calculated efforts to . . . confuse”; “incomplete . . . disclosure of information” (Williamson, 1985, p. 47) “strategic manipulation of information” (Williamson, 1975, p. 26)

Low relational risk

Risk level

Type 4 “distorting information” (Deeds and Hill, 1998, p. 143; John, 1984, p. 278) “willful deception” (Gassenheimer et al., 1996, p. 69) Dishonesty “comes into play when one party to an exchange possesses information about a transaction that could significantly alter the other party’s assessment of the outcomes,” and such information is concealed, misrepresented, or not contributed. (Griesinger, 1990, p. 486) “defect . . . while pretending to be trustworthy” (Nooteboom, 1996, p. 989)

Type 2 “expropriation of tacit technological knowledge” (Dutta and Weiss, 1997, p. 347) infidelity “results when an agreement is abrogated or a relationship abandoned to the advantage of the instigator but without provision or remedy for the other party” (Griesinger, 1990, p. 486) “hold-up” (Klein, 1996, p. 461) Exploitation of partner’s specific assets (Nooteboom, 1993, p. 443) “stealing”; “cheating” (Williamson, 1985, p. 47)

High relational risk

Partner opportunism

751

Table III. A time-risk framework of opportunistic behavior

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illustrative of short-span opportunistic behavior. The effects of this type of opportunism are mostly predictable, given the short duration of its potency. The nature of short-span opportunistic behavior is also fairly comprehensible in the alliance context. Therefore, firms can often take necessary precautions (e.g., additional contractual terms addressing specific short-range opportunistic scenarios) before engaging in a collaborative project. Often such behavior will pose low relational risk, so that the cooperative spirit may dampen somewhat but will generally endure. However, short-span opportunism can also pose high relational risk in a collaborative relationship, which may destroy the cooperative spirit. Short-span and low relational risk (Type 1). When short-span opportunistic behavior involves low relational risk, the alliance and the focal firm suffer relatively minor setbacks. Failing to ship a specified amount of a product, or of the exact quality of supplies in accordance with a schedule, being deliberately extravagant with alliance resources, delaying payments, not adhering to the governance rules concerning the relationship, etc., will all negatively affect the focal firm’s profitability, and even the alliance’s performance occasionally. However, the intensity of the negative impacts is usually not severe for the firm or the alliance. Unless this kind of behavior continues, the focal firm will not perceive high relational risk regarding its opportunistic partner. It is unlikely that this type of behavior will become a recurring phenomenon, though, because such behavior is usually easy to comprehend and predict, and can therefore be controlled by strictly invoking contractual provisions and focused monitoring. However, if a partner firm succeeds in repeatedly acting this way, the affected focal firm will suffer losses. We briefly describe a case to illustrate short-span opportunistic behavior involving low relational risk. In the alliance between Ciba Geigy, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, and Alza, a small entrepreneurial organization, we can appreciate the effects of a partner’s shirking behavior, a fairly common complaint in alliances. Doz (1996) reports that soon after the birth of the alliance in 1977, Alza started pointing fingers at its Swiss partner for not being fully committed to the alliance. Alza was unhappy about Ciba’s lackluster approach to the alliance projects, and felt that Ciba’s shirking-type behavior was the major reason for slow growth. By 1979, the two companies started resenting each other’s behavior (i.e., Alza resenting Ciba Geigy for its sluggish pace, and Ciba Geigy resenting Alza for its lack of respect for Ciba’s hierarchy), and the alliance headed toward dissolution, which finally transpired in 1982. This type of behavior is not a direct threat to the collaborative arrangements existing between firms. Usually, such behavior harms alliance performance. Obviously, the opportunist’s gain will outweigh its share of loss from the lower performance of the alliance. The affected focal firm, however, will have to suffer its share of loss from the alliance. It is possible that the alliance is eventually terminated, but usually that will not be precipitous but gradual, with the affected focal firm beginning its severance process once it observes this kind of partner opportunism. Short-span and high relational risk (Type 2).Short-span opportunistic behavior of a partner may also occur in the context of high relational risk, paralyzing the focal firm. The partner firm may siphon off substantial benefits from the joint effort. Cheating, stealing the focal firm’s technology, luring away its personnel, and misappropriating quasi-rents from the firm’s transaction-specific investments are examples of this type of opportunistic behavior.

Consider the example of Craw-Kan Telephone Cooperative, Inc., a rural telephone company of Girard, KS, that provided phone rooms to ETC, a telemarketer and franchisee of AmeriCom, in exchange for ETC’s guarantee to buy 20 million minutes of phone usage a year from Craw-Kan (Margolies, 2000, p. D24). However, once Craw-Kan made its transaction-specific investment, ETC failed to keep its part of the bargain, leaving Craw-Kan helpless with $1.2 million investment in the phone rooms. Craw-Kan, consequently, sued ETC and its franchiser AmeriCom. Although Craw-Kan has won the case, technical issues have rendered the court verdict questionable. Whenever a firm in an alliance makes some transaction-specific investment, it becomes vulnerable to its partner’s exploitation of the associated quasi-rents. Although the focal firm may realize very early that it is being denied its fair share of the rewards from the alliance, it may not be able to retaliate, because a break with the partner will undermine the value of the transaction-specific investment. In other words, the potential loss of investment from terminating the alliance will be greater than the loss incurred from the partner’s opportunistic exploitation. This type of opportunism often renders the victim helpless. The opportunistic partner continues to extract most of the rent from the alliance, taking advantage of the focal firm’s transaction-specific assets. Members could become bitter when the situation persists. Thus, this type of opportunistic behavior stands in the way of cooperation and its possibility heightens the relational risk in the alliance. However, it is still possible to proceed with forming alliances involving transaction-specific investments because short-span opportunistic behavior with high relational risk can sometimes be predicted ex ante, and identified promptly ex post. Also, if investment is tangible, its appropriation can be safeguarded through contractual clauses and mutual hostages. It may be worthwhile sometimes to contest such opportunistic behavior in court to recover the losses. A subtle kind of opportunistic behavior may be in evidence when tacit knowledge gets transferred from one firm to another. Often, the result can be fatal for the affected firm. Bleeke and Ernst (1995, p. 99) provide an example of “what happened to a US chemicals company – a world-class producer of industrial coatings – that formed an alliance with a Japanese organization”. The US firm contributed production-process skills, while the Japanese firm brought in key customers. Both of these resources – production-process skills and connections with key customers – are tacit in character, embedded in each company in complex ways, and not easily transferable. Hence, this alliance experienced a few successful years in the beginning till one of the member firms acquired the tacit resource of another. The Japanese firm “learned the production-process skills originally supplied by the US organization, and it still controlled the relationships with key customers”, and subsequently bought out the US company (Bleeke and Ernst (1995), p. 99). However, it should be noted that this type of opportunistic behavior is more problematic when the alliance is with a competitor and less so with a firm operating along the value chain (e.g., a manufacturing firm’s alliance with retailers and suppliers). Long-span opportunism The effects of long-span opportunistic behavior in an alliance take some time to unfold. A firm may not be able to point to such long-range actions of its partner, but can usually realize the possibilities of various types of long-span opportunism.

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The consequences of the partner’s withholding information, distorting performance results, nurturing hidden agendas, etc., may not become evident quickly to the focal firm, so that a partner can continue to behave opportunistically for an extended period of time. As with the earlier temporal types, long-range opportunistic behavior may be associated with both low and high relational risk. Long-span and low relational risk (Type 3). Even with low relational risk, a partner’s long-span opportunism can result in substantial financial loss for the affected focal firm. Consider the alliance between Siemens AG and RCA Corp., which ended abruptly when RCA disclosed information that it had been withholding from Siemens (Parkhe, 1998, p. 428). By all indications, RCA had been considering a major change in its business direction (moving away from its computer business, the basis for the alliance), and from a cooperative standpoint it should have conveyed this information to Siemens to let it prepare for exiting the alliance. However, for fear that this information may prompt Siemens to be more cautious in contributing to the alliance, RCA kept its plan a secret – it withheld critical information from its partner. It is unclear as to how long RCA kept its plan a secret. Nevertheless, it was not until after RCA explicitly expressed its intention to move out of its computer business that Siemens realized the adverse fallout. When a partner firm withholds critical information from the focal firm and attempts to confuse and obfuscate calculatively, it is engaging in long-span opportunism with low relational risk. Such behaviors create a strategic disadvantage for the focal firm in alliance decision making. However, withholding information or creating confusion may not seriously jeopardize the future of cooperation. If a firm detects such a problem, it is more likely to become extra-cautious. Because this behavior is usually fairly well hidden, it may take a while before the victim firm realizes its partner’s opportunistic intentions. The loss from this type of partner opportunism would likely be greater than in short-span opportunism with low relational risk. Long-span and high relational risk (Type 4). Opportunism with a long-span horizon and associated with high relational risk usually leads to the demise of an alliance. Often the opportunist acquires the victim firm or some particular division of it. Consider the classic case of Northwest and KLM’s transatlantic operating alliance that was forged in 1992. In the beginning, KLM agreed to bail Northwest out of bankruptcy by providing $500 million in fresh capital (Tully, 1996, p. 68). However, KLM introduced “draconian terms . . . that would open a way for KLM to wrest control away from the Americans” (Tully, 1996, p. 68). Although Northwest unwillingly accepted the bargain, “two days before the meeting, KLM abruptly withdrew the proposal, leaving a shell-shocked Northwest totally in the lurch” (Tully, 1996,pp. 68, 70). Apparently, it was a calculated effort by KLM to take advantage of Northwest’s confused position. Once KLM’s distortion of intention and information became known, major shareholders (such as Richard Blum) accused KLM of “slyly unsheath[ing] a sword at the 11th hour,” and co-chairman Checchi remonstrated bitterly that KLM’s behavior was “‘blackmail,’ ‘extortion,’ and ‘betrayal’” (p. 70). Instead of bailing out Northwest with $500 million, KLM finally squeezed $50 million in exchange for a series of lucrative options and a promise to secure $500 million in permanent financing by the end of 1993 (p. 70). Clearly, KLM’s promise was ‘self-disbelieved’ (see Williamson, 1975, p. 26). But this time Northwest co-chairmen knew that KLM’s promise lacked substance and the bankruptcy threat was still real (p. 72). Northwest eventually

managed to secure a $870 million, three-year wage reduction deal at the last minute to surmount the effects of KLM’s long-span opportunistic behavior in the context of very high relational risk. An affected firm may notice the consequences of this type of opportunism only after some significant time had elapsed, and may suffer considerably. Because of loop holes in most contracts, it is difficult to successfully prevent long-span opportunism. Thus, a firm has to be especially alert for clues to detect long-range partner opportunism. Concluding remarks Theoretical contributions Although time seems to be an important dimension of opportunism, there is a dearth of research on the temporalities of partner opportunism. In this article we developed a framework to better understand the variegated phenomenon of opportunism in an attempt to facilitate its effective management. We proposed a time-risk framework of opportunistic behavior based on the two dimensions of opportunism horizon and relational risk. To our knowledge, the literature on partner opportunism has not incorporated the time dimension in any systematic fashion. We discussed how different types of opportunism vary in terms of the length of time they take to unfold and the degree of relational risk they entail. We defined the time-span of opportunism (short and long), or opportunism horizon, in terms of the temporal distance between the time a partner firm engages in opportunism against the focal firm and the intended point in the future when the substantive effects of the opportunism cease or peter out. We also suggested that relational risk can be considered in terms of low and high values. By integrating time-span and relational risk, our framework allows researchers and managers to view opportunism through a new lens, one that specifically recognizes the realistic roles of time and risk in opportunism. Limitations and future research The categorization of opportunism into four distinct types can be useful in pursuing fresh avenues for research. We indicate some of these research topics here, noting that they are essentially meant to also address the limitations of the proposed time-risk framework. First, it would be worth exploring if particular types of opportunism are systematically more prevalent in certain kinds of alliances. In R&D consortia, for example, Type 1 opportunism (short-span/low relational risk) may be very common. Particular members of such consortia may well coast along without significant contributions, even as they continue to receive the collaborative benefits from other members. Similarly, it may be that technology-sharing alliances may provide more room for Type 2 opportunism (short-span/high relational risk), since the scope for misappropriating proprietary technology is greater. Long-span opportunism (Types 3 and 4) may be more prevalent in marketing alliances. Firms may withhold information about marketing channels or misrepresent their abilities in managing such channels in order to appear as potentially attractive partners in joint marketing alliances, where each member markets both members – products. Clearly, a great deal of exploratory research is needed to achieve an adequate grasp of the intricacies of opportunism in the alliance context.

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Second, our analysis also points to new directions in research in terms of the role of the different types of opportunism in the evolutionary process of alliances and in alliance performance (Das and Teng, 2002, 2003). It is likely that certain types of opportunism will emerge or flourish early in the alliance making process vis-a`-vis other types. For example, opportunistic behavior that takes a long time to run through its effects will become apparent only when alliance members have been involved in the alliance for an extended duration. Also, it could be that opportunism that entails low relational risk may take place off and on during several stages of the alliance process, whereas opportunism involving high relational risk may usually occur once and only well after an alliance has been forged. Third, our time-risk framework of opportunism should be useful in surmounting the basically static nature of the transaction costs approach, enabling us to appreciate various relational issues that emerge over time in interfirm relationships. By explicitly identifying time and risk as the underlying dimensions of opportunism (i.e., opportunism horizon and relational risk) we can now account for transaction costs over time and appreciate trust building efforts en route. Fourth, future research should consider incorporating other time related variables, such as the temporal orientations of member firms, which may have significant effects on intertemporal choice in opportunistic endeavors. This will also, of course, help in better appreciating how time plays a central role in opportunism dynamics, and thereby facilitate the management of partner opportunism. In the context of international alliances, cultural differences may reveal certain types of opportunism to be more prevalent or less detectable. Future research needs to link different cultural dimensions to the prevalence of different opportunism types in alliances. Finally, our time-risk framework of opportunistic behavior needs to be examined for its applicability to the three major forms of alliances, namely, equity joint ventures, minority equity alliances, and nonequity alliances. The differing potential for various types of opportunism in these alliance forms needs to be assessed for effective alliance management.

Managerial implications We noted that strategic alliances are fertile breeding grounds for opportunistic behavior. Our proposed time-risk framework of opportunistic behavior, along with the extended discussion of the four types of opportunism, should serve as the essential set of guidelines for managers to incorporate effective deterrence mechanisms to curb and control opportunism. No doubt because of this need for appropriate deterrence mechanisms, we find a number of them mentioned in the literature, such as rigorous contractual provisions, mutual hostages, monitoring, and the like (Das and Rahman, 2001). We should note, however, that although some of these mechanisms seem to generally work well, none of them promises to consistently curb opportunistic behavior. Although the applicability and appropriateness of each control mechanism is likely to vary in different situations, the literature does not adequately address these contingencies. Indeed, scholars with different disciplinary persuasions have taken different routes in arguing for specific control mechanisms. By proceeding from our proposed time-risk framework, managers in alliances should be better able to assess

the particular applicability of each deterrence mechanism to the four types of opportunistic behavior by partner firms.

References Alchian, A.A. (1950), “Uncertainty, evolution, and economic theory”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 58, June, pp. 211-21. Axelrod, R. (1984), The Evolution of Cooperation, Basic Books, New York, NY. Bleeke, J. and Ernst, D. (1995), “Is your strategic alliance really a sale?”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 73 No. 1, pp. 97-105. Chiles, T.H. and McMackin, J.F. (1996), “Integrating variable risk preferences, trust, and transaction cost economics”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 73-99. Coase, R.H. (1988), “The nature of the firm: influence”, Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Vol. 4, pp. 33-47. Das, T.K. (1986), The Subjective Side of Strategy Making: Managing the Future: Future Orientations and Perceptions of Executives, Praeger, New York, NY. Das, T.K. (1987), “Strategic planning and individual temporal orientation”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 203-9. Das, T.K. (1990), The Time Dimension: An Interdisciplinary Guide, Praeger, New York, NY. Das, T.K. (1991), “Time: the hidden dimension in strategic planning”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 49-57. Das, T.K. (1993), “Time in management and organizational studies”, Time and Society, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 267-74. Das, T.K. (2004), “Strategy and time: really recognizing the future”, in Haridimos, T. and Shepherd, J. (Eds), Managing the Future: Foresight in the Knowledge Economy, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 58-74. Das, T.K. and Rahman, N. (2001), “Partner misbehavior in strategic alliances: guidelines for effective deterrence”, Journal of General Management, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 43-70. Das, T.K. and Rahman, N. (2002), “Opportunism dynamics in strategic alliances”, in Contractor, F.J. and Lorange, P. (Eds), Cooperative Strategies and Alliances, Elsevier Science, Oxford, pp. 89-118. Das, T.K. and Teng, B. (1996), “Risk types and inter-firm alliance structures”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 33 No. 6, pp. 827-43. Das, T.K. and Teng, B. (1997), “Time and entrepreneurial risk behavior”, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 69-88. Das, T.K. and Teng, B. (1998), “Between trust and control: developing confidence in partner cooperation in alliances”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23 July, pp. 491-512. Das, T.K. and Teng, B. (2000a), “Instabilities of strategic alliances: an internal tensions perspective”, Organization Science, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 77-101. Das, T.K. and Teng, B. (2000b), “A resource-based theory of strategic alliances”, Journal of Management, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 31-61. Das, T.K. and Teng, B. (2001), “Trust, control, and risk in strategic alliances: an integrated framework”, Organization Studies, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 251-83. Das, T.K. and Teng, B. (2002), “The dynamics of alliance conditions in the alliance development process”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 39 No. 5, pp. 725-46.

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Das, T.K. and Teng, B. (2003), “Partner analysis and alliance performance”, Scandinavian Journal of Management, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 279-308. Deeds, D.L. and Hill, C.W.L. (1998), “An examination of opportunistic action within research alliances: evidence from the biotechnology industry”, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 141-63. Doz, Y.L. (1996), “The evolution of cooperation in strategic alliances: initial conditions or learning processes?”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17, summer special issue, pp. 55-83. Dutta, S. and Weiss, A.M. (1997), “The relationship between a firm’s level of technological innovativeness and its pattern of partnership agreements”, Management Science, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 343-56. Gassenheimer, J.B., Baucus, D.B. and Baucus, M.S. (1996), “Cooperative arrangements among entrepreneurs: an analysis of opportunism and communication in franchise structure”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 36 No. 1, pp. 67-79. Griesinger, D.W. (1990), “The human side of economic organization”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 478-99. Heide, J.B. and Miner, A.S. (1992), “The shadow of the future: effects of anticipated interaction and frequency of contact on buyer-seller cooperation”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 35 June, pp. 265-91. Hill, C.W.L. (1990), “Cooperation, opportunism, and the invisible hand: implications for transaction cost theory”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 500-14. Ireland, R.D., Hitt, M.A. and Vaidyanath, D. (2002), “Alliance management as a source of competitive advantage”, Journal of Management, Vol. 28, pp. 413-46. Jaques, E. (1979), “Taking time seriously in evaluating jobs”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 57 No. 5, pp. 124-32. John, G. (1984), “An empirical investigation of some antecedents of opportunism in a marketing channel”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 21, pp. 278-89. Johnson, J.L., Cullen, J.B. and Sakano, T. (1996), “Opportunistic tendencies in IJVs with the Japanese: the effects of culture, shared decision making, and relationship age”, International Executive, Vol. 38 No. 1, pp. 79-94. Kale, P., Singh, H. and Perlmutter, H. (2000), “Learning and protection of proprietary assets in strategic alliances: building relational capital”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 21 March, pp. 217-37. Klein, B. (1996), “Why hold-ups occur: The self-enforcing range of contractual relationships”, Economic Inquiry, Vol. 34 No. 3, pp. 444-63. Lee, D. (1998), “Developing international strategic alliances between exporters and importers: the case of Australian exporters”, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 335-48. Margolies, D. (2000), “Craw-Kan wins case over contract dispute: but technicality leaves verdict in question”, The Kansas City Star, February 8, p. D24, available at: http://nrstg2p.djnr. com/cgi-bin/DJInter. Nelson, R.R. and Winter, S.G. (1982), An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Exchange, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Nooteboom, B. (1993), “An analysis of specificity in transaction cost economics”, Organization Studies, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 443-51. Nooteboom, B. (1996), “Trust, opportunism and governance: a process and control model”, Organization Studies, Vol. 17 No. 6, pp. 985-1010.

Parkhe, A. (1998), “Building trust in international alliances”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 33, pp. 417-37. Patashnik, E.M. (1996), “The contractual nature of budgeting: a transaction cost perspective on the design of budgeting institutions”, Policy Sciences, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 189-212. Provan, K.G. and Skinner, S.J. (1989), “Interorganizational dependence and control as predictors of opportunism in dealer-supplier relations”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 32, pp. 202-12. Tully, S. (1996), “Northwest and KLM: the alliance from hell”, Fortune, June 24, Vol. 133 No. 12, pp. 64-72. Wathne, K.H. and Heide, J.B. (2000), “Opportunism in interfirm relationships: forms, outcomes, and solutions”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 64 No. 4, pp. 36-51. Weaver, K.M. and Dickson, P.H. (1998), “Outcome quality of small- to medium-sized enterprise-based alliances: the role of perceived partner behaviors”, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 13, pp. 505-22. Whipp, R., Adam, B. and Sabelis, I. (Eds) (2002), Making Time: Time and Management in Modern Organizations, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Williamson, O.E. (1975), Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications, Free Press, New York, NY. Williamson, O.E. (1979), “Transaction-cost economics: the governance of contractual relations”, Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 22 October, pp. 233-61. Williamson, O.E. (1985), The Economic Institutions of Capitalism, Free Press, New York, NY. Williamson, O.E. (1996), “Economic organization: the case for candor”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 21, pp. 48-57.

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Moments of trust: temporal and spatial factors of trust in organizations

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Hans Ra¨mo¨ School of Business, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Keywords Trust, Time-based management, Virtual organizations, Philosophy Abstract Different forms of trust in the contemporary organizational settings of virtual organizations and time management (e.g., just-in-time, lean production, and total quality management) are discussed in conjunction with some Greek philosophical notions of human action, namely theoria/episteme, poiesis/techne, and praxis/phronesis, together with the two notions of time, chronos/kairos and their spatial counterparts, chora/topos. It is suggested that time management concepts in production line settings are frequently based upon asymmetric power-relations and rigid time-control making most forms of organizational trust instrumental and/or weak. Virtual organization settings, on the other hand, are more likely to contain trust that appears to be fragile and temporal, and in demand of communication based on right moments to act judiciously.

Introduction The tantalizing concept of trust in social, economic, political, legal, and organizational relations is well recognized (e.g., Fukuyama, 1995). Accounts of trust are quite frequently divided into different families, for instance, depending on the degrees to which they distinguish instrumental and non-instrumental factors, how they distinguish trust from reliance, and how they distinguish trust from hope. This article focuses on the first family, that is, on different forms of instrumental and non-instrumental trust in organizational settings. The first section begins with a brief overview of two contemporary organizational concepts, virtual organization and time management, followed by a discussion of trust in organizations. The next section presents ancient Greek philosophical notions of human action (e.g., phronesis: wisdom and judgment, and techne: skillfulness and proficiency). Then comes a Greek division of time into reified clock-time (chronos) and timely kairos-time, together with a spatial division between concrete place (topos) and abstract space (chora). The aim of this article is to bring together these temporal and spatial notions into a different set of pairs, and to trace examples from our global contemporary society in which such a set of pairs might be illuminating in accounts of trust – in this case, time management and virtual organizations. By distinguishing between different aspects of abstract and concrete representations of human time and space, the means to understand what goes beyond the reified objectivization of not only time and space but humans as well is provided. Journal of Managerial Psychology Vol. 19 No. 8, 2004 pp. 760-775 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0268-3946 DOI 10.1108/02683940410568248

Organizations and trust Time management has become an important feature in manufacturing industries as well as in service sectors that handle complex logistical systems (e.g., transport service, This article is a homage to Professor Richard Sotto (1946-2002).

hospitals, etc.). Concepts ranging from Taylor’s scientific management to Deming’s total quality management are rooted in the basic strategy of time efficiency: to do things right according to the book, just in time and just in place (rather than just in case). This imperative of doing things right has its clear logic in the creation of smooth, swift, and thrifty flows of goods and services from the supplier via the manufacturer to the customer. The automobile industry was distinctly early in embracing the idea of conjoining different production stages within the organization to those in sequence outside its boundaries, to the suppliers and partners. To do such things right places great demands upon increased speed and “exact” clock-time. Thus, in management, time is frequently equated with speed and is regarded as an important yardstick against which we measure the value of our activities (see Virilio, 1991). Time-based management concepts, such as just-in-time (JIT), lean-production and total quality management (TQM), embrace ideas centered around cycle-time reduction, value-added time and continuous improvement throughout the supplier-customer production chain (see, e.g. Sugimori et al., 1977; Schonberger, 1982; Deming, 1986; Ohno and Mito, 1988; Stalk and Hout, 1990; Womack et al., 1990; Stern and Stalk, 1998). However, in terms of encouraging trust, some of these time management settings are in danger of falling into disrepute for being causes of excessive stress, unoriginality and even distrust. Another of the managerial buzz-words originating in the 1990s with a clear focus on time is the virtual organization, a term typically used to refer to systems that are interlinked by advanced information technology (see, e.g. Davidow and Malone, 1992 and Grenier and Metes, 1995; Jarvenpaa and Ives, 1994; Lipnack and Stamps, 1997; McKenna, 1997). However, there are (at least) three forms of virtual organizational environment: virtual organizations working outside traditional organizational boundaries (e.g., joint ventures, cooperative projects, strategic alliances); virtual operations in which segments of work are handled remotely (e.g., call centers); and virtual teams and networks of individuals brought together for their skills, not their location or rank in the organization. In this presentation, the concept of virtual organization include any organized grouping of people that are distributed geographically and whose everyday work is coordinated through electronic communication, rather than face-to-face communication. This form of virtual organizational development directs strong demands for trustworthiness among the participants inasmuch as spontaneous physical interaction between the actors, as in an office setting, is no longer possible in virtual communication. It is suggested in this article that the virtue of trust among cooperating parties – for example in time management and virtual organization settings – implies questions of wisdom and judgment (i.e., the Greek notion of phronesis) and the issue is visualized by the spatio-temporal notions of space and place (roughly chora and topos in the ancient Greek vocabulary) and a division between “clock-time” and “right moments” (roughly corresponding to the Greek notions chronos and kairos). It must be remembered, however, that the ancient Greek concepts used in this paper have not been diffused undistorted over the years, but rather have been translated, re-worked, changed, localized and even corrupted through many intermediaries. Consequently, the actual framing of the spatiotemporal concepts (chronos/kairos and chora/topos) in this paper makes them more restricted than they were for the ancient Greeks. Still, the Greek notions are useful in an attempt to better understand the temporal and spatial factors of trust in organizations.

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For instance, to uphold a trust relationship in virtual and impersonal communications - with frequent interaction between persons unseen (or distant) to each other - calls for elements of wisdom, judgment and “right moments” (i.e., phronesis and kairos). These notions of virtual communication and virtual organizations could be characterized as having features of kairochora, that is, a communication based on right moments to act judiciously in a “virtual” space (chora). The more familiar notion of clock-time (chronos) together with a conception of concrete and meaningful place, chronotopos, is most evident in situations in which the reified clock-time runs our daily duties from concrete place to place. Particularly, the managerial buzzwords, time management, JIT, fast cycle time (FCT), lean-production (LP) and TQM are characterized as having features of chronotopos, that is, a communication based on (chronos) clock-time’s (im-) placement – JIT and just in place – together with weak and/or instrumental (techne) forms of trust. The notion of trust in organization studies After this brief overview of some spatiotemporal aspects of time management and virtual organizations, the next question is then: what is trust and how is trust discussed in organizational settings? By focusing on temporal and spatial factors of trust, this article will illustrate the relevance of time and place/space for our understanding of trust in contemporary organizations and for the development of a more rigorous theoretical framework for such an understanding. Despite the vast amount of writing on trust and its related concepts, no formal definition is evident. Barber (1983, p. 1), for instance, argues that the concept of trust resembles a conceptual morass. Shapiro (1987, p. 625) found that definitions of trust have become a “confusing pot-pourri”, and Lewis and Weigert (1985, p. 975) similarly found a “conceptual confusion” in the literature on trust. In this confusing and troublesome situation, some claims are still discernible regarding accounts of trust. Trust, on the analysis proposed by Baier (1986), always involves elements of judgment and discretionary power beyond instrumental specifications (e.g., beyond contracts). In many ways, Baier’s analysis corresponds with Luhmann’s (1979), in that they both acknowledge that trust reduces complexity and enhances the effectiveness of agency. All accounts of trust revolve around situations of reducing risk and uncertainty in ways that contracts cannot – either as implicit background factors of human action or explicit, as a risk-reducer (e.g., Deutsch, 1958, 1960; Rotter, 1967; Kee and Knox, 1970; Fox, 1974; Gibb and Trust:, 1978; Luhmann, 1979; Barber, 1983; Axelrod, 1984; Lewis and Weigert, 1985; Baier, 1986; Gambetta, 1988; Giddens, 1990; Hosmer, 1995; McKnight and Chervany, 1996; Misztal, 1996; Academy of Management Review, 1998, among others). Trust is frequently distinguished from the more fatalistic feeling in hope by a clearer confidence of expectations. Similarly, trust is distinguished from reliance by the confidence of competence or goodwill (e.g., Baier, 1986). For a comprehensive integrative model of organizational trust, between a trusting party (trustor) and a party to trust (trustee), see also, Mayer et al. (1995). By way of precaution, trust involves aspects of wisdom and judgment by the person who trusts on the other’s ability to reciprocate implicitly promised actions. Such a relation between actors does not develop instantaneously. It is most likely found through action between parties in contractual or non-contractual relations that gradually becomes implicit and trustful. For example, Granovetter’s (1985) classic

argument is that economic behavior is “embedded” in informal social and trustful relationships. Nevertheless, McKnight et al. (1998) have noted situations of high initial trust levels based on “hidden” favorable factors, and Meyerson et al. (1996) have developed a concept of “swift” trust in temporary organizations. Trust can also be seen as situation-specific: one does not trust another person to every task in one’s behalf, but in some situations “we must allow many other people to get into positions where they can, if they choose, injure what we care about” (Baier, 1986, p. 236). These sentences should not be read as yet another futile contribution to the unimpressive and confusing record of writings on formal definitions of trust - attempts that have experienced criticism (e.g., Lewis and Weigert, 1985; Dunn, 1993). It is, however, an attempt to stress the importance of wisdom and judgment by the person who trusts in concrete actions. It is also an earnest undertaking to (re-) introduce some ancient Greek philosophical notions on different forms of action, time, and space into the question of trust. Despite the fact that these delicate Greek notions have disappeared from our everyday language, they still are useful in accounts on different forms of organizational trust. Aristotelian forms of human action For a fuller appreciation for these Greek spatial and temporal notions, concepts of human action and some comments on their origin (as translated from Ramı´rez, 1995, p. 8) see below: . In theory: Theoria ) theoretical activity promotes scientific skills ) Episteme. . In practice: Poiesis ) making promotes skillfulness and proficiency ) Techne. . Praxis: ) Acting promotes wisdomand judgment ) Phronesis. Initially, in an Aristotelian sense, any strict division between theory and practice in “modern” language is only artificial because theory and practice are just two different forms of activity. Theoretical activity (theoria) has to do primarily with the activity to investigate the world and not with the result of scientific documents, which is how the concept of theory is understood today. Still, the “results” of this scientific activity (episteme) is an acquired arrangement by words that describes and codifies different states of things (or affairs). However, this theoretical activity is only one theoretical form of performance and is similar to other performances such as those of carpenters and bricklayers. The theoretical activity (theoria) and its “results” (episteme) may gradually filter down into a twofold domain of practice: to the making part of practice ( poiesis), which promotes skillfulness and proficiency (techne); and to the acting part of practice ( praxis), which in turn promotes wisdom and judgment ( phronesis). The latter acting part is sometimes forgotten among contemporary scholars, whose center of interest apparently is more on the improvement of skills and proficiency. Further, from an Aristotelian point of view, there is a much more pronounced difference between the two forms of practical activities between the performative poiesis/techne and the somewhat forgotten praxis/phronesis than between the theoretical activities of theoria/episteme and their performative counterpart poiesis/techne. However, the term activity, as used above, is not limited to denote intentional physical movements only but is also extended to the activity of thinking, which precedes any intentional physical movements. Also, note the somewhat awkward denominations that poiesis is making and praxis is acting. The difference between making and acting, however, is crucial to

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distinguish the transitive form of making something from the intransitive form of acting in a particular way. Two notions of time and space Following this Aristotelian treatment, the temporal and spatial pairs of chronos/kairos and chora/topos will be explored,keeping in mind the previous concepts of theoretical and practical activities. In Physics (IV, 11, 219b), Aristotle defines chronos as the “number of motion with respect to the before and the after” which is a classical expression of the concept of (chronos) time as change, measure, and serial order. Therefore, despite Aristotle’s antiquated understanding of physics – and a possible circularity in the definition – in this article chronos is used as a definition of an exact quantification of time (e.g., passing time expressed in successive readings of a clock). The second and more obscure notion of time, kairos, and its “kairic” stem is nowadays sparsely used. The words “due measure”, “proportion” and, above all, “the right moment” are some of the English translations of kairos that carry ideas of wisdom and judgment ( phronesis). (see, e.g. Kerkhoff, 1976; Kinneavy, 1986; Kinneavy and Eskin, 1994; Ramı´rez, 1995; Ruin, 1994; Smith, 1969, 1986; White, 1987). On chronos and kairos in organizational settings, see, e.g. Bartunek and Necochea (2000); Berman Brown and Herring (1998)); Ciborra (1999); Kirkeby (1998); Jaques (1982); Ra¨mo¨ (1999, 2000, 2002). However, Prigogine and Stengers (1984) have alluded to a “kairological” right moment in physics for ensuring systemic transformation (the phenomena of emergence by “points of bifurcation”) in their discussion of chaos theories. Prigogine and Stengers’ idea is based on a “rehabilitation” of Lucretius’ Epicurean physics in De Rerum Natura, which apparently introduces a stochastic element into kairos (Clinamen atomorum: “the swerve of the atoms”), an element that would have been in contrast to Aristotle’s notion of the concept. Therefore, from an Aristotelian point of view, the notion of kairos still remains closely connected with “human right moments to act” – judiciously, and not when someone (or a thing) just happens to be at the right place at the right moment, doing the right thing. Thus, a kairos moment is something more than just a momentary chance. For instance, a skillful thief could have an excellent sensibility for the right moment to act, but nonetheless lacks the genuine meaning of kairos in terms of phronesis’ wisdom and judgment. Still, this phronesis connected with kairos is not solely a question of moral sentiment since, for instance, a farmer’s “kairic” feeling at the right moment to sow and harvest is not bound to be a moral action in itself (see the Old Testament, Ecclesiastes 3:1: “There is a [chronos ] time for everything, and a [kairos ] season for every activity under heaven . . . ”). The difference between the two ancient Greek spatial notions of chora (space) and topos (place) is that, when the former is an abstract geometric or cartographic extension, the latter (topos) is a concrete contextual localization, without sharp demarcations. Thus, they serve as a useful distinction between abstract space (chora) and concrete place (topos) (e.g., Casey, 1993, 1997; Ra¨mo¨, 1999, 2000). In this article, the concepts are used to call attention to the distinction between virtual space and concrete place. By joining the Greek space and time notions elaborated hitherto the scheme as outlined in Table I emerges. It must be noted, however, that the grid of a time and space

manifold, or any other grid or model, can tell us nothing important by itself. To suppose so would be to accept the idea that there is some universal symbolic language independent of contextualized social practices. Chronochora and trust In this categorization, chronochora is the name of spatio-temporal illustrations in mathematics; that is, time and space are expressed as infinitesimal slices. From its origin in Euclidean axiomatic geometry and onwards, spatio-temporal illustrations together with logic have been dominating features in theoretical activities (theoria) in the promotion of scientific skills (episteme). A well-known example of abstract chronochora is the time-geographical line-diagrams developed by Torsten Ha¨gerstrand (e.g., Ha¨gerstrand, 1967; Carlstein, 1978, 1980). In terms of trust, such an abstract course of action (i.e., chronochora in this article’s terminology) is used in attempts to build formal models of cooperation, competition and trust (game theory, e.g. Axelrod, 1984; Friedland, 1990; transaction cost, e.g. Williamson, 1975, 1993; Freeman, 1984; Sako and Helper, 1997; and functional analysis, e.g. Bhattacharya et al., 1998).

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Kairotopos and trust Moving from the upper left in Table I (chronochora) down to the far right, corresponds with the move from the scientific abstraction of episteme towards phronesis, a condition when both time and place are merged into a concrete and meaningful unity – into kairotopos. Such situations when a “kairic” feeling for the right moment merges with being in the right place – when one swiftly has to come to a discerning decision – are known to all. However, for these moments to be genuinely “kairotopical”, an element that is beyond the mechanically learned is required (i.e., beyond techne with its elements of skillfulness and proficiency in making (something)). By this reasoning, braking a car at the “right moment” (i.e., a learned gut reaction) or most “moments of truth” in working life’s interactions with clients, colleagues, or customers, do not stand for the genuine meaning of kairos or to the merged form of kairotopos. For acting in a kairotopos-sense requires a feature of voluntary action beyond official responsibility that encompasses circumstances that the individual is aware of and from which a choice is made. From this reasoning, it follows that such actions do not have to be only pleasant or a physical action in that an omission of “wrongdoing” could well be in accordance with kairotopos. Determinants of a physician’s proficiency, for instance, are not only his or her skills in terms of technical proficiency (techne), but also his or her ability on a daily basis to care and communicate with people in vulnerable situations. Similarly, any able craftsman and professional have a grasp of his or her subject far beyond the textbooks; they know the crucial moment for judicious acting. Managers cannot trust only when trust is warranted for commercial reasons. We always encounter situations, in daily life as well as in our professional engagements, Abstract space Abstract time

Chronochora (Episteme), e.g. mathematics, (time-) geography Meaningful time Kairochora (Techne), e.g. virtual organizations

Meaningful place Chronotopos (Techne), e.g. sports, time management (JIT) Kairotopos (Phronesis), acting wisely and judiciously

Table I. Time and space manifold

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when practical considerations subordinate to essential elements of our humanness; into trustful situations of intersubjective reciprocity. In terms of trust, the interpersonal situation of kairotopos is therefore a typical example of trustworthiness between fellow human beings when goodwill is esteemed beyond its usefulness. In addition to the proposed neologism, kairotopos, used in this article, von Krogh (1998, p. 140-141), for instance, find that daily “care” (i.e., heed, concern and interest) in organizational relationships gives rise to mutual trust, empathy and knowledge exchange between members. Thus, in such will-based accounts, the value of trust is not (exclusively) instrumental (see, Baier, 1986). The question of differentiating non-instrumental from instrumental forms of trust is, however, both delicate and doubtful. By way of precaution, and following the above reasoning on the difference between making and acting, it can be said that the transitive form of making (something) is most likely instrumental, whereas the intransitive form of acting in a particular way does not likely include instrumental goals. Consequently, poiesis’ making to promote skillfulness and proficiency (techne) has instrumental overtones, whereas praxis’ acting to promote wisdom and judgment ( phronesis) has not. From this account, it also follows that partisan focus on organizational goals, such as profit, growth, volume, imply irreconcilability with kairotopos’ trust. Implicitly, phronesis (wisdom and judgment) and kairos (the right moment) seems to be present in all individual and non-instrumental accounts of trust, whereas collective and instrumental claims of trust are based on techne (e.g., in organizations). Thence it follows that individual and non-instrumental accounts of trust prerequisite phronesis but phronesis does not presuppose trust, in that a justified absence of trust could well be in accordance with phronesis (wisdom and judgment). Therefore, despite their different etymology in Old Norse (trust) and Greek ( phronesis), respectively, the virtue of trust among cooperating parties implies questions of phronesis. From a Heideggerian point of view, it can be said that when one thinks of phronesis showing itself in a “kairic” rhetorical discourse, a “heard” call of being/call of conscience in the speaker inscribed in a way which make these ”calls” available to subsequent hearers would engender trust. Or, in rhetorical terms, trust emanates from the character of the speaker (ethos) as inscribed in the discourse. However, the much recognized importance of trust in social settings, e.g. in economic, political, legal, and organizational relations, quite frequently include goals such as profit, number of votes, administration of justice, and efficiency/effectiveness. Consequently, trust in social settings with instrumental goal directed overtones have attracted much attention in the recent years.

Chronotopos and trust Chronotopos is a notion of abstract chronos-time (e.g., in successive readings of a clock), together with a conception of concrete and meaningful place. The notion of chronotopos in this presentation is most evident in contemporary Western societies’ frequently testified time-obsession. Everyone proficient in reading a clock experiences situations in which the reified clock-time of chronos runs our daily duties from concrete place to place. This chronotopos-form of time and place should not be confused with Mikhail Bachtin’s insightful and widely known notion of chronotopos, which, in this

presentation, is roughly equal to kairotopos” unification of place and time into a condensed, meaningful and concrete wholeness (Bachtin, 1981). In the growing litany of managerial buzzwords, FCT, JIT, LP, and TQM have become some of the most influential corporate programs of the 1990s (e.g., Stalk and Hout, 1990; Womack et al., 1990; Meyer, 1993; Stern and Stalk, 1998). By using the terminology specified in the previous section, it becomes clear that these time management ideas in general are equal to chronotopos (i.e., when clock-time and deadlines runs our daily duties from place to place). JIT and LP’s idea of conjoining different production stages within the organization to those in sequence outside its boundaries, as well as TQM’s and FCT’s underlying principle of continuous improvement by reducing cycle time and improving productivity, are examples of time management, because they all focus on production flow and delays caused by quality problems. The common denominator among these management ideas is ultimately to create smooth, swift, and thrifty flows of goods and services from the supplier via the manufacturer to the customer. This places great inordinate emphasis upon (chronos’ clock-time and (topos) place; for instance, when issuing an order with the delivery date for the next day at exactly 3:00 p.m. to a specific place. An alternative notion, kairos-time, would instead imply that one should deliver when it is opportune, when one’s judgment feels that it is the right moment to act. However, such judgment-based decisions cannot be a basic characterization of many middle-management environments, such as in operating technological production systems in large manufacturing companies. Clock-time, deadlines and working by the book are instead the strong imperatives in most manufacturing companies. Yet, the notion of a concrete place (topos) remains to be crucial since this kind of thrifty production flow relies heavily on accurate placing. The proposed chronotopos category when successive readings of a clock runs our daily duties from place to place is an omnipresent situation in everyday business activities (and everyday life). In terms of trust, this chronotopos category is the “ruling factor” in all “standardized” industrial production lines (par excellence: car manufacturing plants and other forms of Fordism and Taylorism modes of mass production). In terms of organizational trust, the bulk of the debate refer to situations that can be characterized as chronotopos (i.e., clock-time control in concrete places). Regardless of whether approaches focus on intra- or interorganizational forms of trust, collaboration is assumed to be beneficial for all involved parties. In terms of continuous improvement and JIT delivery, trust is sometimes associated with improved business performance (e.g., Sako, 1998; quoted in Huemer, 1998). This is, however, a somewhat delicate assertion, inasmuch as time based management concepts are frequently based upon asymmetric power-relations, including principal/agent, supervisor/subordinate, buyer/seller, and contractor/sub-contractor (e.g., Hardy and Phillips, 1995). Such a nested power-relation is bluntly manifested in Taylorism and discernible in numerous writings on the link between industrial/capitalist production and its organization to the rationalized and decontextualized beat of the clock (for an overview, Adam, 1990, 1995). Some implementation of highly structured programs, such as TQM, in ambiguous task requirements has also engendered distrust (Sitkin and Roth, 1993; Sitkin et al., 1994; Sitkin and Stickel, 1996). It is thus suggested that time management-concepts in production line settings (JIT, LP, TQM, etc.) are frequently based on asymmetric power-relations and controlled by

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a superior clock-time precision that simply make far-reaching claims of (non-instrumental) trust doubtful. The controlling authority is also manifested by chronotopos’ site-consciousness; it is based, at least partially, on flows of physical goods between proximate human beings that also exercise mutual control on each other. There is still a place for more or less instrumental forms of trust in such manufacturing processes characterized by chronotopos’ clock-time control over places. However, collaboration ruled by asymmetric power-relations can easily obstruct trust, and in the worst cases it becomes a situation of dependency or just a fac¸ade of trust (on trust and power, see, e.g. Fox, 1974; Luhmann, 1979; Eisenstadt, 1995; Zand, 1997). Kairochora, trust and virtual organizations These examples of a generally known chronochora (i.e., when clock time runs our daily activities from place to place, e.g. time management in production line settings), however, have recently been complemented with a notion of a concrete and meaningful time (kairos) and abstract space (chora). These two notions - kairos and chora - merge into kairochora. This neologism, kairochora, is characteristic for another of the managerial buzz-words with a clear focus on time, the virtual organization, a term typically used to refer to systems that are interlinked by advanced information technology (e.g., Davidow and Malone, 1992; Grenier and Metes, 1995; Jarvenpaa and Ives, 1994; Lipnack and Stamps, 1997; Norton and Smith, 1998). Nowadays, a great deal of attention is being paid to virtual forms of organizing. Still, aspects of trust in virtual organization studies are somewhat neglected. Nevertheless, some scholars have chosen the assignment to enter into different aspects of the question of trust in virtual organizational settings (e.g., Nohria and Eccles, 1992; Handy, 1995; Grundy, 1998; Grabowski and Roberts, 1999; Jarvenpaa and Leidner, 1999; Morris, 1999; van der Smagt, 2000). The online world of virtual organizations differs from the physical organizational setting in ways that are relevant to trust. In particular, the loss of interdepartmental dynamics obscures (or lacks entirely) the physical dimensions of character and personality, nature of relationship, and institutional character on which we normally rely to form decisions about trust. On the question of the relationship between virtual organizing and human subjectivities, see also, Sotto (1996, 1998). One of the first comprehensive explorative studies whether and how trust exists and develops in global “virtual teams” was conducted by Jarvenpaa and Leidner (1999). The study suggests that a somewhat depersonalized, fragile, and temporal form of “swift” trust can exist in teams built purely on electronic network. Consequently, Jarvenpaa and Leidner (1999) suggest that trust in virtual teams is in contrast to, e.g. De Meyer (1991), Nohria and Eccles (1992), and Handy (1995) who all questions whether virtual organizations can function without frequent face-to-face communication. In a similar vein, Hallowell (1999) stresses the need to experience what he calls “the human moment”, which is an encounter when (two) people share the same place in a meaningful moment of conversation. Hallowell, as well as Grundy (1998), strongly recommend that virtual teams meet physically at least at the beginning of an upcoming project. Nevertheless, Jarvenpaa and Leidner’s (1999) explorative study suggests, in contrast to the above doubters, that trust can exist in teams built purely on electronic networks - given that some important factors are observed:

Trust might be imported, but is more likely created via a communication behavior established in the first few keystrokes. Communication that rallies around the project and tasks appears to be necessary to maintain trust. Social communication that complements rather than substitutes for task communication may strengthen trust. Finally, responding behaviors are as critical as initiating behaviors, and members have to explicitly verbalize their commitment, excitement, and optimism (Jarvenpaa and Leidner, 1999, p. 811).

Moments of trust

Virtual organizations are sometimes claimed to operate independently of space and time in creating worldwide sources of information-based products and processes. This is, however, only partially true in the sense that, despite a organization’s “existence” in a virtual space, it is still dependent on (im-)placed co-workers exercising a clear sense of timing within the organization. Furthermore, not all virtual organizations are impersonal, people only meet irregularly. Aspects of timing in a virtual organization can also be differentiated between, e.g. synchronous teamwork (“same time/different place”), and asynchronous teamwork (“different time/different place” or “different time/same place”) (e.g., Kinney and Panko, 1996; quoted in Warkentin and Beranek, 1999, p. 272). The sense of timing can also be of a purely instrumental and technical form (e.g., when all banks are clearing their transactions on a given clock time) or in a more elaborate form (e.g., coordinating a program of developing a new computer software with participants in different parts of the world). This latter form of virtual communication has recently created sophisticated systems of human cooperation in global virtual networks and virtual organizations. Such a form of global virtual organizational development directs strong demands for trustworthiness among the participants because spontaneous physical interaction between the actors, as in an office setting, is no longer possible in virtual communication. From this question of trust, especially in global and virtual settings, follow questions of wisdom and judgment in actions undertaken (i.e., kairos and phronesis) since trust does not emanate from the rules of techne (skillfulness and proficiency) but from action in concrete and timely situations. To uphold a trust relationship in virtual and impersonal communications, in which we frequently interact with persons unknown, unseen, or distant to us, simply calls for elements of phronesis and kairos. In the current debate on organizational trust (in virtual and “traditional” organizations), no explicit reference to trust in relation to phronesis and kairos prevails. Implicitly, however, phronesis (wisdom and judgment) and kairos (the right moment) seem to be present in all individual and “non-instrumental” accounts of trust, whereas collective and “instrumental” claims of trust are based more on techne (skillfulness and proficiency). Despite the fact that virtual organizations are based, on the whole, on techne, they could still be characterized as having features of kairochora (i.e., a communication based on human right moments to act judiciously in an abstract virtual space (chora) that no longer “takes place” – only time). In the book Heuretics, Ulmer (1994a) treats slightly this subject in his “reinvention” of Chorography, though without using the specific term kairochora. Instead, Ulmer calls for chorography to be a method for denoting the substitution of topos for chora as the “place” (or rather virtual space) of invention in the electronic rhetoric of hypermedia. This recent hypermedia technology has obviously hastened and changed written communication, opening new senses of context, interactivity, rhetoric’s, and timeliness. Consequently, the notion of kairos has begun to emerge in these

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hypertext/hyperrhetoric situations (see, e.g. Ulmer, 1994a, b; Landow, 1997). The notion of kairos is also used in a hypertext form called “Lingua MOO,” created at the University of Texas to serve as a learning environment on projects situated at the intersection of Arts and Humanities and electronic media. Based on what has been reviewed thus far, trust in virtual communication contains a sense of phronesis (wisdom and judgment), and of kairos (right moments). However, their seemingly elusive character should not lead us to underestimate their importance to managerial psychology. That effective communication in virtual organizations requires sensibilities akin to phronesis and kairos, means managers must develop such sensibilities if they are to lead these organizations based more on trust than on control. For virtual organizations frequented by people whom you do not see except on rare and prearranged occasions simply “requires trust to make it work: technology on its own is not enough” (Handy, 1995, p. 44). In contrast, the key difference between trust in manufacturing industries using time management concepts and trust in virtual organizations is that, whereas the former has a clear site-consciousness, the latter is not bound to either flows of physical goods between proximate human beings or to any particular place. Certainly, virtual organizations are ruled by rational and decontextualized clock-time (chronos) as well. But the virtual form of organization still give new possibilities to break the iron law of time-clocks, watch and ward, and the time-wasting friction of distance. Though, it presupposes delicate forms of trust at distance, beyond the everyday face-to-face encounters in “traditional” organizations. Conclusion This article explored two categories of contemporary organizing practices (time management and virtual organizations) in which attention was directed to different forms of action, time, space, and trust. Four types of time and space neologism were identified, along with their underlying implications in terms of trust. First, the purely abstract and generally applicable Chronochora is based on time and space expressed as infinitesimal slices, e.g. clock-time (chronos) and geometrical extension (chora). In terms of trust, this theoretical activity (theoria) and its “results” (episteme) have no concrete bearing upon trust beyond abstract conceptualizations (e.g., game theory and transaction cost). Second, Kairotopos, the antithetical to chronochora, is about the ability to act judiciously and wisely at a concrete and opportune occasion. In such moments, trust is an intentional mental phenomenon in relations of intimacy, loyalty, friendships, and in other acts of nurture and care not necessarily purposive (e.g., nurse-cum-caretaker). Third, Chronotopos is a notion based on the abstract chronos-time of clocks in conjunction with a conception of concrete and meaningful place (e.g., time management, JIT, LP, and TQM). This transitive, making part of practice ( poiesis) to promote skillfulness and proficiency (techne) can include weak and/or instrumental forms of trust, but frequent asymmetric power-relations in such industrial chronotopos-settings (e.g., principal/agent, supervisor/subordinate, buyer/seller, contractor/sub-contractor) can also impede trust. Fourth, Kairochora is a communication based on human right moments to act judiciously in “virtual spaces”, such as in virtual organizations. Such a virtual setting, in comparison with most time management concepts in production line settings, is

more likely to contain trust that appears to be very fragile and temporal. Online communication in virtual organizations simply entails greater uncertainty than face-to-face communication in physical interdepartmental settings. Virtual organization settings direct demands for timely, and judicious, online communication among the participants in order to encourage both task information and social information. Although trust has long been a major (and confusing) issue in the organizational literature, there is little research on spatio-temporal factors of trust. This article has been an attempt to incorporate ancient Greek and, particularly, Aristotelian notions of human action, time, and space into contemporary studies of trust in organizations. The notion of trust has been the object of continuous interest in economics, sociology, and organization studies. Still, few studies have specifically explored the temporal and spatial factors of trust - beyond partisan focuses on decontextualized chronological time and “abstract” space. However, to understand the different conditions for trust-based cooperation and management in traditional office settings and in virtual networks requires an explicit focus on human aspects of time and space. References Academy of Management Review (1998), “Special topics forum on trust in and between organizations”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23 No. 3. Adam, B. (1990), Time and Social Theory, Polity Press, Cambridge. Adam, B. (1995), Timewatch: The Social Analysis of Time, Polity Press, Cambridge. Axelrod, R. (1984), The Evolution of Cooperation, Basic Books, New York, NY. Bachtin, M. (1981), The Dialogic Imagination, (originally published in 1919), University of Texas Press, Austin, TX. Baier, A. (1986), “Trust and antitrust”, Ethics, Vol. 96, pp. 231-60. Barber, B. (1983), The Logic and Limits of Trust, Rutgers, New Brunswick, NJ. Bartunek, J.M. and Necochea, R.A. (2000), “Old insights and new times: Kairos, Inca cosmology, and their contributions to contemporary management inquiry”, Journal of Management Inquiry, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 103-12. Berman Brown, R. and Herring, R. (1998), “The circles of time. an exploratory study in measuring temporal perceptions within organizations”, Journal of Management Psychology, Vol. 13 No. 8, pp. 580-602. Bhattacharya, R., Devinney, T.M. and Pillutla, M.M. (1998), “A formal model of trust based on outcomes”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 459-72. Carlstein, T. (1978), Timing Space and Spacing Time, Vol. 1-3, Edward Arnold, London. Carlstein, T. (1980), Time Resources: On the Capacity for Human Interaction in Space and Time, Lund University, Lund. Casey, E.S. (1993), Getting Back into Place. Toward a Renewed Understanding of the Place- World, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. Casey, E.S. (1997), The Fate of Place. A Philosophical History, University of California, Berkeley, CA. Ciborra, C.U. (1999), “Notes on improvisation and time in organizations”, Accounting Management and Information Technologies, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 77-94. Davidow, W.H. and Malone, M.S. (1992), The Virtual Corporation, Harper Collins, New York, NY.

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Jarvenpaa, S.L. and Leidner, D.E. (1999), “Communication and trust in global virtual teams”, Organization Science, Vol. 10 No. 6, pp. 791-815. Kee, H.W. and Knox, R.E. (1970), “Conceptual and methodological considerations in the study of trust”, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 357-66. Kerkhoff, M. (1976), “Kairos”, in Ritter, J. (Ed.), Historische Wo¨rterbuch der Philosophie, Vol. IV, Wissenschaftlische Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt. Kinneavy, J.L. (1986), “Kairos: a neglected concept in classical rhetoric”, in Moss, J.D. (Ed.), Rhetoric and Praxis, Catholic University of America Press, Washington D.C, pp. 79-105. Kinneavy, J.L. and Eskin, C.R. (1994), “Kairos in Aristotle’s rhetoric”, Written Communication, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 131-42. Kinney, S.T. and Panko, R.R. (1996), ”Real project teams: profiles and surveys of member perceptions”, Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Vol. III, pp. 128-138. Kirkeby, O.F. (1998), Ledelsefilosofi - et radikalt normativt perspektiv (Management Philosophy. A Radical-Normative Perspective), Springer, Berlin. von Krogh, G. (1998), “Care in knowledge creation”, California Management Review, Vol. 40 No. 3, pp. 133-53. Landow, G.P. (1997), Hypertext 2.0: The Convergence of Contemporary Critical Theory and Technology, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. Lewis, J.D. and Weigert, A. (1985), “Trust as a social reality”, Social Forces, Vol. 43 No. 4, pp. 967-85. Lipnack, J. and Stamps, J. (1997), Virtual Teams: Reaching Across Space, Time, and Organizations with Technology, Wiley, New York, NY. Luhmann, N. (1979), Trust and Power, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester. McKenna, R. (1997), Real Time: Preparing for the Age of the Never Satisfied Customer, Harvard Business School, Cambridge, MA. McKnight, D.H. and Chervany, N.L. (1996), “The meanings of trust”. working paper, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, available at: http:// misrc.umn.edu/wpaper/WorkingPapers/9604.pdf (accessed January 6, 2003). McKnight, D.H., Cummings, L.L. and Chervany, N.L. (1998), “Initial trust formation in new organizational relationships”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 473-90. Mayer, R.C., Davis, J.H. and Schoorman, F.D. (1995), “An integrative model of organizational trust”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 709-34. Meyer, C. (1993), Fast Cycle Time: How to Align Purpose, Strategy, and Structure for Speed, The Free Press, New York, NY. Meyerson, D., Weick, K.E. and Kramer, R.M. (1996), “Swift trust and temporary groups”, in Kramer, R.M. and Tyler, T.R. (Eds), Trust in Organizations: Frontiers of Theory and Research, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 166-95. Misztal, B.A. (1996), Trust in Modern Societies, Polity Press, Oxford. Morris, S.A. (1999), Impact of User Satisfaction, System Usage and Trust on the Job Satisfaction of Virtual Organization Members, (Digital Dissertations, UMI Microfilm No. 9931108), Auburn University, Auburn, AL. Nohria, N. and Eccles, R.G. (1992), “Face-to-face: making network organizations work”, in Nohria, N. and Eccles, R.G. (Eds), Network and Organizations, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, pp. 288-308.

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Sotto, R. (1998), “The virtualization of the organizational subject”, in Chia, R. (Ed.), Organized Worlds: Explorations in Technology and Organization with Robert Cooper, Routledge, London, pp. 67-94. Stalk, G. Jr and Hout, T.M. (1990), Competing Against Time: How Time-based Competition is Reshaping Global Markets, The Free Press, New York, NY. Stern, C. and Stalk, G. Jr (Eds) (1998), Perspectives on Strategy, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester. Sugimori, Y., Kusunoki, K., Cho, F. and Uchikawa, S. (1977), “Toyota production system and kanban system: materialization of just-in-time and respect-for-humanity system”, International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 15 No. 6, pp. 553-64. Ulmer, G.L. (1994a), Heuretics: The Logic of Invention, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD. Ulmer, G.L. (1994b), “The Miranda warnings: an experiment in hyperrhetoric”, in Landow, G.P. (Ed.), Hyper Text Theory Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, pp. 345-77. Virilio, P. (1991), The Aesthetics of Disappearance, Semiotext(e), New York, NY. Warkentin, M. and Beranek, P. (1999), “Training to improve virtual team communication”, Information Systems Journal, Vol. 9, pp. 271-89. White, E.C. (1987), Kaironomia: On the Will-To-Invent, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. Williamson, O.E. (1975), Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications: A Study in the Economics of Internal Organization, The Free Press, NY, New York, NY. Williamson, O.E. (1993), “Calculativeness, trust, and economic-organization”, Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 36 No. 1, pp. 453-86. Womack, J.P., Jones, D.T. and Roos, D. (1990), The Machine that Changed the World, Macmillan, New York, NY. Zand, D.E. (1997), The Leadership Triad: Knowledge, Trust and Power, Oxford University, Oxford.

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Time and strategy: towards a multitemporal view of the firm

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Viale delle Scienze, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

Arabella Mocciaro Li Destri Giovanni Battista Dagnino University of Catania, Corso Italia, Catania, Italy Keywords Resource management, Organizational theory, Corporate strategy, Time-based management Abstract This paper takes into consideration the main views underlying the theory of the resource based firm within strategy studies, underscoring their fundamental monotemporal nature and proposing a way to elaborate a multi-temporal view of the firm. By analyzing the link between the time concepts used as bases for the formulation of studies within the strategy field and the types of actor behavior implicitly (or explicitly) entailed by such time concepts, the paper shows the inadequacy of any one of the two monotemporal views of the resource-based firm to encompass all of the main actor behaviors on which the firm’s survival and success increasingly rests. The paper draws on the Austrian process view in economic studies to formulate a methodological framework which consents the elaboration of a multi-temporal view of the resource based firm, in which different time concepts are bridged and in which all main actor behaviors crucial for prolonged firm success are encompassed. Finally, the paper shows how the multi-temporal view of the firm consents with the re-interpretation and maintenance of both the static and the dynamic concepts elaborated within the strategy literature and, eventually, also expands the causal relationships between strategic management and a number of other areas of inquiry in the management field, such as time-space relationships, the relationship between strategy and entrepreneurship, and the relationship between the former and the evolutionary perspective.

Journal of Managerial Psychology Vol. 19 No. 8, 2004 pp. 776-794 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0268-3946 DOI 10.1108/02683940410568257

Introduction In the light of the new phenomena, or the renewed attention paid to already existing phenomena, brought forth by the new millennium, the issue of time is burgeoning in both scale and scope receiving a large amount of consideration in various disciplines from economics to sociology and psychology, and in management specifically (Barkema et al., 2002). The temporal aspect from which our study draws its initial inspiration regards the consequences for the field of strategic management of today’s modifications in the environmental conditions with which a growing part of firms are having to come to terms and “master” in order to thrive and survive. As more than one strategy author has affirmed, the increase in context turbulence and the constant nature of discontinuous change in today’s economic and competitive environments (D’Aveni, 1994) make it crucial for firms to learn to govern contradictions (Nonaka and Toyama, 2002). The consequences of the environmental changes that have occurred in the recent past have, in fact, made it essential for firms to be capable to innovate more rapidly in order to keep up with the shortening of product/industry life cycles and with the general increase in global competition. The authors wish to thank the three anonymous reviewers for mindful suggestions, Ron Purser for thoughtful insights, and Jay Barney for stimulating discussions.

However, it is also recognized that firms cannot base their survival on continuous innovation alone; contemporarily they must be able to gain stable rent flows from the competitive advantages they have created via innovation for a sufficiently long period of time, allowing the full remuneration of the investments these entail. The capacity to reap the rents of firm innovations typically implies the ability to govern environmental turbulence, reducing it to a level of stability which renders it possible to increase organizational efficiency and actively protect present competitive advantages. Firms must therefore learn to create the conditions that enable them to foster both firm efficiency and creativity, and that enable them to exploit the competitive advantages they already hold whilst exploring new sources of competitive advantages. In other terms, firms must learn to simultaneously lay the bases and nurture both value appropriation and value creation (Porter, 1996; Moran and Ghoshal, 1999; Venkataraman and Sarasvathy, 2001; Hitt et al., 2001). The field of strategic management has, however, treated these aspects independently and is still trying to come to grip with the formulation of theories and normative guidelines that may aid firms in these renewed environmental conditions. The analysis of the implicit assumptions underlying the strategic theory of the firm shows how the time concepts on which these studies rest are essentially two and dichotomic, i.e. either they are based on a Newtonian idea of time, or they are based on a Bergsonian idea of time. Therefore, within strategy studies there are basically two mono-temporal views of the firm which have, until now, remained separate from one another and irreconcilable within a single coherent framework of analysis. The additional consideration that none of the mono-temporal views of the firm elaborated till today in the strategy field are able to encompass contemporarily the issues relative to both value appropriation and value creation, render it necessary to analyze in more detail the fundamental theoretical building blocks on which the formulation of a strategic theory of the firm must rest. The present analysis shows how the concept of time adopted is the primary dimension on which the capacity to formulate a comprehensive framework rests and, by drawing on the Austrian economists’ process view (O’Driscoll and Rizzo, 1985), sketches the basis for the formulation of a multi-temporal view of the firm which is able to accommodate the contradictory issues underlying firm survival and success in today’s turbulent competitive environments. The remainder of this article is organized as follows. The following section examines how strategy studies have developed in essence around two approaches (i.e., content and process), emphasizing how they are respectively related to two polarized concepts of time (i.e., Newtonian time and Bergsonian time) and examines the incommensurability of these two visions of the firm within a single unitary framework of analysis. In the third section we propose and discuss a methodological pathway towards the definition of a multi-temporal view of the firm. The fourth section is dedicated to the initial sketch of the multi-temporal view of the firm. In the final section, we eventually discuss a few relevant implications of the previous analysis helpful for both theory and practice and marshal the main conclusions of this study. Monotemporalisms in strategic management In their review of the ways in which time concepts are incorporated into dynamic strategy research, Mosakowski and Earley (2000, pp. 803-804) note how, although time is incorporated in many different ways, it tends to be conceived of as “objective time”

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whereas a “subjective” view of time is generally absent from strategy studies[1]. Thus, the review of a broad part of strategy literature by Mosakowski and Earley (2000) shows how strategy research regrettably tends to be monotemporal in nature and allows to underscore some of the shortcomings of such a restricted view of time. This general picture derived from extant temporal research in strategy may be considered as a background for the present study; however this article focuses the analysis on a specific branch of strategy studies and, in particular, on what may begin to be seen as the “strategic theory of the firm”. This choice is based on the aim to show the necessity of the elaboration of a multitemporal framework for the study of firm evolution between value appropriation and value creation. Furthermore, after a brief analysis of the monotemporal nature of the studies conducted in this area of scholarly inquiry, we propose a way in which it may be possible to elaborate such a multitemporal view. The elaboration of a “theory of the firm” within strategy studies is a fairly recent endeavor: before the development of the resource based view of the firm (RBV) in the 1990s, and subsequently of the knowledge-based view of the firm (KBV), the consideration of endogenous firm characteristics and the mechanisms underlying its activities were generally absent from the strategy agenda. In the RBV, the capacity of firms to obtain rents from their activities depends on the system of resources they possess or control and on the way these are combined together to carry out the productive process that enable them to offer particular products or services on the market. The resource based (RB) firm is therefore identified as the stocks of productive factors (i.e., resources) that are possessed or controlled by the firm and the capabilities the latter develops to deploy these productive factors - combining them through organizational processes, systems and routines - in order to reach the firms’ goals (Barney, 2001 p. 54). Due to its particular emphasis on learning processes, and to its connection to the concepts of abilities and intangible assets, in the 1990s the debate on the notion of competences paved the way to the study of knowledge and the elaboration of the KBV. Initially, the vast part of the KBV considered the firm as an agent that develops superior capacities to protect (Porter-Liebeskind, 1996) and deploy the knowledge possessed by single individuals in the firm (Grant, 1996): knowledge in this perspective is one of the many resources firms possess, though it acquires particular strategic relevance vis-a`-vis other resources (this approach can be termed KBV1). More recently, the KBV has evolved into a more dynamic perspective. Nonaka et al. (2000), in particular, describe the firm as a cognitive system, or more precisely as an entity that relentlessly creates new knowledge. The possession of knowledge resources and the capacity to generate and deploy this knowledge come to be considered the most important factors determining sustainable competitive advantages for the firm, as through them the firm acquires the ability to innovate, producing new goods/services/processes or manages to improve the existing ones. In this second perspective of the KBV, the firm is seen as a dynamic system of resources and capabilities whose raison d’etre is the creation of knowledge. In fact, according to KBV2, it is possible to outline a Nonakian firm, conceived as a knowledge generator and incubator. Though the outline of the strategic theory of the firm offered above is extremely succinct, it is possible to see how there is not a single vision of the firm based on resources and knowledge; rather it is possible to identify various concepts of the

resource based firm (Schulze, 1994) and, also, of the knowledge-based firm (Mocciaro Li Destri and Dagnino, 2003). Some of these are essentially static (Barney, 1991; Peteraf, 1993; Porter-Liebeskind, 1996), others instead have a more dynamic flavor (Amit and Schoemaker, 1993; Teece et al., 1997; Nonaka et al., 2000). It is beyond the aim of this paper to analyze these branches of study in depth; however it becomes relevant to describe the basic principles underlying each one of these two main categories of study in order to emphasize their monotemporal nature. In the following subsections, each one of the two concepts of time on which the strategic theory of the firm rests are briefly described, along with a brief description of the strategic studies that derive from the adoption of such perspectives. The Newtonian time concept underlying the content perspective Content analyses of the RB firm are based on a Newtonian concept of time. In the Newtonian view, time is considered to be analogous to space: like space, also time can be represented as many dates along a line. In this perspective, time assumes the nature of a mere “temporal position” or a “container” that may be (but not necessarily is) filled with changes. The only aspect which distinguishes one point in time from another is its position; in any other respect each instant of time is homogeneous to the other. The complete independence of time from its contents implies that time may flow by without any change occurring and without actors learning anything. Another characteristic of this time concept is that of mathematical continuity. This property of Newtonian time means that, no matter how many times one divides it into micro-instants, there is always a space between one instant and the others that precede or follow it. Therefore, each instant of time is isolated and independent of the others. The consequence of this property of Newtonian time is that it is unable to take into account the order in which the elements of a process occur and thus it eliminates the possibility that economic actors may learn as time passes. The independence of time from its contents also implies that the mere fact that time flows by does not in itself produce or cause anything: if changes occur within the system as the variable time moves forward, then the determinants of these changes must be present in the initial state of the system. Therefore, Newtonian time is also causally inert, and, as a consequence, renders studies that are based on it deterministic. Causal inertia of Newtonian time is not referable just to events and their occurrence but to time itself: thus, in this view, all agents within the system possess the same timeframe. As a consequence, agent interaction is facilitated by the elimination problems tied to coordination and synchronicity given the single time system which all agents refer to. Given the closure and the stability of the system in which firms operate and the fact that agent coordination is facilitated by the reference to a single timeframe throughout the system, and considered the fact that the past represents a good guide for future action, it is possible to identify a strong notion of rationality behind agent action. Consequently, agent behavior resides on a Cartesian idea of rationality[2] in which reasoning may occur in a step-by-step fashion and is aimed towards maximizing behaviors. Maximizing behaviors are intended as the conscious search for ways to better employ a stable set of resources given a fixed set of aims and preferences that characterize the specific system. The possibility for actors to adopt maximizing

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behaviors depends in first instance on the stability of the framework of means and ends within which they may operate logical deductions in order to resolve problems they are already aware of. Therefore, the system actors operate in must present a high level of stability, as it is possible to maximize the results obtained from one’s future actions only when the latter are relatively predictable (Heiner, 1983). Such predictability also entails that the actions taken by each individual do not generate significant changes in other actor’s behaviors. Given the division of knowledge present in any one system (Hayek, 1948), even in equilibrium there is still the opportunity for actors to seek market imperfections and take advantage of them. These arbitrage behaviors do not, however, modify the logic behind agent interaction, as the efficiency criteria present in the system remain unchanged. .

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The content perspective Studies conducted within the content stream – in accordance with the Newtonian time concept – focus on identifying resources and capabilities that are able to generate Ricardian rents (Peteraf, 1993; Dagnino, 1996) and on how to obtain sustainable competitive advantages from these resources (Grant, 1991; 2002). In this perspective, the RBV offers normative advice to managers seeking to understand, preserve or extend competitive advantages[3], but says little about the creation of new competitive advantages. Economic activity occurs in efficient markets, i.e. firms operate in closed economic systems in which the general framework tying means and ends present in (or the efficiency criteria that characterize) the system are given and established exogenously. Correspondingly, significant sources of change are exogenous to the system, as what is endogenous is known or knowable and thus prevents “real” learning (Hahn, 1973) within the system. The portrait given is of a stable economic system, in which competitive advantages may be gained or eroded thanks to changes in the relative positioning of the firms competing against one another respect to the efficiency criteria present in the system, and in which previous conduct is a valuable guide for future conduct. This stream of thought provides a set of tools that can be used to identify, acquire or control, and protect factors of production that are currently capable of generating rents. The emphasis posed on sustainable competitive advantages is commensurate with the assumption of equilibrium conditions, as is the strong concern for preventing appropriation and/or imitation of valuable resources or capabilities (Lippman and Rumelt, 1982; Peteraf, 1993). Given the representation of the economic system in which firms operate, agents face “parametric” uncertainty (Langlois, 1984), i.e. agents are able to gain knowledge regards the alternative “possible states of the world” but, seeing as they are unable to know which of these will actually occur, they are forced to reason in probabilistic terms. As a consequence, managerial behavior in this perspective is reduced to the maximization of arbitrage processes between the cost of the resources and capabilities that must be acquired or developed by the firm and the market prices of the goods and services that may be obtained by their deployment (Barney, 1986). The Bergsonian time concept underlying the process perspective Process analyses in the RB and KB firm are tightly associated to the Bergsonian concept of time. This time concept, which stems from the work of the French

philosopher Henry Bergson (1889), refers to his idea of qualitative time or as opposed to that of spatialized time. According to this representation, time is identified as the subjective experience of its elapse. Time is, therefore, a dynamic and continuous flow of new experiences: this flow of new experiences does not occur in time, rather it is time. Bergsonian time presents the characteristic of dynamic continuity, seeing as every instant of time is tied to those that precede it through the memory of what has happened, and to those that follow it through the anticipation of what will happen in the future. The possibility of subjectively perceiving any particular event in any one point in time is given by the interaction between memory and anticipation. Therefore, from a subjective point of view, instants in time are not independent of, nor isolated from, one another. Nevertheless, the simple statement of the existence of a link between different instants in time is not sufficient to eradicate the concept of Newtonian time from an analysis. It is the nature of the interconnection between different instants of time that determines whether or not an analysis is truly dynamic. In the Bergsonian perspective, the elapse of time implies a necessary change in the way actors interpret the data set they face: they must, in other terms, change perspective. In this sense, each instant of time is heterogeneous from the others that precede or follow it. As time flows by, actors modify the interpretative functions with which they elaborate the events they live or have knowledge of and, thus, they value situations and act in a different manner than they would have done the period before. Seeing as the mere fact that time elapses is a fount of novelty for the system, Bergsonian time possesses an independent and autonomous causal capacity and an independent creative power. In this perspective, all economic processes must, more or less implicitly, contain the transmission between and the growth of knowledge within single individuals and the system as a whole. In general, this dynamic perspective to economic phenomena shows that the endogenous power which pushes systems to change continuously resides essentially in the growth of human knowledge. The causal capacity of Bergsonian time is referable also to time itself. Thus, in this perspective, the agents operating within a given social (and economic) reality operate simultaneously each one with his/her own subjective timeframe. This brings forth the idea of a plurality of subjective timeframes present in any system and highlights problems related to the intersection of these individualized timeframes. The latter problems relate, for example, to agent coordination, problems of synchronicity and periodicity and mutual time claims[4]. It is important to note that though the Bergsonian concept of time is one (and is thus at the basis of one of the two “monotemporal” views analyzed), once this concept is taken into consideration the system analyzed presents a plurality of subjective timeframes operating during the same period. Though the acceptance of the Bergsonian time concept implies the presence of a plurality of timeframes within the same system during a given period, there is not the possibility that amongst these one (or more) assumes the characteristics of a Newtonian timeframe as the conditions of the system in which agents operate are incompatible with the adoption of such a time view. Therefore, though Bergsonian time is at the basis of pluritemporal views of reality it does not encapsulate the Newtonian concept of time; as such, the two time concepts remain distinct. The characteristics of Bergsonian time described above also imply that this concept of time is irreversible: processes produce changes that are not deterministically

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predictable. The real nature of a process does not therefore reside in the mere recombination of a given set of data or variables, but must grant a critical role to surprise and unforeseen events. Given the open and dynamic nature of the economic system in which firms operate, and considered that future events are not even probabilistically predictable but are largely still to be created, individual rationality may not be represented in a Cartesian sense. In this perspective, the notion of rationality acquires a weaker nature and comes to be intended as the capacity to learn and adapt to specific time-space contexts. From this standpoint, the ability of individuals to make sense of novel events through the interplay of memory of the passed and anticipation of the future become paramount, as it is thanks to this interplay that intuitions occur. Parallel to the adoption of Bergsonian time, it is not surprising that managerial behavior is represented as entrepreneurial. The notion of entrepreneurial behavior rests on the work of Schumpeter (1934, 1942) and Kirzner (1973, 1979), and consists in the formulation of new frameworks that tie new and/or old means to new and/or old ends (Kirzner, 1979, pp. 158-192). In general, it can be distinguished from maximizing behavior because of the critical role played by creativity and because of its intuitive nature. The entrepreneurial learning process is aimed to try to foresee future changes that will take place in the system; changes that his own actions will contribute to determine, but that will not entirely depend on him because of the relevance for the final outcome of the reactions of other actors in the system to his behaviors. The intrinsically non deterministic nature of future events that occur once entrepreneurial action has been taken implies that the modification of the subjective framework, that guides this kind of behavior, cannot be the result of logical deduction or of the choice between a closed set of alternative courses of action, rather that these modifications are closer to “Gestalt radical leaps” that involve an uneliminable degree of risk. The process perspective The process perspective, as a consequence of the different time concept on which it is based, has different aims and presents characteristics that are at stark odds with the content approach. In fact, the process perspective focuses its attention on the creation of new competitive advantages (and not merely their protection). The creation of new rent flows entails (Schulze, 1994): . learning new ways of managing existing sets of resources or capabilities; . developing new sets of resources and capabilities; and . achieving a match between changing environmental conditions and distinctive organizational resources and capabilities. Drawing on the RBV and KBV perspectives, these studies consider the economic system to be open (DeGregori, 1987) and dynamic (Teece et al., 1997; Nonaka et al., 2000): the set of means and ends that define the efficiency criteria within the system are not given, but changeable thanks to both exogenous factors relative to the system or to forces endogenous to the system - namely firm innovations. The economic system is, therefore, constantly changing and not stable as in the previous perspective. This approach allows for a strong voluntaristic vein; firms are able to act upon the forces in the economic system and are able, when successful, to change the efficiency criteria within it. The motivation for innovative firms to change the “rules of the game” resides

in the possibility of gaining Schumpeterian rents (Dagnino, 1996), i.e. that derive from the innovative coordination and integration of resources and capabilities. In this context, the past is an uncertain guide for future conduct and there is an irreducible ex-ante uncertainty associated with entrepreneurial firm behavior. The nature of uncertainty facing individual agents is “structural” (Langlois, 1986) or “genuine” (O’Driscoll and Rizzo, 1985). Structural or genuine uncertainty refers to situations in which there is not the possibility to identify all the alternative “possible states of the world” as – given the open nature of the system in which agents operate – these have yet to be created. Thus, firms try to anticipate the possible future evolutions of the system that are not logically deducible from the conditions and the circumstances present at the moment in which they formulate their views, with the aim of being prepared for them when (and if) they occur. In a nutshell, firms seek to develop strategic foresight and they hence promote the elaboration of various scenarios (especially in terms of setting timeframes) of the requisite configurations of new resources and capabilities and new knowledge. In an ongoing basis, this foresight-driven scenario building process is typically supported by the cultivation of the ability to piece together managerial vision and imagination (Fransman, 1994). The impossibility of encompassing maximizing and entrepreneurial behaviors in any one of the two monotemporal views of the firm The brief outline of the two main schools of thought in the RB/KBV of the firm offered above seems sufficient to be able to identify their monotemporal nature and their consideration of either maximizing or entrepreneurial behavior. If there were the possibility for any one of the two time concepts to encompass maximizing and entrepreneurial behaviors, there would be no real need for the elaboration of a multitemporal view of the firm. However, if one takes into consideration the following criteria, it is possible to notice how each time concept accommodates only one of the two fundamental economic behaviors mentioned above: first, the strength of the ties between different time periods for the cognitive processes underlying the behavioral patterns analyzed, i.e. the degree to which there is the need for a strong integration between different instants in time through the memory of the passed and the anticipation of the future; and second, how the time concept adopted influences the main characteristics of the economic system agents operate in and, from the latter, determines whether there are the conditions to apply any one of the types of reasoning underlying the behavior patterns analyzed. Given the characteristics described earlier, it becomes clear that the possibility to resolve problems gradually that characterizes maximizing behavior necessarily implies a Newtonian concept of time. Furthermore, the latter is the only time concept that allows for the stability and closure of the system which consents agents to adopt rational choices in a Cartesian sense. On the other hand, entrepreneurial behavior is compatible only with Bergsonian time. In fact, the instantaneous nature of the moment in which the entrepreneurial intuition occurs is such that the role played by the tie between different time periods given by the memory of the past and the anticipation of the future is paramount and, consequently, cannot be conceived of if not through a Bergsonian conception of time. In addition, it is only thanks to the continuous change in the circumstances individuals face and in the events they live that there may be space for the growth in individual knowledge and for learning to take place.

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This dynamic mutability of the system actors operate in is necessarily tied to a Bergsonian concept of time. The methodological bases of the multitemporal view of the firm: the Austrian approach to strategy The analysis conducted above shows that the time concept and the hypotheses on which the content and the process view of the firm are based are at stark odds with one another. If they are systematically compared they seem, at least in first approximation, difficult to reconcile within a single framework of analysis. The content view of the firm is based on a Newtonian concept of time, implies strong agent rationality, views the economic system as closed, is based on an allocative idea of efficiency and affirms the durability of system equilibria. The process view is, on the other hand, based on a Bergsonian concept of time, is nondeterministic and gives firms a strong voluntaristic power, implies weak agent rationality, views the economic system as open and changeable, is based on a dynamic idea of efficiency and assumes system equilibria to be transitory (see Table I). In order to formulate a pluritemporal view of the firm, and therefore consider contemporarily both types of agent behavior, it is necessary to introduce an analytical framework that is able to integrate the two monotemporal perspectives considered earlier. In this study, we introduce the Austrian process approach within strategy studies (see Jacobson, 1992) to help elaborate such an integrative framework. From a methodological viewpoint, the aforementioned approach is sufficiently open and encompassing to consent the integration of concepts that, at first approximation, seem opposite to one another (Kirzner, 1997). Herein we illustrate briefly the basic building blocks (i.e., typical and unique aspects of phenomena, a new notion of equilibrium, agent subjective rationality) that characterize the Austrian process approach[5] and successively we show how these fit together to form a multitemporal framework for the analysis of the firm. Typical and unique aspects of phenomena The Austrian approach focuses its studies on the analysis of recurring types of human interaction and aims to render these intelligible; i.e. it aims to find adequate causality relations between events and human actions. The condition that allows agents to act intentionally resides in the relative stability of their mental frames. The reconciliation of the need for stability of the mental frames guiding individual action and the uncertainty that derives from the flow of Bergsonian time, is based on the recognition that processes possess both unique and typical aspects - i.e. that there are aspects that are time dependent and others that are relatively time independent. Typical aspects of phenomena can be identified as the regular or repetitive characteristics of events; i.e. both the characteristics of events that have in reality been repeated and the characteristics of events that in principle may be repeated. These aspects of events may be identified by agents probabilistically or with certainty, but the nature of their prediction remains deterministic either way. Typical aspects of phenomena have, therefore, a static nature[6]. Unique aspects of events are identified as those aspects that are time dependent and that are therefore not subject to repetition. It is thanks to these aspects that individual agents learn from the experiences they live and progressively change their mental frames and the way they interpret new events.

Open, dynamic

Bergsonian time based strategy studies Voluntaristic, subjectivist

Integrated view: a multitemporal perspective in strategy Austrian subjectivist approach

(continued)

Cyclic: closed/open, but always dynamic Equilibrium of the system Neoclassical (Dis)equilibrium Coordination between agent predictions regards typical aspects of future events Efficiency criterionof the system Allocative efficiency Dynamic efficiency Both: allocative and dynamic efficiency – even contemporarily Modifications due to factors both Origins of change in the efficiency System data and information given; Modifications due to factors both exogenous and endogenous to the exogenous and endogenous to the criteria modifications due only to factors system system exogenous to the system Nature of environmental uncertainty Parametric Structural (or genuine) Both: parametric and structural faced by agents (depends on the economic phase) Weak (subjective), capacity to learn Situational approach: Cartesian if the Entrepreneurial rationality Strong and given by logical situation is sufficiently structured. If from, and adapt to, potentially all deductive reasoning (Cartesian not, weak (subjective); capacity to types of situations Rationality) learn from, and adapt to, potentially all types of situations (II) Micro-level – the firm Competitive positions of firms Durable, consolidated or possibility Non-durable, transitional Non-durable in the long run, but to consolidate them neither necessarily transitory in the short run Competitive rents accessible to firms Chamberlinian, monopolistic rents, Schumpeterian rents Chamberlinian, monopolistic rents, Ricardian quasi rents Ricardian quasi rents, Schumpeterian rents

(I) Macro-level – the economic system Nature of economic system Closed, static

Methodological approach

Newtonian time based strategy studies Deterministic

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Table I. Monotemporalisms and multitemporalism in the strategic theory of the firm

Table I. Integrated view: a multitemporal perspective in strategy Austrian subjectivist approach

Objective of entrepreneurial behavior

Predict future events, intertemporal arbitrage between the value of resources, capabilities and knowledge and the value of the products and services obtainable by deploying them; medium/long-term planning

Foresee future events that are not yet determinable; perceive and create new combinations of resources, capabilities and knowledge that modify the efficiency criteria of the system; adaptive changeable guide of the firm

Managing contradictions; foster both the protection of competitive advantages already possessed (incrementing allocative efficiency) and learning aimed towards the creation of new sources of competitive advantages (increasing dynamic efficiency) Both: arbitrage and innovation Results of entrepreneurial activity Arbitrage; increase in the allocative Innovation; increase in the productivity of the resources present issues, reaping rents from existing efficiency of both the firm and the sources of competitive advantages in the economic system economic system whilst creating new sources of rents Significant contributions in strategic Wernerfelt (1984); Barney (1991); Rumelt (1987); Teece et al. (1997); management Peteraf (1993) Nonaka et al. (2000); Nonaka and Toyama (2002)

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Consequently, it is the consideration of the unique aspects of events that determine the open nature of future events and that render uncertainty endogenous within a continuously changing system. A new notion of equilibrium Parallel to the adoption of this view, there is the necessity to revise the neoclassical idea of system equilibrium (in which endogenous change is absent) in order to render it compatible with the notions of Bergsonian time and endogenous change. The key to the formulation of a notion of equilibrium compatible with the process view described herein, and with the idea of endogenous change, lies in the distinction between typical and unique aspects of phenomena. O’Driscoll and Rizzo (1985) – on the basis of Hayek’s (1937) subjectivist idea of equilibrium – elaborate a notion of equilibrium compatible with the Austrian process perspective. For these authors, systems reach equilibrium when they consent the ‘coordination of the part of subjective plans that regard exclusively the typical aspects of phenomena”. The fact that a system has reached equilibrium does not imply the absence of endogenous sources of change, rather more simply the relative stability of the typical aspects of phenomena that enable the coordination of classes of agent behavior. The possibility, given by this renewed notion, of changes in the knowledge agents posses and of the mental frames that guide their action even in equilibrium, implies that there is space for endogenous change within stable systems. Subjective rationality of agents Finally, it is necessary to consider the notion of agent rationality within the Austrian process view. In this perspective, Cartesian rationality – be this perfect, limited or procedural (Simon, 1957, 1976, 1982) – is not taken for granted, rather the Austrians adopt a situational approach. This approach implies a flexible notion of rationality which entails the idea of “reasonable behavior” given the specific situation faced by agents. Therefore, the characteristics of the specific situation lived by the agent determine whether or not it is possible to consider agent rationality as Cartesian. The rationality “dilemma” must, consequently, be resolved through the analysis of the logic of the situation faced (Popper, 1966). This approach maintains the fundamental liberty and voluntary nature of human action a` la Mises, however contemporarily it admits that the full exercise of subjective liberty does not imply the complete unpredictability of human behavior. From dichotomy to integration: the consideration of time concepts and actor behaviors within a multitemporal view of the firm The description of the Austrian approach offered above seems adequate to show its ability to embrace both stability and change within a unitary analytical framework and, therefore, that it allows the adoption of an interpretative lens which fosters the creation of a bridge between studies conducted in Newtonian time, on the one hand, and in Bergsonian time, on the other. In this perspective, the economic system circles in and out of equilibrium passing from more stable phases to more dynamic ones and vice versa. In the more stable phases, the system becomes temporarily closed and the typical aspects of phenomena become sufficient to consent agent coordination and the adoption of maximizing behaviors.

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The sole consideration of the typical aspects of phenomena render the analysis static, seeing that in this case there is no place for learning processes on behalf of agents and, thus, for endogenous change. On the contrary, in unstable systems that are not in equilibrium the relevance of the typical aspects of phenomena is reduced – as they are in the process of being elaborated within a mutating system – and, correspondingly, there is an increase in the significance of the unique aspects of phenomena. This condition hinders agent coordination and contributes to individual and interactive learning processes, fostering the further opening of the system and the adoption of entrepreneurial behaviors. As is intuitive, the dichotomic consideration of these two states of the system does not imply a substantial break away from the traditional strategic approaches to the analysis of the firm and may be seen as fully compatible with the studies conducted in the Newtonian perspective, on the one hand, and in the Bergsonian perspective, on the other. There is thus the possibility to maintain the concepts, criteria and teachings that the content and the process approaches have contributed to the knowledge of firm survival and success. The possibility to bridge these two perspectives and pave the way to the formulation of a multitemporal view of the firm resides in the emphasis of the fundamental ties between stable and dynamic systems[7]. Essentially, the nexus between stable and dynamic systems is given by the consideration of the unique aspects of phenomena present in stable systems. The inclusion of the latter consents that stable systems, although maintaining the characteristics shown in the content approach, do not acquire a static nature. In fact, the mutability of the unique aspects of events, and the constant search for increases in firm competitiveness even in stable systems, leads agents to increase the information and knowledge they possess and to learn from each new event posing the pre-conditions for the intuition and the creation of new combinations of the resources and capabilities already (or not yet) present in the system and the increase in the satisfaction of new (or old) needs or desires of the agents within the system considered or in other systems. Change may thus be endogenous to stable systems, due to the possibility that agents adopt entrepreneurial behaviors even in presence of stability. In this view, systems are not seen as static and unchangeable, nor as continuously changing and dynamic and, correspondingly, the firm is not considered to be exclusively either profit maximizing or entrepreneurial and innovative. Economic systems and firms have cyclic processes that move together and that are intimately linked. During the phases of stability firms, whilst generating rents by increasing their allocative efficiency, more or less consciously, pose the basis for the future adoption of entrepreneurial behaviors and foster the creation of new competitive advantages (i.e., phases of inner change). During the phases of stability, the increase of knowledge acquired and produced within the organization should be actively nurtured by emphasizing the importance of taking into account novel and unexpected aspects of the events lived by the individual agents at all levels and creating the preconditions to encourage interaction between individual agents in order to enhance organizational learning processes (Argyris and Scho¨n, 1978; Nonaka, 1994). The adoption of entrepreneurial behaviors, on the other hand, must be followed by phases of stability in order to be able to increase the efficiency of the productive processes and consolidate stable rents from the innovations it has led to.

To wrap up, the combination of the two monotemporal views (i.e., Newtonian and Bergsonian) that we have proposed in this study leads to a multitemporal view of the firm which is intrinsically different from the simple sum of the two mono view. In this latter case, we would tackle in fact a “bi-temporal” view of the firm rather than a multitemporal view per se. Our argument is buttressed by the fact that, since the combination at hand is the outcome of a real integration between the two monotemporal views (as shown in the third column of Table I), it entails not only the participation of the two known timeframes but also of their multiple evolving and dynamic interactions. This multiparty process ignites de facto the establishment of a truly multitemporal stance. Whereas monotemporal views have driven heretofore the progressive development of the strategy field in a substantial way, on the ground of this contention, we argue that in the present fast-paced competitive ecosystems a multitemporal view of the firm is of paramount importance to both strategy research and practice as long as firms are increasingly required to tackle contradictions and timescapes. Discussion and conclusion Moving from the logics underlying two apparently opposed conceptions of time (Newtonian and Bergsonian) and adopting the suggestions offered by Austrian economists (O’Driscoll and Rizzo, 1985), we have laid the ground for the elaboration of a multitemporal view of the firm which encompasses concurrently both time concepts, along with both maximizing and entrepreneurial behaviors. The significance of such a view is highlighted by the consideration that, in order to retain and renovate its explanatory power, current strategic theory of the firm cannot forgo its underlying time concepts and needs to take into account and confront the implications and consequences of the time-paced evolution in today’s rapidly shifting environments such as the high tech ones (i.e., software, telecommunications, semiconductors, aeronautics constructions, and so forth). In fact, as firms have come to realize, in order to survive and prosper they must learn how to govern contradictions through their synthesizing capabilities (Nonaka and Toyama, 2002), reaping rents from their present competitive advantages whilst preparing the grounds for the creation of new sources of rent flows. In our understanding, this approach proffers to further developments that may allow us to comprehend the discontinuities in the present competitive and technological environments and help interpret and guide strategic actor’s behaviors within firms. In particular, we have identified four basic implications which come to disclose avenues for further research that the multitemporal time perspective heretofore outlined has the potential to foster: . the accommodation of both the dynamic and the static views of the firm in one strategy process framework; . the explanation of crucial time-space interrelations within and between firms; . the evolution in the strategic theory of entrepreneurship; and . the elaboration of a dynamic and evolutionary theory of the firm. As we will show henceforth, these insights have some compelling managerial consequences for strategy theory and practice that may contribute to the discussion

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that is taking place about the need to revise and renovate agent time perceptions and some current organizational praxes. As has been discussed by various authors (e.g., Schulze, 1994), the dynamic and the static views of the firm (i.e., monotemporal views) are partial and fundamentally at odds with one another. In an integrative fashion, the multitemporal framework proposed in this paper helps to bridge static and dynamic views as the unique aspects of phenomena present in stable systems provide the essential nexus between stable and dynamic systems. In this perspective, while maintaining the characteristics previously seen in the strategy content view, stable systems do not accomplish a static nature; in contrast, given that agents may adopt entrepreneurial behaviors even in presence of stability, change may reveal endogenous to stable systems. As concerns the explanation of time-space interrelations relative to firm behavior, we believe that, on the escort of what physicists claim, time and space are very much associated to one another, as together they define space-time contexts (Hawking, 2001). The consequences of this state of affairs is such that, while firms endeavor to coordinate and synchronize their dispersed value chains and market behaviors towards fit, there are yet difficulties linked to the interconnection of different cultures, languages and time conceptions in groups trying to communicate actively within and between firms. These difficulties, when working at multiple levels and for prolonged time periods, propagate their impact throughout the firm and may hinder its development processes. As far as real world situations are concerned, time-space dimensions in interfirm relations assume considerable importance once, for instance, managerial problems (e.g., problems of coordination, problems of mutual comprehension, problems of synchronization in logistics and operations) arise when firms operating at different stages along the value chain adopt, at the same moment, essentially different time views. This may be the case of two industries entrenched in the same value chain, one which is more stable or, so to say, Newtonian, the other more revolutionary, or Bergsonian[8]. Accordingly, we acknowledge that time views and timeframes may be at the very basis of the insurgence of radical coordination problems within and between firms. One possibility to disentangle these problems is to make explicit the time views of agents and render as unambiguous as possible the time differences and the consequences of the adoption of each time view for each class of agents. In order to increase mutual comprehension, it could also be beneficial to bring each agent to understand the other’s time view. This argument confirms that, for intra- and interfirm coordination to be operational, it is not necessary that the different agents adopt the same time concept, but rather that a sufficient number of shared typical aspects are present and widely recognized so as to allow the coordination between agents who move along different timescales. In this regard, it is important to consider the role of institutions, intended a` la North (1990 p. 23) as the rules of the game in a society or the conventions that men have defined to regulate their relationships, in bringing about coordination within and between firms. The role of institutions assumes paramount importance for they are relatively immutable in both stable times and more turbulent ones and, thus, may be the essential reference points for the interaction between and among agents who act according to different time views. As regards the evolution of the strategic theory of entrepreneurship, we maintain that a multitemporal view of the firm may contribute in the attempt to bridge strategic

management and entrepreneurship studies which, until recently, have developed largely independently of each other (Venkataraman and Sarasvathy, 2001). The budding approach of strategic entrepreneurship (Hitt et al., 2001) may benefit significantly from our multitemporal framework for it is basically an evolutionary framework which integrates entrepreneurial and strategic actions and places the entrepreneurial process at the core of the firm and its ongoing processes. Along the firm lifecycle, the entrepreneurial process unfolds in different time situations: not only it takes place in newly founded firms (or start ups), but has also an impact within already existing firms and ongoing economic activities. In the latter circumstances, since strategic entrepreneurship develops in various temporal moments and at various levels in the organizational configuration, it can be termed intrapreneurship or corporate entrepreneurship. We emphasize the fact that intrapreneurship has significant managerial effects since it stimulates an extensive intrafirm decentralization of responsibility through managerial empowerment, the flattening of the firm’s hierarchy, and the introduction of management systems suitable to generate, introduce, and share new ideas at different organizational levels;, e.g. systems to measure employees’ perceptions (or time perceptions) which help to reveal new ways to frame problems. In this regard, it is possible to recall for instance to the idea of distributed entrepreneurship, as conceived and executed at ABB in the early 1990s by its former CEO Percy Barnevick and discussed in Bartlett and Ghoshal (1993). In this vein, managers should stimulate employees at different levels within the firm towards the recognition of unique aspects of events and the commitment to use new knowledge in favor of the firm’s goals. As refers to the elaboration of an evolutionary theory of the firm (Nelson and Winter, 1982, 2002), we have already underscored the unique aspects of phenomena active in stable systems and the fundamental links between stable and dynamic systems. Since firms have cyclic processes that intimately link phases of stability and phases of innovation and change, a multitemporal view of the firm may help to encompass both maximizing and entrepreneurial behaviors in the firm’s evolutionary process and, simultaneously, to explain the comparative contribution that each of them offers to the latter. In this perspective, one advantage of managerial time awareness is the ability to develop more effective links between temporal assumptions and strategic and organizational choices. Internal processes and practices can be designed to suit the time view held by a firm’s managers (Mosakowski and Earley, 2000, p. 807). If managers are anchored to the past, strategic planning processes can be designed to emphasize present and future consideration in a compensatory fashion. If managers are oriented toward the future, strategic processes can be planned to draw their attention to the past and the present. Finally, we acknowledge that for its inherent exploratory status this study displays some limitations. Since it is an initial study in the direction of a multitemporal view of the resource based firm, it shows to be an early and provisional attempt towards the definition of a methodological framework which accommodates different time concepts and the main actor behaviors essential for firm success. Fertilizing this soil, further research may come to demonstrate fully its inner potential by enhancing its interpretive power and by developing each of its constituent parts.

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Notes 1. The concepts of “objective” and “subjective” time within Mosakowski and Earley’s (2000) study are parallel respectively to the concepts of Newtonian and Bergsonian time used in the present study, and are therefore directly comparable. 2. In practice, the idea of rationality is strong though not perfect and is compatible with Simon’s idea of procedural and/or limited rationality (Simon, 1957; 1976; 1982). 3. Barney, for instance, argues relatively to firm culture (but the same logic is valid for any type for resource or competence in this view): “normative implications of culture research are limited to assisting firms that already posses valuable, rare, and imperfectly imitable cultures” (Barney, 1986: 663; emphasis added). 4. We thank an anonymous reviewer for having suggested this important point. 5. Amongst the principal representatives of the Austrian school, we may find authors like Menger, Mises, Kirzner, Hayek, O’Driscoll and Rizzo. 6. This is true from at least two points of view: (a) the set of alternatives is closed; and (b) the revision of the distribution of probability between alternative typical aspects possible is, given the presence of a specific event, determined or determinable. 7. Though we have no evidence of previous multitemporal theoretical efforts with specific regard to strategy studies, we acknowledge the existence of some earlier enquiries, somewhat germane in flavour to the present one, stemming from scholars with interdisciplinary backgrounds in social sciences and heading towards the construction of multitemporal views, such as McGrath and Kelley (1986) and Fraser (1990). 8. We thank Jay Barney for drawing our attention to the revealing case of the oil industry in the two subsequent phases of oil extraction and oil refinement, which appears to represent well this state of affairs. References Amit, R. and Schoemaker, P.J-H. (1993), “Strategic assets and organizational rent”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 14 No. 1. Argyris, C. and Scho¨n, D. (1978), Organizational Learning, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. Barkema, H.G., Baum, J.A.C. and Mannix, E.A. (2002), “Management challenges in a new time”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 45 No. 5, pp. 916-30. Barney, J.B. (1986), “Strategic factor markets: expectations, luck and business strategy”, Management Science, Vol. 32 No. 10. Barney, J.B. (1991), “Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage”, Journal of Management, Vol. 17 No. 1. Barney, J.B. (2001), “Is the resource-based ‘view’ a useful perspective for strategic management research?”, Yes, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 1. Bartlett, C. and Ghoshal, S. (1993), “Beyond the M-form: toward a managerial theory of the firm”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 14, pp. 23-46. Bergson, H. (1889), Essai sur le donne´es imme´diates de la conscience (Time and Free Will: An Essay on the Immediate Data Of Consciousness), Presses Universitaire de France, Paris. Dagnino, G.B. (1996), “Understanding the economics of Ricardian, Chamberlinian and Schumpeterian rents: Implications for strategic management”, International Review of Economics and Business, Vol. 43 No. 1. D’Aveni, R.A. (1994), Hypercompetition: Managing the Dynamics Of Strategic Manoeuvring, The Free Press, New York, NY.

DeGregori, T.R. (1987), “Resources are not, they become: an institutional theory”, Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. 21 No. 3. Fransman, M. (1994), “Information, knowledge, vision and theories of the firm”, Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 713-57. Fraser, J.T. (1990), Of Time, Passion and Knowledge: Reflections on the Strategy of Existence, 2nd ed., Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. Grant, R.M. (1991), “A resource based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formulation”, California Management Review, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 114-35. Grant, R.M. (1996), “Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17, Winter special issue. Grant, R.M. (2002), Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Concepts, Techniques, Applications, Basil Blackwell, Oxford. Hahn, F. (1973), On the Notion of Equilibrium in Economics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Hayek, F.A. (1937), “Economics and knowledge”, Economica, Vol. 4. Hayek, F.A. (1948), Individualism and Economic Order, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. Hawking, S. (2001), The Universe in a Nutshell, Laboratory Book, London. Heiner, A. (1983), “The origin of predictable behavior”, American Economic Review, December. Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D., Camp, S.M. and Sexton, D.L. (2001), “Guest Editors’ introduction to the special issue Strategic entrepreneurship: entrepreneurial strategies for wealth creation”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 22, June-July. Jacobson, J. (1992), “The Austrian school of strategy”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 17 No. 4. Kirzner, I.M. (1973), Competition and Entrepreneurship, Chicago University Press, Chicago, IL. Kirzner, I.M. (1979), Perception, Opportunity, and Profit, Studies in the theory of entrepreneurship, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Kirzner, I.M. (1997), “Entrepreneurial discovery and the competitive market process: an Austrian approach”, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 35, March. Langlois, R.N. (1984), “Internal organization in a dynamic context: some theoretical considerations”, in Jussawalla, M. and Ebenfield, H. (Eds), Information and Communication Economics: New Perspectives, Amsterdam. Langlois, R.N. (1986), “Rationality, institutions and explanation”, in Langlois, R.N. (Ed.), Economics as a Process. Essays in the New Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Lippman, S.A. and Rumelt, R.P. (1982), “Uncertain Imitability: an analysis of interfirm differences in efficiency under competition”, Bell Journal of Economics, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 418-38. McGrath, J. and Kelley, J. (1986), Time and Human Interaction: Toward a Social Psychology of Time, Guilford Press. Mocciaro Li Destri, A. and Dagnino, G.B. (2003), The development of the resource based firm between value appropriation and value creation, paper presented at the Strategic Management Society Annual International Conference, Baltimore, MD. Moran, P. and Ghoshal, S. (1999), “Markets, firms, and the process of economic development”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 24 No. 3.

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Mosakowski, E. and Earley, P.C. (2000), “A selective review of time assumptions in strategy research”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 796-812. Nelson, R.R. and Winter, S.D. (1982), An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change, Belknap Press, Cambridge, MA. Nelson, R.R. and Winter, S.G. (2002), “Evolutionary theorizing in economics”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 23-46. Nonaka, I. (1994), “A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation”, Organization Science, Vol. 5 No. 1. Nonaka, I., Toyama, R. and Nagata, A. (2000), “A firm as a knowledge-creating entity: A new perspective on the theory of the firm”, Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol. 9 No. 1. Nonaka, I. and Toyama, R. (2002), “A firm as a dyalectical being”, Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 995-1009. North, D.C. (1990), Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. O’Driscoll, G.P. and Rizzo, M.J. (1985), The Economics of Time and Ignorance, Basil Blackwell, Oxford. Peteraf, M.A. (1993), “The cornerstones of competitive advantage: a resource-based view”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 14 No. 3. Popper, K.R. (1966), The Open Society and its Enemies, 5th ed., Vol. 2, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. Porter, M.E. (1996), “What is strategy?”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 74, November-December. Porter-Liebeskind, J. (1996), “Knowledge, strategy and the theory of the firm”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17, Winter special issue. Rumelt, R.P. (1987), “Theory, strategy, and entrepreneurship”, in Teece, D. (Ed.), The Competitive Challenge, Ballinger, Cambridge, MA. Schulze, W.S. (1994), “The two schools of thought in resource-based theory: definitions and implications for research”, in Shrivastava, P., Duff, A. and Dutton, J. (Eds), Advances in Strategic Management, Vol. 10, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT. Schumpeter, J.A. (1934), The Theory of Economic Development. An Inquiry into Profits, Capital, Credit, Interest, and the Business Cycle, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Schumpeter, J.A. (1942), Capitalism, socialism, and democracy, Unwin University Books, London. Simon, H.A. (1957), Administrative behavior (originally published in 1949), Macmillan, New York, NY. Simon, H.A. (1976), “From substantive to procedural rationality”, in Latsis, S. (Ed.), Method and Appraisal in Economics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Simon, H.A. (1982), Models of Bounded Rationality, Behavioral Economics and Business Organization, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Teece, D.J., Pisano, G. and Shuen, A. (1997), “Dynamic capabilities and strategic management”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 18 No. 7. Venkataraman, S. and Sarasvathy, S.D. (2001), “Strategy and entrepreneurship: outlines of an untold story”, in Hitt, M.A., Freeman, E. and Harrison, J.S. (Eds), Handbook of Strategic Management, Blackwell, Oxford. Wernerfelt, B. (1984), “A resource-based view of the firm”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 5 No. 2.

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Changing a cultural grammar? The pressure towards the adoption of “Northern time” by Southern European managers

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Miguel Pina E. Cunha and Rita Campos E. Cunha Faculdade de Economia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal Keywords Time-based management, Management culture, National cultures, Managers, Portugal, Europe Abstract This study investigates one of the multiple aspects involved in the transfer of management knowledge between countries: the transfer of timeframes. More than an objective and macro-level variable to be managed, time is analyzed from the perspective of the individual experiences of a sample of managers located in Portugal. Portugal, together with the other Southern-European cultures, has been presented as a polychronic culture. The Southern, polychronic timeframe, however is being openly criticized by managers, both Portuguese and foreign, on the basis of “time as money” assumption. The articulation of the macro and micro levels of analysis showed that the dialectical opposition between Northern and Southern times is being interpreted under three main perspectives: Latin time is deeply entrenched and difficult to change but is dysfunctional; time management in the Northern time is part of the good manager “toolkit” and hence must replace Southern time; a synthesis must be found to articulate in some virtuous manner the two previous perspectives. The paper contributes to the literature with an articulation between the macro level (national and occupational identity) and the micro perspective (the lived experience of time). It also contributes to the under-researched aspect of management in Southern Europe.

Introduction In the field of management and organization, time is generally taken as a commodity to be controlled. In this context, one second is one second is one second. Or, putting it differently, time is viewed as an immutable constant. This conception tends to result in utilitarian approaches to time, as reflected in such concepts as just-in-time (Harrison, 1992), temporary organizing (Engwall et al., 2003), entry time (Miller and Folta, 2002), time compression (e.g. Vermeulen and Barkema, 2002) and high-velocity environments (Eisenhardt and Bourgeois, 1988). These notions correspond to a supra-individual, objectivist approach to time, which takes it as a resource. There is also, however, a subjective, experiential approach to time. The increase in organizational cross-cultural contacts has shown that different conceptions of time have prevailed in different cultures. Robert V. Levine, a social psychologist at California State University in Fresno, observed that “one of the beauties of studying time is that it’s a wonderful window on culture” (in Ezzell, 2002, p. 56). The same idea is expressed by Albert and Bell (2002, p. 586) who noted that “different cultures have different musical styles, different attitudes and expectancies with respect to temporal The authors wish to thank their MBA students and the numerous participants in academic and executive seminars for their helpful advice. They have also benefited from the thoughts and suggestions of the Guest Editor, Ronald E. Purser and the anonymous JMP reviewers.

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phenomena, and, hence, quite possibly, different timing rules.” To distinguish these different timing rules, Hall (1981) created the influential distinction between monochronic and polychronic cultures. The former are clock-obsessed while the latter are less concerned with punctuality and deadlines. As observed by Gesteland (1999), in polychronic cultures loose scheduling is valued and meetings-withinmeetings may be taking place, simultaneously fulfilling multiple agendas. As observed by the same author, the cultural prevalence of one type of relationship with time may shift to the other. Gesteland presented the case of Japan that was viewed by Hall as a polychronic culture but that today is possibly as monochronic “as the Swiss” (Gesteland (1999, p. 56). What is more relevant in the recent wave of interest on the topic of time and timing is the fact that what superficially appears as duality (e.g. chronos vs kairos, or objective vs subjective time), may in fact be amenable to more contradictory complex and richer perspectives (Lewis, 2000). This article will try to shed light on how Southern-European, in this case Portuguese, managers, coming from a polychronic culture, deal with criticisms to which they are often submitted by their Northern peers, such as lack of punctuality, erratic agendas, disorganized meetings, and so forth (Bennett and Brewster, 2002). A “cultural shock” seems to be taking place between the cultural grammar of Southern Europe and the professional culture of management, dominated by what may be called “Northern time”[1]. With the stated purposes, the article starts with a discussion of time as a hidden grammar. It then considers the experience of time in Latin countries in general, and Portugal in particular. The following section moves the paper to the empirical study with a sample of 80 managers. The methodological aspects are explained, namely the justification for a qualitative, grounded theoretical study based on a semiotic analysis. The results and conclusions are presented next, the main conclusion being that there is evidence of dissonance between the local cultural grammar and the global professional grammar. The implications deriving from this dissonance are explored in the final part of the paper. Contributions stemming from this work are twofold: the extension of research agendas to the subject of cross-cultural managerial time, and the advancement of management practice through consideration of new ways to uncover and effectively manage the cultural differences associated with time. Time as hidden grammar Anthropological work has shown that time is not an immutable constant, as assumed by Newton. On the contrary, it can be viewed as a cultural grammar (Hall, 1981), a metaphysical orientation (Chia, 2003) or a socially constructed variable (Butler, 1995). If time has been relatively neglected as an organizational variable (e.g. Clark, 1985), its socially-constructed character has been clearly underestimated in comparison with the objectivist, functionalist approach, reflected in the theories of time-based competition (Stalk and Hout, 1990). This does not render this dimension less relevant. The importance of the “cultural-grammatical” nature of time becomes especially salient when different grammars collide. Referring back to his own personal experience as a trainer and consultant in international negotiations, Gesteland (1999, p. 62) describes negotiating with Southern Europeans as follows: . . . in a decade of working with Italians, French, Spanish and Portuguese I found that in the end we usually accomplished what we came to. The longer warmer up time served to get us

all on the same wave length. And some of those “senseless digressions” led us to creative solutions which helped us reach agreement.

This positive appreciation of the Southern way of managing time, however, is not always shared by expatriates. The managerial practices in Southern European countries have not been systematically studied but some of its features – namely the management of time – tend to be a target for criticism (Bennett and Brewster, 2002; Cunha, 2003). In order to better understand the experience of managerial time in Southern countries, namely the Latin ones, a brief description of Latin management style will be provided here. This special focus on Latin Europe will be adopted given the fact that the empirical study was conducted in one Latin European country, Portugal. Evidence from the GLOBE project suggests that, statistically, the Latin cluster is relatively homogeneous, which means that it may make sense to speak of a Latin European management style. This possibility is also consistent with Hofstede’s (1980) study. There may be minor variations between classifications, but the Latin European cluster is normally said to be composed of France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Some variations, however, sometimes exist. For example, the GLOBE project includes French-speaking Switzerland and Israel in the Latin European cluster ( Jesuino, 2002). The description of management practice in the Latin European cluster is consistent throughout the literature. Gupta et al. (2002, p. 14) viewed it as revolving around “weak practices of performance orientation, institutional collectivism, and humane orientation.” Hickson and Pugh (1995, p. 72) view “the Latin touch” as meaning that: . . . in the Latin lands there is a comparatively personal approach to managing and organizing; personal authority counts and personal relationships matter. The personal touch makes organizations work, despite many-layered hierarchies and bureaucratized procedures, often by overriding or circumventing the rules.

Latin European countries are also characterized by high power distance, which means that they tend to be very authority conscious, and high on uncertainty avoidance. Uncertainty is reduced through clearly laid-down hierarchy, and a high number of rules and routines that provide a strong sense of certainty (Hickson and Pugh, 1995). Jesuino says that the most distinct and singular traits of the Latin European nations is the paternalistic role granted to the State, which is expected to regulate, educate and protect people. This corresponds to a collectivist rather than to an individualistic orientation. It should be noted that many characteristics of the so-called Latin cluster can apparently be extended to other Mediterranean countries, like Greece (e.g. Bourantas et al., 1990). Hence, this work will refer to Latin/Mediterranean/ Southern-Europe as a cultural space rather than as a geographical space. What implications regarding the experience of time can one derive from the previous discussion? Some are expressed in Bennett and Brewster’s (2002) report and have been presented earlier: Portuguese managers have a short-term perspective, show a systematic lack of punctuality, allow meetings with erratic agendas: Portuguese managers do not like to work in a planned way and do not use time efficiently. They do not concentrate, are chronically unpunctual and their way of dealing with deadlines is to leave everything to the last minute. While managers may not arrive on time in

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the mornings there is a tendency to ‘presenteeism’ – that is, working long hours for show (Bennett and Brewster, 2002, p. 14).

This is consistent with Hickson and Pugh’s (1995, p. 74) description of Latin Europeans as immediatist, “leaving arrangements to the last minute and changing long-agreed plans”. Additionally, and considering that orientation towards the future refers to the degree to which a society encourages behaviors such as planning and the delay of gratification (House et al., 1999) it is not surprising that Portugal scores low in this orientation. This may help to explain the difficulties in efficient time management and the systematic preference for the extreme flexibility involved in the action of desenrascar, a sort of free-form improvisation. This flexibility resonates the concept of “temporal elasticity”, referred to by Albert and Bell (2002). This study addresses the topic of how managers in a polychronic culture deal with vocal criticisms of their time management “bad habits”. We believe this is a relevant topic of analysis given the fact that managerial “best practices”, being diffused worldwide, contain several assumptions about time, implicit and explicit. These assumptions take time as a source of competitive advantage if well managed, i.e. if taken as a factor of production. The centrality of time as the central organizing dimension of work may be strange, to a certain degree, in Southern-European cultures, more centered around relationships than temporal schedules. The study therefore aims to contribute to a better understanding of the experience of time in organizations, and particularly to knowledge on the interaction between different timeframes. With such goals, it aims to contribute to bridging the objective-subjective dichotomy (Orlikowski and Yates, 2002) that pervades research on time and organization. Method Data were collected through individual unstructured, open-ended interviews with managers based in Portugal. Data collection was led by the author with the help of a group of eight MBA students using the very same triggering instruction. Interviewers were given one single instruction: to let the interviewees freely explore the subject without intervention of the interviewer. Interviews were initiated with the following instruction: “Can you please characterize the Portuguese style of management?” The instruction was kept on a vague format due to the inductive nature of the study: the goal was to collect free descriptions, instead of comments to previous studies. A total of 80 managers were interviewed; 56 interviewees were Portuguese and 24 were managers from foreign countries working in Portugal. This latter group included people from Austria (2), Belgium, Brazil (3), France (4), Germany, Italy, Jamaica, The Netherlands (3), Russia, Spain (2), Sweden (2), the UK (2), and the USA. Interviews lasted between 45 and 90 minutes. Average age of the participants was 41.7 years, ranging from 27 to 66 years old. Of the interviewees, 11 were CEOs of their companies, 19 were top managers, with the remaining holding middle management and technical positions in a wide range of industries, including the financial, biotech, distribution, telecommunications and public sectors. Data collection extended between 1999 and 2003. To serve as informants, managers had to meet two conditions: having managerial experience in Portugal and having managerial experience outside Portugal. As such, all Portuguese subjects experienced some kind of exposure to international cultures and all foreign managers were working

in Portugal. This condition was required in order to ensure the personal sensitivity of every informant to cross-cultural issues. The intention was to guarantee that every manager participating in the study had both contact with national and foreign organizational experiences. Contact with different cultures was expected to give respondents greater awareness of the Portuguese culture (see Adler, 1997). Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed. Interview data were then submitted to an iterative semiotic cluster analysis since an early phase of the project. Written data were transformed initially into direct categories. Over time, patterns became apparent, and direct categories were arranged in competing meanings that, in turn, led to deeper categories. The project thus started without any formal hypothesis about time management in the Portuguese context, and theory emerged in a grounded way. Over time, it became apparent that new empirical material did not challenge the stability of the interpretive model. This was taken as meaning that the grounded theory developed to accommodate the data was adequate and saturated. The data collection process was then concluded. A grounded theory thus emerged from a semiotic clustering of the empirical material. Semiotic theory has been defined as “a unified approach to every phenomenon of signification and/or communication” (Eco, 1976, p. 3). A central assumption of semiotics is that “surface signs are related to an underlying structure” (Feldman, 1995, pp. 21-22). The role of semiotic analysis is to gain access to such a structure. Semiotic clustering has been described as a simple but powerful technique that allows researchers to uncover successive levels of meaning, from surface signs to the deep structure (Manning, 1987). In this type of approach, data are usually organized into a table with three columns. The first column refers to signs or denotative meanings. It includes the major ways in which the concept of interest has been approached by informants. The second column, “connotative meanings” identifies a pattern underlying the denotative meanings and builds new meaning through some type of association between competing meanings. There is not a “right” way of filling in this column since meanings are dependent upon interpretation and emerge from data (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). The last column involves a leap in interpretation similar to the transposition of data from the first to the second column. This final column is labeled “institutional concerns” and suggests a structure underlying the data. Table I presents the semiotic clustering for the present study. It must be assumed that when the interpretant changes, signs change meaning. Our interpretations may diverge from those of other researchers. The interpretation advanced in this work should not be considered as a final, authoritative account of an objective reality, but part of a socially constructed reality, whose possible value may change over time. To increase the reliability of the interpretation, several measures were taken. The interpretation was sent back to a sample of managers for criticism and refinement. It was also presented in workshops and executive education sessions. A preliminary working paper was also distributed to those expressing an interest in the ongoing project. The interpretation was considered acceptable in these various checks. Results A total of 16 direct categories emerged from the cursory analysis of the fragmented and detailed information contained in the written transcripts. Categories linked with time were retained for analysis. Some of these categories were of a micro/behavioral nature,

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Competing meanings

Paternalism (supervisors as protectors Management history (management practice influenced by an history of the employees and regulators of which undervalues time as an their time) organizational resource) Weak industrial tradition (living by the rhythms of nature and agriculture) Heavy state bureaucracy (time as rule instead of resource) Rules over goals (following rules tends Management style (time is flexible and molded at leaders’ will) to be more important than reaching goals) Unstructured systems (organizational systems are under-specified) Discretionary leadership (in under-structured systems, leaders may decide at will) Feminine culture (relationships are Latin culture (relationships and social highly valued) pressing problems prevail over agendas; supervisors have a fundamental role in redefining agendas) Immediatism (problems, including social needs, are solved when they arise) High power distance (significant psychological distance between superiors and subordinates) Globalization (different cultures Cultural awareness (acknowledging exhibit different types of relationships and understanding cultural with time) differences) New global management models (international diffusion of “best managerial practices”) Pressures for homogeneity (adopting “best managerial practices” is recommended) Improve productivity (productivity enhancement as a national challenge) Goal efficiency (focus on goals and their efficient attainment) Flexibility as source of competitive advantage (the capacity to improvise and to change the course of action is important in rapidly changing markets)

Table I. Semiotic cluster analysis of the qualitative data

Connotative meanings

Institutional concerns

Thesis: Historical inevitability (relationship with time as a deep cultural grammar)

Antithesis: Reeducation (new global challenges demand new managerial practices, including the adoption of Northern time)

Best practices (good managers must adopt best practices, including time management)

Performance improvement (effective performance management practices must be adopted)

The advantages of flexibility (the advantages associated with flexibility should be preserved)

Need to reinforce punctuality and time The disadvantages of flexibility management (time needs to be viewed (flexibility without structure may be too much of a good thing) as objective and goal-oriented, i.e. chronosover kairos)

Synthesis: Constrained flexibility (Southern flexibility may be valuable but needs to be complemented with clear structuring elements, namely goals with clear deadlines)

while others were macro/institutional. The competing meanings, i.e. the direct evidence obtained from subjects are the following: paternalism, weak industrial tradition, heavy state bureaucracy, rules over goals, unstructured systems, discretionary leadership, feminine culture, immediatism, high power distance, cultural awareness, new global management models, pressures for homogeneity, need for improved levels of productivity, goal efficiency, flexibility as source of competitive advantage and the need to reinforce punctuality and time management skills. Definitions of these different categories are presented in Table I. The broad range of themes reflects the respondents’ efforts to search both for direct symptoms (e.g. the advantages and disadvantages of temporal flexibility) and root causes (e.g. national culture). This explains why some categories refer to direct manifestations of time, while others are only remotely related to it. The second column, connotative meanings identifies a pattern underlying the denotative meanings and builds new meaning through some type of thematic association. To make the process explicit, let us explain the transformation of direct meanings into thematic associations. A first connotative meaning was called management history. It contracted topics (paternalism, a weak industrial tradition and heavy state bureaucracy) that made reference to the past and to entrenched practices with a clear reference to the pre-1974 dictatorial political regime. The second connotative meaning aggregated several features related with the management style, namely the prevalence of rules over goals, the unstructured nature of work systems, and discretionary leadership. In terms of the management of time, the resulting style allows managers to use time in a rather “flexible” way given the lack of structuring. A third connotative meaning aggregated references to the Portuguese feminine culture, immediatism, which led people to solve problems when they happen instead of trying to avoid them, and the psychological distance between employees and their supervisors. These meanings, although different, may be associated with the Latin way of working: a feminine, relationship-oriented culture, characterized by immediatism and a high power distance, have all been associated with management in Latin countries (Hickson and Pugh, 1995; Hofstede, 1980; Jesuino, 2002). These three meanings were later contracted in one root cause: historical inevitability. In this major pattern, long-standing, deep level causes were associated with the difficulties associated to a change in the Southern relationship with time. Other data expressed very different meanings. References to cultural awareness were associated with an underlying cause: globalization. Additionally, references were also made to the emergence of new, so-called global, management models, and to the pressure for the homogeneity of managerial practice. These two categories were aggregated in one single category: the diffusion and adoption of best practices. Two final direct categories emerged in reference to some kind of external benchmark: the need to improve productivity, viewed as necessary to facilitate convergence with other European Union countries, and the need to improve efficiency, namely through a consistent focus on goals. These two meanings were associated in one intermediate category, called performance management. The three intermediate categories labeled globalization, best practices and performance improvement were then aggregated in one root cause: reeducation. This root cause refers to the fact that, in a context of open competition in the European and global markets, habits of time management needed

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significant change, or “reeducation” as one of the informants said, namely the adoption of a Northern approach to time management. The two final direct meanings reflect the discomfort caused by both the traditional Southern approach to time management and by the possibility of becoming monochronic. Respondents reported the advantages of flexibility to competitive advantage, but also the need to reinforce punctuality and rigor in the management of time. In other words, flexibility was viewed as both an advantage and a disadvantage. These two categories can be interpreted as reflecting the need to combine, or to establish a synthesis, between the two previous approaches to time, i.e. the rigor of the Northern approach with the flexibility of the Southern one. This could take the form of constrained flexibility, a mix of temporal structure and flexibility. Deep-structure patterns, although not apparent at the direct level, capture general themes that are subtly present in the data, beneath the surface. This final column thus includes the root causes and suggests a deep structure underlying the data. As familiarity with the data increased, the three patterns crystallized, corresponding to the “underlying structure” mentioned by Manning (1987). The three final broad meanings parsimoniously address the raw qualitative materials obtained from the informants. The clustering apparently provides a meaningful reading of the material obtained from the informants. These final, integrative categories are discussed in more detail below. It is relevant to note that data analysis made a dialectical-type interpretation appear as adequate, with a thesis and an antithesis conflicting and shaping a potential synthesis. This interpretive solution resulted from the clear opposition between a “Southern time”, history-based explanation, and the recent importation of “Northern time” by some companies, namely multinationals. The third major emerging pattern operated a synthesis between Northern and Southern time. As such, these three major interpretations appeared as fitting a dialectical type explanation. This interpretation may have been influenced by several factors, namely published work on the relevance of dialectics for understanding the process of change in organizations and management (Benson, 1977; Van de Ven and Poole, 1995; Clegg et al., 2002) as well as previous empirical work conducted by the authors, expressing the appropriateness of dialectical-type explanations of change in transitional societies (Cunha, 2003; Cunha and Cunha, 2003). We do not claim, however, that this is the only acceptable or authoritative interpretation of the subject. Other authors could, as discussed above, reach other interpretations. It should be noted, however, that the explanation developed here seemed adequate to satisfy the reliability checks. Thesis: historical inevitability One recurring theme across the interviews was that of the historical inevitability of a polychronic approach. Polychronicity is the cultural grammar in which most Portuguese managers have been raised and that defines “normal practice”. As one informant observed “In the South, a delay is not viewed as lack of respect. It is a normal fact of life.” Many reasons have been advanced for considering polychronicity as an enduring characteristic that will persist. These include elements of management history, such as paternalism, a weak industrial tradition, and heavy state bureaucracy; elements of management style, such as the prevalence of rules over goals, the unstructured nature of management systems and discretionary leadership; and cultural characteristics, including a feminine culture, immediatism, and high power

distance. These three elements are certainly interrelated but they have been separated for analytical clarity. The management history and culture categories refer to the background where certain types of behavior are embedded and legitimized. Historically, Portugal has never been a highly developed country in terms of industrialization. It means that the rigorous management of time brought about by intense industrialization, has not been diffused to a significant part of the population, which lived by the rhythms of the natural world. Additionally, the combination of political isolation (in response to the Portuguese colonial positions in Africa), the protected nature of markets until EU membership, and the pressures for conformity and obedience associated with a repressive regime, taught Portuguese managers and employees that someone else is in charge. This favored paternalism both inside the company and between the company and the State. As a consequence, the State has grown in size and formality. The high level of bureaucracy created over time led to a poor response speed. As a consequence, as remarked by several informants, it is the State itself that creates difficulties in the management of organizational time, in both the public and private domains of organizational action. Within the previously described context, a management style was created that gave prevalence to rules over goals. In bureaucracies, rules acquire a value of their own and are translated into standard routines. Administrative process - not time - is the concern. Bureaucratic processes may take time, but that is not necessarily perceived as negative. As one informant observed, “In Southern Europe time is not money”. What is paradoxical is that the complexity of the formal bureaucratic circuits thus created, is accompanied by an unstructured “shadow system” (Stacey, 1996), where discretion finds its space. Formal systems exist, indeed. But they are just that: formal. The “real” systems rely more on personal influence and depend on the leader’s will. Performance criteria are vague, and the output/time relation is secondary. It is often the leader who defines merit and not any type of objective, quantitative, time-based system. Once again, time is secondary to relationships - something that comes without surprise in a polychronic culture. Paternalistic leaders in feminine cultures are complacent with their employees. This complacency includes tolerating lack of punctuality and understanding the “elasticity” of deadlines: “In our culture, one may dislike the way people deal with time – for example, the lack of punctuality – but the probability is that nothing will be done to correct it. People prefer not to create tense interpersonal relations.” Being a feminine culture means that smooth relationships are valued and appreciated. Leaders tolerate their employees’ “flexibility” with time, and subordinates not only tolerate their leader’s own “flexibility”: they find it natural. This is explained by the high power distance of the Portuguese culture (Hofstede, 1980). Being delayed is something like an “invisible fringe benefit”, an understandable manifestation of status and not a lack of respect for other people’s time. All the above ingredients are combined with a seeming preference for improvisation over planning. Detailed plans are not valued. This preference, highly manifest in the case of Portuguese managers (Cunha, 2003), seems to be common to other Southern-European countries, namely Spain and France (Aram and Walochik, 1996) and results in the practice of “immediatism” (Hickson and Pugh, 1995).

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Antithesis: re-education “Punctuality is an inevitability”, one informant said. In contrast with the previous approach, which is based upon the assumption that it is difficult to change deeply established habits, informants claimed that it is time to “re-educate” people regarding time management. Pressure to conform with the Northern standard may be, according to this perspective, a sub-process of the wider process of transition to monochronicity: according to Gesteland (1999, p. 58), “Centuries ago . . . all societies on Earth were polychronic”. Reasons for reeducation include the cross-cultural awareness brought about by globalization, the visibility of managerial best practices that diffuse a global management model, the pressure to conform to this model and the need to increase productivity, given the modest national standard compared with other EU countries. The reeducation antithesis is advanced both by Portuguese and non-Portuguese managers. The assumption underlying it is that “time is money” and thus must be well administered. As one informant said “Portuguese tend to take time as a nuisance, not as an asset. Therefore, they don’t give it much credit.” The problem is that, in the global management model, time is a symptom of deeper qualities: professionalism, respect, responsibility. “Deficiencies” in time management can easily be taken as signals of the absence of those qualities. The impatience of foreign professionals with this feature of management in the Latin style is obvious. Virtually every foreign manager mentioned the difficulties of managing time appropriately. If, in the anthropological tradition, these differences are not only acceptable but also natural, in the context of the management profession they are viewed differently: as signs of poor professionalism and lack of respect with the interlocutor. As one Portuguese informant remarked: “Our ‘flexibility’ often means lack of responsibility”. Hence the need to change habits: a “Northern” approach to time would improve efficiency and structure in a business context that is often perceived as unstructured and sub-organized. Apparently, respondents would favor the substitution of the traditional approach with the Northern approach. The fact is that the dissatisfaction with the full-fledged Latin style does not mean that the “Northern” approach is viewed as completely satisfactory. The dissonance created by the clash between preferential and natural time management style is discussed below. Synthesis: constrained flexibility Despite the significant disadvantages identified in the dominant relationship with time, Portuguese informants were very reluctant to admit that the adoption of a “Northern” concept of time should be attempted. One possible interpretation is that a change in a cultural grammar is not a simple process. On the contrary, several informants mentioned the inconvenience of a monochronic culture: “There is a mechanical side in the rigid conception of time which may be very intrusive and unpleasant.” The emphasis on the need to be flexible in the face of new information, typical of the Southern-European cultures, is thus resisting a pure move to the “plans are inviolate” paradigm, which is typical of Northern cultures like the German (Bluedorn, 2002). What emerges in several interviews is the need to find a space where the cultural propensity to a flexible relationship with time combines with rigor in the execution of plans and the accomplishment of deadlines. Interviewees were not specific about the form this synthesis may take but it contains an element of paradox that recalls the

concept of semi-structures (Barkema et al., 2002), where major fixed deadlines combine with high degrees of flexibility. This hybrid, paradoxical approach may be more acceptable than the simple attempt to substitute one grammar for another. What is significant in the ongoing process of time management in the Portuguese context is that internal contradictions are starting to creep into the system. According to a dialectical perspective, it is the interplay of internal contradictions that triggers change, rather than the existence of external forces (Ford and Ford, 1994) trying to impose it. In the absence of internal contradictions, external forces may simply have no consequences. Conclusions One of the foreign informants of this study remarked that “a new generation of Portuguese managers is changing everything in the way of doing business in this country. Well, everything but the relationship with time.” The empirical evidence collected for this study suggests the existence of a state of cognitive dissonance between national culture and professional culture. The polychronicity of the Portuguese culture is being challenged by pressures for adoption of the monochronic ethos of managerial best practice as described in the models imported from the USA and the northern EU countries. This study responded to the need to “penetrate behind the metaphor of clock time” (Clark, 1985, p. 36). To do so, it dealt with the under-researched issue of how different cultural grammars interact and how organization and management theories may have to be adapted to local contexts (Shenkar and Von Glinow, 1994). In this case, the Southern grammar is being pushed out by the Northern grammar, and especially important, by the professional grammar which coincides with the Northern one. The resulting culture shock seems to be creating a state of dissonance that is not easy to address. On the one hand, people recognize that the historical roots of the existing grammar may be an obstacle to adequate managerial practice. Hence the need for “reeducation”. On the other hand, the mere adoption of a “Northern” approach is viewed as something unnatural, in the sense that it would be introducing a “strange body” into the Portuguese context. Portuguese informants feel that something is being lost in the process - something similar to Bluedorn’s (2002) “dismay” with the slow disappearance of the siesta tradition in neighboring Spain. The disappearance of the siesta and the estrangement of Portuguese managers with their own culture is in part the result of the arrival of foreign firms with new practices, namely multinational companies. When multinationals enter foreign markets, they transfer practices that go beyond the purely technical domain and that extend to the issue of nationality-based identity - the conflict of the national and managerial identities. As noted by Child and Rodrigues (2003), some elements in the transferred knowledge “may be viewed by local staff as inappropriate or even illegitimate in their social and political context” (p. 539). In this article, we analyzed how locals reacted to the transfer of the cultural grammar of time. Results suggest that the vigor of the change discourse – which is aligned with the occupationally-based identity derived from the management profession, coexists with discomfort resulting from the “attack” on the nationality-based identity. The study contributes to the management literature by investigating one particular problem associated with the transfer of management knowledge between countries:

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the transfer of a diffuse and widespread structuring aspect of life in society: time. More than a variable to be managed or a macro aspect of the national culture, time was analyzed as a constituent of human societies and looked upon from the perspective of individual experience. The articulation of the macro and micro levels of analysis showed that the dialectical opposition between Northern and Southern times is being interpreted under three main perspectives: Southern time is deeply entrenched but is to a great extent dysfunctional; time management in the Northern style is part of the good manager “toolkit” and hence will replace Latin time; a synthesis must be found to articulate in some virtuous manner the first two perspectives. On a theoretical level, the study also contributed to the dialectical view of organizational time, one that goes beyond time as chronology (e.g. Filipcove and Filipec, 1986; Burrell, 1992; Cunha, 2004; Crossan et al. forthcoming). In this study, in fact, we articulated both Chronos and Kairos, i.e. clock time and psychological time. The present research may in the future be extended to non-managerial levels. This extension will provide an interesting contrast with workers not submitted to the same socializing forces imposed upon managers. The study has several limitations. It was designed as an inductive research, aiming to freely explore the issue under observation. It looked for questions rather than rigorous answers. These may be pursued in further quantitative research, which may for instance contrast the responses of locals and expatriates. To conclude, the study suggests that managers may be less neutral and less tolerant regarding diversity than anthropologists: divergence in relation to the monochronic model may simply be viewed as incompetence. The implications of this observation extend beyond theory. Note 1. It should not be assumed that Northern time (or for that matter, Southern time) is inherently good or bad. In fact, Northern time may be associated with, among other issues, overwork, quality of life, burnout or the inability to set priorities. Thus, we don’t want to take the adoption of Northern time as unproblematic. We are grateful to a reviewer for helping us make this explicit. References Adler, N.J. (1997), International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, South Western, Cincinnati, OH. Albert, S. and Bell, G.G. (2002), “Timing and music”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 27, pp. 574-93. Aram, J.D. and Walochik, K. (1996), “Improvisation and the Spanish manager”, International Studies of Management and Organization, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 73-89. Barkema, H., Baum, J.A.C. and Mannix, E. (2002), “Management challenges in a new time”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 45, pp. 916-30. Bennett, C.V. and Brewster, C. (2002), Can Portuguese Management Compete?, Ad Capita, Lisbon. Benson, J.K. (1977), “Organizations: a dialectical view”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 22, pp. 1-21. Bluedorn, A.C. (2002), The Human Organization of Time, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA. Bourantas, D., Anagnostelis, J., Mantes, Y. and Kefalas, A.G. (1990), “Culture gap in Greek management”, Organization Studies, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 261-83.

Burrell, G. (1992), “Back to the future: time and organization”, in Reed, M. and Hughes, M. (Eds), Rethinking Organization: New Directions in Organizational Theory and Analysis, Sage, London, pp. 165-83. Butler, R. (1995), “Time in organizations: its experience, explanations and effects”, Organization Studies, Vol. 16, pp. 925-50. Chia, R. (2003), “From knowledge-creation to the perfecting of action: Tao, basho and pure experience as the ultimate ground of knowing”, Human Relations, Vol. 56, pp. 953-81. Child, J. and Rodrigues, S.B. (2003), in Easterby-Smith, M. and Lyles, M. (Eds), Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management, Blackwell, London, pp. 535-56. Clark, P.A. (1985), “A review of theories of time and structure for organizational sociology”, Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 4, pp. 35-79. Clegg, S.R., Cunha, J.V. and Cunha, M.P. (2002), “Management paradoxes: a relational view”, Human Relations, Vol. 55, pp. 483-503. Crossan, M.M., Cunha, M.P., Vera, D. and Cunha, J.V. (forthcoming), “Time and organizational improvisation”, Academy of Management Review. Cunha, M.P. (2003), “Adopting or adapting? The tension between Latin and global mindsets in Portuguese management”, unpublished manuscript. Cunha, M.P. (2004), “Organizational time: a dialectical view”, Organization, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 271-96. Cunha, M.P. and Cunha, R.C. (2003), “The interplay of planned and emergent change in Cuba”, International Business Review, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 445-59. Eco, U. (1976), A Theory of Semiotics, University of Indiana Press, Bloomington, IN. Feldman, M.S. (1995), Strategies for Interpreting Qualitative Data, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Eisenhardt, K.M. and Bourgeois, L.J. III (1988), “Politics of strategic decision making in high-velocity environments: toward a midrange theory”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 737-70. Engwall, M., Steintho´rsson, R.S. and Soderholm, A. (2003), “Temporary organizing: a Viking approach to project management research”, in Czarniawska, B. and Sevo´n, G. (Eds), The Northern Lights. Organization Theory in Scandinavia, Copenhagen Business School Press, Copenhagen, pp. 111-30. Ezzell, C. (2002), “Clocking cultures”, Scientific American, September, pp. 56-7. Filipcove, B. and Filipec, J. (1986), “Society and concepts of time”, International Social Sciences Journal, Vol. 107, pp. 19-32. Ford, J.D. and Ford, L.W. (1994), “Logics of identity, contradiction and attraction in change”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 19, pp. 756-85. Gesteland, R.R. (1999), Cross-Cultural Business Behavior. Marketing, Negotiating and Managing Across Cultures, Copenhagen Business School Press, Copenhagen. Gupta, V., Hanges, P.J. and Dorfman, P. “Cultural clusters: methodology and findings”, Journal of World business, Vol. 37, pp. 11-15. Hall, E.T. (1981), Beyond Culture, Anchor Press, Garden City, NY. Harrison, A.S. (1992), Just-in-Time Manufacturing in Perspective, Prentice-Hall, Hemel Hempstead. Hickson, D.J. and Pugh, D.S. (1995), Management Worldwide: The Impact of Societal Culture on Organizations around the Globe, Penguin, London.

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Hofstede, G. (1980), Culture’s Consequences. International Differences in Work Related Values, Sage, Beverly Hills. House, R.J., Hanges, P., Ruiz-Quintanilla, A., Dorfman, P., Javidan, M., Dickson, M. and Gupta, V. (1999), “Cultural influences on leadership and organizations: project GLOBE”, in Mobley, W. (Ed.), Advances in Global Leadership, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, Vol. 1, pp. 171-233. Jesuino, J.C. (2002), “Latin Europe cluster: from south to north”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 37 No. 1, pp. 81-9. Lewis, M.W. (2000), “Exploring paradox: toward a more comprehensive guide”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 760-76. Manning, P.K. (1987), Semiotics and Fieldwork, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Miller, K.D. and Folta, T.B. (2002), “Option value and entry timing”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 23, pp. 655-65. Orlikowski, W.J. and Yates, J.A. (2002), “It’s about time: temporal structuring in organizations”, Organization Science, Vol. 13, pp. 684-700. Shenkar, O. and Von Glinow, M.A. (1994), “Paradoxes of organizational theory and research: using the case of China to illustrate national contingency”, Management Science, Vol. 40, pp. 56-71. Stacey, R.E. (1996), Complexity and Creativity in Organizations, Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco, CA. Stalk, G. and Hout, T.M. (1990), Competing Against Time: How Time Based Competition is Reshaping Global Markets, Free Press, New York, NY. Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990), Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques, Sage, Newbury Park, CA. Van de Ven, A.H. and Poole, M.S. (1995), “Explaining development and change in organizations”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20, pp. 510-40. Vermeulen, F. and Barkema, H. (2002), “Pace, rhythm, and scope: process dependence in building a profitable multinational corporation”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 23, pp. 637-53.

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Perceptions and experience of time-space compression and acceleration The shaping of leaders’ identities

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Sharon Turnbull Centre for Leadership Studies, The Leadership Trust Foundation, Weston-under-Penyard, Ross-on-Wye, UK and Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster, UK Keywords Leaders, Careers, Public sector organizations, United Kingdom, Narratives Abstract This research builds on Jenkins’ theory of time, identification and human nature through an empirical study of leaders’ experiences in a large UK public sector organisation. By applying Lewis and Weigart’s typology of social time to the accounts of the leaders studied within this research, the study finds that the leaders’ self- identities are constituted through the discourses of self-time, interaction-time and organisational-time which are embedded, stratified and synchronised through social and organisational practices. In the leaders’ narratives of career, work, life and family the research identifies dominant discourses of time compression and acceleration, as well as both cyclic and linear discourses of time. Each of these temporal constructs is found to be embedded in and manifested through the continuous construction and shaping of identity. The implications of these findings for our understanding of the contemporary working life of leaders and their careers and identities are discussed.

Introduction – time and identity To have personal and collective pasts and to posit individual and collective futures are aspects of what it means to be human” (Jenkins, 2002).

In a post-millenial world which is increasingly driven by discourses of time “acceleration” and in which time is treated as one of our most scarce commodities, it is perhaps surprising that so little empirical research has been undertaken within the field of organisation studies into how time and identity are mutually constituting and reinforcing through discourse. Time can be found shaping self-identity at many levels. The biological and social phases of our life: youth, adolescence, maturity, middle age, old age, are each socially marked out by symbolic transition points. These periods, for many, shape career and life projections and the linear march toward the next “prize”. This upward mobility, however, is often followed in later life by the focussed quest for survival and retention of the identity of one’s earlier productive years, in a western economy which perceives age as “burnt out” and seeks to dispose of many long before their statutory expectation of retirement. This is a world divided into annual, monthly and daily cycles, each containing markers to indicate the passing of time, and each bringing its own perceived pressures. Not only are we apparently all caught up by the social tyranny of linear time, we also find ourselves oscillating between nostalgia for the past or imaginings about the future as our memories and imagination transport us from the

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present, back to past and forward to future, representing an equally powerful narrative of cyclical time. This research builds on Jenkins’ (2002) premise that discourses of social time are crucial in shaping self-identity. Since organisations tend to magnify our perceptions of time, and exaggerate challenges to our self-identities, the research has taken as its focus the discourses of time, leadership and identity found amongst a group of senior leaders in the UK National Health Service (NHS) nearing the end of their careers. I ask how their experience of time at the individual, group and organisational level is embedded in their accounts of their work, careers and personal lives, and in turn how their identities as leaders shape their narratives of time and the temporal discourses dominant in their accounts. The NHS, which has been selected as the site for this research, has undergone significant changes over the last few years, coming under growing pressures for results and increasingly tight timescales for their delivery. A government preoccupied with managing targets for public consumption has meant that many senior leaders in the NHS have already lost their jobs after very long service as a result of failing to achieve the required results, as determined by waiting lists, and other largely temporal measures. The group of chief executives selected to participate in the study had all been in posts at this level for eight years or more, and many were consequently approaching the age where retirement from the service was a very real prospect. Since some had already been moved out of their prestigious operational jobs into less intensive project roles, it was considered likely that the temporal assumptions of these senior managers had been challenged by the extreme changes they had faced. The research investigated the implications of these challenges for the shaping of the leaders’ self-identity. The paper also asks more broadly how studies of the social construction of time can assist us in the study of identity in organisations. Since time pervades our lives and shapes our perceptions in such a fundamental way, and since following the social conventions of time is rarely challenged in modern bureaucratic society, it is only a small step further to suggest that time plays a major part in the shaping of identity. A number of researchers have focussed specifically on the perceived acceleration of time on social identity, although there are few empirical studies that illustrate this. Luke (1996, p. 126), for example, has pointed to the growth of “fast capitalism” and of “informationalization” symbolised by “mass telecommunications, electronic computerization, cybernetic automation, and rapid transportation”. Informationalisation, he suggests, gives voice to previously unheard local groups and renders “a unilinear view of the world and history impossible”. With the electronic society, he suggests, the organisation has become disembodied, and re-imagined as shifting networks or flows. Bauman (2000) has addressed a similar theme, pointing to the impact of the apparent compression of time and space on social identity, and suggesting that the software era has led to an era of instantaneity. A number of writers on work and society have focussed on this issue. Rifkin (2000), for example, has argued that the increasing sophistication of technological solutions will mean the end of many traditional work identities, a continuing increase in global unemployment and the dominance in the labour market of knowledge workers. Senge (1990), by contrast, is less fatalistic, suggesting that information technology has enabled managers to control time, by speeding up or slowing down the pace of action, and compressing space thus impacting on managers’ sense of identity and control over

their work. Covey (1992), however, suggests that the current managerial obsession with time management is an attempt to balance the overwhelming experience of the acceleration of time by giving the impression of controlling it. He critiques the label “time management” since, he says, “we all have exactly the same amount of time” (Covey , 1992, p. 137), but proposes instead the idea of self-management “in the time allotted to us”. (p. 138), focusing particularly on the importance of leaders maintaining their family relationships, and their identities as spouse and parent. The anthropologist Richard Jenkins (2002) makes a strong sociological argument that time and identification are best conceptualised together: Our past is who we have been, and the future is fundamental to imagining who we will become. However, in order to have either past or future we need a stable present, the space of our everyday lives.

Within a broader discussion of the present he builds on the work of Bergson, Husserl and Mead (Jenkins, 2002, p. 272) to suggest that: Each individual has a variously defined and overlapping array of presents. There are other people’s presents; or to put this another way, each individual’s sense of present will vary according to purpose, context and so on. Each of these different ‘presents’, in and out of which we move all of the time, has its own tempo, its own register, measurement and prioritisation of time, its own boundaries.

He goes on to suggest that “the present is the only possible source of the past and the future: neither makes any sense without the present, from which to be perceived and within which to be produced and reproduced” ( Jenkins, 2002, p. 273). He highlights the complexity of time and identity: That we do have personal and collective pasts, and can imagine individual and collective futures, is central to whatever it means, as humans, to be who or what we are . . . Most human beings experience themselves in a taken for granted present tense as relatively unitary and stable entities . . . If we are to conceptualise identity as something other than reification, a fixed thing, some kind of stable present is required, as the context within which negotiation and change can take place. (Jenkins, 2002, p. 275).

Time, work and organisation There has as yet been very little empirical exploration of the experience of social time in relation to identity shaping, particularly in the context or work and organisations. Bash (2000, p. 187)) bears this out, arguing that “the study of the social is still relatively ahistorical, and insensitive to how temporality is embedded in social life”. Two of the earliest studies of social time were those by Sorokin (1964) and Gurvitch (1964). Sorokin’s (1964) found the prime functions of socio-cultural time as being synchronisation and coordination. By this he means the sequential timing of one socio-cultural phenomenon with others; and the organization of the time system for continuity, orientation, and to reflect the rhythms of socio-cultural systems. Gurvitch (1964) offers a complex model depicting a range of eight “social times”, each of which occurs more frequently than others at specific levels of the social, ranging from the macro- to the micro-social. The Academy of Management Review (2001) on time and organisation (Conlon, 2001) and an edited collection by Whipp et al. (2002) addressed different facets of time

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in organisations, raising many important questions for this study. Lawrence et al. (2001), for example, set out to uncover the temporal dynamics of institutionalisation, arguing for studying time in its social context, as it is tied to events, the meaning of events, and the relationships among them. This study has followed this recommendation and has studied the leaders against the backdrop of their socio-cultural context of the NHS. Lawrence (2001) has also drawn attention to timing norms as a field of research. She differentiates between norms created solely by the workers as illustrated in Roy’ Banana Time(see Hassard, 1990) and those imposed by an external authority. Timing norms can be seen to be important in this study, not in term of daily routines, but in terms of the leaders’ career progression expectations, and their desire to consider their career expectations in the light of the norms of their peer group. Lee and Liebenau’s (2002) research analysed time in organisations through the lenses of clock time and social time. Studies of clock time focussed on deciding time, time orientation, time as resource, working time and time pressure. Studies of social time focussed on the multiplicity of time, and changing patterns of time where time is seen to be affected by various organisational factors, e.g. the influence of new technology. They concluded that while there are many studies of clock time there are few of social time, many studies tending to consider time as a constant rather than as a variable that can be changed by social and organisation elements. One exception to this is Huy (2001) who concludes that the socio-temporal context of an organisation undergoing a change process will reflect the interactions of clock time, inner time, and the social time of the workforce at any moment in the process. It is these interactions, as well as the ways that both social and clock time are embedded in discourses of career and identity that this study has set out to address. Few studies (with the exception of Anconna and Tushman (2001), Collinson and Collinson (1997) and Rutherford (2001)) have focused on the temporal aspect of leaders’ work or careers. This study has sought to connect the literature on social time, careers, and leader identities through both empirical and discursive lenses. Methodology The research was conducted at the end of a leadership development programme run at Lancaster University during which the leaders enrolled on the programme were invited to consider their careers, leadership styles and the future of the NHS. Interviews were conducted with 16 NHS chief executives and three of their Chairs, following their participation in this programme. The interviews focussed on their reactions and responses to the development programme as well as on their relationship with their work, their organisation, the nature of their leadership and their views of their personal development and their careers. Questions were asked about the programme itself, their leadership and careers, but no specific questions were asked about temporal issues. A discourse analytic approach was taken following Fairclough (2003), focusing specifically on “the order of discourse” which Fairclough defines as “the relatively durable and social structuring of language which itself is one element of the relatively durable structuring and networking of social practices.” (p. 3). Fairclough articulates the benefit of going beyond textual analysis to what he calls “interdiscursive analysis”. He defines this as “seeing texts in terms of the different discourses, genres, and styles they draw upon and articulate together” (p. 3) Following this approach, the transcripts

were analysed and coded, focussing specifically on the interconnected discourses of social time and identity found in the leaders’ narratives. A number of approaches to understanding social time, identity and careers contributed to this discourse analysis. The texts were examined through various lenses as detailed below, but in particular through the lens of Lewis and Weigart’s (1981) typology of social time as a framework for conceptualising the leaders’ experiences of time and the shaping of their identities inside their organisations and in their lives beyond the organisation. This lens was used to illuminate the ways that time is constructed and constituted through discourse, and to support a deeper understanding how identity and career may also be understood as being discursively constructed through the multiple levels at which we experience time. Like Gurvitch (1964), who suggested that different forms of social time predominate at different social levels, Lewis and Weigart’s (1981) study focuses on levels of social time. The first is cyclic-time, which occurs at the societal-cultural or organisational levels. This represents the daily, weekly and yearly cycles that influence social interaction. These repetitions, they suggest provide the basis of stability, and also indicate to us when it is time in our biographies and “careers” for certain events to occur. The second is interaction time, which assumes that all social acts are embedded within larger social acts and occurs at the level of the group. The third level is self-time,which is experienced at the level of the individual. In self-time, they found that events quite distant in physical time, may be held in consciousness as clearly as what happened five minutes ago, and engrossing activities may produce the sense that self-time has ceased. This experience of timelessness has been developed by Mainemelis (2001) who found that this state was frequently described by individuals who had become engrossed in attractive work activities. Mainemelis is also one of the few scholars of social time to make a connection between emotion and time (see also Keenoy et al., 2002), suggesting that emotional states presuppose the existence of time and specifically linear time (e.g. anxiety, desire) since they assume a line of events running from past to future. Lewis and Weigart (1981) argue that the three levels of time that they have identified are stratified, with cyclic (or organisational) time taking precedence over interaction time, and interaction time demanding precedence over personal time. As the complexity of industrial societies grows, they suggest, the temporal embeddedness of events in organisational, interactional, and personal time structures becomes more complex, the synchronisation of acts and actors within timetables and biographies becomes more problematic, and the stratification of social times more pronounced. This, they argue, can lead to a conflict of social time that profoundly affects the quality of life of members of a society. This conflict, and its impact on the lives of the chief executives has been clearly illustrated in the words of the chief executives. Lewis and Weigart (1981, p. 93) stress the embeddedness, stratification, and syncronicity of these three forms of social time: Temporal embeddedness works as a mechanism making the experience of self continuity, a permanent identity across differing situations plausible. Temporal embeddedness is a plausibility structure for the experience of the unity and continuity of an increasingly complex modern self.

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They suggest that each of these levels of time is interrelated, and that society organises and coordinates across these structures of social time: “The stratification of social times works as a mechanism making the experience of self-control and social control plausible as a single reality” (Lewis and Weigart, 1981, p. 93) The self oscillates from apparently acting as a free individual to following the timetables of the state or the schedules of the institution. If one fails to time one’s life according to temporal norms this can lead to accusations of deviance. Time wasting in our society is considered “a sin”. To be rational is to plan one’s life in order to achieve future goals and to synchronise one’s life with that of the collective makes social order possible: Synchronising one’s life is a public achievement which merges the unbridgeable individuality of personal existence constituted out of embedded time with the irreducible collectiveness of social order constituted by stratified social times (Lewis and Weigart, 1981, p. 94).

Organisational time is often resented as it can encroach on self-time. The over-commitment to organisational goals can be seen to encroach on interaction time, e.g. family or friendship time and also on self-time. This research asks to what extent the leaders in the Health Service experienced their roles as conflictual in terms of social time and how they responded to this conflict. Further useful analytic lenses were a number of recent articles spotlighting the reflections on social time embedded in the work of a number of scholars known for their broader sociological writing such as Durkheim (see Miller, 2000); Mead ( see Flaherty and Fine, 2001); Weber (see Segre, 2000); and Elias (see Tabboni, 2001; Newton, 2001). Durkheim’s (1995) concern with the rhythms and dynamics of sacred-profane and collective-individual life, for example, was an important precursor to understanding organisational identity and multiple identities at work. Mead’ s (1932) attention to the dynamics of social interaction and the shaping by the present of interpretations of the past informed my discursive reading of the leaders’ texts. And Weber’s interest in the subjective experience of time and how this is constrained by social and institutional experience was an important lens for interpreting the experience of career as a constitutive element of identity. Elias’s (1992) work, like that of Gurvitch (1964), seeks to connect macro-societal developments and processes with micro-level changes in manners, morals, mentalities and emotional expression (Van Iterson et al., 2001). The NHS leaders in this study had all experienced changing political, social and technological expectations of the work that they perform, and resulting changes in their career trajectories. Unlike Gurvitch (1964), Elias (1992) is very clear of the symbolic and constructed nature of the labels we use to interpret time, including those of past, present and future. His work on the social norms of clock time, and time as a means of both social regulation and self-constraint was an important lens for this study. He suggests that visualising time as a sequential flow is challenged by the interconnectedness of past, present and future, but recognises these concepts as representations or symbols that assist people to categorise. Thus, the concepts of past, present and future include in their meaning the relationship of the person experiencing them to a sequence of changes. This phenomenon was also clearly illustrated in the words of the leaders discussed below.

Discourses of social time in the narratives of the leaders Linear time Anconna et al. (2001) found a dominant focus on the western linear construct of clock time.This view, they suggest, depicts time as a resource that can be measured, used and traded; a view that, they suggest, has contributed significantly to the commodification of labour. The discursive analysis of the leaders’ narratives found both a strong emphasis on linear time influencing the identities and careers of the leaders, and an emphasis on time as a resource in short supply. The chief executives did seem caught up by this discourse. Many of the chief executives felt themselves to be in the mature phase of their career, and frequently adopting a linear view, could perceive very little career time ahead of them. A strikingly linear view of life, career and identity was held, for example, by James[1], a mature chief executive: I say to my children “for most of your life . . . life is challenging and obvious in relation to career, looking for a partner, having your children, your job, better house, better job” and when you have done all those things, which is where senior chief executives are, life’s challenges are more self selective.

The recognition that their career trajectories were no longer clearly mapped out ahead of them, and that it was no longer simply a question of complying with social or peer group norms, had occurred to a number of the chief executives and was considered by some as a worrying prospect. Sally, for example, confirmed: I have become more and more aware that I can make my own decisions on life. And in a funny sort of way that’s – it has not been as liberating as it sounds – it actually worries me in fact.

Although the hegemony of linear time and its claim to neutrality has been challenged by a number of feminist scholars who have demonstrated the circularity and repetitiveness of women’s time embedded in the social relations of daily life, the constant focus on the future associated with linear time (Odih, 1999) was nevertheless found to be dominant in the narratives of many of the women chief executives as well as the men, as illustrated in the words of Jane: In terms of shaping what I want to do, how I was going to manage my work life balance, how I am going to plan the rest of my career given that I am approaching 50. You know there is a limit of time and prospect.

Brian, another mature chief executive appeared to feel the pressures of linear time to continue along a clear career path despite his age. Nevertheless he rejected these pressures, appearing to be unable to envisage a new career path that would not encroach on his desire for more interaction time, choosing instead the status quo: Well this life long learning concept – I mean for us at our age and seniority the future pathways are not obvious but the obverse of that is the scope for the future should be limitless really. And particularly in terms of the way one balances your life in terms of things other than work – so they are the main things – I mean I was in a position where because of my experience I could have applied to a range of opportunities going on around the country. But in my position I would get from it an extra £10,000 a year – I have to leave my family and my home for another part of the country, set up a new infrastructure of friends and personal interests and why would I want to do that?

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The linear discourse of career was also evident in Dean’s words, the youngest chief executive on the programme: I did think what my next 10-15-20 years might look like because I think linear progressions don’t happen in the same way. I did think that when I became their age[2] what sort of job would I be doing? Where do people go? I mean I am 41, let’s say I do another seven years here like I did in my previous trust making me 48 – what happens next? . . . or I don’t have a plan. I am not particularly good at thinking through my career in that way. I have a sense of what it looks like for the following year but beyond that I don’t know.

Despite his desire not to plan, Dean’s language suggests that he was nevertheless conscious that the hegemony of career would generate certain synchronistic social assumptions about progression and success in relation to age, irrespective of whether or not he wishes to subscribe to them, and whether or not he wished to actively manage or plan his career. Time as resource in short supply Time as a limited resource was a discourse that was common in the narratives of the managers. Many of the leaders interviewed appeared to thrive on that shortage, packing every moment of their day with intense activity, as indicated by Edward: I mean I had a meeting with the strategic health authority chief executive and the deputy director of HR from the NHS at 2 p.m. in (name of town), so I mean the programme finished at 10 to 1 and I was straight into the car to drive back to (name of town) because this meeting was in my diary for 2 o’clock.

For others, such as Maria, this manifested itself in her claim that time pressures were driving out all possibilities for reflection: I took away the papers and I thought “I’ll do it” and of course you don’t and I think I didn’t have as much time for reflection because the job drives that out and there is always this challenge.

The balance between self-, interaction- and cyclic time represented a continuous tension for the chief executives, with organisation (cyclic) time invariably taking precedence. The leadership programme that they had recently attended had triggered a greater awareness of the tensions of synchronicity and led some, such as Peter, to take steps to address these through consciously redesigning his identity: Well it is interesting you see because I came away from the programme determined to change the balance of my life a bit and put a bit less time into work. But then walked almost straight away into a huge operational crisis. So I have had to re-evaluate that over a longer period of time than I would have wanted to. But I think having come through those things now and with a little bit more time I am changing that, quite noticeably. Quite noticeably – while it is quiet, and while the weather is good I am going home and doing my garden, and learning to play golf. Which doesn’t mean that I am not thinking, I think I am clearing my mind a bit, I think I am thinking a little bit better by being able to do that. However can I sustain that when all the pressure . . .? Well you can’t when it is really getting difficult you have to get stuck in and do some sorting out. I recognise that for quite some time I have spent too much time at work and not working as . . . as I might be. One of the harder things to do is to create some space to be able to think better.When asked, “Was there something specific that triggered you to think about the events in your life?”, he replied:

Just a general build up. . . . [pause here] . . . Recognition – well – just recognition that I was spending far too much time and there are other things I should be doing either for myself or for the family.

A number of the chief executives were finding it difficult to synchronise the demands of organisational time, and still retain interaction time. In such cases self-time seemed to be almost entirely suppressed. Dean illustrated these problems So I feel that there is an awful lot to do. I sometimes think/feel that I might not be able to do it all. There seems to be so much to do in such short period of time and that I find daunting. So sometimes I leave work feeling low and I have already done everything that I thought I could do about an issue or regret that I couldn’t spend more time on something, or perhaps more importantly I have not spent as much time with people/individuals that I would otherwise have liked. And that I find difficult . . . It is not coming without its cost of time and family and everything else that “how long is this balance sustainable”.

The problem of achieving synchronicity was even more marked in Nigel’s case. In the interview, he seemed to be suggesting that as long as he was alive, the imposition on his self-time could be tolerated: I suppose really in terms of I can hardly say work/life balance . . . I knew it was bad and I have managed to make it worse but we have a strong family unit - that is tolerated but it is part of the strength really – or it wouldn’t be possible. And . . . at the end of the day – if you are living and breathing and everything else it puts things into perspective . . . So to some extent I am carrying that with me because I am getting quite a bruising from above which is not being as constructive as it could be and I am thinking “I can only do my best”. I wouldn’t say ‘I know I am right”, that may sound wrong – I know that what we do is moving in the right direction. Whether we have the time, support and help to make that work remains to be seen, but I can’t control that. What makes it hard is thinking about family life and my own career and everything else – it all seems fairly short.

In both Nigel and Dean’s cases they had recently made personal choices to take promotion to bigger jobs, thereby deliberately putting themselves into the situations which they describe. In each case, however, it was clear that the imbalance they had created was barely tolerable. For some, however, strategies had been found within the weekly or daily routine of cyclic time to make space for self-time. This meant finding a daily routine, such as going for a walk at a particular time of day or making space for a quiet time at the beginning of each day. For others it involved a weekly routine designed to combat the relentless time pressures of the weekly cycle. Daniel, for example explained his strategy: I now work at home on a Tuesday. So I have to gear myself up for taking work home. Every Tuesday I know that I am not going to be here . . . things to read. It just means that I gain two hours . . .Well, I suppose it reaffirmed that there was a lot – that there was a lot of life out there that it would be good to live and experience and getting the work/life – constantly working at the work/life balance is terribly important. And that we get . . . and we forget what is really our priority. So just the physical separation I think was helpful and that has helped and also my wife has an occasional job that she is involved with . . .so we see each other on a Tuesday.

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Fitness and health as a brake on the passing of time The discourse of time as a resource in short supply appears to have its roots in the certitude that life is inevitably finite. It was striking that the linear discourse that dominated the identities of the chief executives, and equated career progression with the pursuit for bigger jobs was often substituted, particularly by the male chief executives facing the end of their careers, with a focus on physical fitness. The view that sport might rejuvenate the body and arrest the course of time appeared to offer the foundations of alternative new identities for these leaders. In response to the question: “Did you feel under some pressure to be making a move?” Brian replied: Well it is just the normal peer pressure – when you are having coffee at a conference with chief execs ‘where are you now – why didn’t you apply for that job?’ and size – the size of your organisation is perceived to be important . . . which of course I relate to and it would be great to have a bigger job but the price for that is – you need to weight that. I mean I had some conversations with colleagues in the run up to the course about life’s challenges and career challenges. It struck me because somebody said to me it would be good for me if I had some physical challenges as well as well as intellectual challenges in the job, because you know the intellectual challenges of the job are stimulating but also stressful at times. So I did things I have never done before. I mean I took up running and in my 50s I ran my first London marathon.

For Brian, self-time had started to become disembedded from interaction and cyclic time in his recent pursuit of physical fitness. This new aspiration in turn seemed to enable him to challenge his belief that it would be “great to have a bigger job”, a view strongly rooted in the discourse of a “successful” career. The relationship between career and body is a recurring discourse in the chief executive’s narratives, reflecting Elias’s insistence that physical and social time cannot be detached. This attention to health may partly be the result of being in the profession, but it is also a reminder that time has both physical and social indicators, and that the social cycles, conventions and norms to which we subscribe throughout a lifetime are integrally related to the physical maturing, fertility, and then decline of the human body. Whilst space does not allow a deeper exploration of the relationship between physical and social time, this relationship was evident in some of the leaders’ thoughts as exemplified by Harold: What I have done is sat down and had a talk with myself really about how I organise myself because I think starting every morning at 7.45 and working 60 hours a week and taking work home and everything else, now I’m 49 is probably not the most sensible way to organise myself in the next few years. And I need to give some careful thought to organising my working day and being a bit more flexible, making sure I take my annual leave – rather than not take it, and it is a good opportunity just to rethink the way I work and to try and work in a slightly more flexible way.

Bruce too had considered this relationship in making the decision to give up his high profile job: Well I think . . . you can thrive on the adrenalin and the buzz you get from other people. But ultimately I think . . . I was getting to the age where I was in a quite high risk category - blood pressure was just about acceptable – things like that and it is potential threat . . . that wasn’t the reason to do it, but I can see there were risk factors.

Re-synchronising social times and reconstructing identities Weick (2001) points to the concept of career as an important aspect of identity, important both for the public and personal sense of self-identity and self-image. He draws attention to the demise of the traditional linear career and associated hierarchical advancement which has resulted from the increasing fluidity, permeability and dynamism of today’s work organisations. Weick (2001) suggests that the notion of linear career progression has been replaced by career as patterns, shifting identities, and “a mixture of continuity and discontinuity”.(p. 207) and that these shifts and patterns, which constitute what he terms a boundaryless career, also create opportunities for learning and retrospective acts of improvisation. Whilst many of the chief executives in the study held a strong view of career as a linear activity, others were now questioning the trajectory that presupposes a correlation between experience, length of service and status (or big job). Those who were reaching their fifties were starting to feel destabilised, detecting that the organisation considered them to be past their prime. Sally, for example, whose anticipated career trajectory to the next operational chief executive job had come to an abrupt end, had found herself in a project role, and suddenly away from the “sharp end” where her leadership identity had been constructed over many years. She mused: I applied to become a strategic health authority chief exec and didn’t get appointed as one of the 28.And so I knew by November/December that I would definitely have to change direction and I had already thought that I would change – radically change direction. I had been chief executive for many years in different organisations and I thought I wanted to do something quite different for a while. I got more pain than I thought about whether I wanted to do something for a year – to do something useful but not be forced to make a very important decision too quickly. And I chose, I decided I wanted to do it.

Sally’s ambivalence at losing her “sharp end” role prematurely as she saw it was evidenced throughout the interview. On the one hand she admitted to feeling physically healthier, and to having re-established her relationships with her daughter and husband, as well as joining a choir. She acknowledged the difficulties she had been experiencing in her previous role, and recognised the conflict between self-, interactionand organisational time: As a very pressurised chief exec you are very conscious of having no time most of the time to do anything.

On the other hand, in response to the question: “Do you miss the sharp end?“, she replied: “Yes I do”. She went on to demonstrate the contradiction she was experiencing between rationalising the need for more self- time, and a desire to revert to her previous leadership identity. Shifting constantly between nostalgia for her past career, and a recognition that a future identity with more self- and family interaction time might be equally attractive she oscillated between the two identities she had constructed for herself: It is making me think quite hard about what I should do next year and how I should focus my effort. I am still very keen on contributing to the sharp end and I feel – I think it has helped me to realise that in the choices that we have in our lives I would prefer to be working in a capacity that kept me at the sharp end.

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Here, Sally’s past leadership identity was continuing to shape her feelings about the present and her ambitions for the future. As she considered her future she appeared to be seeking synchronicity with her peers, many of whom were still holding sharp end jobs, and despite the improvement to her health and well-being since leaving her chief executive role, her dominant construct of self in the present appeared to remain that of sharp-end leader. Many of the other chief executives were exhibiting similar preoccupations in relation to the synchronising of self-, interaction-, and organisation- time, and the stratified, embedded nature of these social times. As they re-balanced their engagement with each level of social time, they were either re-constructing their identities, or taking steps to preserve the identities with which they were familiar. Sally was not alone in fearing the loss of cyclic time that reinforced so much of her identity. Peter, who was closer to retirement, was also concerned, indicating that his sense of self was heavily shaped by organisational (or cyclical) and interaction time, and appearing uncomfortable with the prospect of additional self- time: What am I going to do when I wake up one morning and I haven’t got a diary which is full every day? Although I am not doing it at the moment, at different times I have been a school governor, a chair of school governors, been a governor of an FE college, the magistrates have an organisational – the governing body of that and they want me to go on to that - and I have just said I can’t do that. So I have got a whole range of things that I could well pick up again. So I, and I want to go at 60, so I have already got that bit fairly well planned out.

Discussion and conclusions The discourses of self time, interaction time, and cyclic time were all found to run concurrently through the narratives of the leaders, and these were indeed found to be embedded within one another, and stratified in terms of their interconnections. Synchronicity was seen as very important for the leaders. They were constantly attempting to balance personal and life trajectories and careers with the needs of their immediate groups, the demands and expectations of colleagues, friends, and families, and the organisational and societal expectations upon them to achieve certain goals at certain times. This was manifested in their perceptions of career, which was often described as linear, despite the increasing evidence presented to them that both their careers and their identities as leaders would inevitably be required to respond and follow the pattern of fragmentation and discontinuity. The chief executives demonstrated the importance of Jenkins’ (2002) view that “consciousness, memory, knowing who we are and becoming are important aspects of identification” (p. 268). The changes to their expected career trajectories resulting from the changing shape of the NHS and the role of the leader had thrown the chief executives’ previously stable identities into flux. They were now finding it much less easy to imagine the future, providing empirical illustration for Weick’s (2001) concerns surrounding identity continuity and the boundaryless career. Career was conceptualised by most of these leaders as a trajectory, but as their career prospects were diminishing, they had started to develop an ambiguous relationship with this future. This confusion also supports Lewis and Weigart’s (1981) view that career (which they define as “the passage of the person through a number of statuses which are meaningfully related to each other in a recognised sequence” (p. 89)) is fundamental to one’s social biography. At a time when their

lives were becoming destabilised and their future careers in question, they were articulating to themselves and others significant shifts in their identities. Reprioritising and re-synchronising social time, and bringing self-time and interaction time into focus were clearly challenges for them all, both as individuals and as a group of peers. Purser (2002) has pointed to the temporal alienation experienced in chronoscopic temporal environments where there is discordance between clock time and lived time: “In other words, the more one tends to embody and obey the mechanical / digital rhythms of clock time, the greater the feeling of loss of situated presence in time” (p163). He has suggested that this malaise often leads to what Rappaport (1990) terms as telepression – a form of hyperactivity which is fixated on the present, with the future only narrowly defined and usually not very distant, and which, he suggests, points to a much neglected relationship between time and meaning. This tendency toward hyperactivity was illustrated in the narratives of many of the chief executives, focusing them on the targets and preoccupations of the present, and deflecting them from pursuing a longer-term vision for their organisation. In a study by Sabelis’ (2002), the leaders used compression as a coping strategy for the acceleration in organisation life. Leaving things out and getting to the essence of things was seen as a mechanism for dealing with shorter time frames. At the same time, however, Sabelis recognised that this mindset itself might actually promote acceleration by “implying that rational reduction of information, emotions, and alternatives is necessary to reach organizational and individual goals” (Sabelis, 2002, p. 102) and leading in turn to a reduced attention to creativity, invention, empathy and open-mindedness. The chief executives in this study, also showed signs of this, often focusing on government targets and performance statistics whilst neglecting the fundamental meaning of their work. This study has raised a number of important implications for further work on identity and time in organisations. The focus on discourse as a methodological approach has highlighted the constructed nature of both time and identity. It has also enabled the illustration of how time and identification are interwoven discursively in the lived experience: for the chief executives is felt as and becomes expressed as destabilised and fragmented. There is still much further research to be undertaken the gendered nature of time and identification, for example, has been evident throughout this work, but space has not allowed this to be developed. Collinson and Collinson (1997) have noted the historically embedded gendered assumptions found in practices of “work presence”, a theme also raised by Hochschild (1997) in The Time Bind, her empirical study of the workplace as surrogate home. Further work on gender, career and leadership would build on the analysis undertaken for this study. The emotion dimension of this study has also been omitted since it constitutes a major study in itself. Alvesson and Wilmott (2002) have pointed to the regulation of identity as a form of organisational control. They note: Managerial theory and arrangements supply discourses through which self-identity is constructed and maintained. For example, “leadership” is “effective” when it coalesces and regulates identity, de-activating alternative constructions (p. 636).

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For the leaders in this study, their self-identity has been shown to be both regulated and regulating through discourse, and their identities and the organisational identity of the Health Service are both constructed by and through discourse, and that many discourses of social time are concurrently competing for dominance. Alvesson and Willmott (2002, p. 637) point out that contemporary organisations are “multi-discursive” settings, and therefore open to “ the multiplicity of ideas, vocabularies and practices of the contemporary world”. This paper has illustrated that the social construction of time is a powerful and evolving discourse that regulates both self-identity and organisational identity in many competing ways. This study has focussed on a group of leaders in transition. It has identified both the strongly-held identities from their pasts, and ambiguous identities of their futures, with their presents playing an important intermediary role. It has demonstrated that these identities are embedded in both the physical and social experience of time, and reproduced through language. The conceptual frameworks introduced by Jenkins (2002), Lewis and Weigart (1981) and others have added richness to the interpretation of the narratives of the leaders, and to an understanding of the discourses embedded in their narratives. Further empirical research using discourse analysis to understand how time and identity are co-constituted will assist in our understanding of how constructs such as identity and career are becoming destabilised by today’s discourses of time, and would significantly enrich the study of today’s boundaryless organisations (Weick, 2001). Notes 1. All names are pseudonyms. 2. Most of the other chief executives on the programme were 50 or over. References Academy of Management Review (2001), “Academy of Management”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 4. Alvesson, M. and Willmott, H. (2002), “Identity regulation as organizational control: producing the appropriate individual”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 39 No. 5. Anconna, D. and Tushman, M. (2001), “Time, technology, and dynamic capabilities: toward temporal leadership”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 4. Anconna, D., Okhuysen, G. and Perlow, L. (2001), “Taking time to integrate temporal research”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 512-29. Bash, H. (2000), “A sense of time, temporality and historicity in sociological inquiry”, Time and Society, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 187-204. Bauman, A. (2000), Liquid Modernity, Polity, Cambridge. Collinson, D. and Collinson, M. (1997), “Delayering managers: time-space surveillance and its gendered effects”, Organization, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 375-407. Conlon, E. (2001), “Editor’s comments”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 4, p. 491. Covey, S. (1992), Principle-Centred Leadership, Simon and Schuster, London. Durkheim, E. (1995), The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (originally published in 1912), The Free Press, New York, NY. Elias, N. (1992), Time: An Essay, Blackwell, Oxford.

Fairclough, N. (2003), Analysing Discourse, Routledge, London. Flaherty, M. and Fine, G. (2001), “Present, past and future: conjugating George Herbert Mead’s perspective on time”, Time and Society, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 147-61. Gurvitch, G. (1964), The Spectrum of Social Time, Reidel, Dordrecht. Hassard, J. (Ed.) (1990), The Sociology of Time, Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 155-67. Hochschild, A. (1997), The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work, Henry Holt, New York, NY. Huy, Q. (2001), “Time, temporal capability and planned change”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 601-23. Jenkins, R. (2002), “In the present tense: time, identification and human nature”, Anthropological Theory, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 267-80. Keenoy, T., Oswick, C., Anthony, P., Grant, D. and Mangham, I. (2002), “Interpretative times: the timescape of managerial decision making”, in Whipp, R., Adam, B. and Sabelis, I. (Eds), Making Time, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Lawrence, B. (2001), “Timing norms: the rhythm of interaction”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 4. Lawrence, T., Winn, M. and Devereaux Jennings, P. (2001), “The temporal dynamics of institutionalization”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 624-44. Lee, H. and Liebenau, J. (2002), “A new time discipline: managing virtual work environments”, in Whipp, R., Adam, B. and Sabelis, I. (Eds), Oxford University Press, Oxford. Lewis, J.D. and Weigart, A. (1981), “The structures and meaning of social time”, in Hassard, J. (Ed.) (1990), The Sociology of Time, Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 77-104. Luke, T. (1996), “Identity, meaning and globalization: detraditionalization in postmodern space-time compression”, in Heelas, P., Lash, S. and Morris, P. (Eds), Detraditionalization, Blackwell, Oxford. Mainemelis, C. (2001), “When the muse takes it all: a model for the experience of timelessness in organizations”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 548-65. Mead, G.H. (1932), The Philosophy of the Present, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. Miller, W. (2000), “Durkheimian time”, Time and Society, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 5-20. Newton, T. (2001), “Organization: the relevance and the limitations of Elias”, Organization, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 467-95. Odih, P. (1999), “Gendered time in the age of deconstruction”, Time and Society, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 9-38. Purser, R. (2002), “Contested presents: critical perspectives on real time management”, in Whipp, R., Adam, B. and Sabelis, I. (Eds), Making Time, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Rappaport, H. (1990), Marking Time, Simon Schuster, New York, NY. Rifkin, J. (2000), The End of Work: Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-market Era, Penguin Business, London. Rutherford, S. (2001), “Are you going home already? The long hours culture, women managers and patriarchal closure”, Time and Society, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 259-76. Sabelis, I. (2002), “Hidden causes for unknown losses: time compression management”, in Whipp, R., Adam, B. and Sabelis, I. (Eds), Making Time, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Segre, S. (2000), “A Weberian theory of time”, Time and Society, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 147-70. Senge, P. (1990), The Fifth Discipline, Century, London.

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Sorokin, P. (1964), Sociocultural Causality, Space and Time, (originally published in 1943), Russel and Russel, New York, NY. Tabboni, S. (2001), “The idea of social time in Norbert Elias”, Time and Society, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 5-27. Van Iterson, A., Mastenbroek, W. and Soeters, J. (2001), “Civilising and informalising: organizations in an Eliasian context”, Organization, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 497-514. Weick, K. (2001), Making Sense of the Organization, Blackwell, Oxford. Whipp, R., Adam, B. and Sabelis, I. (2002), Making Time, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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Managerial postalgia: projecting a golden future

Managerial postalgia

Sierk Ybema Department of Culture, Organization and Management, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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Keywords Organizational change, Organizational theory, Nostalgia Abstract This article seeks to further understand the significance of “organizational nostalgia” for processes of organizational change and to develop the mirror concept “managerial postalgia”. If nostalgia is a longing for a paradisical past, postalgia refers to a longing for a heavenly future, a desire that is central to change-talk and change-initiatives in organizations. The meaning and role of postalgia will be clarified in this paper by comparing and contrasting it with organizational nostalgia and by analyzing ethnographic studies that provide empirical support to substantiate the analogy. It is argued that the glorification of the past, just as the idealization of the future, are part of internal struggles in which organizational actors try to instigate or resist change by praising or dispraising the collective past, present and future. The argumentation demonstrates the significance of temporal constructions of change and continuity through organizational discourse.

Introduction Until recent years time has not been a central subject of critical examination within the field of management (Whipp, 1996). Even today, time is usually considered in management studies as a problem that should be resolved through planning, schedules, agendas and deadlines, that is, by regulation and control, whereas the role of time in the theory and practice of management itself is largely left unproblematized (Adam et al., 2002). In order to develop a more time-sensitive view on managing, several organization theorists have started to critically reassess the principles of modern management (e.g. Forray and Woodilla, 2002; Hassard, 1996; Noss, 2002; Purser, 2002) or closely examine daily practices and experiences of managers in organizational life (Koot and Sabelis, 2000; Sabelis, 2002a, b) with an explicit focus on time dimensions. In this article, attention is drawn to the ways in which “temporal resources”, i.e. the past, present and future, are utilized and deployed in organizational and managerial discourse on change. To shed light on the symbolic construction of the “realities” of transition processes or plans, discursive practices are examined by identifying how organizational actors relate to the past, present and future in everyday talk. The analysis shows how temporal comparisons between different periods or points in time (Albert, 1977) serve to symbolically construct a collective history or a common destiny (see Cohen, 1985). The focus in this article is on temporal comparisons that do not envision a historical continuity, as described in studies of Boden (1997), Forray and Woodilla (2002) or Paaluma¨ki (2000), but rather draw a temporal contrast, a historical schism, between the present and either the past or the future. More specifically, the analysis concentrates on comparisons in which one period is put up against the other The author wishes to thank Yiannis Gabriel and an anonymous reviewer for valuable suggestions.

Journal of Managerial Psychology Vol. 19 No. 8, 2004 pp. 825-841 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0268-3946 DOI 10.1108/02683940410568284

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as desired versus despised, good versus bad, etc., that is, comparisons that express a strong desire for other times ahead or behind, and also, usually more covert, a certain dissatisfaction with the present. The drawing of a temporal hierarchy is manifest or latent in nostalgic discourse when the past is made to outshine the present. Nostalgia encompasses a range of emotional orientations, the core of which is a longing for the friendly atmosphere, heroic achievements, etc. of bygone days and, underneath, a certain melancholy because of this bygone-ness. Within this specific temporal discourse the past emerges as a lost paradise, with the present as the land that lies east of Eden. Nostalgia has been described in various studies as a dominant emotion in organizations (e.g. Gabriel, 1993; Parker, 2000; Strangleman, 1999). The pervasiveness of nostalgic feelings in organizations was clarified by Gabriel (1993), who contended, on the basis of 126 interviews with members of five different organizations, that nostalgia is “dominating the outlook of numerous organizational members, and even defining the dominant emotional complexion of some organizations” (Gabriel, 1993, p. 119). Indeed, romantic stories about the glory days of a company come up as a recurrent theme in ethnographic descriptions (Gouldner, 1954; Hogema and Van de Padt, 2001; Laurila, 1997; Parker, 2000; Strangleman, 1999; Terkel, 1985; Ybema, 1997). The logical counterpart of a longing for a paradise lost, is a longing for a paradise yet to come, a desire that, as a playful variation on the concept of nostalgia, might be termed “postalgia”. Nostalgia is a modern derivational compound of the ancient Greek words nostos(return) and algos (grief or distress). With the prefix “post” (regrettably a Latin word) it takes the meaning of a burning desire, not to return, but to go forward, inspired by a certain restlessness or discontent with the present and an anxious desire to go and find out what lies behind the bend, over the mountain, behind the horizon. It may be expressed in utopian ideals or formalized plans, all picturing the future as being fundamentally different from and brighter than today. Often, however, this future desire is accompanied by anxious images of danger or decay, in which a future is sketched that is even darker than an already dark present. Within an organizational context, postalgia can, above all, be descried in managerial plans and policies for organizational change. Managers and management theorists have a clear preference for change-talk over tradition-heeding (Alvesson, 2002; Sabelis, 2002a, b; Sturdy and Grey, 2003) and hence, for forward-looking concepts, such as forecast, planning, vision, etc. (Bate, 1997). The focus is on a future that holds a promise for today. Therefore, postalgia can be seen as a basic emotive trigger for change initiatives and is most typical of the outlook of organizational change agents. As such the concept may help to reveal the discursive production of change and further our understanding of the premises and practices of modern management. Accounts of organizational nostalgia can be seen as part of a renewed interest in aspects of subjectivity at work (for example, Ashkanasy et al., 2000; Fineman, 1993, 2000). Emotion has long been neglected and undervalued in most approaches to organizational analyses (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1995) and good organizations are still often regarded as places where feelings have been managed, designed out, or removed (Fineman, 2000). Ashforth and Humphrey (1995) contend that the experience and expression of negative or intense emotions in the workplace are often regulated by preventing their emergence in the first place or, if this proves unsuccessful, assigning a specific site or moment for emotion display, setting prescriptive or restrictive norms

(e.g., executives telling each other “to get back to the facts”), or normalizing or reframing emotions by expressing them in the guise of rationality. Consistent with these observations, nostalgia usually resides in the ‘unmanaged organization’ (Gabriel, 2000), the organizational underlife (Goffman, 1963), and postalgic expectations are often couched in rationalized models of the future. The focus in this article is on the role and use of temporal sense making in situations of internally disputed organizational change. It is not the intrapsychic world of the individual that is the center point, but the social performance of nostalgic and postalgic desires, conceiving of cognition and emotion as existing in a specific context, shaped by and shaping social processes (see Patient et al., 2003). It seems likely that both nostalgia and postalgia play a particularly salient role in the intra-organizational struggles over planned change, either intended, instigated or implemented by executives. It will be argued that in internal conflicts the nostalgic voice generally opposes change and indirectly advocates a continuation of past policies by bringing up romanticized memories. Postalgic plans on the other hand, are the typical instruments of the “managerial upperlife”, the “managed organization”, and can be seen as rhetorical devices of change agents to swap an unsatisfying present for a better future. From a political perspective nostalgia can thus be seen as a subtle strategy to resist change, just as postalgia can be understood as a way to win consent for change. The argument proceeds as follows. A first understanding of the content, form and use of postalgia is developed by means of analogical reasoning (Tsoukas, 1991), i.e. through an analogy with insights into the phenomenon of organizational nostalgia. After examining the images and ideals brought to the fore in nostalgic discourse and analyzing the underlying cognitive, emotional and political dimensions, some defining parallels can be drawn to postalgia as a similar phenomenon. However, analogical reasoning derives its heuristic value from assessing both similarities and dissimilarities, and the latter are particularly significant when defining a new concept against the background of another. So, after having established an idea of the conceptual overlapping, the meaning of organizational postalgia is further specified by pointing out various distinctive features in relation to nostalgia. The argument is illustrated and developed by analyzing empirical examples drawn from different ethnographic studies. The specific role of nostalgic and postalgic talk is explored in a conflict among managers and staff personnel of an amusement park (Ybema, 1997). A subsequent comparison with other relevant case descriptions by Parker (2000), Laurila (1997) and Strangleman (1999) and an analysis of management theories as typical examples of managerial postalgia helps to give the findings a further empirical underpinning and demonstrates how organizational change agents invoke the past and the future as a means of defining and framing situations for others (see Taylor and Wetherall, 1999). In the concluding section the use of temporal frames during processes of change and time as a significant symbolic resource are discussed, underlining their broader relevance for organization studies. Organizational nostalgia Ethnographic research shows that organization members love to dwell on the past (Gabriel, 1993; Gouldner, 1954; Hogema and Van de Padt, 2001; Laurila, 1997; Parker, 2000; Strangleman, 1999; Terkel, 1985; Ybema, 1997). They recall their pioneering days or tell about the founder of the firm, former colleagues, the first products, the old

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working methods, the shared dedication and the friendly atmosphere of former days, and more often than not do so in a strikingly positive way. The girls and young women who populated the halls of Verkade (Dutch biscuit makers) before Second World War seem not to remember the monotony of their former jobs, the long working days or the meager wages, but they cherish the memories of warm relationships and the fun and the jokes they shared (Hogema and Van de Padt, 2001). Most of the time those stories about bygone days do not sketch a picture of some sort of continuity in time, but one of a contrast between past and present. They are mere illustrations of the differences and the contrasts between then and now, the old boss and the new one, before and after the removal, the reorganization, the merger, etc. Very different from, for instance, the stories about a personal conversion in which people contrast their present enlightened state with their dark past (see Berger and Luckmann, 1991, p. 179), we can deduce from all the quotes registered in those organizational inquiries, that the past usually compares favorably with the present. Modern management, products, buildings, atmosphere are almost without exception inferior to their “predecessors”. Gouldner (1954), for example, describes how miners praise their former boss (who was not very much appreciated at the time) sky-high and at the same time defect their new one. He calls this the “Rebecca myth”, adapted from DuMaurier’s novel about a young woman, who marries a widower and is then constantly haunted by the household’s memories of his first wife, Rebecca, whose virtues are still highly praised. Mythology, as it is, has a clear preference for heroes and villains and clings to a sharply defined contrast between good and evil. Nostalgia works in the same way, setting off the past against the present. The past seems to be exactly that, which is missing now. The legendary or heroic picture of the past, the myth of a Golden Age, robs the present time of its shine. It is like a motion picture with brightly colored flashbacks of happier days and a bleak, rainy present in black-and-white. A nostalgic reflection has little or nothing to do with an accurate historiography. It is a romantic reconstruction, edited in hindsight. Stories need to be plausible, coherent, interesting, emotionally appealing, and instrumental, rather than accurate (Weick, 1979 pp. 55-61). Anthropologists pointed out that folk stories about the past or even detailed descriptions of a shared origin of a group are continuously revised “to match the mood of present times” (Douglas, 1987, p. 69). Apparently, narratives of the past often lend a highly selective and often idealized rendering of the historical facts, describing the past from a present-day point of view (Cohen, 1985; Eriksen, 1993). The past is positively evaluated in retrospect, whereas it probably was experienced differently at that time. So, because of this subjective distortion we might advance that melancholic, romantic stories about former days rather inform us about the experience and preoccupations of the present, than they are relating the past. Certainly, in a psychological sense nostalgic thoughts eventually tell us more about the present, because they do not primarily arise from earlier experiences. They are, as Gabriel (1993, p. 132) states, not a way of coming to terms with the past, like for example mourning, grief or repentance, but an attempt to come to terms with the present. Rather than ruminating over dramatic events or undigested traumas, nostalgia is cherishing one’s memories of precious moments, heroic persons, historic events or minor but meaningful experiences. For a moment these recollections lift us out of the everyday rut and recall an atmosphere pleasantly different from the

day-to-day routine. Therefore, nostalgia is an expression of today’s emotion about things that pass by, i.e. “the discontents of today” rather than “the contents of yesteryear” (Gabriel, 1993, p. 137). Although the actors and the scenes of the action differ, by comparing several studies we may gather that nostalgia often produces the same type of stories with a recurring theme: being driven away from paradise, waking up from a dream world into a new, rather unpleasant reality (Gabriel, 1993; Gouldner, 1954; Parker, 2000; Ybema, 1997). It is as if, from a psychoanalytic point of view, the organizational life in former days is the continuation of the intimacy of the close family life of our youth and nostalgia ultimately gives away our hankering after the womb (Gabriel, 1993, p. 134; 1999, p. 22). A comparison of different studies shows that even the contents of nostalgic stories in organizations are very similar. The former geniality, dedication and loyalty have been replaced by calculated commitment and impersonal, businesslike relationships, like a closely-knit Gemeinschaft turning into a loose Gesellschaft. The simple joy of working for this company has been lost in the tangle of bureaucratic rules or the disorder of ongoing reorganizations. Smooth PR-talk must gloss over the fact that not the quality of products or services is the main objective any longer, but organizational efficiency, economic growth or commercial profit. As such, nostalgia is a romantic protest against the modern project of economic rationalization. The psychology and politics of nostalgia Undoubtedly, a warm and loving reconstruction of the past is a source of comfort and offers a treasure-trove of cheering thoughts. Nostalgia assures us that however dissatisfying, anxious or sad the present may be, we can always bask in the shine and glory of a golden age or feel comforted by memories of a lost paradise of simplicity, domesticity and solidarity. Put in an unpleasant way: although new times have caught up with us we can always reflect on good old times. Nobody can take away our past. In that way nostalgia is a psychological flight, an escape fantasy of dissatisfied people. In a similar line of reasoning Gabriel stresses the psychological aspects and impact of nostalgia, seeing it as a deep longing that is first and foremost a silent longing and finds satisfaction in the longing itself. For nostalgics their memories suffice – they wallow in the bittersweet thoughts about the things that were, because they simply enjoy it or take comfort from it. However, not only for psychological but also for political reasons it is nice to dwell on the past. Nostalgia is attractive in both respects, because it is hidden from supervision and beyond the reach of rules and regulations. It is part of what Goffman (1963) calls the organizational “underlife” and Gabriel (2000) terms the “unmanaged organization”, i.e. the non-organized part of organizational life in which people develop fantasies and spread stories, myths, rumors, jokes and gossip. According to Gabriel (1993, p. 138) the existence of such a dream world counteracts the dominant culture in many organizations that is geared to profit making, rationality, efficiency and control. In his view of the non-organized organization it stands for the exact opposite of this hard reality – it is not about benefits and self-interest, but about pleasures, desires, and anxieties – “emotion prevails over expedience”. Although there is a certain ambivalence in his argument, it seems as if Gabriel does not want to mar the empathetic way in which he writes about the psychological dimensions of nostalgia by a more politically colored analysis.

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We have to consider, however, that the underlife in organizations, apart from being an outlet for emotions, is often a hotbed for political activities. Gossip, for example, can be an instrument of the established to exclude newcomers (Elias and Scotson, 1965) or a weapon of the weak in their struggles against hegemonic powers (Scott, 1985 p. 282), and has been described as part of organizational politics (Noon and Delbridge, 1993; Kurland and Pelled, 2000). In the unmanaged organization, the collective “world of fantasy”, people also dream about power, glory and wealth, or, on a more modest scale, about the preservation of the ideals they once started with in their work. Nostalgia fits into this political picture, because stories about former days are not objective or neutral in any sense. The political impact hides behind the fact that nostalgia not only takes us back to the atmosphere of bygone days, away from the present, so to speak, but, at the same time, indirectly criticizes that selfsame present through recalling the past. If we mirror the time perspective, nostalgia can thus be seen as a retrospective on the present situation from an imagined point in the past. The dimensions of comparison are chosen in such a way that a dusted-off and polished-up past glorifies over the present. Dimensions on which the past would come out less favorably are neglected. This way, the romantic retouch of the past automatically pales the present – in constructing a sharp contrast the adorning of one pole goes with the tarnishing of the other. Nostalgia can thus be seen as directing the way in which we understand and assess reality, as an interpretation model of and an instruction model for reality, and thus as an attempt to influence the way of seeing and acting of organization members (Gabriel, 1993, p. 121). It is one of the ways in which organizational actors may invoke the past as a means of defining and framing the present-day courses of events for others (see Cohen, 1985; Eriksen, 1993; Taylor and Wetherall, 1999). Warm stories about old times, cold reception of newcomers The descriptive data from a study of relations between “new managers” and “old staff members” of the amusement park, the Efteling, may serve as a case in point, to illustrate the political reading of the nostalgic voice within an organization (for a more extensive description of data and methods, see Ybema, 1996, 1997). Long-time staff-members of the Efteling kept up a very animated underlife in which they informed each other of the latest news, jokes, anecdotes, rumors and gossip, not openly, but rather in the (for newcomers not easily accessible) back region (Goffman, 1959). In that way they closed ranks and excluded others. As a relative outsider interested in the underlife I heard numerous stories about the glorious past of the park, stories told with a touch of pride and melancholy, but also, as in due course I came to believe, a more or less conscious strategic ingenuity to oppose the commercial discourse of the younger generation of managers. In their stories about the company these “newcomers” emphasized the increased professionalism, the healthy financial position, or the record-number of visitors, this way claiming at least part of the responsibility for the success of the enterprise (the Efteling is the second largest amusement park in Europe). As a counter-strategy the older employees, who used to hold central positions within the organization before the arrival of the new managers, turned the past into a fairy tale and emphasized the historical development of the park, culminating in the extraordinary high quality of the attractions and the growing number of visitors. By sharing heart-warming memories of the genial atmosphere and good relationships in those days they cunningly exposed the imperfections of the business-like way that

holds the organization today. Their pursuit of quality that made the enterprise grow, is in danger of becoming pushed into the background by the present commercialism advocated by the new board of directors, a management that makes them hanker for the founder’s loving care for the park in bygone days and his warm interest in “his people”. Rumors about the alleged fraud of one of the new managers in his past as a businessman reinforced the image of the new board as heartless money-grubbers. So, it becomes clear that nostalgia can be interpreted as an indirect protest, a rhetorical instrument to bring to the attention of new managers and staff that late changes have not been for the better and that the experience built up in that glorious past has not been tapped. Of course, the vitality of the informal communication circuit in the Efteling was also due to the entertainment value of the gossip, legends, jokes and colorful descriptions of the past. At the same time however, it served as an outlet for the ventilation of bitterness about lost power and a means to oppose the new and relatively young members of the board, who, in turn, complained that they could not get a grip on the old retainers or gain admission to the informal organization. In spite of their positions in the official hierarchy they were often defeated by the obstinacy and closed ranks of the old guard, that kept its front with the help of gossip, backbiting and smooth talk about the past. Just like close-knit therapy groups often start talking about their common history whenever a new patient joins the group, to make it clear to him or her that s/he is not yet part of the group (Yalom, 1988, 1980), fetching stories about former times in the Efteling explained the differences between “candidate-members for the club” (the new management) and “members of honor” who hold the important posts in the informal hierarchy on the basis of know-how, seniority and service record. Seemingly innocent stories can thus be interpreted as an emotional complaint against current policies, and, indirectly, as a strategic position-taking of the spokesman as an expert in an internal debate. Probably, a poetic narrative of the past is hoped to have more appeal than cool criticism of the present. People are entertained to either win them over and mobilize them, or surreptitiously teach them a lesson and subtly put them in place. By holding up an idyllic past as a model, a line is drawn between ideal and actual reality, experienced and inexperienced workers, the established and the outsiders. The foregoing argument runs the risk of producing an overly politicized view of emotions. However, an appreciation of nostalgic talk as an inherently political activity is not to deny the quality of the unmanaged organization as a kind of emotional free zone, a playground where people let off steam, seek distraction, and engage in spontaneous activities that are not primarily driven by calculated self-interest. What is more, these activities may or may not be unsettling managerial control. They are often a form of distancing from, rather than persistently resisting change, and this “strategy” may amount to a rather benign rebellion (or an unwilling kind of conformity) that may not be strategic, i.e. politically effective, in every situation. Without reducing underlife activities to a control-resistance dialectic however, it seems safe to assume that there is a hidden political agenda in nostalgic narratives that adds to the joy of narrating them. Nostalgia seems to be part of the battle between modernism and resistance against modernism – it is then used as a subtle weapon in the struggle against a new regime and against the instrumental rationality, power and mores of modern, managerial times.

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Managerial postalgia The logical counterpart of a longing for a paradisical past is a longing for a heavenly future. The antipodes of the representatives of the past dream about a Golden Age that is yet to come. History tells us that people like to be inspired by the promise of a good prospect and by prophets who willingly show them the way to Utopia. Eagerly, they look forward to this new world that is supposed to lie beneath the horizon and await the exclamation “Land in sight!” that will stir their hope and imagination. The longing for a bright future, in this article referred to as postalgia, can be seen as a discursive strategy of change agents and as a basic emotive trigger for change initiatives in organizations, in which one is under the spell of, for instance, pioneering research, new products, a modern technology, the latest trend in management, a revolutionary reorganization or the conquest of a new market. Managerial thinking may be thought of as inherently postalgic. Even though managerial plans are often based on earlier experiences (Weick, 1979; Walsh and Ungson, 1991) and may be motivated and legitimized with references to the past, the future is seen as the ultimate point of reference for any managerial action (Mintzberg, 1989, pp. 27-28; 1994, p. 291). Although ethnographic accounts of managerial work suggest that day-to-day routine is typically short term-focuss-ed (Koot and Sabelis, 2000), managerial thinking is clearly driven by a future-oriented desire to stay one step ahead of competitors, politicians and policy makers (Sabelis, 2002a, b). Management sciences as well do not on the whole tend to be historically-minded and display a clear preference for forward-looking concepts, such as “mission”, “vision”, “planning”, “goal-setting” and so on (Bate, 1997, p. 1155), particularly the approaches developed in the field of planned change (for example, strategic management and organizational development) (Noss, 2002). Handbooks on management theory can be read as an enumeration of ideal models that are presented as an answer to contemporary problems in organizations, asserting that a better future can be accomplished: Taylor’s scientific management model in its time was thought to be the answer to irrationality and inefficiency; the notion of corporate culture came into vogue as a mobilizing ideal in a period of economic recession and entrepreneurial malaise; the concept of the learning organization is supposed to offer a remedy against bureaucratic ossification, and so on. Before going into the role and use of postalgia in an organizational setting, a first understanding of the meaning and content of the construct can be developed by drawing a parallel with its mirror construct. A first common characteristic of nostalgia and postalgia is that both discourses draw temporal comparisons that delineate a discontinuity. In postalgical reflecting on the future, just as in a nostalgicized past, a contradistinction is drawn between two points or periods in time, in this case between the future and the present or the past. Roughly, two versions of this future/present tension can be distinguished: the existing reality can be the negative reverse of a bright future or, the other way round, the relatively positive opposite of a dark prospect. It is, in other words, the expectation of imminent change, either dreaded or desired, with hope and desire projecting the future as the perfected antipode of an imperfect present, and anxiety or gloominess expecting decline or disaster. Although both types of temporal contrast pertain to postalgia, the projection of a future that lies sparkling ahead is probably a more conspicuous characteristic. Just like a nostalgic glorifies the past, a postalgic has an idealized view of the future with the

present or past as its negative opposite. Whenever everyday reality somehow falls short and does not meet expectations today, there is always tomorrow as a reservoir of promises and possibilities. A longing outlook into the future, just as a nostalgic retrospection, is like indirectly looking back on today’s world from another point in time. From this ideal viewpoint the defects of the current state of affairs are critically reassessed, rendering a present that is far from ideal. Picturing a future, just like reflecting on the past, sheds new light on the here and now, or rather puts it in the shade, as if we are living in the dark Middle Ages before the Enlightenment. Therefore, postalgia informs us about the desired future and, often more implicitly, about the disliked present. However, postalgia is not just an optimistic belief in a better world to come. It is rather a longing for than a firm expectation of a bright future, a desire that is accompanied by anxious doubts whether this future will come true. Discontents with present-day conditions give rise to hope and anxiety that both may become projected onto the future and conceptualized in optimistic and pessimistic prospects. So, carrying further the comparison with nostalgia further, there is a darker, gloomy side, an underlying “algos” (distress), to postalgia, that is similar to the underlying melancholy of a nostalgic longing. Postalgia originates from the same source as nostalgia: an unsatisfactory present that pushes our imagination beyond temporal boundaries to think up an ideal world as an antidote against feelings of doom and foreboding. The psychological significance of postalgia probably lies in the fostering of an idea of possible progress. Postalgia, or the myth it creates of a Promised Land, fuels the belief that the gap or temporal distance between desire and the object of desire can be bridged in due time. In that sense it is an imagined “real time” experience (see McKenna in Purser, 2002) that uplifts above today’s troubles, a fantasy that encourages hope for the seven good years to come. Especially for those who have some meager years behind them and many years to go, the future must be a pleasant terrain to sojourn in, in a psychological sense and also, again, in a political sense. In a way postalgia, like nostalgia, can be an escape into a dream world that is far-off from power, control and politics in organizations. For daydreamers who are full of their own fantasies and for true optimists who think that everything will straighten itself out, postalgia may be just an emotional experience. Work organizations however, are usually inhabited by more restless characters that attempt to make their future dreams come true. Postalgia may then become a political activity as well. An analysis of the role and use of postalgia in the context of internally disputed organizational change will help to reveal postalgic discourse as a rhetorical strategy and bring out some clear differences between postalgia and nostalgia as well. The appropriation of the present Nostalgia and postalgia can be seen as part of a political fencing between supporters and opponents of the status quo within an organization, pointedly summarized by Bate (1997) as a struggle between “the elders” who “claim timeless validity for their way of life and struggle to maintain this by pursuing defensive, stability oriented strategies” and their opponents, “the champions of change, the young Turks, disrespectful of authority and indifferent about history, hell-bent on the pursuit of offensive strategies that will bring down the old regime” (in Parker, 2000, p. 199). Following this line of thought, narrating a romantic past can be interpreted as a discursive strategy to

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oppose organizational neophilia, whereas prophesizing a fine future may well be an attempt to win consent for change. In three different case studies Parker (2000) found the use of similar generational identities. Although all organization members felt they had the best interests of the organization at heart, they had divergent understandings about the organization’s future that were intimately related to the value they placed on its past. The older groups that had been with the organization for some time often held positions of power, but were less likely to have formal qualifications (and were thus keen to stress that their years of experience were an asset that could not be gained through college or shorter tenure within the organization). The essential component of their identification was a certain nostalgia for a time when things were more certain and when there was a sense of community and a pride in a job well done. Current changes were distrusted, often indicated by measured criticism or lukewarm praise and occasionally by open hostility to the change agents. New people were in danger of sweeping tried and tested values and practices away. Tactically opposed to this nostalgia was a new “generational identity” that tended to celebrate change. Younger, formally qualified, businesslike professionals were trying to introduce new practices or a new policy and reversed the praising rhetoric about the past. In a lenient mood they would pay lip service to historical attainments, to maintain just as well that yesterday’s solutions would not work today and innovation was inevitable all the same, due to the supposed demands of a newly turbulent marketplace. Those who fearfully clung to past attainments imprisoned themselves in history. Quoting a young manager (Parker, 2000 p. 178): “If you don’t gear up to change, you’re going to get left behind”. The new, middle-aged managers and young professionals within the organization of the Efteling had a similar way of thinking. Selected from outside the organization (and outside the local region) they introduced a commercially oriented pragmatism within the company by advocating managerial values like cost-consciousness, return on investment and further growth in order to be able to compete with Euro Disney. This new-style management was aimed to turn the corporation into a more professionally led, financially healthy enterprise. In line with these economic-instrumental concerns they were not so much proud of the glorious past of the amusement park, as of the record-breaking number of visitors of coming years. For them the Efteling was not a fairy tale. It was leisure industry. These and similar case studies by Laurila (1997), Strangleman (1999) and Ybema (2004) describe situations in which the champions of organizational change - the avant-garde, the onrushing youth, ambitious managers, consultants or politicians – have to compete against vested interests, entrenched habits and prevailing views, that is, against a world that bears the stamp of former generations. To counter the elders’ appropriation of the past they plan a future that is stamped with their own ideas and ideals. The political question that is under negotiation remains the same: who is the “proprietor” of the present? Enlightened vision versus romantic revolt In addition to aforementioned similarities, the case analyses help to appreciate some fundamental differences between organizational nostalgia and managerial postalgia in emotive tone and cultural content. In these cases internal conflicts over organizational

change involve emotional eruptions from the organizational underlife colliding with the pragmatic idealism and economic rationality of the managerial upperlife. In opposition to formal change plans based on businesslike arguments introduced by new managers or professionals, older generations cast their ideas and ideals in colorful stories of the pioneering days, told with a touch of comedy and tragedy. Apparently, the emotional make-up of postalgia is quite different from the rather contemplative, romantic undertone of nostalgia. Underlife and upperlife are worlds apart in many respects, one being a difference in temporal orientation. The essential difference between prospect and retrospect is implied in the cliche´-image of the future as patches of fog in a crystal ball – we look into it expectantly, not knowing, waiting for a fortune-teller’s interpretation. The future arouses curiosity, but, although one would think it to be the perfect haven for unbridled fantasy making, it does not stir our imagination as much as the past. Psychological experiments reveal a certain unwillingness or inability of the human mind when asked to look forward in time in contrast with the creativity that is unbottled when looking back. For example, when we are shown a picture of rolling oranges in a supermarket, we easily think up a cause – a woman who took an orange at the bottom of the pile – and insist later on we actually saw her doing that, whereas our mind does not claim to have seen the consequence – rolling oranges – when we only saw the cause – a woman taking that orange (Hannigan and Reinitz, 2001). Weick (1979) has described similar experiments demonstrating that people are likely to put in less variety, detail and emotion when asked to describe an imaginary event that is going to happen, than in their narration of an imaginary event that already took place. Being future-oriented organizational change management has had to cope with the elusiveness of a future world and the deficiency of human imagination. It has aimed to do this by following either rational or normative strategies (Barley and Kunda, 1992). Normative control theories usually suggest that a good leader tries to inspire his followers and instill faith in a better future by emphasizing Utopian goals (e.g. Gabriel and Hirschhorn, 1999, pp. 139, 141). Inspirational rhetoric of change management is a matter of myth making that portrays the process of changing as a heroic adventure and the “change masters” as heroes. Depicting the future as an alluring prospect, a moral calling or a challenging ordeal lends enchantment to present-day plans and may instigate people to deliver a top performance. Postalgic dreams are used as a means of motivating and solidarizing the workers, as they seem to evoke a certain eagerness. A nostalgic memory of a golden age invites people to contemplative reflection, whereas a prospect for a golden future pushes people into willing action, for an enchanted past is something to be missed or cherished, while an inviting future still needs to be conquered. Postalgia becomes even more different from nostalgia in the rhetoric of rational control that cultivates the thought of a future that can be organized, tamed, regulated, planned and controlled. While the promise of a mountain of gold should inspire to go uphill, a formalized change plan tries to describe the route to reach the summit. Organizational change agents often choose not to be fanciful storytellers or visionary leaders and rather resort to “facts and figures”, planning manuals, clear objectives, a formalized timetable and the like. It is the talk of the technocrats of planning and design that is dominant in many corporations. It lends legitimacy to change-policies by rationalizing the objectives and the process of change, that is, by introducing

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forward-planning systems, detailed plans and so on, and by propagating a rationalized ideal of the organization as a reliable, efficient machine, a Utopian future that is marketed as a “common purpose” in order to grow commitment and obedience. The emotional and cultural make-up of nostalgia and postalgia may thus be markedly different in at least three respects: managerial postalgia seems to be an activating force in organizing change (accelerating, energizing, expansive, form-giving), while nostalgia is a more slowed-down, reactive force (reconsidering, countervailing, taming, remedial); postalgic desires may be moulded in rational, purposive notions of planned change and corporate strategy (and may thus be analytical, formalized, de-emotionalized), whereas nostalgia is more likely to be expressed in boast and romance about “the good old days” (and be more emotive, narrative, contemplative); and, finally, the underlying feelings differ. Although the future may be as desirable and distressful as the past and both may become the object of a painful yearning, postalgia lacks the aching bitter-sweet quality of nostalgia. The dark and the bright side of unfulfilled (and maybe unfulfillable) dreams about the future are not bitter sorrow and sweet consolation, but apprehension and anticipation, pessimism and optimism, anxiety and hope. Apparently, the temporal orientation, i.e. looking forward or backward in time, may in itself generate or reinforce a cognitive bias or emotive inclination, with the past stimulating imaginative, detailed, romantic and dolorous descriptions and an unknown and uncertain future rather engendering progressivist, rationalized thinking and instrumental mastery.

Conclusion and discussion The argument implied in this article is that time is a tacit resource “to be drawn on in a speaker’s ongoing discursive work, in order, for example, to present an identity, establish a truth or defend an interest” (Taylor and Wetherall, 1999, p. 39). Past, present and future are imaginatively apprehended and reflectively (re)constructed in colorful stories, rational plans, critical comments, etc. Organizational actors may draw on temporal reference points in various ways and for different reasons. The analysis in this article focuses on the role of temporal talk that cultivates discontinuities by outlining the past or the future against the present. A desirous identification with a beautified past or future and a critical counter-identification with present-day developments put different periods or points in time in opposition to each other. The resulting contrasts between past and present and between future and present can be seen as an expression of either nostalgic or “postalgic” desires and anxieties. The temporal home base of nostalgia and postalgia is, ultimately, the present. The future – as well as the past – serves as a projection screen of present-day concerns and desires (Adam et al., 2002). Therefore, representations of the before and after are a reflection of, and indirect comment on, the present and thus inform us about the discontents of today, rather than about the contents of yesterday or tomorrow (see Cohen, 1985; Gabriel, 1993) – the past and the future are invoked to infuse the present with new value, meaning and direction. These temporal infusions constitute an “extended present” (see Nowotny, 1994), i.e. a future or past that is made present in recollection and anticipation (Koselleck, 1979) in which chosen solutions for present-day problems are understood and brought home to others through images of former or coming times.

The concepts of nostalgia and postalgia may help to appreciate emotional aspects of internal change politics by demonstrating how desires and anxieties may guide our talking and acting in relation to organizational change. In holding up the past as an example worthy of imitation, nostalgia can be interpreted as a rhetorical strategy to advocate a (re)continuation of former policies or practices. Future times, on the other hand, are annexed by organizational change agents in order to win consent for change by holding out a promising prospect (and a dark alternative if plans fail to materialize). The future-oriented excitement and anxiety that moves managers to conquer a new market, launch a new campaign, instigate change etc. may remind us of a lover-boy who is anxiously looking forward to meet his sweetheart. However, in order not to look like a lover-boy, the manager’s heart is managed and his desire for a bright future is moulded in formalized, detailed, rationalized plans. The apparent rationality of teleological thinking in terms of strategies, planning, missions, forecasts etc., then becomes challenged by a counter-image of organizational change management as a converse nostalgic desire for and ambition to bring about a Utopian future. The irony of comparing managerial sense making with “telling stories of the good old days” brackets the seriousness of the managed organization, while drawing attention to the underlying psychology and politics. By portraying postalgia as an emotive trigger and a rhetorical strategy of rationally planned change and nostalgia as the emotional response and subtle opposition to the selfsame change policies, the assumption is that these temporal frames are discursively deployed in situations of internal contestation over organizational change. An exploration of temporal talk in different organizational settings may help to further develop a contextualized understanding of temporal discourse. There are various organization studies adopting a similar perspective on temporal discourse that describe different and sometimes even opposite patterns in the organizational actors’ constructions of past, present and future. A comparison between case studies may help to acknowledge the specificity of the patterns described in this paper and give some first directions for a situational understanding of the different ways in which the past, present and future are invoked by organizational actors. Postalgia has been narrowly portrayed as a central characteristic of change-oriented management, just as nostalgia has been described as a weapon of the weak, as if nostalgic emotions or nostalgic politics are alien to powerful change agents and less-powerful organizational members may not be inspired by Utopian futures. If modern management is as change-oriented as it is prescribed to be, the postalgia-nostalgia dialectic could indeed be typical of temporal talk in organizations today. Yet, occasionally, we might come across managers adhering to long-lived traditions or clinging to vested interests (see, e.g. Jackall, 1988) and nostalgia may then serve to defend a strong orthodoxy and keep the ambitions of change-oriented newcomers at bay. Moreover, more reform-minded managers and policy makers may also deploy nostalgia as a proactive, change-directed discourse, rather than as a reactionary force, as Strangleman (1999) demonstrates in his case study of British Rail. In order to gain support from a rather reluctant work force the great era of the railways is embraced to provide a model for the future; a retro-strategy that, in addition to the “reflective nostalgia” discussed in this article, could be described as “restorative nostalgia” (rather than as “reflective nostalgia”) (Boym, 2001) as it

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postalgically proclaims an ambitious restoration. Apparently, history can serve management objectives as well (see Carson and Carson, 2003). In nostalgic and postalgic discourse a violent contrast is created by setting up the past or the future against the present. Other studies have described discursive practices in which a more peaceful or appeasing temporal continuity is presented (Boden, 1997; Forray and Woodilla, 2002; Paaluma¨ki, 2000). Whereas the temporal contrast model is adopted to instigate or oppose organizational change, a temporal continuity model serves to organize day-to-day work activities and to establish routine (Boden, 1997; Forray and Woodilla, 2002), or, in the case described by Paaluma¨ki (2000), to celebrate the present performance of the organization as a continuation of a cherished tradition that is bound to bring a bright future (constructing an image of historical continuity even in the face of radical change). It appears that in these case studies the present is to be preserved, nourished and safeguarded, rather than moulded into an idealized past or future. So, while the construction of temporal discontinuity immanent in nostalgic and postalgic talk seems to be linked to the emotional and political turbulence of organizational transformations, temporal continuity is constructed to routinize (rather than change) organizational practices or to express contentment with (rather than criticize) present-day developments. Apart from the patterns of temporal contrast (the nostalgia-postalgia antagonism) and temporal continuity, other patterns could also be considered. One could think of organizations where members have a joint aspiration for a better future or a shared longing for a golden past; that is, when either postalgia or nostalgia is the one salient emotion within an organization, or, more generally, when either “prospection” or retrospection is the dominant temporal orientation. A comparison between case studies of two newspapers’ editorial staffs (Ybema, 2004) shows that the editors of both newspapers displayed a mixture of nostalgic and postalgic feelings, but the primary temporal orientation of the two editorial staffs went in an opposite direction. A detailed analysis should answer the question when organization members adopt a backward- or forward-looking orientation. In order to seek a better understanding of processes of organizational change and continuation, the symbolic construction of a collective history or a common destiny through temporal discourse deserves scrutiny. Comparative analyses between studies that focus on temporal sense making could help answer questions such as: under what circumstances do organizational members experience or express historical continuity or discontinuity? In which situations do they find refuge in soothing memories of a glorious past? Or: when do they seek solace or inspiration in new expectations rather than old experiences? References Albert, S. (1977), “Temporal comparison theory”, Psychological Review, Vol. 84 No. 6, pp. 485-503. Alvesson, M. (2002), Understanding Organizational Culture, Sage, London. Ashforth, B.E. and Humphrey, R.H. (1995), “Emotions in the workplace: a reappraisal”, Human Relations, Vol. 48 No. 2, pp. 97-125. Adam, B., Whipp, R. and Sabelis, I. (2002), “Choreographing time and management: traditions, developments, and opportunities”, in Whipp, R., Adam, B. and Sabelis, I. (Eds), Making Time. Time and Management in Modern Organizations, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 1-28.

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Note from the publisher 1. Management journals and more: Emerald Management Xtra launches in 2005 For 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited will be launching the world’s largest collection of peer-reviewed business and management journals, Emerald Management Xtra. As well as more than 100 research journals, the Emerald Management Xtra collection also features independent reviews of papers published in 300 of the world’s major English language business journals, plus a newly developed range of online support services for researchers, teaching faculty, academic authors and others. Emerald Management Xtra will be sold on subscription, primarily to libraries serving business schools and management departments, with online access to research papers and faculty services networked throughout an institution. Designed in consultation with an international working group of business academics, Emerald Management Xtra is intended to consolidate the library’s position at the heart of a university’s research and information needs. In addition to nearly 40,000 research papers published by Emerald journals over the past ten years, Emerald Management Xtra features help for aspiring authors of scholarly papers, advice on research funding, reading lists and lecture plans for academic teaching faculty, and an online management magazine for business students and teachers. An online, moderated information exchange will also allow interaction with other researchers internationally. 2. Helping academic institutions and business schools perform better Input and advice from heads of research and deans and directors of business schools have helped focus Emerald Management Xtra on academic productivity improvement and time-saving, which is seen as particularly useful given the increasing pressures on academic time today. Building on the success of the Emerald FullText collection, available in more than 1,000 business schools and universities worldwide, Emerald Management Xtra puts the latest thinking, research and ideas at users’ fingertips. “Already, 95 of the FT Top 100 business schools in the world subscribe to Emerald journals or the Emerald Fulltext collection,” said John Peters, editorial director of Emerald. “We will find over the coming years that Emerald Management Xtra will be an essential part of any credible business school or management faculty. You can’t get all Emerald management and library information journals in full and in their current volumes from anywhere else; you can’t get the support services we offer to faculty and the academic community anywhere else. We can even help you plan your conference travel through the world’s largest independent register of academic conferences in business and management, Conference Central. We developed Emerald Management Xtra by asking academics, librarians and directors around the world what their biggest challenges were, we then put solutions in place to address them.”

Journal of Managerial Psychology Vol. 19 No. 8, 2004 pp. 842-843 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0268-3946

3. Integrated search and publishing innovation An important part of the Emerald Management Xtra collection is an integrated search facility of Emerald-published papers with Emerald Management Reviews, which

features nearly 300,000 independently written summary abstracts from a further 300 of the world’s top business and management journals. This allows quick and easy summary of the relevant management literature. From 2005, both Emerald journals and Emerald Management Reviews will feature Structured Abstracts. A first in management publishing, structured abstracts provide a consistent structured summary of a paper’s aims, methodology and content. Used successfully in many medical and scientific journals, structured abstracts allow a quicker assessment of an article’s content and relevance, thus saving researchers time and effort. 4. Value Emerald is already recognised as a world leader in offering value for money from its online collections. Research undertaken by a large US library purchasing consortium showed that the Emerald portfolio was “best value” of any publisher collection, based on the ratio of usage and downloads to subscription price. Unlike most other publishers, the Emerald Management Xtra portfolio is entirely subject-specific – focusing just on business and management (whereas other publisher collections contain a diverse range of subjects in sciences, social sciences, arts and so on). This means that Emerald Management Xtra gives superb value to business schools and management departments, with no subject redundancy. 5. Emerald Group Publishing Limited Established for more than 30 years, Emerald Group Publishing has its headquarters in the north of England, with sales offices in the USA, Malaysia, Australia and Japan. Emerald was founded as Management Consultants Bradford, later MCB University Press, as a spin-off from the University of Bradford business school, by faculty and alumni, and has maintained a tradition of having academics, former and current, as key decision-makers and advisers. Emerald journals are almost exclusively international in scope, with around 75 per cent of all authors coming from outside the UK. More than 100 of the Emerald Management Xtra journals collection are traditionally peer-reviewed. The Emerald Management Xtra journals collection is completed by a small number of secondary digest titles and practitioner-focused magazine titles. Emerald Management Xtra includes long-established titles such as the European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Documentation, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Management Decision, Personnel Review, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, and the Journal of Consumer Marketing. Emerald Management Xtra is available now. For further information, contact: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Toller Lane, Bradford BD8 9BY England, Tel: +44 1274 777700; E-mail: [email protected] Rebecca Marsh Head of Editorial

Note from the publisher

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