ORCID Profile
0000-0001-5916-3822
Current Organisation
University of Technology Sydney
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2010
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 16-05-2022
Abstract: Managers are increasingly presented with complex, ambiguous decision problems that affect multiple stakeholder groups. Such problems cannot be tackled solely by classical approaches that prescribe rational methods to weigh evidence and select an optimal course of action. Yet most courses on decision making still focus on these methods. This paper draws attention to the complementary nature of rational decision making and sensemaking techniques in management decision making, and describes a practical pedagogy that demonstrates how the two can be integrated into management curricula. Based on an in-depth review of relevant research, the authors propose a conceptual model that highlights the complementary nature of rational and sensemaking methods for making decisions relating to complex and ambiguous problems. They then describe a course on decision making as an illustration of how the model can inform decision making pedagogy. Decision makers need to think of their decision problems in terms of two distinct types of uncertainty: those for which uncertainty can be quantified and those for which it cannot. When faced with the latter, decisions are best made by working with relevant stakeholders to collectively frame the problem using practical sensemaking tools prior to applying rational decision making techniques to address it. Decision making under ambiguity is an iterative, social process requiring a combination of rational decision making methods and sensemaking techniques. The paper seeks to increase awareness about the complementary nature of sensemaking and rational decision making. It emphasizes the need to integrate the two in management curricula and provides details on how this can be done via an ex le of a course implemented at an Australian Business School. The techniques described will also be of interest to practitioners. The paper describes a practical pedagogy that blends rational decision making and collective sensemaking techniques in a way that fosters managers’ decision making skills in contexts characterized by ambiguity.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 20-02-2009
DOI: 10.1108/17554250910948695
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to provide a clearer picture of the nature of power imbalance in client‐consultant teams, which has negative consequences for the development and implementation of consultants' recommendations, and to outline ways how to avoid such an imbalance in the first instance. This is an empirical paper based on in‐depth semi‐structured interviews with clients and consultants from the strategic consulting sector in Australia. Taking a differentiated look at the roles and responsibilities of members of client‐consultant teams, the authors propose that power within client‐consultant teams is multidimensional and the outcome of the interplay of its different forms is not predictable. It is further argued that a power balance is crucial for achieving better results from consulting projects. The findings are not generalizable, due to the small s le and the focus on strategic consulting. The results encourage further research in different types of consulting projects as well as studies based on observation of client‐consultant interactions. The paper highlights the main points of concern for managers and consultants and provides some suggestions on how to achieve a balanced relationship. This paper's major contribution is in providing deeper insight into a hitherto underexplored issue of client‐consultant interactions: the contested nature of power in client‐consultant teams and the reasons and outcomes of power imbalance.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2008
DOI: 10.2139/SSRN.1282047
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: 29-03-2012
Publisher: Academy of Management
Date: 08-2019
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 14-06-2017
Abstract: Service-learning has gained strong interest among educators as a model of experiential education through community engagement. Its potential to contribute to multiple stakeholders, including students, community partners, faculty, and university, is well recognized. While research has focused on elements of this teaching model that contribute to the realization of student-related benefits, there has been less emphasis on what aspects enable the creation of shared value to other stakeholders. We describe a postgraduate, elective management consulting course based on service-learning pedagogy, which has been running for 10 years at the University of Technology Sydney Business School leading to the completion of 75 community projects to date, and evaluate how it creates shared value to multiple stakeholders. We identify four main elements of the course that enable it to deliver value to multiple stakeholders: a dedicated role of client engagement coordinator, a coaching program involving industry experts, student autonomy, and authentic assessments. The main challenges in continuously providing value to all involved parties are developing focused and realistic project briefs, managing students’ commitment and differences in students’ skills, and recruiting industry coaches.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2015
Publisher: Academy of Management
Date: 03-2021
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 19-12-2020
Publisher: Human Kinetics
Date: 09-2020
Abstract: During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Australian professional sport leagues were impacted by temporary league shutdowns. One ex le is the Suncorp Super Netball, the world’s premier netball competition. This commentary paper explores the Suncorp Super Netball league shutdown from the perspective of the players. Our commentary has emerged from an ongoing ethnographic study supported by interviews with two players (a representative on the players association and a club captain) conducted during the league shutdown. Such a shutdown was the first in the history of the league, and it required an unprecedented response, coordinated by interdependent stakeholders. The authors outlined the importance of stakeholder communication in effectively navigating this extraordinary situation. In addition, the authors discussed the usefulness of technology-as-context for teamwork and leadership, given the limitations on physical interaction and geographical separation. In conclusion, the authors proposed recommendations for sport practitioners and potential research directions resulting from the coronavirus-related league shutdown.
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Date: 2008
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2021
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Date: 31-10-2012
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Date: 2008
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Date: 2008
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-2018
DOI: 10.1002/BSE.2065
Publisher: Academy of Management
Date: 08-2008
Publisher: Academy of Management
Date: 07-2012
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2009
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 03-2005
DOI: 10.1017/S1833367200004284
Abstract: This paper addresses the issue of services outsourcing by looking at both theoretical and empirical arguments. Previous debates have often concentrated on the motives for adopting the practice rather than the outcomes. These various themes can be discussed under the twin concepts of the cost and efficiency argument and the fashion and isomorphism approach. Our research provides strong evidence to support the cost efficiency argument. On average, significant cost advantages were sought and delivered, as well as improvements in service levels and systems. Many organisations in the current environment in Australia look at outsourcing not only as a method of increasing efficiency but also as gaining competitive advantage through harnessing the superior specialist skills and experience of the outsourcing provider who takes someone's back office function and transforms them into their front office. A 10% net cost saving was considered necessary by an organisation before embarking on an organisational change that was disruptive and in some cases involved downside risks. Even if other efficiency gains such as service levels or systems improvements were required, so were 10%+ cost savings. A number of the organisations thought their skills in managing outsourcing had improved considerably such that they were in a position to move from a client/server relationship to a partnership model (i.e. an alliance).
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 28-06-2016
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Date: 2008
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2022
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 20-01-2017
DOI: 10.1093/JPO/JOW013
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-10-2021
DOI: 10.1111/JPIM.12599
Abstract: Implementing design thinking for innovation (DTI) is seen as a way to balance exploration and exploitation, and thus attain an ambidextrous innovation portfolio. Yet, transitioning to ambidexterity is challenging, and is often met with inertia. So how can managers implement DTI as a path toward ambidextrous innovation? In this article, based on an in‐depth longitudinal case study of a leading Australian property development firm and drawing on rich primary and secondary data collected over four years, we examine how middle managers leveraged DTI to respond to inertia generatively, and how this process helped shift the cognitive frame of the organization toward ambidexterity. In our case, the middle manager implemented three DTI practices—(1) creative problem‐solving, (2) sprint execution, and (3) creative confidence— to transition the organization's cognitive frame from an explorative to exploitative, to ultimately an ambidextrous innovation frame. Our argument is that these DTI practices trigger three generative mechanisms—frame flexibility, co‐optation, and collective sensemaking—to support this transition. Drawing on these insights, we develop a process framework of how different DT practices and related generative mechanisms can be deployed flexibly to adapt to the interim (explorative and exploitative) innovation objectives over time. We argue that freezing the innovation frame in each phase can trigger a generative response to inertia, which enables the organization to transition more radically to an ambidextrous innovation portfolio. We thus contribute to the limited design thinking research on the role of cognition in DTI implementation, and more generally to innovation management and ambidexterity research on how leveraging DTI to achieve an ambidextrous innovation portfolio is an emergent and adaptive process.
Publisher: Academy of Management
Date: 03-08-2202
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Date: 2007
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: 16-01-2020
DOI: 10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780198827115.013.20
Abstract: This chapter explores the identity implications for people who inhabit the liquid world of organizations. It draws upon Zygmunt Bauman’s notion of liquid modernity and suggests that traditional conceptions may constrain new ways of thinking about identity and identity tensions in increasingly liquidly modern organizational contexts. The authors focus on literature that discusses identity tensions in the workplace and the responses of in iduals as they seek to negotiate and/or manage these tensions. In so doing, the authors draw attention to how the nature of liquid modernity challenges existing conceptions of identity work and raise issues and questions for further research.
Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
Date: 2008
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 03-2005
Abstract: This paper addresses the issue of services outsourcing by looking at both theoretical and empirical arguments. Previous debates have often concentrated on the motives for adopting the practice rather than the outcomes. These various themes can be discussed under the twin concepts of the cost and efficiency argument and the fashion and isomorphism approach. Our research provides strong evidence to support the cost efficiency argument. On average, significant cost advantages were sought and delivered, as well as improvements in service levels and systems. Many organisations in the current environment in Australia look at outsourcing not only as a method of increasing efficiency but also as gaining competitive advantage through harnessing the superior specialist skills and experience of the outsourcing provider who takes someone's back office function and transforms them into their front office. A 10% net cost saving was considered necessary by an organisation before embarking on an organisational change that was disruptive and in some cases involved downside risks. Even if other efficiency gains such as service levels or systems improvements were required, so were 10%+ cost savings. A number of the organisations thought their skills in managing outsourcing had improved considerably such that they were in a position to move from a client/server relationship to a partnership model (i.e. an alliance).
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.2139/SSRN.2781347
Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Date: 2020
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 31-08-2022
Location: Germany
No related grants have been discovered for Natalia Nikolova.