Article review: Micro-moments, choice and responsibility in sustainable organizational change and transformation: The Janus dialectic.
The authors are forthright in stating the purpose of the paper as to examine and elaborate the crucial role in organizations of micro-moments in organizational transformation process. This objective of the paper is clearly reviewed across the paper as the author seeks to justify the implications to the sustainability of an organization during the change process. It is pertinent to note that the title of the article fails to acknowledge the center of the implications of the change process which the author claims to be the behavior exhibited across an organization. Both authors have a broad research scope with each having authored more than ten publications in areas ranging from project management to corporate social responsibility. Their wide knowledge on the social sciences provides them a basis to use the two headed Janus as their elaborate the implications of micro moments to macro-situation. The introduction fails to provide adequate background information as well as a clear definition of the objective of the article.
The research design adopted in the article is the use of participant’s observation. This approach allows the participant to interpret the changes in the sustainability of an organization in relation to the micro moments. This allows for biases in the data obtained since the perceptions of the participants are dependent on human mentality as well as cultural differences. However, from this approach the study revealed that there was a strong relationship between the sustainability of an organization to the micro-moments which are pertinent in the definition of the macro-events. The metaphor of Janus is successfully used in the elaboration of the findings. In his other works peter stokes has adopted both interpretive and inductive approach to research. The use of semi-structured interviews, as well as, participant observation seems to be the most preferred approach towards data collection ( Moore,& Stokes, 2012).
The attitudes, mindsets and values of the elements in an organization play a critical role in the transformation process of an organization. The micro-moment in an organization can be defined as independent occurrences that define the interactions across the entity. The article insists that these interactions should be consistent with the values as well as organizational principles. This will ensure that the processes of organizational change are aligned to the expectation. The authors provide a concrete link between the different macro levels and the ethical framework of organizations. This elaboration is pertinent in the construction of the macro-behavior of an organization. Behavioral control should be achieved at the micro level to ensure consistency at the macro level. Using the roman mythology to elaborate the significance of micro moments to the overall sustainability of an organizations transformation process draws the relativistic laws into perspective. Moreover, this analogy is instrumental in clarification of the proximity of the contrasting aspects of sustainability or otherwise (Stokes & Harris, 2012).
Irrelevancies
The in-depth description of the roman mythology of Janus as a two headed being is irrelevant and redundant since it is mentioned twice in the article. The authors failed to elaborate the role of the vehicle of vignettes. Moreover, this word is not defined clearly in relation of to the article leaving the reader to draw some unnecessary assumptions. The authors fail to develop a systematic research approach where the hypothesis is clearly indicated before it is tested. They assume that the leader will understand their longitudinal interpretive approach. The secondary sources used in the article are instrumental in providing a solid basis of argument.
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