Journal articles on the topic 'Silo organisationnel'

Subject area Organisational Development, Organisational Behaviour, Leadership Change. Study level/applicability Master of Business Administration, postgraduate studies, middle or senior managers on open programmes. Case overview The case focuses on the dilemma that Douglas Lines, Nedbank’s Divisional Executive for Strategic Business Unit, South Africa, faced when a new sense of urgency was required to cultivate a culture of collaboration in Nedbank to overcome their silo-mentality. Expected learning outcomes Examine the current and recommend the preferred culture of Nedbank to enable collaboration; critically analyse and evaluate the suitability of the current structure recommend restructuring; insight into how contextual leadership contributes to collaboration in organisations; present judgement of strategies in initiating and enhancing collaboration to overcome silo-mentality. Supplementary materials A DVD is available with link and password. Teaching Plan and slides are available. The four learning outcomes are posed as questions for groups to discuss and model answers are provided as well as linking them to relevant literature. Subject code CSS 7: Management Science.

Abstract Background & orientation: The existence of silo mentality has direct effect on the business model used by any ITC company. Its contribution slows service delivery whilst increasing customer’s despondency. However mitigation could help overcome barriers within divisions, improve customer experience and increase productivity. But when different units as components of a company fail to integrate, collaborate and work together to achieve a common objective goal, not only are performances affected but also operations at all levels. A business model canvas can help determine how a company intends to create value for customers whilst it makes money. Thus deliverance of an effective value proposition for efficient customer needs, can be affected through silos. Purpose: This study explore the effects of silo mentality within an ITC company (at organisational level) using the 9 elements of the business model canvas as framework. Methodology and research questions: As an exploratory study qualitative methods were used where in-depth interview questions looked at how silo mentality within the organisation affects the core business model elements and why. Twelve participants were selected from an enterprise business unit through a convenience sampling method. Content analysis helped with the development of core themes that looked at the how silos affect each element (process) and why (meaning). Findings: Silo mentality affects not only the individuals but team, products, value proposition, relations with partners, customers, stakeholders. Thus undermines internal capabilities and key resources. Absence of teamwork within the divisions leads to conflicts which delays achievements of common goals. Bottlenecks affect inter-divisional progress and relations, customer output and relations and compromise the quality of service. Implications: Silo mentality is a bottleneck that not only weakens firms’ capabilities and growth potential but destroys any value created by the firm.

<p>The Porto Metropolitan Area (Área Metropolitana do Porto, AMP) is a framework of cooperation between 17 municipalities and several districts. This metropolitan area has a specific, inter-municipal model of urban governance. In our research, we found that cooperation is significant mainly in sectors where the central legislature has essentially made this mandatory, by designing the AMP and defining its powers. In addition to AMP, only partial cooperation has been established in the field of waste management, and in the field of human public services and in the performance of public authority, there is essentially a set of autonomous organisational solutions. However, despite all this fragmentation, the above system ensures the satisfactory functioning of the metropolitan agglomeration. This also underlines the importance of transport management in urban areas, since this functioning system is based on an integrated and intermodal transport system</p>

Municipalities have been operating without the unit or departmental strategic plans aligned to the Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). This has led to the fragmentation of their organograms or structures. The resultant to silo-ed organisational structures are characterised by inefficiency and ineptitude caused by cadre deployment, which has directly paralysed service delivery. The primary purpose of this study was to reveal the root causes of poor customer service and delivery in municipalities by interrogating the eThekwini Municipality’s Regional Centres Unit operational activities. A qualitative case study research method was employed in this study. Data was collected through indepth interviews with a population size of 56 employees, as well as through focus groups constituted of 24 employees. A notable finding of this study was the unavailability of the approved unit’s strategic plan which has resulted to the unaligned silo-ed structure, and unclear roles and responsibilities; and ineptitude of employees. The unaligned and silo-ed structures to the approved strategic plan within eThekwini Municipality’s Regional Centres Unit have the potential value add to the literature in public administration on the ways to detect the hidden municipal administrative bottlenecks in improving the efficiency, effectiveness and acceleration of the municipal services to its customers.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to argue that the future of social work can be situated as part of a fundamental shift towards co-located, multi-disciplinary practice and networking. It is argued that social work has a key role to play in co-located, multi-disciplinary child welfare practice, and indeed can be a leading profession in this context. Situating social work in this way involves re-conceptualising social work as a network profession, rather than a silo profession. The paper builds on an earlier study of five multi-professional, co-located teams updated with interviews with social workers currently situated in such co-located teams. An exploration of the role of social work in relation to child sexual exploitation is provided. Design/methodology/approach The first study was an ESRC-funded study and used a multi-method approach to understanding the work of five multi-disciplinary, co-located teams working with children, young people and families (Frost and Robinson, 2016). Four co-located teams with eight social workers participated in the research. This was followed up by a small scale study involving semi-structured interviews with six social workers situated in co-located, multi-disciplinary teams. The focus of the study was on professional identity and working practices with other related professionals. Findings The ESRC study explored the complexity of co-located, multi-disciplinary professional teams – exploring how they worked together and analysing the challenges they face. Professionals felt that such working enhanced their learning, their skill base and the process of information sharing. Challenges included structural and organisational issues and differences in ideological and explanatory frameworks. The follow up study of six social workers found that they gained satisfaction from being situated in such co-located, multi-disciplinary teams, but also faced some identified challenges. Child sexual exploitation is explored as an example of the work of co-located, multi-disciplinary teams. Research limitations/implications Semi-structured interviews with social workers based in co-located, multi-disciplinary teams have provided valuable insights into the operation of social workers in such settings. It is acknowledged that all the interviews are with social workers in co-located settings and that further work is required on the views of other social workers in reference to their experiences and views in relation to multi-disciplinary working. Originality/value The paper brings together theoretical positions and policy contextual material with qualitative research data which situate the social worker in wider multi-disciplinary, co-located settings. Drawing on qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 14 social workers in such teams, the paper aims to contribute to an understanding and development of the future of the social work role in these contexts, arguing that this is fundamental to the future of social work.

Can an integrated territorial approach successfully do away with the silo structure that marks public action through the hybridisation of sectoral logics? Drawing from various strands of research, as well as an assessment of multiple studies on the impact of integrated territorial approaches on local social development, this article develops an analytical framework to address this question. We argue that integration takes place according to four regimes, whose dynamics range from the simple juxtaposition of sectoral organisations to a hybridisation of their organisational logics. The regimes we identify are operational networking, interstitial effervescence, collaborative accommodation and institutional convergence. Each emerges from an interaction between the specific dynamics of each experience in a given milieu and supra-local socio-institutional processes, which generate new ways of conceiving and organising the coordination of public and collective action at the local level. Points for practitioners This article puts into perspective the virtues of the integrated approach as an antidote to public administration silos. An integrated approach to local action only produces the expected effects if each public agency agrees to transform its organisational culture and to direct its action according to the evolution of local ecosystem processes of change in the milieu as a whole.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a digital tool in an English county striving towards a vision of integrated information that is used to underpin an increasingly integrated future of health and social care delivery. Design/methodology/approach It discusses the policy context nationally, the origins and implementation of the initiative, the authors’ experiences and viewpoint highlighting key challenges and learning, as well as examples of new work undertaken. Findings In all, 12 health and care organisations have participated in this project. The ability for local commissioners and providers of services to now understand “flow” both between and within services at a granular level is unique. Costs are modest, and the opportunities for refining and better targeting as well as validating services are significant, thus demonstrating a return on investment. Key learning includes how organisational development was equally as important as the implementation of innovative new software, that change management from grass roots to strategic leaders is vital, and that the whole system is greater than the sum of its otherwise in-silo parts. Practical implications Data linkage initiatives, whether local, regional or national in scale, need to be programme managed. A robust governance and accountability framework must be in place to realise the benefits of such as a solution, and IT infrastructure is paramount. Social implications Organisational development, collaborative as well as distributed leadership, and managing a change in culture towards health and care information is critical in order to create a supportive environment that fosters learning across organisational boundaries. Originality/value This paper draws on the recent experience of achieving large-scale data integration across the boundaries of health and social care, to help plan and commission services more effectively. This rich, multi-agency intelligence has already begun to change the way in which the system considers service planning, and learning from this county’s approach may assist others considering similar initiatives.

RESUMENLos años 1880–1914 fueron de crecimiento institucional y de sistemática consolidación en el sector bancario inglés. A principios del siglo XIX se produjeron una serie de crisis que afectaron seriamente a los bancos de Inglaterra y Gales. Una de sus consecuencias fue generar preocupación sobre la liquidez de los bancos, planteándose simultáneamente interrogantes sobre la adecuada composición de los créditos al sector privado. El artículo examina los procedimientos utilizados por los bancos para minimizar los riesgos y estudia algunos aspectos de las prácticas crediticias que se aplicaron en las regiones más industrializadas de Gran Bretaña. En la primera parte se resume la organización y los métodos de control adoptados por las principales sociedades anónimas bancarias. La segunda presenta un esquema para la evaluación y seguimiento de los créditos. Y la tercera analiza las prácticas de los bancos en sus préstamos al sector industrial.

This single case study reports on the establishment of a multidisciplinary day care surgery at a Norwegian University Hospital utilising participating action research design principles drawn from sociotechnical theory. Data was collected through mixed methods including stakeholder analysis, document studies, observations of meetings, semi-structured interviews and participating group methods. The senior management at the hospital had decided to implement a department that diverged from organising around professional disciplines, and this decision evoked strong resistance among several professional groups in the first phases of this project. This case follows the implications of the decision to establish a multidisciplinary day care surgery through re-organising location, staff and management structures. The findings suggest that the hospital achieved the vision of creating an efficient multidisciplinary work environment, reducing the culture of tribalism between professions, and creating a work environment with a high degree of knowledge transfer. This case describes how action research can be used to reduce organisational silos and to improve multidisciplinary co-operation.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that defining how a change is to be planned and implemented is as important for its success as defining what the change is expected to achieve. Design/methodology/approach – All information is drawn from the questions asked and the challenges raised by the senior managers responsible for the transformation of their organisation. For this reason, their names and the name of their organisation have been withheld and the description of what the organisation does contains insufficient information to enable it to be easily identified. Findings – Lack of central support for the change activities had led to duplication of effort, implementing the change via a “silo” based mentality has led to a lack of cooperation across business units, poor recognition of the time and effort needed to implement change has led to competition between change activities and business as usual activities. Research limitations/implications – The information contained in this paper is from the perspective of an executive coach not working full time in the organisation, so who may be unaware of other initiatives in the organisation that may have contributed to the change effort. Practical implications – The conclusions drawn from this case study can be applied to any type of organisational change, in any industry and any size of organisation. Originality/value – The practical activities and lessons learned shared in this paper are based on author's experiences with an ongoing transformational change initiative.

THE SITUATION DESCRIBED by Stevens1 in the foregoing article is similar to that navigated by thousands of individuals in hospitals around Australia each day. Stevens has been able to identify gaps in communication, processes and timely availability of pertinent information which potentially put her health at risk. There is little doubt that her call for ?legible and enduring record systems accessible by appropriate people? (page 400) would be supported by most of the general community. Health information management is hugely complex, with large numbers of concepts and high rates of clinical knowledge change. Electronic health records (EHRs) are definitely not simple concepts that are solved by storing information in a relational database for use in a single organisational silo, but require the capture of the full breadth of health information in a manner that can be easily stored, retrieved in varying contexts, and searched. Then there is the additional and unique requirement of sharing this same information with a range of health care providers with differing foci, requirements, technical tools and term-sets. When you add in some of the other more lateral requirements such as medico-legal accountability, pooling data for public health research, and privacy, consent and authorisation for sharing sensitive health information, it becomes increasingly evident that health data management has no real equivalent in other industries. In order for shareable electronic health records to become ubiquitous, there are numerous building blocks that need to be in place ? appropriate levels of funding, legislative changes, consensus on a range of standards, stakeholder engagement, implementation of massive change management programs and so on, as outlined by Grain.2 Australia?s solution is the HealthConnect program ? a joint Commonwealth and state government initiative ? which is gradually identifying the required pieces, and laying them out in a systematic way to solve the e-health system puzzle.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise “Learning Jam” as a way of organising space, time and people through arts-based pedagogies in work-based learning. This form of encounter originated in Finland to challenge functional silo mentality by prioritising polyphony. Through the use of a “kaleidoscopic pedagogy”, arts-based initiatives are used to collectively and subjectively reconsider practice. Design/methodology/approach – The research design is grounded in one of a series of Learning Jams co-created by practitioners from the field of arts and arts-based consultancy and academics from the field of arts, arts education, innovation and management, learning and development. The focus was on exploring the value of each participants work-based learning practice through the lens of an Arts Value Matrix. Rancière’s critical theory was used to frame the exploration. The research questions asked; what are the ingredients of this creative, transformative learning space and in what ways can the polyphonic understandings that emerge in it impact on work-based learning? Findings – Findings of this study centre around alternative ways of being in a learning setting where we do not defer to the conventional figures of authority, but collectively explore ways of organising, where the main idea is to lean on something-which-is-not-yet. Research limitations/implications – A key research implication is that teaching in this context demands reflexive and dialogical capabilities for those who hold the role of organising and facilitating spaces for learning and transformation. The main limitation is in stopping short of fully articulating detailed aspects of these capabilities. Originality/value – The originality and value of the practice of Learning Jam is that managers and artists explore the potential of operating as partners to develop new ways of working to realise organisational change and innovation.

Harry considers his most important work was achieved in the last 2 years of his life as ‘Harry the Hospice Cat’. Situated in his sun spot in St Angela’s garden and then his window sill in the marketing office Harry ruminates over the micro-level marketing being undertaken by a hospice. Inspired by the death of a real-life hospice cat together with an ethnographic study of a hospice marketing team ‘Harry’s most important work’ is not a ‘tall tale’ but gives real insight into the challenges and battles involved in marketing work. Harry observes the demands made on St Angela’s to embrace digital advances and the struggles of nonprofit organisations to keep pace with new marketing practice. Observing the ‘goings on’ as well as the different ‘languages’ in a hospice, Harry highlights the very real tensions that arise from the difficult work being undertaken and analyses the organisational tensions which emerge when a marketing team strive to negotiate their legitimacy. From under the table in the chilly, white meeting room Harry tells the unique and important story about the ‘doing’ of very difficult marketing in the unusual context of a hospice. Harry’s story has implications for marketing education, practice and research as well as other animals who may feel a sense of responsibility to help humankind.

• A principios de este nuevo siglo, uno de los retos más importantes de las sociedades económicamente más avanzadas es la conciliación de la vida laboral con la familia. De hecho, los enormes cambios socio-demográfico- económicos de los últimos años han comportado la necesidad de reorganizar la estructura de las relaciones trabajo-familia. La integración de la conciliación de la vida laboral y familiar en la cultura empresarial responde no sólo a razones de carácter legal, sino sobre todo a razones de carácter organizativo/empresarial, presentándose como una seria y potente inversión en el capital humano. El objetivo de este trabajo es reflexionar sobre los posibles beneficios, tanto para las empresas como para las personas, de la introducción de medidas de conciliación en el ámbito de la cultura empresarial, ya que con las herramientas del management tradicional sólo se puede forzar a los individuos a ser obedientes y diligentes, pero no se Resumen puede conseguir que sean creativos, comprometidos, ilusionados y, sobre todo, leales y fieles al proyecto empresarial. Por tanto, la conciliación trabajo-familia podría representar el necesario esfuerzo hacía una tipología de humanismo empresarial en el cual la persona –en su totalidad– se transforme en elemento central y crucial de la actividad económica. • At the turn of the new century, one of the most important challenges in more economically advanced societies is reconciling work and family life. In fact, the enormous socioeconomic and demographic changes of recent years have led to a need to reorganise the structure of workfamily relationships. Integrating reconciliation of an individual’s working and family life in business culture responds not only to reasons of a legal nature, but above all to reasons of an organisational/entrepreneurial nature, and is held to be a serious and powerful investment in human capital. The aim of this study is to reflect on the potential benefits, both for businesses and individuals, of introducing reconciliation measures where corporate culture is concerned, since traditional management tools do nothing more than force individuals to be obedient and diligent, without getting them to be creative, committed, excited and above all, loyal and faithful to the business project. Therefore, reconciling work and family might represent the necessary effort towards achieving a type of corporate humanitarianism in which the individual is fully transformed into the crucial and central focus of economic activity.

El estudio de caso de SanCor Cooperativas Unidas Limitada es relevante por varios motivos. El primero, por la importancia económica y social que tiene en el sector lácteo nacional y en las localidades del interior donde radican sus plantas en las tres provincias más importantes de la Argentina: Santa Fe, Córdoba y Buenos Aires. En segundo lugar, constituye un ejemplo de un proceso organizacional evolutivo que atraviesa distintos estadios, nace como cooperativa de segundo grado y, luego de casi un siglo de existencia, se reconvierte en una cooperativa de primer grado, para terminar finalmente enajenando la casi totalidad de sus activos y gerenciamiento a otras empresas del sector. Tercero, su evolución comprueba una hipótesis planteada hace tiempo sobre el resultado de una de las dos opciones posibles de evolución que presentaban los tipos de Organizaciones Institucionales en Mutación en las tipologías cooperativas propuestas por Lattuada y Renold (2004). Finalmente, como actor destacado del desarrollo territorial local y regional que culmina en un escenario de crisis irreversible, y dada la envergadura alcanzada por la organización, el impacto de su desmembramiento, enajenación y cambio de naturaleza cooperativa, deja enseñanzas y abre numerosos interrogantes sobre sus efectos en la cadena de valor láctea y en el desarrollo de las comunidades donde se encuentra inserta. The case study of SanCor Cooperativas Unidas Limitada is relevant due to several reasons. First of all, SanCor Cooperativas Unidas Limitada has got a big economic and social importance in the national milk production sector as well as in provincial towns located in the three major Argentine provinces: Santa Fe, Córdoba and Buenos Aires. Secondly, it is an example of an evolving organisational process going through different degrees: emerging as a second-degree co-operative society, a century after, it becomes a first-degree co-operative society, and finally, it disposes of almost all of its assets as well as its management to other companies of the dairy sector. Thirdly, its evolution verifies a hyothesis that had been stated long time ago about the results of one of the two possible evolution choices which could be carried out by the types of Everchanging Institutional Organisations, according to the co-operative societies typologies proposed by Lattuada and Renold (2004). Lastly, as a leading actor of territorial development, it ends up with an irreversible crisis scenario. Due to the big size reached by this organisation, the impact of its breakup, its disposal and its change in its cooperative society nature, it teaches us some lessons, and poses numerous questions about its effects on the dairy value chain as well as on the local development of those communities where it is inserted.

RESUMEN:El presente documento está fundamentado en la teoría cognitiva social, que de acuerdo a Bandura (1986) dicha teoría presta especial atención a la interacción basada en una reciprocidad tríadica, la cual se refiere al comportamiento, aspectos personales y las influencias del ambiente o clima organizacional. Estos tres factores interactúan entre sí para determinar la forma en que la gente se va a comportar. La teoría se inserta en las organizaciones para que al crear el ambiente adecuado, ayudar a los empleados con su comportamiento y sus aspectos personales, los mismos empleados se comportarán de la manera que espera la organización para alcanzar las metas propuestas y así mejorar el desempeño organizacional.Este artículo presenta cuatro componentes el ambiente adecuado, incluyendo maneras de ayudar a los empleados con sus aspectos personales y comportamientos. Todos los componentes están basados en diferentes teorías y han sido conjugados para mejorar el desempeño organizacional.Puede ser una organización nueva o ya en funcionamiento, pero cuando el líder crea el ambiente adecuado, los empleados pueden desempeñarse mas eficientemente. El caso de las organizaciones nacientes, tienen la gran oportunidad de nacer con el ambiente adecuado permitiendo a los empleados ser eficientes desde el principio.ABSTRACT:This document is based on the social cognitive theory. According to Bandura (1986), “social cognitive theory favors a conception of interaction based on triadic reciprocality”. The triadic Bandura refers to is the behavior, personal factors, and environment influences. These three factors interact to each other to determine the way people will behave. This theory is brought to organizations to say that creating the right environment and helping employees with their behaviors and personal factors, they will behave the way the organizations wants to achieve the desired goals and to improve organizational performance.This document presents four components to create the right environment including ways to help the employees with their personal factors and behaviors. All the components are framed by different theories and putting together to improve organizational performance.It can be a new organization or an old organization but, when the leader creates the right environment, people can perform efficiently. New organizations have the great opportunity to start right since the beginning, creating the environment to allow people to innovate from the beginning.RESUMÉÉ:Ce document se base sur la théorie cognitive sociale qui, selon Bandura (1986), « favorise une conception de l’interaction basée sur la réciprocité triadique. » Pour Bandura le triadique désigne le comportement, les facteurs personnels, et les influences de l’environnement. Ces trois facteurs interagissent les uns aux autres et déterminent les façons dont les personnes se comportent. Cette théorie amène les organisations à créer un environnement propice et aide les employés dans leurs comportements personnels. Ces derniers devront se comporter de la façon dont les organisations le souhaitent pour atteindre les objectifs désirés et améliorer ainsi le rendement de l’entreprise. Ce document présente quatre composantes pour créer un environnement propice, y compris les moyens d’aider les employés dans leurs relations interpersonnelles et leurs comportements. Toutes les composantes sont encadrées par différentes théories et mises en commun pour améliorer la performance organisationnelle. Ce peut être une nouvelle organisation ou un organisme plus ancien mais, lorsque les responsables créent un environnement propice, les personnes peuvent accomplir efficacement leurs taches. Les nouvelles organisations ont la grande opportunité de bien commencer dès le départ en créant un environnement favorable permettant aux personnes d’être rapidement innovantes.

Aparece este nuevo número de INNOVAR, en un contexto de anuncios de recorte a la financiación del Sistema de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación de Colombia1, debidos a la crisis que atraviesa la economía y el presupuesto público nacional. La situación no es exclusiva de nuestro país. Particularmente los países del sur de Europa han visto reducida la financiación en ciencia y tecnología luego de la crisis de finales de la década pasada, con impactos profundos en la investigación que persisten en la actualidad2. Esto puede estar ocurriendo también en Latinoamérica3. Esta realidad contrasta con las intervenciones públicas de los gobernantes y líderes políticos, quienes señalan permanentemente su "compromiso" indiscutible con la educación, el conocimiento científico y la innovación. También entra en clara contradicción con supuestas políticas públicas que buscan mejorar la educación, conseguir el avance social y la equidad, lo que requiere fuertes dosis de innovación. No obstante, el primer rubro a recortar ha sido la inversión en investigación.Existe en la actualidad una fuerte tensión entre lo que se dice y se hace en materia de investigación e innovación. Esto es cierto tanto fuera como dentro de las Universidades y centros de investigación. Además aplica tanto a los investigadores y gestores de la investigación (los directivos universitarios) como a los políticos y líderes públicos. Otro tanto de la tensión se presenta en la investigación aplicada en el mundo empresarial, enfocada esencialmente en la rentabilidad y en el retorno inversionista. A los permanentes reclamos por utilidad e impacto económico-social de la investigación, ahora se suman los recortes, que desalientan la ya poco reconocida labor investigativa.Desde este espacio de difusión de los resultados de la actividad académica e investigativa, convocamos a los diferentes actores a reflexionar con seriedad y rigor sobre el camino de la investigación y la educación de calidad para el país. La retórica no es lo más útil cuando se trata de impulsar y/o consolidar la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación. Los recortes del presente seguirán proyectando el atraso del pasado hacia el futuro.El número 58 de INNOVAR incluye once (11) artículos, distribuidos en cuatro (4) de nuestras tradicionales secciones. Como se ha venido presentando a lo largo de los últimos ocho años, la diversidad de países de origen de los autores y sus múltiples colaboraciones hacen de INNOVAR una revista de factura y alcance internacional.En la sección de Estrategia y Organizaciones, publicamos en este número tres (3) artículos de investigación.Los profesores Raquel Orcos y Sergio Palomas, de las Universidades de Navarra y de Zaragoza, respectivamente, aportan su trabajo titulado Liberalización del sector bancario y persistencia de las formas organizativas. En esta investigación se estudia el sector bancario español, para evaluar si el cambio en la regulación del mismo, que lo liberalizó, influyó en la transformación de las antiguas estrategias y formas organizativas que tenían los bancos, las cajas de ahorro y las cooperativas de crédito. El trabajo utiliza un enfoque metodológico cuantitativo, para evaluar las dimensiones estratégicas de las firmas y definir así las implicaciones del cambio en las formas organizativas. Se evaluaron todas las entidades que operaron en el sector bancario español entre 1992 y 2008. El trabajo concluye que todavía hay importantes diferencias en la estrategia seguida por bancos, cajas y cooperativas, a pesar de la liberalización del sector, lo que hubiese supuesto una mayor homogeneidad organizacional en sus estrategias y formas organizativas.Por su parte, Magdalena Cordobés Madueño y Pilar Soldevila García, profesoras de las Universidades Loyola Andalucía y Pompeu Fabra, España, nos presentan el artículo Management Control in Inter-organisational Relationships: The Case of Franchises. La investigación busca contribuir a la comprensión de la manera en que las relaciones entre firmas impacta los instrumentos y las herramientas de control de gestión. Se aborda el caso de las franquicias (franquiciador y franquiciados), mostrando cómo las relaciones entre ambos implican la utilización de diferentes herramientas de control de gestión, tanto cuantitativas como cualitativas. Los resultados indican, con base en el modelo diseñado por Van der Meer-Kooistra y Vosselman (2000), que en este tipo de relaciones hay patrones basados en la burocracia y en la confianza.El tercer documento de esta sección está titulado La autorreferencia como estrategia comunicativa de la organización Comité de Cafeteros del Quindío y es fruto de la investigación de María Cristina Ocampo Villegas, de la Universidad de la Sabana, Colombia. En este trabajo se aborda el tema de la comunicación organizacional, particularmente el concepto de autorreferencia. El terreno y el objeto de estudio está constituido por las comunicaciones del Comité de Cafeteros del Quindío con los cultivadores. Por medio de una investigación descriptiva con un alcance de casi veinte años, utilizando el análisis del discurso y entrevistas a profundidad; el trabajo concluye que la estrategia de autorreferencia reforzó en los caficultores diferentes valores, participando en el proceso de construcción de la realidad cultural, lo que impactó en el posicionamiento y en el fortalecimiento de los procesos gremiales en la región.Nuestra sección de Ética Empresarial y Responsabilidad Social está conformada en esta edición por cuatro (4) colaboraciones académicas de profesores internacionales.El primer artículo de esta sección es una colaboración internacional entre profesores chilenos y españoles; ellos son Carolina Nicolas-Alarcón, Leslier Valenzuela-Fernández, Alexis Gutiérrez-Caques y Jaime Gil-Lafuente, vinculados con las Universidades de Chile, Santo Tomás de Chile y de Barcelona. El trabajo titulado Sensibilidad ética empresarial busca identificar las variables relevantes que podrían influir en la sensibilidad ética de los directivos. En el artículo, primero se presenta la necesidad contextual de unas actuaciones más éticas en los negocios, así como explora y sistematiza con suficiencia la bibliografía y caracteriza la tendencia creciente de artículos sobre este tópico en publicaciones académicas. A partir de un modelo cuantitativo y explicativo del constructo "sensibilidad ética", se desarrolla un trabajo empírico con datos recopilados de encuestas aplicadas a 143 directivos chilenos, y que luego permite contrastar un conjunto de hipótesis. En el trabajo se evidencia que de las once (11) variables independientes contrastadas, solamente el relativismo se relaciona de manera negativa, mientras que las demás presentan una relación positiva y significativa con la sensibilidad ética.Desde la Universidad Santiago de Compostela, España, la investigadora Ángeles Pereira y el profesor Xavier Vence participan en este número con el trabajo Environmental Policy Instruments and Eco-innovation: An Overview of Recent Studies. Esta investigación es una revisión crítica de cuarenta artículos científicos que analizan los instrumentos de política ambiental que promueven la ecoinnovación. El trabajo permite caracterizar la literatura y los hallazgos más significativos sobre cambio tecnológico en la dimensión ambiental. Tanto los estudios empíricos como teóricos analizados ayudan a comprender el rol de los mecanismos de mercado en el impulso de estas innovaciones. También se identifican frentes para el mejoramiento en la materia.De la Universidad de Porto, Portugal, los investigadores Manuel Castelo Branco e Isabel Baptista participan en esta sección con el trabajo titulado Compromisso com a RSE no Pacto Global da Organização das Nações Unidas. La investigación abordó el compromiso con la Responsabilidad Social Empresarial (RSE) en Europa, a partir de observar el (in)cumplimiento de las empresas europeas en la divulgación del informe del Pacto Global de la ONU. Para ello se tomó una muestra de 3.481 empresas, agrupadas en cinco bloques de países europeos. Se concluye, entre otros aspectos, que en las empresas de los países nórdicos es mayor el compromiso con la RSE, en relación con las empresas de Europa occidental y del bloque oriental.Finalmente, en esta sección de Ética Empresarial y Responsabilidad Social se publica el artículo Responsabilidad Social Universitaria: estudio empírico sobre la fiabilidad de un conjunto de indicadores de Gobierno Corporativo, de autoría de las profesoras Montserrat Núñez, Inmaculada Alonso y Carolina Pontones, quienes están vinculadas a la Universidad de Castilla la Mancha en España. En este trabajo se estudia el papel de algunos indicadores de Gobierno Corporativo, en el proceso de rendición de cuentas, desde el punto de vista de la Responsabilidad Social Universitaria (RSU). Particularmente les preocupa a las autoras la fiabilidad de los indicadores de medición de impactos organizacionales de RSU. Mediante un estudio empírico, se obtuvieron datos por medio un cuestionario dirigido a expertos en el tema, pertenecientes a las universidades españolas. Con las respuestas de 18 expertos, se identifica que la característica más determinante de la fiabilidad de tales indicadores es la verificabilidad, mientras que la menos influyente es la imagen (representación) fiel.En la sección de Marketing, para este número contamos con dos (2) artículos de investigación.El primer artículo de esta sección se titula La calidad y el valor percibido en el transporte de mercancías en España y su importancia en la segmentación de clientes, de autoría de los profesores españoles Irene Gil, Gloria Berenguer, María Eugenia Ruiz y Santiago Ospina, quienes están vinculados con la Universitat de València. La investigación se desarrolló en empresas de transporte internacional de mercancías en España. El objetivo fue caracterizar la capacidad de segmentación que el valor percibido tiene para las empresas de este sector, así como plantear un sistema conceptual para medir la calidad y el valor percibido del servicio, en el contexto del sector investigado. La muestra de empresas de este sector fue de 205 y se realizó un estudio empírico que permitió concluir que hay una relación directa entre la calidad y el valor percibido.En la segunda posición de esta sección, aparece una colaboración internacional entre España y Colombia; los profesores John Cardozo, Bernabé Hernandis y Nélida Ramírez, de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia y de la Universitat Politécnica de València, aportan la investigación titulada Aproximación a una categorización de los sistemas de productos: el uso y la experiencia del consumidor como configuradores. En esta investigación se buscó establecer la manera en que el uso y la experiencia influyen en el diseño de los productos. Se propusieron ocho (8) agrupaciones para describir las formas de interacción de los consumidores con los productos, y se utilizó el modelo de sistemas de productos. Con base en encuestas a 57 expertos del área de diseño, se determinó el nivel de afectación de la experiencia y del uso en la caracterización de los sistemas de productos.Finalmente, la sección de Aportes a la Investigación y a la Docencia recoge dos (2) trabajos.Bajo el título Diseño y validación de un cuestionario que mide la percepción de efectividad del uso de metodologías de participación activa (CEMPA). El caso del Aprendizaje Basado en Proyectos (ABPrj) en la docencia de la contabilidad, los profesores de la Universidad de Sevilla, Carrasco, Donoso, Duarte-Atoche, Hernández y López, aportan un interesante instrumento para medir la efectividad de una estrategia de aprendizaje activo (basado en proyectos). Pero este trabajo no solo entrega el instrumento que cuenta con 25 ítems, sino su aplicación a un grupo de 292 estudiantes de Administración y Dirección de empresas de la Universidad de Sevilla, quienes cursaron las asignaturas de Análisis Contable y Contabilidad Avanzada. La observación se realizó para un periodo de cuatro años y se utilizaron métodos cuantitativos (análisis factorial). Atendiendo al contenido de sus ítems los constructos identificados fueron: utilidad para el aprendizaje, decisiones, trabajo en equipo, comunicación, gestión e información.También desde la Universidad de Sevilla, los profesores Jiménez-Caballero, Camúñez, González-Rodríguez y De Fuentes, aportan el trabajo Factores determinantes del rendimiento académico universitario en el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior. Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo analizar y cuantificar la influencia que tienen determinados factores institucionales y personales en las calificaciones de los estudiantes del grado (programa o carrera) en Finanzas y Contabilidad. Utilizando técnicas estadísticas tradicionales, se tomó como muestra a 572 estudiantes del programa, durante el curso (año académico) 2009-2010. Los resultados permiten concluir diferentes aspectos sobre la irrelevancia del género, la importancia de la nota de acceso al grado y del orden de preferencia de acceso de los alumnos, sobre el rendimiento académico obtenido y la eficiencia en el uso de los recursos educativos y monetarios.Esperamos que nuestros lectores encuentren sugestivos y aportativos estos trabajos. Reconocemos el esfuerzo de nuestros autores en la compresión de los diversos campos de la gestión y el estudio de las organizaciones, por medio de la investigación. Por ello, reiteramos que estamos convencidos de la necesidad de una adecuada financiación de la investigación académica, no solo en Colombia, sino en el escenario internacional.

Orientation: Organisational silos do not only refer to conscious structures, but also to an unconscious state of mind and mentality that takes on a life of its own. Silos result in the splitting of organisational artefacts and relationships, and impact negatively on relationship forming between individuals and within teams.Research purpose: The purpose of this research was to describe how the silo mentality impacts on team identity.Motivation for the study: During a recent organisational consultation the researchers realised that a so-called silo phenomenon had much more unexplained unconscious behaviour than was traditionally realised in terms of organisational development. It is hoped that findings from this qualitative study could give consultants entry into what happens below the surface in the silos’ unconscious.Research design, approach and method: A qualitative and descriptive research design using a case study strategy was used. Data gathering consisted of 25 narrative interviews. Using discourse analysis four themes manifested, integrated into four working hypotheses and a research hypothesis. Trustworthiness and ethical standards were ensured.Main findings: Themes that emerged were the physical environment and structure, intra-group relations, experiences of management, and intergroup relations.Practical/managerial implications: Consulting on silo behaviour as physical structures only may not be successful in changing organisational behaviour. The silo resembles an iceberg – the largest part is below the surface.Contribution/value-add: The findings evidenced silo behaviour to be an unconscious phenomenon influencing team identity negatively. Consultants are urged to study these manifestations towards understanding silos and their effect on team identity better.

PurposeThis paper explores the perceptions of a small cohort of participants in the “Involving People” programme. This 35-week course recruited staff from across statutory, voluntary and charity sectors who aimed to lead and develop change initiatives within their respective organisations. The study captured staff views on the extent to which their training in co-production enabled them to deliver sustainable service improvement within their organisations.Design/methodology/approachThis was a small scale, qualitative study, using a purposive sampling approach. Of the 18 staff participants, 5 agreed to participate in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Through a process of free text analysis, several themes and sub-themes were identified.FindingsSeveral barriers and opportunities were highlighted coupled with suggestions on changes to public service delivery based on equal and reciprocal relationships between professionals, service users and their families. Organisational structures and silo working still act as an inhibiter for real change.Research limitations/implicationsAdditionally, it was demonstrated that training in the area of co-production can act as a catalyst for wider service improvements. It can enhance staff confidence to profile the importance of service user involvement, persuading their colleagues of its benefits and challenging practice where co-production is not happening. However, a collective leadership and a shared language on co-production are still needed to develop inclusive organisational cultures.Originality/valueThis was the first study of its kind in Northern Ireland which highlighted that there was a need for a collective leadership and a shared language on co-production to develop inclusive organisational cultures.

School improvement frameworks and their associated reform efforts often have limited durability and are frequently not fully implemented. Improving their viability, requires a more realistic understanding of contextual organisational structures and the school culture in which the reform is to be implemented. Internationally, and in Australia specifically, education research has informed policy heavily promoting collaboration as a school improvement strategy, with the aim of building teacher capability and student achievement. Consequently, secondary school leaders are charged with promoting the need for teachers to collaborate meaningfully with hundreds of students, carers, parents and colleagues each week across the ‘silos’ of subject departments and grade levels in their school. Social Brain Theory suggests that there are cognitive limits on the number of natural face-to-face social interactions that one can have and maintain. Relationships require significant investment in time and frequency. Additionally, sociality is much more cognitively demanding than at first thought, having unforeseen influence on improvement efforts. The number of interactions required in a collaborative environment, an individual’s likely cognitive overload and the ‘silo’ nature of the school’s organisational structure must all be considered. This paper offers an alternative theoretical framework to support policy makers and leaders in optimising school improvement efforts.

PurposeOne overlooked determinant of interprofessional teamwork is the mobilisation of professional identity. Taking a health or social care practitioner out of their professional silo and placing them in an interprofessional team setting will challenge their professional identity. The theory of signature pedagogy was used to investigate the challenges and what is needed to support practitioners to mobilise their professional identity to maximise teamwork.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional mixed methods study was undertaken in the form of three focus groups, with members of health and social care teams in Wales, UK. Using nominal group technique, participants explored and ranked the challenges and benefits of mobilising their professional identity within an interprofessional setting.FindingsFindings on mobilising professional identity were found to be aligned closely with the three signature pedagogy apprenticeships of learning to think and to perform like others in their profession and to act with moral integrity. The biggest challenge facing practitioners was thinking like others in their profession while in an interprofessional team.Research limitations/implicationsThe focus of this study is health and social care teams within Wales, UK, which may limit the results to teams that have a similar representation of professionals.Practical implicationsHealthcare leaders should be aware of the opportunities to promote mobilisation of professional identity to maximise teamwork. For example, at induction, by introducing the different roles and shared responsibilities. Such practical implications do have consequences for policy as regards interprofessional team development and organisational commitments to adult learning and evaluation.Originality/valueThis is the first study of professional identity of interprofessional healthcare and social professionals using signature pedagogy to gain a better understanding of teamwork.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the input, process and output factors (along with their manifest variables) of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and to establish cause and effect relationships amongst the factors and sub-factors. Systems thinking, a holistic approach, is used to carry out qualitative analysis of the feedback loops. Design/methodology/approach A well-structured questionnaire was developed to gather the relevant data to identify the factors affecting the performance of SMEs in a holistic manner. A total of 150 responses were collected during November 2015–March 2016. Factor analysis and path analysis were used to establish causal relationships between input, process and output factors. The systems thinking approach has been used for qualitative analysis. Findings Feedback loops have been identified amongst input-process-output-input factors and amongst sub-factors. They enabled authors to infer that the managers/owners of SMEs are systems thinkers, if not completely, at least partially. Six negative feedback loops and one positive feedback loop prevail. System behaviour arises out of the interaction of positive and negative feedback loops; it appears that in the long-run, the SMEs attain their target levels. The following inferences are drawn: circular relationships are identified amongst input, processes and organisational performance (OP), modern management tools such as just in times, Kanban have long-term benefits and are perceived as ineffective by small enterprises and formal financing and functional transparency enhances OP. Originality/value Systems thinking, a holistic approach, has been used to study the effect of input, process and output factors on one another. Such studies are sparse, especially, in the Indian context. Many studies have been conducted to study the effect of input and of processes on performance such as innovation, information technology, human resource, technology, government regulation on performance of SMEs in a silo but, rarely all together. The qualitative analysis adds value to the research. Many of the outcomes of the research have been largely discussed in Indian print media which indicates the pragmatic approach of the research.

El contexto en que se realiza la inserción laboral de personas en riesgo de exclusión ha sufrido cambios sustanciales en los últimos veinte años. Estas circunstancias han condicionado tanto las necesidades como las oportunidades de las entidades de acción social, que no siempre han sido capaces de llevar a cabo las transformaciones necesarias para ello. Basados en los fundamentos de la Economía Pública, la Economía Social, la Ciencia Política, y la Sociología, este trabajo aporta la perspectiva de la Economía de la Empresa y de la Teoría de la Organización al proceso innovador desarrollado por los emprendedores sociales en su búsqueda de nuevas fórmulas organizativas para conseguir la integración social de las personas en riesgo de exclusión. Este proceso innovador ya ha producido interesantes resultados en la forma de Empresas Sociales y Empresas de Inserción Social que responden simultáneamente a objetivos sociales y económicos. Abstract The context for the professional insertion of people under socialexclusion risk has undertaken substantial changes during the lasttwenty years. These circumstances have strongly conditioned both the needs and the opportunities of social entities, which not always have been capable to carry out the necessary transformations. Based on the foundations from the Public Economy, the Social Economy, Political Science and Sociology this paper brings in the perspective of Business Economy and Organisation Theory to the innovation process carried out by social entrepreneurs seeking new organisational formulae to approach the therapeutical treatment and the social integration of excluded people. This innovation process has produced some effective outcomes such as the Social Enterprise, and the Social Insertion Enterprise, each of them responding to different therapeutical, social and economic purposes.

South Sulawesi is a province in Indonesia where the majority of the population is Muslim, with many variant interpretations of Islam. Alauddin State Islamic University is not just a place for teaching and study but also plays a role in helping to unify the differences among these different Islamic groups. Its changing of status from institute to university in 2005, and later the support of the Canadian-assisted SILE Project beginning in 2010, have made this university an example of reform in the way it implements its functions. Since 2011, Alauddin State Islamic University has been developing a new approach in university-community outreach/engagement. What was formerly separated between teaching, research and community service is now linked under one institutional umbrella. The new university-community outreach approach has also adopted some new tools like Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) and Results Based Management (RBM). It seeks to promote democratic governance, gender equality and a sustainable environment. The university also works in partnership with civil society organisations (CSOs) in South Sulawesi, including Islamic-based organizsations, secular organisations and women’s organisations. The model for the partnership is a working group (abbreviated to pokja in Indonesian), which comprises lecturers from a faculty in the university and members of a CSO. We discuss the opportunities and challenges faced by these working groups. Opportunities include increased advantages from pooling their organisational capacities and experience in working with communities. Sharing their networks and resources makes them stronger and makes their work more sustainable. The challenge lies in changing the mindset from a needs-based, project-oriented approach to an asset-based facilitative approach, comprehending the tools, managing time to work together and building effective teamwork. Keywords: university-community outreach, democratic governance, asset-based community development, opportunities and challenges

Povzetek V Sloveniji od sredine prejšnjega desetletja razvijamo koncept vojaške strateške rezerve, vendar se postavlja vprašanje glede njegove skladnosti s procesom transformacije sodobnih vojsk in glede izvedljivosti ter uporabnosti. Zaslediti je mogoče številne težave z vidika demografskega in širšega socialnega konteksta ter organizacijskega vidika. Zamisel o vojaški strateški rezervi ne sledi trendom količinskega in funkcionalnega preoblikovanja rezervnih sil, ki jih zasledimo v okviru širše transformacije sodobnih zahodnih vojsk. Z vidika značilnosti sodobnih konfliktov je učinkovitost zagotavljanja vojaške varnosti s konceptom vojaške strateške rezerve, ki temelji na naboru in mobilizaciji, vprašljiva. Nujna bi bila temeljita presoja ustreznosti koncepta vojaške strateške rezerve z vojaškega vidika. V nasprotnem lahko pride do večanja razlik med deklariranimi in v resnici dosegljivimi cilji. Ključne besede: rezervne sile, strateška rezerva, transformacija, Slovenska vojska, obrambno načrtovanje. Abstract The development of the concept of Military Strategic Reserve in Slovenia can be traced back into the middle of the past decade. However, a question arises about its consistency with the transformation process in the modern armed forces as well as about its feasibility and efficiency. There are several problems from the viewpoint of demographic and broader social context as well as from the organisational viewpoint. The idea of military strategic reserve does not follow the trends of quantitative and functional restructuring of reserve forces present in the broader transformation of modern western armed forces. As far as the characteristics of contemporary conflicts are concerned, the effectiveness of providing military security with the concept of a conscription- and mobilisation-based military reserve is questionable. In order to prevent the widening of the gap between declared and attainable goals, it would be necessary to thoroughly assess the appropriateness of the military strategic reserve concept from a military point of view. Key words: Reserve forces, strategic reserve, transformation, Slovenia Armed Forces, defence planning.

Since the late 1990s, W. G. Sebald’s innovative contribution to the genre of prose fiction has been the source of much academic scrutiny. His books Vertigo, The Rings of Saturn, The Emigrants and Austerlitz have provoked interest from diverse fields of inquiry: visual communication (Kilbourn; Patt; Zadokerski), trauma studies (Denham and McCulloh; Schmitz), and travel writing (Blackler; Zisselsberger). His work is also claimed to be a bastion for both modernist and postmodernist approaches to literature and history writing (Bere; Fuchs and Long; Long). This is in addition to numerous “guide to” type books, such as Mark McCulloh’s Understanding Sebald, Long and Whitehead’s W. G. Sebald—A Critical Companion, and the comprehensive Saturn’s Moons: A W. G. Sebald Handbook. Here I have only mentioned works available in English. I should point out that Sebald wrote in German, the country of his birth, and as one would expect much scholarship dealing with his work is confined to this language. In this article I focus on what is perhaps Sebald’s prototypical work, The Rings of Saturn. Of all Sebald’s prose fictional works The Rings of Saturn seems the example that best exhibits his innovative literary forms, including the use of lists. This book is the work of an author who is purposefully and imaginatively concerned with the nature of his vocation: what is it to be a writer? Crucially, he addresses this question not only from the perspective of a subject facing an existential crisis, but from the perspective of the documents created by writers. His works demonstrate a concern with the enabling role documents play in the thinking and writing process; how, for example, pen and paper are looped in with our capacity to reason in certain ways. Despite taking the form of fictional narratives, his books are as much motivated by a historical interest in how ideas and forms of organisation are transmitted, and how they evolve as part of an ecology; how humans become articulate within their surrounds, according to the contingencies of specific epochs and places. The Sebald critic J. J. Long accounts for this in some part in his description “archival consciousness,” which recommends that conscious experience is not simply located in the mind of a knowing, human subject, but is rather distributed between the subject and different technologies (among which writing and archives are exemplary).The most notable peculiarity of Sebald’s books lies in their abundant use of “non-syntactical” kinds of writing or inscription. My use of the term “non-syntactical” has its origins in the anthropological work of Jack Goody, who emphasises the importance of list making and tabulation in pre-literate or barely literate cultures. In Sebald’s texts, kinds of non-syntactical writing include lists, photographic images, tables, signatures, diagrams, maps, stamps, dockets and sketches. As I stress throughout this article, Sebald’s shifts between syntactical and non-syntactical forms of writing allows him to build up highly complex schemes of internal reference. Massimo Leone identifies something similar, when he notes that Sebald “orchestrates a multiplicity of voices and text-types in order to produce his own coherent discourse” (91). The play between multiplicity and coherence is at once a thematic and poetic concern for Sebald. This is to say, his texts are formal experiments with these contrasting tendencies, in addition to discussing specific historical situations in which they feature. The list is perhaps Sebald’s most widely used and variable form of non-syntactical writing, a key part of his formal and stylistic peculiarity. His lengthy sentences frequently spill over into catalogues and inventories, and the entire structure of his narratives is list-like. Discrete episodes accumulate alongside each other, rather than following a narrative arc where episodes of suspenseful gravity overshadow the significance of minor events. The Rings of Saturn details the travels of Sebald’s trademark, nameless, first person narrator, who recounts his trek along the Suffolk coastline, from Lowestoft to Ditchingham, about two years after the event. From the beginning, the narrative is framed as an effort to organise a period of time that lacks a coherent and durable form, a period of time that is in pieces, fading from the narrator’s memory. However, the movement from the chaos of forgetting to the comparatively distinct and stable details of the remembered present does not follow a continuum. Rather, the past and present are both constituted by the force of memory, which is continually crystallising and dissolving. Each event operates according to its own specific arrangement of emphasis and forgetting. Our experience of memory in the present, or recollective memory, is only one kind of memory. Sebald is concerned with a more pervasive kind of remembering, which includes the vectorial existence of non-conscious, non-human perceptual events; memory as expressed by crystals, tree roots, glaciers, and the nested relationship of fuel, fire, smoke, and ash. The Rings of Saturn is composed of ten chapters, each of which is outlined in table form at the book’s beginning. The first chapter appears as: “In hospital—Obituary—Odyssey of Thomas Browne’s skull—Anatomy lecture—Levitation—Quincunx—Fabled creatures—Urn burial.” The Rings of Saturn is of course hardly exceptional in its use of this device. Rather, it is exemplary concerning the repeated emphasis on the tension between syntactical and non-syntactical forms of writing, among which this chapter breakdown is included. Sebald continually uses the conventions of bookmaking in subtle though innovative ways. Each of these horizontally linked and divided indices might put the reader in mind of Thomas Browne’s urns, time capsules from the past, the unearthing of which is discussed in the book’s first chapter (25). The chapter outlines (and the urns) are containers that preserve a fragmentary and suggestive history. Each is a perspective on the narrator’s travels that abstracts, arranges, and uniquely refers to the narrative elaborations to come.As I have already stressed, Sebald is a writer concerned with forms of organisation. His works account for a diverse range of organisational forms, some of which instance an overt, chronological, geometric, or metrical manipulation of space and time, such as grids, star shapes, and Greenwich Mean Time. This contrasts with comparatively suggestive, insubstantial, mutable forms, including various meteorological phenomena such as cloudbanks and fog, dust and sand, and as exemplified in narrative form by the haphazard, distracted assemblage of events featured in dreams or dream logic. The relationship between these supposedly opposing tendencies is, however, more complex and paradoxical than might at first glance appear. As Sebald warily reminds us in his essay “A Little Excursion to Ajaccio,” despite our wishes to inhabit periods of complete freedom, where we follow our distractions to the fullest possible extent, we nonetheless “must all have some more or less significant design in view” (Sebald, Campo 4). It is not so much that we must choose, absolutely, between form and formlessness. Rather, the point is to understand that some seemingly inevitable forms are in fact subject to contingencies, which certain uses deliberately or ignorantly mask, and that simplicity and intricacy are often co-dependent. Richard T. Gray is a Sebald critic who has picked up on the element in Sebald’s work that suggests a tension between different forms of organisation. In his article “Writing at the Roche Limit,” Gray notes that Sebald’s tendency to emphasise the decadent aspects of human and natural history “is continually counterbalanced by an insistence on order and by often extremely subtle forms of organization” (40). Rather than advancing the thesis that Sebald is exclusively against the idea of systematisation or order, Gray argues that The Rings of Saturn models in its own textual make-up an alternative approach to the cognitive order(ing) of things, one that seeks to counter the natural tendency toward entropic decline and a fall into chaos by introducing constructive forces that inject a modicum of balance and equilibrium into the system as a whole. (Gray 41)Sebald’s concern with the contrasting energies exemplified by different forms extends to his play with syntactical and non-syntactical forms of writing. He uses lists to add contrast to his flowing, syntactically intricate sentences. The achievement of his work is not the exclusive privileging of either the list form or the well-composed sentence, but in providing contexts whereby the reader can appreciate subtle modulations between the two, thus experiencing a more dynamic and complex kind of narrative time. His works exhibit an astute awareness of the fact that different textual devices command different experiences of temporality, and our experience of temporality in good part determines our metaphysics. Here I consider two lists featured in The Rings of Saturn, one from the first chapter, and one from the last. Each shows contrasting tendencies concerning systems of organisation. Both are attributable to the work of Thomas Browne, “who practiced as a doctor in Norwich in the seventeenth century and had left a number of writings that defy all comparison” (Sebald, Rings 9). The Rings of Saturn is in part a dialogue across epochs with the sentiments expressed in Browne’s works, which, according to Bianca Theisen, preserve a kind of reasoning that is lost in “the rationalist and scientific embrace of a devalued world of facts” (Theisen 563).The first list names the varied “animate and inanimate matter” in which Browne identifies the quincuncial structure, a lattice like arrangement of five points and intersecting lines. The following phenomena are enumerated in the text:certain crystalline forms, in starfish and sea urchins, in the vertebrae of mammals and the backbones of birds and fish, in the skins of various species of snake, in the crosswise prints left by quadrupeds, in the physical shapes of caterpillars, butterflies, silkworms and moths, in the root of the water fern, in the seed husks of the sunflower and the Caledonian pine, within young oak shoots or the stem of the horse tail; and in the creations of mankind, in the pyramids of Egypt and the mausoleum of Augustus as in the garden of King Solomon, which was planted with mathematical precision with pomegranate trees and white lilies. (Sebald, Rings 20-21)Ostensibly quoting from Browne, Sebald begins the next sentence, “Examples might be multiplied without end” (21). The compulsion to list, or the compulsiveness expressed by listing, is expressed here in a relationship of dual utility with another, dominant or overt, kind of organisational form: the quincunx. It is not the utility or expressiveness of the list itself that is at issue—at least in the version of Browne’s work preserved here by Sebald. In W. G. Sebald: Image, Archive, Modernity, Long notes the historical correspondences and divergences between Sebald and Michel Foucault (2007). Long interprets Browne’s quincunx as exemplifying a “hermeneutics of resemblance,” whereby similarities among diverse phenomena are seen as providing proof of “the universal oneness of all things” (33). This contrasts with the idea of a “pathological nature, autonomous from God,” which, according to Long, informs Sebald’s transformation of Browne into “an avatar of distinctly modern epistemology” (38). Long follows Foucault in noting the distinction between Renaissance and modern epistemology, a distinction in good part due to the experimental, inductive method, the availability of statistical data, and probabilistic reasoning championed in the latter epoch (Whitehead; Hacking). In the book’s final chapter, Sebald includes a list from Browne’s imaginary library, the “Musæum Clausium.” In contrast to the above list, here Sebald seems to deliberately problematise any efforts to suggest an abstract uniting principle. There is no evident reason for the togetherness of the discrete things, beyond the mere fact that they happen to be gathered, hypothetically, in the text (Sebald, Rings 271-273). Among the library’s supposed contents are:an account by the ancient traveller Pytheas of Marseilles, referred to in Strabo, according to which all the air beyond thule is thick, condensed and gellied, looking just like sea lungs […] a dream image showing a prairie or sea meadow at the bottom of the Mediterranean, off the coat of Provence […] and a glass of spirits made of æthereal salt, hermetically sealed up, of so volatile a nature that it will not endure by daylight, and therefore shown only in winter or by the light of a carbuncle or Bononian stone. (Sebald, Rings 272-73)Unlike the previous example attributed to Browne, here the list coheres according to the tensions of its own coincidences. Sebald uses the list to create spontaneous organisations in which history is exhibited as a complex mix of fact and fantasy. More important than the distinction between the imaginary and the real is the effort to account for the way things uniquely incorporate aspects of the world in order to be what they are. Human knowledge is a perspective that is implicated in, rather than excluded from, this process.Lists move us to puzzle over the criteria that their togetherness implies. They might be used inthe service of a specific paradigm, or they might suggest an imaginable but as yet unknown kind of systematisation; a specific kind of relationship, or simply the possibility of a relationship. Take, for example, the list-like accumulation of architectural details in the following description of the decadent Sommerleyton Hall, featured in chapter II: There were drawing rooms and winter gardens, spacious halls and verandas. A corridor might end in a ferny grotto where fountains ceaselessly plashed, and bowered passages criss-crossed beneath the dome of a fantastic mosque. Windows could be lowered to open the interior onto the outside, and inside the landscape was replicated on the mirror walls. Palm houses and orangeries, the lawn like green velvet, the baize on the billiard tables, the bouquets of flowers in the morning and retiring rooms and in the majolica vases on the terrace, the birds of paradise and the golden peasants on the silken tapestries, the goldfinches in the aviaries and the nightingales in the garden, the arabesques in the carpets and the box-edged flower beds—all of it interacted in such a way that one had the illusion of complete harmony between the natural and the manufactured. (Sebald, Rings 33-34)This list shifts emphasis away from preconceived distinctions between the natural and the manufactured through the creation of its own unlikely harmony. It tells us something important about the way perception and knowledge is ordered in Sebald’s prose. Each encounter, or historically specific situation, is considered as though it were its own microworld, its own discrete, synecdochic realisation of history. Rather than starting from the universal or the meta-level and scaling down to the local, Sebald arranges historically peculiar examples that suggest a variable, contrasting and dynamic metaphysics, a motley arrangement of ordering systems that each aspire to but do not command universal applicability. In a comparable sense, Browne’s sepulchral urns of his 1658 work Urn Burial, which feature in chapter I, are time capsules that seem to create their own internally specific kind of organisation:The cremated remains in the urns are examined closely: the ash, the loose teeth, some long roots of quitch, or dog’s grass wreathed about the bones, and the coin intended for the Elysian ferryman. Browne records other objects known to have been placed with the dead, whether as ornament or utensil. His catalogue includes a variety of curiosities: the circumcision knives of Joshua, the ring which belonged to the mistress of Propertius, an ape of agate, a grasshopper, three-hundred golden bees, a blue opal, silver belt buckles and clasps, combs, iron pins, brass plates and brazen nippers to pull away hair, and a brass Jews harp that last sounded on the crossing over black water. (Sebald, Rings 25-26)Regardless of our beliefs concerning the afterlife, these items, preserved across epochs, solicit a sense of wonder as we consider what we might choose for company on our “last journey” (25). In death, the human body is reduced to a condition of an object or thing, while the objects that accompany the corpse seem to acquire a degree of potency as remnants that transcend living time. Life is no longer the paradigm through which to understand purpose. In their very difference from living things these objects command our fascination. Eric Santner coins the term “undeadness” to name the significance of this non-living agency in Sebald’s prose (Santner xx). Santner’s study places Sebald in a linage of German-Jewish writers, including Walter Benjamin, Franz Kafka, and Paul Celan, whose understanding of “the human” depends crucially on the concept of “the creature” or “creatureliness” (Santner 38-41). Like the list of items contained within Sommerleyton Hall, the above list accounts for a context in which ornament and utensil, nature and culture, are read according to their differentiated togetherness, rather than opposition. Death, it seems, is a universal leveller, or at least a different dimension in which symbol and function appear to coincide. Perhaps it is the unassuming and convenient nature of lists that make them enduring objects of historical interest. Lists are a form of writing to which we appeal for immediate mnemonic assistance. They lack the artifice of a sentence. While perhaps not as interesting in the present that is contemporary with their usefulness (a trip to the supermarket), with time lists acquire credibility due to the intimacy they share with mundane, diurnal concerns—due to the fact that they were, once upon a time, so useful. The significance of lists arrives anachronistically, when we look back and wonder what people were really up to, or what our own concerns were, relatively free from fanciful, stylistic adornment. Sebald’s democratic approach to different forms of writing means that lists sit alongside the esteemed poetic and literary efforts of Joseph Conrad, Algernon Swinburne, Edward Fitzgerald, and François René de Chateaubriand, all of whom feature in The Rings of Saturn. His books make the exclusive differences between literary and non-literary kinds of writing less important than the sense of dynamism that is elicited through a play of contrasting kinds of syntactical and non-syntactical writing. The book’s closing chapter includes a revealing example that expresses these sentiments. After tracing over a natural history of silk, with a particular focus on human greed and naivety, the narrative arrives at a “pattern book” that features strips of colourful silk kept in “the small museum of Strangers Hall” (Sebald, Rings 283). The narrator notes that the silks arranged in this book “were of a truly fabulous variety, and of an iridescent, quite indescribable beauty as if they had been produced by Nature itself, like the plumage of birds” (283). This effervescent declamation continues after a double page photograph of the pattern book, which is described as a “catalogue of samples” and “leaves from the only true book which none of our textual and pictorial works can even begin to rival” (286). Here we witness Sebald’s inclusive and variable understanding as to the kinds of thing a book, and writing, can be. The fraying strips of silk featured in the photograph are arranged one below the other, in the form of a list. They are surrounded by ornate handwriting that, like the strips of silk, seems to fray at the edges, suggesting the specific gestural event that occasioned the moment of their inscription—something which tends to be excluded in printed prose. Sebald’s remarks here are not without a characteristic irony (“the only true book”). However, in the greatercontext of the narrative, this comment suggests an important inclination. Namely, that there is much scope yet for innovative literary forms that capture the nuances and complexity of collective and individual histories. And that writing always includes, though to varying degrees obscures, contrasting tensions shared among syntactical and non-syntactical elements, including material and gestural contingencies. Sebald’s works remind us of what potentials might lay ahead for books if the question of what writing can be is asked continually as part of a writer’s enterprise.ReferencesBere, Carol. “The Book of Memory: W. G. Sebald’s The Emigrants and Austerlitz.” Literary Review, 46.1 (2002): 184-92.Blackler, Deane. Reading W. G. Sebald: Adventure and Disobedience. Rochester, New York: Camden House, 2007. Catling Jo, and Richard Hibbitt, eds. Saturn’s Moons: A W. G. Sebald Handbook. Oxford: Legenda, 2011.Denham, Scott and Mark McCulloh, eds. W. G. Sebald: History, Memory, Trauma. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2006. Fuchs, Anne and J. J. Long, eds. W. G. Sebald and the Writing of History. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2007. Goody, Jack. The Logic of Writing and the Organization of Society. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1986. Gray, Richard T. “Writing at the Roche Limit: Order and Entropy in W. G. Sebald’s The Rings of Saturn.” The German Quarterly 83.1 (2010): 38-57. Hacking, Ian. 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