Strategic Organization

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Denis, J.-L.
Right arrow Articles by Rouleau, L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Strategic Organization, Vol. 4, No. 4, 349-377 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1476127006069427

The power of numbers in strategizing

Jean-Louis Denis

Université de Montréal, Canada

Ann Langley

HEC Montréal, Canada

Linda Rouleau

HEC Montréal, Canada

This article draws on a detailed case study of a complex decision process in a public healthcare system to consider the role and potential power of numbers in strategizing. Because of their association with precision and accuracy, numbers may seem at first sight to be unlikely tools for decision making in contexts characterized by ambiguous goals and diffuse authority.Yet in the case described in this article, managers successfully mobilized a system of numbers to make an extremely controversial strategic decision.The empirical study examines in depth the micro-practices and processes by which the objectivity and legitimacy of a transparently contestable system of numbers were socially constructed in a public forum. By developing a system whose results mapped on to dominant values and interests, by displaying transparency, consistency and competence in defence of the system, and by organizing the decision process in a way that disempowered adversaries, the pro tagonists in the case were able to infuse a difficult decision with positive value. It is concluded that the power of numbers lies in their ability to fill the strategic void created by pluralism.Though contested, numbers can under certain conditions come to acquire and provide authority in organizations where power is diffuse.This is most likely when the number systems enable the reconciliation of diverse values and interests, when they are embedded in shared systems of meaning, and when they are coupled with and activated by particular micro-practices that support the legitimacy of their promoters as disinterested advocates for the collective good.

Key Words: decision-making practices • numbers • objectivity • strategic change

References

  • Ahrens, T. and Chapman, C. (2002) ‘The Structuration of Legitimate Performance Measures and Management: Day-to-Day Contests of Accountability in a UK Restaurant Chain’ , Management Accounting Research 13: 151-171 .[CrossRef]
  • Ballas, A. A. and Tsoukas, H. (2004) ‘Measuring Nothing: The Case of the Greek National Health System’ , Human Relations 57(6): 661-690 .[Abstract]
  • Bower, J. L. (1970) Managing the Resource Allocation Process: a Study of Corporate Planning and Investment. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press .
  • Brunsson, N. (1982) ‘The Irrationality of Action and Action Rationality: Decisions, Ideologies and Organizational Actions’ , Journal of Management Studies 19(1): 29-44 .
  • Brunsson, N. (2000) The Irrational Organization: Irrationality as a Basis for Organizational Action and Change. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget .
  • Callon, M. (1986) ‘Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and Fishermen in St Brieuc Bay’, in J. Law (ed.) Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge, pp.196-233. London: Routledge .
  • Carmona, S., Ezzamel, M. and Gutierrez, F. (2002) ‘The Relationship Between Accounting and Spatial Practices in the Factory’ , Accounting, Organizations and Society 22(5): 239-274 .[CrossRef]
  • Carpenter, B. and Dirsmith, M. (1993) ‘Sampling and the Abstraction of Knowledge in the Auditing Profession: An Extended Institutional Theory Perspective’ , Accounting, Organizations and Society 18: 41-63 .
  • Cohen, M. D., March, J. G. and Olsen, J. P. (1972) ‘A Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice’ , Administrative Science Quarterly 17: 1-25 .[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Dalton, M. (1959) Men Who Manage: Fusions of Feeling and Theory in Administration. New York: Wiley .
  • Dean, J. W. and Sharfman, M. (1993a) ‘The Relationship Between Procedural Rationality and Political Behaviour in Strategic Decision Making’ , Decision Sciences 24(6): 1069-1084 .
  • Dean, J. W. and Sharfman, M. (1993b) ‘Procedural Rationality in the Strategic Decision-Making Process’ , Journal of Management Studies 30(4): 587-611 .[CrossRef]
  • Dean, J. W. and Sharfman, M. (1996) ‘Does Decision Process Matter? A Study of Strategic Decision-Making Effectiveness’ , Academy of Management Journal 39(2): 368-397 .[CrossRef]
  • Déjean, F., Gond, J.-P. and Leca, B. (2004) ‘Measuring the Unmeasured: An Institutional Entrepreneur Strategy in an Emerging Industry’ , Human Relations 57(6): 741-764 .[Abstract]
  • Denis, J.-L., Langley, A. and Contandriopoulos, A.-P. (1995) ‘La Transformation du Rôle des Instances Régionales dans le Système de Santé au Québec’ , Revue française d’administration publique 76(4): 599-608 .
  • Denis, J.-L., Langley, A. and Contandriopoulos, A.-P. (1998) ‘From Institutional Discourse to Organizational Decision’ , paper presented at the Academy of Management (August).
  • Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989) ‘Making fast Strategic Decisions in High-Velocity Environments’ , Academy of Management Journal 32(3): 543-577 .[CrossRef]
  • Eisenhardt, K. M. and Bourgeois, L. J. (1988) ‘Politics of Strategic Decision Making in High-Velocity Environments’ , Academy of Management Journal 31(4): 737-771 .[CrossRef]
  • Ezzamel, M. and Willmott, H. (1998) ‘Accounting for Teamwork: A Critical Study of Group-Based Systems of Organizational Control’ , Administrative Science Quarterly 43(2): 358-396 .[CrossRef]
  • Feldman, S. P. (2004) ‘The Culture of Objectivity: Quantification, Uncertainty, and the Evaluation of Risk at NASA’ , Human Relations 57(6): 691-718 .[Abstract]
  • Feldman, M. S. and March, J. G. (1981) ‘Information in Organizations as Signal and Symbol’ , Administrative Science Quarterly 26(2): 171-187 .[CrossRef]
  • Fisher, M. J. (1996) ‘Realizing the Benefits of New Technologies as a Source of Audit Evidence: An Interpretive Field Study’ , Accounting, Organizations and Society 21: 219-242 .[CrossRef]
  • Fligstein, N. (1998) ‘The Politics of Quantification’ , Accounting, Organizations and Society 23(3): 325-331 .
  • Flyvbjerg, B. (1998) Rationality and Power: Democracy in Practice. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
  • Fredrickson, J. W. (1986) ‘The Strategic Decision Process and Organizational Structure’ , Academy of Management Review 11(2): 280-297 .[CrossRef]
  • Gephart, R. (1997) ‘Hazardous Measures: An Interpretive Textual Analysis of Quantitative Sensemaking during Crisis’ , Journal of Organizational Behavior 18: 583-622 .[CrossRef]
  • Hardy, C. (2001) ‘Researching Organizational Discourse’ , International Studies of Management and Organization 31(3): 25-47 .
  • Hopwood, A. G. (1987) ‘The Archaeology of Accounting Systems’ , Accounting, Organizations and Society 12(3): 207-234 .
  • Langley, A. (1989) ‘In Search of Rationality: The Purposes Behind the Use of Formal Analysis in Organizations’ , Administrative Science Quarterly 34(4): 598-631 .[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Langley, A. (1995) ‘Between "Paralysis by Analysis" and "Extinction by Instinct"’ , Sloan Management Review 36(3): 63-76 .
  • Latour, B. (1987) Science in Action. Milton Keynes: Open University Press .
  • Lindblom, C. E. and Cohen, D. K. (1979) Usable Knowledge: Social Science and Social Problem Solving. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press .
  • Llewellyn, S. (1994) ‘Managing the Boundary: How Accounting is Implicated in Maintaining the Organization’ , Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 7: 4-23 .
  • Lowe, A. D. (2000) ‘The Construction of a Network at Health Waikato: the "Towards Clinical Budgeting" Project’ , Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 13(1): 84-114 .[CrossRef]
  • Lowe, A. D. (2001) ‘Action at a Distance: Accounting Inscriptions and the Reporting of Episodes of Clinical Care’ , Accounting Forum 25(1): 1-25 .
  • Lowe, A. D. (2004) ‘Postsocial Relations: Toward a Performative View of Accounting Knowledge’ , Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 17(4): 604-628 .
  • Lowe, A. and Jones, A. (2004) ‘Emergent Strategy and the Measurement of Performance: The Formulation of Performance at the Micro Level’ , Organization Studies 25(8): 1313-1337 .[Abstract]
  • Meltsner, A. J. (1976) Policy Analysis in the Bureaucracy. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press .
  • Meyer, A. D. (1984) ‘Mingling Decision Making Metaphors’ , Academy of Management Journal 9(1): 6-18 .
  • Mintzberg, H. (1979) The Structuring of Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall .
  • Mintzberg, H. and Lampel, J. (1999) ‘Reflecting on the Strategy Process’ , Sloan Management Review 40(3): 21-31 .
  • Nahapiet, J. (1988) ‘The Rhetoric and Reality of an Accounting Change: A Study of Resource Allocation’ , Accounting, Organizations and Society 13(4): 333-358 .[CrossRef]
  • Northcott, D. and Llewellyn, S. (2002) ‘Challenges in Costing Health Care Services: Recent Evidence from the UK’ , International Journal of Public Sector Management 15(3): 188-203 .[CrossRef]
  • Northcott, D. and Llewellyn, S. (2003) ‘The Ladder of Success in Healthcare: The UK National Reference Costing Index’ , Management Accounting Research 14: 51-66 .[CrossRef]
  • Nutt, P. C. (2002) ‘Making Strategic Choices’ , Journal of Management Studies 39(1): 67-96 .
  • Orton, J. D. and Weick, K. (1990) ‘Loosely-Coupled Systems: A Reconceptualization’ , Academy of Management Review 37(2): 203-223 .[CrossRef]
  • Pentland, B. T. (1993) ‘Getting Comfortable with Numbers: Auditing and the Micro-Production of Macro-Order’ , Accounting, Organizations and Society 18: 605-620 .
  • Porter, T. M. (1995) Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
  • Power, M. (2003) ‘Auditing and the Production of Legitimacy’ , Accounting, Organizations and Society 28:, 379-394 .[CrossRef]
  • Power, M. (2004) ‘Counting, Control and Calculation: Reflections on Measuring and Management’ , Human Relations 57(6): 765-783 .[Abstract]
  • Ranson, S., Hinings, C. R. and Greenwood, R. (1980) ‘The Structuring of Organization Structures’ , Administrative Science Quarterly 25(1): 1-17 .[CrossRef]
  • Robson, K. (1992) ‘Accounting Numbers as Inscription: Action at Distance and the Development of Accounting’ , Accounting, Organizations and Society 17(7): 685-708 .[CrossRef]
  • Rose, N. (1991) ‘Governing by Numbers: Figuring out Democracy’ , Accounting, Organizations and Society 16(7): 673-693 .[CrossRef]
  • Sieber, S. (1981) Fatal Remedies: The Ironies of Social Intervention. New York: Plenum Press .
  • Thomas, J. B. and Trevino, L. K. (1993) ‘Information Processing in Strategic Alliances: A Multiple Case Approach’ , Journal of Management Studies 30(5): 779-815 .
  • Thompson, J. D. and Tuden, A. (1959) ‘Strategies, Structures and Processes of Organizational Decision’, in J. D. Thompson (ed.) Comparative Studies in Administration. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press .
  • Townley, B., Cooper, D. J. and Oakes, L. (2003) ‘Performance Measures and the Rationalization of Organizations’ , Organization Studies 24(7): 1045-1071 .[Abstract]
  • Young, J. J. (2003) ‘Constructing, Persuading and Silencing: The Rhetoric of Accounting Standards’ , Accounting, Organizations and Society 28: 621-638 .[CrossRef]

Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 International Review for the Sociology of SportHome page
M. P. Sam and J. Scherer
Stand Up and Be Counted: Numerical Storylines in a Stadium Debate
International Review for the Sociology of Sport, March 1, 2008; 43(1): 53 - 70.
[Abstract] [PDF]

This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Denis, J.-L.
Right arrow Articles by Rouleau, L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?