Institutional Initiatives for Technological Change: From Issue Interpretation to Strategic Choice

To test a managerial cognition model of organizational adaptation to technolo gical change, we examine strategic responses to the introduction of electronic filing of individual income-tax returns by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Based on data from over four hundred tax-return preparation businesses in the United States, we analyzed the effects of issue interpretation on two dimen sions of response strategy — the target (intra-organizational versus inter- organizational) and the magnitude (level of commitment). Results of structural equation analyses support the usefulness of a managerial cognition approach for explaining different response patterns to institutional initiatives for techno logical change. Our findings indicate that three dimensions of issue interpreta tion — urgency, understandability and manageability — shape the level of commitment devoted to actions designed to resolve the issue. Our results also support the sequential nature of response consideration with respect to target, namely that intra-organizational strategies were considered before inter- organizational strategies.

MURCS association with encephalocele: report of a second case

We report a female fetus with occipital encephalocele, dysraphism of the cervical spine, right renal agenesis and Mullerian agenesis. Additional findings included posterior cleft palate, absent left umbilical artery and Meckel's diverticulum. This fetus had the features of MURCS association with occipital encephalocele. This is the second report of encephalocele with MURCS association.

Beyond business process redesign: redefining Baxter's business network

Business process redesign has focused almost exclusively on improving the firm's internal operations. Although internal efficiency and effectiveness are important objectives, the authors argue that business network redesign--reconceptualizing the role of the firm and its key business processes in the larger business network--is of greater strategic importance. To support their argument, they analyze the evolution of Baxter's ASAP system, one of the most publicized but inadequately understood strategic information systems of the 1980s. They conclude by examining whether ASAP's early successes have positioned the firm well for the changing hospital supplies marketplace of the 1990s.