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Article
Publication date: 1 April 1997

Michael D. Michalisin, Robert D. Smith and Douglas M. Kline

The Resource‐Based View of the Firm (RBV) has become an important stream of literature in strategic management. RDV's main prescription is that strategic assets are crucial…

Abstract

The Resource‐Based View of the Firm (RBV) has become an important stream of literature in strategic management. RDV's main prescription is that strategic assets are crucial determinants of sustainable competitive advantage and thus firm performance. Unfortunately, little empirical research has been occasioned to substantiate that prescription. Part of the difficulty in empirically testing RBV's main prescription lies in identifying resources capable of being strategic assets. This article combines RBV logic, the definition of strategic assets, Hall's studies, and the logic embodied in several streams of management literature to explain why strategic assets are intangible in nature, to show that not all intangible resources are strategic assets, and to demonstrate that company reputation, product reputation, employee knowhow, and organizational culture possess the characteristics of strategic assets. That is the foundation for the proposed hypotheses and proposed conceptual model presented in this paper for testing RBV's main prescription. We also discuss the practical, theoretical and empirical implications of this paper and make suggestions regarding empirical testing.

Details

The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 5 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1055-3185

Article
Publication date: 20 March 2019

Qiuling Gao, Zijie Li and Xinli Huang

Based on the strategy tripod perspective, this study aims to address how emerging economy multinational enterprises (EMNEs) make a strategic decision of choosing a foreign…

Abstract

Purpose

Based on the strategy tripod perspective, this study aims to address how emerging economy multinational enterprises (EMNEs) make a strategic decision of choosing a foreign location for their strategic asset seeking and under what mechanism EMNEs make foreign direct investment (FDI) location choice.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper first reviews the literature on strategy tripod and strategic asset seeking strategy of EMNEs. Then, six cases of Chinese multinational enterprises operating in manufacturing industry have been introduced, emphasizing on interactions within three dimensions of strategy tripod framework, namely, resource-based dimension, industry-based dimension and institution-based dimension. By triangulating with multiple sources of archival and interview data, this paper identified a conceptual model presenting location choice mechanisms.

Findings

Based on a comparative multi-case study, four mechanisms of EMNEs’ location choice when seek strategic asset by FDI within a strategy tripod framework have been revealed. Specifically, EMNEs make their strategic decision of choosing a foreign location for their strategic asset seeking under mechanisms of seeking complementary resources based on industry characteristics; echoing with institutional dimension of home country when exploitation of resource; matching institutional dimension of host country when consider industry fitness; and institutional leveraging combined with understanding of resource and industry dimensions inside strategy tripod.

Originality/value

The findings shed novel insights into the mechanisms under which EMNEs choose their location for strategic asset-seeking FDI. It also broadens the strategy tripod framework by looking deeper into the characteristics of each dimension within a new research context of EMNEs’ FDI location choice.

Details

Chinese Management Studies, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-614X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 June 2012

Eric G. Flamholtz and Yvonne Randle

This paper seeks to enhance understanding of the role and effect of corporate culture as a unique strategic asset on the success of business models.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to enhance understanding of the role and effect of corporate culture as a unique strategic asset on the success of business models.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a conceptual exploration of several key constructs and their interrelationship. The argument is based on four related notions: that corporate culture is an “asset”; that it is a “strategic asset” in the sense of comprising a source of competitive advantage; that it might well be the “ultimate strategic asset”; and that culture as a strategic asset can be the essence or core of a business model. The paper also uses “empirical examples” of actual companies to study and demonstrate the core constructs and ideas. It also examines issues involving the key dimensions of corporate culture, the measurement of corporate culture, and certain related performance measurement issues.

Findings

The paper shows that corporate culture is a strategic asset, which, if managed properly, can be the key differentiating factor in a successful business model. It also shows that when not managed properly, can actually transform into a “liability”.

Practical implications

This paper demonstrates that corporate culture is a critical strategic asset because of its role in creating competitive advantage and successful business models. It suggests that corporate culture can also be the single most important source of competitive advantage in business models. Finally, it suggests that practicing leaders as well as investors and academics need to pay attention to corporate culture as a component of business strategy.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature and to practice by examining the notion that corporate culture is a strategic asset in depth and examining the relationship between culture as a strategic asset and business models. It also takes steps towards a coherent framework for both scholars and practicing managers to frame and understand the issues involved in the management and measurement of this critical strategic asset.

Details

Journal of Human Resource Costing & Accounting, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1401-338X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 April 2019

Lili Mi, Yuanfei Kang and Yulong Liu

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between strategic asset-seeking intent and firms’ entry strategies of foreign investment in the context of emerging market firms.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between strategic asset-seeking intent and firms’ entry strategies of foreign investment in the context of emerging market firms.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on survey data of 392 Chinese foreign direct investment projects. Structural equation modelling is used for data analysis.

Findings

With stronger strategic asset-seeking intent, emerging market multinational enterprises are likely to locate their subsidiaries in developed countries, use a wholly owned subsidiary mode and invest with greater intensity, while they do not have a clear preference in entry timing.

Practical implications

The strategic asset-seeking intent applies not only to emerging market firms but also to small and medium firms in general that have limited resources and a need to catch up with stronger competitors. This study therefore provides guidance to these firms.

Originality/value

This study contributes by investigating how the strategic asset-seeking intent affects firms’ strategies. The findings have practical implications for strategic managerial decisions that lead to sustained competitive advantage and improved firm performance.

Details

Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 41 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0275-6668

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2006

Godwin Onyeaso and William Johnson

The aim of this paper is to advocate and implement cointegration methods for the estimation of interconnectedness of service quality and customer loyalty as intangible strategic

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to advocate and implement cointegration methods for the estimation of interconnectedness of service quality and customer loyalty as intangible strategic assets within management decision.

Design/methodology/approach

Using longitudinal time series quarterly data on loyalty and service quality, the paper uses cointegration methods to empirically estimate the weight of interconnectedness of customer loyalty and service quality as intangible strategic assets.

Findings

The research evidence suggests that customer loyalty and service quality are interconnected intangible strategic assets that managers can develop, accumulate, estimate and deploy for superior competitive advantage.

Originality/value

To the extent that the global economies are increasingly service‐driven, managerial capability to estimate intangible strategic assets as drivers of superior competitive advantage will remain strategically important. Assumedly, this paper is the first to illustrate how cointegration methods can be used by managers to estimate interconnectedness of intangible strategic assets. In this sense, to the extent that this method is new to managers, it represents another toolkit of intangible strategic asset management for managers.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 44 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 April 2013

Subramaniam Ananthram, Alan Nankervis and Christopher Chan

Human resource management (HRM) theory has transitioned in recent decades towards “human capital” and “human assets” frameworks that emphasize strategic choice and “investment”…

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Abstract

Purpose

Human resource management (HRM) theory has transitioned in recent decades towards “human capital” and “human assets” frameworks that emphasize strategic choice and “investment”, which are concepts borrowed from strategic management, accounting and economic theories. This paper aims to explore the perspectives of strategic human asset management theory, which involves strategic agility and knowledge management.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was based on semi‐structured interviews with 30 senior executives of multinational firms in Canada and the USA in 2009, following the global financial crisis. The qualitative findings were analyzed using the NVivo software (version 8) package.

Findings

The research findings suggest that many North American multinational firms recognize the value of this new interpretation of HRM and are attempting to implement it through “strategic human asset management” in their own firms. The paper concludes with some practical recommendations for line managers and HR professionals in their human assets management imperatives.

Research limitations/implications

The generalizability of the findings is limited by the relatively small sample size and qualitative nature of the study. However, they provide some interesting implications for HR professionals who wish to transform their role into that of a strategic business partner through innovative human asset management strategies.

Originality/value

The paper builds on previous research by exploring the applications of the concepts of strategic human asset management, strategic agility, and knowledge management within the context of US and Canadian multinational firms.

Article
Publication date: 31 December 2004

Pierre W. Jolicoeur and James T. Barrett

The application of strategic asset management in the municipal sector is of growing concern and importance. Increasingly, municipalities are faced with shrinking facility budgets…

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Abstract

The application of strategic asset management in the municipal sector is of growing concern and importance. Increasingly, municipalities are faced with shrinking facility budgets while, at the same time, having to provide the most suitable properties in support of core service delivery requirements. The focus of municipal asset management is to support local decision making related to the acquisition, remediation or disposal of property. In light of the fact that local government is the closest level of government to the public, the framework for strategic asset management must be transparent and beyond reproach. This paper legitimises the application of strategic asset management in the municipal sector and proffers a unique, empirical approach to the rationalisation of property in support of service delivery.

Details

Journal of Facilities Management, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-5967

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 October 2007

Kalevi Kyläheiko and Jaana Sandström

The purpose of this paper is to launch a dynamic strategic framework for a manufacturing firm for the digital age. The paper's dynamic capabilities‐ and strategic options‐based…

3884

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to launch a dynamic strategic framework for a manufacturing firm for the digital age. The paper's dynamic capabilities‐ and strategic options‐based framework is comprised of the following key issues: how to sense the weak signals at the customer interface and how to formulate them as strategic options; how to exercise these options in the (often) intangible assets markets that are imperfect or even non‐existent; how to appropriate and/or share strategically relevant productive knowledge in order to obtain competitive advantage (CA) over the rivals, (iv) how to recognize the opportunities and threats of the underlying industrial structure, especially the economies of scale and scope and network externalities; and how to proactively reconfigure and reshape the existing knowledge base and capabilities in order to sustain the CA obtained.

Design/methodology/approach

The paradigm of creating CA is opened up in the context of knowledge‐based engineering and digital manufacturing. The Porterian five forces model, the resource‐based view and especially its dynamized extension, the dynamic capability view, are used as theoretical starting points. The modern strategic technology management literature will be complemented by means of the concepts of strategic options and related flexibility issues. Some illustrative examples will be offered as well.

Findings

In the author's view, the primary sources of sustainable CA in the digital manufacturing can be captured from active asset selection (strategic investments in both tangible and intangible assets), and efficient orchestrating of the global value net in “thin” intangible assets markets. The main determinants of CA are: the competitive nature of external environments, supply and demand conditions of the industry (economies of scale and scope and network externalities), renewal capacity of the organization, the dependence on complementary co‐specialized resources and capabilities, and the strategic role of the appropriability regime.

Originality/value

This paper tries to capture the critical elements of creating sustainable CA in the context of digital manufacturing and it is considered to be useful for strategic decision‐makers. The modern technology strategy management literature is synthesized in our framework and it tries to make the issues more applicable to the strategic management of the companies.

Details

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, vol. 18 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-038X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 May 2022

Robert L. Bonner, Andrea R. Neely, Christopher B. Stone, Cynthia A. Lengnick-Hall and Mark L. Lengnick-Hall

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overarching framework to guide the understanding of the allocation and deployment of strategic human capital assets within an…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overarching framework to guide the understanding of the allocation and deployment of strategic human capital assets within an organization. Using the concept of medical triage with business units analogous to “patients” and their performance to “symptoms or injuries,” the framework suggests a “steal from the poor” perspective that is counter to conventional organizational decline literature.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper proposing that there are five different categories of business unit need for human capital assets: expectant, deceased, immediate, delayed or minimal; all based on the type of environment and holistic performance of the business unit. Based on a business unit’s specific situation, the authors suggest a process model guiding how to conduct a triage analysis to optimize the allocation of strategic human capital assets within an organization.

Findings

The authors argue that current trends in assessing strategic human capital assets which make comparisons across organizations are necessary but insufficient (e.g. comparing a store to other stores in its district or region). Each business unit has its own unique internal capabilities and external constraints that also must be accurately assessed to make an informed organizational-level decision about where and how to deploy strategic human capital assets.

Originality/value

Borrowing from medical science, this paper demonstrates a new conceptual framework with propositions for researchers and guidance for practitioners.

Article
Publication date: 10 January 2018

Maria-Isabel Sanchez-Segura, German-Lenin Dugarte-Peña, Fuensanta Medina-Dominguez and Cynthya García de Jesús

This paper aims to address the use of modelling and simulation tools to enhance intangible process assets management by simulating and automating their characterization depending…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to address the use of modelling and simulation tools to enhance intangible process assets management by simulating and automating their characterization depending on their quality and impact on an organizational business goal.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a study comparing two simulation-based approaches to characterize intangible assets: system dynamics and agent-based simulation.

Findings

Strategic business studies have not yet considered the use of simulation techniques to characterize the intangible assets at length. The proposed solution introduces significant improvements for strategic data visualization, providing company stakeholders with a practical and helpful prism through which to view an easily adaptable, cheap and meaningful source of information about their company’s process assets, and their behaviour based on operation indicators.

Practical implications

This research offers decision-makers in knowledge-intensive organizations alternatives for effective strategic decision-making and for leveraging prospective views based on the specification of the organization’s knowledge. To do this, stakeholders will be able to use very promising low-cost simulation-based tools to create practical scenarios and potential situations that generate inputs for debate and decision-making by senior and middle management.

Originality/value

This paper reports an unprecedented comparative study of system dynamics and agent-based simulation to speed-up the characterization of the intangible process assets based on their quality and impact on strategic goals. It stresses the benefits and implications of the use of these techniques for better strategic management.

1 – 10 of over 64000