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1 – 10 of over 91000This article describes and analyses observations from a longitudinal case study to advance an understanding of operations strategy formation as a continuous process. The…
Abstract
This article describes and analyses observations from a longitudinal case study to advance an understanding of operations strategy formation as a continuous process. The managerial practices of the case company are analysed in relation to four general desired outcomes of a strategy process, and a process design is constructed as an example of good practice. Regarding strategy formation as a continuous part of the normal management process, the process design is proposed as a relevant alternative to the traditional discontinuous practice of strategy formation. The interplay between modes of strategy formation in different phases of the process is discussed, indicating the varying roles of managers.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore how the emphases given to the levers of control when monitoring product development (PD) are combined with each other, with the type of PD…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the emphases given to the levers of control when monitoring product development (PD) are combined with each other, with the type of PD strategy formation and with the degree of innovativeness experienced by the firm. Moreover, the paper aims at identifying those configurations that are equifinal and superior to others in terms of PD and organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Data (n = 468) are collected through a structure written questionnaire and analyzed through cluster analysis. Robustness tests investigate the stability of the results across different cluster method choices.
Findings
The paper unravels three configurations: A framing firms cluster, a fatalist firms cluster and a meticulous firms cluster. The first and the third cluster outperform the second cluster in terms of performance.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of the paper relate to the possible response bias, the measurement of the variables, the subjectivity in cluster method choices and the static and non-causal nature of results. Future studies are called to validate the findings.
Practical implications
Firms with a partially intended and partially emergent PD strategy formation process and high innovativeness should place high emphasis to the PD beliefs and boundary systems. Firms with a prevailing intended PD strategy formation and a medium innovativeness should emphasize diagnostic and interactive control systems for PD.
Originality/value
In contrast to previous studies, this paper addresses the peculiarities of one specific control problem, i.e. the conflicting control demands that management has to address in PD.
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While big data (BD), a transformative emerging phenomenon on its youth, plays a growing role in organizations in improving marketing decision-making, few academic works examine…
Abstract
Purpose
While big data (BD), a transformative emerging phenomenon on its youth, plays a growing role in organizations in improving marketing decision-making, few academic works examine the mechanism through which BD can be applied to guide future competitive advantage strategies. The purpose of this paper is to examine if BD’s predictive power helps business to business (B2B) firms selecting their intended generic (differentiation, focus, and cost leadership) strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the learning theory, the study proposes the use of BD as a key driver of intended strategies. Based on data from a cross-industry sample of executives, a conceptual model is tested using path and robustness analyses.
Findings
The use of BD plays a prominent role in the selection of intended future strategies in industrial markets. Additional tests demonstrate conditions of competitive intensity and strategic flexibility where BD is more and less beneficial.
Research limitations/implications
The study furthers the understanding of traditional learning and intelligence use frameworks and of contemporary future strategies drivers.
Practical implications
BD availability enables managers leveraging knowledge embedded in data-rich systems to gain predictive insights that help in guiding new strategic directions to maintain competitive advantage.
Originality/value
The study reinforces the continued applicability of Porter’s generic positioning strategies in the digital era. It addresses the paucity of research on BD in B2B context and is the first to provide theoretical and practical reflections on how BD utilization influences industrial intended strategies. The study strengthens contemporary managerial views defending that data drive strategies rather than the opposite.
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The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the picture of strategies for information searching and seeking by reviewing the conceptualizations on this topic in the field of library…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the picture of strategies for information searching and seeking by reviewing the conceptualizations on this topic in the field of library and information science (LIS).
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws on Henry Mintzberg’s idea of strategy as plan and strategy as pattern in a stream of actions. Conceptual analysis of 57 LIS investigations was conducted to find out how researchers have approached the above aspects in the characterizations of information search and seeking strategies.
Findings
In the conceptualizations of information search and information seeking strategies, the aspect of strategy as plan is explicated most clearly in text-book approaches describing the steps of rational web searching. Most conceptualizations focus on the aspect of strategy as pattern in a stream of actions. This approach places the main emphasis on realized strategies, either deliberate or emergent. Deliberate strategies indicate how information search or information seeking processes were oriented by intentions that existed previously. Emergent strategies indicate how patterns in information seeking and seeking developed in the absence of intentions, or despite them.
Research limitations/implications
The conceptualizations of the shifts in information seeking and searching strategies were excluded from the study. Similarly, conceptualizations of information search or information retrieval tactics were not examined.
Originality/value
The study pioneers by providing an in-depth analysis of the ways in which the key aspects of strategy are conceptualized in the classifications and typologies of information seeking and searching strategies. The findings contribute to the elaboration of the conceptual space of information behaviour research.
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Basil P. Tucker and Lee D. Parker
This aim of this study is to explore the relationship between management control systems (MCSs) and the formulation of strategy in not‐for‐profit (NFP) organisations.
Abstract
Purpose
This aim of this study is to explore the relationship between management control systems (MCSs) and the formulation of strategy in not‐for‐profit (NFP) organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper views the relationship between MCS and strategy through the contrasting lenses of new‐institutional and contingency theory, using data collected from semi‐structured interviews of CEOs and senior executives in 32 Australian NFPs.
Findings
Strategy is formulated predominantly by intended means, through structured strategic planning processes. Emergent strategy is typically a rare means by which strategy is developed, and is in fact often actively discouraged in the NFPs investigated. Contrary to expectations, control is predominantly exercised through informal means, rather than by formally designed systems.
Originality/value
With strategy and control being central concerns for most NFPs, this sector provides a unique vehicle for exploring the “robustness” of prior MCS strategy empirical findings. Investigating the MCS strategy relationship within a highly complex NFP context is thus an “acid test” of existing understanding of the MCS‐strategy nexus. As one of the few studies to investigate the relationship between control and strategy as it may apply in this context, this study refines and further develops extant management control theory.
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Avril Blamey, Jacki Gordon, Kim Newstead and Jacqueline McDowell
The purpose of this paper is to present learning on the strategies used by cooking skills practitioners and the programme theories, behaviour change mechanisms/contexts and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present learning on the strategies used by cooking skills practitioners and the programme theories, behaviour change mechanisms/contexts and intended outcomes associated with these in varied contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
Grey literature from Scottish cooking skills courses were reviewed using realist principles. Intervention implementation variables were identified and iteratively coded to uncover intended intervention strategies and programme theories. The lack of robust evaluation processes and outcome data in the grey literature prevented the testing of intended programme theories against outcomes. Alternatively, implementation strategies were aligned against behavioural-theory constructs contained in national guidance. Prioritised theories were further clarified/refined using practitioner and participant focus group data. Learning was used to inform future practice/evaluation.
Findings
Courses targeted and reached vulnerable individuals. Practitioners articulated multiple theories and assumptions about how strategies may work. Numerous strategies and behaviour constructs were used to target, tailor and reinforce cooking/food and wider social outcomes. Mechanisms were assumed to be triggered by different contexts and lead to varied outcomes. Strategies used were consistent with evidenced behaviour change constructs and guidelines. Interventions aimed to achieve non-cooking/social outcomes as well as cooking ones – including potential mediators of cooking behaviour, e.g. self-confidence. Contexts facilitated/limited the use of certain strategies. Limitations in course design, reporting and self-evaluation need to be addressed.
Practical implications
Recommendations for improving intervention commissioning, design and evaluation using realist principles are provided.
Originality/value
Learning addresses gaps in knowledge about the implementation of cooking skills interventions identified from systematic reviews and can improve course design and evaluation.
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Carsten Lund Pedersen and Torben Juul Andersen
This study of a market-leader in a turbulent hostile telecommunications market uncovers how the competitive context influences strategy-making and cultivates central control that…
Abstract
This study of a market-leader in a turbulent hostile telecommunications market uncovers how the competitive context influences strategy-making and cultivates central control that opposes autonomous initiatives. It shows how a highly competitive industry context reduces organizational slack that inhibits autonomy and drives central actions. Strategic initiatives primarily arise as deliberate actions induced by top management. This creates an information gap between ongoing experiences gained by employees operating in the periphery of the organization and the perceptions of decision-makers at the corporate center. In this organizational setting, the authors observe maverick behavior among entrepreneurial individuals that deliberately circumvent the formal rules to turn autonomous initiatives into viable strategic ventures in the best interest of the firm. Where conventional views presume that power delegation and organizational slack are necessary for autonomous strategic initiatives to emerge, the authors find that central control can provoke autonomous rule-breaking maverick behavior among resource-deprived entrepreneurial individuals inside the organization.
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Considers the development and delivery of purchasing strategy within a local government setting. It demonstrates that purchasing can contribute to the political objectives of…
Abstract
Considers the development and delivery of purchasing strategy within a local government setting. It demonstrates that purchasing can contribute to the political objectives of local government and suggests that strategic alignment leads to a repositioning of purchasing. Consideration is given to the intended and realised strategy prior to a change model being presented which could form the basis for further research.
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Malena Ingemansson Havenvid, Elsebeth Holmen, Åse Linné and Ann-Charlott Pedersen
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship continuity across projects among actors in the construction industry, and to discuss why and how such continuity takes…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship continuity across projects among actors in the construction industry, and to discuss why and how such continuity takes place.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on the results from four in-depth case studies illustrating different strategies for pursuing relationship continuity. The results are analysed and discussed in light of the oft-mentioned strategies suggested by Mintzberg (1987): emergent, deliberate and deliberately emergent strategies. Furthermore, the ARA-model is used to discuss why the relationship continuity strategies are pursued, and which factors might enable and constrain the relationship continuity.
Findings
The main findings are twofold. First, the authors found that the strategy applied for pursuing relationship continuity may, in one-time period, contain one type of strategy or a mix of strategy types. Second, the type of strategy may evolve over time, from one type of strategy being more pronounced in one period, to other strategies being more pronounced in later periods. The strategies applied by construction firms and their counterparts can thus contain elements of emergent, deliberate and deliberately emergent strategies, in varying degrees over time. It is also shown that the strategies of the involved actors co-evolve as a result of interaction. Also, the main reasons for pursuing continuity appear to lie in the re-use and development of important resources and activities across projects to create efficiency and the possibility to develop mutual orientation, commitment and trust over time, and thus reduce uncertainty.
Research limitations/implications
Further empirical studies are needed to support the findings. For managers, the main implication is that relationship continuity can arise as part of an emerging interaction pattern between firms or as part of a planned strategy, but that elements of both might be needed to sustain it.
Originality/value
The authors combine Mintzberg’s strategy concepts with the ARA-model to bring new light to the widely debated issue of discontinuity and fragmentation in the construction industry.
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Elena Ehrensperger, Daria Greenberg, Harley Krohmer, Felix Nagel, Wayne Hoyer and Z. John Zhang
The purpose of the study is to introduce the idea of arena-relevant marketing capabilities and examine their impact on firm performance. Arena-relevant marketing capabilities are…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to introduce the idea of arena-relevant marketing capabilities and examine their impact on firm performance. Arena-relevant marketing capabilities are capabilities particularly relevant for success in a specific competitive arena in which rivals from different industries try to satisfy customer needs with alternative products and services. The authors focus on the luxury arena and pose the following research questions: Which are the arena-relevant marketing capabilities in the luxury competitive arena (i.e. luxury-arena-relevant capabilities)? (2) What is the relative importance of luxury-arena-relevant vs general marketing capabilities for firm performance in the luxury competitive arena?
Design/methodology/approach
To identify luxury-arena-relevant marketing capabilities, the authors conduct a qualitative study among 21 top managers of luxury brands. A subsequent large-scale managerial survey empirically tests the effects of luxury-arena-relevant vs general marketing capabilities on firm performance.
Findings
The study identifies four luxury-arena-relevant marketing capabilities: perfection in product creation, exclusive pricing, luxury-congruent storytelling and luxury brand inspiration. It confirms empirically that they have a higher impact on firm performance within the luxury competitive arena than general marketing capabilities.
Originality/value
The study takes an innovative perspective on marketing capabilities by linking them with the concept of a competitive arena and underlines the academic relevance of the concept of arena-relevant marketing capabilities for explaining firm performance.
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