bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Strategic redirection in large management buyouts: The evidence from post‐buyout restructuring activity
Authors: Seth Anju , Easterwood John 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis study examines the nature of post‐transaction restructuring activities for 32 large U.S. corporations that underwent management buyouts between 1983–89. This study (i) provides evidence on the extent and type of divestment and acquisition activities under private ownership; (ii) documents the outcomes associated with MBOs and the longevity of the buyout organization; and (iii) investigates the claim that buyouts are primarily mechanisms for breaking up public corporations and selling the pieces to related acquirers. The balance of the evidence indicates that restoring strategic focus is an essential function of the buyout for these large firms. However, the evidence also indicates that the buyout organization does continue to operate significant parts of the prebuyout firm. By far the majority of firms continue to meet their debt obligations satisfactorily during the buyout phase. Finally, the evidence indicates that asset sales to related acquirers derive more from efficiency considerations than market power.
Multinationals' diversification and the risk‐return trade‐off
Authors: Kim W. Chan , Hwang Peter , Burgers Willem P. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper advances a theoretical rationale to explain Bowman's paradox (1980) that firms with high returns can have low risk. Here we draw on the rich body of international management research and argue that global market diversification, which provides firms with three distinct options and opportunities over domestic firms, can explain the high return‐low risk profile. We also argue that no strong theoretical rationale exists in support of either related or unrelated product diversification generating such a favorable risk‐return profile. By integrating both the product and the global market dimension of diversification into our analyses and by controlling for the industry effect, this paper sheds new light on the relationship between corporate diversification and the risk‐return tradeoff. The results of this research, which are based on the diversification experiences of 125 multinationals, reveal the strikingly important, though so far overlooked, role that global market diversification plays in the joint management of corporate risk and return. Global market diversification here reflects both the multiplicity of international market areas in which a firm operates and the distribution pattern of a firm's industries across these multiple areas.
Environmental uncertainty and environmental scanning activities of nigerian manufacturing executives: A comparative analysis
Authors: Sawyerr Olukemi O. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis study investigated the relationship between perception of environmental uncertainty (PEU) and environmental scanning behavior of Chief Executive Officers of 47 manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The results indicated that perceived uncertainty in the environment was significantly higher for the task environment sectors than for the remote environment sectors; and as perceived uncertainty increased in a sector of the environment, scanning frequency and scanning interests also increased. The results were compared with those of prior research in the area of environmental scanning. The results show both the economic and political legal sectors of the environment to be more salient for Nigerian manufacturing executives than for their American counterparts.
Critical factors affecting the planning and implementation of major projects
Authors: Bryson John M. , Bromiley Philip 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis exploratory study reports the results of a quantitative cross‐sectional analysis of 68 case descriptions of major projects. Variables describing the context of the projects, project planning and implementation processes, and project outcomes were coded using information contained in the case descriptions. Factor analysis was used to identify major factors associated with context, process and outcomes. The influences of context on process, and context and process on outcomes were estimated using regression. The results indicate that a number of contextual variables strongly influence aspects of the project planning and implementation process, and then indirectly influence project outcomes through the planning and implementation process. In addition, both process and contextual variables affect outcomes directly. Several conclusions of a theoretical, methodological and practical nature are drawn.
Measuring strategy coherence through patterns of strategic choices
Authors: Nath Deepika , Sudharshan D. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractStrategies at different levels need to be coherent to ensure competitive advantage (Hofer and Schendel, 1978). Strategy coherence is the consistency of strategic choices across business and functional levels of strategy. In this paper we focus on strategy coherence. Using patterns of strategy, we develop a measure of the extent of strategy coherence. The relationship between coherence and performance is used to validate the measure. We illustrate the application of the measurement and validation process, in the context of acute care hospitals. The results indicate that our measure of coherence is monotonically related to performance. We also find performance differences between more and less coherent hospitals on the industry specific performance indicator of occupancy. Implications for theory and practice are highlighted.
Stage of the organizational life cycle and competition as mediators of problem perception for small businesses
Authors: Dodge H. Robert , Fullerton Sam , Robbins John E. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractAn empirical study based upon a sample of 645 small businesses assesses the relationship that life cycle stage and level of competition exhibit with the problems perceived to constrain small business strategic planning. Problems have been identified as either internal (cash flow) or external (competition); they have further been classified as either situational or core problems. Among the most prevalent problems reported by decision makers are customer contact, market knowledge, marketing planning, location, and adequacy of capital. A total of 16 problem areas were identified. Traditional wisdom offers the scenario where problems faced will vary as the organization progresses through the life cycle. Much of this research refutes conventional wisdom in that level of competition was determined to have more of an impact on problem perception.
Characteristics of partnership success: Partnership attributes, communication behavior, and conflict resolution techniques
Authors: Mohr Jakki , Spekman Robert 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe formation of partnerships between firms is becoming an increasingly common way for firms to find and maintain competitive advantage. While the antecedents of partnership formation and the characteristics of the resulting cooperative working relationship have been explored in the literature, an understanding of characteristics associated with partnership success is lacking. Such an understanding is important in reconciling the prescriptions to form partnerships with the reality that a majority of such partnerships do not succeed. We hypothesize that partnership attributes, communication behavior, and conflict resolution techniques are related to indicators of partnership success (satisfaction and sales volume in the relationship). The hypotheses are tested with vertical partnerships between manufacturers and dealers. Results indicate that the primary characteristics of partnership success are: partnership attributes of commitment, coordination, and trust; communication quality and participation; and the conflict resolution technique of joint problem solving. The findings offer insight into how to better manage these relationships to ensure success.
Longevity and the life‐cycle of management buy‐outs
Authors: Wright Mike , Robbie Ken , Thompson Steve , Starkey Ken 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe longevity debate about buy‐outs has hitherto been restricted. By focusing on large highly leveraged transactions, existing research has taken only a partial view of how long buy‐outs last and the factors influencing longevity. This paper develops and tests hypotheses concerning the influences on buy‐out longevity across the whole spectrum of management buy‐out applications. Both quantitative and case study evidence from the U. K. is presented. A heterogeneity view of buy‐outs is supported. Tests using quantitative data show that earlier exit is associated with larger buy‐outs, and buy‐outs arising on privatization from the public sector and from non‐U. K. parents. Case study evidence principally supports hypotheses that earlier exit is associated with financing institutions being in a relatively stronger position than management and with more rapidly changing market conditions for the firm.
How strategy‐making processes can make a difference
Authors: Hart Stuart , Banbury Catherine 
Published: May 2007

AbstractStrategy‐making is usually portrayed in dichotomous terms: rational vs. incremental, or formulation vs. implementation. It may, however, be more valid to think of organizations as entities capable of developing resources and skills in multiple strategy‐making process modes. This paper first develops measures to identify firms with different levels and types of strategy‐making process ‘capability’ then examines empirically their relationships to five dimensions of perceived performance, using data collected from a sample of 285 top managers. Results indicate that firms with high process capability–the simultaneous use of multiple strategy‐making process modes–outperfom single‐mode or less process‐capable organizations.
The effect of strategic technology alliances on company performance
Authors: Hagedoorn John , Schakenraad Jos 
Published: May 2007

AbstractStrategic technology partnering between firms has become a growing subject of interest to both companies experimenting with this mode of economic organization and researchers from a wide variety of academic disciplines. In this study an effort is made to measure the effect of strategic technology partnering on companies engaged in such joint efforts. A study of the relevant literature on interfirm cooperation generates some basic understanding of this phenomenon, after which the empirical analysis is expanded with linear structural modeling of a number of relevant explanatory variables setting strategic partnering in a more complex environment.
Wholly‐owned vs. collaborative ventures for diversifying financial services
Authors: Ingham Hilary , Thompson Steve 
Published: May 2007

AbstractRecent empirical work has supported the Penrose‐Teece view that firms diversify to exploit fully specific assets or capabilities. Where transactions costs permit, these economies of scope may be realized via input supply contracts among producers. However, asset specificities frequently create transactions costs which discourage market contracting and leave firms with a choice between collaborative ventures and wholly‐owned new entry. This research uses the natural experiment of financial services deregulation to explore the collaborative‐own entry choice for 292 new entries in 13 financial product markets. The results generally support our maintained hypotheses that specificity encourages full ownership while collaboration is used to ease a resource constraint.
Interfirm cooperation and startup innovation in the biotechnology industry
Authors: Shan Weijan , Walker Gordon , Kogut Bruce 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper examines the association between interfirm cooperation and the innovation output of startup firms in the biotechnology industry. A reciprocal association is hypothesized. The results, however, show only that cooperation affects innovation. Several control variables are related to cooperation and innovation, especially the startup's position in the cooperative network.
Location, governance, and strategic determinants of japanese manufacturing investment in the united states
Authors: Hennart Jean‐Francois , Park Young‐Ryeol 
Published: May 2007

AbstractA firm's decision to manufacture abroad depends on location, governance, and strategic factors. Governance factors are firm‐specific. In spite of this, most empirical studies of foreign direct investment (FDI) have been conducted at the industry level (making it impossible to look at firm‐specific determinants), and only a handful have considered governance, location, and strategic factors simultaneously. This paper is the first large sample study of the determinants of foreign direct investment at the product and firm‐level. It examines the impact of location and governance factors, and of four types of strategic interactions, on a Japanese firm's propensity to manufacture in the U.S. The results support the view that foreign direct investment is explained by location, governance, and strategic variables. Economies of scale and trade barriers encourage Japanese FDI in the U.S. The larger a Japanese firm's R & D expenditures, the greater the probability it will manufacture in the U.S., but this is not the case for advertising expenditures. Some strategic factors are also important: Japanese firms with medium domestic market shares have the highest propensity to invest in the U.S. There is evidence of follow‐the‐leader behavior between firms of rival enterprise groups, but none of ‘exchange‐of‐threat’ between American and Japanese firms. Japanese investors are also attracted by concentrated and high‐growth U.S. industries.
Ceos' cognitive maps and the scope of the organization
Authors: Calori Roland , Johnson Gerry , Sarnin Philippe 
Published: May 2007

AbstractIn this paper, CEOs are considered as ‘cognizers’ charged with integrating views in the top management team; a role which should require high cognitive complexity especially in diversified multinational corporations. A methodology for studying top managers' cognitive complexity is described and then applied to a sample of 26 CEOs. The CEOs' cognitive maps of the structure and of the dynamics of their industry are analyzed in terms of their degree of complexity, in relation to the breadth of the business portfolio of the firm, its geographic scope and the links the firm has with foreign parents. The results of this exploratory test generally confirm the principle of requisite cognitive complexity, and reveal a new set of more precise hypotheses linking particular dimensions of the scope of the firm with particular dimensions of CEOs' cognitive complexity.
High and low levels of organizational adaptation: An empirical analysis of strategy, structure, and performance
Authors: Jennings Daniel F. , Seaman Samuel L. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractIn this study, we have examined high and low levels of organizational adaptation to environmental change by analyzing strategy, structure, and performance relationships. Our results indicate that organizations with particular levels of adaptation tend to have specific strategy‐structure arrangements which yield certain performance results. Organizations with an optimum strategy‐structure match tend to have higher performances. Implications for future research in organizational adaptation are discussed.
Differentiated fit and shared values: Alternatives for managing headquarters‐subsidiary relations
Authors: Nohria Nitin , Ghoshal Sumantra 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper elaborates and provides empirical support for two different approaches to managing the nexus of headquarters subsidiary relations in a multinational corporation (MNC). The first approach is that of Differentiated Fit. We show that the extent to which an MNC differentiates the formal structure of its headquarters subsidiary relations to fit the contexts of its various subsidiaries, the better the performance of the MNC as a whole. The second approach is that of Shared Values. We show that a high degree of shared values among the headquarters and subsidiaries is another approach to governing headquarterssubsidiary relation that enhances the performance of the MNC. We further maintain that differentiated fit and shared values, while being alternatives, are not mutually exclusive ways of effectively managing headquarters subsidiary relations. Indeed, MNCs that can simultaneously implement these two approaches have the best relative performance.
Total quality management as competitive advantage: A review and empirical study
Authors: Powell Thomas C. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractTotal Quality Management (TQM) has become, according to one source, ‘as pervasive a part of business thinking as quarterly financial results,’ and yet TQM's role as a strategic resource remains virtually unexamined in strategic management research. Drawing on the resource approach and other theoretical perspectives, this article examines TQM as a potential source of sustainable competitive advantage, reviews existing empirical evidence, and reports findings from a new empirical study of TQM's performance consequences. The findings suggest that most features generally associated with TQM—such as quality training, process improvement, and benchmarking—do not generally produce advantage, but that certain tacit, behavioral, imperfectly imitable features—such as open culture, employee empowerment, and executive commitment—can produce advantage. The author concludes that these tacit resources, and not TQM tools and techniques, drive TQM success, and that organizations that acquire them can outperform competitors with or without the accompanying TQM ideology.
Assessing generic strategies: An empirical investigation of two competing typologies in discrete manufacturing industries
Authors: Kotha Suresh , Vadlamani Bhatt L. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractIn spite of the extensive empirical evidence supporting Porter's (1980) typology of generic strategies, many researchers have criticized it for its conceptual limitations. To address these criticisms, Mintzberg (1988) proposed an alternative typology of generic strategies. Our findings, based on a survey of executives in manufacturing firms, provide support for Mintzberg's typology and fail to support Porter's typology. Given the findings, we call for further empirical validation of competing typologies to revitalize research on generic strategies.
Globalization of an ethnocentric firm: An evolutionary perspective
Authors: Malnight Thomas W. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper investigates the globalization process at one traditionally ethnocentric firm. Whereas there has been substantial research on how multinational corporations (MNCs) structure and manage worldwide activities, little research has investigated how MNCs move toward proposed integrated network structures. The paper develops an evolutionary perspective of this process at traditionally ethnocentric firms, suggesting that it is driven by a shifting mix of strategic objectives over time, each of which differs in its impact on various functions. The paper suggests that globalization occurs at the level of the function, rather than the firm, and highlights important differences in the timing, sequence, and objectives of the process across functions. It also describes the importance of development patterns across functions, as changes in one function create opportunities and requirements for changes in others. Finally, the paper develops a framework of the process that can be tested at subsequent sites.
The predictive validity of the Karnani and Wernerfelt model of multipoint competition
Authors: Smith Faye I. , Wilson Rick L. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis study is the first to examine the predictive validity of the Karnani and Wernerfelt theoretical model. We developed measures for four variables, and explored whether they successfully operationalized the dimensions in the theoretical model. The model proposed four response strategies, and six were observed in the data. Incumbent firms most frequently did not respond at all to another firm's entry, even though a counterattack response was predicted by the model. Since the independent variables did not predict responses as proposed by the model, exploratory analyses identified “best” predictors of responses.
The effects of ownership structure on conditions at the top: The case of CEO pay raises
Authors: Hambrick Donald C. , Finkelstein Sydney 
Published: May 2007

AbstractWe examine how ownership configuration affects the determination of CEO pay raises. Based on a sample of 188 firms over a 5‐year period, it was found that pay raises were based on distinctly different factors, depending on the ownership profile of the firm. In management‐controlled firms—where no single major owner exists—results suggest an overarching pay philosophy: maximize CEO pay, subject to demonstration of face legitimacy of that pay. In externally‐controlled firms—where a major (nonmanager) owner exists—results suggest a very different philosophy: minimize CEO pay, subject to the ability to attract/retain a satisfactory CEO.
Strategic action generation: A comparison of emphasis placed on generic competitive methods by U.S. And Japanese managers
Authors: Kotha Suresh , Dunbar Roger L. M. , Bird Allan 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe paper identifies similarities and differences in the emphases and patterns that U.S. and Japanese managers attribute to a set of 22 generic competitive methods. It highlights the different ways that Japanese and American managers combine these methods to form general business strategies. Using factor analyses and smallest space analyses, the study shows differences in business strategy patterns between managers in Japan and the U.S. Such differences reflect the organizing principles underlying the strategy approaches in U.S. and Japanese firms. The organizing principle underlying U.S. responses is the desire to find way to differentiate a firm from its competitors. In contrast, the organizing principle underlying Japanese responses is a desire to establish a comprehensive, stable and defensible position. The paper discusses the implications of these results for strategic management and suggests directions for future U.S. and Japanese comparative strategy research.
Defining and developing competence: A strategic process paradigm
Authors: McGrath Rita Gunther , Macmillan Ian C. , Venkataraman S. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractIn this paper, competence is defined in operational terms as the degree to which the firm or its subunits can reliably meet or exceed objectives. Two antecedents to competence (and thus competitive advantage) are then developed and defined. These are the ‘comprehension’ of the management team working on developing competence and the ‘deftness’ of their task execution. Empirical results from a study of 160 new initiatives in 40 organizations from 16 countries suggest that: (1) it is feasible to operationalize and measure these constructs; (2) comprehension and deftness are important correlates of an organization's degree of competence as defined; and (3) a process‐centered paradigm for understanding competence development shows promise.
The seeking of strategy where it is not: Towards a theory of strategy absence
Authors: Inkpen Andrew , Choudhury Nandan 
Published: May 2007

AbstractStrategy researchers are preoccupied with the study of existing strategy systems and processes, with the result that they do not question situations where a strategy is expected to exist but does not. The investigation of such voids is likely to enhance greatly the understanding of the nature of organizational strategy, both in its presence and in its absence. The perspective offered in this paper is that strategy absence is a legitimate phenomenon of interest to business management scholars.