bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Functional importance and company performance: Moderating effects of grand strategy and industry type
Authors: Hitt Michael A. , Ireland R. Duane , Stadter Gregory 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe literature suggests that the appropriate combinations of functional importance (i.e., through resource allocations, type of activities) for high levels of company performance are affected by the type of grand strategy pursued by the firm and the firm's industry type. These relationships were examined for 93 industrial firms. Data on functional importance, grand strategy, and industry type were obtained from top executives while financial data were collected from the Compustat data files. The results showed that both grand strategy and industry type moderated the relationship between functional importance and company performance. These relationships were also examined for each grand strategy by industry type cell to provide data for further research.
Diversification entry: Internal development versus acquisition
Authors: Yip George S. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe economic theory of barriers to entry is integrated with the corporate strategy concept of relatedness, to develop a model of the choice between internal development and acquisition in diversification entry into new markets. The model is tested on original data collected for this study from PIMS Program participants. These original data cover the parent company characteristics, entry strategy and entry outcome for 59 entrants into 31 markets. These entry‐related data are merged with existing PIMS data on the structure of the entered markets and their incumbents. Results of binary regression analysis show that the choice between the two entry modes is well explained by measures of barriers and relatedness. Higher barriers are more likely to be associated with acquisition entry. Greater relatedness is more likely to be associated with direct entry.
Social demands as strategic issues: Some conceptual problems
Authors: Arcelus Francisco J. , Schaefer Norbert V. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractWe argue that business firms are faced with new and changing social demands, and that it will be advantageous to the firm to treat the social demands as strategic issues. However, responding to these social demands strategically requires the application of new managerial concepts and techniques. In this paper we extend conceptually the lead‐lag methodology of Ackerman and Bauer (1976), developed to deal with the evolutionary nature of social demands. Then we describe the problems of measurement, uncertainty and lack of common units of measures that have to be overcome before the responses to the social demands can be included in the strategic planning and budget process.
Technological evolution and competitive response
Authors: Williams Jeffrey R. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper focuses and extends some emerging views on technological evolution and competition. First, that over the evolution of many product‐market segments there is a generalizable pattern, a shift from the investment characteristics of product technology to those of process technology as the primary focus of competition. Eventually, market price falls below production costs, not because firms face U‐shaped cost curves, but because of shifts in demand to the innovative form of the product. To this framework is added a hypothesis on the evolving risk structure of rival investments. The interaction of required and realized returns then provides a stopping rule for technologically‐driven competition which is different from the static case. Because technological change within a segment is non‐controllable but predictable the production functions and organization structures of participating firms must change in generalizable ways which can be used to predict industry structure. For the competing organization, these changes require particular kinds of decisions which are particularly suited to the level of the organization's strategic management.
Study of the undergraduate business policy course at AACSB‐accredited universities
Authors: Eldredge David L. , Galloway Rex F. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper reports the results of a study directed toward determining: (1) the current pervasiveness of the requirement of a business policy course by AACSB‐accredited undergraduate programmes, (2) the general characteristics of the courses, (3) the organization of the courses, and (4) anticipated future changes in the courses. A questionnaire was mailed to all 208 AACSB‐accredited schools and returns were obtained from 203 of them. The paper presents the results derived from these responses and draws conclusions with regard to the study's objectives.
Strategy, external communication and environmental context
Authors: Dirsmith Mark W. , Covaleski Mark A. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractIt has long been argued that organizations must interact with their environments in order to survive. But is the nature of this interaction invariant across environmental contexts? This paper considers the importance of communication between organizations and key environmental elements to the development of organizational strategic norms. Based on a grounded theory framework of analysis, it is theorized that organizational strategic norms are negotiated with the environment in an interactive fashion, and that task environmental elements concerned with assessing organizations tend to employ evaluation processes that are broadly reflective of an organization's context. Views offinancial analysts and individual investors, elicited in both a quantitative and a qualitative form, are suggestive of the merits of this theorizing. Several implications for researchers and strategists are discussed.
An empirical analysis of strategy types
Authors: Galbraith Craig , Schendel Dan 
Published: May 2007

AbstractUsing the PIMS SPIYR data base, which pools cross‐section and timeseries data, an empirical study to identify business strategy types was undertaken. Using a two‐stage methodological approach combining principal component and cluster analysis on both a consumer products and an industrial products data base, two sets of strategy typologies were identified. Six strategy types were identified for consumer products: (1) harvest, (2) builder, (3) cashout, (4) niche or specialization, (5) climber, and (6) continuity. For industrial products, four strategy types were identified: (1) low commitment, (2) growth, (3) maintenance, and (4) niche or specialization. A discussion of the characteristics of each strategy type is offered.
The impact of formalized strategic planning on financial performance in small organizations
Authors: Robinson Richard B. , Pearce John A. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe relationship between formality of planning procedures and financial performance was examined for a sample of small U.S. banks. Small banks without formal planning systems performed equally with small, formal planners. Regardless of formality, each set of banks placed equal emphasis on all aspects of strategic decision‐making except formalized goals and objectives. Results suggest that managers responsible for strategic planning activity in smaller organizations do not appear to benefit from a highly formalized planning process, extensive written documentation, or the use of mission and goal identification as the beginning of a strategic planning process.
Strategy‐making and environment: The third link
Authors: Miller Danny , Friesen Peter H. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractWhereas much is known about the relationships between strategy and structure, and between environment and structure, too little is known about a third link—the relationship between strategy‐making and environment. An empirical study was conducted upon two distinct samples of firms. We hypothesized that increases in environmental dynamism, hostility and heterogeneity should be related to specific changes in the amount of analysis and innovation which characterizes strategy‐making activity. Most of these relationships tended to be much stronger in successful than in unsuccessful samples of firms.
Toward understanding strategic issue diagnosis
Authors: Dutton Jane E. , Fahey Liam , Narayanan V. K. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper calls attention to a central but neglected process in strategic decision making, i.e. strategic issue diagnosis (SID). A framework for discussing SID is presented in terms of three critical components: inputs, process characteristics and outputs. The framework is illustrated in the context of PIMS and BCG, two widely recognized strategy models. The major implications highlight the theoretical significance of SID for understanding strategic decision making.
Type of entrepreneur, type of firm, and managerial motivation: Implications for organizational life cycle theory
Authors: Smith Norman R. , Miner John B. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractMiner Sentence Completion Scale measures of managerial motivation for a sample of Oregon entrepreneurs were compared with interview data on entrepreneur and firm type using a system of differentiation derived from the Enterprising Man (Collins, Moore and Unwalla, 1964) research. Certain relationships between aspects of managerial motivation and firm expansion and growth were found. In addition, the overall level of managerial motivation among the entrepreneurs relative to corporate managers was found to be low, and the previously noted association between an opportunistic entrepreneurial type and growthoriented firms was confirmed. These findings are discussed in the context of organizational life cycle theory with special reference to the early stages of transition from entrepreneurial to bureaucratic forms and various typologies of entrepreneurs. It appears that under certain circumstances growth may not require a shift in leadership style, but that in some important respects entrepreneurial and bureaucratic systems are managerially distinct.
Research note and communication. Reversing the images of BCG's growth/share matrix
Authors: Seeger John A. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractAlthough much criticized in the business press and no longer featured as a leading product by the Boston Consulting Group, the cows, dogs, stars and question marks of the growth/share matrix have become part of the language of business strategy. Their images are powerful, as are the oversimplified prescriptions for action which students and managers may attach to the images: we should kick the dogs, cloister the cows, and throw our money at the stars. To avoid those oversimplifications, we must remember that the dogs may be friendly, the cows may need a bull now and then to remain productive, and the stars may have burned themselves out.
Cognitive simplification processes in strategic decision‐making
Authors: Schwenk Charles R. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractStrategic decision‐making can be viewed as a special kind of decision‐making under uncertainty. Such decision‐making involves the activities of goal formulation, problem identification, alternatives generation, and evaluation/selection. Researchers in cognitive psychology and behavioural decision theory have identified a number of cognitive simplification processes which may affect the way decision‐makers perform these tasks. Within this paper, the research on these processes is summarized and their possible effects on strategic decision‐making are discussed. Implications for future research in this area are also drawn.
Strategy support models
Authors: Morecroft John D. W. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractA major challenge in strategy development is to deduce the consequences of the interacting programmes underlying strategy. The paper argues that behavioural simulation models can help meet this challenge by acting out the consequences of strategy proposals in their full organizational setting. However, the real key to effective strategy support is not simply having a model, but using it in a structured dialogue with executives. To illustrate the idea, the paper presents a system dynamics simulation model used to aid executives of an advanced office equipment firm in setting their marketing strategy. The paper describes the process by which the model was created and brought to the attention of executives. Several examples are provided of the dialectical use of the model, showing how differences in management intuition and model‐generated opinion led to improved insight into the consequences of strategy.
MNC‐third world business unit performance: Application of strategic elements
Authors: Wright Peter 
Published: May 2007

AbstractMNC‐Third World business undertakings have often faced disappointing results. Partly because of this, the environmental forces in the developing nations have become more constraint‐ridden for the operation of multinational firms. In this article, proposals are made on how the results of business co‐operation between MNCs and Third World regions may be improved by attempting to structure appropriate linkages among product/market choices, types of business agreements and generic strategy considerations.
Factors influencing divestment decision‐making: Evidence from a field study
Authors: Duhaime Irene M. , Grant John H. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis research investigates factors which influenced the corporate‐level divestment decisions of large, diversified firms. Field research, including interviews with corporate executives of 40 large diversified firms, provided the data to test propositions developed from various literature sources. In general, thefindings from this research indicate that a business unit's strength, its relationship to other units in its firm and its parent firm's financial position compared to its competitors are important divestment influences, whereas other factors such as general economic conditions are not. Some of the findings are consistent with conventional management wisdom, but others are counterintuitive.
Making business ethics useful
Authors: Arthur Henry B. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractStrategic management cannot ignore the place of applied business ethics in organizational planning and decision making. This article establishes some of the aspects that make business ethics unique, together with the necessary steps for making them an effective contributor to business performance. The focus is upon applied business ethics—patterns of conduct. The usefulness of business ethics is discussed in terms of its dependence upon the total objectives of the firm, the identification of relationships and interests of affected parties in the relevant environment, and the recognition of the need for consensus and for positive implementation procedures. These structural requirements and constraints constitute a system through which effective action can be attained as management addresses the various moral, social and human elements with which business ethics has to deal. In this paper the author is not presuming to offer substantive answers to all, or even a few, of the ethical dilemmas and conflicts that business firms (or anyone else) cannot escape. Instead, what is proposed is a pragmatic approach outlining a path that can help to determine where we are, who is involved, what are the options, what are the dimensions and parameters of the problems in a businesss context, so that ethical issues (even those where uniquely ‘right’ answers are unattainable) can be treated with intelligence and fairness.
Corporate management of productivity—An empirical study
Authors: Morris Mcinnes J. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe results are reported of a questionnaire survey of corporate managerial approaches to productivity. The sample comprised 146 large industrial companies, of which 96 were American, 25 British and 25 Japanese. Responses from the total sample were used to construct a managerial interpretation of productivity. A comparison was then conducted among the three national samples. Although productivity improvement was reported as being a matter of significant corporate concern in all three countries, greater priority was expressed by the British and Japanese than by the American managers. The British and American managerial approaches to productivity appear to be broadly similar, but with the exception that the British focus much more single‐mindedly on labour productivity as the central issue. The Japanese responses convey a proactive, long‐term approach to the management of productivity, with research and innovation being accorded to pre‐eminent role. The implications of the findings are briefly discussed and directions for further research are suggested.
Research note and communication. The impact of environmental uncertainty on long‐range planning practices of the U.S. savings and loan industry
Authors: Javidan Mansour 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper examines the effects of extreme degrees of environmental uncertainty on strategic planning in the U.S. Savings and Loan industry. Results suggest that top management's interpretation of the environment is a strong moderator of the link between environmental uncertainty and the extent of long‐range planning.
Managers' conservatism and corporate performance
Authors: Sturdivant Frederick D. , Ginter James L. , Sawyer Alan G. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis article argues that conservatism as a personal value among senior managers significantly affects corporate performance. A scale to measure conservatism was developed and its measurement properties were tested on several hundred executives. Empirical results were consistent with the hypotheses that conservatism among senior management teams is negatively associated with the firm's social responsiveness as well as certain aspects of financial performance.
An application of clustering for strategic group analysis
Authors: Harrigan Kathryn Rudie 
Published: May 2007

AbstractTaxonomies, factor analysis and clustering are discussed as tools to investigate the structure of competitors within an industry (‘strategic groups’). An example using cluster analysis is presented as one means of operationalizing this concept. Careful definition and selection of the dimensions used to identify the boundaries between strategic groups (their mobility barriers) are particularly crucial in the effective application of analytical tools.
Empirically derived models of strategic decision‐making processes
Authors: Shrivastava Paul , Grant John H. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis paper reports on an empirical study of strategic decision‐making processes and organizational learning in 32 business organizations facing complex environments. The decision processes were found to vary in four prototypical patterns described here as the strategic decision‐making models. These models are proposed as an initial step towards the development of a taxonomy of strategic decision processes. The relationships between strategic decision‐making models and organizational learning systems that support them are explored. These models may help researchers to conceptualize and practitioners to manage strategy formulation processes in organizations.
Organizing for dual strategies of product diversity and international expansion
Authors: Daniels John D. , Pitts Robert A. , Tretter Marietta J. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThis study examines organization structures of 37 large U.S. multinationals which are both highly diverse and heavily involved abroad. The findings show that the international division is still the most popular structure for this form of enterprise. However, Several other structures are also found to be in common use. An attempt is made to relate use of these structures to such strategic variables as extent of vertical integration, R & D intensity, level of foreign sales and method of diversifying.
Diversification strategy, profit performance and the entropy measure
Authors: Palepu Krishna 
Published: May 2007

AbstractSeveral industrial organization studies, using diversification index measures, examined corporate diversification and economic performance and failed to find any significant relationship between them. Rumelt and other strategy researchers used a semisubjective classification scheme and uncovered a systematic relationship between diversification strategies and performance. This study combines the strengths of the index approach, namely, simplicity, objectivity and replicability, with the essential richness of Rumelt's methodology. Using the Jacquemin‐Berry entropy measure of diversification and the line‐of‐business data, this study finds that firms with predominantly related diversification show significantly better profit growth than firms with predominantly unrelated diversification.
Lanchester market structures: A. Japanese approach to the analysis of business competition
Authors: Campbell N. C. G. , Roberts K. J. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractJapanese consultants have used Lanchester's military models to define monopoly, premium, duopoly, oligopoly and polyopoly market structures in which competitive conditions differ. These situations are investigated using the PIMS database. The findings refute the idea that monopoly and premium structures are more stable than the others. Instead movements between structures seem to follow a Markov process.
Cost leadership strategy and experience curves
Authors: Amit Raphael 
Published: May 2007

AbstractInvesting in cost leadership by rapidly riding down the experience curve is a common way to establish a firm's competitive advantage. Its success depends, in part, on the factors that underlie the experience curve. In this paper we make the distinction between cost declines that occur at any point in time and cost declines that may occur over time. This leads us to consider a revised experience concept in which the dynamic interrelationship between a firm's production rate, cumulative production and unit cost is explicitly considered. We provide a detailed analysis of various scale‐learning relationships and their strategic implications for establishing competitive advantage through an investment in cost leadership. We also prove analytically that such investment should take place only in the presence of learning.
Environmental analysis: The applicability of current theory
Authors: Lenz R. T. , Engledow Jack L. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractIt is suggested that senior‐level executives and corporate staff are under mounting pressure to develop better means for assessing organizational environments. This comes at a time when there is little agreement about the concept of environment, relevant perspectives from which it should be viewed, and how to organize for its evaluation. Alternative ‘models’ for environmental analysis are examined, and theoretical issues and their administrative implications are discussed.