Where do we fit in the swings and roundabouts of strategy?Abby Ghobadian; Nicholas O'Regan
2008 Journal of Strategy and Management
doi: 10.1108/17554250810912721
Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to examine and analyze the development of strategic management as a field of inquiry. Design/methodology/approach – The paper relies on secondary‐source analysis. Findings – Strategic management has evolved significantly over the past four decades and today it is a well accepted and respected field of inquiry. In gaining academic acceptance, it has lost its practitioner root and it relies too heavily on positivistic deductive research methods and economics as the base discipline. The paper argues that it is time for a re‐think. Research limitations/implications – The paper argues for a more inclusive approach to strategic management where inductive qualitative research drawing on base disciplines such as sociology, political economy, psychology, behavioral economics play a significant role alongside positivistic deductive approach mainly rooted in industrial or organizational economics. Practical implications – To continue its impressive upward trajectory, strategic management needs to pay more attention to relevance but not at the expense of rigour. Furthermore, strategic management needs to embrace more issues of interest to practice such as implementation, sustainability and regulation. Originality/value – The paper provides an overview of developments in the field of strategic management and to move forward it is important to have a good grasp of the past.
Resource configurations, generic strategies, and firm performance Exploring the parallels between resource‐based and competitive strategy theories in a new industryOlivier Furrer; D. Sudharshan; Howard Thomas; Maria Tereza Alexandre
2008 Journal of Strategy and Management
doi: 10.1108/17554250810909400
Purpose – This paper, anchored in the resource‐based view of the firm, attempts to develop linkages between firm‐level resources, Porter's competitive strategy space and firm performance and explores them in the context of a new industry – the marketing technology industry. Design/methodology/approach – In the marketing technology industry the authors classify resource configurations (generalists, specialists, innovators) which group firms with distinctive competences on similar resource dimensions. They then map these firm‐level resource configurations onto their respective optimal strategies in the industry's competitive strategy space. Findings – The major findings are: some firms that are close together in strategy space vary in performance; some firms that are close together in strategy space belong to quite different resource configurations; firms that belong to the same resource configuration (i.e. are close together in resource space and distant from others) vary in performance; given the origin (i.e. resource configuration) of a new entrant there exists an optimal strategy that can be theoretically defined; and corresponding to each resource configuration there seems to exist a unique optimal region in strategy space. Originality/value – It is one of few attempts to empirically explore the parallels between firm level resource‐based and industry level competitive strategies.
To grow or to harvest? Governance, strategy and performance in family and lone founder firmsIsabelle Le Breton‐Miller; Danny Miller
2008 Journal of Strategy and Management
doi: 10.1108/17554250810909419
Purpose – This paper attempts to reconcile two opposing views of the strategies and conduct of closely held firms: that of entrepreneurship and that of family business. The former view suggests that these firms tend to be value maximizing organizations that pursue growth strategies and outperform. The latter often argues that these businesses are utility maximizers that pursue conservative harvest strategies and fail to outperform. Design/methodology/approach – In order to reconcile the controversy, this paper examines the literature in an attempt to relate ownership priorities and risk taking preferences to governance distinctions relating to family involvement, ownership, and management. Findings – It concludes that the value‐maximization expectations of the entrepreneurship literature apply only to lone or unrelated founder businesses whose owners, unencumbered by family distractions, embrace growth and outperform. By contrast the utility‐maximization expectations of the family business literature apply when there are multiple family owners or executives. These parties are argued to be harvest‐oriented, mediocre performers, especially after a new generation has entered the firm. This may be because their priorities and loyalties are shared between business and family considerations. However, family and lone founder firm outcomes are argued to be further shaped by owners' levels of control and ownership, their managerial roles, and the breadth of family personal and generational involvement. Practical implications – The analysis has implications for the effective governance, board composition, and management of these different types of firms. Originality/value – The paper reconciles two important literatures to derive implications for strategy and performance that must be addressed by agents of corporate governance in family and founder firms.
The international competitiveness of Asian firmsAlan M. Rugman; Chang Hoon Oh
2008 Journal of Strategy and Management
doi: 10.1108/17554250810909428
Purpose – Conventional studies of international competitiveness use country‐level data, but the aim of this paper is to extend this work by using firm level data of large Asian firms. Design/methodology/approach – The authors gathered the regional sales and assets data for large Asian firms listed in latest Fortune Global 500 from their annual reports. They then applied the data to the firm specific advantage/country specific advantage matrix and the regional matrix frameworks developed by Rugman. Findings – It is found that most Asian firms do not operate globally, but focus on their home region. Thus, Asian firms exploit and develop their FSAs regionally. Only a few large Japanese and Korean firms have significant sales outside of Asia. Large Asian firms vie with their regional competitors in their home region market. Originality/value – International competitiveness does not necessarily mean globalization or global competition. International strategic management should consider the reality of regional competition.
Securing the licence to act: a foundational capabilityRobin Holt; Terry McNulty
2008 Journal of Strategy and Management
doi: 10.1108/17554250810909437
Purpose – The paper aims to show how resource‐based views of the firm inadequately address the strategic importance of acquiring and using symbolic capital within the wider discursive institutional environment. Design/methodology/approach – A single case using publicly available data on the strategic activities of the oil and gas firm BP was constructed. Findings – Combining case data with a review of literature on firm capabilities and organization studies, the paper identifies a previously unacknowledged foundational strategic capability: securing a licence to act. It finds BP strategists understanding this capability as the realization of credibility and authority arising from the conscious and skilled articulation of firm commitments and activities. Originality/value – Generalising from the case, the paper argues for the importance to firm performance of an understanding of how capabilities evolve in relation to the use of symbolic capital within inherently complex institutional environments. This leads beyond a purely economic view of institutional settings to cover market‐based political and social interests.
Integrating work experiences into teachingEllen F. Goldman
2008 Journal of Strategy and Management
doi: 10.1108/17554250810909446
Purpose – Management educators are criticized for not maximizing the use of students' work experiences in the classroom. This paper aims to demonstrate how knowledge gained from work experiences can be organized into a teaching taxonomy and transformed into teaching strategies. The exemplar of learning to think strategically is used to illustrate the process. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reframes how teaching taxonomies can be developed and how teaching strategies that use work experiences can be created. Findings – The paper finds that knowledge gained from work experiences and the associated learning methods that created that knowledge, can be matched to required domain knowledge to form a teaching taxonomy and to develop teaching strategies. Practical implications – The paper presents a way to develop a teaching taxonomy that assists management educators in selecting teaching strategies that both use students' work experiences and are specific to the content to be learned. Originality/value – The paper offers a new framework and process for using workplace experiences in classroom teaching.