Journal of Strategy and Management

Marx, Thomas G.

2015 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-06-2014-0042

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the proposition that business strategy affects leadership functions, skills, traits, and styles, and to assess the implications of these effects for the practice of both leadership and strategic planning. Design/methodology/approach – This is an empirical study based on over 450 responses to an online survey. Continuous rating scales allowed the use of regression analysis to test the impacts of different strategies on leadership. Findings – The results provide strong empirical evidence that Product (Differentiation vs Low Cost strategies), Best Value, and Blue Ocean strategies have significant effects on leadership. Market strategies (Broad vs Niche strategies) have limited impacts. The greater complexity of Product, Best Value, and Blue Ocean strategies underlie these findings. Research limitations/implications – This study explores the effects of strategy on leadership. Future studies need to explore if these effects are moderated by external, competitive conditions, and if strategy mediates the impacts of leadership on organizational performance. Practical implications – The practical implications of these findings are that leaders must adjust their behavior and leadership styles to effectively implement alternative strategies, and planners must assess their organization’s leadership capabilities when formulating strategy. Originality/value – There have been numerous studies of the impacts of external/internal conditions on leadership, but this is one of the first studies of the critical impacts of strategy on leadership.

Sabourin, Vincent

2015 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-06-2014-0048

Purpose – What are the strategies of managers to implement their strategy? What are the strategies to execute organizational objectives? The purpose of this paper is to approach what the authors call the drivers of performance that is the driving forces which impact the performance of a manager in executing his/her objectives. What are the strategies, which you as a manager have to have in order to execute your objectives and to obtain better results with your respective department? The authors discuss the five drivers of performance, that of rules, emotions, initiatives, immediate action and integrity. The research findings are presented with a discussion on the usefulness of the drivers. Design/methodology/approach – A survey questionnaire was administered to a population of 484, with a study sample of 180 managers to better understand the underlying drivers of performance in strategy execution. The authors used primarily components analysis to examine the relationship between drivers of performance identified in previous research. Findings – The study found four drivers the performance and management practices of managers. The following driver were found; driver of emotions, (getting a commitment for your objectives), the dimension of taking initiatives (translating the objectives into concrete projects/empowerment), the driver of rules (clarifying and aligning the objectives) and driver of immediate action (taking valued added action and facing emergencies in the execution). Research limitations/implications – The paper found that the fundamental of strategic management such as management leadership in performance and strategy execution could be organized according to four drivers. Additional work will be necessary to generalize the findings to other type of management programs which are related to performance effectiveness. Originality/value – The study sought to contribute a new management direction by identifying four drivers gathering the strategic platforms that managers could employ to organize their performance and strategy execution.

Nyuur, Richard B.

2015 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-01-2014-0007

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the value of scenario planning to small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), and further examine the challenges constraining the uptake of scenario planning by SMEs. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual review of the literature on scenario planning in SMEs intended to unpack and capture the possible underlying reasons accounting for the limited uptake of scenario planning by managers/owners of SMEs has informed the formulation of this paper. Findings – The study uncovered that SMEs’ managerial mental models, SMEs’ managerial time orientation, severe resource constraints, and industry complexity are some of the salient factors inhibiting the use of scenario planning among managers/owners of SMEs. The author develops a framework of propositions that account for the complexity and challenges of scenario planning by SMEs for future empirical examination and validation. Originality/value – The conventional wisdom is that scenario planning is carried out by large and established firms, and that SMEs are unable to adopt and practice the technique. This paper uncovers that SME have substantial needs for scenario planning, but are only able to engage in simple foresight activities such as brainstorming, desk research, networking and expert interviews to monitor their external environment. They are unable to effectively use scenario planning in its purest form as in large firms. By bringing together the reasons accounting for the difficulty of SMEs to practice scenario planning in its purest form as large firms do, the study therefore extends the limited discourse on scenario planning among SMEs. Implications are discussed and areas for future empirical studies provided.

Goldman, Ellen F. ; Scott, Andrea R. ; Follman, Joseph M.

2015 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-01-2015-0003

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the practices used by organizations to develop the strategic thinking ability of their leaders, managers, and other employees. Design/methodology/approach – A basic interpretive study was conducted with human resource (HR) executives across a broad range of large organizations. Participants were interviewed, and general information about their organization and its programs was reviewed. Findings were verified via member checks and triangulation. Findings – Organizations make limited use of the range of approaches to develop strategic thinking, many indirectly supporting its development via general leadership programs. Most approaches are experiential and focused on elites. Use of the literature, evaluation, and ties to competency models are very limited. Research limitations/implications – The study only provides indications of potential generalizations, but offers access to issues that cannot be identified without an in-depth analysis. Practical implications – The findings identify major gaps in the practices utilized to develop strategic thinking and the related competency framing and evaluation processes. As such, the study exposes opportunities to extend what is known about effective leadership development programs specifically to the development of strategic thinking. Originality/value – The study fills a gap in the literature regarding specific ways organizations formally and informally develop the strategic thinking of their leaders, managers, and other employees. In so doing, it provides a catalyst for strategy and HR executives and scholars to come together to improve the development of this often absent ability.

Meissner, Philip ; Wulf, Torsten

2015 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-01-2015-0004

Purpose – Research focussed on the scenario method has increasingly criticized the widely used intuitive logics (IL) approach to scenario development and introduced enhanced approaches, such as the backwards logic method (BLM) or the antifragile (AF) method, to overcome the restrictions associated with the IL approach. The BLM and the AF method have contributed to the further development of the scenario method by integrating backward reasoning and by increasing the method’s effectiveness for decision making. The purpose of this paper is to build on these ideas and introduce strategy scenarios as a further enhancement of the scenario method that directly applies the benefits of scenario-based planning to strategy development in corporations. Design/methodology/approach – The authors argue that the existing methodologies do not fully integrate the benefits of scenario-based planning for strategic decision making and strategy development, as they mostly aim to develop macroenvironmental scenarios and test organizations’ existing strategies. Findings – The paper suggests that changing the scope of scenario planning from environmental developments to the organization’s strategies themselves can further strengthen the method’s effectiveness for decision making. Originality/value – The strategy scenario approach provides an enhanced approach to more comprehensively utilize the benefits of scenario-based reasoning for strategic decision making.

Lau , Vivien Man Yee ; Tovstiga, George

2015 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-08-2014-0069

Purpose – Despite recent threats of economic contraction, China still offers attractive opportunities for foreign companies seeking to expand their business activities through joint venturing (JV) partnering entry strategies. Recent research has indicated a growing recognition of the importance of relational factors in JV partnering. The purpose of this paper is to build on recent research findings that identify critical relation success factors in JVs and explores these in the context of a Hong Kong-based civil aviation services company seeking to expand business activities in Greater China. Design/methodology/approach – While the extant management literature focuses primarily on factors relevant to the inter-partner relationship between partners in the formation stage of a joint venture, this research takes a dynamic stakeholder perspective in respect of the relevant relational factors over the evolution of a partnership. The research described in this paper is based on a case-based study that identifies and examines the relevance and importance of uniquely Chinese factors such as guanxi , renqing and mianzi in the specific context of a strategic partnering relationship. Findings – This phenomenological study provides empirical evidence of critical linkages of these to intrinsically Chinese notions of guanxi , mianzi and renqing – it links these to key strategic partnering success factors identified to be trust, conflict resolution, commitment and cooperation. This study thereby reinforces the importance of the uniquely Chinese relational context in cross-border JVs. Moreover, the research findings suggest that these factors underpin the dynamic bi-directional stakeholder relationship in a Sino-foreign strategic partnership. Originality/value – This study conceptually links the uniquely Chinese relational factors ( guanxi , mianzi and renqing ) to key success factors supporting the establishment of a strategic partnership in a Sino-foreign context; moreover, it contributes empirical evidence substantiating the proposed conceptual linkage.