Journal of Strategy and Management

Venkitachalam, Krishna ; Willmott, Hugh

2016 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-09-2014-0082

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to indicate that managers responsible for decision making often have a limited appreciation of strategic shifts between codification and personalization of knowledge in different operational environments. This study is motivated by a concern to illuminate the influence of diverse business environments in the shift between strategies of knowledge in organizations. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative multiple case-study method was adopted to research four case organizations drawn from multiple industries – manufacturing, research, education and consulting – that are positioned within contrasting operating environments (i.e. local, national, international and multinational, respectively). Findings – Results from the case studies suggest that four factors condition shifts between codification and personalization strategies in different operational environments that are of critical significance for the effective use of knowledge in organizations. The authors have also found that strategic shifts between codification and personalization are continuous and emergent. Originality/value – The study suggests that the combination of multi-operational types and four elements (i.e. competition, organizational size, organizational structure and information technology) are highly relevant for determining the shifts between codification and personalization strategies in organizations.

Eisenbart, Boris ; Garbuio, Massimo ; Mascia, Daniele ; Morandi, Federica

2016 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-03-2014-0017

Purpose – Managers spend a great deal of time in meetings making decisions critical to organisational success, yet the design aspects of meetings remain largely understudied. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the potential impact of one critical design aspect of meetings – namely, whether a decision to be taken (or the meeting in general) was scheduled or not – on the use of distributed information, information elaboration, conflict, speed of decision making, and, ultimately, decision-making effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach – The research presented in this paper combines a literature review with empirical data obtained from questionnaires and direct observation of decision making meetings on organisational issues in a hospital. One meeting was scheduled, the other two were unscheduled. A second questionnaire was administered 12 months after the respective decision making meetings to explore and evaluate the efficiency of the decisions made and their implementation. Findings – This paper suggests that a scheduled meeting with a shared agenda of all decisions to be taken may induce decision makers to form opinions upfront at the meeting, with these opinions eventually serving as sources of conflict during group discussion. Because of the nature of the conflict generated, these meetings are more likely to run long and to not deliver the expected outcomes. Originality/value – The study contributes to the debate on group decision-making processes by examining the effect of meeting scheduling on information elaboration and conflict in real-world decision-making settings. Although robust evidence has supported the existence of relationships between information elaboration, conflict, and decision-making effectiveness, previous studies have mainly focused on the effects of these processes during scheduled meetings and experimental settings. The findings of the present study show the effect of meeting scheduling on decision-making effectiveness in real-world settings.

Gärtner, Christian ; Schön, Oliver

2016 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-12-2014-0096

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explicate why and how modularization of business models can lead to path dependence or strategic flexibility, thus either inhibiting or favoring business model innovation. Design/methodology/approach – Conceptual paper that depicts a model based on the extant literature. The derived implications for business model innovation are illustrated by several examples. Findings – Modularity can be used as cognitive frame to explore issues of dynamics, evolution and transformation of business models. Thereby, the paper reveals drivers as well as barriers to business model innovation which sensitizes managers that modularity as a design principle is a two-edged sword: managers cannot simply rely on what they know about the benefits of modularity because this might lead to path dependence in the future. Practical implications – The authors suggest that middle managers might best focus on managing modules and their direct relations. Senior management should put more emphasis on encouraging extra-modular thinking. Originality/value – By outlining the concept of business model modularity, the authors add to the scarce literature that addresses modularity beyond the fields of products, production and organization design. The discussion also advances to the literature on drivers as well as barriers to managing business model innovation. While most of the extant literature has portrayed modularity as a means to increase flexibility, only a few studies have revealed the downside of modularity and explained how it gives rise to path dependence. In this respect, the authors highlight the relation between managerial action, self-reinforcing mechanisms and characteristics of the environment. Finally, the paper’s findings provide a lens to consider contradictory strategies simultaneously which is crucial for managing complex business models.

Hossain, Mokter ; Kauranen, Ilkka

2016 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-08-2014-0072

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the extant literature on open innovation (OI) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – An examination of the literature was undertaken to review the studies on open innovation in SMEs. The selected articles were classified in different themes and analyzed accordingly. Findings – The study finds that adopting OI by SMEs improves their overall innovation performance. The authors found that a larger number of studies are based on a quantitative approach. Surprisingly, unlike in many other disciplines, scholars of North America have had a limited contribution. European scholars, along with some scholars from Korea and China, have been active in developing this field of OI in SMEs. Research limitations/implications – This study provides theoretical and managerial implications. With thematic analysis, along with identifying gaps, conflations, and contradictions in the literature, this study proposes an agenda for future exploration. Originality/value – The value of this study lies in the integration of the limited but scattered studies on OI in SMEs.

Manral, Lalit

2016 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-05-2015-0036

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to articulates a customer-centric logic to explain the strategic behavior of multi-product corporations whose portfolio of complementary product offerings belong to diverse industries. Design/methodology/approach – The paper develops a theoretical framework to explain the heterogeneity in multi-product corporations ' motivation and ability to leverage the demand-side strategic assets developed in their home-markets to enter new markets and thereby improve their long-run corporate performance. Practical implications – The paper includes implications for strategic behavior of multi-product corporations in various industrial sectors such as telecommunications, financial services, consumer discretionary and staples, real estate, and so on. Originality/value – The profitable applicability of demand-side strategic assets to new contexts should be explained both by the motivation of multi-product consumers (to purchase a portfolio of complementary products from a diversified seller) as well as the motivation of multi-product corporations (to leverage their demand-side strategic assets to enter new markets).

Guha, Mahua

2016 Journal of Strategy and Management

doi: 10.1108/JSMA-11-2014-0092

Purpose – There is a preponderance of evidence in the established literature that declining firms have lower levels of organizational slack when compared with surviving firms. To further advance the current literature, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not organizational slack in its various forms differ in declining firms and in surviving firms. Additionally, this study examines whether there is a change in the extent of slack in the declining firms in the years immediately preceding bankruptcy filing. Design/methodology/approach – t -tests and panel regressions with random effects are performed. Findings – Available slack, potential slack and total slack of bankrupts significantly differ from that of survivors in each year. However, recoverable slack levels do not differ in bankrupts and survivors. Available slack of bankrupts reduces significantly over the last five years before bankruptcy. Recoverable slack, potential slack and total slack conditions do not drastically deteriorate for the bankrupts over the last few years prior to bankruptcy. Research limitations/implications – Not confirming to prior evidences, the results of this study suggest that not every type of organizational slack is in a worse condition within a declining firm than in a surviving firm. Practical implications – Among all the slack types, what differentiates bankrupts from survivors is the amount of available slack. Decreasing available slack within declining firms should forewarn managers of further likely deteriorations. Originality/value – The results of this study questions the prevailing wisdom that financial resource levels, especially the levels of organizational slack is in a significantly lower level in declining firms than in surviving firms.