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Strategic renewal, as a temporal process, can be hard to study. In this research, we take advantage of a unique data set that allows us to analyze Nortel, a global telecommunications manufacturer, and their decade-long effort at strategic renewal, which was launched in response to the 2000/2001 industry shock. Using process methods, our findings suggest that, as a firm attempts to move off path, dissonance between initial and newly introduced self-reinforcing processes reduces strategic options and erodes firm resources, preventing strategic renewal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of pluralism in corporate governance is stated as an emergent theory. Grounded in the concept of enhancing the input of various stakeholders and lessening the control of managers in corporate governance, the theory is the foundation of proposed changes in the Model Business Corporation Act. While more pluralistic control has been conceptually linked to improved social performance of the firm, this proposition is not supported in an empirical investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using longitudinal case research methods, this paper demonstrates how a for-profit public firm controls a nonprofit organization, using the specific case of Intrawest Corporation, a Canadian property developer, and its timeshare program, Club Intrawest. The research demonstrates how the governance structure allows the for-profit firm to control the assets and revenue streams of the nonprofit organization, while passing on the costs and risk to the timeshare consumers. We believe that this research is one of the first to expose this non-standard governance structure, which questions both the legality and ethics of such a structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic renewal is undertaken by organizations for a variety of reasons, one of which is in response to an industry shock. Although research has investigated strategic renewal retrospectively, lack of empirical data has led to cross-sectional analysis; we know much less about how the process occurs over time. In this research, we take advantage of a unique data set that allows us to study a firm's attempt at strategic renewal over a period of 10 years. We analyze Nortel, a Canadian-based leading telecommunications manufacturer, which undertook a strategic renewal process in response to a major industry shock that occurred in 2000/2001. We employ path constitution analysis to identify the firm's strategic renewal efforts and outcomes from 2001 to 2009. Our findings indicate that, as a firm makes efforts to engage in strategic renewal and to move off path, dissonance between initial and newly introduced self- reinforcing processes reduces strategic options and, over time, erodes firm resources, preventing strategic renewal. We contribute to theory on strategic renewal and path dependence by identifying the mechanisms that can prevent a firm from altering strategic paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]