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We present an expanded framework for the use of business analytics in projects. To the commonly used descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics, we add comparative analytics, wherein we compare the performance of systems under different interventions. This framework provides a conceptual roadmap for the implementation of business analytics projects. We then demonstrate this framework using recent operations research literature on analytics in healthcare, summarizing papers focusing on one of these aspects. Next, we discuss queue mining as an example of theory and practice illustrative of these aspects. We conclude there is room for further work by operations researchers and management scientists within business analytics projects generally and the healthcare industry more specifically. We argue future work should consider both theory and practice, especially within prescriptive analytics projects, where analysis through the lens of operations research and management science is imperative. We provide some thoughts on the current and future state of operations research and management science in business analytics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes whether a diversification strategy facilitates subsequent divisionalization (and hence that ‘structure follows strategy’), and/or whether the multidivisional structure leads to a diversification strategy (and hence that ‘strategy follows structure’). In theoretical terms, this study is original in that it institutes a debate between the Chandler thesis and other perspectives that challenge the generalizability of the strategy-structure nexus. Interestingly, this new study with contemporaneous data for the period 1993–2003 sheds light on this contested issue and postulates that despite the criticism of Chandler's contribution, it still works. Our results show that strategic diversification affects structural divisionalization, and in turn, structural divisionalization affects strategic diversification. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenges associated with climate change will require governments, citizens, and firms to work collaboratively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a task that requires information on companies' carbon risks, opportunities, strategies, and emission levels. This paper explores the conditions under which firms participate in this endeavor. Building on theories of how social activists inspire changes in organizational norms, beliefs, and practices, we hypothesize that shareholder actions and regulatory threats are likely to prime firms to adopt practices consistent with the aims of a broader social movement. We find empirical evidence of direct and spillover effects. In the domain of private politics, shareholder resolutions filed against a firm and others in its industry increase a firm's propensity to engage in practices consistent with the aims of the related social movement. Similarly, in the realm of public politics, threats of state regulations targeted at a firm's industry as well as regulations targeted at other industries increase the likelihood that the firm will engage in such practices. These findings extend existing theory by showing that both activist groups and government actors can spur changes in organizational practices, and that challenges mounted against a single firm or a single industry can inspire both firm and field-level changes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study empirically examines the determinants of heterogeneous firm-level cooperative R&D commercialization strategies. While the volume of interfirm collaboration has increased dramatically in recent decades, the determinants of firm-level choices among alternate modes of such cooperative activity remain relatively understudied. We develop a conceptual model of factors determining collaborative mode choice at the organizational portfolio level. These factors include the firm-level appropriation environment, in which deal-level choices have portfolio-level spillover implications, as well as governance capabilities developed by the firm over time. Using a random sample of innovating biotechnology start-ups, we assemble a firm-year panel dataset that aggregates transaction-level collaboration data to the firm-year level, allowing us to characterize firms' portfolios of collaborative deals. We find broad empirical support for our model, suggesting that a firm's appropriation environment and governance capabilities strongly influence portfolio-level collaboration mode choices. In addition, we explore the implications of governance capability development, finding that experience with particular modes, as well as deviations from existing capabilities, impact firm valuation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational change efforts can bring about a range of outcomes: some intended, such as organizational survival and profitability, and some unintended, such as heightened levels of organizational change cynicism (OCC) among employees. This article focuses on processes for managing OCC: we examine the role of information sharing and involvement in decision making as ways to lessen employee reports of OCC. While both of these strategies have the potential to be effective, they rest on a significant assumption—namely, that employees will enthusiastically embrace any opportunities to become involved. In this research, we investigate this assumption through an analysis of the relationship between an employee's willingness to become involved (”active orientation”) on employee reports of their OCC. We find, using data from 1,214 public-sector employees, that an active orientation toward involvement plays a significant role as a moderator in reducing employee reports of OCC. The findings suggest that HR practitioners concerned about OCC should encourage their line managers to adopt a participatory style of management (information sharing, involvement in decision making), especially in those workplaces where employees are more likely to embrace the opportunities for involvement. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's workplace designs are being revolutionized due to the changing nature of work and worker profiles, the impact of technology, and the need for organizational efficiency and flexibility. Our case study of the Future of Work (FOW) program at Capital One highlights how thoughtful segmentation of work styles, supportive HR policy, customized workplace design, and the optimal use of technology can enhance knowledge work. FOW results show clear success in terms of increased employee satisfaction leading to improved organizational performance along with better real estate asset utilization and flexibility. To assist HR leaders and planners, we suggest a practical model that shows the impact of workplace design requirements on employee behavior and ultimately on organizational outcomes. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes an HR team's call to action in managing an organization's transition from healthy, vibrant, and financially successful workplace to its death after being acquired. The HR team countered conventional practice in two key ways. First, despite being from the seller's side, it acted unusually early in the company's acquisition and operated proactively throughout the integration process. This constructive approach stemmed from the self-confidence developed in the HR function over years of process improvement and culture change. Second, the HR professionals were motivated (rather than threatened) by the high stakes involved in this organizational transition. Their company—with its industry-leading business results and a loyal, long-tenured workforce—was slated to be closed, dismantled, and auctioned off in pieces to other firms. The HR team's mission was to help people deal with the death of their current employer and prepare for life afterward while maintaining a focus on business results. This article shows how HR helped senior leadership handle the challenge of retaining the talent needed to meet customer commitments and keep the business running while also readying people for an uncertain future with many eventual layoffs. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data analysis is a key element of the research process. Accordingly, appropriate doctoral training in data analysis is vital to the strategic management field's future. We used a two-study design to evaluate quantitative data analysis trends and doctoral training. An analysis of Strategic Management Journal articles from 1980 to 2001 reveals that, contrary to some predictions, the use of general linear model techniques such as regression has increased over time. However, the use of more specialized techniques, including those suitable for examining longitudinal data, discrete events, and causal structure, has also grown substantially. A survey of recent doctoral graduates shows that, although skilled with general linear models, many are ill prepared to use specialized techniques. Based on our findings, we offer suggestions aimed at bridging gaps between what doctoral students (and other researchers) know and what they need to know about data analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how motivating an incumbent CEO to undertake actions that improve the effectiveness of his management interacts with the firm's policy on CEO replacement. Such policy depends on the presence and the size of severance pay in the CEO's compensation package and on the CEO's influence on the board of directors regarding his own replacement (i.e., entrenchment). We explain when and why the combination of some degree of entrenchment and a sizeable severance package is desirable. The analysis offers predictions about the correlation between entrenchment, severance pay, and incentive compensation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between ownership and diversification has been the focus of renewed debate between financial economists and strategic management scholars. While financial economists hold that manager-controlled firms tend to reflect higher levels of diversification, strategy researchers argue that ownership and diversification are not systematically related. In throwing light on this debate, this study uses a fine-grained definition of ownership groups to explore how the different objectives and monitoring predispositions of distinct ownership groups might influence diversification strategy. The empirical examination is set in India to offer a striking contrast from the predominantly U.S.-based studies that have shaped the ongoing debate. Findings show that diverse ownership groups adopt different postures in monitoring and/or influencing organizational diversification. While some ownership groups are closely associated with focused strategies, and some encourage diversification, others are quite indifferent. These results suggest that the context-specific variation among ownership groups is germane to our understanding of diversification strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research reexamines the link between top management team (TMT) heterogeneity and firm performance. Specifically, I theorize that the effects of education, work experience, and tenure on performance will depend upon the top management team's strategic and social context. In a test of such theorizing, I find that (1) the positive relationships between TMT educational, functional, and tenure heterogeneity and performance are contingent on complexity, as indicated by a firm's international strategy and, (2) such relationships are clearly stronger in short-tenured top management teams. The theory and results presented here provide impetus for future studies, as well as suggest to upper echelon researchers that they think more critically about the conditions under which demographic characteristics are most likely to influence organizational outcomes like performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we combine social exchange and knowledge-based perspectives to develop a general path model of IJV survival. We further refine our expectations by considering the transitional economic context of our study and the somewhat unique managerial values resulting from the legacy of Marxist ideology. Results from structural equation modeling suggest that an imbalance in the management control structure between the parents leads to parental conflict and an increased likelihood of IJV failure. An imbalance in the ownership control structure, however, had no influence on conflict or survival. In general, support from the foreign parent is positively related to IJV learning and IJV survival. However, higher levels of technical support provided by the foreign parent to the IJV reduced the level of parental conflict, whereas management support had no effect on conflict. Our results suggest some dilemmas for firms pursuing IJVs in transitional economies. Although the foreign parent often contributes critical resources to the IJV, providing it with bargaining power and a high level of influence, an imbalance in management control between the partners may ultimately be detrimental to IJV survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The logical foundations shaping three prominent streams of strategic management thought are summarized and then compared and contrasted. The intent is to determine whether these research streams are restatements of a single core logic using different terms to describe the same phenomena and relationships, or whether they provide alternate, and potentially competing, explanations for effective strategic action. Analysis reveals some concordant assertions, some similarities across pairs of frameworks, and some fundamental contradictions among the various logic sets. Since key elements in the fundamental premises of each research stream present logical contradictions with each of the other two, a strategy derived from an integration of these perspectives creates inconsistencies in a firm's enacted context, its assumptions about strategy making, and its administrative arrangements. As circumstances change, a firm may be required to undergo a 'core logic shift' to maintain consistency between its strategy and its strategic context. When a shift becomes necessary, a firm needs to overcome structural inertia, competitive inertia, organizational momentum, and its current management logic to maintain internal consistency. Additional implications of the comparison of these three logics for both theory and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central focus of empirical research in strategic management has been to understand the relationships associated with the structure-strategy-performance paradigm. To examine these relationships, investigators have relied extensively on cross-sectional methods that embody the implicit assumption that model parameters are stable across firms and over time. Yet, many of the theoretical constructs used in strategic management have clear firm- and time-specific components. Hence, it might be expected that the parameters of the relationships investigated empirically will vary across firms and over time. Whereas recent research has raised concerns about the use of cross-sectional analysis when parameters vary over time, little attention has been given to the issue of parameter variability across firms. Given the focus of strategy researchers on firm-level effects and the predominant reliance on cross-sectional analysis, accounting for across-firm variability is a significant methodological issue. Failure to account for such variability can lead to biased parameter estimates and incorrect inferences. This paper argues for the adoption of alternative methods that can overcome the limitations of a cross-sectional analysis and it offers guidance on how researchers can proceed to use these alternative methods to explicitly incorporate or test for variation in model parameters across firms or over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on historical data and a seminal text never translated into English, we present an original interpretation of Henri Fayol's (1841–1925) administrative theory. This interpretation, which is consistent with the comments that Fayol later presented about his 'General and industrial administration' treatise, brings out his pioneering contribution to management studies. Fayol made the 'unknown' introduced by science into industry the central tenet of modern administration. He foreshadowed major aspects of today's innovation management. More fundamentally, Fayol laid new foundations for the field of management sciences. He drew from the political and philosophical works of the Enlightenment to develop a series of original concepts (in French: prévoyance, perfectionnement, programme, inconnu, corps social) that were difficult to interpret and to translate. We maintain that Fayol's administrative science is a theory of a 'creative/political' rationality that still, today, offers better theoretical and explanatory support for management science than economic and bureaucratic theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasingly global nature of competition requires that firms utilize all of their available resources in order to survive and succeed. This has resulted in an emphasis on the alignment of all functional activities of the firm e.g., finance, marketing, operations, etc. toward the achievement of strategic objectives. One consequence of this trend is that many have called for a new strategic role for the HR function. This role entails two major aspects. First, the HR executive should provide input into the firm's strategy in order to ensure that the firm has the human resource capabilities to implement it. Second, the HR function needs to ensure that the HR programs and practices are in place to effectively implement the strategy. One impediment to effectively performing this role, however, has been the fact that the HR function has been neither traditionally viewed nor empirically demonstrated to contribute to firm performance, and, therefore, neither important nor effective. HR involvement in the strategic management process has been thought to be effective in all cases, Its effectiveness however, may vary with firm strategies.

This article describes the initial stages of an endeavor to bring about an integration of strategic management and human resource management in a major manufacturing organization-3M. The focus is on the agenda of the organization's Vice President of Human Resources for bringing about the innovation through a systematic program of cultural analysis, professional development of line managers and human resource specialists, restructuring of the human resource management organization, and creation of a new partnership between line and human resource managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many organizations facing high rates of employee turnover, strategies for increasing employee retention may not be practical because employees leave for reasons beyond the control of management or the costs of reducing turnover exceed the benefits to be derived. In this situation managers need to consider strategies that can minimize or buffer the organization from the negative consequences that often follow from turnover. Strategies organizations can use to adapt to uncontrollably high employee turnover rates are presented in this article. In addition, suggestions are made for how managers should make choices among the alternative strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an examination of strategies for managing organizational death. The author discusses the growing body of research that addresses the belief that organizational growth is normal and expected. He notes that most of the literature produced to deal with decline has focused on how turn failing organizations into productive ones or on how to cut back the workforce in manner that will increase effectiveness. This article suggests a third transitional strategy that that combines these two ideas; organizational death. The author discusses when this strategy is the best decision an organization can make and examines how to effectively manage this plan.

Thirteen years ago, I first heard mention of three American engineers who had helped Japanese industry in important ways during the Occupation. In the midst of my other activities, I was able to track them down; it seemed to me that they could have valuable information on how Japan's "new" industrial management was shaped - a process about which very little has been written, at least in English. Such information I thought should surely help any of us who are interested in reshaping our own management in any way in the Japanese direction. I was not disappointed in what I found. In the following I have given comparatively little space to my own conclusions, and as much as possible to the material I have unearthed, in the belief that there are many able managers who would like to study the evidence themselves, and form their own conclusions about the significance of these past events for the present. In drawing attention to the hard work and dedication of those discussed in this article, I have wanted to pay tribute to the gift mid-century Americans made to the world - a gift of their sacrifice, generosity, and vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illustrates the usefulness of game theory for strategic management through theoretical and empirical analysis of price competition in the presence of production backlogs. Game-theoretic analysis predicts a different relationship between relative prices and backlog levels than does analysis that ignores the sorts of interactive considerations emphasized by game theory. Empirical analysis based on data for the U.S. market for large turbine generators between 1951 and 1963 corroborates the game-theoretic prediction. The paper concludes with a discussion of the sorts of situations in which game-theoretic reasoning is particularly likely to prove useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of studies have shown that little replication and extension research is published in the business disciplines. This has deleterious consequences for the development of a cumulative body of knowledge in these same areas. It has been speculated, but never formally tested, that replication research is more likely to be published in lower tiers of the journal hierarchy. The present paper indicates very low levels of replication in management and strategic management journals, regardless of their prestige. Moreover, even those replications that are published tend not to be critical-odd in applied social sciences that are largely preparadigmatic and where extensibility, generalizability and utility of scientific constructs tend to be low. The goal of science is empirical generalization, or knowledge development. Systematically conducted replications with extensions facilitate this goal. It is clear, however, that many editors, reviewers, and researchers hold attitudes toward replication research that bet ray a lack of understanding about its role. Long-run strategies to dispel these misconceptions must involve changes in graduate training aimed at making the conduct of such vital work second nature. It is further suggested that journals in all tiers create a section specifically for the publication of replication research, and that top-tier journals take the lead in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how subsidiary companies are able to contribute to the firm-specific advantages of the multinational corporation (MNC). Specifically we examine the determinants of the contributory role of the subsidiary and subsidiary initiative. The study reveals the following significant relationships: (a) internal subsidiary resources in combination with initiative have a strong positive impact on the subsidiary's contributory role; (b) subsidiary initiative is strongly associated with the leadership and entrepreneurial culture in the subsidiary; and (c) contributory role is strongly associated with subsidiary autonomy and a low level of local competition. We discuss the implications of these findings and some of the theoretical issues associated with subsidiary initiative. Our provisional conclusion is that MNC subsidiaries can not only contribute to firm-specific advantage creation, they can also drive the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study brings out the complementarities between resource-based and industrial organization schools within strategic management through an empirical examination of firm and industry effects. A variance component analysis of 264 single-business companies from 69 industries using 5- and 15-year periods suggests that firm effects are more important than industry effects on firm performance, but not on core strategies such as technology and marketing. The findings also point to the need to stuck core strategies at lower levels of aggregation to understand the sources of competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical studies using Federal Trade Commission Line of Business data have reported that industry membership explains between 17 percent and 20 percent of financial performance variance among firms. This study attempts to replicate these findings using an alternative sample and a methodology based on executives' perceptions. The results support those reported in previous studies, with industry factors explaining about 20 percent of overall performance variance. Moreover, the analysis produces empirically derived industry factors, and examines their relative power in explaining industry performance variance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Courses on the management of innovation and technology seldom treat government technology policies, and the issues they pose for business management. This is unfortunate. In many fields business has a big stake in government technology policies. They can help business, be a waste of money, or actually hurt business. This essay considers three broad issues in contemporary technology policy, that are of significant consequence to business: government support of applied research, the question of how to deal with the decline in business-funded basic research, and the complex questions about intellectual property rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of 399 banks self typed as prospectors, analyzers or defenders indicated that the self typing paragraph approach was a useful measurement instrument which has reasonable convergent validity, supporting Shortell and Zajac (1990), and providing further evidence of the value of the self typing paragraph approach in strategy research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study advances a nascent perspective in the strategic management literature: a focus on the beneficial effects of competition among firms in an industry. Such a perspective supplements the traditional view of competition as firm rivalry. The overall purpose of the study is to provide a theoretical foundation for the study of the mutual gains associated with industry competition. Because of its importance to several different organizational theories, the concept of variety is examined as a potential source of interfirm benefits. The influence of variety is observed in 12 industries, four each from the growth, mature, and decline stages of the life cycle. In each life-cycle stage, two of the industries have substantial amounts of foreign competition while the other two do not. The study's results support two broad conclusions. First, industry variety and performance are positively related, suggesting that interfirm benefits are most feasible in industries characterized by diversity among firms' competitive strategies. Second, as industries move through the life cycle, variety decreases, implying that both strategists and policymakers need to consider the impact on aggregate variety when evaluating prescriptions for the revitalization of declining industries. Implications of these findings are derived for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews two streams of work on the issue of industrial regeneration and competitiveness--that from within the management research field, and that from economists, economic historians, and political scientists. It is argued that these streams have in the past been independent but there is much to be gained by sharing insights from each and applying them to the process within firms of generating competitiveness for that firm. By using insights from the newly emerging institutionalist school it is possible both to explain national differences in competitiveness and generate useful ideas for the managers of individual firms. The paper ends by setting out a research agenda, applying the insights from institutional analysis, for furthering our understanding of the strategic processes available to managers for regenerating and enhancing the competitiveness of the individual firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine corporate renewal by taking a structural approach and focusing on the routines and rules that are part of large, established, bureaucratic organizations. We characterize approaches to the management of innovation in terms of three different themes--institutional, revolutional, and evolutional strategies. The first two approaches involve intentional efforts to encourage innovation, either within the current organizational paradigm (institutionalizing innovation) or moving away from it (revolutionary innovation), while the evolutional approach involves less conscious efforts to manage what is viewed as a random, probabilistic process. This paper uses simulation methodology to explore the effectiveness of these strategies on organizational innovation, performance, and resources. The behavior of the simulated organizational units is guided by assumptions of a learning model. Results indicate that innovation strategies sometimes have unintended effects that are both positive and negative in nature. Several lessons on managing innovation are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strategic group concept provides an attractive middle ground between firm and industry for both theory development and empirical analysis. To date, this concept has been defined by researchers in terms of secondary accounting and financial data, and a number of critics have questioned the validity of this work. Our research shows that industry participants share perceptions about strategic commonalities among firms, and that participants cluster competitors in subtle ways not reflected in extant academic research on strategic groups. Decision makers' perceptions and cognitions are phenomena that can be expected to influence industry evolution. They are of research interest as an additional source of data on firm commonalities which helps address concerns about previous strategic group research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the progress of the strategy field towards developing a truly dynamic theory of strategy. It separates the theory of strategy into the causes of superior performance at a given period in time (termed the cross-sectional problem) and the dynamic process by which competitive positions are created (termed the longitudinal problem). The cross-sectional problem is logically prior to a consideration of dynamics, and better understood. The paper then reviews three promising streams of research that address the longitudinal problem. These stilt fall short of exposing the true origins of competitive success. One important category of these origins, the local environment in which a firm is based is described. Many questions remain unanswered, however, and the paper concludes with challenges for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Game theory has not been applied much to business strategy. I review some criticism of the game-theoretic approach which inhibits its application, and mention some others. The common criticism that game-theoretic models assume too much rationality is often wrong because (i) some games require little rationality to compute equilibria; and (ii) players may reach an equilibrium by communicating, adapting, or evolving to it rather than by calculating it. However, other criticisms can be forceful: Game theory is hard to use and test, it threatens to explain anything, it generates customized models of local settings rather than general regularities, and it offers only part of the advice a manager needs. Nonetheless, game theory could be a fruitful source of ideas and testable implications for strategy, requiring more fine-grained, longitudinal studies sensitive to interactions between structural variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the potential usefulness of game-theoretic modeling for the development of theory in strategic management. It is argued that there is significant potential for the development of 'metaphorical' models that capture the broad qualitative features of settings involving strategic interactions. The paper discusses the positive attributes of mathematical modeling, the nature and role of game-theoretic modeling, and its potential for contributing to empirical work and to providing advice to managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines the relationship between strategic management and economics. It introduces the special issue on this same topic by providing a guide to the eight papers contained in the special issue, and it offers the guest editors viewpoints on the contributions of each discipline to the other. The essay notes the major contribution from economics has been primarily from the industrial organization literature, with promises of important gains to be made from the 'new' economics as it breaks away from the neoclassical theory of the firm. Contributions from strategic management to economics are noted. Areas for further research utilizing the relationship between strategic management and economics are also indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porter's Competitive Advantage of Nations is an important book which bridges the gap between strategic management and international economics while contributing substantially to both. Porter's analysis of the impact of national environment on international competitive performance demonstrates the potential for the theory of competitive strategy to rescue international economics from its slide into refined irrelevance, while simultaneously broadening the scope of the theory of competitive strategy to encompass both the international dimension and the dynamic context of competition. Nevertheless, the breadth and relevance of Porter's analysis have been achieved at the expense of precision and determinancy. Concepts are often ill defined, theoretical relationships poorly specified, and empirical data chosen selectively and interpreted subjectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research using managers' attributions for good and poor performance in annual reports has repeatedly demonstrated that management takes credit for good outcomes. However, there is disagreement about whether this pattern of attributions reflects, attempts to manage impressions in stakeholders or biased perceptions on the part of management and whether it is associated with increases or decreases in future performance. In this study, attributions in letters to shareholders in the annual reports of public utilities were analyzed. The results showed the same general pattern of attributions as was found in previous studies. However, the relationship between this pattern of attributions and performance (earnings per share growth) was generally negative. Implications of these results for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous authors have argued for the need to study the process of strategic decision making. In the present study a judgement capturing methodology is employed, to identify the specific structures of decision models and simplification heuristics in a series of strategic investment decisions. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate entrepreneurship seems to many entrepreneurship scholars a contradiction in terms. This paper represents an attempt to bridge that gap. This is done by, first, reviewing the literature on entrepreneurship, trying to summarize it in a few major themes. Second, a view of entrepreneurship is proposed that facilitates the application of the previous findings to the field of corporate entrepreneurship. Finally, a series of propositions are developed, as instances of the kind of research that can be pursued by following the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to encourage discussion on the 'state-of-the-science' in strategy content research. We present a view of an interactive research process and argue that strategy content research would benefit from (1) more carefully developed theoretical work; (2) more theory-driven data analysis; and (3) less emphasis on the immediate applicability of results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic managers have been found to use sophisticated tactics to implement strategic plans, but seem to limit their effectiveness by applying them indiscriminately. A contingency framework that uses situational constraints, such as the manager's freedom to act and need for consultation, is developed to select among tactics preferred by practitioners. The framework was tested using 50 episodes of strategic planning. There was a 94 percent success rate when the implementation tactic recommended by the framework was used, and a 29 percent success rate when another (non-recommended) tactic was applied, suggesting that following the framework's prescriptions may improve the success rate for strategic plan implementation. The implications of this research for practicing managers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses different notions of incremental strategic management and, on the basis of empirical data from a longitudinal study of strategic management, and existing research and theory, reconceives the subject within an 'organization action' framework. The paper also argues that such an approach raises important issues concerned with the management of strategic change in organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global strategy has recently emerged as a popular concept among managers of multinational corporations as well as among researchers and students in the field of international management. This paper presents a conceptual framework encompassing a range of different issues relevant to global strategies. The framework provides a basis for organizing existing literature on the topic and for creating a map of the field. Such a map can be useful for teaching and also for guiding future research in this area. The article, however, is primarily directed at managers of multinational corporations, and is aimed at providing them with a basis for relating and synthesizing the different perspectives and prescriptions that are currently available for global strategic management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a model of how decision-makers interpret strategic issues. The model of strategic issue diagnosis identifies three critical events: activation. assessments of urgent and assessments of feasibility. The relationship of each of these interpretive assessments to the creation of momentum for change allows one to predict if and how organizations will respond to a changed decision environment. The paper further links strategic issue diagnosis to organizational responses by highlighting the systematic effect of two contextual variables the organization's belief structure and its resources-upon the assessments in diagnosis. In this way. the model of issue diagnosis provides a framework for understanding how and why organizations respond differently to strategic issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There already exists a substantial body of work dealing with the relationships between strategy and structure. But most of the studies oversimplify things by focusing mainly on diversification and divisionalization. Recent literature has derived more complex and integrated views of strategy and structure, much of it isolating common types, 'gestalts', or configurations. This paper suggests a new approach for examining the relationships between strategy and structure and proposes some functional linkages between several complex strategic and structural configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two recent studies (Fredrickson, 1984; Fredrickson and Mitchell, 1984) used a new research method to obtain statistically verifiable measures of a strategic decision process construct. In this paper the method's underlying theory and assumptions are made explicit, its benefits and shortcomings are discussed, and possible extensions are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a normative strategic management process for the public sector. It focuses on the state agency or department as the strategic public planning unit (SPPU). Each department within a state Government provides a distinctly different service to a more or less homogeneous segment of the stole's citizenry. Therefore, for strategic management purposes, each stale unit operates in its unique context and must meet the demands of varied constituency publics if it is to be a viable and effective provider of its service. The process herein described recognizes the unique aspects of public sector strategic management and integrates several stages that specific to the public sector into an established private sector strategic management framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a framework for understanding the multiple purposes that problem statements can serve during the formulation phase of strategic planning. Both functional and dysfunctional purposes exist. Variables that can help to identify dysfunctional purposes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years the concepts of diversification have been simplified and a system of shorthand has developed for discussing the issues surrounding the strategy. Because of this a confusion in terminology has developed and sight of the fundamental principles involved has been lost within the vagaries of fashion. Selection of a particular strategy ought to be based on the clear identification of the benefits that the strategy will offer. Those benefits should be used to help solve specific problems. Only by returning to this type of thinking can the legitimacy of diversification be revived and the alternating acclamation and denunciation of the strategy be overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic management researchers often encounter problems obtaining objective measures of selected aspects of organizational performance that are reliable and valid. With privately-held firms, such data are frequently unavailable. With conglomerate business units, all or parts of such data are inextricably interwoven with corporate-wide data. This paper examines the usefulness of subjective performance measures, obtained from top management teams, when problems are encountered in obtaining accurate performance data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]