1. Open, temporal, and cultural practices in new ways of strategizing
- Author
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Wawarta, Christina Angelika
- Subjects
HD Industries. Land use. Labor - Abstract
Organizations operate in a changing environment due to new market dynamics, technological and societal demands. This thesis follows a strategy-as-practice approach to investigate the micro processes and practices that organizations adopt over time to develop dynamic capabilities for dealing with the above challenges. In line with this approach, I conducted three studies: one at a large international automotive supplier (AutoParts - disguised name), and two at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. I relied on inductive reasoning and grounded theory to analyze the in-depth qualitative case study data that I collected between January 2016 and April 2019. The first study investigates the practices that AutoParts enacted in its open strategy process. My findings suggest a new typology of strategy tools based on their affordances and consequently the type of strategizing practices they favor or constrain - either deductive top-down strategizing or inductive bottom-up strategy-making. Further, I discovered the central role that the interplay of these two types of strategy tools play for gradually reaching strategic consensus and for developing a corresponding dynamic capability. The second study is a longitudinal account of NASA's human space exploration activities and its related management of temporal tensions. I identified two types of temporal strategizing practices in the context of long-term strategic change. Change-related temporal practices are purposefully executed to facilitate change initiatives, while vision-related temporal practices either facilitate or inhibit change in an overt or covert way. I suggest a process model that can be associated with a dynamic capability for managing temporal tensions in long-term strategic change. The third study focuses on an incumbent firm's ability to adapt to environmental changes by becoming more ambidextrous. I studied the innovative subculture of the Pirates within the large organization of NASA. My findings reveal that the interaction between the Pirates' subcultural practices and the practices from the dominant organizational culture fostered ambidexterity. Through a process, which I term cultural oscillation; these practices produced direct and residual effects for the organization.
- Published
- 2019