Managerial routines in professional service firms: transforming knowledge into competitive advantages

This paper is about managerial routines in professional service firms (PSFs) and takes a resource-based perspective. It describes how managerial routines can be used to transform capabilities into competitive advantages. The empirical data explore three PSFs facing dilemmas concerning the management of their human resources and their professionals, and show how new managerial routines have been established. It further shows that PSFs' innovations are routine and are mainly reactive. Most routines are directed towards exploration, which is caused by the need to focus on projects for clients who in the daily routines supersede the need for developing HRM routines. Due to the importance of the projects and the markets the PSFs operate in, we will also look at the relations between PSFs and their markets. The concept of managerial routines is seen in relation to exploration and exploitation, which are subsequently used in an empirical analysis. In doing this, the analysis reveals a conflict between external demands from the clients and the internal utilization of the capabilities within the firms.     

电子商务创新服务体系重组研究

通过对博铺塑料鞋专业镇电子商务信息化的现状分析,发现存在的问题,提出了一套具有区域性、针对性和个性化的塑料鞋电子商务创新服务平台解决方案,创建了塑料鞋电子商务创新服务平台,并面向塑料鞋专业镇生产厂家、鞋业协会、批发商、经销商等提供开放式的电子商务信息化服务,提高当地经济转型升级的发展能力.     

Agency controls and subsidiary strategic initiatives: The mediating role of subsidiary autonomy

Prior studies examining the impact of organizational controls on subsidiaries’ strategic initiatives have to a large extent failed to find a significant direct association between the two. We argue that this lack of direct association may be due to the fact that the control mechanisms used exert their influence on subsidiaries’ strategic initiatives indirectly by suppressing subsidiaries’ decision-making autonomy. Drawing upon agency theory we consider the effects of two types of controls, monitoring and incentive alignment, as mediated by subsidiaries’ decision-making autonomy. We test this effect on data from 115 subsidiaries of foreign multinationals operating in Greece. The results of our analyses empirically validate this assertion for both mechanisms. Our findings further show that, when both mechanisms are present, one may accentuate the effect of the other, highlighting the value of employing a contingency approach to fully capture the effects of organizational controls on the pursuit of subsidiaries’ strategic initiatives.     

An Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility at Credit Line: A Narrative Approach

This article presents the results of an inductive, interpretive case study. We have adopted a narrative approach to the analysis of organizational processes in order to explore how individuals in a financial institution dealt with relatively novel issues of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The narratives that we reconstruct, which we label ‚idealism and altruism’, ‚economics and expedience’ and ‚ignorance and cynicism’ illustrate how people in the specific organizational context of a bank (‚Credit Line’¹) sought to cope with an attempt at narrative imposition. In particular, our work exemplifies how people in organizations draw on shared discursive resources in order to make sense of themselves and their organizations. We illustrate how many people within the bank found it hard to integrate the normative case for CSR with their version of a narrative identity which had, and continued to be, centred on economic imperatives for new initiatives. Our article demonstrates both the value of the analysis of shared narratives, and represents an attempt to deal adequately with the polyphony of organizational voices, in case studies of CSR. Michael Humphreys graduated with a B.Sc from Leeds University and took MBA and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Nottingham. He is currently an Associate Professor and Reader in organization studies an Nottingham University Business school. His research interests include ethnographic and narrative approaches to organizational identity in both public and private sector organizations. He has published work in a range of journals including: The Journal of Management Studies, Organization Studies, Organization, British Journal of Management, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, The Journal of Organizational Change Management and Qualitative Inquiry. Andrew D. Brown took his MA at Christ Church, Oxford, and his M.Sc and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Sheffield. He held faculty positions at Manchester Business School, the University of Nottingham and the University of Cambridge, before taking up a Chair in Organization Studies at the University of Bath. His principal research interests are centred on issues of sensemaking, narrative and identity. He has published work in a range of scholarly journals, including Academy of Management Review, Journal of Management Studies, and Organization Studies.     

Exploring the role of internationalization knowledge in fostering strategic renewal: A dynamic capabilities perspective

Internationalization knowledge (IK) is important to successfully enter and develop competitive strategies abroad. Yet, how IK is advanced and improved across the multinational enterprise (MNE), and how this contributes to the MNE’s strategic renewal is less understood. This analysis is based on an in-depth case study of Microsoft International to explore how IK is advanced, improved, and integrated across the enterprise. Our findings suggest that IK plays a critical role in fostering strategic renewal of an MNE. More specifically, sensing, seizing, and transforming capabilities jointly provide the necessary basis that enable IK to facilitate strategic renewal. We contribute to the literature by (1) explicating three categories of IK and their hierarchical relationship; (2) reveal how three distinct capabilities required by MNEs capture and integrate the three categories of IK across the enterprise; and, (3) offering that strategic renewal is triggered by routines based on the development and integration of IK.     

颠覆性环境下的组织身份变革与战略变革——比较研究及整合框架构建

在数字经济时代,组织所处的外部环境越发呈现高度动态性、不确定性甚至颠覆性特征,"变革"越来越成为组织应对颠覆性环境、保持竞争优势的重要途径。组织身份是组织成员关于"作为组织,我们是谁"的集体认知和共同信念,也是指导组织战略决策与实施的认知模式和行为准则(即"我是谁"决定"我应该做什么"),改变组织身份是实现很多重要战略变革的前提条件。通过构建组织身份变革与战略变革的整合性理论框架,本文对组织身份变革与战略变革进行系统比较,分析两者的差异性与内在逻辑关系,并从两者的整合视角探究传统企业转型升级、企业跨界经营、破坏性创新技术采纳等现象,发现跨界经营已成为数字经济时代企业经营战略的显著特征和普遍现象,传统企业转型升级应深入到组织身份层面,只有变革组织身份才能"抛弃"过去的认知模式和行为准则,真正将自己融入到数字经济时代。     

New Approaches to Business Process Redesign: A Case Study of Collaborative Group Technology and Service Mapping

Whether it is called reengineering, quality function deployment, quality circles, continuous improvement or total quality management, business process redesign (BPR) is occurring in many organizations. In the broadest sense, BPR includes nearly any kind of systematic effort by companies to realign their business processes so that they are more competitive. Successful business process redesign can lead to dramatic improvements in productivity and quality. But BPR typically requires vast amounts of time and money to implement, since extensive employee input is necessary during the redesign process. Group Decision Support Software (GDSS) provides a viable alternative to the traditional BPR approach. GDSS is defined as computer-based information systems used to support intelligent, collaborative work.This technology allows multiple users to meet and discuss topics simultaneously via a computer network, thus increasing employee commitment while decreasing time and cost.This paper describes a business process redesign project that was conducted for a division within a large government agency fall of 1993. The BPR was done using a type of Group Decision Support Software called Group Systems V. A services marketing tool called service mapping was also used to identify customer needs and interfaces. Data were collected throughout the project to measure employee attitudes about the redesign process and the GroupSystems technology. Time to complete tasks was also recorded. The results of the study showed that the business process redesign was accomplished more effectively in a shorter period of time than with traditional BPR methods previously used. Participants also indicated that the service mapping tool provided a perspective that is missing from many BPR approaches: an understanding of the service from the customer's perspective.     

信任与战略决策绩效:对中国家族企业高层管理团队的一个实证研究

大量文献讨论了我国私营企业中的“信任”问题;许多轶闻式的证据也表明,私营企业高层管理团队成员的彼此信任程度极大地影响了其绩效和成长。本文试图从高层管理团队的角度,探讨信任与企业战略决策绩效的关系,并揭示高层管理团队内信任的影响因素。通过实证研究发现,我国私营企业高层管理团队内的信任度与团队成员间的社会交往程度有非常密切的联系,同时,信任度直接影响了高管层的战略决策绩效。     

The Transition to E-Commerce: A Case Study of a Rural-Based Travel Agency

ABSTRACT

When the Internet started to establish itself in the corporate world, some observers foresaw a diminishing role for, if not the end to, many intermediary functions. Consequently it has been argued that suppliers will need to use the Internet and related technologies to cut costs and establish closer links with consumers by bypassing organizations that currently play an intermediary role in the traditional transaction system. The objective of this case study is to enhance the understanding of the process of transition from a traditional business model to an e-commerce model. It focuses on a very small business that has successfully navigated the transition to e-commerce.     

我国农村现代流通网的路径选择与战略举措

在我国城市商贸业得到显著发展的今天,构建我国农村现代流通网,大力发展农村商贸业有着极其重要的战略意义。文章从不同视角着重分析了构建我国农村现代流通网的路径选择,并在此基础上结合当前我国农村实际提出了构建我国农村现代流通网的战略举措。     

The Impact of the Change from Partial to Full Foreign Ownership on the Internationalization of Foreign Subsidiaries

SUMMARY

This paper aims to study how host country firms' internationalization has been impacted by their foreign owners' achievement of full ownership if the companies were not fully foreign-owned at first. It starts with a review of the existing traditional internationalization literature: the Uppsala model, the innovation-related internationalization models and the Finnish model. Then it reviews other research streams: born global, foreign direct investment (FDI) and network literature and the literature on subsidiary roles. A conceptual framework is developed. Then, after a methodology section, four Estonian casestwo from banking and two from the textiles industryare introduced. After the discussion of the results, some managerial and research implications are drawn.     

Building entrepreneurial tie portfolios through strategic homophily: The role of narrative identity work in venture creation and early growth

In this article, we present the results of a case study of an entrepreneur who successfully founded and grew a venture underpinned by a portfolio of strongly homophilous, dyadic ties. Building on our case, we discuss how the entrepreneur strategically constructed these ties through a form of narrative identity work, explore the shared identity narratives that he used to do so, and highlight the heterogeneous nature of the resulting tie portfolio. We go on to explore the factors that motivated the entrepreneur to purposefully construct an entrepreneurial tie portfolio in this way. Building on our findings, we discuss the nature of narrative identity work and its role in creating homophilous ties, explore the connection between the resulting shared identity narratives and trust, and discuss the central role of values in strategic homophily.     

Stakeholder Multiplicity: Toward an Understanding of the Interactions between Stakeholders

While stakeholder theory has traditionally considered organization’s interactions with stakeholders in terms of independent, dyadic relationships, recent scholarship has pointed to the fact that organizations exist within a complex network of intertwining relationships [e.g., Rowley, T. J.: 1997, The Academy of Management Review 22(4), 887–910]. However, further theoretical and empirical development of the interactions between stakeholders has been lacking. In this paper, we develop a framework for understanding and measuring the effects upon the organization of competing, complementary and cooperative stakeholder interactions, which we refer to as stakeholder multiplicity. We draw upon three forms of fit (i.e. fit as matching, fit as moderation, and fit as gestalts; Venkatraman, N.: 1989) to develop a framework for understanding stakeholder multiplicity based upon the direction, strength, and synergies of the interacting claims. Additionally, we draw upon the theory of stakeholder identification and salience of Mitchell et al. (1997), which we argue provides a more relevant and significantly more illustrative explanation of the nature and effects of stakeholder interactions upon the organization than the network approach of Rowley (1997). Furthermore, we ground our framework through reference to three stakeholder groups (i.e. governments, customers, and employees) and the stakeholder issue of concern for the natural environment. We propose a hierarchy of the multiplicity strength of influence of these three stakeholder groups. Potential measurement and implications are discussed.     

The strategies of the Spanish cotton textile companies before the Civil War: The road to longevity

This study, based on family business theories, offers an innovative vision of the Spanish cotton industry. It proves that Spanish cotton companies – just like their European counterparts – implemented a strategy that was consistent with their nature as family businesses and went beyond the economic-institutional frames within which they developed. The article identifies this strategy as ‘conservative’, because its main objectives were longevity and family control and because it was based on a high percentage of own resources, low levels of indebtedness and organic growth, thus sacrificing profitability for the sake of security.     

Understanding the negativity effect: The role of processing focus

Numerous studies have demonstrated that negative information has a stronger influence on overall impressions than does positive information of equal intensity. Recent attempts to explain this phenomenon with evolutionary arguments show strong potential for predicting how and when the effect will be manifested. This paper tests information-processing implications of one evolutionary perspective (Peeters and Czapinski, 1990), finding general support. In particular, empirical evidence indicates that processing of negative information is relatively less subjective and more integrative in focus than processing of positive information.     

The role of corporate identity management in the higher education sector: an exploratory case study

This paper examines the corporate identity concept and presents an empirical test of a corporate identity model in the context of the higher education sector. The various components of corporate identity are investigated and the results are presented in diagrammatic form in the proposed and updated corporate identity taxonomy. A qualitative exploratory approach was taken, comprising in-depth interviews with key informants involved in the implementation of corporate identity at a major UK university. The taxonomy illustrates communication, design, culture, behaviour, structure, industry and strategy as the main components of corporate identity. The study also demonstrates how and where issues of corporate identity are discussed within an organisation and how the results of these discussions are fed into management structure. As with any such exploratory case study, there are limits to the generalisability of the findings. Further research is required to ascertain whether the findings of this study also apply in other settings. The results will be helpful to communication professionals who deal with an organisation’s corporate identity, branding and communication and who aim to enhance the consistency of messages both written and visual within their organisation.     

Closing the regional equity capital gap: The role of informal venture capital

There is evidence from a number of countries that small firms encounter a shortage of long-term investment finance, particularly at start-up and initial growth. Expansion of the institutional venture capital industry has done little to fill this equity gap on account of its preference for making large investments in established companies and management/leveraged buyouts. Moreover, the supply of venture capital exhibits a high level of spatial concentration. Initiatives by state/provincial and local governments, most notably in economically lagging regions, to increase the supply of risk capital for start-ups and early stage businesses have at best provided a very partial, and often costly, solution. A more appropriate approach to increasing the supply of start-up and early stage finance is to facilitate the more efficient operation of theinformal venture capital market. Informal investors, or business angels, are private investors who provide risk capital directly to new and growing businesses in which they have no family connection. Most business angels are unable to find sufficient investment opportunities and so have substantial uncommitted funds available. There is also considerable scope for expanding the population of business angels. The most cost-effective means of closing the equity gap is therefore for the public sector to underwrite the operating costs of business introduction services whose objective is to overcome the two main sources of inefficiency in the informal venture capital market, namely the invisibility of business angels and the high search costs of angels seeking investment opportunities and entrepreneurs seeking investors, by the provision of a channel of communication between informal investors and entrepreneurs seeking finance.     

网络营销创新定位、运行模型及案例分析

网络营销的创新性质包括创新程度和创新效益两个方面。创新程度反映网络营销创新的影响力度,是过程性指标;创新效益反映网络营销的经济效应,是结果性指标。将创新度和效益度垂直相交构成一个二维平面,并将其分别划分为高低两个级别段,可形成四个定位模块,即触网型创新、网络实验型创新、网络营销专家和运营网络型创新。一般情况下,企业网络营销创新往往从触网型创新出发。进而上升到运营网络型创新阶段,但在网络营销实践中,某些创新运动并不是严格地起于触网型创新,而止于运营网络模型,更有逆向运行的情况存在。     

The effect of customer service on retailers’ shareholder wealth: The role of availability and reputation cues

Retailer customer service has been shown to lead to increases in consumer attraction and retention, but what is less apparent is whether shareholders are fully rewarded for retailers’ customer service efforts. Results from an event study on 48 retailer announcements of customer service strategies indicate that customer service increases retailer market values by 1.09 percent on average. The magnitude of this abnormal return suggests that customer service is one of the more effective ways for firms to create shareholder wealth. Further, analysis of the abnormal returns suggests that the shareholder value created by the retailer's customer service is affected by the heuristics and cues used to judge the likelihood of service delivery. Consistent with the availability heuristic, we find that services that are difficult to bring to mind and non-vivid services create significantly less shareholder value. Results further show that the retailer's reputation can also significantly inhibit the customer service's shareholder wealth creation.