Strategic capability architecture: The role of network capability

A firm's network capability refers to its ability to build, handle and exploit relationships. These capabilities are interwoven in a complex configuration with the other capabilities and competencies of the firm and in practice, are very difficult to separate from them. Rather than assuming that firms inherently possess network capability, our aim is to discover if the shared managerial logic of top management teams confirms its presence. In order to understand how managers perceive, process and interpret network capability, we guided the management teams of five industrial suppliers through a novel five-step process of introducing, identifying, critically screening, challenging and verifying the capabilities of the firm. The paper introduces a framework for strategic capability architecture and investigates how network capability emerges from among the configuration of other capabilities in industrial firms. We found that network capabilities are central to the formation of customer capabilities. Network capabilities also play an important role as assets contributing to the formation of other capability sets. Furthermore, we found that the networking capabilities act in unison with other capabilities through three different strategic logics termed partnering, value streaming, and horizontal allying.     

Strategic groups: A cognitive perspective

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.     

Strategic behaviour by wind generators: An empirical investigation

Renewable generation of electricity is a vital step in reducing dependence on fossil fuels, and wind generation is particularly important in countries such as Britain. A large part of the windfarms are in Scotland but links with England are relatively limited and subject to exogenous failure of an interconnector. As a consequence, for a significant portion of time the system operator imposes constraints on wind generation in Scotland. We investigate the resulting effects on a majority subset of these windfarms operating under a scheme called Renewables Obligation, which involves a subsidy on top of market price. One feature of this scheme is that windfarms each declare a price at which they are willing to be constrained; these prices are used in the selection of windfarms to constrain when necessary. Thus, windfarms are sometimes paid not to produce. We investigate the strategic consequences of this, given that the prices set by windfarms to turn off in practice exceed the opportunity cost, finding significant evidence consistent with windfarm strategic behaviour. Specifically, we observe that in making their final physical declarations of output, the sample windfarms overestimate their final physical notifications of generation, the more so when other circumstances suggest constraints will be required. Following our findings we propose two potential policies to reduce both the extent of over-prediction and the payments made to windfarms to curtail output.     

Strategic orientation and new product development performance: The role of networking capability and networking ability

While strategic orientation can represent an important antecedent to new product development (NPD) performance, research suggests that adopting a strategic orientation alone is not sufficient and a better understanding of contingencies is necessary. Based on the dynamic capability view of the firm, this study examines the effect of a firm's ability to connect with external network partners (networking capability) and the ability of NPD project managers to network with stakeholders within the firm (networking ability). The empirical results indicate that market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation are positively associated with NPD performance when a firm has sufficient networking capability to manage network dynamics and when the managers of NPD projects possess networking ability to successfully mobilize the support and advocacy of stakeholders within the firm. The results also show that NPD performance is highest when market (entrepreneurial) orientation, networking capability, and networking ability are all high, thus supporting the proposed three-way interaction.     

Strategic intelligence activity: The management of the sales force as a source of strategic information

Environmental information is very important to strategic management. Human sources are among the most commonly used sources of information and among them, boundary people, such as salesman, hold a privileged position. One dimension which measures the quality of a strategic response is its speed of implementation. Recognizing this, to ensure a good (fast) strategic response, fast communication of information is imperative. This article focuses on factors which influence the speed of communication of environmental information. It is based on an exploratory research which has been carried out on a sample of salesmen of an industrial company. Management policies regarding the use of the sales force as an efficient source of strategic information are proposed in conclusion.     

Losing by winning: The danger zone of adverse competitor replacement

Research Summary: We use a formal model, motivated by a case study from the airline industry, to consider an industry structure wherein a firm may find that improving its competitiveness hurts its performance. Specifically, we examine the possibility that a superior incumbent may, by getting stronger, drive a weak rival from the market, and thereby allow a stronger rival to enter in its place. Such “adverse competitor replacement” reduces the profit of the superior incumbent and may even, in an extreme case, cause the superior incumbent to be driven from the market as well. We show that adverse competitor replacement can arise under a rational equilibrium and may become more likely if a firm improves its capability for self‐improvement. Managerial Summary: Managers are consistently advised to improve the competitiveness of their firms and beat the competition. We examine the possibility that beating out the competition may have adverse consequences. Specifically, a strong incumbent may, by getting stronger, outcompete a weaker rival to such an extent that the weaker rival exits the market, thereby creating an open market niche for a stronger rival to enter, in effect, a form of adverse competitor replacement. Competing with this stronger rival may in turn reduce the strong incumbent's profits below what they had been before driving the weak rival out. We illustrate adverse competitor replacement with a case study from the airline industry and discuss implications for a firm's investment in its own competitiveness.     

Thinking one step ahead: The use of conjectures in competitor analysis

An assessment of opponents' reactions to strategic and functional area policy decisions is shown to require knowledge concerning opponents' beliefs about the firm's behavior. This study introduces a methodology for incorporating such conjectures into the business planning process. It presents an analytical measure for these conjectural variations and discusses several illustrations. Examples of the application of the framework are provided by the Japanese flat glass industry and the U.S. domestic coffee roasting industry. The use of a broad range of conjectural variations in competitor analysis is discussed, and implications for business strategy formulation are highlighted.     

Artificial intelligence: From ethics to law

AI is the subject of a wide-ranging debate in which there is a growing concern about its ethical and legal aspects. Frequently, the two are mixed and confused despite being different issues and areas of knowledge. The ethical debate raises two main problems: the first, conceptual, relates to the idea and content of ethics; the second, functional, concerns its relationship with law. Both establish models of social behaviour, but they are different in scope and nature. The juridical analysis is based on a non-formalistic scientific methodology. This means that it is necessary to consider the nature and characteristics of the AI as a preliminary step to the definition of its legal paradigm. In this regard, there are two main issues: the relationship between artificial and human intelligence and the question of the unitary or diverse nature of the AI. From that theoretical and practical basis, the study of the legal system is carried out by examining its foundations, the governance model and the regulatory bases. According to this analysis, throughout the work and in the conclusions, International Law is identified as the principal legal framework for the regulation of AI.     

The multi-channel challenge: A dynamic capability approach

The maturing of e-commerce, the diffusion of call centres into the B2B space and purchaser demands on price and service are leading to rapid change in the route to market in many B2B sectors, with shifting combinations of channels being offered to the customer in the search for advantage. In this situation managers can no longer rely on the channel resources that they have assembled to provide their extant competitive position. Instead they must be able to combine resources in new ways, gain additional resources and dispose of superfluous resources, and to do this repeatedly and rapidly if they are to compete successfully. The term ‘dynamic capabilities’ has emerged in the strategic management literature for these activities. Using four case studies and the analytic induction approach to data analysis, we identify seven dynamic capabilities for channel transformation.     

Emotions and salesperson propensity to leave: The effects of emotional intelligence and resilience

Emotions constitute a powerful psychological force that can significantly influence the behavior and performance of salespeople. However, emotions in the workplace still constitute an under-developed area of study, mainly in the field of sales. Sales turnover is also particularly important in relation to sales management due to the nature of sales positions, their historically high turnover levels, and the difficulty involved in filling them.In view of the need to broaden knowledge on how to more successfully retain valuable salespeople, and the fact that B2B selling jobs are not the same across the board, this paper, while controlling the type of selling situation, analyzes the influence of two emotional skills (i.e. emotional intelligence and resilience) on salesperson propensity to leave their organization, both directly and indirectly, through their impact on work–family conflict and emotional exhaustion. The moderating effect of servant leadership perceived by salespeople on the relationship between emotional exhaustion and intention to leave is also addressed. Information provided by 209 salespeople from 105 enterprises from various industries confirms the hypotheses put forward and highlights the importance of encouraging the development of emotional skills as a way of alleviating work stress and reducing salesperson turnover. In addition, the results confirm the contribution of servant leadership towards reducing the effect of emotional exhaustion on salesperson intention to leave.     

Using artificial intelligence to detect crisis related to events: Decision making in B2B by artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be an important foundation of competitive advantage in the market for firms. As such, firms use AI to achieve deep market engagement when the firm's data are employed to make informed decisions. This study examines the role of computer-mediated AI agents in detecting crises related to events in a firm. A crisis threatens organizational performance; therefore, a data-driven strategy will result in an efficient and timely reflection, which increases the success of crisis management. The study extends the situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) and Attribution theory frameworks built on big data and machine learning capabilities for early detection of crises in the market. This research proposes a structural model composed of a statistical and sentimental big data analytics approach. The findings of our empirical research suggest that knowledge extracted from day-to-day data communications such as email communications of a firm can lead to the sensing of critical events related to business activities. To test our model, we use a publicly available dataset containing 517,401 items belonging to 150 users, mostly senior managers of Enron during 1999 through the 2001 crisis. The findings suggest that the model is plausible in the early detection of Enron's critical events, which can support decision making in the market.     

The impact of marketing capability, operations capability and diversification strategy on performance: A resource-based view

Using resource-based view (RBV) of the firm as a theoretical backdrop; we aim to find out the relative impact of a firm's functional capabilities (namely, marketing and operations) and diversification strategies (product/service and international diversification) on financial performance. We hypothesize that this linkage depends on the firm's relative efficiency to integrate its resource-capabilities-performance triad. Using archival data of 102 UK based logistics companies, we find marketing capability is the key determinant for superior financial performance. This study highlights that a market-driven firm is likely to have better business performance than a firm focusing solely on operational capabilities. Also, firms are better off when they focus on a narrow portfolio of products/services for the clients and concentrate on a diverse geographical market. Our findings provide a new perspective to model a firm's functional capabilities and diversification strategy on its financial performance and offer a benchmarking tool to improve resource allocation decisions.     

Strategic Response to a Volatile Environment: The Case of Cross-Cultural Cooperative Ventures

Unlike free-standing companies, joint ventures involve more complex governance structures and organizational systems. Because of interpartner dependence in the managerial process, it is more difficult for joint ventures to configure their strategies with environmental dynamics. Without such configuration, however, joint ventures will suffer from operational instability and resource misallocation. This study assesses the strategic response of joint ventures to a dynamic environment. Based on a survey of top managers in international joint ventures (IJVs) in China, it is found that managerial perceptions of increased environmental complexity and hostility are positively related to an Analyzer strategy. Proactive and Defensive strategies are either negatively or non-significantly linked with perceived environmental dynamics. Further, the Analyzer strategy is associated with superior performance for IJVs in the context of an emerging economy.     

The coopetition paradox and tension: The moderating role of coopetition capability

In this study, we apply a paradox perspective on coopetition to investigate the effects of coopetition paradox on managers' experience and perception of coopetitive tensions, and the role of coopetition capability in managing such tensions. We propose a theoretical model to posit that the intensity of coopetition paradox positively associates with managers' experience of external tension, which in turn lead them to perceive internal tension. Further, coopetition capability plays a dual role—moderates the relation between coopetition paradox and external tension, and reduces internal tension. We tested hypotheses on a representative multi-industry sample of 1532 firms in Sweden and the results confirm them. Our study contributes to understanding the critical role of coopetition capability that enables firms to maintain a moderate level of tension regardless of the intensity of coopetition paradox.     

The language component in technological capability: Lessons from architecture

The paper argues that the ability to use language, particularly spoken language, is central to technological capability. An understanding of its role depends on acknowledging design and technology as work with symbols, and is assisted by seeing the product of design as a virtual artefact. Language is one of the symbol systems used to construct and communicate this artefact. It articulates aspects of the design that cannot be represented graphically, as well as accommodating the interpersonal dimension of the process. Implications for the curriculum are briefly suggested. The argument is supported by evidence from recordings and observations of a problem-solving episode which occurred in a Canadian architects' practice over a few days in the construction phase of a project.     

策略性行为理论研究

新产业组织理论研究的焦点是策略性行为，本文从短期、中期、长期三个层面系统梳理和评述了西方策略性行为理论前沿，旨在为研究企业的竞争行为提供有效工具．深化对复杂交易现象背后的动机和福利效果的理解，同时也为政府制定保护竞争、促进竞争的公共政策提供坚实的理论基础。     

Strategic implementation: Five approaches to an elusive phenomenon

The traditional textbook approach to strategy implementation was to treat ‘implementation’ as an activity following ‘formulation’. Usually, the topic was treated as a question of organization design, where systems and structures were manipulated in concert with strategic goals. More recent views treat implementation either as an issue of gaining prior group commitment through coalitional decision-making, or as a question of total organizational involvement through a strong corporate culture. This paper reviews the evolution of these approaches, developing four models to characterize them, and suggests a fifth one, with strategy emerging in an almost-implemented form from within the firm.     

Leveraging supplier capabilities: The role of locus of capability deployment

This study adds to the resource‐based view by studying how client firms may gain performance benefits from supplier IT capabilities in market‐based arrangements where the supplier's IT capabilities are readily available to multiple client firms. I argue that the locus of supplier capability deployment, i.e. whether supplier capabilities are deployed at the client (in‐sourcing) or supplier (outsourcing), has implications for client firm performance. The findings show that in‐sourcing leads to complementary effects between supplier IT capabilities and client operational capabilities. In contrast, clients with weaker operational capabilities benefit from outsourcing the respective activity to the supplier, and may even be able to reduce their capability disadvantage through outsourcing. The data on 964 U.S. credit unions contracting with 22 technology solution providers is archival. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.