The Relationships between Resource Configurations and Launch Strategies in Taiwan's IC Design Industry: An Exploratory Study

Within the last decade, the link between launch strategies and new product performance has been widely investigated. However, the relationship between resource configurations and launch strategies has received little attention. This study endeavors to fill that void by examining the relationships between resource configurations and launch strategy selections. In addition, this study investigates the moderating effects of market growth and competitiveness on the relationship between resources and launch strategies. Drawing on contingency theory and strategic studies, this study proposes that resource contingencies affect changes in launch strategies. This study also suggests that market characteristics play a contingent role in the relationships between the configurations of resources and launch strategy choices. Based on extensive studies reporting on market characteristics and their links to strategies, this study proposes that two market characteristics—market growth and competitiveness—are relevant for launch strategy decision making. Taiwan's integrated circuit (IC) design industry has been used as the analytical sample, as it has been identified as a promising sector for new product development. Based on the result of investigating 90 firms, four resource configurations are identified: (1) strategic and organizational abilities; (2) technological capabilities; (3) societal assets and goodwill; and (4) physical assets. Furthermore, two different launch strategies—innovative and product advantage and cost oriented—also are discovered. The results from a seemingly unrelated regression model reveal that technological capabilities and societal assets and goodwill contribute to the variation in the firms' choices of launch strategies. This study further conducted the simple slope analysis to observe the effect of the technological capabilities on the innovative and product advantage strategy under different levels of the market growth rate. The results interestingly showed that firms with technological capabilities demonstrated different degree of tendencies in employing this strategy in alignment with various market growth rates. The finding sheds some lights on the moderating role market characteristics play on the relationships between resource configurations and launch strategy selections. Academic implications and suggestions for practitioners also are provided.     

Strategy type and performance: the influence of sales force management

The basic premise of the strategy implementation literature is that different business strategies require different configurations of organizational practices to achieve optimal performance. Sales force management is a key functional activity and should contribute to the successful implementation of business strategy. In this study, we examine the relationship between multiple sales force management practices and performance within each of Miles and Snow's (1978) strategy types. The explanatory power of the eight models tested is quite high (incremental adjusted R² ≥ 0.25 for six of the eight models). Thus, we find substantial support for the general proposition that the different strategy types require individualized profiles of sales force management practices for optimal effectiveness and that sales force management is important to the successful implementation of business strategy. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strategic decision making in business relationships: A dyadic agent-based simulation approach

This study employs agent-based simulation to model strategic decision making in business relationships, examining the influence of two important strategy drivers in business relationships (performance and power) on relationship success (relationship survival and performance). The study offers insights into the complex and evolutionary interaction and feedback effects between networking strategy choice, relationship performance and power. Findings show that although certain strategies may be desirable for firms to manage their business relationships, they are not necessarily as successful in all situations. Results indicate that a trade-off exists between relationship context and performance which needs to be considered in strategic networking decisions. Further, the study shows that too many strategy changes cause relationships to become unstable and thus negatively affect performance. The authors refer to this phenomenon as strategy volatility — the rate at which actors change their networking strategies within relationships. This phenomenon arises when too many variables influence firms' decision making and thus cause firms to frequently change their strategy. Although strategy volatility has a relationship safeguarding effect in the short term, this effect diminishes over time.     

Unpacking value creation and capture in B2B relationships

Although the relationships among different dimensions of value creation, characteristics of dyadic relationships and value concepts are well studied, they have been conceptualized independently and without much linked theorizing. Hence, little is known about how these concepts and their effects interplay with each other. This article takes a configurational approach and investigates how different dimensions of value creation and relationship factors affect value capture. The study draws on an embedded case study encompassing relationships of a focal customer in the financial payments industry with six specialized service suppliers, followed by a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) of 29 relationship conditions. For both buyers and suppliers, value creation is based on “core” value dimensions, and relationship characteristics, such as power and change in supply strategy. Five different configurations of these constructs represent sufficient conditions to increase value capture, by either negotiating better prices or shifting volume among the parties involved. Focusing on both buyer and supplier perspectives of the same phenomenon, the study increases knowledge on how contextual variables interact in influencing value capture. From a practical perspective, the proposed configurations help managers to choose adequate supply strategies, or better allocate resources according to specific conditions of a business relationship.     

Differential importance of social and economic determinants of relationship performance in professional services

Managing business relationships successfully is critical for many professional service firms (PSFs) in order to be able to address complex client needs. Furthermore, the project-based nature of PSFs' work puts pressure on them to retain clients across project periods. Drawing on both net effect and configurational perspectives, this study provides a holistic understanding of the relative importance and of the interplay of social and economic determinants of business relationship performance in the context of dynamic relationships between PSFs and their clients. Using data from 297 business clients, the results reveal that, overall, social determinants are more important than economic determinants as drivers of the client's willingness to cooperate with a PSF in future. The importance of social determinants increases further in later relationship lifetime phases. The configurational analysis also reveals several equifinal constellations of social and economic determinants across the lifetime phases to drive a client's willingness to cooperate in future. Therefore, no single determinant by itself is sufficient for ensuring relationship performance. We advance the literature by showing that distinct constellations of social and economic determinants are required to achieve the desired outcome, and that these constellations change across business relationship lifetime phases.     

Network strategies and effects in an interactive context

This paper adopts the industrial marketing approach to investigate how companies strategize in networks, and to link network strategies to different effects. Based on a case study from the optical recording media industry, the paper finds five types of strategies: complementary, shared, copying, company-rooted, and challenging. Effects indicate how the focal company's strategies triggered reactions of various magnitudes and characteristics. Specifically, effects diverge from intentions among parties not considered in the strategy, and increasingly so the more confronting the strategy is. This implies that the kind of strategy matters for the effects. This paper contributes to the growing interest for strategizing in business networks through introducing a typology of network strategies and effects.     

The Impact of the Corporate Mind‐set on New Product Launch Strategy and Market Performance

In the last decade, there has been an increasing interest in the link between new product launch strategy and market performance. So far, new product launch research has focused on this performance relationship without giving much attention to background factors that can facilitate or inhibit successful launch strategies. However, investigating such antecedents that set the framework in which different strategic launch decisions enable or prevent the market performance of new products is useful for enhancing the current state of knowledge. Drawing on the concept of a firm's orientation, the present study discusses the influence of the corporate mind‐set on new product launch strategy and market performance. It is hypothesized that the capability to successfully launch new products is based on the interplay between a firm's mind‐set (i.e., an analytical, risk‐taking, and aggressive posture) and its strategic launch decisions on setting launch objectives, selecting target markets, and positioning the new product. A research model with mediating effects is proposed, where the corporate mind‐set determines the launch strategy decisions, which in turn impact market performance. The model is tested with data on 113 industrial new products launched in business‐to‐business markets in Germany using a multiple informant approach. The results support the mediated model as the dimensions of the corporate mind‐set have a significant impact on most strategic launch decisions, which in turn significantly contribute to market performance. It is found that while an analytical posture relates to all three strategic launch decisions, risk taking and an aggressive posture have a significant impact on two, respectively one, launch strategy elements. These findings confirm the importance of investigating antecedents for a successful new product launch, as the corporate mind‐set serves as a background resource that sets the framework for successful new product launch decisions. In the final section implications for research and managerial practice as well as limitations of this research are provided.     

Doing business in India: The role of jaan-pehchaan

The study seeks to further advance our understanding of the complexities and challenges facing international managers when conducting business in an Indian context. Drawing on survey data from managers in over 300 companies, the study suggests that in-order to enhance performance in a business-to-business context within India, there is a need to nurture satisfactory business relationships through the practice of Jaan – pehchaan. Specifically, the study revealed that relationship satisfaction and long-term orientation are driven by three behavioral constructs associated with Jaan – pehchaan, i.e., Pehchaan, Len-den and Bharosa and these serve to positively drive business performance. Several managerial and theoretical implications are extracted from the study along with directions for future research.     

Strategy over the business cycle

This article develops an analytical and empirical framework for examining strategy over the business cycle. Firms were observed to adjust their strategies significantly and asymmetrically over business cycle stages. There was no consistency in performance between up markets and down markets. A variable-parameter profitability model of strategy in a cyclical industry suggested the importance of a strategy's contemporaneous and inter-temporal relationships with performance. Discrepancies were observed between actual strategies and optimal strategies over business cycle stages.     

Business strategy,technology policy and firm performance

This paper presents a study of the relationships among select business strategy dimensions, technology policy dimensions, and firm performance. The research sought to identify how these variables interrelate at the bivariate and multivariate levels. Data were collected from 103 manufacturing-based firms representing 28 mature industries. Results show that technology policy choices vary widely across firms with different business strategies, and that business strategy affects the strength of the relationship between firm performance and particular technology policies.     

Managing in conflict: How actors distribute conflict in an industrial network

IMP researchers have examined conflict as a threat to established business relationships and commercial exchanges, drawing on theories and concepts developed in organization studies. We examine cases of conflict in relationships from the oil and gas industry's service sector, focusing on conflicts of interest and resources, and conflict as experienced by actors. Through a comparative case study design, we propose an explanation of how actors manage conflict and manage in conflict given that they tend to value and maintain relationships beyond episodes of exchange. We consider conflicts in relationships from a network perspective, showing that actors experienced these while adapting to changes in their business setting, modifying their roles in that network. By identifying conflict with the organizing forms of relationship and network, we show how actors formulate conflict through pursuing and combining a number of strategies, distributing the conflict across an enlarged network.     

What happened with the grandiose plans? Strategic plans and network realities in B2B interaction

Research concerned with business relationships and organizational levels, respectively, has addressed companies' difficulties in realizing their strategies. Studies of business relationships explain this through actions and reactions among business partners. Organizational studies note gaps between strategic and operational organizational levels in perceptions and goals. This paper combines these perspectives to obtain new insights into why company strategies may not materialize. The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss how actor bonds on various organizational levels in business relationships affect strategy realization. The paper shows that actors on similar organizational levels representing different companies may actually share more understandings and activities than actors within the same company. The paper contributes to research on dyadic business relationships by highlighting differences in perspectives on various organizational levels, adds insights into research studying organizations by including a business-relationship aspect, and increases understanding of why strategic plans sometimes fail to succeed.     

The impact of network configurations on value constellations in business markets — The case of an innovation network

A growing body of scholars are advocating a better understanding of how value is created in business networks, rather than merely in business relationships or at the level of single actors. Among such networks, innovation networks, i.e. the configurations of strategic entrepreneurial nets aimed at improving the effectiveness of innovation performance, have come under scrutiny in the business marketing literature. However, research that explicitly connects value considerations with innovation network configurations is still in its infancy, with empirical evidence being notably scarce. This study is aimed at identifying if and how network configurations affect value constellation aspects in business networks, in terms of value recipients and value outcomes. We interviewed key informants representing 46 high-technology entrepreneurial firms co-located in an innovation network (Daresbury Science and Technology Park — UK). Our study identifies that different network configurations can co-exist in the same overall network; these, nevertheless, are not alternative independent structures, but rather they interact with each other through actors spanning their boundaries. Our study thus provides an understanding of network configurations relating to specific value consequences, but also provides evidence relating to the interactions between different configurations. By doing this, we establish a bridge between a business marketing and a strategy perspective on value in networks. Important managerial implications and implications for policy makers also emerge from our study.     

STRATEGY AND CONTROL IN SUPPLIER–DISTRIBUTOR RELATIONSHIPS: AN AGENCY PERSPECTIVE

This paper examines the influence of competitive strategy on the relationship between suppliers and their distribution networks. Drawing on agency theory, hypotheses are developed specifying the appropriate match between manufacturer strategies and systems of control within distribution channels. Cluster analysis is used to show distinct differences in channel management and structure for the three generic strategies of cost leadership, differentiation and focus. Results suggest that variation in control relationships may be explained by the demands posed by manufacturers' competitive strategies. This study therefore extends the applicability of Porter's typology to the specific structure of distribution channels and shows that agency theory can provide insights into the economic basis of interorganizational relationships.     

Effective implementation of relationship orientation in new product launches

The critical role of relationships in business performance is widely recognized in the business marketing literature. However, to date, the prevailing new product launch research has concentrated on firms' general customer and competitor focus on predicting launch performance, and mainly applied a product centered or marketing mix perspective on considering effective strategic and tactical launch activities. Consequently, there is only scant knowledge on the relevance of a relational perspective when launching new products. The study contributes to this gap by examining the impact of firms' relationship orientation on launch performance and the key activities through which it is transformed into performance in the new product launch context. A set of hypotheses is developed and tested with data collected from 109 new product launches in pharmaceutical companies. The results show that sales force management and relationship leveraging mediate relationship orientation's impact on launch performance through complexly intertwined relationships. From a theoretical perspective, this study highlights the role of the relational perspective in new product launch and fosters our understanding on how relationship-focused culture is effectively implemented in practice. From a managerial perspective, the results offer insights on how firms can effectively enhance the successful commercialization of new products through relationship-oriented sales and marketing activities.     

Strategy,strategy-making,and performance in a business game

In a recent study, Segev (1987) examined the relationships among strategy, strategy-making, and performance, focusing on the connection between two important typologies: Miles and Snow's (1978) concept of strategic types and Mintzberg's (1973) concept of strategy-making modes. The findings of that study clearly indicated links between the two, and partially supported propositions asserting the effects of the strategy/stategy-making fit on organizational performance. In the current study a business game served as the vehicle for examining this tripartite relationship. The two typologies were applied to the firms' in the game, and then an inquiry was made into the relationships between them. An hypothesis regarding the effect of fit on performance was tested, and the findings compared with previously reported empirical results.     

Generic manufacturing strategies: A conceptual synthesis

This paper provides a conceptual framework that links manufacturing to business unit strategy and focuses on developing the notion of ‘generic manufacturing strategies’ at the strategic business unit (SBU) level. Specifically, an explicit conceptual link is drawn between ‘generic’ business unit strategies and ‘generic’ functional structures in manufacturing. It is proposed that the alternate manufacturing structures implicitly represent ‘generic manufacturing strategies’. Drawing on ideas and concepts from the business strategy literature and manufacturing literature the paper links Porter's generic strategy framework to a complementary manufacturing structure framework that uses three dimensions: process structure complexity, product line complexity, and organizational scope. Viewed from different perspectives, the ‘manufacturing contingency theory’ concepts presented implicitly in the paper can be viewed as an extension of classic research on the interdependence between strategy and structure. The frameworks developed here provide a partial synthesis of knowledge in the broader disciplines of engineering and management without sacrificing academic rigor and practitioner relevance.     

Innovation strategy and sanctioned conflict: a new edge in innovation?

Teamwork and harmony are worthy objectives, but a healthy dose of conflict also plays an important role in fostering innovation. In their pursuit of teamwork and harmony, companies run the risk of suppressing the creative tension that brings vitality to new-product development (NPD) efforts. Furthermore, a firm's choice of innovation strategy may have a significant effect on the organization's capability for managing conflict. Using results from a survey of 290 marketing and R&D managers from U.S. firms in the electronics industries, Barbara Dyer and X. Michael Song explore the link between strategy and conflict, and the effect this link has on NPD success. Their study examines the following issues: the influence of business strategy on specific conflict-handling behaviors; the relationship between those conflict-handling behaviors and positive conflict outcomes; and the relationship between constructive conflict and new-product success. The study classifies firms predominantly pursuing a more aggressive NPD strategy as prospectors and less aggressive firms as defenders. Three conflict-handling mechanisms are identified: integrating behaviors, forcing behaviors, and avoiding behaviors. Compared to the prospector firms, the defender firms in this study perceived significantly higher levels of conflict in their organizations. In handling conflict, the prospector firms perceived a higher level of integrative behavior than the defender firms. The defenders perceived higher levels of forcing and avoiding conflict behaviors. The study identifies a strong, positive relationship between integrative behaviors and constructive conflict. Positive relationships are also identified between constructive conflict and the success of cross-functional relationships, as well as between constructive conflict and NPD business success. For the firms in this study, the results indicate that strategy is associated with the conflict-handling mechanisms the firm uses. For example, the results suggest that an NPD manager in a prospector firm will encounter high use of integrative behaviors, a high number of complex conflicts, a relatively low level of perceived conflict, a high level of formalization, and frequent exchanges of written and verbal communication among the firm's personnel. The results suggest that managers may help to create an environment conducive to NPD success by assessing their firms' strategies, emphasizing integrative conflict-handling behaviors, and employing formalization of organizational procedures.     

The effects of distributor relationship commitment and relationship exploration on opportunism: The moderating roles of exchange uncertainties and network factors

Channel management entails both the evaluating of incumbent business partners and simultaneously seeking potential new partners. In supplier–distributor exchanges, distributors can explore alternative suppliers while still committing to incumbent suppliers. While the current literature has demonstrated the importance of relationship commitment, the consequences of relationship exploration and whether that exploration is harmful to any incumbent relationships remain unclear. Drawing from relational governance and social network theories, this study thus examines how distributor dual relationship strategies of commitment and exploration influence their opportunistic behavior. The findings from a survey of 328 distributor firms indicate that relationship commitment leads to reduced opportunism; yet relationship exploration exerts no significant main effect on opportunism. More interestingly, these effects are subject to two types of uncertainty and two characteristics of distributor network wherein the focal exchange relationship resides. Specifically, behavioral uncertainty—an internal source of uncertainty—aggravates the opportunism that arises from both strategies, whereas, environmental uncertainty—an external source of uncertainty—alleviates both these effects. The distributor's network density weakens the effect of relationship commitment on opportunism, but network centrality strengthens this effect. By contrasting relationship commitment with relationship exploration under multiple moderating conditions, this study advances the extant channel relationship management literature and practice.     

Competitive strategies and new technology: an empirical investigation in the UK polymer processing industry

This paper examines how companies can achieve competitive advantage by fitting their business strategies to the way in which new technology implementation is managed. In particular, the inter-relationship between strategy, technology and performance is examined. Five strategic types and seven types of technological objectives were used to find combinations which were associated with high performance. It was found that companies pursuing a prospector strategy (a strategy based on product innovation) combined with technological objectives emphasizing marketing, image and technical development were the highest performing group of companies. The lowest performing companies were those where strategy was dominated by price competition.
The general conclusion of the paper is that, in order to achieve competitive advantage, companies need to see technology objectives as an inherent part of strategy. The study was carried out on a sample of twenty companies within the polymer processing industry, but the findings should be applicable to companies in other industries, and particularly to smaller companies.