Firm responses to social movement pressures: A competitive dynamics perspective

Why do firms respond to social movement pressures differently? This study investigates how the strategic motivation of firms, as captured by competitor activity and market dependence, influences the likelihood of their response to social movement demands. We examine this through a longitudinal analysis of wind power adoption by electric utilities in U.S. deregulated markets. We find that when either competitor actions aligned with movement demands or firm dependence on targeted markets increase, the positive effect of movement activism on firm response diminishes. In contrast, as strategic motivation declines, increases in movement activism become more influential at eliciting firm responses. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Goal Multiplicity and Innovation: How Social and Economic Goals Affect Open Innovation and Innovation Performance

Integrating insights from the strategic goal literature and the knowledge‐based view of the firm, this article proposes that the pursuit of social and economic strategic goals by commercial firms affects their innovation performance through different knowledge sourcing activities. The strategic goals, knowledge sourcing practices, and innovation performance of 1257 Belgian firms are investigated. Results show that both social and economic strategic goals are associated with the use of external information sources, but only the pursuit of social goals inspires firms to engage in external collaboration. No evidence is found of an inherent conflict between social and economic strategic goals. Instead, the two types of goals are independent of each other, that is, an emphasis on social goals does not preclude an emphasis on economic goals and vice versa. Moreover, firms’ external knowledge sourcing and innovation performance benefit most when strongly held social goals align with strongly held economic goals. These findings offer new insight into the nature and the effects of goal multiplicity among commercial firms. They open up a new perspective on the potential positive effects of the joint pursuit of social and economic strategic goals instead of seeing them as inherently conflicting, as past research has typically done. We illustrate how social strategic goals can deliver unique benefits to a firm, independently of and in addition to economic strategic goals. Our findings also contribute to the open innovation literature by revealing strategic goals as a driver of firms’ knowledge sourcing practices. Our findings suggest that solely emphasizing economic goals may be one reason why firms struggle to implement open innovation practices and do not reap their full benefits. The practical implications of our research are discussed.     

Management of the political imperative in international business

In this paper we develop a framework for analyzing the political imperative. We argue that the effects of the political imperative on the firm will be a function of industry structure. Strategies that management employs in coping with the political imperative are a function of its impact on the firm and the firm's strategic predisposition. We also speculate on why strategic predisposition may lead firms to employ strategies that are not responsive to the demands of the political imperative.     

不确定环境下企业战略变革主导逻辑新范式

企业战略变革是不确定环境下企业“做大做强”和“永续发展”的重要生存法则。而战略变革主导逻辑范式作为企业战略变革问题研究的核心与关键，在传统范式受到挑战的新形势下，呼唤新的战略变革逻辑范式。本文在对战略变革主导逻辑研究的相关概念与思维观念界定的基础上，构建了“战略变革主导逻辑范式分析框架”，并具体提出了“战略先应式”、“战略反应式”、“战略后应式”与“战略因应式”四种战略变革主导逻辑范式。     

A model for supply management of agile manufacturing supply chains

This paper addresses the configuration problem of Manufacturing Supply Chains (MSC) with reference to the supply planning issue. Assuming that the manufacturing system is composed of different stages, we present a technique for the strategic management of the chain addressing supply planning and allowing the improvement of the MSC agility in terms of ability in reconfiguration to meet performance. More in detail, we enhance a previous design method by some of the authors that employs digraph modeling and integer linear programming to optimally design the MSC. The original approach avoids supply chain disruption and stock out and, at the same time, can manage spare parts distribution. In order to take into account the level of demands and maximum production capacities with single/multiple sourcing, in this new formulation we introduce supplier capacity constraints. A case study is presented describing the optimal MSC configuration of an Italian manufacturing firm. The obtained results show that the design method provides managers with key answers to issues related to the supply chain strategic configuration and agility, e.g., choosing the right location for distributors and retailers for enhanced MSC flexibility and performance.     

The influence of resource bundling on the speed of strategic change: Moderating effects of relational capital

Integrating the theoretical perspectives of resource orchestration and relational capital, this research examines how the managerial capability involved in resource bundling approaches (i.e., stabilizing, enriching, and pioneering) affect the speed of strategic change, and how managerial ties (i.e., government ties, customer ties and supplier ties) as external resources influence the effects of resource bundling capabilities on strategic change speed. Using data from 508 Chinese firms, we demonstrate that the stabilizing bundling process is negatively related to the speed of strategic change, and enriching and pioneering bundling processes are positively related to the speed of strategic change. Importantly, we find that specific effects of resource bundling on strategic change speed are influenced by different types of external social relationships. These results suggest that managerial capabilities and external ties affect the speed with which strategic change can be implemented.     

新疆兵团加快推进新型工业化的优势及制约因素分析

加快推进新型工业化是经济全球化条件下新疆生产建设兵团(以下简称兵团)贯彻科学发展观,实现经济社会快速发展的时代要求和战略选择。本文正是在对新型工业化涵义进行深入理解的基础上,对新疆生产建设兵团加快推进新型工业化的必然性、发展优势及制约因素进行分析。     

Examining Proactive Strategic Decision‐Making Flexibility in New Product Development

While strategic flexibility is widely accepted as a prerequisite for a firm's success, its application in strategic decision making to a firm's new product development (NPD) activities is limited to only a few studies. Furthermore, many organizations still have difficulties creating proactive strategic flexibility in their decision‐making processes. Past research studies have largely ignored the relationship between strategic decision‐making flexibility and firms' resources and/or capabilities and success in the context of NPD. This study advances strategic flexibility by adopting the proactive approach of NPD decision‐making flexibility and by examining its role in translating organizational resources and capabilities into NPD success. This study draws upon the resources, capabilities (i.e., flexibility), and performance framework to show how proactive strategic decision‐making flexibility plays a crucial role in developing new products that can create new opportunities and comply with market needs. Therefore, this research aims to (1) develop an operational definition of strategic decision‐making flexibility and (2) propose a framework to understand the drivers and the subsequent new product performance outcomes of strategic decision‐making flexibility. This study adopts the proactive perspective of strategic decision‐making flexibility and defines it as a capability that enables firms to develop NPD strategies to respond to future changes in the environment. The analysis, based on data collected from 103 European firms, shows that that the effects of long‐term orientation, strategic planning, internal commitment, and innovative climate on proactive strategic decision‐making flexibility are significant. The findings indicate specifically the roles of both champions and gatekeepers, who infuse a firm's knowledge with a clear understanding of its resources, constraints, and market needs, thereby enhancing decision makers' motivation to behave proactively to precipitate transformation. The results also reveal a positive association between proactive strategic decision‐making flexibility and NPD performance outcomes. As such, strategic flexibility provides firms with an ability to adapt to changing environments and to create new market opportunities, product, and technological arenas, and to deliver successful new products. When firms open new market, technological, and product arenas, they can easily foresee their new demands and changes and successfully deliver new products, meeting customer needs/demands, and offering benefits such as quality, cost, and timeliness. This study therefore provides a valuable reference point for future research in strategic decision‐making flexibility in NPD.     

浅析我国纺织服装产业结构调整升级与社会责任实现

企业社会责任的战略化、标准化、科学化管理日益成为现代企业发展新趋势。企业社会责任的实现已成为产业结构调整升级的一个重要约束条件。企业应把承担社会责任变成战略和行为的有机部分,促进纺织服装业结构调整升级健康运行,为经济平稳较快发展做出贡献。     

Executive succession: The importance of social capital in CEO appointments

Research Summary: Firm performance and corporate governance have been shown to influence CEO selection, but our understanding of the role of social capital is more limited. In this study, we seek to provide further insight into the role of social capital by examining the influence of both “bonding” and “bridging” forms of social capital on CEO appointments. We find that candidates who have relational social capital, in terms of overlap with the CEO in organizational tenure, board tenure, and CEO tenure are more likely to be appointed as CEO. We also find that candidates who have external linkages to the CEO in the form of geographic, prestigious university, and prior employment affiliations are more likely to be appointed CEO. Managerial Summary: The appointment of a new CEO has significant and widespread implications for the firm’s future strategic direction and performance, the relationship between the board and CEO, and perceptions by investors, employees, and other key stakeholders. Our study finds that candidates who have shared connections and experiences with the CEO in terms of geographic, prestigious university, or prior employment affiliations as well as overlap in terms of organizational tenure, board tenure, and CEO tenure are more likely to be appointed CEO. Given the enormous impact that executive appointments have on the strategic direction and performance of the company, it is important to recognize that social factors such as shared experiences and connections influence how candidates are perceived, and thus, may affect appointment decisions.     

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.     

Strategic Substitutes and Strategic Complements With Interdependent Demands

Strategic substitutes and complements have become standard tools of analysis in industrial organization. Bulow et al. (1985) original model which introduced these concepts focused on multimarket oligopoly. Building upon that model, this paper shows that there becomes not one but two strategic interaction terms if the demands between markets is interdependent and the firms compete in prices. This new model is applied to the telecommunications industry, where the local exchange carriers face competition from competitive access providers. The theoretical model shows the critical variables in the local exchange carriers' strategic pricing decision.     

New R&D management paradigms: rethinking research and technology organizations strategies in regions

The R&D management paradigms of research and technology organizations (RTOs) have been discussed in the past. Academics have analysed their strategic challenges in view of the new demands posed by new competitive environments for their SME clients. New innovation models proposed recently have captured the attention of policy makers. The objectives of this paper are to analyse these models in the case of a particular model of RTO: the R&D units in the Basque Country in Spain, launched with the aim of improving R&D and technology transfer efficiency. This paper is based on an empirical study of a group of specialized RTOs (R&D units) and its objective is to analyse a new paradigm of RTO and propose a model to identify the critical elements that influence performance and strategic alignment between R&D performers (RTOs) and their partners (in most cases SMEs).     

The strategic management process at the public planning unit level

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 state's citizenry. Therefore, for strategic management purposes, each state 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 are specific to the public sector into an established private sector strategic management framework.     

制度压力、战略反应对企业绩效的影响机制研究

本文以新制度理论、战略管理理论和资源基础理论为基础,构建“制度--战略--绩效”框架,探讨了制度压力、战略反应与企业绩效之间的作用机制,以248家企业为有效样本进行实证分析,研究发现,制度压力对企业战略反应有着显著的正向作用;战略反应对企业绩效存在正向影响。在制度压力与社会绩效的关系中,参与型战略在制度压力与企业社会绩效中产生了部分中介作用;企业资源在顺从战略反应与社会绩效以及挑战型战略与经济绩效的关系中存在显著调节作用。本文的研究结论为宏观制度制定和微观企业战略选择提供了一定的指导建议。     

Social capital,strategic relatedness and the formation of intraorganizational linkages

This paper investigates the evolutionary dynamics of network formation by analyzing how organizational units create new interunit linkages for resource exchange. Using sociometric techniques and event history analysis, this study predicts the rate at which new interunit linkages are created between a newly formed unit and all the existing units in a large multinational organization. Two important constructs: social capital, derived from the literature on social structure and network formation, and strategic relatedness, derived from research on diversification and the resource‐based view of the firm, are used to explain the rate of new linkage creation. Results show that the interaction between social capital and strategic relatedness significantly affects the formation of intraorganizational linkages. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strategic orientations and new product commercialization: mediator,moderator, and interplay

Why are some firms more successful at commercializing new products than others in emerging economies? It is possible that the strategic orientations, which firms adopt as a type of business strategy, lead at least partially to the superior performance of the new products they introduce to the market. Strategic orientations facilitate a match between firm strategy and resource endowment, on the one hand, and the adaptation to market conditions, on the other. In this paper, we empirically test whether four major types of strategic orientations (market orientation, technology orientation, entrepreneurial orientation, and networking orientation) are simultaneously related to new product commercialization performance using data collected from China. We find that strategic orientations are positively related to three aspects of new product commercialization, namely new product advantage, new product newness, and number of new products introduced to the market. Interestingly, we find that pairs of strategic orientations support each other in exerting their impacts on new product commercialization performance. In addition, we find that organizational learning mediates the effects of strategic orientations on new product commercialization and that environmental dynamism moderates the effect of strategic orientations on new product commercialization. We obtain the valuable insight that a firm's successful commercialization of new products hinges upon the development of critical yet complementary sets of strategic orientations, especially in a dynamic business environment.     

Corporate venturing initiation: the examination of interfirm adaptation,sensemaking, and strategic reactiveness

The innovative outcomes of an ongoing collaborative relationship can encourage new corporate venturing. We propose that, during or after collaborative relationships, firms initiate new corporate ventures depending on the factor of interfirm adaptation, the mediating role of sensemaking, and the moderating factor of strategic reactiveness. The objectives of the analysis are achieved through the mediated moderation model this article describes; drawing on insights from the collective cognitive perspective, the study indicates that corporate ventures are initiated when interfirm adaptation interacts with a higher level of strategic reactiveness and with sensemaking as a mediator. The research findings provide important new implications for the broader domain of social cognitive theory.     

Cognitive flexibility and adaptive decision‐making: Evidence from a laboratory study of expert decision makers

Research Summary : How can strategic decision makers overcome inertia when dealing with change? In this article we argue that cognitive flexibility (i.e., the ability to match the type of cognitive processing with the type of problem at hand) enables decision makers to achieve significantly higher decision‐making performance. We show that superior decision‐making performance is associated with using semiautomatic Type 1 cognitive processes when faced with well‐structured problems, and more deliberative Type 2 processes when faced with ill‐structured problems. Our findings shed light on the individual‐level mechanism behind organizational adaptation and complement recent work on strategic inertia. In addition, our findings extend management studies that have stressed the relevance of cognitive flexibility for responding to the demands of increasingly open, flexible, and rapidly changing organizations. Managerial Summary : Humans are creatures of habits. We tend to prefer known courses of action over new ones. In many cases, habits are good. However, when things change in unpredictable ways, the past may not be good guidance for the future. We argue that “cognitive flexibility”—the ability of understanding when to rely on habits vs. when to explore new courses of action—enables managers to switch from a “fast” decision mode, based on habits, to a “slow,” more deliberate decision mode that facilitates the exploration of new courses of action. Managers high in cognitive flexibility reflect on the situation at hand, recognize and value diversity in viewpoints, and integrate such diversity in their own decision processes. By valuing diversity, they are more likely to overcome inertia.     

城市化、国际化背景下的社会阶层分化与政治诉求表达——以义乌为例

随着城市化、国际化进程的加快,我国社会阶层构成变化明显,新社会阶层经济地位加强,价值取向多元,政治诉求、社会参与欲望明显加强,引致社会变迁。义乌新世纪以来,工商业经营户快速成长,成为资本所有者阶层;外来人口形成群体,加深社会阶层分化的影响;城市扩张致中等收入阶层开始形成。这种社会阶层构成变化引发利益诉求变迁,利益集团初具雏形,游说政府、影响政策;非政府组织成为政治参与的重要力量。需要积极引导非政府组织进行政治参与和社会事务参与,加强阶层融合;高度重视城市化、国际化带来的消极影响,妥善处理各种阶层矛盾。