New Institutional Economics' contribution to strategic groups analysis

Rather than consider the two broad strands of strategic group research—performance‐based and behavior‐based studies—as competing approaches, we argue that they relate to complementary levels of analysis. We present a four‐level framework for analyzing structures within industries drawn from New Institutional Economics (NIE) which covers different approaches to strategic group formation from institutional isomorphism and embeddedness through to the firm‐level effects of certain resource deployments. We apply an institutional approach to a case study of the Australian banking industry and supplement this with a quantitative approach based around key strategic variables. This analysis suggests that distinct groups have emerged due to the institutional environment and the different regulatory environments experienced by various banks in the industry. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of corporate character on customers and employees: Exploring similarities and differences

Should the same corporate brand imagery appeal to both internal and external stakeholders? The authors explored similarities and differences in how the dimensions of corporate character affect the satisfaction and perceived differentiation of customers and employees of two successful retail organizations. Using multigroup structural equation modeling of survey data (N=1,252), the authors found significant differences on two dimensions: enterprise and competence. Enterprise (e.g., imaginative, innovative) was positively associated with customer satisfaction, had no significant impact on employee satisfaction, and was negatively associated with employee perceived differentiation. Competence (reliable, leading) was positively associated with employee perceived differentiation but had no impact on customer perceived differentiation. The influence of chic (stylish, prestigious) was similar for both customer and employee satisfaction and differentiation. This analysis shows how certain dimensions of corporate character can be usefully promoted to both customers and employees, while other dimensions would benefit from a stakeholder-specific approach.     

Resource allocation in the nationalized energy sector of the United Kingdom

Resource allocation in the energy sector of the United Kingdom is a difficult area to plan, because demand and supply projections need to embrace both the large private sector oil industry and the public sector fuel industries. In addition, relationships between the latter are complex as they involve both competition and co-ordination. One approach to the problem has been to find common ground in the concept of marginal cost pricing, but there are practical difficulties in application. Government has encouraged the use of analytical techniques, such as corporate planning, by the fuel industries as a means of co-ordination in areas where market mechanisms may no longer always be effective.     

A tactical retreat? Conceptualising the dynamics of European grocery retail divestment from East Asia

The internationalisation of the firm is a highly dynamic process, in which periods of investment and expansion intermingle with periods of divestment and retrenchment. Academic research to date has focused on identifying the reasons for and the processes of divestment. Empirical studies either evidence generic pressures or provide case studies of specific incidents. There few longitudinal studies of international divestment, consequently the dynamic interactions between host market, home market and firm level factors, and how the institutional context changes over time is underplayed. This paper seeks to rectify this gap in our understanding.We explore the rationale and evolving dynamics of European grocery retail divestment in East Asia over a thirty year period. Taking an inductive approach and drawing on analysis of contemporary narratives drawn from company documentation, trade journals, newsfeeds and market reports, three phases can be identified characterised by specific factors and combinations of factors which intersect to provide the key pressures and stimuli for divestment. We conclude that at different time periods, different internal and external contextual influences manifest themselves through different priorities within the firm’s strategy – marked by a switch from local (host) market, to regional, to global firm-centric considerations. Longitudinal analyses allow a greater recognition of this dynamic interplay of factors, and the changes in these relationships, and provides a more nuanced understanding of the international divestment process.     

Production Functions for Large-scale Forest and Range Condition Indicators

This paper estimates production functions for environmental outputs (measured with condition indicators) from forest and rangelands at the national scale. A particular production structure is discussed for this purpose, and two approaches to handling the spatial nature of the data are investigated. Improved explanatory power appears to result from “kriging” the data into a uniform grid of observations, as opposed to aggregating the data into the lowest common unit (in this case, counties). The equations themselves are also discussed, and elasticities are utilized to interpret independent variable effects that include levels and interactions terms.     

Procuring complex performance in construction: London Heathrow Terminal 5 and a Private Finance Initiative hospital

This paper takes as its starting point the fact that complex projects, interpreted as multiple dependent interactions between many stakeholders over time, challenge traditional procurement practices based on the serial purchase of discrete components. The paper examines how the procurement management of such projects – procuring complex performance – can be conducted. The paper utilises two contrasting case study examples of high-profile UK construction project procurement. The findings suggest that the choice of mechanisms or interfaces for the governance of upstream supply relationships critically relates to subsequent performance. The theoretical contribution is a fusion of procurement literature with the influential CoPS literature.     

Project management systems: Moving project management from an operational to a strategic discipline

This article illustrates one aspect of the concept of “fit” between an organization's implementation of project management and its organizational context by exploring how the underlying drivers of an organization's strategy might influence not only the nature of the projects that it undertakes, but also the appropriateness of the arrangements that it makes to manage those projects. Using a model conceptualized from the literature on strategic management, an analysis of four organizations that have made significant investments in project management over the past 5 years supports the hypothesis that the degree of “fit” between an organization's strategic drivers of value and the configuration of its project management system influences the value it obtains from project management.