Controlling strategy through dialectical management |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, Ashby Road, Loughborough LE11 4BP, UK;2. Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland;1. Department of Accounting, Monash Business School, Monash University, 900 Dandenong Road, Caulfield East, VIC 3145, Australia;2. Department of Accounting and Data Analytics, La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University, Plenty Road & Kingsbury Drive, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia;1. Ernst and Young, New York, NY, United States;2. School of Management, Binghamton University, United States;3. Ernst and Young, Chicago, IL, United States;4. Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University, United States;1. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Accountancy, 389 Wohlers Hall, 1206 South Sixth Street, Champaign, IL 61820, United States;2. Arizona State University, Business Administration Building 223E, PO Box 873606, Tempe, AZ 85287-3606, United States;3. University of Southern California, Leventhal School of Accounting, 3660 Trousdale Parkway, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0441, United States;1. School of Accounting, The University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia;2. The University of Sydney Business School, NSW 2006, Australia;1. IESEG School of Management, Lille Economie et Management - CNRS, 3 rue de la Digue, 59000 Lille, France;2. University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom |
| |
| Abstract: | Controlling strategy has been portrayed as a matter of managing tensions. But what are these tensions and how do they arise in firms? In this paper, organisational strategy is represented by a target operating model that is maintained by dialectical relationships between functional areas. Using a pragmatic constructivist framework, the functional areas may be conceptualised as specialised managerial topoi. Drawing on field work in the hospitality industry, the paper employs an actor-based research methodology to show that organisational tensions may develop out of conflicts between the different goals and logics associated with the various functional areas such as marketing, sales, revenue management and finance. Although there was evidence of accountants acting as custodians of the budgetary system, in some situations, other functional areas such as marketing or revenue management seemed to be the corporate policemen as they protected the corporate brand against unplanned price discounting or short term cost saving tactics. Rather than seeing functional specialisation as a disruptive obstacle to organisational coherence, the paper presents arguments and evidence which suggest that with the deployment of the principles of dialectical management, tensions between the different business functions can enhance strategic control and development. |
| |
| Keywords: | Controlling strategy Dialectics Pragmatic constructivism Corporate policemen |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
