Conjoint effects of interacting strategy-making processes and lines of defense practices in strategic Risk Management: An empirical study

The ability to contain adverse effects of major risks under turbulent conditions and exploit the opportunities they present are fundamental concerns in strategic management and various institutions promote enterprise risk management (ERM) to deal with these challenges. Yet, our knowledge about how ERM affects performance and interacts with corporate strategy-making processes is limited. The ERM frameworks impose first and second lines of defense practices to integrate business operations and corporate risk oversight. Emergent strategies generate responsive initiatives and strategic planning coordinates updated actions. Hence, this study analyzes the conjoint effects of these ERM practices and strategy-making processes based on a large corporate sample and finds that ERM practices depend on strategy-making to attain effective risk outcomes. The application of ERM frameworks can, therefore, not be assessed in isolation, but must consider corporate strategy-making. This has implications for the way we conduct research on strategic risk management, how executives approach risk oversight and policy-makers impose formal risk governance requirements.     

Open strategy-making with crowds and communities: Comparing Wikimedia and Creative Commons

In the wake of new digital technologies, organizations rely increasingly on contributions by external actors to innovate or even to fulfill their core tasks, including strategy-making processes. These external actors may take the form of crowds, where actors are isolated and dispersed, or of communities, where these actors are related and self-identify as members of their communities. While we know that including new actors in strategy-making may lead to tensions, we know little about how these tensions differ when either crowds or communities are concerned. Investigating this question by analyzing open strategy-making initiatives conducted by two non-profit organizations (Creative Commons and Wikimedia), we find that tensions with communities may be resolved with increasing openness in strategy-making, while crowds are better compatible with more exclusive strategy-making practices.     

知识发现与决策支持

真正的战略价值来源于对顾客行为的理解,进而以模型的方式揭示各种行为。知识发现是解决信息超载问题的一种强有力的工具,它通过自动检索大量数据,探寻事件模式,为企业提供简单易懂的报告,从而使企业能够更好地理解业务过程。知识发现是对业务的理解和透视,任何运用知识发现来支持决策的组织都是为了创造竞争优势。本文在对知识发现的定义和知识发现过程进行阐述的基础上,通过对知识发现与数据仓库及联机分析处理系统之间关系的论述,揭示了信息时代知识发现系统作为决策支持系统的强大功能。     

企业战略的形成方式与战略规划部门的职能定位

本文从五个不同的角度,对企业战略的形成方式进行了划分,充分说明了战略形成方式的复杂性和多样性;对董事会、高层管理人员、战略规划人员、中层管理人员、具有创新精神的一线人员等,在战略形成过程中能够做出的贡献进行了分析;对企业战略规划部门的职能进行了定位,认为战略规划部门的主要责任不是制定战略,而是为战略制定工作提供一个平台,更好地发挥战略决策者和其他人的作用。     

Demand-side strategy and business models: Putting value creation for consumers center stage

Value creation for consumers, as the conditio sine qua non for value capture, is at the heart of demand-side strategy research and is a core element of almost any business model. In this paper, we discuss the unique ideas that demand-side strategy and business model research jointly contribute to the strategy literature, and we elaborate on the potential for cross-fertilization between both areas of study. We argue that both the demand-side perspective and the business model concept could jointly promote a better understanding of strategy-making by mutually relying on the distinctive insights from each stream; specifically, while research on demand-side strategy can help business model scholars gain a more robust and granular understanding of effective value propositions, business models can serve as a “bridging concept” that links the shared ideas of both areas of study to resource-based streams of strategy research.     

What drives alignment between offered and perceived well-being initiatives in organizations? A cross-case analysis of employer–employee shared strategic intentionality

This study investigates the conditions of alignment between an organization's business strategy and the well-being initiatives (WBIs) offered to employees and employees' perceptions of the latter. We conducted a comparative study on the conditions of alignment between offered and perceived WBIs in three companies with different business strategies. Findings highlight that the alignment between offered and perceived benefits depends on what we label as “shared strategic intentionality”: (1) how employers use their understanding of the organization's business strategy to craft WBIs and (2) employees' attributions about why their employers offer WBIs the way they do and of the broader understanding of the organization's business strategy. We contribute to the strategic HRM literature by proposing an integrative position with regard to the macro (i.e., employer-focused) and micro (i.e., employee-focused) research traditions. Our position has the advantage of looking at employers' intentions and at employees' attributions of intentions simultaneously, and unravels the central role of business strategy in shaping their alignment. From a practical standpoint, not only do we bring a more nuanced understanding of the strategic HRM challenges faced by employers and employees in settings with different business strategies, but we also initiate a discussion about the traps and best practices associated with configuring effective WBIs in organizations.     

Strategy-as-Practice: Taking Social Practices Seriously

This article reviews research in Strategy-as-Practice (SAP) and suggests directions for its development. The power of this perspective lies in its ability to explain how strategy-making is enabled and constrained by prevailing organizational and societal practices. Our review shows how SAP research has helped to advance social theories in strategic management, offered alternatives to performance-dominated analyzes, broadened the scope in terms of organizations studied and promoted new methodologies. In particular, it has provided important insights into the tools and methods of strategy-making (practices), how strategy work takes place (praxis), and the role and identity of the actors involved (practitioners). However, we argue that there is a need to go further in the analysis of social practices to unleash the full potential of this perspective. Hence, we outline five directions for the further development of the practice perspective: placing agency in a web of practices, recognizing the macro-institutional nature of practices, focusing attention on emergence in strategy-making, exploring how the material matters, and promoting critical analysis.     

Identifying the levels of strategy for a college or university

Little work has been done to date in applying the concept of strategy to non-profit organizations. This article focuses on strategic planning in the higher education setting and identifies the key strategic decisions areas for a college or university. Four levels of strategy are discussed and contrasted with the three levels typically used to described a complex, divisionalized business firm. Specific decision issues are identified for each strategy level and compared, where appropriate, to similar issues in the business sector. Finally, several avenues of research are suggested to enable better understanding of strategy content and process in institutions of higher education.     

Was müssen Führungskräfte können?

Ethics Education complements business administration only if it teaches strategic competencies that help managers to become better leaders. To this end, this article sketches an ordonomic approach to an economic ethics for competitive markets, to a business ethics for firms (corporate citizens), and to a process ethics for new governance. The core idea of this ordonomic approach is the win-win concept of mutually beneficial value creation. Thus, ordonomics is compatible with the market economy and at the same time supplements the management education in business schools: This approach systematically identifies strategic competencies that enable managers to display the kind of entrepreneurial leadership that is necessary for firms to fulfill their social function of value creation—by making use of moral commitments as a factor of production.     

Preparing for business model change: the “pre-stage” finding

The purpose of this paper is to investigate managers’ initiatives in the context of an emergent technology and their effect on the business models of firms. Building on four case studies of organizations interested in using an emergent technology for commercial purposes, this study applies a process-based framework of business model change. The main finding is that managers’ initiatives occur in the context of a “pre-stage” of potential business model change, which includes processes of experimenting and learning. The pre-stage finding gives a better understanding of when change initiatives affect a business model and when they do not, allowing managers to adopt a more proactive behaviour and guide their organizations towards effective business model change. The main contribution of this paper is to suggest the inclusion of the pre-stage idea in research and practice, since it is an intermediary step in the process of business model change that has been overlooked.     

公司跨行业转型:特征分析与风险控制——以中国上市公司跨行业转型成功与失败的典型个案为例

转型是公司运用资源优势 ,调整产业战略定位 ,获得新的经济增长点或摆脱经营困境的重大战略行为。公司为追求价值最大化、完善产品链和分散经营风险而选择跨行业转型。公司跨行业转型艰难源于产业选择风险、业务选择风险、过程控制风险和后管理风险等。     

战略维度间的匹配关系与企业战略定位选择——基于战略群组理论视角

基于战略群组理论视角,分析了企业战略定位中不同战略维度的匹配问题。以境内外交易所上市的中国互联网企业为样本,选取移动互联业务比重和IT投入强度这两个关键战略维度,采用面板数据回归模型检验了研究假设。研究发现,当企业的移动互联业务比重和IT投入强度同时处于较高水平时,这一战略组合能为企业带来高绩效,是一种合理的战略位置;另一合理的战略位置则是较低的移动互联业务比重配以较低的IT投入强度,它也明显好于一者较高、另一者较低的战略组合。以上结果表明,战略定位的关键是实现不同战略维度决策之间的合理匹配,从战略组合的角度理解行业中的战略位置。研究结论不仅有助于理解移动互联市场的竞争战略与绩效,也验证了战略群组理论在战略定位研究中的重要意义,对战略组合的分析不可简化为对各战略维度的单独分析。     

媒体关注下的CSR信息披露与企业财务绩效关系研究及启示——基于我国A股上市公司CSR报告的实证研究

企业社会责任(CSR)及信息披露已成为当前社会各界共同关注的热点问题。本文利用独立机构发布的我国A股上市公司CSR报告的评级数据,验证了当前时代背景下我国企业社会责任信息披露与企业财务绩效的关系,以及作为信息传递媒介和"公众日程设置者"的媒体的关注对于二者关系的影响作用。研究发现,高水平披露社会责任信息的企业的绩效明显高于低水平企业,但是这种作用关系是在媒体关注度这一变量的完全中介作用之下实现的。这一新发现不仅丰富和拓展了企业社会责任及信息披露的理论研究框架,对于基于战略性CSR思维制定相关战略的企业管理者也深具启发意义。     

Integrating the Content and Process of Strategic MIS Planning with Competitive Strategy*

This paper presents a framework that links strategic MIS planning and business strategy and relates it to competitive advantage and company performance. To achieve this objective, the paper first delineates the dimensions of strategic MIS planning, focusing on both content and process issues. The notion of fit within dimensions, between sets of dimensions (process and content), and between MIS planning and competitive strategy is also introduced. Next, employing the Miles-Snow typology of business strategy, the paper posits normative differences in the dimensions of strategic MIS planning along different business (or competitive) strategies. The implications of our study for both decision makers and scholars are discussed. Propositions that tie competitive strategy, strategic MIS planning, and company financial performance are then presented. The paper concludes by providing direction for future research.     

Strategies for declining industrial markets

A study of over three hundred industrial business in declining markets has identified a number of strategic factors and actions related to good performance in such markets. Three different performance criteria were examined: profitability, cash flow and gaining market's share. Three different types of market were identified. Certain strategic factors and actions are found to be beneficial in all three types of market, whilst others are effective only in specific market environments. The result of the study are valuable in obtaining a better understanding of businesses operating in declining markets, and can be used to developed a list of strategic actions that may be taken to improve the performance of such a business.     

Strategic Planning in the Malawi Public Sector: Potential Tool for Progress or Regression?

The process of developing strategic plans in the public sector is regarded as one indicator of positive reform in the system. The assumption is that strategic planning ensures that (just like in the private sector) public sector organizations’ operations should cost less but deliver better service. Ultimately the argument is that public sector institutional governance and responsiveness to the citizenry is not only seen but felt. However, strategic planning has to be done in an appropriate manner for it to deliver. For instance an analysis of the underlying motives, the role of leadership in the process as well as the relevance or viability of the guiding strategic planning model significantly affect the nature of expected results. In the early 2000s, the Malawi public sector embarked on a serious drive towards strategic planning process as part of its reform package. In order to ascertain it’s potential to transform the Malawi public service, this paper focuses at critically analyzing the strategic planning process in the Malawi public sector by among other things asking: who initiated and led the process? What approach determined the process? What is the possible potentiality of the adopted strategic planning approach in enhancing the reform agenda in Malawi? Based on interviews with senior officers in key Malawi public sector institutions, the paper concludes that the strategic planning process is ‘transitional and fluid’ hence lacks the clout to effectively enhance reforms in this sector. Another finding is that lack of effective leadership has largely contributed to the status quo.     

How planning and capital budgeting improve SME performance

This paper focuses on the use of strategic planning among small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK manufacturing sector. It analyses the relationship between the intensity of strategic planning, business objectives, perceived performance, changes in the business environment and the use of capital budgeting techniques. Capital budgeting is of particular interest as an area of investigation, and is one which has seldom featured in previous studies of strategic planning behaviour. These issues were investigated via a survey of UK manufacturing SMEs carried out in the winter of 1996/97.

The key results suggest that SMEs incorporate a range of objectives into their strategic planning process, with profit improvement perceived to be the most important objective, followed by sales growth. SMEs engaged in detailed strategic planning are more likely to use formal capital budgeting techniques, including the net present value method, which is consistent with maximising the companys' value. Perceived profitability and success in achieving organisational objectives were positively associated with planning detail, suggesting that strategic planning is a key component improving performance. Planning detail was also associated with a significantly higher level of perceived change in the business environment.     

Removing the obstacles to effective strategic planning

The purpose of this article is to explore the reasons for the decline in the importance and practice of strategic planning across American industry. The article identifies numerous bureaucratic obstacles to effective planning, and suggests how these obstacles can most effectively be eliminated by attacking their root causes. The article points out the risks to the planning process that are created by attempts to eliminate these obstacles. But, it concludes that unless these obstacles are removed and the promised financial returns from strategic business planning realized, the decline of long-term strategic business planning will continue.     

Der Personalverantwortliche als strategischer Partner

Since Ulrich (Human resource champions: the next agenda for adding value and delivering results, Boston, Harvard Business School Press, 1997) shaped the strategic role of HR managers, his concept of an HR business partner has been controversially discussed by researchers and practitioners. Explanations about when and how HR managers act as strategic business partners have found limited attention in the literature. Based on the theory of reasoned action developed by Ajzen und Fishbein (Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall, 1980; J Pers Soc Psychol 27(1):41?C57, 1973), we hypothesize a positive relation between personal attitudes as well as subjective norm and the behaviour of HR managers to act as a strategic business partner. Results of the German Cranet survey in 2009 show that expected positive consequences influence the personal attitude, whereas the acceptance of the human resources as well as the existence of an HR strategy within the organisation is positively related with subjective norm. Hence, both attitude and subjective norm positively influence the behaviour of HR managers to act as a strategic business partner.     

Business Continuity Management: Time for a Strategic Role?

Against a background of increasing threats, business continuity management (BCM) has emerged in many industries as a systematic process to counter the effects of crises and interruptions, although its potential to play a more strategic role is still largely under-explored. This article examines the organisational antecedents of BCM and develops a conceptual approach to posit that BCM, in actively ensuring operational continuity, has a role in preserving competitive advantage. Such value preservation is central to the business continuity/business strategy relationship, and gives rise to the central purpose of the paper; to discuss whether firms’ BCM can be seen as strategic rather than purely functional.If so, what form does such provision take in terms of planning, organisation and culture? Evidence from six UK-based financial services firms illustrates differing approaches to business continuity, with two firms showing BCM provision more clearly aligned towards a mission-critical strategic role. Practical precepts for implementation are presented, together with a diagnostic drawing attention to the key determinants of enhanced value preservation.