Decision Processes for Developing Strategic Applications of Information Systems: A Contingency Approach*

Strategic applications of information systems (IS) are considered by IS researchers to be determined by contextual factors such as environmental uncertainty, and influenced by attributes of the processes preceding them, such as planning and top management support. For better management of the process leading to these applications, it is essential to understand the relationship between process attributes and contextual factors. Utilizing a contingency approach, this article takes a step toward such an understanding. Based on successful strategic IS applications from 81 large companies, it examines the relationship between the context of these applications and the decision-making process leading to them. The results indicate that the external environment is related to whether a rational or political decision-making process is used. The IS function seems to influence the use of the decision process implied by IS researchers, one in which the top management champions the strategic application, while the IS managers contribute by conducting in-depth analysis. However, the organization structure was not related to any decision process attribute. The implications of these findings for future research and practice are also discussed.     

Revisiting the Corporate Social and Financial Performance Link: A Contingency Approach

This study draws on and extends contingency theory, in relation to stakeholder theory to understand the corporate social performance (CSP) and financial performance (CFP) link, by evaluating under what circumstances CSP influences CFP. Contingencies include stakeholder configurations/salience and crisis conditions. Using differentiated measures of CSP, this study examined financial effects of various specific stakeholder facing activities pre‐ and post‐crisis in the food/beverage and pharmaceutical industries, and in firms selling search versus experience goods. The results indicate that pre‐crisis CSP is related to post‐crisis financial effects, but the relationships are dependent on the interactions among the contingencies studied, so investments in certain social areas improve CFP, whereas others may hurt it. This confirms that a finer grained approach should be taken to the examination of CSP and CFP. On a practical basis, it shows that deep stakeholder knowledge and attention to complementary factors to CSP, such as advertising, must be understood, so CSP activities are of benefit to the firm.     

基于权变视角的管理者社会关系对企业绩效的影响研究

基于动态能力理论和权变研究视角,构建管理者关系、资源整合、创业导向与绩效间关系的理论模型,并利用大规模样本对所提假设进行检验.结果表明,商业关系和政治关系均能提升企业绩效;不同资源整合过程以不同方式调节管理者关系对企业绩效的影响;创业导向对资源整合的调节效应产生深层调节效果.     

战略项目管理情境对项目权力配置的影响研究——基于战略权变视角

本文运用多案例研究方法,以不同战略项目管理情境下的四家企业为分析单元,对战略项目管理情境如何影响项目权力配置模式进行探讨。结果显示,战略项目管理情境可以由耦合度和成熟度两个维度的特征共同表征,而且两个维度对项目权力配置具有不同的影响关系;企业战略项目管理的发展水平越高,企业对项目越趋于分权。本研究将战略项目管理作为情境要素,提出了战略项目管理情境的四种分类;基于战略权变理论研究企业对项目的权力配置问题,丰富了权力配置理论的研究视角;最后,还指出了我国企业发展战略项目管理可以采用的两条权力配置演进路径。     

The Multiscale Importance of Road Segments in a Network Disruption Scenario: A Risk‐Based Approach

This article addresses the problem of the multiscale importance of road networks, with the aim of helping to establish a more resilient network in the event of a road disruption scenario. A new model for identifying the most important roads is described and applied on a local and regional scale. The work presented here represents a step forward, since it focuses on the interaction between identifying the most important roads in a network that connect people and health services, the specificity of the natural hazards that threaten the normal functioning of the network, and an assessment of the consequences of three real‐world interruptions from a multiscale perspective. The case studies concern three different past events: road interruptions due to a flood, a forest fire, and a mass movement. On the basis of the results obtained, it is possible to establish the roads for which risk management should be a priority. The multiscale perspective shows that in a road interruption the regional system may have the capacity to reorganize itself, although the interruption may have consequences for local dynamics. Coordination between local and regional scales is therefore important. The model proposed here allows for the scaling of emergency response facilities and human and physical resources. It represents an innovative approach to defining priorities, not only in the prevention phase but also in terms of the response to natural disasters, such as awareness of the consequences of road disruption for the rescue services sent out to local communities.     

Local Strategic Planning and Stakeholder Analysis: Suggesting a Dynamic Performance Management Approach

Public Organization Review - This paper focuses on the contribution provided by stakeholder analysis to local strategic planning. The aim of the paper is to deal with the issue, emerging from both...     

Performance Evaluation of Foreign Subsidiaries: A Review of the Literature and a Contingency Framework

During recent years, the literature on the international dimension of business has grown. In particular, the literature on headquarters–subsidiary relationships has expanded. This paper aims to review the literature on performance evaluation and elaborate an integrative contingency framework. This contingency framework helps to clarify the concept of performance evaluation and to classify existing contributions. Furthermore, the framework serves as a tool to identify potential influencing factors on performance evaluation at corporate and at subsidiary level. By reviewing existing studies, the paper analyses the impact of these influencing factors on performance evaluation and reveals mostly contradictory results or no significant impact at all. Based on the findings, more research outside the classical tradition of contingency approaches is suggested.     

Inter‐Firm R&D Networks: the Importance of Strategic Network Capabilities for High‐Tech Partnership Formation1

We examine the role of different network capabilities of companies that influence the formation of R&D partnerships in pharmaceutical biotechnology. Strategic network capabilities, specifically centrality‐based capabilities and the efficiency with which companies choose their partners, are found to facilitate the formation of new partnerships. Unlike general experience with partnering, these strategic network capabilities play a crucial role in enabling companies to continue to interact with other companies through partnerships in a complex network setting.     

Exploring the Importance of Business Clockspeed as a Moderator for Determinants of Supplier Network Performance*

As the importance of supplier networks becomes increasingly recognized as a vital factor to company performance, researchers and practitioners alike are focusing their attention on this subject. The study's main objective is to test the specific hypotheses that effective use of Information Technology (IT) and the depth of company relationships with suppliers are directly related to Supplier Network (SN) performance, and that industry clockspeed moderates these relationships. A convenience sample of 135 manufacturing organizations was used to empirically test these hypotheses. Our results indicate that clockspeed does moderate the relationship between IT use effectiveness and supplier network performance. The same is true in the case of supplier relations depth, and hence, managers are encouraged to pay attention to the items comprising network performance as a determinant of supplier network performance.     

A Strategic Approach on Organizing Accounts Receivable Management: Some Empirical Evidence

In this paper, the organizational behavior in managing accounts receivable is studied. It is based on the recent surge of interest in trade credit management from both academics and practitioners emphasizing 1) the rather permanent character of these short-term but continuously renewed investments and 2) their strategic potential due to the existence of financial, tax-based, operating, transaction and pricing motives. The paper focuses on a search for sources of such a strategic value and for the determinants of its risk. More specifically this potential strategic value is said to create a need for flexibility and control in managing accounts receivable. It will therefore induce a need for internalization of its management. The resulting risks, however, favor its externalization. This results in a revision of the existing decision-making processes since, the extension of trade credit becoming a strategic asset, investments in accounts receivable cannot be judged by the financial needs incurred as measured by the traditional DSO-rate anymore. More specifically, a transaction cost theoretic approach is used to explain the decision whether or not to internalize the firm's accounts receivable management and its risk, resulting in a set of hypotheses to be tested on a sample of both large and medium-sized Belgian companies.     

Bridging the Healthcare Access Divide: A Strategic Planning Model for Rural Telemedicine Network

Balancing access to healthcare and sustaining operational efficiency is a major issue in strategic planning of rural healthcare delivery systems. In this regard, telemedicine is being adopted as a versatile and low cost mechanism for delivering rural healthcare. This article presents a strategic planning model that incorporates different operational and service elements of the rural telemedicine healthcare network. Real‐world data from the rural Black‐belt region in the United States are used in a case study. A novel statistical approach based on decision trees and logistic regression is used to estimate demand of healthcare at the county level. Key issues such as the location of telemedicine health centers, coverage of health services, configuration of medical equipment, and patient travel policies are explored in light of patient demographics, scale of health coverage, and disease prevalence patterns. Results indicate that telemedicine networks can effectively improve healthcare services in rural areas with requisite operational efficiency.     

Managing Co‐creation Design: A Strategic Approach to Innovation

Co‐creation offers firms and their network of actors significant opportunities for innovation, as each actor offers access to new resources through a process of resource integration. However, despite the significant advantages that co‐creation can offer, there is surprisingly little research providing a strategic approach for identifying the most advantageous co‐creation opportunities, especially when many possible options are available. Recently, scholars have called for research that develops tools and processes related to co‐creation. This study addresses these priorities, making two contributions. First, in contrast to previous work considering co‐creation more generally, or focusing on one specific form only, e.g. co‐production, this paper offers a detailed and granular approach to co‐creation design. A co‐creation design framework is developed, which incorporates multiple design dimensions and categories that can reveal new co‐creation opportunities. Second, the research extends the application of a design approach, specifically within the context of co‐creative activities. The authors use field‐based research with senior executives to develop a framework that includes key co‐creation design elements. A morphological approach is used to explore how a lead firm can identify attractive co‐creation opportunities. An innovation solution in one organization provides an illustration of how the co‐creation design framework can be applied.     

The Importance of Multiple Performance Criteria for Understanding Trust in Risk Managers

Effective risk management requires balancing several, sometimes competing, goals, such as protecting public health and ensuring cost control. Research examining public trust of risk managers has largely focused on trust that is unspecified or for a single goal. Yet it can be reasonable to have a high level of trust in one aspect of a target's performance but not another. Two studies involving redevelopment of contaminated land (Study 1) and drinking water standards (Study 2) present preliminary evidence on the value of distinguishing between performance criteria for understanding of trust. Study 1 assessed perceptions of several trust targets (councilors, developers, scientists, residents) on their competence (capacity to achieve goals) and willingness to take action under uncertainty for four criteria. Study 2 assessed competence, willingness, and trust for five criteria regarding a single government agency. In both studies overall trust in each target was significantly better explained by considering perceptions of their performance on multiple criteria than on the single criterion of public health. In Study 1, the influence of criteria also varied plausibly across trust targets (e.g., willingness to act under uncertainty increased trust in developers on cost control and councilors on local economic improvement, but decreased it for both targets on environmental protection). Study 2 showed that explained variance in trust increased with both dimension‐ and trust‐based measures of criteria. Further conceptual and methodological development of the notion of multiple trust criteria could benefit our understanding of stated trust judgments.     

构建高层管理团队社会网络的人力资源实践、战略柔性与企业绩效——环境不确定性的调节作用

本文首次将战略柔性作为一种典型的动态能力运用到战略人力资源管理的研究领域中,探索了其在构建高层管理团队(TMT)社会网络的人力资源实践与企业绩效关系中所扮演的中介作用,并且基于我国经济转型这一现实背景,采用环境不确定性作为该中介环节的调节变量予以进一步阐释.我们对上述问题进行了实证检验,通过对北京、天津、上海、江苏和浙江等地区390家企业的780名高管进行问卷调查,最终获得241个有效样本,研究发现:(1)构建TMT社会网络的人力资源实践对企业绩效具有正向影响,并且战略柔性在其中发挥了完全中介的作用;(2)环境不确定性在构建TMT社会网络的人力资源实践与战略柔性的关系中具有调节作用,但在战略柔性与企业绩效的关系中不具有调节作用.本文的研究结论表明,考虑战略柔性和环境不确定性这两个重要因素可以更好地解释构建TMT社会网络的人力资源实践对企业绩效的影响机制,这为战略人力资源管理在动态环境中的发展和应用提供了重要启示.     

The Impact of Organizational Structure on Mass Customization Capability: A Contingency View

This study investigates the role of organizational structure in facilitating the development of mass customization (MC) capability in various manufacturing settings. Specifically, three dimensions of organizational structure are considered—flatness, centralization, and employee multifunctionality. We model organizational structure as a second‐order factor whose value is captured on a mechanistic‐organic continuum, where the organic form is characterized by a flat, decentralized structure with a wide use of multifunctional employees. We propose that a positive relationship exists between the organic organizational structure and MC capability. Additionally, building upon contingency theory, we argue that this positive relationship is moderated by mass customizer type—full mass customizers, which customize products at the design or fabrication stage of the production cycle, versus partial customizers, which customize products only at the assembly or delivery stages. Based on a study of 167 manufacturing plants from three industries and eight countries, we find that, for the overall sample, organic structure plays a significant role in enabling firms to pursue MC capability. However, an analysis of full versus partial mass customizers shows that the positive impact of organic structure on MC capability is statistically significant only for full mass customizers, not for partial mass customizers.     

A Strategic,Area-wide Contingency Planning Model for Oil Spill Cleanup Operations with Application Demonstrated to the Galveston Bay Area*

This paper develops a general integer programming model for strategic, area-wide contingency planning of oil spill cleanup operations. Model inputs include the set of risk points and the likely spill scenarios and response requirements for each, the sites of existing storage locations and the inventory of components at each, and potential sites for new storage locations. The model prescribes a minimum total cost plan to either build new storage locations, expand existing ones, or both, to purchase new components and pre-position them, and a contingency plan that determines which response systems should be composed to enable an effective time-phased response for each likely spill scenario. A family of heuristics based on linear programming (LP) is devised to resolve this strategic problem, providing an area-wide contingency plan. The heuristics are evaluated on a set of 10 test problems that involve 1869 general integer variables and 3264 constraints. Computational tests indicate that four heuristics are quite effective, prescribing solutions for each of 10 test cases within 1.41% of optimum and within a few minutes runtime. This study focused on modeling the Galveston Bay Area, and the test problems represent application in that area. A sensitivity analysis is demonstrated by assessing the impacts of component availability and the degradation of cleanup capability over time. Use of the model as a decision support aid by responsible parties, contractors, governmental organizations and others is described.     

The Effect of Female Strategic Managers on Organizational Performance

Little empirical work explores the impact of female managers on organizational performance. This paper uses Miles and Snow’s management strategies to empirically determine if female and male managers use different strategies and what influence these strategies have on organizational performance. Using data and superintendent survey responses from Texas school districts from the years 2000 through 2005, differences between male and female managers are discovered. Female managers and the strategies they use have a positive influence on performance. These results are discussed in the context of the gender and management literature and in the general field of public management.

上市公司业绩的二次相对评价

采用一种能够消除企业间客观基础条件优劣的影响,真正反映它们主观有效努力程度及能力对业绩贡献的二次相对评价模型,对沪深50家医药类上市公司的业绩进行评价.     

技能型合作的学习能力对合作绩效的影响

本文在综合研究国内外企业合作战略的基础上,使用聚类分析法,对152个合作企业的数据进行分析.本文对技能型合作企业强调学习能力的不同方面,对企业进行分类.分成强调学习能力的能力全面型、知识应用型、努力学习型和能力起步型等类别的技能合作型企业.四种类型企业的合作绩效,其成本、规模、学习效果等效应,要好于经营业绩、竞争优势及技术创新等效应.