Cette thèse examine la façon dont les choix stratégique des firmes multi-établissements affectent la performance de leurs filiales et contribuent aux débats récurrents liés à la pertinence et l’importance de la stratégie d’entreprise. Dans le premier chapitre, nous nous intéressons à savoir le poids relatif des décisions stratégiques des sièges sociaux sur la performance de leurs établissements. Nous montrons l’incapacité des méthodes traditionnelles à rendre compte efficacement des effets entreprises. Nous soutenons en effet que les études précédentes sous-estiment systématiquement les effets entreprises car elles ne tiennent pas compte de l’hétérogénéité de l’impact des décisions des sièges sociaux sur leurs filiales. Une filiale peut recevoir une part très différente des ressources de l’entreprise. Par conséquent, le fait d’étudier toutes les filiales comme s’il s’agissait d’un seul groupe sous-estime systématiquement les effets entrepris. Nous soutenons plutôt qu’il est important de tenir compte de la variance induite par l’entreprise sur la performance des filiales. Nous appelons cette variance induite « effet entreprise variant », et montrons qu’elle est tout aussi importante que la valeur des effets entreprise standards, à savoir « les effets entreprise invariants ». Dans le deuxième chapitre nous nous sommes intéressés au débat relatif à l’efficacité des marchés de capitaux internes, comme une des sources essentielles d’hétérogénéité de la performance des filiales. La question centrale du débat consiste à discuter les modalités d’allocation optimale du capital. Les études empiriques mettent en évidence des montants d’allocation très au-dessus des niveaux optimaux dans des filiales qui ont des niveaux de croissance apparemment relativement faibles. Tenant compte à la fois du degré d’incertitude auquel une firme est confrontée lorsqu’elle décide d’allouer son capital et du niveau d’interdépendance de ses filiales, nous distinguons « les déviations inefficaces » des « déviations non nécessairement inefficaces ». Nous expliquons que les déviations par rapport à la logique de sélection des gagnants dans les décisions d’allocation de capital peuvent simplement refléter des intentions stratégiques différentes plutôt que des inefficacités d’allocation. De plus, nous soulignons le rôle de l’ampleur de l’expérience antérieure des dirigeants dans le domaine des filiales, en tant que source de compétences en allocation de capital des firmes, dans l’atténuation des déviations inefficaces et l’augmentation de la valeur de la corporation grâce à de meilleures pratiques d’allocation du capital. Le troisième chapitre incorpore les ressources financières à la théorie de redéploiement des ressources. La théorie standard a exclu les ressources financières qui, par définition, peut être allouée et ré-allouées à tout type d’investissement sans contrainte. Nous soutenons toutefois que, lors de l’affectation vers l’une de ses filiales de ressources financières à des investissements imparfaitement fongibles ou divisibles, telles que le capital physique, tel que des usines ou des technologies, le siège social achète également l’option de redéploiement de ces mêmes ressources dans le futur. En effet, le choix d’investissement présent doit être réalisé en tenant compte des coûts de redéploiement éventuels dans le futur. Par conséquent, la direction des flux de capitaux actuels entre les filiales ne sera pas simplement réalisée en fonction des opportunités actuelles de croissance relative du marché, mais aussi en fonction des coûts d’ajustement due aux redéploiements éventuels entre les filiales dans les périodes ultérieures. Cette extension permet d’étendre le champ d’études empiriques de la théorie du redéploiement de ressources non-financier. En effet, les études empiriques dans ce domaine ont été rares jusqu'à présent en raison du défi que représentent l'observation et la mesure du redéploiement des ressources non financières. / This dissertation deals with how multi-business firms’ strategies affect the performance of subsidiary businesses and contributes to long standing debates in corporate strategy. Overall, each of my 3 dissertation essays are designed to, correspondingly, analyze the debated magnitude, efficiency, and mechanism of the effect of a multi-business firms’ strategies on the performance of its subsidiaries. In the first chapter, I address a root question in corporate level strategy; I question traditional methods to estimate corporate effects (the effect of corporate headquarters on subsidiary businesses’ performance). I argue that previous corporate effect studies fail to account for the uneven impact of corporate decisions on subsidiaries. A headquarters makes conscious and deliberate decisions that might induce performance heterogeneity among its subsidiaries. Consequently, considering all subsidiaries as a bundle will systematically underestimate the corporate effects. Rather, I argue that it is important to account for the firm’s induced variance on the subsidiaries’ performance. We connote this induced variance as “business-variant corporate effects”, and show that they are just as important in magnitude as the value of the standard corporate effects, namely “business-invariant corporate effects”, found in previous studies. In the second essay, I focus on corporate capital allocation as a critical dimension of corporate strategies that might contribute to, within-firm, subsidiaries’ performance heterogeneity. We particularly delve deeper into the internal capital market efficiency debate by extending current theories that aim to justify why headquarters provide more resources to subsidiaries with seemingly lower growth opportunities. Considering both the level of uncertainty a firm faces when making capital allocation decisions, and the level of interdependence among its subsidiaries, we disentangle between inefficient and not-necessarily-inefficient deviations from standard models’ prescription. We explain that higher investments in subsidiaries with seemingly lower growth opportunities may simply reflect different strategic intents rather than allocation inefficiencies. Furthermore, we highlight the role of the breadth of CEOs’ prior experience in subsidiaries’ domain, as a source of firms’ capital allocation competency, in attenuating inefficient deviations and enhancing corporate value through better capital allocation practices. In the third essay, I incorporate financial resources, as a perfectly fungible and divisible resource, within the scope of the resource redeployment theory. Indivisibility and imperfect fungibility of resources play a critical role in the theory and this is why the standard theory has excluded the financial resources from its boundaries. I, however, argue that when allocating financial resources, such as capital, to one of its subsidiaries to acquire non-financial assets such as plants or technology, a corporate headquarters also purchases the option to redeploy those same resources in subsequent periods. Therefore, the direction of current capital flow among subsidiary businesses will not merely be a function of their current relative market growth opportunities. Rather, it is a function of the adjustment costs of potential resource redeployments among the subsidiaries in subsequent periods. My extension of the resource redeployment theory to include intrafirm capital allocations paves the way for further empirical investigations of the theory; that have been scarce so far, due to the challenge of observing and measuring the redeployment of non-financial resources. In turn, studying intrafirm capital allocations through the lens of RR theory helps us further develop and offer novel predictions for the theory.

<p>This dissertation examines the implications of digitization for firm corporate strategy and organizational governance. I aim to link together emerging research on platform businesses and classic corporate strategy research on firm scale, scope and organization, two important streams of work that have remained largely independent despite the close connection between them. To do so, my dissertation revolves around the following central question: How can platform owners leverage governance mechanisms to alleviate market frictions, and what are the performance outcomes? </p><p><br></p> <p>In the first chapter, using game-theoretic formal models, I analyze how long standing information frictions are alleviated by digital platforms through developing capabilities for solving these information problems and exploiting synergies between those capabilities. In the second chapter, using data from online peer-to-peer lending, I show that platform owners can mitigate problems of information asymmetry in platform markets and enhance market effectiveness through allocation of key decision rights among participants. Finally, in the third chapter, using data from mobile apps, I show that platform gatekeeping serves as a screening mechanism for platform owners and how it can shape the different ways app developers profit from innovation. </p><p><br></p><p>Collectively, my dissertation aims to advance corporate strategy research in two ways. First, my research broadens the application of theories of organizational governance core to corporate strategy to a new organizational form – platforms – and I show that core tenets of the theories still apply, although the specific empirical mechanisms might take a different form in the platform context (e.g., decision rights allocated between the platform owner and complementors, rather than between the corporate office and business units). Second, my research stands to expand existing theories in corporate strategy through a sharp focus on organization and governance features that are unique to platforms – such as by studying the orchestrating role of the platform owner (e.g., through gatekeeping, platform owner can control complementors' platform access and shape their value-creation activities on the platform), and the multi-layer relationships prevalent in platforms (e.g., relationships between the platform owner and complementors, between complementors on the same side, and between complementors across two or more sides).</p>

According to research findings, SMEs are continuously faced with unexpected changes within their operating environment. The rapid development of technology master’s new competitors, new products and markets which creates a source of uncertainty for these organisations. These changes are for instance demonstrated through changes in customer demands, lower barriers and government regulations, offering both opportunities as threats. Considering that SMEs play a significant role for society and the worldwide economy, they genuinely need to strive for innovative and efficient solutions in their business. By focusing on smarter use of information through Business Intelligence, SMEs can stay competitive in such an environment. Nevertheless, while BI utilization for efficient decision-making has been highly attractive to larger companies for some time, this has not been a reality for SMEs. The reasons for this are several and challenges vary. However, it is necessary to meet some basic conditions to effectively take advantage of BI, namely, to align BI with corporate strategies. This study applied the BISC framework on one strategic theme, the operations management, in an SME in order to identify gaps between BI and corporate strategy in their business performance management initiative. Gaps were identified by analysing current As-Is state of BI assets and the To-Be state. This thesis aims therefore to contribute in the understanding of problems and potentials regarding the process of aligning BI with corporate strategies in SMEs.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the diversification of a major oil company into the. petrochemical business and then through thorough analysis to recommend the appropriate corporate strategies to be followed by the petrochemical subsidiary of such a company in the 1980's and the 1990's. The petrochemical industry has undergone great changes during the last decade. In the early 1970's it entered a new era of maturity, however due to the misplannings of the late 1960's extending to the early 1970's the industry was suddenly faced with significant overcapacity which has persisted to the present date and is expected to last well into the 1980's. The 1974 oil crisis caused a further decline in the growth of demand, hence exacerbating the situation. During the seventies the industry has had to operate under increasing material prices, unlike the past, which when coupled with the problem of overcapacity and the resulting deterioration of prices, has caused considerable decline in the financial ability of the companies to finance their capital expenditure programmes through internal cash generation (which was the case in the industry's 'golden era'). This situation is threatening the long term viability and survival of the petrochemical businesses. A System Dynamics model for a hypothetical petrochemical subsidiary of a major oil company has been constructed which embodies all the policies inherent in such a system. The dynamic behaviour of the model closely resembles that expected from the real system such as the declining financial ability, which is mostly due to the inflationary conditions. Through thorough analysis, the impact of varying inflation level on the performance of the system was explored, and the need for adopting suitable accounting policies which would take account of the replacement costs of assets, during periods of high inflation, was proposed. The adoption of a number of policies led to a certain degree of improvement in the financial performance of the system, and these are recommended concerning the corporate strategy of the company for the next two decades. Finally it was discovered that due to the low level of growth of demand (compared to the past), the large economic sizes of the petrochemical plants and the market share consensus, the companies will have to go into joint ventures in the future.

<p>How do firms decide which corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative to take on and when? The extant research has not been able to give definitive answers to these questions. As a result, despite CSR being an integral part of doing business today, many executives remain unsure about integrating CSR considerations into core strategy and decision makings. CSR is often considered in silos and not in conjunction with core corporate activities.  The three empirical essays in this dissertation seek to understand the role of CSR in corporate strategy, particularly in strategic alliance and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) contexts, and identify means through which CSR can be integrated into core strategic decision making. </p> <p><br></p> <p>The first essay, titled “Honor by Association: Does a Partner’s CSR Matter in Strategic Alliances?” investigates the role of partner’s CSR in strategic alliances, i.e. whether CSR of a partner affects the focal firm’s value creation from the alliance. Drawing on the stakeholders-based view of strategic alliances and advancing relational capabilities perspective on CSR, I argue and provide evidence that, faced with information asymmetry and collaborative challenges, a focal firm can rely on CSR performance of the partner to make judgements about value creation potentials from the alliance.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The second essay, titled “CSR Learning: Does a Firm’s CSR Influence Its Partner’s CSR?”, extends my first essay and puts forth the notion of CSR-learning through CSR knowledge and capabilities transfer in strategic alliances. A central argument is that the extent of CSR engagements and practices of a firm has an impact on those of its partner(s) in an on-going alliance. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Last but not least, the third essay is co-authored with Professor Ozmel and is titled “CSR in M&A: Does Relativity Matter?" This study examines the impact of relative CSR, <em>defined as the extent to which a target’s CSR resources and capabilities are superior to those of the acquirer</em>, on an acquiring firm’s value creation from M&A.  We contend that relative CSR matters in M&A as acquiring firms can gain access to superior CSR resources and capabilities to unlock relational and non-market synergies, resulting in additional value creation.</p>

Factors in a firm’s external environment have a profound impact on a firm’s internal capabilities and decision-making prowess. Due to the inherent complexity of interacting factors, real-life phenomena often exhibit non-linear patterns. However, research in the Strategic Management realm often assumes a linear relationship between variables of interest. This dissertation addresses this gap in literature and focuses on the curvilinear relationship between external factors and strategic outcomes. Two critical areas are investigated to shed light on these complexities: the influence of complementary industry players and the impact of external stakeholders. The first essay examines the emergence of Contract Development & Manufacturing Organizations (CDMOs) in the biopharmaceutical industry and its effects on firms' innovation portfolios. Findings reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between firms’ reliance on CDMOs and their capacity to generate destabilizing innovations. While initially providing flexibility and specialized resources, excessive outsourcing can erode firms’ capabilities, emphasizing the delicate balance between external collaboration and internal innovation. In the second essay, the focus shifts to the role of financial analysts as external stakeholders shaping corporate behavior. Analysis reveals a U-shaped relationship between analyst coverage and corporate misconduct, with the monitoring effect dominating at low levels of coverage and the pressure effect becoming stronger beyond a certain point. This underscores the need for contextual analysis and adaptive corporate governance strategies to mitigate misconduct risks. This dissertation underscores the importance of embracing non-linearity in strategic management research. By unraveling the mysteries of U-shaped relationships, this research contributes to advancing strategic management theory and practice, offering valuable insights for decision-makers seeking to thrive in dynamic business landscapes. / Business Administration/Strategic Management

Thesis (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The research report entailed an investigation into the impact of the historical evolution of SABMiller's corporate strategy on its global expansion, particularly into emerging markets. To this end, the demands of a rapidly changing global world on strategy and the relevance and growing importance of emerging markets to organisations were explored. This entailed amongst others an examination of the considerations when expanding into emerging markets, their characteristics and challenges posed. It was found that in the modern business world, which is characterised by speed, uncertainty and turbulence, strategy implementation and evaluation are as important as strategy formulation. It is vital that an organisation is flexible enough to change its strategic course if necessary and is able to set stretch objectives in order to become more inventive and exhibit more urgency in improving its performance. Today's dynamic environment requires a revitalised approach to strategic thinking and organisations may have to develop new strategic capabilities and cultivate strategic resilience in order to successfully navigate the challenges they face. Increased turbulence and uncertainty are not only characteristics of the global business environment, but in many cases these circumstances are exacerbated in emerging markets. Emerging markets may very well require of organisations to be even more innovative and expand their strategic capabilities, but it was also shown that these markets are becoming increasingly important to organisations. The reasons for a shift in perspectives on emerging markets are varied, including that these markets are no longer regarded as posing an unacceptably high risk, that they offer large markets with high population growth figures and that they often record much higher economic growth figures than mature and saturated markets in developed countries. Data confirms that the economic output of emerging markets as a percentage of global output is steadily increasing, their share of world export is growing and they are major oil consumers. The fast growth of these markets, combined with the potential offered by their size, have led to forecasts that a key group of emerging markets will become the drivers of organisational growth in the foreseeable future. An overview of the factors to be taken into consideration when expanding into emerging markets as well as the implications of expansion shows that organisations are required to be creative and re-assess their own strengths and weaknesses in order to expand their strategic capabilities to be in line with the proposed expansion. Based on a literature review and an examination of case studies of the experiences of organisations which have expanded into emerging markets, a number of findings were made regarding important aspects to concentrate on, best practices and mistakes to avoid when entering emerging markets. This model for success was applied to SABMiller in order to extract lessons learnt from the company's expansion into emerging markets. An analysis of SABMiller's history, its global expansion and its strategy helped provide a picture of how the company evolved and how it thinks and operates. It was found that by the end of the 1980s the company had developed a number of core competencies and strategic capabilities in South Africa that were geared towards expansion in emerging markets. These capabilities included that it understood conditions in emerging markets and was able to deliver high quality and low cost products under particular conditions. Its managers had a "can do"-attitude and the ability to deal with diverse cultures. A number of findings were made on the basis of the analysis of interviews conducted with senior managers at SAB Miller that can be used as general lessons for expansion into emerging markets. These can be grouped into the four themes also used to model the recommendations for success in emerging markets drawn from literature and case studies. Firstly, from an operational point of view, SABMiller developed a number of best practices for operational excellence that were implemented during its expansion. These practices did, however, not become codified or prescriptive to the extent that they restrict local managers and could not be adapted to local circumstances. The best practices were rather used to create an environment which encouraged a quest for the achievement of excellence in collaboration with local expertise. The company gave its managers support in terms of expertise, but also allowed them freedom of action and allowed them to translate best practices into the correct application for a particular context. SABMiller was hungry for opportunities, willing to make mistakes and learn lessons and its business model was flexible enough to allow it to operate under emerging market conditions that presented obstacles to many Western organisations. Secondly, in terms of finances and resources, the company found that even though there might be less information or data available about local markets, it was able to analyse the information with its own tools and based on its own experiences, which made it more valuable. SABMilier also did not apply a generalised approach to emerging markets, but recognised the potential of smaller markets. It was willing to apply custom-made approaches to local markets and was able to craft fit for purpose-solutions based on an understanding that the underlying economic fundamentals underlying emerging markets are different to those in Western markets. It applied financial rigour and built a reputation as an ethical operator focussed on growing sustainable businesses, yet its managers were still comfortable with making gut-feel decisions because they had a good understanding of commercial relationships and economic fundamentals. Thirdly, as far as management lessons were concerned, SABMiller developed a nimble and efficient operating model that gave its leaders the necessary flexibility to make fast strategic moves. The company went looking for opportunities in emerging markets, rather than having a business model that required a market which had to be big enough to sustain a Western way of working. In addition to this, its multi-dimensional approach to operating and setting targets enabled it to seize opportunities where others couldn't, as it was willing to act as local operators, be joint-venture partners or even minority stakeholders. Its view of the beer business as a local business and its practice of executing everything it did in a locally relevant way is a thread that runs through the company's entire approach, regardless of which market it operates in. Fourthly, its leadership and people can be highlighted as one of the most important factors in SABMiller's successful expansion into emerging markets. The company's top leadership displayed exceptional intellectual and emotional intelligence and an absolute commitment to its expansion. The corporate culture, which emphasises personal responsibility, decentralisation, empowerment and a commitment to fair and sustainable business, can be regarded as critical to the company's success. In emerging markets, partnerships with local operators were built on shared learning and experiences, humility and friendship. The senior managers at SABMiller deployed in these markets instilled trust and credibility and were able to navigate difficult circumstances with sensitivity and diplomacy. SABMiller's employees also displayed a number of traits referred to as the South African DNA. These include resourcefulness, tenacity, a pioneering spirit, the inability to see problems, an ability to look for ingenious solutions and a flair for working with diverse people. As the company had recruited against these traits, it had an abundance of creative, inventive and very determined employees in its arsenal when it started to expand, and the skills of its people gave SABMiller one of its most enduring advantages. Based on the research findings, a number of recommendations are made for the further development of organisational tools and methods, as well as further study and investigation. These include that processes be developed to help organisations re-align or expand their strategic capabilities to be in line with an expansion into emerging markets and that the alignment of strategy with emerging markets be studied further. It is also recommended that more research be done to explore the conditions in emerging markets in order to broaden the field of knowledge on experiences in emerging markets. The characteristics and abilities that are necessary for an organisation to remain locally relevant should be investigated further. Finally, the link between the emerging market roots of an organisation and its actions upon expanding should be studied more extensively in order to extract and quantify lessons and best practices. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die navorsingsverslag het 'n ondersoek behels na die impak van die historiese evolusie van SABMilier se korporatiewe strategie op die maatskappy se globale uitbreiding, spesifiek in ontluikende markte. Met die doel in gedagte is die vereistes wat 'n snel veranderende globale wereld aan strategie stel en die relevansie en toenemende belangrikheid van ontluikende markte vir organisasies bestudeer. Dit het onder andere 'n studie van die faktore wat in ag geneem moet word wanneer uitgebrei word na ontluikende markte, hul karaktereienskappe en die uitdagings in die markte ingesluit. Daar is bevind dat die implementering van strategie in die moderne sakewereld, wat gekenmerk word deur spoed, onsekerheid en ontstuimigheid, net so belangrik is soos die formulering van strategie. Dit is noodsaaklik dat 'n organisasie soepel genoeg is om, indien nodig, sy strategiese koers te verander. Die organisasie moet ook in staat wees om grensverskuiwende doelwitte te stel sodat hy meer innoverend kan word en sy prestasie met meer dringendheid verbeter. Die hedendaagse dinamiese omgewing vereis 'n hersiene benadering tot strategiese denke en dit mag nodig wees vir organisasies om nuwe strategiese vaardighede en strategiese veerkragtigheid te ontwikkel om hulle in staat te stel om uitdagings te bowe te kom. Meer ontstuimigheid en onsekerheid is nie net kenmerkend van die globale sakeomgewing nie, maar is ook in baie gevalle in 'n erger graad in ontluikende markte teenwoordig. Dit mag vir organisasies nodig wees om in ontluikende markte selfs meer innoverend te wees en hulle strategiese vaardighede uit te brei, maar selfs te midde van die uitdagings word ontluikende markte vir organisasies al hoe meer belangrik. Daar is 'n verskeidenheid redes vir die verandering in persepsies oor ontluikende markte, insluitend dat die markte nie meer beskou word as markte wat onaanvaarbare hoe risiko's inhou nie. Verder bied ontluikende lande groot markte met snelgroeiende bevolkingsyfers en baie vinniger ekonomiese groei as die volwasse en versadigde ekonomiee in ontwikkelde lande. Data bevestig verder dat die ekonomiese uitset van ontluikende markte as 'n persentasie van globale uitset besig is om te styg, dat hulle aandeel van wereldwye uitvoer toeneem en dat hulle groot verbruikers van olie is. Die vinnige groei in die markte, gesien saam met die potensiaal opgesluit in hul grootte, het gelei tot vooruitskattings dat 'n sleutelgroep ontluikende lande in die afsienbare toekoms die enjins van organisatoriese groei gaan word. 'n Oorsig van die faktore wat in ag geneem moet word wanneer uitgebrei word na ontluikende markte en die implikasies van uitbreiding dui daarop dat organisasies kreatief te werk sal moet gaan en hul eie sterkpunte en swakhede sal moet heroorweeg om te sorg dat hulle strategiese vermoens in pas is met die beoogde uitbreiding. Op grond van 'n literatuurstudie en 'n ontleding van gevallestudies is 'n aantal bevindings gemaak aangaande belangrike aspekte waarop gefokus moet word, beste praktyke en foute wat vermy moet word wanneer uitgebrei word na ontluikende markte. Die model vir sukses is op SABMiller toegepas met die oog daarop om lesse te kan leer uit die maatskappy se uitbreiding. 'n Ontleding van SABMiller se geskiedenis, die maatskappy se globale uitbreiding en sy strategie het bygedra daartoe om 'n prentjie te skets van hoe die maatskappy ontwikkel het, hoe hy dink en hoe hy te werk gaan. Daar is bevind dat die maatskappy teen die einde van die 1980s in Suid-Afrika 'n aantal strategiese vermoens en sleutelbevoegdhede ontwikkel het wat hom goed geposisioneer het vir uitbreiding na ontluikende markte. Die vermoens het ingesluit dat die maatskappy omstandighede in ontluikende markte goed verstaan het en in staat was om onder die besondere omstandighede produkte van hoe kwaliteit en teen 'n lae koste te lewer. Die maatskappy se bestuurders het 'n houding gehad dat alles moontlik is en kon met diverse kulture saamwerk. 'n Aantal bevindings wat gebruik kan word as algemene lesse vir uitbreiding na ontluikende markte is gemaak op grond van 'n ontleding van onderhoude wat gevoer is met senior bestuurders van SABMiller. Die bevindings kan in vier temas gegroepeer word wat ooreenstem met die model vir sukses wat ontwikkel is op grond van die literatuurstudie en ontleding van gevallestudies. Eerstens, uit 'n operasionele oogpunt gesien, het SABMiller 'n aantal beste praktyke vir operasionele uitnemendheid ontwikkel wat toegepas is in die uitbreidingsproses. Die praktyke is egter nie tot so 'n mate gekodifiseer of voorskriftelik gemaak dat dit plaaslike bestuurders aan bande gele het nie. Die beste praktyke is gebruik om 'n omgewing te skep wat die behaling van uitnemendheid in samehang met plaaslike kenners aangemoedig het. Die maatskappy het sy bestuurders die nodige ondersteuning in terme van kennis gegee, maar hulle ook die vryheid gegee om beste praktyke op die mees toepaslike manier vir die plaaslike omstandighede toe te pas. SABMiller was honger vir geleenthede en bereid om foute te maak, en die maatskappy se sakemodel was soepel genoeg dat hy kon funksioneer onder omstandighede in ontluikende markte wat vir baie Westerse organisasies 'n struikelblok was. Tweedens, in terme van finansies en hulpbronne, het die maatskappy gevind dat daar wel minder inligting beskikbaar was oor plaaslike markte, maar hy kon sy eie vaardighede en kennis gebruik om die inligting te ontleed, wat dit meer waardevol gemaak het. SABMiller het ook nie 'n veralgemenende benadering tot ontluikende markte gehad nie, en hy kon die potensiaal in kleiner markte raaksien. Die maatskappy was bereid om doelgemaakte benaderings tot plaaslike markte te gebruik en spesifieke oplossings vir bepaalde omstandighede te ontwikkel. Die oplossings was gegrond op 'n begrip dat die onderliggende ekonomiese beginsels in ontluikende markte verskil van die in Westerse markte. Derdens, wat lesse ten opsigte van bestuursvaardighede aanbetref, het SABMiller 'n rats, snelvoetige en doeltreffende bedryfsmodel ontwikkel wat die nodige ruimte geskep het vir sy leiers om vinnige strategiese skuiwe te kan maak. Die maatskappy het vir geleenthede in ontluikende markte gaan soek, in teenstelling met Westerse organisasies wat net hul sake in markte kon bedryf wat groot genoeg was om hulle Westerse werkswyse te ondersteun. Verder het die maatskappy 'n meerdimensionele werkswyse en benadering tot die stel van doelwitte, wat beteken dat hy geleenthede kon aangryp waar ander dit nie kon doen nie. Dit is onder andere moontlik gemaak omdat hy bereid was om as 'n plaaslike operateur, gesamentlike ondernemingsvennoot of selfs minderheidsaandeelhouer te werk. Vierdens kan sy leierskap en mense uitgelig word as een van die mees belangrike faktore wat bygedra het tot SABMilier se suksesvolle uitbreiding na ontluikende markte. Die maatskappy se top-bestuurslui het uitsonderlike inlellektuele en emosionele intelligensie aan die dag gele en was absoluut verbind tot die uitbreiding. Die korporatiewe kultuur, wat klem lê op persoonlike verantwoordelikheid, bemagtiging en 'n toewyding tot regverdige en volhoubare sakepraktyke, kan beskou word as 'n sleutelfaktor in die maatskappy se sukses. In ontluikende markte is vennootskappe gegrond op gedeelde ervaring en lesse wat geleer is, nederigheid en vriendskap. Die senior bestuurders wat SABMilier na ontluikende markte gestuur het was geloofwaardig en het vertroue ingeboesem, en hulle kon moeilike omstandighede met die nodige sensitiwiteit en diplomasie hanteer. SABMiller se werknemers het ook 'n aantal eienskappe aan die dag gele wat beskryf word as 'n Suid-Afrikaanse DNS. Die eienskappe het ingesluit vindingrykheid, deursettingsvermoe, 'n ontdekkingsgees, die onvermoe om probleme te sien, die vermoe om vernuftige oplossings te vind en 'n besondere aanleg om met uiteenlopende mense te werk. Die maatskappy het ook werknemers met die soort profiele gewerf, en het hy het dus ten tye van sy uitbreiding 'n arsenaal kreatiewe, innoverende en uiters vasbeslote werknemers gehad as een van sy mees blywende voordele. Op grond van die bevindings in die verslag word 'n aantal aanbevelings gemaak ten opsigte van die ontwikkeling van hulpbronne vir maatskappye en areas wat verder ondersoek en bestudeer kan word. Dit sluit in dat prosesse ontwikkel word om organisasies te help om hul strategiese vaardighede aan te pas by uitbreiding na ontluikende markte en dat die rig van strategie op ontluikende markte verder ondersoek word. Dit word ook aanbeveel dat verdere navorsing gedoen word oor die omstandighede in ontluikende markte om die kennisveld oor organisasies se ervarings in ontluikende markte uit te brei. In die laaste instansie moet die eienskappe en vaardighede wat organisasies nodig het om plaaslik relevant te bly, verder bestudeer word. Die verband tussen die historiese wortels van 'n organisasie in 'n ontluikende mark en die organisasie se optrede wanneer hy uitbrei moet ook verder ondersoek word om lesse en beste praktyke te formuleer.

One of the proxies for the success of a corporate strategy is firm performance. This is because “performance is a surrogate for the alignment between an organization’s internal processes (strategy, structure, etc) and the external environment.”1 Business excellence therefore hangs together with the attainment of such an alignment. It is two of the processes that support such an alignment between customer and supplier that are the subject of this paper. The processes in question are so called “Key Account Management” (KAM) and competitive intelligence (CI). [... aus der Einleitung] 1 Subramanian R., IsHak S., Competitor Analysis Practices of US Companies, 1998, S.13

<p>Background</p><p>Strategy forms an inevitable part of a company’s existence, whether explicitly formulated or implicitly acted on. Today, there are many ways to find information about companies and their strategic directions, for example in the non-financial sections of annual reports. However, the future actions and strategic choices tend not to be spoken of explicitly or in terms of strategy concepts or typologies. Thus, the presentation of strategies in annual reports may differ in terminology from the conceptions and notions as presented in strategy concepts. This implies a challenging base for analysis and will inevitably create an interesting situation if one wants to map out a company’s strategic direction with these reports as basis. Annual reports could also possibly constitute a cross-over between the theoretical realm and the business world, which might allow the drawing of parallels between theoretical concepts and espoused strategic actions.</p><p>Purpose</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to provide an overall image of strategy in the heavy electrical engineering industry in the time period of 1987 to 2002, using the non-financial information in annual reports as the single source for identifying and classifying companies in terms of strategy.</p><p>Mode of procedure</p><p>Annual reports from four large companies in the heavy electrical engineering industry have been studied with a grounded approach of textual analysis. The case study was conducted with an inductive starting point, and covered a vast amount of empirical material. Key features of strategic directions, on the corporate and business level, were derived from the empirical material as well as from strategy literature, and these features then served as base for further analysis and conclusions.</p><p>Results</p><p>All four studied companies displayed different strategic phases on the two levels. However, inconsistency and a multitude of comments sometimes obstructed the identification of distinct phases. On an inter-company level, the European companies tended to have more features in common than the American ones. Furthermore, specific characteristics have been identified for each company. Finally, each of the four case companies was classified in terms of generic strategies. The classification of the companies showed that a multitude of strategic typologies was applicable during the studied time period, some recurrently and others in unique periods.</p>

Background Strategy forms an inevitable part of a company’s existence, whether explicitly formulated or implicitly acted on. Today, there are many ways to find information about companies and their strategic directions, for example in the non-financial sections of annual reports. However, the future actions and strategic choices tend not to be spoken of explicitly or in terms of strategy concepts or typologies. Thus, the presentation of strategies in annual reports may differ in terminology from the conceptions and notions as presented in strategy concepts. This implies a challenging base for analysis and will inevitably create an interesting situation if one wants to map out a company’s strategic direction with these reports as basis. Annual reports could also possibly constitute a cross-over between the theoretical realm and the business world, which might allow the drawing of parallels between theoretical concepts and espoused strategic actions. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to provide an overall image of strategy in the heavy electrical engineering industry in the time period of 1987 to 2002, using the non-financial information in annual reports as the single source for identifying and classifying companies in terms of strategy. Mode of procedure Annual reports from four large companies in the heavy electrical engineering industry have been studied with a grounded approach of textual analysis. The case study was conducted with an inductive starting point, and covered a vast amount of empirical material. Key features of strategic directions, on the corporate and business level, were derived from the empirical material as well as from strategy literature, and these features then served as base for further analysis and conclusions. Results All four studied companies displayed different strategic phases on the two levels. However, inconsistency and a multitude of comments sometimes obstructed the identification of distinct phases. On an inter-company level, the European companies tended to have more features in common than the American ones. Furthermore, specific characteristics have been identified for each company. Finally, each of the four case companies was classified in terms of generic strategies. The classification of the companies showed that a multitude of strategic typologies was applicable during the studied time period, some recurrently and others in unique periods.