Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 440-483).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Business Administration. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-140). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ66370.

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This doctoral thesis seeks to advance our understanding of organizational legitimacy through the analysis of types and properties of legitimacy and of its relation to the concepts of status and reputation. More specifically, this doctoral thesis seeks to contribute to organizational theory and strategic management by (1) reviewing and systematizing legitimacy types discerned in the literature and contrasting legitimacy with related concepts of reputation and status, (2) identifying the properties of legitimacy, and (3) exploring some of the implications of these properties for management practice and strategic management research. / The doctoral research is presented in the form of a manuscript-based thesis consisting of three interrelated papers: / 1. Organizational Legitimacy as a Form of Judgment. Through the analysis of legitimacy definitions, types and typologies, and operationalizations, this study first develops an enumerative definition of organizational legitimacy, maps different types of legitimacy discerned in the literature onto the process of legitimacy judgment formation and highlights the fundamental differences between cognitive and sociopolitical legitimacy types. This paper then advances a conceptualization of cognitive and sociopolitical types of legitimacy, reputation and status as four different types of judgment that actors can render in respect to an organization and explores some implications of this approach for organizational research, namely the role of social judgments in exchange partner selection and the use of social judgments under conditions of uncertainty. / 2. Legitimacy-Based Entry Deterrence in Inter-Population Competition. This paper develops a theory of competitive social norm manipulations and explores the strategies that well-established organizational populations use to build legitimacy-based barriers to entry into their domain. The study develops a typology of legitimacy manipulation strategies that established organizational populations use to prevent, eradicate or palliate the new entrants' impact by: (1) changing the relative importance of legitimacy dimensions, (2) raising the legitimacy threshold and (3) altering perceptions of competitors' performance. Successful legitimacy manipulations are shown to lead to institutional immunization of the incumbents against similar competitive challenges in the future. / 3. Defensive Institutional Strategies in Emergent Industries. Through a comparative analysis of two emergent industries in Canada, this study advances a conceptualization of the process of emergence of a new industry from a successful innovative business model, focusing on sequential lines of institutional defense that are available to emergent industries that come under such attacks: (1) keep a low profile; (2) form a trade association; (3) develop an industry code to provide guidelines and member coordination; (4) enforce the code through self-policing; (5) if everything else fails to end the attack, invite the government to impose regulation. Illustrations of the application of these strategies are provided.

<p><font face="Times New Roman"> <p align="left">This study has evaluated the strategic planning and management of the University of Namibia. The crucial objective was to assess the strategic planning process of the University of Namibia to see if the strategic plans were properly developed and also determine how the Northern Campus feature in the overall strategic plan of the University of Namibia. The research has used the body of knowledge on strategic planning and management to investigate the problem. The secondary objective was to develop a theoretical understanding of strategic planning and management. The study will record and develop a case study on the strategic planning of the University of Namibia, and see how planning has been able to address the issue of development. On the basis of the findings, the research has suggested alternative guiding principles of the planning process. At conclusion the research has made numerous recommendations for the decision makers on how properly planning process can be followed.</p> </font></p>

Over half of the respondents indicated that they had benefited from the introduction of strategic management at Saybrook. The benefits of strategic management at Saybrook were mainly increased sales and the saving of Saybrook from liquidation. According to the respondents the objectives of changing the way a company is run should be mainly to promote profitability and viability in the business, to improve quality, initiate growth for machines and human resources, the creation of value for stakeholders and improvement of processes. There was positive overall impact on relations between Saybrook and stakeholders as a result of the adoption and implementation of strategic management with the main areas of gain being increased profitability and better quality products. In nutshell the benefits that accrued to Saybrook due to the introduction of strategic management were increased profit, increased efficiency, better customer focus and higher quality products. Saybrook is better performer now than before the introduction of strategic management, increasing productivity and creating a conducive environment for the development of solutions to business problems were also cited as main strength of strategic management. Respondents were of the opinion that strategic management should focus on both management should focus on both management and employees since success of technique depend on teamwork. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

The word 'strategy' is still very critical and central in running the affairs of any business and organization. Strategy is highly rated and often seen as the bedrock for any success of an organization and business venture. Since its years of evolution, it has been dominated primarily by rational and analytical approaches up until the resurgence of an emergent approach as a new perspective in strategy enactment processes. Ever since then the discourse of strategic management processes has been predominantly underpinned by these two approaches. As a case study, four organizations that represent a wide spectrum in terms of type and therefore assumed to provide scope for discovering variations with regard to strategy processes were selected. These four organizations were selected to examine the approach/es used in strategic enactment and to evaluate the relationship between organizational success and its strategy enactment process. The focus in this study is biased to what strategy is perceived to be at organizational level and whether individuals within these organizations do subscribe to the same perception or on their own. Secondly, as strategy is perceived as the bedrock for an organization success, the study has attempted to look at possible links or relationships between the two - success and strategy. This has been done by looking at the alignment between organizational operations and the strategy. The results of the study show that: • The four organizations use the rational analytical approach to strategy enactment. • Individuals within these organizations subscribe to the holistic perspective of strategy enactment which integrates strategy formulation and strategy implementation dichotomy into a single gestalt of formulation-implementation at all levels of the organizations. • The success of the organization cannot only be attributed to strategic enactment and its application alone. Other factors as well act as enablers and / or provide opportunities for organizational success. • The approach used to design and implement strategy has a direct relationship with how the designers and implementers of strategy define and understand an organization to be. For instance the study shows that strategists who define and understand organizational strategy as an entity devoid of its social and cultural construct tend to use the rational and analytical approaches. However, those who see it as an entity that is shaped and influenced by socio-cultural factors are prone to the emergent approach. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2007.

The aim of this study is to review the literature on the intangible resources as sources of sustainable competitive advantage in Malaysian private colleges/institutions From it forms the objective to measure the possession of sources of sustainable competitive advantage and its sustainability. This paper explores the theories of sustainable competitive advantage, resource-based view, strategic assets as well as reviewing the concept of capabilities differentials as intangible resources. Hall's (1993) four dimensions of capabilities differentials are selected as a conceptual model for identifying the strategic assets of a firm. The four dimensions are functional capabilities differentials, positional capabilities differential, cultural capabilities differentials and regulatory capabilities differentials. The attributes for each dimension are identified based on the education industry perspective. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2005.

Thesis (DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2005.