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This was accomplished by first examining the nature of competitive strategies within the lodging industry. Subsequently the relationships among competitive strategies, three dimensions of organization structure, company size, and five measures of firm performance were examined. Furthermore to more rigorously control for environmental effects this analysis was undertaken for the industry as a whole as well as within four distinct subsegments of the industry. Six hypotheses were developed, that dealt with the nature of competitive strategy types; and the relationship among strategy types and 1) the degree of organization structure, 2) organizational performance, and 3) organization performance where a strategy/structure match had been achieved. The findings of this study tend to indicate that the nature of the industry or environment in which organizations compete may be an important factor in determining the content of competitive strategies employed in that environment. Furthermore, not only do industry characteristics tend to affect the content and appearance of competitive strategy profiles, but different segments within an industry also impact the appearances of different competitive profiles. However, the perspective that organizational variables are in a direct relationship with contextual variables is not supported by this study. The critical link appears to lie in the decision makers evaluation of the organization's environment and the choices they consequently make regarding the organization's competitive strategy and its internal structure. The structure that is appropriate to a particular competitive strategy profile is not constant. Rather, the nature of the operating environment intervenes in the appropriate strategy/structure "match" relationship. Organizational performance is contingent upon a "match of the strategic choices of strategy and structure, but the "appropriate " choice appears to be modified by subenvironmental factors. / Ph. D.

This research examines competing theories based on the strategic choice and organizational ecology perspectives by investigating strategic change in the banking industry preceding and following interest rate and product deregulation of financial institutions in the early 1980's. Adaptation theory suggests that the largest, oldest, and most powerful organizations have superior capacities for adapting to environmental circumstances and that organizational variability reflects changes in the strategy and structure of a firm in response to environmental changes. The organizational ecology perspective hypothesizes that a firm's ability to change is inversely related to organizational age and size and that organizations become inert as they grow and age. The propositions and hypotheses in this research examine the relationship between organizational age and size on both absolute and relative inertia. The association between strategic change on firm survival is also explored. Findings demonstrate partial support for both theories. An explanation for the mixed findings is offered which suggests that both adaptation and organizational ecology theories explain continuous change, while the deregulation period under study represented a period of discontinuous change. A third model of strategic change, proposed by Meyers, Brooks, and Goes (1990) is offered as a better explanation of strategic change among U.S. banks during the decade following deregulation. / Ph. D.

This exploratory and descriptive study examined the information needs, sources and uses of Chief Financial Officers in the Hospitality Industry, for strategic capital investment decision making. The amount of environmental scanning currently being conducted for use in the strategic capital investment decision making process was also investigated. A survey questionnaire was used to gather information from 200 Chief Financial Officers. 46 questionnaires were returned, resulting in a response rate of 23.00%. Content analysis and statistical analysis were used to analyze the the data collected. Content analysis of publications cited was used to identify which areas of the environment were emphasized as most important to Chief Financial Officers for strategic capital investment decision making. The economic sector clearly dominated the literature, though there does appear to be a need for more adequate information concerning all segments of the external environment (Social, Technological, Political, and Economic). Finance executives were found to rely much more on external documentary sources of strategic information, than on internal or personal sources. Newspapers and trade journals were perceived to be the most important sources of external strategic information, and were also the most frequently cited sources. Based on the results of the statistical analysis conducted, there is a relationship between the size and complexity of an organization, and the amount of information needed by decision makers in the organization. In organizations without an environmental scanning function, it was found that the marketing and research & development functions were more involved in environmental scanning; and in organizations with neither an environmental scanning nor a research & development function, the accounting function was more involved in environmental scanning. / M.S.

This dissertation reports an investigation of the relationship between board strategic management functions and organizational performance. This dissertation provides a framework for understanding the influence of boards of directors in decision making, planning, control and operation, and financial performance of the firms. Based on the conceptual framework, it is argued that an effective board of directors will have a positive relationship with performance. Four hypotheses stemming from the conceptual framework were used to relate boards' strategic management functions and organizational performance. The research was conducted in Malaysia, and the organizations used for the study were public enterprises. Forty-two firms in three industries of the manufacturing sector were selected for the study. These firms were building materials, food, and wood-based. industries. Boards' strategic management functions, the independent variables, consisted of the boards’ role in decision making, planning, control, and board operation. Organizational performance, the dependent variable, was operationalized by using financial indicators: return on assets, profit margin, average rate of growth in profit, average rate of growth in assets, and average rate of growth in sales. Correlation, multiple regression, and t-test analyses were used to confirm or reject the four research hypotheses. Besides these analyses, the dissertation provided information on the profile of the boards of directors of the three industries in six different areas: size, age, occupation, educational level, specialization, and business experience of the directors. The findings showed that there was no consistent pattern in the relationship between board strategic management functions and organizational performance for all the three industries. The data analysis failed to support the conceptual framework which indicated that there should be a positive relationship between an effective board and organizational performance. The results of the dissertation were discussed with respect to major findings and significance to management theory and practice. The dissertation concluded with a discussion on the limitations of the study and suggestions for future research. / Ph. D.

A key element that enables a firm to achieve better performance is a fit between environment and firm strategy. A review of the literature on strategic management reveals that this relationship is moderated by other contextual variables, and that these contextual variables have not been systematically studied. The major focus of this study was to examine the impact of an important contextual variable, property ownership type, on the environment-strategy relationship and its performance implications. To guide this study theoretically, the literature on organizational environment, strategy, the environment-strategy relationship, and property ownership was reviewed, and theoretical implications discussed. It was hypothesized that (1) firms exhibiting same ownership type were likely to respond to perceived environment with similar strategy, and such responses varied across ownership types, (2) such strategic decisions would lead to better firm performance, and (3) in addition to the indirect impact of ownership on performance through the environment-strategy relationship, ownership type also had direct impact on performance. In order to test these hypotheses, constructs were operationalized in multidimensional manner. Perceived environment was operationalized in terms of three dimensions (resource scarcity, dynamism, and complexity), and strategy was operationalized in terms of five dimensions (futurity, proactiveness, analysis, defensiveness, and riskiness). Each of these dimensions were found to be theoretically significant in previous research. The research was set in the People’s Republic of China. Two hundred and two firms were surveyed, and these firms represented four ownership types (state enterprises, collective enterprises, joint venture enterprises, and private enterprises). Analysis of results suggest that ownership type is a theoretically important variable that has significant impact on variables that subject to managerial control. Firm ownership type moderated the magnitude (in two ownership types) and configuration (in another two ownership types) of environment-strategy relationship. This moderating effect of ownership led to significant performance implications. Moreover, firm ownership also had significant direct impact on firm performance. Findings from this study contribute insight into the environment-strategy relationship and hold promise for studying strategic management issues in former centrally planned economies undergoing transition toward market economies. / Ph. D.

A recurring debate in the Business Policy literature has centered on the nature of the relationship between strategy and structure. One school argues that the fit between context and structure determines straté9Y„ while opponents contend that management values determine strategy which, in turn, shapes structure. Litschert and Bonham (1977) have attempted to reconcile these viewpoints with their integrative model of strategy formation. The main premise of this model is that organizational slack moderates the contingent nature of strategy formation. When slack is high, the model predicts that strategy will be based on management values and that a loose fit will occur between structure and context. When slack is low, however, the necessary tight fit between context and structure will determine strategy. This study tested the Litschert-Bonham model by comparing the strategies used by organizations with varying levels of slack within two different industries. lt was determined that an organization's absolute level of slack was significantly related to choice of strategy. However, the strategies of high-slack firms were not necessarily more diverse than were those of low-slack firms within a similar context. Moreover, low-slack firms in different contexts tended to follow the same strategy - a finding which was opposite the model's prediction. Two secondary objectives of the study involved the clarification of measurement issues surrounding two of the model’s major components: slack and strategy. ln the former case, Marino and Lange's (1983) absolute slack indicators were compared to Bourgeois’ (1981) slack measures. The former absolute measures were consistently related to strategy while the latter relative measures failed to reach significance. Finally, a multivariate procedure called cluster analysis was utilized to divide the sample firms into five strategic groups. These five empirically derived strategy types clearly related to Glueck’s (1980) conceptual typology of corporate level strategy. This was the first study to offer empirical support for Glueck’s widely cited typology. / Ph. D.

For the past twenty years, the usefulness of accounting information has been emphasized. In 1966 the American Accounting Association in its State of Basic Accounting Theory asserted that usefulness is the primary purpose of external financial reports. In 1978 the State of Financial Accounting Concepts, No. 1 affirmed the usefulness criterion. "Financial reporting should provide information that is useful to present and potential investors and creditors and other users..." Information is useful if it facilitates decision making. Moreover, all decisions are future-oriented; they are based on a prognosis of future events. The objective of this research, therefore, is to examine some factors that affect the decision maker's ability to use financial information to make good predictions and thereby good decisions. There are two major purposes of the study. The first is to gain insight into the amount of increase in prediction accuracy that is expected to be achieved when a model replaces the human decision-maker in the selection of cues. The second major purpose is to examine the information overload phenomenon to provide research evidence to determine the point at which additional information may contaminate prediction accuracy. The research methodology is based on the lens model developed by Eyon Brunswick in 1952. Multiple linear regression equations are used to capture the participants’ models, and correlation statistics are used to measure prediction accuracy. / Ph. D.

Public purchasing professionals bought approximately 500 billion dollars worth of products and services from marketers in 1979; this figure represented 20% of this country's gross national product for that year. Therefore, public purchasing professionals constitute a key segment of interest to marketers. Ascertaining the effects that 'marketer controlled' variables have on the role conflict and role ambiguity of the public purchasing professional can thus contribute to marketing management and to marketing thought. Two of these variables are the perceived Customer Orientation of the Vendor salesperson and the Influence Strategy/s used by the salesperson. Other variables that can provide valuable information to marketers are purchasing professionals' perceptions of Uncertainty and/or Conflict regarding their organizations' performance (or reward/measurement) indexes. These three variables along with experience are hypoth- esized antecedents to role conflict and role ambiguity. The consequent variables to role conflict, role ambiguity, and experience, are the purchasing professional's perceptions of Satisfaction with the Salesperson, and Satisfaction with Organizational Policies. Data was collected from a random sample (N=345) of the members of the National Institute of Government Purchasing. The usable response rate was 49. 92%. Data was analyzed through the use of LISREL VI. Hypotheses were tested by examining the direction of the LISREL parameters, and the statistical significance of their t-values. Support was found for ten of fourteen hypotheses. Findings from the study can be used in training salespeople and purchasing professionals; the study also has implications for marketing strategy. The variables being researched can provide insights that can then be used in research in sales management and organizational buying behavior. / Ph. D.

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