This dissertation consists of three papers that are linked through the topic of organizational capabilities. The first paper, entitled "Organizational Core Capabilities, Strategic Intent and Performance: A Study of the Pharmaceutical Industry," looks at the association between capabilities, strategic intent and performance. Employing capabilities theory and the strategic intent literature, I model (i) the association of firm-level capabilities and rigidities on performance, (ii) the association of strategic intent and performance and (iii) the interaction effects of capabilities and strategic intent upon performance. Our sample consists of pharmaceutical firms during the years 1993 to 2003 and I find that both capabilities and strategic intent are negatively associated with firm performance. The interaction of the two main effects is positively related to performance conditional on firms having high strategic intent. The findings point to potential evidence of core rigidities theory as well as strategic intent theory, which has yet to be empirically tested by scholars. The second paper is entitled "The Impact of Political Capabilities on Firm Performance: An Empirical Investigation." In this paper, I integrate capabilities theory with the literature on corporate political activity (CPA). The CPA literature has been robust in addressing the determinants of a firm's choice to engage in political activities but has been less robust in modeling the CPA-performance link. I address this by first integrating capabilities theory and political action and then by testing a number of constructs on a sample of Fortune 500 firms from varying industries. Specifically, I find that political action committee (PAC) intensity and lobbying intensity is associated with higher firm performance. I then interact PAC intensity with lobbying intensity and also find positive association between this interaction and performance, denoting that these two activities are complements and not substitutes. Finally, I moderate these relationships with industry concentration and find that performance increases for politically active firms as industries become more concentrated. The third paper is titled "Political Capabilities and Rigidities: The Case of AT&T's Acquisition Attempt of T-Mobile USA." This paper studies, in an in-depth case study, the political capabilities of American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), focusing on the years 1984-2011. Using capabilities and rigidities theory from management, I provide detailed evidence of (i) AT&T's intent to compete on political capabilities, (ii) the success derived from these political capabilities and (iii) situational failure resulting from an over-reliance on these political capabilities. In the empirical section, I show how the firm failed to assess external information that it needed to adjust its competitive strategy and, as a result, failed to acquire a key competitor. This paper makes contributions to capabilities research, rigidities research and corporate political activity. / Business Administration/Strategic Management

Com base no questionamento se as pequenas empresas e seus gestores podiam usar como ferramentas de gestão as principais teorias administrativas com a mesma eficiência que nas grandes empresas nas quais, via de regra, estas teorias foram desenvolvidas, este trabalho buscou analisar especificamente se os conceitos da teoria da intenção estratégica aplicam-se nas pequenas empresas. Esta pesquisa caracteriza-se como um estudo exploratório baseado na técnica da entrevista em profundidade, a qual foi realizada com pequenos empresários de empresas localizadas em incubadoras universitárias, no período de junho a agosto de 2011. Os resultados deste trabalho indicam que, apesar das pequenas empresas, geralmente, não conseguirem realizar um planejamento ao longo prazo e controlar o seu próprio destino, dois dos preceitos da intenção estratégica, elas são capazes de mostrar evolução na aplicação da intenção estratégica quanto a mudar o seu setor, de ter as competências necessárias para tal e de ser autor do seu próprio destino. Em síntese, conclui-se que, de maneira geral, a intenção estratégica pode ser aplicada nas pequenas empresas e que os limitadores desta aplicação são as próprias dificuldades inerentes às pequenas empresas como, por exemplo, fragilidade perante as frequentes mudanças do mercado, sobrecarga de questões operacionais por parte dos gestores e falta de recursos financeiros e humanos. / This investigation will look at whether the concepts of the strategic intent theory could be applicable specifically to small companies, with regards to whether they and their managers could use administration theories as managerial tools as effectively as they would in large corporations, where, by and large, those theories are usually developed. This is merely an exploratory study and relies on an in-depth interview technique, which was conducted with small business entrepreneurs from corporations located in university incubators, from June to August 2011. The results of this study show that despite the overall inability of small companies to conduct long-term planning and control their own futures, which are two of the precepts of strategic intent, they are able to show improvements in terms of its applicability when it comes to changing their sectors, as well as having the necessary competencies for such a move and being the authors of their own destiny. To sum up, we can assume that strategic intent can generally be applied in small companies and that the limiting factors of such application are the hardships that are inherent to small companies, such as fragility in the face of frequent market changes, excessive operational issues with regards to managers and a lack of financial and human resources.

Com base no questionamento se as pequenas empresas e seus gestores podiam usar como ferramentas de gestão as principais teorias administrativas com a mesma eficiência que nas grandes empresas nas quais, via de regra, estas teorias foram desenvolvidas, este trabalho buscou analisar especificamente se os conceitos da teoria da intenção estratégica aplicam-se nas pequenas empresas. Esta pesquisa caracteriza-se como um estudo exploratório baseado na técnica da entrevista em profundidade, a qual foi realizada com pequenos empresários de empresas localizadas em incubadoras universitárias, no período de junho a agosto de 2011. Os resultados deste trabalho indicam que, apesar das pequenas empresas, geralmente, não conseguirem realizar um planejamento ao longo prazo e controlar o seu próprio destino, dois dos preceitos da intenção estratégica, elas são capazes de mostrar evolução na aplicação da intenção estratégica quanto a mudar o seu setor, de ter as competências necessárias para tal e de ser autor do seu próprio destino. Em síntese, conclui-se que, de maneira geral, a intenção estratégica pode ser aplicada nas pequenas empresas e que os limitadores desta aplicação são as próprias dificuldades inerentes às pequenas empresas como, por exemplo, fragilidade perante as frequentes mudanças do mercado, sobrecarga de questões operacionais por parte dos gestores e falta de recursos financeiros e humanos. / This investigation will look at whether the concepts of the strategic intent theory could be applicable specifically to small companies, with regards to whether they and their managers could use administration theories as managerial tools as effectively as they would in large corporations, where, by and large, those theories are usually developed. This is merely an exploratory study and relies on an in-depth interview technique, which was conducted with small business entrepreneurs from corporations located in university incubators, from June to August 2011. The results of this study show that despite the overall inability of small companies to conduct long-term planning and control their own futures, which are two of the precepts of strategic intent, they are able to show improvements in terms of its applicability when it comes to changing their sectors, as well as having the necessary competencies for such a move and being the authors of their own destiny. To sum up, we can assume that strategic intent can generally be applied in small companies and that the limiting factors of such application are the hardships that are inherent to small companies, such as fragility in the face of frequent market changes, excessive operational issues with regards to managers and a lack of financial and human resources.

Com base no questionamento se as pequenas empresas e seus gestores podiam usar como ferramentas de gestão as principais teorias administrativas com a mesma eficiência que nas grandes empresas nas quais, via de regra, estas teorias foram desenvolvidas, este trabalho buscou analisar especificamente se os conceitos da teoria da intenção estratégica aplicam-se nas pequenas empresas. Esta pesquisa caracteriza-se como um estudo exploratório baseado na técnica da entrevista em profundidade, a qual foi realizada com pequenos empresários de empresas localizadas em incubadoras universitárias, no período de junho a agosto de 2011. Os resultados deste trabalho indicam que, apesar das pequenas empresas, geralmente, não conseguirem realizar um planejamento ao longo prazo e controlar o seu próprio destino, dois dos preceitos da intenção estratégica, elas são capazes de mostrar evolução na aplicação da intenção estratégica quanto a mudar o seu setor, de ter as competências necessárias para tal e de ser autor do seu próprio destino. Em síntese, conclui-se que, de maneira geral, a intenção estratégica pode ser aplicada nas pequenas empresas e que os limitadores desta aplicação são as próprias dificuldades inerentes às pequenas empresas como, por exemplo, fragilidade perante as frequentes mudanças do mercado, sobrecarga de questões operacionais por parte dos gestores e falta de recursos financeiros e humanos. / This investigation will look at whether the concepts of the strategic intent theory could be applicable specifically to small companies, with regards to whether they and their managers could use administration theories as managerial tools as effectively as they would in large corporations, where, by and large, those theories are usually developed. This is merely an exploratory study and relies on an in-depth interview technique, which was conducted with small business entrepreneurs from corporations located in university incubators, from June to August 2011. The results of this study show that despite the overall inability of small companies to conduct long-term planning and control their own futures, which are two of the precepts of strategic intent, they are able to show improvements in terms of its applicability when it comes to changing their sectors, as well as having the necessary competencies for such a move and being the authors of their own destiny. To sum up, we can assume that strategic intent can generally be applied in small companies and that the limiting factors of such application are the hardships that are inherent to small companies, such as fragility in the face of frequent market changes, excessive operational issues with regards to managers and a lack of financial and human resources.

The human factor has been detected as the weakest link in the information security of organizations. Methods like training and awareness programs and the implementation of security policies have been developed, but they still seem to be less effective than desired. Authors have suggested integrating information security more holistically in organizations. In this study we discuss how strategic intent can influence an information security culture and improve information security behavior, thereby strengthening the weakest link. This thesis aims to develop a conceptual framework for organizations to integrate behavioral information security holistically with strategic intent. This thesis is based on a qualitative study with an abductive approach consisting of nine exploratory, semi-structured interviews. This way we could find today’s most prominent factors that might reinforce information security behavior in organizations and discuss the interrelations among those factors together with their potential facilitators and barriers. To improve behavioral InfoSec holistically in organizations, strategic Intent and InfoSec culture are promising factors. All factors have clear interrelations, but also potential facilitators and barriers.

No description available.

Se situant dans le champ de la stratégie, cette thèse souhaite contribuer à l’aide à la réflexion stratégique des entreprises du FLOSS commercial. Cet objectif semble atteint par la fourniture de deux construits (modèle des dynamiques et jeu de propositions) et trois illustrations par des cas d’entreprises représentatives du secteur. Le modèle des cinq dynamiques constitue un support à la formulation de l’intention et à la conception de la configuration stratégique. En éclatant l’approche communautaire classique dans les dynamiques socio-politique, psycho-cognitive et d’usage, ce travail génère un cadre conceptuel qui se propose d’intégrer la notion d’environnement FLOSS plus large que celle de communauté. Ce modèle met en évidence un besoin de repérer les acteurs et pouvoirs en présence dans un projet, de gérer les réticences de ces derniers et de s’appuyer sur les usages pour développer des pratiques qui génèrent de la collaboration. Enfin, le jeu de propositions peut servir aux entreprises du FLOSS commercial de lignes directrices et aux chercheurs de pistes à approfondir. / This thesis aims to support business strategic decisions of commercial FLOSS companies. This objective appears to be achieved through two specific and flexible models (theoretical study supported by set of practical proposals) and three open source companies based case studies. The five dynamics' model is used to support the definition of the strategic intents and their deployment within an open source company. Based on socio-political, psycho-cognitive and technological use dynamics, this work generates a conceptual framework integrating the concept of FLOSS environment, much broader than only communities. This model highlights the needs to identify the different actors, their roles and scopes of influence in a project, to manage their reluctance and to mobilize collaboration tools to leverage of FLOSS practices. Finally, the set of proposals can be used as guidelines for commercial FLOSS companies strategy definition and for researchers more specific studies.

Direct-to-consumer genomics (DTCG) health testing offers great promise to humanity, however to date adoption has lagged as a result of consumer awareness, understanding, and previous government regulations restricting DTCG companies from providing information on an individual's genetic predispositions. But in 2017 the broader DTCG market which also includes genealogical testing demonstrated exponential growth, implying that DTCG is starting to diffuse as an innovation. To better understand the sociocultural forces affecting diffusion, adoption, and satisfaction, qualitative ethnographic research was conducted with DTCG genealogy and health consumers. The data was qualitatively analyzed using thematic analysis to understand the similarities and differences in beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and mediating factors that have influenced consumers. Design anthropology theory and methods were used to produce ethnographically informed insights. The insights were then translated into actionable product management and business strategy recommendations.

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Die tradisionele benadering tot bestuur het die Suid-Afrikaanse korrektiewe sisteem sedert sy ontstaan gedomineer. Die vraag wat ontstaan, is of daar enige praktiese, werkbare altematiewe is, veral omdat die huidige strategiese ingesteldheid, argitektuur en menslike hulpbronne onder verdenking is. Hierdie navorsing bevestig die vermoede dat 'n nuwe benadering tot strategie, struktuur, kultuur, bestuursfilosofie, werkspraktyke en mense te voorskyn kom en dat dit alleenlik gemobiliseer kan word deur organisasievernuwing. 'n Penologiese sisteem wat 'n deelnemende bestuursbenadering aanvaar, sal as 'n wereldleier geklassifiseer word. / The traditional approach to management has dominated the South African correctional system since its conception. The question arises whether there are any practical workable alternatives, especially as the present strategic intent, architecture and human resources are under suspicion. This research confirms the supposition that a new approach to strategy, structure, culture, management philosophy, work methods and people is emerging and that this approach can be enabled only by organisational renewal. A penological system that adopts a participative management approach would be classified as a world leader. / Penology / M.A. (Penology)

2008 年擁有158 年歷史的美國投資銀行，雷曼兄弟控股公司( Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. )的破產，掀起全球性的金融風暴，進而促使全球經濟同時性大衰退。 曾經是美國、甚至全球最大的企業的通用汽車也蒙受嚴重波及，而宣告破產重整。 百年歷史的GM 公司的倒閉，使得『企業規模越大，越不會倒閉』的傳統觀念破滅 了！根據統計，一般企業的壽命，約在30 年，而世界上仍有許多維繫超過百年甚至 更久遠的企業。促使那些擁有百年歷史的企業，永續經營特質是什麼? 回顧1990 年，普拉哈(C.K. Prahalad) 和蓋瑞‧哈默爾 (Gary Hamel) 於「哈佛商 業評論」上發表了企業核心競爭力（Core Competence）模型的論文以及唐納．薩 爾 (Donald N. Sull) (2003) 在「成功不墜」所闡述企業永續經營模型。還有，日本 京都大學經濟學研究所的末松千尋教授於2002 年提出京都企業經營模式研究論 述。三者構成本論文研究的理論模型基礎架構。藉由NEC 的個案，以質化個案研究 的方式，對照這個模型架構，探討NEC 公司永續經營的特質，印證本理論架構基礎 的實用性與完整性。研究成果將可提供國內企業，邁向國際化、全球化、永續經營 上策略思考之參考。 本研究從NEC 個案中獲得企業永續經營準則、永續成功經營模式為： 一、 擬訂企業策略發展意圖，建構企業願景。 二、 藉由不斷創新，建構企業核心競爭能力。 三、 認識企業存在的意義，重視顧客滿意。 四、 建立開放平台，與供應商的水平分工。 五、 隨著經營環境變遷，勇於適時變革。 關鍵字：永續經營特質，企業核心競爭力，企業經營模式，成功經營模式 / A 158- year-old firm, the 4th largest investment bank in the USA, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. announced its bankruptcy in 2008.Rapidly stirred up a global financial credit crisis and became to a worldwide economic recession concurrently. The ever being biggest company in the USA and even in the world, General Motors Corporation was engulfed seriously and finally also sank into bankruptcy protection by the economic recession. Even having hundred years history company like GM Corp. was forced to reorganize by bankruptcy protection. The traditional concept, 「The larger of the scale of a company the less possibilty of the company will collapse」,was ruined！According to some statistics a company can last for about 30 years for average. But there are still many firms lasting for more than hundred years in the world. What is sustainable managerial essence of those firms? Let us review their theses of core compentence of the corporation in the article of Harvard Business Review in 1990 by Mr. C.K. Prahalad and Mr. Gary Hamel. and the theses of company`s sustainable managerial model in the book of「Revival of the Fittest」in 2003 by Mr. Donald N. Sull. Also let us review the theses of 「Kyo-siki strategic business model」in 2002 by Mr. Chihiro Suematsu, Professor of Kyoto University Graduate School of Economics. These three above expounding form the basic model of theory of this research. By the case study of NEC Corporation, taking antithesis of these expounding, a case study of qualitative research oriented, tries to find sustainable managerial essence of NEC and to prove the practicality and the completeness of the basic model of theory of this research. The research thesis is trying to offer some strategic references to the company in Taiwan during creating its sustainable managerial essence for company on the way of internationalization and globalization of company. From this research of NEC case study it has found some conclusions about company`s sustainable managerial priceples or company`s sustainable successful business model as the followings： 1. Implementing strategic intents and setting up visions for the company. 2. Building core competencies for the company by constant innovations. 3. Realizing the meanings of company`s existence and taking customer satisfaction as the first priority. 4. Constructting an open platforms for business collateral integration with vendors and partners. 5. Being brave in timly transfoming for the company fitting changes of the business environment. Key Words：sustainable managerial essence，core competence，managerial model，sustainable successful business model