Much progress has been made recently in developing the business model concept. However, one issue remains poorly understood, despite its importance for managers, policy makers, and academics alike, namely, how companies change and develop their business models to achieve sustained value creation. Companies which manage to create value over extended periods of time successfully shape, adapt and renew their business models to fuel such value creation. Drawing on findings from a research program on continuously growing firms, this paper identifies three critical capabilities, namely an orientation towards experimenting with and exploiting new business opportunities; a balanced use of resources; as well as achieving coherence between leadership, culture, and employee commitment, together shaping key strategizing actions. Moreover, we illustrate how each of these capabilities is supported by different sets of specific activities. Jointly, these three capabilities, their activities and the strategizing actions act as complementarities for value creation. We conclude the paper by suggesting implications for research and practitioners, providing a tool for managers which allows them to reflect on and identify critical issues relevant for changing and developing their business model to sustain value creation.

Denna uppsats behandlar IT-arbete med fokus på IT-styrning, med offentlig sektor som utgångspunkt. Arbetet baseras på en två månaders praktik som utförts vid ett av Sveriges landsting, där arbetet vid huvudkontorets IT-avdelning har observerats och intervjuer utförts. Arbetet presenterar den struktur för IT-styrande som landstinget använde då praktiken utfördes. Det presenterar dessutom svårigheter som upplevs av de som styr landstingets IT i brist på dels detaljerade styrdokument för IT, och dels ett bristande stöd ifrån ledningen. Detta leder vidare till en teoretisk diskussion kring IT-governance, Shared services samt Strategizing. Det hela fångas upp i en diskussion som redogör för de olika styrande aspekternas påverkan på IT-strategi och IT-arbete. Arbetet bidrar därmed till kunskapsbasen kring IT-styrning genom analys av IT-arbete offentlig sektor.

For over a decade, the Saudi government has been actively promoting a privatisation strategy for Saudi sport clubs as part of ongoing wider policies aimed at stimulating the national economy through the privatisation of various economic sectors. Other ‘declared’ underlying objectives of the privatisation plan include reducing direct government spending, diversifying sources of income and increasing efficiency through greater involvement of the private sector. However, despite multi-millions of investments and years of political rhetoric, the progress made to-date has been very limited. This study adopts a theoretical framework based on the three key domains of strategising (i.e. the 3Ps) (e.g. Whittington, 2006; Jarzabkowski and Spee, 2009). Strategising differs from conventional strategy in that it regards strategy work as a pattern in a stream of goal-directed activity (Johnson, Melin, & Whittington, 2003; Jarzabkowski, 2005; Whittington, 2006). The deployment of the strategy-as-practice research agenda is recent and limited in sport management research, and empirical type of studies are noticeably scant. Hence, this study addresses part of this existing gap. On a practical level, the study puts forward policy recommendations towards enhanced understanding of strategising dynamics within sport organisations. Through holistic, embedded multiple-case study research design, comprising a sample of eighteen case studies, this study addresses the relationship between strategy and strategising through all phases of the strategy journey. In particular, the study aims to reveal how strategising practices are manifested in the strategising work around the privatisation of Saudi sport clubs and evaluate the various strategising actors’ roles at macro, meso and micro levels. The main findings are reported along two broad levels, firstly in terms of the three domains of strategising, and secondly with regards to the key patterns of strategising. Consistent with the predictions of theoretical framework, overall findings provide strong evidence for the key role played by the 3Ps and their strong interconnectedness within the overall dynamics of the strategising activity system. The second level of findings documents the dominance of the procedural type of strategising, which is mainly enacted through the widespread use of long-established formal administrative practices that came to typify centralised policymaking in Saudi Arabia. These findings are not surprising and are entirely consistent with existing evidence (for example, Jarzabkowski, 2003; Whittington, 2003) when considering the high levels of ‘embeddedness’ and ‘persistence’ of this type of strategising within the wider functioning and organisational culture of these entities. Hence, various facets of this prevailing situation could be seen as a the major obstacle in the face of any attempt to successfully introduce new ways of organising and strategising within the Saudi sport sector in general, and the sport club privatisation policy in particular.

Accounting information can be instrumental to agents who strategize. Pluralistic settings are conducive to strategizing. Although the dynamics between accounting systems and strategic decision-making are well studied in the private sector, little is known about the relationship between accounting and strategizing in the pluralistic setting of healthcare. Hence, this study investigates medical managers' strategizing practices with accounting information (e.g. building cases for investment and taking on new business). Medical managers require, at least, some expertise with accounting to employ it effectively in strategizing. In consequence, the study also explores variation in medical managers' technical knowledge of costs and level of engagement with accounting information. Thus, this research answers the question of how medical managers strategize with accounting information. The study draws upon accounting and strategizing literature, which interrogates actors' strategizing practices (e.g. Paroutis & Pettigrew, 2007), the artefacts and tools that they mobilise while strategizing (e.g. Jarzabkowski et al., 2013) and how accounting and strategizing helps actors contextualize strategic objectives and accounting concepts (e.g. Jørgensen & Messner, 2010). In doing so, accounting and strategizing studies shift away from viewing strategy as a black box (Chua, 2007; Johnson et al., 2003). This study focuses on Clinical and Medical Directors; clinicians who have both medical and managerial responsibilities. This hybrid profession is increasingly important for health care organizations, however, in the past, clinicians' competence and engagement with accounting information has not been widespread (Llewellyn, 2001; Kurunmäki, 2004).The research uses a mixed methods approach to gather and analyse empirical data. Interviews were held with Clinical and Medical Directors at four selected Trusts that demonstrated a high level of engagement between finance professionals and clinicians at different organizational levels and across all clinical specialties (Department of Health, 2013). Documentary analysis examined the use of accounting information in business cases for investment, annual strategy plans and specialty reports. A survey explored the financial training, engagement and use of accounting information for the whole population of Clinical and Medical Directors of all NHS Trusts in England. The study finds that medical managers strategize via controlling, contesting and competing (C-C-C) practices. Specifically, they strategize with accounting information to control activity and expenditure, contest imposed costs, and compete, against others, for resources. In doing so, they embed accounting in business cases, bubble charts and performance reports, using these as artefacts and tools, to display the practical and general understandings of accounting which inform their strategizing practices. Thus, for pluralistic settings like healthcare, the study introduces a theoretical 'C-C-C' typology to the notion of strategizing and makes an empirical contribution to how actors strategize with accounting information.

This study examines the processes of advice seeking by small business owners and employs a Strategy-as-Practice perspective. The analysis of the data from 33 small business owners identified eleven factors that influenced the processes. These included: cost; proximity; technical skills and knowledge; business ties; similarity of goals; business savvy; appropriateness of advice; knowledge of the other; knowledge of the business and its context; personal relationships and trust. The extent of influence of the factors was shaped by the category of the advice provider as indicated by the type of relationship and the type and extent of trust in that relationship. This study makes two major contributions to knowledge. First, it highlights the fact that advice seeking is a practice within the broader practice of strategizing and shows the different roles advice plays in small business owner strategizing. Second, it develops a descriptive framework of the advice seeking practice of small business owners which shows that the small business owner’s practice of advice seeking is a set of open-ended activities which are cognitively ordered and spatially-temporally dispersed. High levels of trust and personal relationships are shown to create an advisory space in which the business owner is willing to be open and vulnerable to the advisor and so enables the advisor to gain knowledge of the business owner and his business which help shape the advice given.

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Den digitala utvecklingen i samhället är ständigt pågående och är ett fenomen som många verksamheter nyttjar i syfte att bibehålla eller öka sin konkurrensförmåga. Det finns organisationer som har väldigt goda förutsättningar, i form av kompetenser och förmågor, för att anamma och dra nytta av digitaliseringens möjligheter, samtidigt finns det organisationer som inte uppnår en liknande mognadsgrad och som därför riskerar att bli omsprungna av andra mer mogna organisationer. En sektor där särskilt mindre företag utsätts för stor konkurrens av stora företag och som har ett stort behov av att arbeta med digitalisering är banksektorn. Ett argument av behovet är att bankerna fyller en viktig funktion i samhället och det därför av stor vikt att även små banker fungerar och möjliggör värde för alla samhällets funktioner och organisationer. Ett annat argument är att bankernas kunder ställer allt högre krav på att kunna sköta bankärenden digitalt. I syfte att förbättra sina möjligheter att överleva på marknaden arbetar banker med digitala strategier. En digital strategi definieras som en riktlinje som kan användas för att uppnå en digital utveckling, det innebär en resa från det analoga till det digitala. Ett sätt att underlätta strategiarbete för banker är att följa guidelines. En guidelines ses i vår studie som en mall eller vägledning för att genomföra en specifik aktivitet. Det kan till exempel handla om olika steg som behöver genomföras för att kunna bygga ihop ett skrivbord. Även om det till viss del existerar guidelines på marknaden är de inte skräddarsydda för små och medelstora banker på den svenska marknaden. Syftet med denna studie är därför att identifiera och presentera guidelines som kan stödja små banker i Sverige att skapa, förfina och förbättra sina digitala strategier. Dessa guidelines grundar sig i användningen av digitalisering och dess fördelar och skall underlätta för svenska små banker att bibehålla sin konkurrenskraft i en digital tidsålder. I arbetet kommer vi att fokusera, studera och behandla forskningsfrågan “Vilka guidelines bör små företag i banksektorn följa för att skapa och förbättra digitala strategier”. För att uppfylla syftet och svara på forskningsfrågan har vi följt en kvalitativ metod där vi analyserat data inhämtat via intervjuer och tidigare forskning. Detta innebär att våra slutsater är baserade på både teori och empiri. Resultatet visar att svenska banker bör följa fyra guidelines för att skapa och förbättra digitala strategier. Resultatet är viktigt eftersom det bidrar till forskning genom att komplettera befintliga guidelines men det är också viktigt för praktiken eftersom de kan bidra till ökad konkurrenskraft för svenska banker. / Digital development is continuously decreasing and it is a phenomenon that several businesses use to maintain or increase their competitiveness. Some organizations have very good conditions, such as skills and abilities, to embrace and take advantage of digitalization opportunities, while there are those industries that have not achieved a similar degree of development and that risk being overtaken by other more developed organizations. One sector where many smaller companies, in particular, have a great need to work with digitalization is the banking sector. One argument is that the banks fulfill a necessary function in society and therefore that the banks must operate and enable value for all society's functions and organizations. Another argument is that the banks' customers place even higher demands on being able to handle banking matters digitally. A digital strategy is defined as a guideline that can be adapted into an organization in order to achieve digital transformation. The purpose of this study is to identify and present guidelines that can support banks in Sweden to create and choose their digital strategies. A guideline can be used as a template or a guide to be able to carry out an activity. For example, it can refer to different steps that need to be carried out to be able to build a deck together. These guidelines are based on the use of digitalization and its benefits and should make it easier for banks to maintain their competitiveness in a digital world. We will focus, study and address the research question "What guidelines should companies in the banking sector follow to create digital strategies". To fulfill the purpose and answer the research question, we have followed a qualitative method where we analyzed data obtained through interviews and previous research. This means that our conclusions are based on both theory and empirical data. The results show that Swedish banks should follow four steps.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:44:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Beatriz de Azevedo Blandy.pdf: 894938 bytes, checksum: 0ce9110e9eaddd2a8e09c7ec29c20bf0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-20 / Exploratory and qualitative study of strategic process, by approach that considers strategy as a practice. This approach receives contributions of philosophy (pragmatism) and social sciences, appropriating the concept of social practice and applying it to studies of management. It also benefits from contributions coming from the Carnegie Tradition, Neo-Institutional Theories, Situational Learning and Actor- Network theory. Through discourse analysis of nine interviews with strategists and executives from midsize businesses, it presents a typology of stages that combines and clarifies aspects of the strategizing from the practitioner s point of view. In this sense, uses excerpts from the speech of interviewees, taking advantage of the main themes addressed by them as evidence of the constituent aspects of each stage / Estudo de cunho exploratório e qualitativo sobre o processo estratégico, segundo abordagem que entende a estratégia como uma prática. Essa abordagem recebe contribuições da filosofia ( pragmatismo) e das ciências sociais, apropriando-se do conceito de prática social e aplicando-o aos estudos da gestão. Beneficia-se também das contribuições oriundas da Carnegie Tradition, das teorias neo- institucionais, da aprendizagem situacional e da teoria ator-rede. Através da análise do discurso de nove entrevistas com estrategistas, executivos de médios negócios, apresenta uma tipologia em estágios que agrega e esclarece aspectos do processo de fazer estratégia, do ponto de vista de seus praticantes. Nesse sentido, utiliza excertos da fala dos entrevistados, aproveitando-se dos principais temas por eles abordados, como evidência dos aspectos constitutivos de cada estágio

La recherche questionne le faire stratégique au sein d’une organisation pluraliste de type universitaire. En tant qu’organisations spécifiques, mêlant divers principes guidant l’action et qui développent leur capacité de pilotage stratégique, notamment en réponse à un environnement complexe et mouvant les universités relèvent de caractéristiques pluralistes (Denis et al., 2001) et de foyers stratégiques contradictoires (Jarzabkowski, 2006). Nous étudions comment le management stratégique sous l’angle des pratiques et des acteurs impliqués selon l’approche conceptuelle « strategy as practice ». La démarche empirique relève d’une étude de cas unique, longitudinale, menée dans une université française, fusionnée, de grande taille (80 entretiens semi-directifs). Les résultats s’articulent selon quatre axes : un processus articulant une initiative politique sur un territoire dans un contexte institutionnel favorable, comme un élément qui participe à l’influence d’une stratégie formalisée au sein de l’organisation. Le déploiement délibéré d'une stratégie résulte d’un ensemble de pratiques organisationnelles généralisées dans l’organisation. L’analyse montre que la stratégie s’opère au regard de trois sphères d’actions et d’interventions ne résultant pas d’une approche hiérarchique, du fait de la présence d’acteurs hétérogènes en leur sein. Ceci implique l’imbrication de pratiques qui sont la résultante d’activités épisodiques, rationnelles et discursives en vue de la coordination d’actions délibérées au sein des sphères d’action. La stratégie s'apprécie au regard d’actions managériales multiples et combinées par des outils et d’artefacts mobilisés par différents groupes d’acteurs / The objective of the research is to put into question the notion of strategizing amongst an academic pluralistic organization. Academic organizations are specific and combining diverse principles to guide an action which develops its strategic monitoring capacity; especially due to a complex and moving environment, answering to different features, those organizations are filled with contradictory strategic positions that constitutes a number of challenges to the development of their strategic management. The conceptual approach strategy as practice permits to study the notion of strategizing of those organizations. The empirical approach of the dissertation was conducted as part of a single longitudinal case study amongst a french merged university of great proportion. According to a qualitative methodology, various sources were requested: 80 semi-directed interviews; observations, logbooks. The assessment shows that the willingly expansion of the strategy results in a series of functional practices widespread in the organization. Those practices not only enable to translate the orientations but to justify changing and finally permit to involve the stakeholders in executing the strategy. The empirical analysis demonstrates that the notion of strategizing occurs in regards to three spheres of actions and the intervention of stakeholders which does not result in a hierarchic approach due to the presence of “interdependent” stakeholders in the three spheres. Strategizing also implies the embedding of strategic practices which results from episodic, rational and discursive activities and requires the coordination of deliberated actions within the three spheres of action

<p>Many business schools teach the importance of using strategy tools when engaging in strategizing activities. Despite this fact there is an ongoing debate concerning what is taught in business schools and what is actually used in practice. In spite of this debate there has been little research done regarding how these strategy tools are used in practice. This study seeks to address this through the adoption of a strategy as practice perspective which helped to identify what is actually practiced by managers while engaging in strategizing activities. Managers use strategy to respond to complex forces (social, political, economic) in their business environments. However to develop and implement strategy encompasses a full range of strategizing activities such as strategic thinking, strategic analysis, strategic decision making and implementation. Many business schools teach strategy tools are techniques which managers use to structure and influence strategizing activities. Previous research on strategy tools played emphasis on the benefits that can be derived if tools are used in different context. Others have highlighted the frequency of tool usage. Nevertheless, there is a need to make a review what is taught and how strategy tools are used in practice.</p><p>A qualitative study was conducted in two universities through the use of semi structured interviews to gather data. The use of an inductive and interpretivism perspective through a case study helped the researcher identify the context in which events were taking place. The choice of a small yet deliberate sample size was done to focus in on the various levels of management within these universities and to review how strategy tools were used at these levels. After each interview the interviewees were given a list of 15 strategy tools (all of which were taught in the researcher’s masters programme) to identify whether they used any of the strategy tools on the list and if they did how did they use them. It was noted from the empirical data acquired that quite often strategy tools were not always being used for the purpose for which they were taught nevertheless managers were altering components of various tools to meet their individual business needs. Strategy tools were often used to assist in strategic thinking and strategic decision making. Managers’ perception of strategy tools affected the extent to which tools were used and the frequency of usage. While strategy tools were often used for growth and development, communication and persuasion and best practices it was its use in sense-making and evaluation which indicated that there is a need for a greater understanding into how managers make sense of strategy tools. The study answers how strategy tools are used in practice in a university context by giving illustrations and quotations from the various interviewees regarding strategy tools.</p>