This study applies a configuration theoretic approach to understand the interplay between business strategy and relationship strategy. It is hypothesised that business relationships make their greatest contributions to both relationship performance and firm performance when the structure of a relationship is accurately aligned with the business strategy (i.e. configuration model 1) and the relationship strategy (i.e. configuration model 2) of a focal firm. The hypotheses are tested using four seemingly complementary approaches to fit consisting of profile deviation, moderation, mediation, and covariation. This study adopts both qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey to address the research questions. First, a total of 30 interviews with CEOs and other senior marketing managers in the UK and the USA were conducted to develop a new typology for relationship strategies (termed resource acquisition strategies). The five resource acquisition strategies consist of Money Bonds, New Market Bonds, Utilisation Bonds, Intellectual Bonds, and Credibility Bonds. A further quantitative pretest, with 311 full time MBA and international executive MBA students at Manchester Business School, supported the validity and reliability of this typology. To examine the two configuration models, a sample of 658 usable responses from the US service industries was collected through a web-based survey. In the first configuration model, the results of a profile deviation analysis confirmed the existence of an ideal relational configuration for each business strategy so that the degree of adherence to this ideal profile is significantly and positively related to performance variables. Several robustness tests gave further confidence to these findings. In addition, while the two neo-classical approaches to fit, profile deviation and covariation, were strongly supported, the results only loosely supported the operationalisation of fit from the two classical approaches, fit as moderation and mediation. In the second configuration model, the results of the profile deviation analyses indicated that strategic coalignment between the business relationship characteristics and the relationship strategy is a desirable property for performance enhancement. Several robustness tests supported this finding. Moreover, the results of examining the interplay between business strategy and relationship strategy, and linking it to performance, rejected the association between the two strategy types, implying that there are several alternative, equally effective, routes to success in building relationships. This study adds to the body of knowledge via providing sufficient evidence for the appropriateness of using configuration theory in the study of relationship marketing based phenomena, thus widening the scope of this theory. It also sheds new light on our understanding of relationship strategies which is further development of the resource-based view and Industrial Marketing and Purchasing approach. It contributes to the extant literature by investigating the degree and patterns of coalignment between relationship structure and both business strategy and relationship strategy. Moreover, juxtaposing alternative forms of fit added new insight into the fit methodology literature. From a managerial perspective, this study provides specific guidelines to help managers design their relationships in ways that are aligned with their strategic intent. It also suggests that marketing managers can usefully draw on configuration theory and profile deviation approach to optimise their benchmarking decisions.

Many organizations within service industries such as government agencies, banking, healthcare, and healthcare decide to structure their business with the back office – front office design; in this setting the back office handles tasks not involving the customer, while front office involves those activities that deal with the customer through some form of contact or receive input from them. When the time comes than an organization wishes to improve the back office area and achieve enhanced efficiency, and speed; it is commonly suggested that outsourcing will help introduce the intended gains. However, outsourcing is not always the right option for an organization, depending on the activities the back office performs and the organization’s size might not make it a supreme candidate for this. It is at this point that the organizations are left standing in the cold as no alternatives are suggested; therefore creating a push towards outsourcing that might end unsuccessfully. This thesis work focused on reviewing organizational design theories and proven keys of back office improvement to establish a basic set of guidelines which will help introduce improvement in a back office area as an attempt to provide an alternative outsourcing. The methodology consisted of a case study performed at a Swedish Mobile VoIP provide, as a complement both literature review and interviews were performed to help gather information. Literature review was mainly focused on getting the background and current state of the problem identified; the validity of using the guidelines were confirmed through a first set of interviews held at the organization. The resulting guidelines take back office configuration and design together with improvement opportunities, all points lead to finding that they can be mapped together. This combination is both effective for improvement and revisiting organizational design. The produced guidelines are as follows: 1. Reduce – definition of back office and back office activities (remove unnecessary activities or lessen their demand); 2. Redesign – decoupling decisions (activities kept in the back office should be broken into separate tasks only if results are not compromised, eliminating unnecessary interdependencies); and 3. Restructure – organizational arrangements (changes in physical placement can improve knowledge sharing and support an open communication). The results of implementing such guidelines were evaluated through a second set of interviews which were also held at the selected organization. The final evaluation of changes within the organization concluded in positive effects as was intended. Further work in the area is needed to help define a more complete and detailed set of guidelines, the ones resulting from this thesis work surely serve as a foundation.

Entrepreneurship has been argued to be a key driver of the economy by creating jobs, turning inventions to innovations, and also improving the overall standard of life. A firm’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO) indicates the degree to which a firm is entrepreneurial. However, there are several different approaches to conceptualizing the EO concept and its sub-dimensions, frequently described as innovativeness, risk taking, and proactiveness. The role of the sub-dimensions is not quite clear in the EO literature. Furthermore, many studies claim that firms can increase their performance simply by increasing their EO, while this thesis draws upon contingency theory to argue that EO needs to be aligned with—‘fit’ the internal and external context, if the firm is to perform well. Thus, this thesis aims to advance the conceptualization of EO by problematizing the core construct and also discussing how EO can fit with context. The thesis consists of four papers in which the EO concept is elaborated on and contingency theory is applied to construct conceptual models of the interaction between EO and different contexts, which are also empirically investigated. Furthermore, the sub-dimensions of EO are discussed in terms of their meanings and measurement to point out their individual impact on the EO. The overall findings indicate that EO is not as simple a concept as often portrayed in the EO literature. Rather, EO is more complex in the ways that it can fit with internal and external context and, on these bases, it is suggested that ideal types of EO and context is a way forward for research in the area. Additionally, it is argued that EO as a theoretical construct may not only be conceptualized as an overall entrepreneurial attribute (which is common in the extant literature), but also as a complex and granular attribute.

Yes / Although IT-enabled dynamic capabilities (ITDCs) add value to firms operating in turbulent and rapidly changing environments, firms face several challenges in developing, deploying, and maintaining the right portfolio of ITDCs. Since ITDCs are not uniformly advantageous, firms need to make strategic decisions in order to accomplish the complex task of achieving optimal ITDC configurations. This conceptual paper draws on the strategic alignment perspective to identify the optimal configuration of ITDCs for a firm based on its business strategy orientation indicated by the Miles and Snow typology. This paper first explicates the theoretically ideal configurations of ITDCs based on the competitive strategy patterns associated with each Miles and Snow archetype and then develops a model for measuring the strategic fit of ITDCs. This paper contributes to the literatures on ITDCs and strategic alignment by identifying optimal ITDC configurations and by conceptualizing the strategic fit of ITDCs respectively.

Music streaming services are increasing, compact discs (CDs) and digital download sales are declining, and many music artists are becoming affected by this positive shift in music technology. Music streaming revenue does not compensate for the decrease in revenue from CDs and paid downloads. Based on organizational configuration theory (OCT), the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the technology and marketing strategies that small business music artists used to generate sales revenue from the Internet. Six small business music artists who were 18 years or older with different music revenue streams participated in semistructured interviews. These small business music artists provided detailed information on the technology and marketing strategies they used to generate sales revenue from the Internet. The data collection process for this study included semistructured interview data and participant observations. The data analysis process included methodological triangulation of the interview data and participant observation data to identify themes for the study. Seven themes identified were having a marketing budget, social media, recording studio sessions, digital distribution, SoundExchange, music licensing, and corporate sponsorships. These data may contribute to positive social change by helping small business music artists sustain operations in the music industry.

Yes / We examine how ties with multiple host-country political institutions contribute to MNE subsidiary performance in countries with weak formal institutions. We suggest that forging relationships between subsidiaries and host-country government actors, local chieftains, and religious leaders generates regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive political resources. We integrate institutional and configuration theories to argue that similarity to an ideal configuration of the three political resources contributes to MNE subsidiary performance, and that the more dysfunctional host country institutions, the greater the impact on performance. We test our hypotheses using primary and archival data from 604 MNE subsidiaries in 23 Anglophone sub-Saharan African countries and find support for our hypotheses. In our conclusion we discuss the wider theoretical, managerial, and public policy implications of our findings.