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Essays on the Role and Influence of Top Managers on Firm Interactions With Secondary StakeholdersNeville, François 15 December 2016 (has links)
Firm behavior and performance has become increasingly susceptible to the influence of secondary stakeholders—namely community activists, advocacy groups, religious organizations, and other non-governmental organizations that often represent a broader social movement. Despite recent suggestions that secondary stakeholder demands trigger an important two-sided interactive process between secondary stakeholders and their targeted firms, little theoretical or empirical attention has been placed on firm-sided factors that influence the dynamics and outcomes of these interactions, especially the role and influence of the firm’s top managers during these interactions. In this three-essay dissertation, I theorize about and examine the influential role that the firm’s top managers expectedly occupy within the interactions that occur between secondary stakeholders and the firms that are the targets of their demands. My dissertation contributes to advancing strategic management and organization research by (1) examining influential managerial attributes that influence their firm’s responsiveness toward secondary stakeholder activism, and (2) examining certain important consequences of managerial responses for secondary stakeholder behavior and the targeted firm.
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Transcending Death Through Organizational BirthFox, Matthew J. January 2015 (has links)
<p>In this dissertation, I develop and test a theory linking the legacy motive to entrepreneurship. After examining evidence in support of the desire to make a lasting impact as a source of motivation for the founders of new organizations, I propose that the importance of this motive has been overlooked, due to a lack of conceptual clarity regarding the legacy construct. I argue that examining the relationship between entrepreneurship and the legacy motive contributes greatly to understanding of both phenomena. I develop a theory of entrepreneurial legacies, in which I explain how understanding the connection between the legacy motive and entrepreneurship requires recognizing the variety of lasting impacts different people can choose to pursue. I then examine the implications of the different desired legacies for the entrepreneurs and their organizations, particularly for critical funding decisions at the beginning of the new venture, and for decisions related to succession, when the organization needs to replace the founder. Next, I conducted two studies to examine the effects of the legacy motive on entrepreneurial decision making. In the first study, I tested the relative strength of the legacy motive among firm founders and those who work for others. I developed new measures of the intended benefits and beneficiaries of a legacy, to examine their relationship to each other and related variables using an online sample of engineers. I found that engineers high on the legacy motive are more likely to indicate founding the firm they currently work for, own more of their current employer, and have filed more patents. In the second study, I conducted a qualitative examination of medical startups, examining the processes that led executives in these firms to the current stage of their careers, and the elements of their work lives that they experience as meaningful. Finally, I discuss the implications of the link between the entrepreneurship and the legacy motive, and the different ways in which people define what makes these two constructs meaningful.</p> / Dissertation
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La Direction Marketing stratégique comme vecteur de resserrement du lien marketing - stratégie dans l'organisation : l'étude du cas LaSer-Cofinoga / Strategic marketing department as an integration tool of marketing and strategy in the organization : the case study of laSer-CofinogaKoleva, Valentina 23 June 2011 (has links)
Cette recherche doctorale a pour objectif de clarifier les apports de la fonction marketing à la stratégie générale de l’entreprise. Il s’agit de comprendre comment se réalise le lien entre les deux fonctions – marketing et stratégie, dans le contexte spécifique d’une entreprise ayant créé une direction de marketing stratégique. En nous fondant sur la théorie du lien marketing-stratégie et sur les apports des sciences cognitives, nous avons proposé un cadre théorique intégratif basé sur la notion de représentation. D’un point de vue méthodologique, la cohérence entre la problématique, les données auxquelles nous avons accès et la nature du phénomène étudié, nous ont conduit à privilégier une démarche de recherche qualitative. Nous avons choisi l’étude de cas unique comme méthode de collecte des données et nous nous sommes appuyés sur l’observation participante comme démarche d’accès au terrain. Notre recherche a mis en relief l’émergence successive de trois types de représentations du lien marketing-stratégie, les facteurs qui influencent leur transformation et leurs conséquences. Finalement, la lecture transversale de nos résultats nous permet d’enrichir le cadre théorique initial par la prise en considération de variables liées à l’architecture des activités marketing, à la culture d’entreprise, à l’apprentissage organisationnel ou encore au rôle des dirigeants. / This doctoral research aims to clarify the contribution of the marketing function to corporate strategy. We want to uncover the link between these two fields - marketing and strategy, in the specific context of a company having a strategic marketing department. We bring together the theory of marketing-strategy interface and the contributions of cognitive science, in order to propose an integrative theoretical framework centered on the notion of managerial cognition. From a methodological point of view, the consistency between our research question, the available data and the nature of the phenomenon, led us to adopt a qualitative research approach. We chose a single case study combined with a participant observation as a method of data collection and analysis. Our research has highlighted the emergence of three successive types of mental models of marketing-strategy interface, the factor that influence their transformation and their consequences. To conclude, our results allows us to enrich the initial theoretical framework by some emergent themes relative to the architecture of marketing activities, the corporate culture, the organizational learning and the role of the marketing manager.
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Through the Eyes of a Manager : A study on the perceived effects of PSD2 and the preparatory work of Swedish bank managersThorell, Jacob, Sjöstrand, Jesper January 2017 (has links)
The European financial market is rapidly changing with emerging fintechs targeting the banks’ traditional value chain, leveraging on their lower pace of innovation. The Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) is put into force in 2018 and aims to open up the financial market to new competitors, thus, promoting positive competition. This study examines how the managerial perception of changes in the external environment, caused by PSD2, affects banks’ preparatory work. The study uses a mix of Market Based View and Resource Based View along with an extension of RBV, illuminating how capabilities and managerial cognition affects managerial action. Using a qualitative approach through an interview based comparison between managers of two Swedish banks, the study confirms the theories’ stating that managerial cognition of the external environment, comprised of perceived opportunities and threats, affects managerial preparatory actions. Additionally, the study shows that managers’ perception of organisational capabilities affects managerial action.
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Adaptation of Incumbent firms to changing environments: a dynamic capability perspectiveLeemann, Niklaus 16 May 2022 (has links)
This publication-based dissertation examines the phenomenon of incumbent adaptation to changing environments with a dynamic capabilities perspective. Its core consists of four research papers that are self-contained and have been developed to be published in double-blind peer-reviewed academic journals. This intellectual body is framed with an introduction (Section 1) that introduces the current state of research on dynamic capabilities, summarizes the four research papers, and presents the current publication status of the work; the concluding Section 6 presents the overall contributions, limitations, and avenues for future research. The first research paper (Section 2) is a systematic literature review of empirical studies that identify idiosyncratic dynamic capabilities in practice. Its main finding is a taxonomy of dynamic capabilities that introduces 19 dynamic subcapabilities and connects them to existing conceptual literature. The second research paper (Section 3) is a longitudinal single case study of Axel Springer, a leading media corporation that has exercised dynamic capabilities to convert from a print publisher to an internet company. The study finds iterations, overlaps, and interconnections between sensing, seizing, and transforming. Based on the findings, a generalized conceptual model for dynamic capabilities in incumbent adaptation is constructed. For the third research paper (Section 4) an action research approach is applied to explore how managers’ mental models can engender erroneous resource cognition. The study discovers five cognitive biases that may distort resource cognition. The fourth research paper (Section 5) is a teaching case study building on the strategic challenge for Somedia, a Swiss media firm, to diversify from its declining legacy business by leveraging its resources and capabilities. This publication-based dissertation enhances the understanding of incumbent adaptation and presents applicable implications and recommendations for practitioners.
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An investigation into the integration of qualitative and quantitative techniques for addressing systemic complexity in the context of organisational strategic decision-makingMcLucas, Alan Charles, Civil Engineering, Australian Defence Force Academy, UNSW January 2001 (has links)
System dynamics modelling has been used for around 40 years to address complex, systemic, dynamic problems, those often described as wicked. But, system dynamics modelling is not an exact science and arguments about the most suitable techniques to use in which circumstances, continues. The nature of these wicked problems is investigated through a series of case studies where poor situational awareness among stakeholders was identified. This was found to be an underlying cause for management failure, suggesting need for better ways of recognising and managing wicked problem situations. Human cognition is considered both as a limitation and enabler to decision-making in wicked problem environments. Naturalistic and deliberate decision-making are reviewed. The thesis identifies the need for integration of qualitative and quantitative techniques. Case study results and a review of the literature led to identification of a set of principles of method to be applied in an integrated framework, the aim being to develop an improved way of addressing wicked problems. These principles were applied to a series of cases in an action research setting. However, organisational and political barriers were encountered. This limited the exploitation and investigation of cases to varying degrees. In response to a need identified in the literature review and the case studies, a tool is designed to facilitate analysis of multi-factorial, non-linear causality. This unique tool and its use to assist in problem conceptualisation, and as an aid to testing alternate strategies, are demonstrated. Further investigation is needed in relation to the veracity of combining causal influences using this tool and system dynamics, broadly. System dynamics modelling was found to have utility needed to support analysis of wicked problems. However, failure in a particular modelling project occurred when it was found necessary to rely on human judgement in estimating values to be input into the models. This was found to be problematic and unacceptably risky for sponsors of the modelling effort. Finally, this work has also identified that further study is required into: the use of human judgement in decision-making and the validity of system dynamics models that rely on the quantification of human judgement.
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An investigation into the integration of qualitative and quantitative techniques for addressing systemic complexity in the context of organisational strategic decision-makingMcLucas, Alan Charles, Civil Engineering, Australian Defence Force Academy, UNSW January 2001 (has links)
System dynamics modelling has been used for around 40 years to address complex, systemic, dynamic problems, those often described as wicked. But, system dynamics modelling is not an exact science and arguments about the most suitable techniques to use in which circumstances, continues. The nature of these wicked problems is investigated through a series of case studies where poor situational awareness among stakeholders was identified. This was found to be an underlying cause for management failure, suggesting need for better ways of recognising and managing wicked problem situations. Human cognition is considered both as a limitation and enabler to decision-making in wicked problem environments. Naturalistic and deliberate decision-making are reviewed. The thesis identifies the need for integration of qualitative and quantitative techniques. Case study results and a review of the literature led to identification of a set of principles of method to be applied in an integrated framework, the aim being to develop an improved way of addressing wicked problems. These principles were applied to a series of cases in an action research setting. However, organisational and political barriers were encountered. This limited the exploitation and investigation of cases to varying degrees. In response to a need identified in the literature review and the case studies, a tool is designed to facilitate analysis of multi-factorial, non-linear causality. This unique tool and its use to assist in problem conceptualisation, and as an aid to testing alternate strategies, are demonstrated. Further investigation is needed in relation to the veracity of combining causal influences using this tool and system dynamics, broadly. System dynamics modelling was found to have utility needed to support analysis of wicked problems. However, failure in a particular modelling project occurred when it was found necessary to rely on human judgement in estimating values to be input into the models. This was found to be problematic and unacceptably risky for sponsors of the modelling effort. Finally, this work has also identified that further study is required into: the use of human judgement in decision-making and the validity of system dynamics models that rely on the quantification of human judgement.
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