A content and comparative analysis of strategic management research in the Baltic area

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a research agenda for qualitative studies in the field of strategic management (SM) in the Baltic area. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 167 SM-related articles in this area between 2000 and 2013 were found. The content within title, abstract and authors’ keywords was analysed by means of a multiple correspondence analysis based on the HOMALS technique. Findings – The intellectual structure of SM in the Baltic area is to some extent similar to the global structure of the field. Hence research on this topic in the Baltic area is well integrated in the field. Three topics of interest have been identified while the fourth seems to offer more limited opportunities for qualitative studies. These are: entry and competition; strategic behaviour and the micro-foundations of strategy; the growth-performance relationship; and global strategies. Research limitations/implications – Despite the modest number of articles in our sample, the findings are consistent with past research on the structure of the SM field. The classification of articles into qualitative- and quantitative-based methods helped provide a research agenda. Practical implications – SM scholars in the Baltic area may find this paper as an interesting input to their quest for finding and justifying their own research path. Originality/value – This is an original literature review. The use of a quantitative method in the literature review and the suggested matrix is a second original contribution to evolving methodologies for content analysis. The method allows the inclusion of large samples while limiting the use of scholars’ intuition. </jats:sec

Measuring the degree of virtualization. An empirical analysis in two Austrian industries.

Strategic management literature suggests that especially in young and dynamic industries Virtual Corporations are more likely to emerge, as this type of organization is flexible enough to deal with rapidly changing environments. This paper challenges the proposition that environ-mental uncertainty and technological change lead to organizational adaptation towards virtual structures. We analyzed companies of two Austrian industries, data processing and engineering, which are characterized by different rates of innovation and environmental uncertainty, and compare their strategic, structural, and process characteristics by measuring their Degree of Virtualization. Results indicate almost no difference in the Degree of Virtualization. From these findings, we draw implications for the theoretical concept of Virtual Corpora-tions as well as for empirical research. (author's abstract)Series: Report Series SFB "Adaptive Information Systems and Modelling in Economics and Management Science

Delivering ‘Effortless Experience’ Across Borders: Managing Internal Consistency in Professional Service Firms

This article explores how professional service firms manage across borders. When clients require consistent services delivered across multiple locations, especially across borders, then firms need to develop an organization that is sufficiently flexible to be able to support such consistent service delivery. Our discussion is illustrated by the globalization process of law firms. We argue that the globalization of large corporate law firms primarily takes place in terms of investments in the development of protocols, processes and practices that enhance internal consistency such that clients receive an ‘effortless experience’ of the service across multiple locations worldwide. Over the longer term the ability to deliver such effortless experience is dependent upon meaningful integration within and across the firm. Firms that achieve this are building a source of sustainable competitive advantage

Institutional and organizational features of cross-border cargo traffic in the post-soviet space integration terms. Part I

The article covers the technical, technological, institutional, and organizational barriers of cross-border transportation of cargo. The study uses an institutional approach as a methodological alternative to other approaches. The study touches on institutional and organizational problems of border crossing checkpoints arrangement, the consequences of the application of unified transport documents and the introduction of electronic communication forms. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of demonstrative actions and the daily practice of reducing the time of customs procedures and reducing transaction costs of cross-border cargo traffic. Herewith it is indicated that the most effective way to improve the efficiency of cross-border transportation of cargo suggests simultaneous implementation of technical and institutional innovations. Emphasis is placed on identifying the institutional and organizational features of the international road transportation of cargo, in particular, the problems of the evolution of the guaranteed customs duties payment institute, the permission system in the implementation of cross-border cargo traffic. The fact that the state support of national entrepreneurs requires a mechanism to ensure the parity of Russian and foreign carriers, at least in the field of cargo transportation for state needs, with the involvement of credit resources of government-linked banks is highlighted. It is underlined that the first step towards improving the institutional environment of international road transportation should envisage the elimination of all informal (shadow) relations in this sphere. The article identifies institutional features of cargo transportation in specific areas such as deliveries by road to China through Kazakhstan, and the challenges and prospects for the use and development of transit potential of Kaliningrad Region. The article shows institutional and organizational characteristics of combined transportation in cross-border traffic. The article concludes that the development of cross-border transportation of cargo and the implementation of transport and transit potential of EAEU member states may and should become a powerful source of income for business entities, budgets of all levels and households, as well as the driving force of industrial and technological upgrading and institutional and organizational evolution of economic systems of the countries and integration associations.The article has been prepared with the support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project № 15-06-06939 a «Modelling the cyclical evolution of mutual influence of the national transport system and the state of the markets of goods (services), labor and capital in terms of integration and global instability»)

The field of inter-organizational relations : a jungle or an Italian garden?

Each chapter in this Handbook contains an explicit assessment of priorities for future research that would extend and deepen an understanding of IOR. Given the diversity of contributions to this volume, it is perhaps not surprising that recommendations for future research are varied. And because the three sets of contributions start from different points-empirical manifestations, theoretical and disciplinary perspectives, and thematic interests-so the recommendations, too, might be expected to lead along different paths, 'cutting' and framing future research topics in different ways. Nevertheless, as others have suggested (Brass et al. 2005) it is possible to see some points of convergence across all three parts of the Handbook. We begin our discussion of the contributions and suggestions for the future by focusing on these points of convergence. We then look in turn at the specific ideas that emerge from, and relate to, the specific framings of each of the parts. Finally, we draw together insights about methodological issues