Building Consensus Among General Counsel to Address Managerial Legal Strategy Perspectives

The research problem for this study focused on organizations\u27 inability to derive strategic value from the law due to the lack of integration between legal strategy and business strategy. The purpose of this study was to build consensus among in-house general counsel working across business industries in the United States with regard to techniques that will alter unreceptive managerial viewpoints toward the strategic value of law within the corporate setting. The research question centered on assessing the level of consensus among general counsel relative to those techniques. This 3-round qualitative Delphi study began with open-ended questions in Round 1 and progressed toward consensus in Round 3. The results encompass a consensus by the panel on 25 techniques for altering unreceptive managerial viewpoints toward the law spanning 5 categories: integrating legal considerations with business processes, improving workplace collaboration between in-house counsel and managers, leadership qualities and expectations of counsel, understanding legal implications of business decisions, and demonstration of strategic value. This was the first study to apply the construct of consensus to the generation of techniques by general counsel for altering unreceptive managerial viewpoints toward the strategic value of law. Incorporating the techniques identified in this study into the development of coaching practices, team building sessions, or other collaborative exercises may lead to positive social change through: (a) reduced anxiety stemming from organizational conflict between managers and in-house counsel; (b) decreased managerial burnout, absenteeism, and turnover due to organizational conflict with in-house counsel; and, (c) decreased workplace resistance between managers and in-house counsel

Strategic or Status quo-Preserving Business Exit: (How) Do CEO Turnover and Succession Matter?

Business exit has implications for a firm’s corporate strategy. Two types of exit events are distinguished: those that involve strategic change and those that are status quo-preserving. This study investigates the impact of CEO turnover and succession on strategic versus status quo-preserving business exits. Based on a sample of CEO turnover and succession events and subsequent business exits of German corporations from different industries, our results suggest that neither voluntary nor involuntary CEO turnover is relevant to business exit. In contrast, outsider succession significantly affects the likelihood of strategic business exit, while a corporation’s performance does not moderate this relationship

Business exit and strategic change: Sticking to the knitting or striking a new path?

The purpose of this study is to examine the potential of business exit for initiating strategic change in divesting parent firms. In contrast to prior literature that mainly investigates the impact of different antecedents on the likelihood of business exit in general, this study additionally tests the influence of these antecedents on the choice between two exit types with a cross‐industry sample of divesting firms listed in the German CDAX over the time period 1999–2004. A divestiture involving strategic change is a strategic business exit; otherwise it is denoted as status quo preserving. The findings reveal that a relatively highly dissipated focus does not automatically enhance the likelihood of business exit in general and status‐quo‐preserving business exit in particular. CEO turnover and pressures exerted by institutional investors predict neither strategic nor status‐quo‐preserving business exit. Low firm performance does not nurture the likelihood of business exit per se but especially promotes status‐quo‐preserving business exit

Business exit and strategic change: Sticking to the knitting or striking a new strategic path?

The purpose of this study is to examine the potential of business exit for initiating strategic change in divesting parent firms. In contrast to prior literature that mainly investigates the impact of different antecedents on the likelihood of business exit in general, this study additionally tests the influence of these antecedents on the choice between two exit types with a cross-industry sample of divesting firms listed in the German CDAX over the time period 1999-2004. A divestiture involving strategic change is a strategic business exit; otherwise it is denoted as status quo-preserving. The findings reveal that a relatively highly dissipated focus does not automatically enhance the likelihood of business exit in general and status quo-preserving business exit in particular. CEO turnover and pressures exerted by institutional investors predict neither strategic nor status quo-preserving business exit. Low firm performance does not nurture the likelihood of business exit per se but especially promotes status quo-preserving business exit

Capturing complexity: developing an integrated approach to analysing HRM in SMEs

This article presents a framework to evaluate HRM in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), using an open systems theoretical perspective. In presenting an open systems perspective the objective is to overcome the limitations of existing theorising in HRM, in particular to facilitate a move away from the ‘small is beautiful’ versus ‘bleak house’ stereotypes evident in much of the literature concerned with HRM in SMEs. The evidence is drawn from six SMEs operating in the Republic of Ireland, using a case study method. The findings show that a complex interplay of external structural factors and internal dynamics shaped HRM in each of the companies. HRM was not the coherent set of practices typically identified in the literature but rather was often informal and emergent. It is argued that the open systems theoretical framework enables a move beyond mere recognition of the complexity and heterogeneity of HRM in SMEs, towards an understanding, accommodation and explanation of particularistic factors

Stock Market Reaction To Chief Marketing Officer Appointment Announcements

This paper investigates the stock price performance of 166 firms appointing a new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) between 1999 and 2005. Following event study methodology, the results reveal that abnormal stock returns around the appointment day are greater for firms appointing a CMO with prior marketing executive experience, in firms where the new CMO explains the intended future marketing strategy on the appointment announcement day, whereas it is lower in firms operating in higher growth, high technology industries with higher product differentiation. Announcement-induced returns are also greater for firms that experienced poor stock price performance in the year leading to the appointment. Taken together, the results suggest that the market’s assessment of a change in marketing leadership should not be viewed as being uniformly beneficial, but should be assessed against the profile of the appointee and the appointing firm

Should I Stay or Should I go? Founder Power and Exit via Initial Public Offering

Founders can voluntarily exit their ventures via initial public offerings (IPOs). In this study, we build on power theory to develop and test a model of founder exit using a dataset of 313 founders from 177 entrepreneurial IPOs between 2002 and 2010. We largely find support for the model—a negative relationship between founder power and full exit. To capture the underlying mechanism of the power-exit relationship, we conducted two experiments in which we randomly assigned decision makers to either a high- or low-power condition. We find that decision makers in the low-power condition are more likely to use a full exit via IPO than those in the high-power condition and that frustration mediates this relationship. However, founders can also engage in partial exits, including a managerial partial exit in which the founder leaves management but keeps ownership and a financial partial exit in which the founder divests ownership but remains in management. We find that the negative relationship between founder power and exit is more negative for full exits than partial exits. With this paper, we contribute to the literature on exit by identifying a novel mechanism—frustration—underlying power’s influence on the likelihood and type of founder exit

Management training, strategic planning effectiveness and the growth of start-ups and early-growth firms

This working paper focuses on the strategic planning practice and the relation between strategic planning effectiveness and the business growth of two groups of start-ups and early growth firms in Flanders (Belgium): represented by, firstly, a test group of business-owners that participate in one of the most successful management training programs for starters and early growth firms (hereafter referred to as ADEPT), and, secondly, a randomly selected and matched but control group of SME-start-ups and early growth firms on the basis of start-up year (period 1987-1996), age, size, industry, and location (hereafter called NOVICE). Support is found for the relationship between [1] the scope and sophistication of strategic planning and the level of strategic planning correctness and strategic accuracy, and [2] between these strategic planning dimensions and the growth pattern of these start-ups and early growth firms