Conceptualizing and measuring strategy implementation – a multi-dimensional view

Through quantitative methodological approaches for studying the strategic management and planning process, analysis of data from 208 senior managers involved in strategy processes within ten UK industrial sectors provides evidence on the measurement properties of a multi-dimensional instrument that assesses ten dimensions of strategy implementation. Using exploratory factor analysis, results indicate the sub-constructs (the ten dimensions) are uni-dimensional factors with acceptable reliability and validity; whilst using three additional measures, and correlation and hierarchical regression analysis, the nomological validity for the multi-dimensional strategy implementation construct was established. Relative importance of ten strategy implementation dimensions (activities) for practicing managers is highlighted, with the mutually and combinative effects drawing conclusion that senior management involvement leads the way among the ten key identified activities vital for successful strategy implementation

Varieties of Capitalists? The Middle–Class, Private Sector and Economic Outcomes in Africa

Political scientists have generally seen two key features of African political economies - a relatively small or absent middle class, and a middle class that is unusually embedded in the state - as key explanations of the troubled political and economic trajectories of many African societies. This paper considers the nature and implications of recent momentous changes for Africa's political economies. It asks if there is such a thing as a homogenous and universal middle class, what its attributes and role are, and how these connect to the trajectory of the broader political economy

Marketing strategy implementation in higher education. A mixed approach for model development and testing

This study seeks to extend our knowledge of marketing strategy implementation in the context of international student recruitment. Strategy implementation remains an area of limited focus in the marketisation of higher education literature. Employing a mixed-design methodology on universities in the UK, US, Australia, and New Zealand, a conceptual model is presented and tested on 570 mid-level international marketing managers. Four overall constructs are found to be significant strategy implementation factors: implementation related outcome variables, dimensions of commitment, strategy, and role factors. In light of these findings, several implications are advanced for university management. The study also makes important theoretical contributions: it contributes to a growing body of literature on marketing of higher education; it adds a more nuanced theoretical foundation of marketing strategy implementation by focusing on academic institutions rather than business firms; and it enriches the theory of marketing strategy implementation by taking a cross-national analytical approach

Antecedents of individuals' interteam coordination: Broad functional experiences as a mixed blessing

This manuscript investigates the role of individual team members' breadth of functional experience for their interteam coordination behavior. Integrating personal construct and social identity theories, we examine interpersonal cognitive complexity as a mediating variable and organizational identification as a moderator. We test our hypotheses across two independent field studies, comprising an international peace support training mission (Study 1) and a municipality administration (Study 2). Corroborating our predictions, interpersonal cognitive complexity appeared as a conditional mediating variable that can translate an individual's breadth of functional experience into interteam coordination. The strength and direction of this indirect relationship, however, depended on the individual's identification with the organization as a whole. Moreover, on the team level of analysis, we found members' overall interteam coordination to positively relate with team performance in Study 2. All in all, this paper advances new knowledge on the antecedents, mechanisms, contingency factors, and team-level consequences of members' boundary spanning