199 research outputs found

    Change Drivers In The New Millennium: Implications For Manufacturing Strategy Research

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    Drawing on multiple sources, we identify technological, global and workforce trends that will affect the formulation and implementation of manufacturing strategy in the next decade. We then describe several theories from economics, sociology, and psychology and show how they can be used to enrich our interpretations of the effects of these trends. Throughout, we offer suggestions for future research in manufacturing strategy

    Formulating Strategic Direction For A Gated Residential Community

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    Over the past two decades, a growing number of Americans have decided to live in gated residential communities. Academic research and case studies tend to focus on explaining this growth phenomenon from a range of perspectives, yet surprisingly little has been written about the preservation and growth of existing gated communities. In response to this gap in the literature, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of strategic planning as a means of addressing issues that pertain to sustaining and growing gated residential communities. This paper applies principles of strategic management to the process of planning for residential preservation and growth. The residential context is a golf-focused gated community located in the mountains of western North Carolina. It uses focus groups as a qualitative means of identifying important strategic issues. These issues serve as the basis for designing a survey for community residents. The survey results provide quantitative information that enables development of strategies targeted toward preservation and growth of the community. Results from this paper suggest that traditional strategic planning techniques provide an effective method that common interest housing developments can use to help identify and respond to issues affecting their viability and growth

    Technology Clusters Versus Industry Clusters: Resources, Networks, And Regional Advantages

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    The tendency of firms to cluster within a region has been observed for quite some time. However, it is only over the past two decades that business researchers have focused much attention on clusters, particularly in terms of their entrepreneurial and innovative characteristics and potential. At the same time, regional developers around the world have put much effort in promoting the formation of clusters. A gap in such efforts is an understanding of the differences among types of clusters. This article draws a distinction between two generic types of clusters: technology-based and industry-focused. Using the resource-based view as the organizing framework, we argue that the two generic cluster types create very different regional resource profiles over time, accumulating resources in a different manner, cultivating different capabilities, and deriving different sources of regional advantage. As concluded in the study, these differences are likely to have implications for firms located in the regions as well as for economic developers and public policy officials charged with developing cluster strategies

    Hot Spots And Blind Spots: Geographical Clusters Of Firms And Innovation

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    Hot spots are fast-growing geographic clusters of competing firms. Drawing on several literature streams, we develop an evolutionary model that contrasts hot spot and non-hot spot competitors within the same industry. Initially, economies of agglomeration, institutional forces, and managers' mental models create an innovative environment within the hot spot. Over time those same forces create a homogeneous macroculture that suppresses innovation, making hot spot competitors more susceptible than non-hot spot competitors to environmental jolts

    The Effects Of Initial Differences In Firms’ Espoused Values On Their Postmerger Performance

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    Recent studies have concluded that most mergers and acquisitions (M&As) reduce rather than increase shareholder value for the acquiring firm, but understanding of why this occurs is limited. To date, most research has focused on issues of strategic fit, whereas this study examines the effects of organizational fit—specifically the effects of differences in firms’ pre-M&A configurations of espoused values in regards to relationships with employees versus production. The dependent variable of interest is the resulting entities’ subsequent financial performance (return on assets, adjusted for industry). The study analyzed 59 M&As between 1989 and 1996. The authors measured the espoused values of both firms in the transaction by content analyzing presidents’ letters to shareholders in corporate annual reports. Using a longitudinal design, results show an inverse relationship between differences in espoused values and postmerger performance. Results and methodology are discussed in terms of their application beyond the M&A context

    Environmental Uncertainty And Product–Process Life Cycles: A Multi-Level Interpretation Of Change Over Time

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    Product-process life cycle models are often used to describe long-term change in organizations. Such models generally assume a deterministic trajectory of long-run industry evolution and production core transformation that lead to standardization over time. Typical interpretations of these models do not explain the short and intermediate term choices and competitive dynamics that lead to the longer-term changes, or explain viable ‘off- trajectory’ positions and post-stabilization complications that can arise. In this paper, we use multiple theory streams to augment discussions of product-process life cycle models in ways that allow interpretation of the role of uncertainty and management decision-making for the typical trajectory of standardization as well as off-trajectory and post-standardization phases

    Patterns In The Diffusion Of Strategies Across Organizations: Insights From The Innovation Diffusion Literature

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    Firms often adopt strategies in spite of mixed evidence about the strategy's performance and of evidence that the strategy leads to inefficient outcomes. Here, we describe the conditions prompting the spread of inefficient strategies through a population of firms, as well as the characteristics of individual firms that affect their propensity to adopt efficient and inefficient strategies. We focus on one pattern that appears common to strategic adoptions: a pattern where the number of unsuccessful adoptions exceeds the number of successful adoptions. We note how the failure to consider diffusion patterns in empirical strategic research limits use of that research as a source of prescriptive theory

    The Development And Deployment Of Electronic Personal Health Records: A Strategic Positioning Perspective

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    The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of strategic position on the ability of an entrepreneurial firm to successfully develop and deploy electronic personal health records technology within the US healthcare industry. The study contributes by juxtaposing a longitudinal view of how the focal firm proposed and acted on different strategic positions in an attempt to achieve development and deployment success. In doing so, the study also elaborates on Porter’s recognition that firms need to make trade-offs when choosing a strategic position, as the purposeful limitation of service offerings can protect against the degradation of existing value creating activities. While the fragmented nature of the healthcare industry provides opportunities for entrepreneurial firms, such complexity within the ecosystem should not be underestimated as a reason for concern for small firms. Total economic burden due to chronic diseases and other healthcare-related expenses is massive for the USA. Consequently, prevention and early detection of future disease states has become a core component of the current healthcare reform debate. EPHRs are considered one core component of a broader healthcare strategy to improve health outcomes and lower costs. By deepening our understanding of how best to develop and deploy such interventions, society will surely benefit. The longitudinal nature of the authors’ study provides a unique opportunity to understand the dynamic interrelationships between context, position, and performance within the US healthcare industry

    An Exploratory Study Of How Destination Marketing Organizations Pursue The Sports Tourism Market

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    In recent years, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) have taken advantage of the opportunities that sports tourism offers their communities. Although researchers acknowledge the important role played by DMOs in pursuing the sports tourism market, little is known about how they actually do so. This study is an exploratory attempt to identify specifically what actions DMOs have taken to seize these emerging opportunities. Using a five-step analytic approach in interviews with DMO officials, four groups of dominant themes that DMOs considered in their pursuit of the sports market were identified. Each of these themes is discussed and their implications for practice and future research are considered
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