A terminal assessment of stages theory : introducing a dynamic states approach to entrepreneurship

Stages of Growth models were the most frequent theoretical approach to understanding entrepreneurial business growth from 1962 to 2006; they built on the growth imperative and developmental models of that time. An analysis of the universe of such models (N=104) published in the management literature shows no consensus on basic constructs of the approach, nor is there any empirical confirmations of stages theory. However, by changing two propositions of the stages models, a new dynamic states approach is derived. The dynamic states approach has far greater explanatory power than its precursor, and is compatible with leading edge research in entrepreneurship

Synthesising Corporate Responsibility on Organisational and Societal Levels of Analysis: An Integrative Perspective

This article develops an integrative perspective on corporate responsibility by synthesising competing perspectives on the responsibility of the corporation at the organisational and societal levels of analysis. We review three major corporate responsibility perspectives, which we refer to as economic, critical, and politico-ethical. We analyse the major potential uses and pitfalls of the perspectives, and integrate the debate on these two levels. Our synthesis concludes that when a society has a robust division of moral labour in place, the responsibility of a corporation may be economic (as suggested under the economic perspective) without jeopardising democracy and sustainability (as reported under the critical perspective). Moreover, the economic role of corporations neither signifies the absence of deliberative democratic mechanisms nor business practices extending beyond compliance (as called for under the politico-ethical perspective). The study underscores the value of integrating different perspectives and multiple levels of analysis to present comprehensive descriptions and prescriptions of the responsibility phenomenon

Corporate Responsibility in Scandinavian Supply Chains

cooperative advantage, corporate responsibility, CSR, partnerships, Scandinavia, supply chain, sustainability,

The Man behind the Curtain: Exploring the Role of IS Strategic Consultant

Most organizations encounter business-IT alignment problems because they fail to properly understand how well an enterprise software package aligns with or fits their needs. Strategic consultants make a profit by reducing such external manifestations of the differences between the organization's needs and the system's capabilities. Therefore it appears relevant to understand how consultants behave. Our theoretical model shows how a consultancy can assess the way to extract and to generalize knowledge from its clients. The share of a consulting firm's global knowledge is compensated with new local knowledge obtained from the client. Hence we underline a way to assess the quality of that contribution and the mutual knowledge exchange