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Strategic Management Research (strategic + management_research)
Selected AbstractsThe Influence of a Structurationist View on Strategic Management Research*JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 2 2004Marlei Pozzebon ABSTRACT In this article, strategic management research using structuration theory from 1995 to 2000 is reviewed. I describe and analyse the theoretical articulations adopted to make sense of strategy using a structurationist view. I found that, instead of being applied as the sole theoretical foundation, Giddens' propositions have been incorporated into other perspectives, the effects of which should be known by researchers looking for theoretical frameworks that avoid dichotomist thinking. The paper draws on the effects that structurationist arguments may produce regarding classical oppositions such as micro/macro and voluntarist/determinist. Its main contribution is to show how theoretical complementarities using structuration theory are promising avenues of research in the strategic management field. It also suggests that, although other alternatives of avoiding dichotomist logic exist, making a choice among them is more a question of ontological affinity than of making the ,better choice' among competing accounts. There are several routes to advance the understanding of the possibilities of human choice. [source] Dynamic capabilities in early-phase entrepreneurshipKNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 3 2006Paolo Boccardelli The dynamic capabilities perspective has received increasing attention in the field of strategic management research. By focusing not only on the competitive advantage that is provided by a certain resource constellation, but also on the change of firms' resources over time to fit changing business environments, this perspective underlines the strategic importance of innovation. Despite the apparent interest in the dynamics of firm resources, there is still limited empirical evidence for how the strategic matching of resources and market needs is actually done, particularly in more rapidly changing environments. In order to investigate this process, an empirical study of 59 start-ups in the Swedish mobile Internet industry was performed. A first finding from the study is that start-ups which change market focus have a significantly higher probability to survive their first years. Furthermore, it is seen that in most cases, the change in market focus takes place without any related change in the technological resources that are used by the firm, indicating that an important factor at this stage is the flexible use of resources in searching for a suitable match between resources and market opportunities. This mode of learning and adaptation is very different from earlier proposed models focusing on the acquisition and transformation of resources. Instead, the early-stage dynamic capabilities reveal themselves as bricolage, that is, the capacity to re-interpret and re-combine already existing resources and thereby improve their fit with the demands of the market environment. The results suggest that earlier proposed dynamic capabilities frameworks need to be modified, by taking into account the single entrepreneur as a source of dynamic capabilities, and by introducing the concept of resource flexibility. In terms of managerial implications, the findings underline the importance for entrepreneurs to balance the striving for distinctive capabilities that provide competitive advantage and the experimentation and improvisation needed to adapt to changes in the market. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Influence of Top Management Teams in the Strategic Orientation and Performance of Small and Medium-sized EnterprisesBRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2009Alejandro Escribá-Esteve Identifying which factors affect firms' performance is a critical issue in strategic management research. This paper addresses the influence of managerial team over the behaviour and performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By treating top management team (TMT) characteristics as predictors of a firm's strategic orientation, we seek to provide a more complete understanding of how the characteristics of managerial teams shape decision-making processes and SMEs' behaviours in order to successfully compete in low munificent environments. Based on primary data regarding managerial characteristics and firms' behaviours of a sample of 295 SMEs, our results confirm that a firm's strategic orientation plays a mediating role in explaining how TMT characteristics determine SMEs' performance. [source] |