Browsing Department of Strategic Management and Globalization (SMG) by Title
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The case of the Resource-based viewFoss, Nicolai J. (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Does the RBV represent a case of scientific progress? And has it emerged as the dominant approach to the analysis of competitive advantage for this reason? Conventional criteria for scientific progress, notably those of the growth of knowledge literature, are not particularly helpful for understanding this. Instead, it is argued that in order to understand why the RBV is an instance of scientific progress, we should begin from the notion that reduction is at the heart of progress in science, and that many scientists implicitly or explicitly hold this view. The RBV is a case of scientific progress because it identified theoretical mechanisms at levels lower than those that were usually investigated in strategy research prior to the RBV. Unfortunately, the micro-emphasis of the RBV gave way during the 1990s to more aggregative modes of theorizing (i.e., the capabilities approach). Thus, the RBV represents an "unfinished revolution" as there is still considerable potential to dig deeper in the deep structure of competitive advantage. Keywords: Resource-based view, mechanisms, reductionism, competitive advantage, transaction costs, property rights. JEL Code: L2, M1 URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7481 Files in this item: 1
cbs forskningsindberetning smg 31.pdf (531.8Kb) -
Implications for New Organizational FormsFoss, Kirsten; Foss, Nicolai J. (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Two of Herbert Simon’s best-known papers are "The Architecture of Complexity" and "The Structure of Ill-Structured Problems." We discuss the neglected links between these two papers, highlighting the role of decomposition in the context of problems on which constraints have been imposed as a general approach to problem solving. We apply these Simonian ideas to organizational issues, specifically new organizational forms. Specifically, Simonian ideas allow us to develop a morphology of new organizational forms and to point to some design problems that characterize these forms. Keywords: Herbert Simon, problem-solving, new organizational forms. JEL Code: D23, D83 URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7431 Files in this item: 1
cbs forskningsindberetning smg 28.pdf (508.4Kb) -
Felin, Teppo; Foss, Nicolai J. (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Organizational scholars have recently argued that economic theories and assumptions have adversely shaped management practice and human behavior, leading not only to the incorporation of trust-eroding market-mechanisms into organizations but also unnecessarily creating self-interested behavior. A number of highly influential papers have argued that the self-fulfilling nature of (even false) theories provides the underlying mechanism through which economics has adversely shaped not just social science but also management practice and individual behavior. We question these arguments, and argue that there are important boundary conditions to theories falsely fulfilling themselves, boundary conditions that have hitherto been unexplored in organizational research, and boundary conditions which question the underlying premises used by organizational scholars and social scientists to attack economics. We specifically build on highly relevant findings from social psychology, philosophy and organizational economics to show how (1) objective reality and (2) human nature provide two important boundary conditions for theories (falsely or otherwise) fulfilling themselves. We also defend organizational economics, specifically the use of high-powered incentives in organizations, and argue that self-interest (rightly understood) facilitates in creating beneficial individual and collective and societal outcomes. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7466 Files in this item: 1
smg wp 2008-19.pdf (394.8Kb) -
Insights from the Autrian School PerspectiveIshikawa, Ibuki (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to identify the source of competitive advantage in the resource based view of strategic management literature. In particular, it is argued that the source of competitive advantage is rooted in entrepreneur judgment. In this argument, this paper consists largely of three parts: firstly, a brief survey of the theoretical framework of the RBV of strategic management, particularly to identify critically the resource conception in the sense of what RBV scholars understand; secondly, to argue the significance of exploiting the Austrian perspective, especially focusing on Lachmann (1947,1956), Mises (1946) and Knight (1921) to improve the RBV framework; thirdly, to apply the Austrian perspective to the RBV and demonstrate that the source of competitive advantage is derived from entrepreneurial judgment per se, not the resource per se, and to discuss some possible future research avenues for further development. It becomes clear through this paper that a strategy is mainly seen as the quest for the entrepreneurial judgmental rent. The major insight of this paper is that taking the entrepreneur insight from the Austrian school of thought is the fruitful way to understand the source of competitive advantage. Jel Code: B25, D21, D81, M13 URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7460 Files in this item: 1
cbs forskningsindberetning smg 45.pdf (3.691Mb) -
Foss, Nicolai J. (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: While (managerial) beliefs are central to many aspects of strategic organization, interactive beliefs are almost entirely neglected, save for some game theory treatments. In an increasingly connected and networked economy, firms confront coordination problems that arise because of network effects. The capability to manage beliefs will increasingly be a strategic one, a key source of wealth creation, and a key research area for strategic organization scholars. KEYWORDS: Interactive beliefs, coordination, network economy, common knowledge. JEL CODE: D84, M30 URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7439 Files in this item: 1
smg_2007-006.pdf (167.7Kb) -
Klein, Peter G.; Barney, Jay B.; Foss, Nicolai J. (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Strategic entrepreneurship is a newly recognized field that draws, not surprisingly, from the fields of strategic management and entrepreneurship. The field emerged officially with the 2001 special issue of the Strategic Management Journal on “strategic entrepreneurship”; the first dedicated periodical, the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, appeared in 2007. Strategic entrepreneurship is built around two core ideas. (1) Strategy formulation and execution involves attributes that are fundamentally entrepreneurial, such as alertness, creativity, and judgment, and entrepreneurs try to create and capture value through resource acquisition and competitive posi-tioning. (2) Opportunity-seeking and advantage-seeking—the former the central subject of the entrepreneurship field, the latter the central subject of the strategic management field—are pro-cesses that should be considered jointly. This entry explains the specific links between strategy and entrepreneurship, reviews the emergence and development of the strategic entrepreneurship field, and discusses key implications and applications. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8514 Files in this item: 1
Klein_Barney_Foss_SMGWP2012_3.pdf (457.4Kb) -
A dynamic perspectiveNielsen, Bo Bernhard (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper focuses specifically on interfirm strategic collaboration as a vehicle for knowledge management across firm boundaries. Drawing on the widely accepted exploitation/exploration dichotomy, this article contributes to research concerning alliance dynamics by combining elements related to alliance formation, negotiation and outcomes. By integrating the exploitation/exploration arguments into a set of knowledge-related strategic motives for alliance formation, the main arguments focus on the influence of governance mechanisms on the relationship between strategic fit and outcome in terms of knowledge. This paper integrates the emergent knowledge-based theories of alliance formation (and outcome) with existing theories related to governance and coordination in an attempt to explain how the knowledge outcome of collaborative relationships may be determined by the strategic fit of partner motives, influenced by the mix of contractual and procedural governance. A series of testable propositions are derived in order to answer the following question: Do combinations of contractual and procedural coordination, given specific strategic fit, explain performance differentials? URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7479 Files in this item: 1
smg wp 2008-09.pdf (437.4Kb) -
Andersen, Torben J.; Joshi, Mahesh P. (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The strategic orientations of global integration and local responsiveness (the I-R framework) continue to dominate analyses of internationalization strategies and identify the basic strategy typologies of multinational enterprise. Much effort has been devoted to verify the generic strategies established within the original I-R framework but few studies have investigated their implied performance effects. In conformity with the foundations of the I-R framework we characterize the strategic orientations by their implied corporate decision structures and strategy processes and analyze their performance associations in two distinct industrial environments. The evidence from this analysis contradicts predictions in the conventional I-R framework. We explain this conundrum from a resource-based perspective as firms operating in technology intensive environments outperform when they have access to diverse multinational resources whereas firms in common goods businesses gain economies from global product standards. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7428 Files in this item: 1
smg wp 2008-11.pdf (370.4Kb) -
Andersen, Torben Juul; Roggi, Oliviero (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Major corporate failures, periodic recessions, regional debt crises and volatile markets have intensified the focus on corporate risk management as the means to deal better with turbulent business conditions. Hence, the ability to respond effectively to the often dramatic environmental changes is considered an important source of competitive advantage. However, surprisingly little research has analyzed if the presumed advantages of effective risk management lead to superior performance or assessed important antecedents of effective risk management capabilities. Here we present a comprehensive study of risk management effectiveness and the relationship to corporate performance based on panel data for more than 3,400 firms accounting for over 33,500 annual observations during the turbulent period 1991- 2010. Determining effective risk management as the ability to reduce earnings and cash flow volatility, we find that it has significant positive relationships to lagged performance measures after controlling for industry effects and company size. We also find that availability of slack resources and investment commitments affect the risk management capabilities and their relationship to performance. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8696 Files in this item: 1
Torben Andersen.pdf (170.6Kb) -
Juul Andersen, Torben (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Liberalizations of international trade and improvements in communication and information technologies allow companies to organize around extensive multinational structures of cross-border sourcing networks. In a freely interacting market setting multinational enterprise is exposed to financial and economic risks that can be monitored within conventional reporting systems and managed through use of various derivative instruments. All the while, a dispersed multinational structure can be vulnerable to disruptions caused by changing economic conditions, competitive moves, and geopolitical developments as well as natural disasters and terrorist events that are difficult to forecast. Consequently, current risk management techniques span from conventional gap analyses and quantitative value-at-risk measures of market-related exposures to more qualitative assessments of competitive exposures and low-frequency high-impact disaster events based on scenario analyses. Hence, there is a need to consider risk management approaches that integrate relatively transparent financial exposures with the consequences of uncertain and hard-to-quantify event risks. This paper outlines the contours of such a strategic risk management framework incorporating conventional exposure measures and simulation techniques to assess vulnerability and responsiveness in a turbulent global setting. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7426 Files in this item: 1
smg wp 2005-003.pdf (526.7Kb) -
Juul Andersen, Torben; Fredens, Kjeld (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Corporate entrepreneurship is deemed essential to uncover opportunities that shape the future strategic path and adapt the firm to environmental change (e.g., Covin and Miles, 1999; Wolcott and Lippitz, 2007). At the same time, rational central processes are important to execute strategic actions in a coordinated manner (e.g., Baum and Wally, 2003; Brews and Hunt, 1999; Goll and Rasheed, 1997). That is, the organization’s adaptive responses and dynamic capabilities are embedded in integrative structures that accommodate dispersed business initiatives. The dual concerns for integration and entrepreneurial behavior are reflected in the conjoint need for effective routines and exploratory search in adaptive systems (e.g., Pfeifer and Bongard, 2007; Sutton and Barto, 1998). It has also been expressed as a need to balance exploitation and exploration (March, 2001) and configure ambidextrous organizational forms (e.g., O’Reilly and Tushman, 2008; Tushman and O’Reilly, 2004). In strategy research, optimization and rejuvenation perspectives have variously been described as intended and emergent strategies (Mintzberg, 1978; Mintzberg and Waters, 1985), top‐down and bottom‐up strategies (Nonaka, 1987), induced and autonomous strategy processes (Burgelman, 2005; Burgelman and Grove, 1996, 2007), central planning and decentralized initiatives (Andersen, 2000, 2004, Andersen and Nielsen, 2009). Burgelman and Grove (2007) outline such a combined strategy process and observe how central direction and dispersed exploration can change over time influenced by strategic leadership. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8552 Files in this item: 1
Andersen_Fredens_SMG.pdf (286.1Kb) -
Foss, Nicolai J. (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: A concern with teams was central to early attempts to grasp the nature of the firm, but fell out of favor in later work. We encourage a return to the emphasis on teams, but argue that the idea of teams as central to the nature of the firm needs to be grounded in an appreciation of the importance of We frames and group agency. We use converging insights from evolutionary anthropology, cognitive social psychology and work on team agency to develop such a grounding, and link it to the issues of the existence and boundaries of firms. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8362 Files in this item: 1
Nicolai_J_Foss_SMG_2011.pdf (345.3Kb) -
Debates and a Novel ViewFoss, Nikolai J. (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Arguments derived from the theory of science have been present in strategic management discourse since at least the beginning of the 1970s. The field’s topjournal,the Strategic Management Journal, has printed several theory of sciencebased papers. Most positions in the theory of science (falsificationism, instrumentalism, realism, constructivism, etc.) have been present in the methodological discourse in the field. This chapter briefly reviews theory science applications to strategic management, before a distinctive perspective on the evolution of the strategic management field is developed. According to this perspective, science progresses when deeper level mechanisms are identified and theorized. Theoretical reduction may therefore be an independent criterion of scientific progress. Application to the strategic management field of this perspective, which in the social sciences is closely connected to the notion of methodological individualism, reveals that the field has evolved in a manner akin to a swinging pendulum, oscillating between micro and macro perspectives. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7441 Files in this item: 1
cbs forskningsindberetning smg 7.pdf (211.0Kb) -
Foss, Nicolai Juul; Ishikawa, Ibuki (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The dominant view in the strategic management field is the resource-based view ("RBV"). It has often been observed that the RBV is lacking in the dynamic dimension. For example, processes of building competitive advantages by means of combining existing complementary resources in novel ways are not inquired into. We argue that the RBV may profitably draw on Austrian (Misesian) and Knightian insights in entrepreneurship and capital theory, particularly in its Lachmannian manifestation, in order to strengthen its dynamic components. We link the RBV and Austrian ideas in the context of the theory of complex systems pioneered by Herbert Simon. We draw a number of implications for strategic management from this synthesis, notably into resource value and sustainability of competitive advantage. JEL Code: B53, D21, L23, M1 URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7458 Files in this item: 1
cbs forskningsindberetning smg 46.pdf (330.1Kb) -
Foss, Nicolai Juul (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The notion of “capability” has long been influential in management research as an approach to address firm-level heterogeneity and heterogeneity in competitive outcomes. I discuss how recent advances in economics may allow for a more rigorous understanding and measurement of capability that take organizational practices into account. However, economists may also learn from work on capabilities in management research. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8756 Files in this item: 1
Nicolai_Foss_SMGWP2013_9.pdf (416.7Kb) -
A study of Swedish biotech firms’ international expansionLindstrand, Angelika; Melen, Sara; Rovira, Emilia (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The effects of using personal networks have in recent years become a topic of interest in the research area that focuses on the internationalization process of the firm. Few studies have, however, used the concept of social capital when studying the internationalization process of high-tech SMEs. In this explorative case study, ten Swedish SMEs in the biotech business have been examined in order to see how they use social capital for accessing the critical resources that they need in their internationalization process. The results of the study indicate that the usefulness of social capital changes during this process and that the wrong perception of social capital’s usefulness can lead to unsuccessful internationalization. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7432 Files in this item: 1
smg 2006-50.pdf (350.3Kb) -
Foss, Kirsten; Foss, Nicolai (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: On November 24, 1874, United States Patent No. 157,124 was granted to Joseph Glidden of DeKalb, Ill., for improved barbed wire fencing. Glidden’s patent was the culmination of a series of nine patents for improvements to wire fencing that were granted by the U.S. Patent Offi ce to American inventors, beginning with Michael Kelly in November 1868 and ending with Glidden’s patent (McCallum and McCallum, 1965), which quickly became dominant. To be sure, wire fencing had been used for a very long time. However, property rights over livestock were less secure, as wire fencing would often break under the impact of heavy livestock pressing against the fencing. This would not happen with barbed wire, so the costs at which property rights to livestock could be protected fell dramatically (Dennen, 1976; Anderson and Hill, 2004). URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7448 Files in this item: 1
smg wp 2008-26.pdf (294.3Kb) -
Foss, Kirsten; Foss, Nicolai J. (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: To add insight in new value creation, opportunity discovery should be integrated with strategic management theory. Based on the resource-based view and the economics of property rights we build a framework that accomplishes this. Our key argument is that property rights and transaction costs are important antecedents of opportunity discovery. We identify two mechanisms that establish this influence, and examine alternative ways in knowledge, transaction costs, and property rights influence opportunity discovery and sustainable advantage URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7482 Files in this item: 1
smg wp 2008-18.pdf (407.9Kb) -
[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Much had happened since the CEO of Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Ditlev Engel, broadcast the company’s new corporate strategy – The Will to Win 2005-2008 – from headquarters in Randers, Denmark to all Vestas employees worldwide in 2005. Vestas, the market-leading producer of high-tech wind turbines, had since a merger the year before with a Danish turbine producer experienced financial difficulties, and management was therefore replaced with fresh leadership that could bring the Danish company to new heights. With the new management came a radical reorganization and the announcement of several new strategic initiatives. As Engel stated, “These initiatives are aimed at increasing effectiveness in all areas of Vestas’s business. We will professionalize our dialogue with the customers, we will improve the quality of our products and we will be much more effective in all that we do.” 1 The charismatic CEO also argued that “by the implementation of The Will to Win, we create a new global Vestas. This work will, no doubt, be exciting and very hard. At the same time, it will require the will to change in all of us and I am confident that we at Vestas can meet this challenge.” URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7825 Files in this item: 1
SMG WP 2009-05.pdf (401.3Kb) -
Ørberg Jensen, Peter D.; Pedersen, Torben (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In this article, we explore the idea that offshoring of services and technical work should be regarded as a dynamic process that evolves over time. Firms gradually move from offshoring of simple, standardized activities towards offshoring of advanced activities when they accumulate experience with offshoring, and this type of offshoring comes with an entirely different set of characteristics compared to traditional, cost-seeking offshoring. Based on a unique survey among the total population of firms in the eastern region of Denmark, we analyze some of the dynamics of this process through a model that incorporates two different aspects of the process of offshoring. First, we approach the question of whether to offshore and establish a baseline that investigates the determinants of firms’ participation—or lack thereof—in offshoring. Secondly, we approach the question of what to offshore and the subsequent process of offshoring, as we analyze the determinants of the offshoring of advanced, highend technical, and service activities. The findings are consistent with the notion of offshoring as a dynamic process as they show how some (cost-related) determinants play a role when firms first engage in offshoring, while rather different determinants matter for the subsequent process of offshoring of advanced activities. Although the model portrays a simplified expression of the offshoring process with two stages, the findings underpin our view that a process perspective on offshoring is a useful analytical framework. Keywords: Offshoring dynamics, and service offshoring URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7419 Files in this item: 1