Current Strategic Management Research Articles

Implications of climate change for strategic management theory

PurposeThe purpose is to stimulate scholarship in the strategic management field that accounts for conditions implied by projected impacts of climate change.Design/methodology/approachFollowing conceptual logic, the article analyses how changes in the strategic environment brought about by climate change may challenge current strategic management theory. It develops avenues for theory development based on expanding the field’s scope and extending its limits of applicability.FindingsThe article highlights the extent to which the strategy field has evolved in a stable empirical context, despite its attention to dynamism and hence is less well aligned with potentially pervasive new pressures and impacts. It sets out a rationale for moving beyond symbolic environmentalism, possibilities to harness cognitive and behavioural insights, dilemmas in strategic innovation and the empirical potential of non-mainstream contexts.Practical implicationsFirms and organisations can expect widespread systemic effects from climate change that challenge established ways of operating. The article explores how strategic management could better support strategists in navigating these shifts such that firms can continue to thrive.Originality/valueThe article approaches the issue of climate change specifically from the perspective of strategic management of firms rather than as policy or social advocacy. It focuses on pressures and characteristics that distinguish climate change from other environmental and social impacts on firms.

Enhancing public sector enterprise risk management through interactive information processing.

Federal agencies are increasingly expected to adopt enterprise risk management (ERM). However, public sector adoption of ERM has typically focused on the economic efficiency of tax-financed activities based on control-based practices. This reflects an emphasis on quantifiable concerns that invariably directs attention to risk, that (by definition) relates to identifiable and measurable events, thereby downplaying uncertain and unknown aspects of public exposures. This is a potentially serious shortcoming as government entities often act as society's risk managers of last resort. When extreme events happen what were previously considered private matters can quickly turn into public obligations. Hence, there is a need for proactive assessments of the evolving public risk landscape to discern unpredictable-even unknowable-developments. The article reviews recent empirical studies on public risk management practices, effects of digitalization in public sector institutions, current strategic management research, and insights uncovered from a recent study of risk management practices in federal agencies. On this basis, the article explains how the ability to generate value from ERM can be enhanced when it intertwines with local responsive initiatives and central strategic risk analyses. It can form a dynamic adaptive risk management process where insights from dispersed actors inform updated risk analyses based on local autonomy and open exchange of information. This approach builds on specific structural features embedded in culture-driven aspirations to generate collaborative solutions. Its functional mode is an interactive control system with open discussions across levels and functions in contrast to conventional diagnostic controls that monitor predetermined key performance indicators (KPIs) and key risk indicators (KRIs). Backed by theoretical rationales and empirical research evidence, it is found that applications of ERM frameworks can produce positive results but is unable to deal with a public risk landscape characterized by uncertain unpredictable conditions with potentially extreme outcome effects. It is shown how interactive exchange of fast local insights and slow integrated strategic risk analyses supported by digitized data processing can form a dynamic adaptive system that enable public sector institutions to deal with emergent high-scale exposures. It is explained how the requirement for conducive organizational structures and supportive values require a new strategic risk leadership approach, which is contrasted to observed practices in federal agencies that are constrained by prevailing public governance requirements. The need to deal with uncertainty and unknown conditions demands a cognitive shift in current thinking from a primary focus on risk to also appraise complexity and prepare for the unexpected where data-driven methods can uncover emergent exposures through dynamic information processing. This requires strategic risk leaders that recognize the significance of complex public exposures with many unknowns and a willingness to facilitate digitalized information processing rooted in a collaborative organizational climate. If handled properly, adoption of ERM in public risk management can consider emergent dimensions in complex public exposures applying interactive information processing as a dynamic adaptive risk management approach incorporating digitized methods to solicit collective intelligence for strategic risk updating.

Pentingnya Penerapan Strategik Manajemen Di Rumah Sakit: Kajian Teoritis

Hospital service institutions should understand how appropriate strategic management is to make their business stronger. This is important so that the process of making every decision is in accordance with the hospital's vision and mission. Strategic management provides overall direction for a company and is closely related to the field of organizational behavior. Current strategic management must provide a basic foundation or guideline for decision making within an agency. The aim of this theoretical study is to find out how important strategic management is in hospitals. The research method used is descriptive theoretical study, namely a method that discusses several possibilities for solving actual problems by collecting data, compiling or classifying it, analyzing and interpreting it with existing theories and comparing it from literature sources. The results of the study show that the importance of strategic management in hospitals is to design basic finances, plan forecasts, plan external strategies, and strategic management in hospital marketing. It can be concluded that strategic management requires leadership skills that are able to make major decisions, overcome existing obstacles or problems, and take full advantage of opportunities. In Hospital Agencies, strategic management is carried out continuously, meaning it is sustainable by evaluating and also controlling internal business, conducting competitor analysis, and establishing strategies to be able to compete with other hospitals and have excellent programs that can improve service quality and patient satisfaction. For hospital agencies, it should be able to be applied by all management and service parties so that they can face competition and show the excellence of the hospital and improve service quality.

Relevant Information for the Accountability of Private Institutions of Social Solidarity: Results from Fieldwork

The social economy (SE) has emerged as an interesting alternative for dealing with social problems. However, there are some concerns related to the abilities of these institutions regarding accountability. Thus, the present work aimed to determine if private social solidarity institutions (IPSS) are prepared to meet management requirements by increasing their accountability. In Portugal, IPSS are social economy organisations. Using an exploratory focus, we conducted qualitative research on 31 Portuguese IPSS. Interviews with those responsible for these entities took place between June and July 2019. The interviews were guided based on a semistructured script that was created based on a literature review. After content analysis, it was found that, in most of the institutions interviewed, the board does not use management tools, such as performance analysis, social impact assessments, strategic planning, and quality management systems, even though they recognise the importance of using them. This is due to the lack of access or knowledge about their use. In addition, the majority of the IPSS interviewed showed concern about the transparency and ethics of managers. Current strategic management practices are remarkably targeted at companies in the for-profit sector and can compromise the principles of investment in human and social issues.

The Application of BDT in Enterprise Strategic Management

With the rapid development of our country's economy, our country's major enterprises have also paid more and more attention to strategic management. Especially in the context of the current important support for the widespread application of BDT(big data technology), the data revolution has quietly begun, which not only helps to optimize the enterprise management environment to a large extent, but also further improves the management efficiency of the enterprise. This article expounds the related concepts of BDT, analyzes the shortcomings of BDT in the current strategic management of enterprises in our country, and finally puts forward an effective way to apply BDT to enterprise strategic management through related research. By using BDT, companies can improve the accuracy of strategy formulation, better improve their own management efficiency, and reduce the workload of employees. However, for some small and medium-sized enterprises, due to the lack of big data technical talents, it is difficult to give full play to this technological advantage, which affects the improvement of their own market competitiveness. Therefore, it is necessary to study the application of BDT in corporate strategic management, take effective measures to solve the current problems in corporate strategic management, improve the level of corporate strategic management, and make improvements for the sustainable development of the company. Based on the above analysis, we can know that making full use of big data-related technologies in corporate strategic management can effectively optimize the internal strategic management environment and efficiency of the enterprise.

Strategic management research in hospitality and tourism: a perspective article

PurposeThis paper aims to critically review current strategic management (SM) research and discuss future directions for SM research in the hospitality and tourism (HT) field.Design/methodology/approachThe study reviews and synthetizes current SM research.FindingsThe findings suggest that SM research in the HT field has made good progress over the past three decades; however, there is still a gap between the SM research in the generic and HT fields.Practical implicationsThis paper offers specific theoretical and practical implications for SM in the HT field.Originality/valueThis paper provides a clear perspective on future developments of SM research in the HT field.

Risk Management in Implementing Wind Energy Project

Analysis of possible risks in the process of implementing a specific project has been carried out, measures to reduce their negative impact on the project have been developed and proposed. The object of study is a wind energy project, namely a wind farm working as part of the national energy system. The implementation of the project is related to both external and internal risk factors that are characteristic to such projects in the real economy sector under the current conditions. Such risks have been classified and the fractional structure of risk adjustment has been analysed taking into account the properties of the particular wind energy project, which consists of three main components. A description has been given of the innovative technology selected for project implementation, power generation using wind, which is used to limit the negative influence of the above-mentioned risks. The current strategic management tools, such as SWOT analysis and McKinsey matrix, which are useful for the identification of project risks, have been examined. For the wind energy project that is being implemented, the project dot location coordinates were determined in the McKinsey matrix on axes: Advantages against competitors and Market attractiveness. Also, a sector characterising the project development prospects was established to be subsequently used as a tool for risk identification. Following the identification of risks, specific measures of state support and special project management measures were developed and proposed to be implemented with the aim of limiting the negative influence of the possible project risks.

Categories and competition

Research summary: In this article, we review, integrate, and extend the literature on markets, competition, and categories as it applies to strategic management theory. Developments in the literatures of economics and organizational theory have shed new light on market categories and category dynamics. These developments highlight the fact that boundary questions are fundamental to the competitive process, and represent a fertile area for research and theory. The objective is to encourage a theoretically grounded rapprochement between current strategic management research and both older and newer research on categories and competition.Managerial summary: One of the key problems for business strategists is understanding the competitive environment and interpreting the effects of competition on a business. This article attempts to integrate various literatures in the study of competition by suggesting that strategists play a crucial role in linking abstract categories of firms and products that have become part of an industry's terminology with real‐time competitive processes taking place among firms and buyers. Strategists interpret cues such as cross‐elasticities of demand among their own and competing products and connect these cues to taken‐for‐granted categories demarcating the boundaries of markets. Simultaneously, strategists are introducing new categories by reformulating old nomenclatures and introducing new ones. We also trace the possible effects of this ‘competitive sensemaking’ on firm behaviors. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Categories and Competition

In this paper, we review, integrate, and extend the literature on markets, competition, and categories as it applies to strategic management theory. Developments in the literatures of economics and organizational theory have shed new light on market categories and category dynamics. These developments highlight the fact that boundary questions are fundamental to the competitive process, and represent a fertile area for research and theory. The objective is to encourage a theoretically grounded rapprochement between current strategic management research and both older and newer research on categories and competition.

SWIM: FUTURISTIC FRAMEWORK FOR STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PROCESS

The field of strategic management is undergoing significant changes due to the constant changes taking place in the business environment due to issues like emergence of new economic power, conflicts within among countries, environmental crisis and social crisis. This study explicates how inclusiveness of strategic agilities, ethical issues and legal issues into the strategic management process will help organizations to anticipate and manage changes arises to attain business sustainability and meet the organization’s vision. It will begin with examining and analyzing the gap existing in the current strategic management process. The paper concludes with a more comprehensive strategic management process that incorporates strategic agilities, ethical issues and legal issues.

Assessment of a biomarker-based developmental toxicity screen using human induced pluripotent stem cells

Analysis of possible risks in the process of implementing a specific project has been carried out, measures to reduce their negative impact on the project have been developed and proposed. The object of study is a wind energy project, namely a wind farm working as part of the national energy system. The implementation of the project is related to both external and internal risk factors that are characteristic to such projects in the real economy sector under the current conditions. Such risks have been classified and the fractional structure of risk adjustment has been analysed taking into account the properties of the particular wind energy project, which consists of three main components. A description has been given of the innovative technology selected for project implementation, power generation using wind, which is used to limit the negative influence of the above-mentioned risks. The current strategic management tools, such as SWOT analysis and McKinsey matrix, which are useful for the identification of project risks, have been examined. For the wind energy project that is being implemented, the project dot location coordinates were determined in the McKinsey matrix on axes: Advantages against competitors and Market attractiveness. Also, a sector characterising the project development prospects was established to be subsequently used as a tool for risk identification. Following the identification of risks, specific measures of state support and special project management measures were developed and proposed to be implemented with the aim of limiting the negative influence of the possible project risks.

Does Service Innovation Act as a Mediator in Differentiation Strategy and Organizational Performance Nexus? An Empirical Study

The study determines how service innovation impacts differentiation strategy and the impact on organizational performance. The target population of this research was 475 hotels, which are three to five star hotels in Malaysia. Due to the small population and the nature of the research, questionnaires were sent by mail and email to all the targeted three to five star hotels’ managers. Regression was used to analyse the relationship of differentiation strategy, service innovation and organizational performance. The result shows that differentiation strategy has a significant effect on organizational performance and service innovation has a significant effect on organizational performance. Remarkably, this study found that service innovation partially mediates the relationship of differentiation strategy and organizational performance. This study found that hoteliers that pursuing a differentiation strategy should simultaneously employ service innovation to attain better organizational performance. Thus, this study contributes a significant knowledge to the Malaysia hotel industry. This study fills in some of the gap and showing the significance of differentiation strategy and service innovation in the hotel industry which has received little empirical attention in current strategic management literatures. It also offers some practical contributions to the development of service innovation in relation to differentiation strategy and organizational performance.

El Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Chile: Breve reseña de su historia y aspectos de su actual gestión estratégica

The National Museum of Natural History of Chile: A brief review of its history and elements of its current strategic management. The National Museum of Natural History of Chile was founded in 1830, being the first museum of the country. This article presents relevant information regarding its collections, building, programming and personnel, as well as the key management aspects of the last five years.

Strategic Management Practices in Turkish Construction Firms

This paper presents a study that aims to define the present position of Turkish construction companies in terms of strategic management. It is based on a survey measuring strengths and weaknesses in the “strategic management” practices of Turkish construction companies, and thus reveals potential opportunities and threats in a generalized manner. The results highlight the current strategic management practice of construction firms for designing their own future. Toward this aim, a detailed questionnaire was administered to 52 construction companies. The culture of companies and their perceptions of strategic management were shown to have serious shortcomings. However, specialization on different project types through joint venture companies established by their partners was found to be a major strength of many companies. These companies also pointed out the developing and unstable nature of both the political and economic structure of Turkey as their most significant threat. This disadvantage has inclined...

Location, location: the geography of industry clusters

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of regional‐sectoral agglomerations – clusters – for the strategic management of firms. Concentration of firms along a single value chain is a common phenomenon in modern economies, but has seldom been reflected in the realm of strategic management.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws back on Porter's cluster model and the innovative milieu approach. A case‐study methodology consisting of a combination of action research and semi‐structured interviews is applied to four cases, illustrating the managerial implications of firm membership in industry clusters.FindingsThe existence of regional‐sectoral clusters has a substantial impact on the strategic position of firms. An assumption underlying most current strategic management thinking, namely that spatial factors are not relevant, must be challenged. The paper illustrates options for firms located within as well as outside clusters.Research limitations/implicationsThis research does not prove the cluster theory, but rather illustrates a part of it requiring further clarification: its application to management issues. Future research should substantiate the findings on a broad empirical scale.Practical implicationsThe paper alerts managers to the necessity of considering their company's entire value‐creating system from a geographical perspective. Several common strategic decisions may be viewed differently if a cluster perspective is taken: decisions regarding location, such as locating in a cluster in new countries; sourcing decisions, such as re‐evaluating global sourcing; marketing and innovation issues, such as linking up with the most competitive market globally rather than avoiding it; or portfolio decisions, such as divesting of firms not located in clusters.Originality/valueThe paper is highly thought‐provoking as it challenges a common assumption, namely the “death of distance” argument. The cluster approach demonstrates that proximity matters fundamentally affects a firm's profitability and ultimately its chances of survival. Applying the cluster approach to corporate management provides a new set of explanations, for example for firms that continue to underperform, even after successive management changes. On the other hand, taking advantage of clusters could be a source of strength for firms which have largely remained untapped up to now. In particular, this paper provides a real‐life case account, illustrating the relevance of clusters, as well as options for managers.

Integrating hotel environmental strategies with management control: a structuration approach

AbstractThis study addresses the development of environmental strategies and associated management control in the international hotel industry, a sector of major economic and environmental impact hitherto largely neglected in the environmental management and accountability literature. The low key level of commitment to environmental management currently exhibited by the industry is considered in the context of dominant systems of hotel management performance evaluation and control, as well as the industry's current strategic management and budgetary practices. Informed by Giddens' structuration theory, the study offers a new theoretical framework, environmentally efficient resourcing, as a structured approach to the development of hotel environmental strategy and its management. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Knowledge in the business strategy context

The paper builds on the resource-based approach to the firm and develops it further towards the knowledge-based approach by exploring the importance of knowledge in a modern firm. Various concepts explaining characteristics of knowledge are compared and contrasted in order to contribute to the current strategic management thinking and to stimulate adoption of the concepts of knowledge management in modern businesses. The paper draws from the literature review made within the project Information and Knowledge Support for Strategic Management financed by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

Strategic management practice in Latin America

This paper examines the influence of American and European strategic management theory and practice in Latin America. Specifically, the paper discusses how current strategic management research and business practice follows Derek Abell's future research and practice trends. The paper then discusses the papers presented in this issue as examples of the state of the art of strategic management in Latin America.

Strategic Management at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation: A Results-Driven Approach

In 1982, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) became one of the first transportation agencies to introduce strategic management as an operating principle. PennDOT's process includes an agency strategic agenda that is developed every 4 years under the guidance of a strategic management committee and is implemented through annual business plans. Strategic plans are used to drive other management and decision-making processes to achieve agency goals and objectives. Four separate administrations representing different political parties have used this process to improve PennDOT's business results and have enhanced the process in each successive iteration. Despite this record of success, a 1998 Baldrige assessment revealed that PennDOT's strategic management process had significant shortcomings—particularly in the area of implementation. A 2-year gap closure effort was initiated in response to these findings; the effort strengthened the overall process and established scorecard targets, linking planning to implementation and facilitating monitoring and review throughout the department. Strengths and opportunities were identified along with recent enhancements made by the current strategic management committee after the change of administration in 2003.

Strategy Development for Incumbent Urban Universities: Moving Forward in an Increasingly Competitive Environment

ABSTRACT Recently, many urban public universities have seen a drastic increase in competition. This project integrates Schumpeter's economic theories from 70 years ago with current strategic management theory in order to provide a framework for strategic response to that competition. This article explores all possible combinations of the high-low quality and high-low price dichotomy under the model that the urban college student behaves more like a business than like a consumer.