Summary Strategy and Organisation – Articles + Lecture video’s
Premaster Business Administration 2020-2021
Shannon Karhof – Grade 8.5
Table of contents
Week 1 – Competitive strategy..............................................................................................................3
Lecture notes......................................................................................................................................3
Article 1.1 Porter, M. (1979), How competitive forces shape strategy, Harvard Business Review,
(March-April), pp. 137-145.................................................................................................................4
Art 1.2 Barney, J. (1991), Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage, Journal of
Management, 17(1), pp. 99-120.........................................................................................................7
Article 1.3 - Baden-Fuller, C. and J. Stopford (1992), The firm matters, not the industry, Section 8.2
from B. de Wit and R. Meyer, Strategy: Process, Content, Context, pp. 610-617...............................9
Article 1.4 - Stoelhorst, J.W. (2008), Thinking about Strategy, Teaching note, 3rd edition,
Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam...................................................................10
Purpose.........................................................................................................................................10
Strategic Management.................................................................................................................10
‘Standard Model’ of Strategy........................................................................................................10
Development of Strategic Management.......................................................................................11
Agreement across different Schools of Thought...........................................................................15
Disagreement across different Schools of Thought......................................................................16
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................16
Week 2 – Corporate strategy................................................................................................................17
Lecture notes....................................................................................................................................17
Art 2.1 - Hedley, B. (1977), Strategy and the “business portfolio”, Long Range Planning, 10(1), pp.
9-15..................................................................................................................................................19
Art 2.2 Porter, M. (1987), From competitive advantage to corporate strategy, Harvard Business
Review, (May-June), pp. 43-59.........................................................................................................21
Art 2.3 - Prahalad, C.K. and G. Hamel (1990), The core competence of the corporation, Harvard
Business Review, (May-June), pp. 79-91...........................................................................................23
Week 3 – Strategic Planning.................................................................................................................26
Lecture notes....................................................................................................................................26
Art 3.1) Hax and Majluf (1991), A formal strategic planning process, Chapter 2 from The Strategy
Concept and Process, pp. 15-25.......................................................................................................27
Art 3.2 - Mintzberg, H. (1994), The fall and rise of strategic planning, Harvard Business Review,
(January-February), pp. 107-114......................................................................................................29
Article 3.3 - Grant,R.M. (2003), Strategic Planning in a Turbulent Environment: Evidence from the
Oil Majors. Strategic Management Journal. 24( 6) . pp. 491-517....................................................30
,Week 4 – Strategic Decision Making.....................................................................................................32
Lecture notes....................................................................................................................................32
Art 4.1 Eisenhardt, K.M. and M.J. Zbaracki (1992), Strategic decision making, Strategic
Management Journal, 13 (Winter Special Issue), pp. 17-32 (stop reading after the table on page
32)....................................................................................................................................................33
Article 4.2 Hambrick, D.C. and P.A. Mason (1984), The organization as a reflection of its top
managers, Academy of Management Review, 9(2), pp. 193-206.....................................................35
Article 4.3 Quinn, J.B. (1989), Strategic Change: Logical incrementalism, Sloan Management
Review, 30(Summer), pp. 45-60.......................................................................................................37
Article 4.4 Mintzberg, H., B. Ahlstrand and J. Lampel (1998), Strategy as cognition, Reading 7.2
from The Strategy Process, pp. 203-206...........................................................................................38
Week 5 – Strategy implementation and Organizational Change..........................................................39
Lecture notes....................................................................................................................................39
Art 5.1 Miles, R.E., C.C. Snow, A.D. Meyer and H.J. Coleman Jr. (1978), Organizational strategy,
structure, and process, Academy of Management Review, 3 (July), pp. 546-562............................40
Art 5.2 Romanelli, E. and M.L. Tushman (1994), Organizational transformation as punctuated
equilibrium: An empirical test, Academy of Management Journal, 37(5), pp. 1141-1145 and 1156-
1166..................................................................................................................................................42
Art. 5.3 - Luo, Y., & Rui, H. (2009). An ambidexterity perspective toward multinational enterprises
from emerging economies. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 23(4), 49-70...................43
Week 6 – Strategy implementation and Organizational Change..........................................................44
Lecture notes....................................................................................................................................44
Article 6.1 Kaplan, R.S. and D.P. Norton (2000), Having trouble with your strategy? Then map it,
Harvard Business Review, (September-October), pp. 167-176.........................................................45
Article 6.2 Bourgeois, L.J. and D.R. Brodwin (1984), Strategic implementation: Five approaches to
an elusive phenomenon, Strategic Management Journal, 5(3), pp. 241-264...................................46
Article 6.3: Van de Ven & Sun - Breakdowns in Implementing Models of Organization Change
(2011)...............................................................................................................................................48
,Week 1 – Competitive strategy
Lecture notes
Strategy
Plan of actions (with a limited time horizon) how to reach goals (be unique + create value)
Goal
Value creation. What do we need:
- Individual-level: talent leads to value creation
- Firm-level: accumulation of assets leads to value creation
Mostest argument not true
Firm with the most talent and assets will create more value the accumulation of assets does not necessarily
mean better performance
o The relationship between acquisitions and firm performance is negative
o The relationship between diversification and firm performance is mixed
Performance requires coordination
Strategy really matters for firm performance. Therefore learning about it is important value creation
The standard model of strategy
1. Objectives Mission, vision, intentions
2. Strategic analysis
o External (Opportunities + Threats)
o Internal (strengths + Weaknesses)
3. Strategic options and the choice
4. Strategic implementation initiatives, plans, guidelines
Theory of strategy when, how and why a plan of action leads to value creation.
A firm with the most value creation outperforms other firms.
Competitive strategy A strategy at company (business unit) level
Two paradoxes on Competitive strategy:
(A paradox is a statement that seems to contradict itself but may nonetheless be true)
1. Inside-out (strategy as stretch) versus outside-in (strategy as fit) perspective on strategy
Inside-out: strategy analyses should focus on the characteristics of the firm itself –
Outside-in: strategy analysis should focus on the characteristics of the industry
2. Deterministic view versus voluntaristic view on strategy
, Deterministic view says that the environment determined the optimal strategy for a firm Voluntaristic
view says that firms can actively influence the environment through their strategy
Questions you should be able to answer
1. What are the key questions of the theories of strategy and organization
2. What is the resource based view of the firm
3. What does competitive advantage refer to
4. How can resources be assessed
5. How does the 5 forces framework work?
Article 1.1 Porter, M. (1979), How competitive forces shape strategy,
Harvard Business Review, (March-April), pp. 137-145.
Purpose of article
Understanding how the competition works and coping with competition through the five forces by
adjusting to the competition and taking advantage of them.
- Many managers concentrate so much on the fight for market share that they fail to realize that they are
also competing with their customers and suppliers for bargaining power.
- Meanwhile, they also neglect to keep an eye out on new entrants and the threat of substitute products.
- The key to growth is to stake out a position that is less vulnerable
o To attack from opponents and
o To erosion from the direction of buyers and suppliers.
Porter’s reasoning for firms outperforming others:
Favorable positioning in attractive industries, supported by generic (rather than unique) strategies
Three generic strategies
1. Cost leadership
2. Differentiation
3. Focus
Porter’s five forces framework
Positioning school theory
The degree of competitiveness in an industry is
decided by the five competitive forces
o Threat of new entrants, Threat of substitute products, Power of suppliers, Power of buyers and Rivalry
among existing firms
o Each competes with each other and maximizes its own profitability.
The collective strength of these forces determines the ultimate profit potential of an industry: the weaker the
forces collectively, the greater opportunity for better performance.
Positioning theory SCP Paradigm
Structure: Profit potential varies per industry
Conduct: Actions taken to realize industry-specific profit potential
Performance: Variance in S&C = variance in firm performance
Positioning theory: Summary
- It has an external focus on Opportunities and Threats
- It uses FIT as strategy: The optimal fit between a firm and its environment and competitive positions in
attractive industries.
- Superior performance is realized by taking on less vulnerable positions
