Danny Miller

Bio: Danny Miller is an academic researcher from HEC Montréal. The author has contributed to research in topics: Consumption (economics) & Agency (sociology). The author has an hindex of 133, co-authored 512 publications receiving 71238 citations. Previous affiliations of Danny Miller include University of New Mexico & McGill University.

Neurotic Organization : Diagnosing and Changing Counterproductive Styles of Management

Abstract: Is your organization obsessive-compulsive or passive-aggressive? Corporate neurosis expert Manfred Kets de Vries analyzes dysfunctional organizational behavior in terms of accepted psychoanalytic types and arrives at some genuine insights into why some companies are healthier than others.

The Dialectics of Shopping

Abstract: Shopping is generally considered to be a pleasurable activity. But in reality it can often be complicated and frustrating. Daniel Miller explores the many contradictions faced by shoppers on a typical street in London, and in the process offers a sophisticated examination of the way we shop, and what it reveals about our relationships to our families and communities, as well as to the environment and the economy as a whole. Miller's companions are mostly women who confront these contradictions as they shop. They placate their children with items that combine nutrition with taste or usefulness with style. They decide between shopping at the local store or at the impersonal, but less expensive, mall. They tell of their sympathy for environmental concerns but somehow avoid much ethical shopping. They are faced with a selection of shops whose shifts and mergers often reveal extraordinary stories of their own. Filled with entertaining—and thoroughly familiar—stories of shoppers and shops, this book will interest scholars across a broad range of disciplines.

Successful and Unsuccessful Phases of the Corporate Life Cycle

Abstract: An empirical study of successful and unsuccessful phases of the life cycle revealed two very significant differences. First, successive successful phases showed gradual and continual increases in the sophistication of their information processing and decision making methods. Unsuccessful phases showed no such continuous development. Second, successful phases revealed few differences in innovation-related variables, while unsuccessful phases demonstrated more significant differences, alternating between greater extremes of innovation and stagnation.

The Longitudinal Analysis of Organizations: A Methodological Perspective

Abstract: The case is made for performing more longitudinal research into organizations and their adaptive processes. Previous literature on the empirical longitudinal analysts of organizations is classified into five categories on the basis of the breadth of scope of the research, the number and diversity of organizations being studied, and the degree to which mathematical and statistical procedures are used to develop conclusions. The strengths and limitations of each of the five types of longitudinal research are discussed. It is argued that there should be a more concerted attempt to undertake research that focuses on a broad array of organizational variables in many organizations and which uses quantitative methods to derive results which are replicable and whose range of generality has been carefully established. Several proposals are made toward this end. Methods are suggested for gathering valid and reliable longitudinal multivariate data from numerous organizations in an economical fashion. Also, techniques of statistical and mathematical analysis are proposed for handling the complications caused by multivariate nonlinearities in longitudinal data. Of particular interest in this regard is the use of techniques of organizational taxonomy generation and testing and the use of algebraic heuristic procedures for identifying and differentiating among common scenarios of change in organizations. These suggestions should help to combat the non-cumulative nature of longitudinal research by avoiding the very common problems of specification error, nongenerality, and non-replicability.

Strategy, Environment and Performance in Two Technological Contexts: Contingency Theory in Korea:

Abstract: This paper examines the range of application of strategic contingency theory. Its thesis is that as technologies and economies become more open to market forces, the tenets of contingency theory become increasingly relevant. The Korean economy seemed an ideal venue for testing this notion as it is very heterogeneous in the effectiveness of its technological regulation. Many Korean companies employing traditional technologies are able to benefit from government intervention, whereas most of those using emergent technolo gies — even in the same industry — are forced to compete internationally and are very much more subject to competitive market forces. We found that Korean companies using emergent technologies were more likely to do well if they heeded contingency prescriptions in making strategy: specifically, if they employed innovative and marketing differentiation strategies in uncertain environments and cost leadership strategies in stable contexts. On the other hand, companies that used traditional te...

Competitive advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance

Abstract: COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE introduces a whole new way of understanding what a firm does. Porter's groundbreaking concept of the value chain disaggregates a company into 'activities', or the discrete functions or processes that represent the elemental building blocks of competitive advantage. Now an essential part of international business thinking, COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE takes strategy from broad vision to an internally consistent configuration of activities. Its powerful framework provides the tools to understand the drivers of cost and a company's relative cost position. Porter's value chain enables managers to isolate the underlying sources of buyer value that will command a premium price, and the reasons why one product or service substitutes for another. He shows how competitive advantage lies not only in activities themselves but in the way activities relate to each other, to supplier activities, and to customer activities. That the phrases 'competitive advantage' and 'sustainable competitive advantage' have become commonplace is testimony to the power of Porter's ideas. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE has guided countless companies, business school students, and scholars in understanding the roots of competition. Porter's work captures the extraordinary complexity of competition in a way that makes strategy both concrete and actionable.

Upper Echelons: The Organization as a Reflection of Its Top Managers

Abstract: Theorists in various fields have discussed characteristics of top managers. This paper attempts to synthesize these previously fragmented literatures around a more general “upper echelons perspective.” The theory states that organizational outcomes—strategic choices and performance levels—are partially predicted by managerial background characteristics. Propositions and methodological suggestions are included.

Clarifying the Entrepreneurial Orientation Construct and Linking It To Performance

Abstract: The primary purpose of this article is to clarify the nature of the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) construct and to propose a contingency framework for investigating the relationship between EO and firm performance. We first explore and refine the dimensions of EO and discuss the usefulness of viewing a firm's EO as a multidimensional construct. Then, drawing on examples from the EO-related contingencies literature, we suggest alternative models (moderating effects, mediating effects, independent effects, interaction effects) for testing the EO-performance relationship.

Social Identity Theory and the Organization

Abstract: It is argued that (a) social identification is a perception of oneness with a group of persons; (b) social identification stems from the categorization of individuals, the distinctiveness and prestige of the group, the salience of outgroups, and the factors that traditionally are associated with group formation; and (c) social identification leads to activities that are congruent with the identity, support for institutions that embody the identity, stereotypical perceptions of self and others, and outcomes that traditionally are associated with group formation, and it reinforces the antecedents of identification. This perspective is applied to organizational socialization, role conflict, and intergroup relations.