Showing papers on "Strategic planning published in 1998"

International expansion through start-up or through acquisition : An organizational learning perspective

Abstract: This study brings a fresh approach—a learning perspective—to the literature examining whether firms expand internationally through start-ups or acquisitions. Hypotheses concern how this strategic c...

The Co-Evolution of Strategic Alliances

Abstract: This paper proposes a co-evolutionary theory of strategic alliances. The paper proposes a framework which views strategic alliances in the context of the adaptation choices of a firm. Strategic alliances, in this view, are embedded in a firm's strategic portfolio, and co-evolve with the firm's strategy, the institutional, organizational and competitive environment, and with management intent for the alliance. Specifically, we argue that alliance intent may be described, at any time, as having either exploitation or exploration objectives. We further discuss how the morphology of an alliance-absorptive capacity, control, and identification-may be isomorphic with its intent, and, in the aggregate, drive the evolution of the population of alliances.

Real Options: Managing Strategic Investment in an Uncertain World

Abstract: Martha Amram and Nalin Kulatilaka suggest a smarter new way to think about strategic investments in terms of real options. By applying options thinking - the concept underlying the recent Nobel Prize-winning work on financial options - to the evaluation of nonfinancial assets, this innovative approach brings a financial market discipline to the evaluation of a company's opportunities. Using real options theory, managers can more effectively target crucial opportunities to redeploy, delay, modify, or even abandon capital-intensive projects as events unfold. Corporate executives in finance, investments, and project management should share this book with decision makers in information technology, strategic planning, corporate restructuring, venture capital, and law.

Navigating in the new competitive landscape: Building strategic flexibility and competitive advantage in the 21st century

Abstract: Executive Overview A new competitive landscape is developing largely based on the technological revolution and increasing globalization. The strategic discontinuities encountered by firms are transforming the nature of competition. To navigate effectively in this new competitive landscape, to build and maintain competitive advantage, requires a new type of organization. Success in the 21st century organization will depend first on building strategic flexibility. To develop strategic flexibility and competitive advantage, requires exercising strategic leadership, building dynamic core competences, focusing and developing human capital, effectively using new manufacturing and information technologies, employing valuable strategies (exploiting global markets and cooperative strategies) and implementing new organization structures and culture (horizontal organization, learning and innovative culture, managing firm as bundles of assets). Thus, the new competitive landscape will require new types of organizatio...

Toward a Unifying Framework for Exploring Fit and Flexibility in Strategic Human Resource Management

Abstract: In this article we present a framework for studying the concepts of fit and flexibility in the field of strategic human resource management (HRM), focusing on HRM practices, employee skills, and employee behaviors, and review past conceptual and empirical work within that framework. We present a model of strategic HRM and use this model to explore the concepts of fit and flexibility as they apply to strategic HRM. After applying the concepts of resource and coordination flexibility to strategic HRM, we discuss the implications of the framework for both the practice of and research on strategic HRM.

Making Strategy: The Journey of Strategic Management

Abstract: This book approaches strategy-making in a way that is designed to assist most organizations develop strategy appropriate to their size, purpose and resources. It provides a much-needed guide to the strategy-making process by: elaborating the key concepts and theories of strategic management; by illustrating through case vignettes the issues inherent in the process of strategy-making; and by providing extensive and detailed practical guidelines on the methods, techniques and tools employed in the case vignettes. Key themes explored are: the crucial significance of political feasibility; the role of participation; emphasis on stakeholder management; thinking about alternative futures within the overall process of strategy-making; and using computer support for strategy-making, organizational learning and strategy-delivery.

Strategic decision-making processes: the role of management and context

Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between the process of strategic decision-making and management and contextual factors. First, drawing on a sample of strategic decisions, it analyzes the process through which they are taken, into seven dimensions: comprehensiveness/rationality, financial reporting, rule formalization, hierarchical decentralization, lateral communication, politicization, problem-solving dissension. Second, these process dimensions are related to (1) decision-specific characteristics, both perceived characteristics and objective typologies of strategic decisions, (2) top management characteristics, and (3) contextual factors referring to external corporate environment and internal firm characteristics. Overall, the results support the view that strategic decision processes are shaped by a multiplicity of factors, in all these categories. But the most striking finding is that decision-specific characteristics appear to have the most important influence on the strategic decision-making process, as decisions with different decision-specific characteristics are handled through different processes. The evident dominance of decision-specific characteristics over management and contextual factors enriches the traditional ‘external control’ vs. ‘strategic choice’ debate in the area of strategic management. An interpretation of results is attempted and policy implications are derived. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cognitive diversity among upper-echelon executives: implications for strategic decision processes

Abstract: Diversity among executives is widely assumed to influence a firm's strategic decision processes, but empirical research on this linkage has been virtually nonexistent. To partially fill the void, we drew upon three separate studies to examine the impact of executive diversity on comprehensiveness of strategic decision-making and extensiveness of strategic planning. Contrary to common assumptions of researchers and executives, our results suggest that executive diversity inhibits rather than promotes comprehensive examinations of current opportunities and threats, and inhibits rather than promotes extensive long-range planning. In light of the cumulative research showing that firm performance is related to both comprehensiveness and extensiveness, our results provide evidence for an indirect connection between executive diversity and firm performance. ? 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Performance Implications of Incorporating Natural Environmental Issues into the Strategic Planning Process: An Empirical Assessment

Abstract: This paper explores the ability of firms to integrate a critical strategic issue, the natural environment, into the strategic planning process within the natural resource-based perspective. Using survey data collected from a wide variety of firms and industries based in the United States, we empirically examined the antecedents and effects of integrating the natural environment into the formal planning process. These data were analysed using structural equation modelling with the LISREL technique. Overall, our data provided strong support for the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, we found that the level of integration of environmental management concerns in the strategic planning process was positively related to financial and environmental performance. Furthermore, we found that the greater the functional coverage and the more resources provided to environmental issues, the greater the integration of environmental issues in the planning process. These results suggest that concern for environmental issues may yield competitive advantages in the marketplace as the natural resource-based perspective suggests

Scenario Planning: Managing for the Future

Abstract: Acknowledgements. Contributors to the Second Edition. Foreword. PART I Introduction. Chapter 1: The Development of Scenario Planning. Chapter 2: Where Are We Now?. Chapter 3: ICL's Experience of Building Scenarios for Strategic Planning. Chapter 4: Linking Scenarios to Strategic Planning. Chapter 5: Scenarios to Influence Public Attitudes. Chapter 6: Scenarios for Learning. Chapter 7: Summary and Conclusions. PART II METHODS AND EXAMPLES. Computer-Driven Simulations, e.g. Stratx. The European Commission's Methodology. The French School. Generon Consulting. GBN Global Business Network. International Futures and the Terra Project. SAMI Consulting. SCMl. SRI Consulting Business Intelligence. The Amington Institute. The Millennium Project. Futures Data. PART III CASE STUDIES. AMA: Roadmap to Utopia. British Airways. Cable & Wireless Experience. Diabetes 2020: Designing New Business Models for Prevention and Treatment. Electrolux: Developing New Business Streams. European Commission: Using Scenarios to Great Common Understanding across Different Cultures. Finland: A Long-term View. KRONE: Scanning the Horizon. Morgan Stanley in Japan, 2002. Pharma Futures: Multistakeholder Scenario Planning for the Global Pharmaceutical Industry through 2015. Shell's Planning System in the 1990s. Surrey Vision 2020. The UK National Health Service. United Distillers' Experience: Investigating Market Potential. PART IV EXAMPLES OF SCENARIOS. Scenarios Developed by ICL - Mark I. Scenarios Developed by ICL - Mark II. Scenarios for the Telecom Supply Industry. The Hemingford Scenarios. Scenarios for the Future of Biosciences in 2020 and Beyond. Scenarios for Organisations in the Twenty-first Century. Scenarios for Scotland. Shell Global Scenarios to 2025. The Challenge Forum Global Scenarios for 2025. Z/Yen Scenarios for Voluntary-Sector Organisations. Bibliography. Index.

Procedural justice, strategic decision making, and the knowledge economy

Abstract: Collective knowledge building is a key strategic task for firms' success today. But creating and sharing knowledge are intangible activities that can neither be supervised nor forced out of people. They happen only when individuals cooperate voluntarily. A key challenge facing strategic management is obtaining the voluntary cooperation of individuals as firms formulate and implement their strategic decisions. This essay draws on the rich body of procedural justice research to address this critical issue. We argue that when people feel their strategic decision-making processes are fair, they display a high level of voluntary cooperation based on their attitudes of trust and commitment. Conversely, when people feel that the processes are unfair, they refuse to cooperate by hoarding ideas and dragging their feet in conceiving and executing strategic decisions. We further develop this argument into team performance wherein the attitudinal and behavioral effects of procedural justice are corroborated with theory and initial evidence of their bottom-line performance consequences. We then build a theory, which we call intellectual and emotional recognition theory, that can explain why procedural justice invokes the side of human behavior that goes beyond outcome-driven self-interests and that is so critical in the knowledge economy. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Impact of Strategic Alliances on Firm Valuation

Abstract: This study analyzed 119 strategic alliances formed during the period 1987–91. Using the event study methodology, we found that announcements of technological alliances enjoyed greater abnormal retu...

Technological Lockout: An Integrative Model of the Economic and Strategic Factors Driving Technology Success and Failure

Abstract: Technology markets often exhibit extreme path dependency, enabling random or idiosyncratic events to have dramatic effects on technology success or failure. However, these effects accrue in an ordered way: by impacting a set of factors that have predictable influences on technology adoption. Since firm strategy also impacts these factors, technology adoption is neither wholly random nor beyond the firm's control. In this article the author I build a model of these factors by integrating economics, strategy, and marketing research. The model yields important implications for the strategic development and deployment of technology.

Managing the new product development process: Strategic imperatives

Abstract: Executive Overview For many industries, new product development is now the single most important factor driving firm success or failure. The emphasis on new products has spurred researchers from strategic management, engineering, marketing, and other disciplines to study the new product development process. Most conclude that in order to be successful at new product development, a firm must simultaneously meet two critical objectives: maximizing the fit with customer needs, and minimizing time to market. While these objectives often pose conflicting demands on the firm, there is a growing body of evidence that the firm may employ strategies to successfully meet these objectives. Successful firms are those that articulate their strategic intent and map their R&D portfolio to find a fit between their new product development goals and their current resources and competencies. Their success also rests on how well the technology areas they enter contribute to the long term direction of the firm by helping them...

Competitive advantage : creating and sustaining superior performance : with a new introduction

Abstract: Contents Introduction Preface Chapter 1 Competitive Strategy: The Core Concepts THE STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF INDUSTRIES Industry Structure and Buyer Needs Industry Structure and the Supply/Demand Balance GENERIC COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES Cost Leadership Differentiation Focus Stuck in the Middle Pursuit of More Than One Generic Strategy Sustainability Generic Strategies and Industry Evolution Generic Strategies and Organizational Structure Generic Strategies and the Strategic Planning Process OVERVIEW OF THIS BOOK PART I PRINCIPLES OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Chapter 2 The Value Chain and Competitive Advantage THE VALUE CHAIN Identifying Value Activities Defining the Value Chain Linkages within The Value Chain Vertical Linkages The Buyer's Value Chain COMPETITIVE SCOPE AND THE VALUE CHAIN Segment Scope Vertical Scope Geographic Scope Industry Scope Coalitions and Scope Competitive Scope and Business Definition The Value Chain and Industry Structure THE VALUE CHAIN AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Chapter 3 Cost Advantage THE VALUE CHAIN AND COST ANALYSIS Defining the Value Chain for Cost Analysis Assigning Costs and Assets First Cut Analysis of Costs COST BEHAVIOR Cost Drivers The Cost of Purchased Inputs Segment Cost Behavior Cost Dynamics COST ADVANTAGE Determining the Relative Cost of Competitors Gaining Cost Advantage Sustainability of Cost Advantage Implementation and Cost Advantage Pitfalls in Cost Leadership Strategies STEPS IN STRATEGIC COST ANALYSIS Chapter 4 Differentiation SOURCES OF DIFFERENTIATION Differentiation and The Value Chain Drivers of Uniqueness THE COST OF DIFFERENTIATION BUYER VALUE AND DIFFERENTIATION Buyer Value The Value Chain and Buyer Value Lowering Buyer Cost Raising Buyer Performance Buyer Perception of Value Buyer Value and the Real Buyer Buyer Purchase Criteria Identifying Purchase Criteria DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY Routes to Differentiation The Sustainability of Differentiation Pitfalls in Differentiation STEPS IN DIFFERENTIATION Chapter 5 Technology and Competitive Advantage TECHNOLOGY AND COMPETITION Technology and The Value Chain Technology and Competitive Advantage Technology and Industry Structure TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY The Choice of Technologies to Develop Technological Leadership or Followership Licensing of Technology TECHNOLOGICAL EVOLUTION Continuous Versus Discontinuous Technological Evolution Forecasting Technological Evolution FORMULATING TECHNOLOGICAL STRATEGY Chapter 6 Competitor Selection THE STRATEGIC BENEFITS OF COMPETITORS Increasing Competitive Advantage Improving Current Industry Structure Aiding Market Development Deterring Entry WHAT MAKES A "GOOD" COMPETITOR? Tests of a Good Competitor "Good" Market Leaders Diagnosing Good Competitors INFLUENCING THE PATTERN OF COMPETITORS Damaging Good Competitors in Battling Bad Ones Changing Bad Competitors into Good Ones THE OPTIMAL MARKET CONFIGURATION The Optimal Competitor Configuration Maintaining Competitor Viability Moving toward the Ideal Competitor Configuration Maintaining Industry Stability PITFALLS IN COMPETITOR SELECTION PART II COMPETITIVE SCOPE WITHIN AN INDUSTRY Chapter 7 Industry Segmentation and Competitive Advantage BASES FOR INDUSTRY SEGMENTATION Structural Bases For Segmentation Segmentation Variables Finding New Segments THE INDUSTRY SEGMENTATION MATRIX Relationships Among Segmentation Variables Combining Segmentation Matrices INDUSTRY SEGMENTATION AND COMPETITIVE STRATEGY The Attractiveness of a Segment Segment Interrelationships Segment Interrelationships and Broadly-Targeted Strategies The Choice of Focus The Feasibility of New Segments to Focus On The Sustainability of a Focus Strategy Pitfalls and Opportunities for Focusers and Broadly-Targeted Competitors INDUSTRY SEGMENTATION AND INDUSTRY DEFINITION Chapter 8 Substitution IDENTIFYING SUBSTITUTES THE ECONOMICS OF SUBSTITUTION Relative Value/Price Switching Costs Buyer Propensity to Substitute Segmentation and Substitution CHANGES IN THE SUBSTITUTION THREAT Substitution and Overall Industry Demand Substitution and Industry Structure THE PATH OF SUBSTITUTION Segmentation and the Substitution Path Substitution Forecasting Models SUBSTITUTION AND COMPETITIVE STRATEGY Promoting Substitution Defense Against Substitutes Industry Versus Firm Substitution Strategy Pitfalls in Strategy Against Substitutes PART III CORPORATE STRATEGY AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Chapter 9 Interrelationships among Business Units THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF HORIZONTAL STRATEGY INTERRELATIONSHIPS AMONG BUSINESS UNITS TANGIBLE INTERRELATIONSHIPS Sharing and Competitive Advantage The Costs of Sharing Difficulty of Matching Identifying Tangible Interrelationships INTANGIBLE INTERRELATIONSHIPS COMPETITOR INTERRELATIONSHIPS Multipoint Competitors in Unrelated Industries Multipoint Competition in Related Industries Competitors with Different Patterns of Interrelationships Forecasting Potential Competitors Chapter 10 Horizontal Strategy THE NEED FOR EXPLICIT HORIZONTAL STRATEGY Formulating Horizontal Strategy INTERRELATIONSHIPS AND DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGY Diversification Based on Tangible Interrelationships Diversification Through Beachheads Diversification and Corporate Resources PITFALLS IN HORIZONTAL STRATEGY Pitfalls in Ignoring Interrelationships Pitfalls in Pursuing Interrelationships Chapter 11 Achieving Interrelationships IMPEDIMENTS TO ACHIEVING INTERRELATIONSHIPS Sources of Impediments Interrelationships and Equity Differences in Impediments among Firms ORGANIZATIONAL MECHANISMS FOR ACHIEVING INTERRELATIONSHIPS Horizontal Structure Horizontal Systems Horizontal Human Resource Practices Horizontal Conflict Resolution Processes The Corporate Role in Facilitating Interrelationships Interrelationships and the Mode of Diversification MANAGING HORIZONTAL ORGANIZATION Promising Examples Japanese Firms and Interrelationships A New Organizational Form Chapter 12 Complementary Products and Competitive Advantage CONTROL OVER COMPLEMENTARY PRODUCTS Competitive Advantages From Controlling Complements Problems of Controlling Complements Control Over Complements and Industry Evolution Identifying Strategically Important Complements BUNDLING Competitive Advantages of Bundling Risks of Bundling Bundled Versus Unbundled Strategies Bundling and Industry Evolution Strategic Implications of Bundling CROSS SUBSIDIZATION Conditions Favoring Cross Subsidization Risks of Cross Subsidization Cross Subsidization and Industry Evolution Strategic Implications of Cross Subsidization COMPLEMENTS AND COMPETITIVE STRATEGY PART IV IMPLICATIONS FOR OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE COMPETITIVE STRATEGY Chapter 13 Industry Scenarios and Competitive Strategy under Uncertainty Scenarios as a Planning Tool Industry Scenarios CONSTRUCTING INDUSTRY SCENARIOS Identifying Industry Uncertainties Independent Versus Dependent Uncertainties Identifying a Set of Scenarios Consistency of Assumptions Analyzing Scenarios Introducing Competitor Behavior into Scenarios The Number of Scenarios To Analyze Attaching Probabilities to Scenarios Summary Characteristics of Industry Scenarios INDUSTRY SCENARIOS AND COMPETITIVE STRATEGY Strategic Approaches Under Scenarios Combined and Sequenced Strategies The Choice of Strategy Under Industry Scenarios Scenario Variables and Market Intelligence SCENARIOS AND THE PLANNING PROCESS Corporate Role in Constructing Industry Scenarios Industry Scenarios and Creativity Chapter 14 Defensive Strategy THE PROCESS OF ENTRY OR REPOSITIONING DEFENSIVE TACTICS Raising Structural Barriers Increasing Expected Retaliation Lowering the Inducement for Attack EVALUATING DEFENSIVE TACTICS DEFENSIVE STRATEGY Deterrence Response Response to Price Cutting Defense or Disinvest Pitfalls in Defense Chapter 15 Attacking an Industry Leader CONDITIONS FOR ATTACKING A LEADER AVENUES FOR ATTACKING LEADERS Reconfiguration Redefinition Pure Spending Alliances To Attack Leaders IMPEDIMENTS To LEADER RETALIATION SIGNALS OF LEADER VULNERABILITY Industry Signals Leader Signals ATTACKING LEADERS AND INDUSTRY STRUCTURE Bibliography Index About the Author

Strategic analysis of logistics and supply chain management systems using the analytical network process

Abstract: This paper explores and illustrates an analytical framework to assess an organization’s logistics strategy. The optimum logistical system is evaluated based on three primary levels: the organizational/supply chain relationship involved, the principles of logistics required, and the attributes of these principles. The principles of logistics are defined and developed as strategies for achieving coordination and integration of the logistics network and supply chain. The analytic network process, a systemic analytical model, will be utilized to evaluate logistics strategies for an organization that seeks to be adaptive to dynamic competitive environments.

Strategic Innovation in Established Companies

Abstract: Compared to new companies or niche players, established companies find it difficult to innovate strategically ? to reconceptualize what the business is all about and, as a result, to play the game in an existing business in a dramatically different way. Drawing on examples of highly profitable companies in diverse industries, the author explains how long-time players can overcome the four chief obstacles to strategic innovation. 1. Inertia of success. Strategic innovators monitor their strategic health for early signals of trouble and are willing, if necessary, to abandon the status quo for the uncertainty of change. These companies also work to convince employees that current performance is good but not good enough. They develop a new challenge to galvanize the organization into active thinking, and they expend significant time and effort selling the challenge to everyone. 2. Uncertainty about what to change into. Strategic innovators challenge their dominant way of thinking and shift emphasis away from determining how they need to compete toward questioning who their customers are and what they really want. They institutionalize a questioning attitude and find ways to shake up the system every few years. 3. Uncertainty surrounding new strategic positions. At a given time, a company does not know which idea will succeed and which core competencies will be essential. Successful strategic innovators follow the model of capitalism: they create internal variety, even at the expense of efficiency, and allow the outside market to decide the winners and losers. 4. The challenges of implementation. Successful companies set up a separate organizational unit to support a new strategic innovation and create a context that supports integration between different units within the company. In managing the transition from the old to the new, they let the two systems coexist but gradually allocate resources to the new so that it grows at the expense of the old. For established companies, the challenge of strategic innovation is organizational: developing a culture that questions current success while promoting experimentation. Strong leadership is essential in creating that culture. Only those companies that strive for self-renewal, the author argues, will succeed in the long term.

What's swot in strategic analysis?

Abstract: Environmental analysis is a critical part of the strategic management planning process. The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) framework is proposed by many as an analytical tool which should be used to categorize significant environmental factors both internal and external to the organization. SWOT analysis has been praised for its simplicity and practicality. As a framework it has been widely adopted but, generally, its use has been accepted uncritically. It is timely to reappraise its value as a strategic management tool. If used simplistically, the SWOT framework is a ‘naive’ tool which may lead to strategic errors. More detailed analysis using complementary frameworks can overcome SWOT's inherent shortfalls. SWOT should not be viewed as a static analytical tool with emphasis solely on its output. It should be used as a dynamic part of the management and business development process. Despite impressions often created by many authors on the subject who portray strategic planning as systematic, sequential and rational, the realities of planning reveal that strategy formulation is more likely to be somewhat more incremental, non-rational and irregular; more ‘organic’ than ‘mechanic’. Use of the SWOT framework tends to be most closely associated with the ‘mechanistic’ approach and suffers as a consequence of this association. SWOT analysis does not have to be mechanistic; adoption of the approach proposed here with emphasis on its process values as well as its output is strongly recommended.

Competitive strategy : techniques for analyzing industries and competitors : with a new introduction

Abstract: This book starts with a bang. On the very second page of the first chapter you will find the figure for the famous Five Forces Driving Industry Competition. While Porter did not intend this framework to be used for case interviews, in reality, this is a very important framework to know for the case interviews conducted by leading strategy and management consultancy firms. All top MBAs and anybody who has ever been hired by the best strategy and management consultancy firms knows this framework, and has probably read this book. The first chapter immediately proceeds to explaining each of the five forces: 1. Threat of new entrants 2. Intensity of rivalry among existing competitors 3. Pressure from substitute products 4. Bargaining power of buyers 5. Bargaining power of suppliers While the first chapter alone is worth the cost of this book, I recommend it for the wisdom contained in the rest of the book. The chapters are organized under three parts (General Analytical Techniques, Generic Industry Environments, and Strategic Decisions). There are several thought provoking discussions on concepts such as A Framework for Competitor Analysis (Future goals, Assumptions, Current strategy, Capabilities), Market Signals and a Strategic Analysis of Vertical Integration. This book is the single most important book on business strategy. It is a classic - like the management classics of Peter Drucker. As with every classic, the examples are old (not to be confused with outdated). But, the competition HP faced for electronic calculators in the 70s, it still faces for computers today. There have been several changes in the players, technology, industries, globalization, etc, but the foundation built by Porter's masterpieces are still relevant today.

Patterns in the Diffusion of Strategies Across Organizations: Insights from the Innovation Diffusion Literature

Abstract: Firms often adopt strategies in spite of mixed evidence about the strategy's performance and of evidence that the strategy leads to inefficient outcomes. Here, we describe the conditions prompting the spread of inefficient strategies through a population of firms, as well as the characteristics of individual firms that affect their propensity to adopt efficient and inefficient strategies. We focus on one pattern that appears common to strategic adoptions: a pattern where the number of unsuccessful adoptions exceeds the number of successful adoptions. We note how the failure to consider diffusion patterns in empirical strategic research limits use of that research as a source of prescriptive theory.

Market orientation and dimensions of strategic orientation

Abstract: The specific domain of market orientation has been the subject of much scrutiny this decade. Both conceptual and empirical advances have been made to establish the marketing orientation construct as central to marketing decisions, business activities and organizational culture. However, a lacuna remains in understanding how market orientation may be related to competitive strategy. It is argued that market oriented activities and behaviours are articulated through strategic means which guides the firm in its product‐market. Conceptualized as “strategic orientation of the business enterprise”, competitive strategy is discussed as an important vehicle through which market orientation may be manifest. Six dimensions of strategic orientation are presented and statistical analyses, of data generated from a survey of medium and large industrial manufacturing businesses, specified “proactiveness”, “analysis” and “futurity” as positive and significant in their association with firms’ levels of market orientation. Discussion of these findings is made, along with various conclusions and implications of the study for executive and academic audiences.

The State of the States: Performance-Based Budgeting Requirements in 47 out of 50

Abstract: The current wave of budgeting reform focuses on the performance of government agencies and programs and is reflected in state efforts to introduce performance-based budgeting (PBB). In the ideal, this budget system requires measurement of results, outcomes, and impacts. In an article titled "Managing Public Finances Like the Future Matters," King (1995) suggests several reasons for this renewed interest in budget reform, including: * Government must be driven by citizen desires and needs, not government rules and regulations. * Taxpayers will pay for results, not efforts. * Government must better communicate progress toward goals and objectives. Actual performance-based budgeting systems may have a variety of goals. For example, they may or may not require measurement of outcomes. They may support strategic planning or focus on measurement development. It is the goal of this article to find out how many states have adopted some version of performance-based budgeting. It remains for future research to see how well these reforms are accomplishing overall objectives and whether some forms of performance-based budgeting work better than others. We surveyed the 50 states to determine the existence of legislative or administrative initiatives requiring performance-based budgeting. We define performance-based budgeting as requiring strategic planning regarding agency mission, goals and objectives, and a process that requests quantifiable data that provides meaning information about program outcomes. Performance-based budgeting may also require an assessment of agency progress toward specified targets. Several recent pieces of research inventory the existence and use of performance measures in the states (National Association of State Budget Officers, 1995; Fountain, 1997; see also case analyses of local, state, and federal experience with performance measurement provided by ASPA's Government Accountability and Accomplishment Task Force, 1996). Findings from these studies do not describe the legal or administrative requirements for the states to conduct performance-based budgeting as defined above. Methodology This study is based on a literature view and a survey of state administrators. The survey of executive and legislative budget offices was conducted by telephone in 1996 and 1997. These budgeters were asked about legislation (in place or pending) that has performance-based requirements or administrative guidelines for the state. Responses were received from budgeters; (usually the director or deputy director of the budget office) in all 50 states. Those answering that legislation existed were asked to send or fax a copy. Those states that did not have any legislation, even pending, were asked if an executive order or other administrative, guidelines were in place regarding performance-based budgeting. We asked these budgeters to send us budget guidelines or instructions. We asked a number of follow-up questions, including the following: * Who is responsible fix implementing performance-based budgeting and specifically, operationalizing measures? * What is the time frame for implementing performance-based budgeting? * Are there incentives (or disincentives) that promote the use of performance-based budgeting? * What oversight capacity is provided by the legislation? In this article, we review performance-based budgeting legislative and/or administrative guidelines, for performance-based budgeting as well as incentives, disincentives, timelines, and reporting and process requirements on the part of state agencies, central budget bureaus, and newly established oversight offices. Our research is more inclusive than past efforts, for we examine both law and administrative requirements short of law. Findings from this research indicate that a significant portion of performance-based budgeting activities at the state level occur without legislation. …