Chethan D. Srikant and Atul Teckchandani
The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrative approach to help firms across multiple industries ensure operational continuity and manage ongoing climate-change related…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrative approach to help firms across multiple industries ensure operational continuity and manage ongoing climate-change related disruptions. It provides an implementation model that would first, help firms recognize this as an issue and second, start incorporating certain practices in their decision-making processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The analytical framework in this paper is based on the strategic management’s resource-based view. According to this view, certain resources provide sustainable competitive advantages because they score high on the following four dimensions: valuable, rare, inimitable and organized to exploit. This paper introduces a fifth dimension – the climate change resilience of the resource. Resources that are not always obvious choices for providing competitive advantages – air, freshwater, workspaces and customers – are evaluated. Each resource is analyzed through the perspective of two disparate industries.
Findings
This paper highlights to two important findings. First, resources that are rarely considered as providing competitive advantage can become important when the authors add the fifth dimension – climate change resilience. Second, location choices are critical to ensuring climate change resilience. When firms are location constrained, a contingency plan needs to be in place. These contingency plans could range from redesigning physical assets to redesigning human resources practices.
Originality/value
This paper illustrates the need and the utility of climate change resilience when assessing the sustainable competitive advantage of a resource. Using the above findings, this paper develops a model for implementing a location-based strategy, which firms in any industry could adopt to ensure the climate change resilience of their resources.
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Jennifer Chandler and Atul Teckchandani
Because of the increasing importance of access over ownership, the purpose of this paper is to propose a service ecosystem perspective to help managers navigate hypercompetition…
Abstract
Purpose
Because of the increasing importance of access over ownership, the purpose of this paper is to propose a service ecosystem perspective to help managers navigate hypercompetition. With the rise of cloud-based services and the ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the global economy has shifted toward hypercompetition, a state characterized by organizational advantages that are rapidly created and then destroyed by intense competitive moves. Because advantages are quickly eroded, organizations must be aggressive in the number of actions they take and the speed with which they execute these actions. The service ecosystem perspective focuses on relationships that allow organizations to jointly adjust to one another and to their environment.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper first reviews traditional strategies for navigating hypercompetition. Then, it presents an explanation of the service ecosystem perspective. Finally, the three north stars and media examples are provided.
Findings
The service ecosystem perspective asserts “north stars” that can guide managerial decision-making in hypercompetitive environments. These north stars are: cultivate system norms, facilitate feedback loops and embrace servitization.
Originality/value
In today’s world, organizations are increasingly seeking access to resources instead of ownership of them. The proposed approach suggests that, rather than an organization owning the resources it needs to achieve advantages, organizations are increasingly relying on accessing resources by coordinating with other organizations to draw upon the resource(s) as needed, without incurring the additional burdens of ownership. Examples from the media industry are used to illustrate the three north stars of the service ecosystems perspective.
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Maggie So and Atul Teckchandani
A new way for business leaders to access targeted professional help is via fractional service providers. Fractional service providers can provide tremendous advantages, as they…
Abstract
Purpose
A new way for business leaders to access targeted professional help is via fractional service providers. Fractional service providers can provide tremendous advantages, as they are much more closely associated with the company than outsourcing or consulting service providers, while being more cost effective than full-time employees. A fractional service provider that can be of particular benefit to startups and small businesses is a fractional CFO or Controller – who can provide an organization with the skills to perform all of the activities that a finance and accounting department should perform and provide a consistent leadership voice on all finance-related matters.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper first introduces fractional services and discusses how fractional service providers differ from outsourcing, consulting engagements and full-time employment. Then, it presents an explanation of why fractional service providers may be best suited to manage the finance and accounting functions in a small or medium-sized business. Finally, it discusses factors that business leaders should consider and best practices they should use when using fractional services.
Findings
Using a fractional CFO or Controller will provide an increased focus on the company’s financial health and allow the organization to perform (or oversee) all of the activities that a finance and accounting department should be performing. The scope of work a fractional CFO or Controller performs can be easily modified to meet the needs of the firm, Moreover, they require little direct management. As a result, a fractional CFO or Controller can often be a more cost-effective option than hiring for the finance and accounting function on a full-time basis.
Originality/value
In today’s world, organizations are increasingly seeking ways to maintain effectiveness while also being flexible in how human capital is used. This paper discusses one such flexibility: incorporating fractional service providers. The key premise of this paper is that fractional service providers, specifically fractional CFOs or Controllers, can be an extremely effective way for many organizations, especially small businesses and startups, to get more sophisticated help and guidance in finance and accounting-related matters – thereby acting as an excellent bridge between an ineffective finance and accounting function and creating such a function staffed by full-time employees.
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David Obstfeld, Stephen P. Borgatti and Jason Davis
We argue for a broadened approach to brokerage by distinguishing between brokerage emphasizing a particular structural pattern in which two otherwise disconnected alters are…
Abstract
We argue for a broadened approach to brokerage by distinguishing between brokerage emphasizing a particular structural pattern in which two otherwise disconnected alters are connected through a third party (“brokerage structure”) and the social behavior of third parties (“brokerage process”). We explore a processual view of brokerage by examining three fundamental strategic orientations toward brokerage: conduit, tertius gaudens, and tertius iungens that occur in many different forms and combinations. This processual view is especially relevant in increasingly complex and dynamic environments where brokerage behavior is highly varied, intense, and purposeful, and has theoretical implications for studying multiplexity, heterogeneity, and brokerage intensity.