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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 January 2014

Thomas G. Marx

Modern academic links between leadership and strategy were forged in the early 1960s with the heightened application of strategy to business planning. These links were soon…

Abstract

Modern academic links between leadership and strategy were forged in the early 1960s with the heightened application of strategy to business planning. These links were soon dissolved by the strategy consultants who came to dominate the field of business strategy in the mid-1960s. The consultants dismissed the role of leadership in strategic planning in favor of objective analyses of the external environment that eliminated any need for leadership skills, judgment, values, or intuition. Failures to implement strategy in the 1980s led to limited roles for leaders in implementing strategies they had no role in creating, but the gulf between leadership and strategy has steadily widened.

This paper traces the consequences of this widening gulf for teaching leadership and strategy in the classroom. It explores how an integrated approach to teaching leadership and strategy would better prepare today’s students for the challenges they will face as future business leaders.

Details

Journal of Leadership Education, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1552-9045

Article
Publication date: 13 June 2016

Thomas G. Marx

The purpose of this paper is to test Chandler’s dictum that “unless structure follows strategy, inefficiency results” (Chandler, 1962, p. 314) by assessing the continuing efforts…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test Chandler’s dictum that “unless structure follows strategy, inefficiency results” (Chandler, 1962, p. 314) by assessing the continuing efforts to align structure with strategy in the automobile industry from the turn of the century through the 1980s.

Design/methodology/approach

The historical analysis utilized conceptual mediation and moderation methodologies wherein the impacts of strategy on structure were mediated by their impacts on coordination and control, and moderated by external conditions such as uncertainty, variability, interdependence and asset specificity.

Findings

The findings demonstrate that structure followed differing strategies at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, and provide strong support for Chandler’s dictum. The findings demonstrate the difficulties of maintaining alignment of strategy and structure with changes in the external competitive environment, and the severe consequences of a misalignment of strategy and structure. The findings also demonstrate that structure alone is not sufficient to implement strategy effectively, and that firms must judiciously utilize both internal firm and external market coordinating and control mechanisms to optimize performance.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include that this is a study of a single industry over an extended, but specific time period.

Practical implications

Generalization is limited by a study of a single industry, but there are numerous implications for organizational design and strategy implementation that are not industry-specific.

Originality/value

Chandler’s dictum is often cited, but this is one of very few studies that demonstrate the relationship between specific organizational designs and company strategies, and the consequences of misaligning strategy and structure.

Article
Publication date: 18 May 2015

Thomas G. Marx

The purpose of this paper is to test the proposition that business strategy affects leadership functions, skills, traits, and styles, and to assess the implications of these…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test the proposition that business strategy affects leadership functions, skills, traits, and styles, and to assess the implications of these effects for the practice of both leadership and strategic planning.

Design/methodology/approach

This is an empirical study based on over 450 responses to an online survey. Continuous rating scales allowed the use of regression analysis to test the impacts of different strategies on leadership.

Findings

The results provide strong empirical evidence that Product (Differentiation vs Low Cost strategies), Best Value, and Blue Ocean strategies have significant effects on leadership. Market strategies (Broad vs Niche strategies) have limited impacts. The greater complexity of Product, Best Value, and Blue Ocean strategies underlie these findings.

Research limitations/implications

This study explores the effects of strategy on leadership. Future studies need to explore if these effects are moderated by external, competitive conditions, and if strategy mediates the impacts of leadership on organizational performance.

Practical implications

The practical implications of these findings are that leaders must adjust their behavior and leadership styles to effectively implement alternative strategies, and planners must assess their organization’s leadership capabilities when formulating strategy.

Originality/value

There have been numerous studies of the impacts of external/internal conditions on leadership, but this is one of the first studies of the critical impacts of strategy on leadership.

Details

Journal of Strategy and Management, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-425X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2016

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

Design/methodology/approach

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings

The findings demonstrate that structure followed differing strategies at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler and provide strong support for Chandler’s dictum. The findings demonstrate the difficulties of maintaining alignment of strategy and structure with changes in the external competitive environment and severe consequences of a misalignment of strategy and structure. The findings also demonstrate that structure alone is not sufficient to implement strategy effectively and that firms must judiciously utilize both internal firm and external market coordinating and control mechanisms to optimize performance.

Practical implications

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

Originality/value

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Details

Strategic Direction, vol. 32 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0258-0543

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1987

Myroslaw J. Kyj and Larissa S. Kyj

In business to business marketing, customer service offers firms the opportunity to differentiate themselves from competitors and thereby establish a competitive edge. However…

Abstract

In business to business marketing, customer service offers firms the opportunity to differentiate themselves from competitors and thereby establish a competitive edge. However, competing on the basis of customer service presents its own problems in the area of effectively segmenting markets and dealing with the free‐ride phenomenon. This article reviews the premise of customer service competition. The findings are integrated into a set of guidelines for the organization contemplating the use of customer service as a competitive tool.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 2 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1992

John Conway O'Brien

A collection of essays by a social economist seeking to balanceeconomics as a science of means with the values deemed necessary toman′s finding the good life and society enduring…

1229

Abstract

A collection of essays by a social economist seeking to balance economics as a science of means with the values deemed necessary to man′s finding the good life and society enduring as a civilized instrumentality. Looks for authority to great men of the past and to today′s moral philosopher: man is an ethical animal. The 13 essays are: 1. Evolutionary Economics: The End of It All? which challenges the view that Darwinism destroyed belief in a universe of purpose and design; 2. Schmoller′s Political Economy: Its Psychic, Moral and Legal Foundations, which centres on the belief that time‐honoured ethical values prevail in an economy formed by ties of common sentiment, ideas, customs and laws; 3. Adam Smith by Gustav von Schmoller – Schmoller rejects Smith′s natural law and sees him as simply spreading the message of Calvinism; 4. Pierre‐Joseph Proudhon, Socialist – Karl Marx, Communist: A Comparison; 5. Marxism and the Instauration of Man, which raises the question for Marx: is the flowering of the new man in Communist society the ultimate end to the dialectical movement of history?; 6. Ethical Progress and Economic Growth in Western Civilization; 7. Ethical Principles in American Society: An Appraisal; 8. The Ugent Need for a Consensus on Moral Values, which focuses on the real dangers inherent in there being no consensus on moral values; 9. Human Resources and the Good Society – man is not to be treated as an economic resource; man′s moral and material wellbeing is the goal; 10. The Social Economist on the Modern Dilemma: Ethical Dwarfs and Nuclear Giants, which argues that it is imperative to distinguish good from evil and to act accordingly: existentialism, situation ethics and evolutionary ethics savour of nihilism; 11. Ethical Principles: The Economist′s Quandary, which is the difficulty of balancing the claims of disinterested science and of the urge to better the human condition; 12. The Role of Government in the Advancement of Cultural Values, which discusses censorship and the funding of art against the background of the US Helms Amendment; 13. Man at the Crossroads draws earlier themes together; the author makes the case for rejecting determinism and the “operant conditioning” of the Skinner school in favour of the moral progress of autonomous man through adherence to traditional ethical values.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 19 no. 3/4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1985

Tomas Riha

Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely…

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Abstract

Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely, innovative thought structures and attitudes have almost always forced economic institutions and modes of behaviour to adjust. We learn from the history of economic doctrines how a particular theory emerged and whether, and in which environment, it could take root. We can see how a school evolves out of a common methodological perception and similar techniques of analysis, and how it has to establish itself. The interaction between unresolved problems on the one hand, and the search for better solutions or explanations on the other, leads to a change in paradigma and to the formation of new lines of reasoning. As long as the real world is subject to progress and change scientific search for explanation must out of necessity continue.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 12 no. 3/4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1990

Thomas O. Nitsch

In previous efforts the author has examined the various“men” of economics or human‐nature assumptions of“economic thinkers” as a way of treating the history andphilosophy of the…

Abstract

In previous efforts the author has examined the various “men” of economics or human‐nature assumptions of “economic thinkers” as a way of treating the history and philosophy of the discipline. Here, under the thematic penumbra of “Man as the Centre of the Social Economy”, and hoping to incorporate the fruits of further inquiry into the matter, those “creatures” and their fashioners are critically reconsidered with a view towards arriving at a more adequate conception of a truly human “economiser” and – accordingly – science of human economy. In Part II, having presented homo oeconomicus in both his/her “impudent” and “honourable” versions, we shall attempt to transcend homo socioeconomicus and even our own (former) homo oeconomicus humanus as well.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 17 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 1988

Tibor R. Machan

Here Marx's philosophy is dissected from the angle of bourgeois capitalism which he, Marx, sought to overcome. His social, political and economic ideas are criticised. Although it…

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Abstract

Here Marx's philosophy is dissected from the angle of bourgeois capitalism which he, Marx, sought to overcome. His social, political and economic ideas are criticised. Although it is noted that Marx wanted to ameliorate human suffering, the result turned out to be Utopian, contrary to his own intentions. Contrary to Marx, it is individualism that makes the best sense and capitalism that holds out the best hope for coping with most of the problems he sought to solve. Marx's philosophy is alluring but flawed at a very basic level, namely, where it denies the individuality of each person and treats humanity as “an organic body”. Capitalism, while by no means out to guarantee a perfect society, is the best setting for the realisation of the diverse but often equally noble human goals of its membership.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 15 no. 11/12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1989

Thomas O. Nitsch and Bruce J. Malina

Introduction We would like to make it clear at the outset that the present essay is not an essay in theology. Theology deals with the articulation of some symbol of the Ultimate…

Abstract

Introduction We would like to make it clear at the outset that the present essay is not an essay in theology. Theology deals with the articulation of some symbol of the Ultimate or All, i.e. some “Theos”, or God. Rather, our concern is with humans and their perceptions and experiences of some Ultimate or All; this concern is typical of a religious studies approach. The approach of contemporary religious studies is much like the social scientific, only much more self‐conscious of the implicit cultural presuppositions and deductive principles that control its mode of producing facts from data. The social sciences usually treat data and facts as though they were one and the same. We use the religious studies approach in order to discern and assess the implications, consequences and/or impact of religion and its central symbols on human beings. In this essay our focus will not be simply on human beings, but on their ideologies and the behaviors flowing from those ideologies in the arbitrarily delineated sphere of the social called “economy”.

Details

Humanomics, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0828-8666

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