Journal of Strategy and Management

Organizations need to find ways to survive in unpredictable, dynamic and rapidly changing environments. The development of organizational capabilities, such as relational, is a dynamic process of adaptation, which seeks to adjust to an unstable environment. Within this context, the purpose of this paper is to analyze, through a systematic review (SR), 36 articles, which discuss the influence of strategic alliances on the dynamic capabilities (DCs) process.

Through this systematic literature review, articles published in international journals were categorized in terms of their objectives, thematic axes and the research methodologies applied and evidences, to explore their methodological, theoretical and organizational practice contributions.

The results clarified the antecedents, implications and relevance of the relationship between strategic alliances in different countries and their DCs. The findings make it possible to determine directions for new studies that may support the advancement of this field of research.

Studies from this SR point out that alliance is: a flexible vehicle of learning; a way to transfer effective knowledge in partner firms and to generate combinations of resources; and a superior means of access to technological capabilities and other complex capabilities. Those aspects would be difficult to be developed in the firms without the help of partnerships. This can encourage the reconfiguration of existing resources and capabilities. These reconfigurations can lead to deliberate evolutionary adaptations in these firms, which will build relational DCs.

As managerial implications, an alliance allows for the development of capabilities to detect new opportunities, and for the development of the reconfiguration or expansion of the existing resource base in the firm. Thus, alliances, once properly managed and with well-defined structure and purpose, can help firms achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Alliances can serve as a type of strategic choice or an alternative that can enable companies to cope with unstable, global and competitive environments permeated by (new) threats and opportunities.

This SR paper highlighted, in a specific and consistent topic, the suggestions for future research related to the process of DCs and its relationship with strategic alliances, motivating new research works.

This paper aims to explore a new causal link between market orientation and business performance by introducing dynamic capabilities as a mediator of the relationship between market orientation and competitive advantages, which ultimately determine business performance.

The mediating roles of dynamic capabilities and competitive advantages are tested with a sample of 1,190 Portuguese firms using a structural equation model.

The results confirm the hypotheses regarding the mediating roles of the competitive advantages (differentiation and cost leadership) in the relationship between dynamic capabilities and business performance. Additionally, dynamic capabilities also mediate the relationship between market orientation and competitive advantages.

This study shows that business performance depends on the capacity of firms to collect the best market information on customers and competitors, to disseminate this information throughout their internal structure and ultimately optimize its use to respond appropriately to market challenges and trends. These will provide firms with a set of capabilities and a competitive advantage.

This study provides empirical evidence on the understanding of the relationship between market orientation and performance, through the mediating effects of both dynamic capabilities and competitive advantages.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between chief executive officer characteristics and corporate turnaround performance of declining firms attempting turnaround.

A sample of 60 US manufacturing firms that experience severe performance decline and turnaround from 1985 to 2000 are selected from a population of declining manufacturing firms in the COMPUSTAT database. Data on leadership characteristics are collected and analyzed using ordinary least square regression analysis and ANOVA.

The general findings of the study provide empirical support for the upper echelons theory that emphasizes leadership characteristics as predictors of organizational outcomes. More specifically, the findings suggest the strong and adverse influence of long executive tenure on corporate turnaround performance. The findings also indicate that executives with output‐related functional background positively influence corporate turnaround performance in declining firms attempting turnaround.

The findings of this paper have important implications for corporate governance issues in declining firms attempting turnaround. In addition, the findings also lend further empirical support for the role of strategic leadership in shaping organizational outcomes especially under declining environmental conditions.

This paper contributes to the turnaround literature by providing empirical evidence on the role of strategic leadership in formulating and implementing turnaround strategies in declining firms. It also provides further support for the upper echelons perspective and strategic decision making.

Nghiên cứu hiện tại về chiến lược quản lý công nghiệp chủ yếu được hướng đến các khách hàng cuối trong ngành công nghiệp. Trong quá trình này, nghiên cứu hiện tại đã bỏ qua một nhóm quan trọng – các nhà bán lẻ công nghiệp, tức là các công ty bán sản phẩm được sản xuất bởi các nhà sản xuất công nghiệp cho các công ty khác sử dụng những sản phẩm này để tạo ra sản phẩm hoặc dịch vụ hoàn chỉnh. Khi tài liệu hiện có khẳng định rằng các nhà bán lẻ chủ yếu quan tâm đến lợi nhuận biên của loại hàng và khả năng sinh lời (không phụ thuộc vào các thương hiệu cụ thể), thì không rõ liệu các nhà bán lẻ công nghiệp có đánh giá thương hiệu một cách quan trọng hay không. Mục đích của bài báo này là xác định tầm quan trọng của các thương hiệu công nghiệp so với các tiêu chí mua khác đối với các nhà phân phối công nghiệp.

Ba nghiên cứu được tiến hành để xem xét tầm quan trọng của các thương hiệu so với các tiêu chí mua khác đối với các nhà bán lẻ công nghiệp và người dùng cuối. Trong một nghiên cứu theo chiều dài sử dụng phân tích đồng thời, các tác giả phát hiện rằng các thương hiệu công nghiệp có ảnh hưởng lớn hơn đến sự lựa chọn của các nhà bán lẻ công nghiệp so với giá sản phẩm hoặc biên lợi nhuận.

Đầu tiên, những kết quả này cho thấy rằng các thương hiệu công nghiệp là động lực mua mạnh mẽ cho cả các nhà bán lẻ công nghiệp (chứ không chỉ cho các người dùng cuối công nghiệp). Thứ hai, các nhà quản lý marketing công nghiệp vì vậy nên đầu tư vào việc xây dựng thương hiệu để tác động tích cực đến sự lựa chọn của các nhà bán lẻ công nghiệp, thay vì giảm giá hoặc tăng biên lợi nhuận sản phẩm như tài liệu hiện ở gợi ý. Kết luận, các nghiên cứu này dường như chỉ ra rằng các nhà bán lẻ sử dụng thương hiệu không chỉ như là những tín hiệu liên kết hoặc dự đoán về hiệu suất sản phẩm, mà còn là những chỉ báo dự đoán về khả năng sinh lời trong tương lai dự kiến của một sản phẩm.

Từ quan điểm lý thuyết, các nghiên cứu của các tác giả cho thấy rằng các thương hiệu công nghiệp không chỉ truyền đạt tín hiệu cho các khách hàng cuối tiềm năng, mà còn gửi tín hiệu đến các trung gian – chẳng hạn như các nhà bán lẻ công nghiệp – điều này ảnh hưởng đến quy trình quyết định của họ. Tầm quan trọng mạnh mẽ mà các nhà bán lẻ B2B đặt vào thương hiệu như một yếu tố mua chính là một chỉ báo rằng các nhà bán lẻ sử dụng thương hiệu không chỉ như là những tín hiệu liên kết hoặc dự đoán về hiệu suất sản phẩm, mà còn là những chỉ báo dự đoán về khả năng sinh lời trong tương lai của một sản phẩm (tức là biên lợi nhuận và vòng quay tài sản), điều này tác động tích cực đến khả năng sinh lời của chính các nhà bán lẻ. Kết quả của nghiên cứu này cũng chỉ ra rằng mối quan hệ giữa các nhà sản xuất công nghiệp và các nhà bán lẻ công nghiệp có thể được thúc đẩy nhiều hơn bởi các cân nhắc hợp tác hơn là các cân nhắc xung đột.

Như là một ý nghĩa quản lý, có thể gợi ý rằng các giám đốc marketing công nghiệp nên đầu tư vào việc xây dựng thương hiệu để tác động tích cực đến sự lựa chọn của các nhà bán lẻ công nghiệp, thay vì giảm giá hoặc tăng biên lợi nhuận sản phẩm, như tài liệu hiện tại gợi ý.

Trong bài báo này, ba nghiên cứu thực nghiệm riêng biệt được thực hiện để xem xét vai trò của các thương hiệu trong thực tiễn quản lý công nghiệp.

The purpose of this paper is to propose the idea of linking the use of the Monte Carlo simulation with scenario planning to assist strategy makers in formulating strategy in the face of uncertainty relating to service quality gaps for life insurance business, where discontinuities always remain for need‐based selling.

The paper reviews briefly some applications of scenario planning. Scenario planning emphasizes the development of a strategic plan that is robust across different scenarios. The paper provides considerable evidence to suggest a new strategic approach using Monte Carlo simulation for making scenario planning.

The paper highlights which particular service quality gap attribute as risk impacts most and least for the possibility of occurrences as best case, worst case, and most likely case.

This study suffers from methodological limitations associated with convenience sampling and anonymous survey‐based research.

The approach using Monte Carlo simulation increases the credibility of the scenario to an acceptable level, so that it will be used by managers and other decision makers.

The paper provides a thorough documentation on scenario planning upon studying the impact of risk and uncertainty in service quality gap for making rational decisions in management of services such that managers make better justification and communication for their arguments.

The paper offers empirical understanding of the application of Monte Carlo simulation to scenario planning and identifies key drivers which impact most and least on service quality gap.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual approach to determining an optimal strategy development process and controlling of the defence spending, by utilizing the decision‐making system adopted in the Republic of Estonia.

The author offers a part of the Balanced Scorecard model named “Management and Control Perspective” as one of the improvement tools for the system of planning military expenditures and effective utilization of budgetary funds.

The results show that the Balanced Scorecard application, using the “utility function”, will allow the Estonian Defence Forces to overcome important barriers to strategy implementation by interrelation of military planning and budgeting processes.

One suggestion for further research might be established as a way of improvement and development of methods directed to application of the utility function in the decision‐making process. This approach will improve calculations of strategic perspective plans and will reveal the essence of the budgetary policy on the whole by taking into consideration expenses features of the business and non‐profit organizations.

By using the Balanced Scorecard the paper offers a new strategic method of planning and controlling the military expenditure in the Estonian Defence Forces.

The present paper provides direct evidence of the alternative methods forecast measures and the possibility of using mathematical models in the strategic planning process.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons for businesses to partner with schools from the point of view of both stakeholders. Understanding the process by which schools and business entities collaborate with the goal of improving student achievement is important to ensure success and anticipate barriers. Pitfalls and keys to success are outlined. Recommendations for school and business leaders interested in forming partnerships based on lessons learned from the literature are provided.

The paper achieves this aim by reviewing the literature on school‐business partnership formation and assessment.

Characteristics of successful school‐business partnerships are discussed.

Both business and education leaders will be able to assess the value and scope of such partnership arrangements and be able to determine if their current or planned endeavours encompass the identified keys to success.

This paper concisely examines the major, practical issues involved for those interested in forming school‐business partnerships and synthesizes the research on program evaluations while placing the issue in the context of current trends in corporate social responsibility programs.

The aim of this paper is to provide a clearer picture of the nature of power imbalance in client‐consultant teams, which has negative consequences for the development and implementation of consultants' recommendations, and to outline ways how to avoid such an imbalance in the first instance.

This is an empirical paper based on in‐depth semi‐structured interviews with clients and consultants from the strategic consulting sector in Australia.

Taking a differentiated look at the roles and responsibilities of members of client‐consultant teams, the authors propose that power within client‐consultant teams is multidimensional and the outcome of the interplay of its different forms is not predictable. It is further argued that a power balance is crucial for achieving better results from consulting projects.

The findings are not generalizable, due to the small sample and the focus on strategic consulting. The results encourage further research in different types of consulting projects as well as studies based on observation of client‐consultant interactions.

The paper highlights the main points of concern for managers and consultants and provides some suggestions on how to achieve a balanced relationship.

This paper's major contribution is in providing deeper insight into a hitherto underexplored issue of client‐consultant interactions: the contested nature of power in client‐consultant teams and the reasons and outcomes of power imbalance.