Exploring the blurred nature of strategic linkages across the BSC

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 486-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Francioli ◽  
Lino Cinquini
Keyword(s):  
Balanced Scorecard ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cause And Effect ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Human Actors ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
The Way

Purpose – The research aims at addressing the way in which linkages based on qualitative causality could be preferred in designing a balanced scorecard (BSC), by applying a cost-benefit judgment with respect to the complexity of defining strong, statistically reliable cause-and-effect relations among performance measures. Design/methodology/approach – The authors review the way in which cause-and-effect relations across the BSC have been developed based on a case study of BSC implemented in an Italian bank collecting data by in-depth interviews and company’s internal archives. Findings – The research reveals how the ambiguity, or “blurred nature”, of strategic linkages is recognized in the empirical setting of an bank, facing a highly uncertain and complex environment and how the orthodox tools of strategy maps and explicit cause-and-effect linkages prescribed by the theoretical literature are avoided by the human actors. Despite these omissions, the BSC is nevertheless effective. As the case shows, it generated a “democracy” where individuals and departments communicate, commit and collaborate in an effort to implement strategy. The research also shows the role of the BSC in heightening the importance and awareness of performance evaluation among the actors. Practical implications – The research provides practitioners with insights into how to design and manage cause-and-effect relationships in BSC. In particular, evidence is provided that finality linkages in BSC may be successful in use and predictive capabilities, according with expectations and purposes of the organization’s “climate of control”, in a context in which the cost-benefit philosophy in implementing BSC is followed. Originality/value – The paper addresses an issue of practical relevance in the implementation of BSC showing a discrepancy between theoretical and practical meaning of causality. Besides the research highlights, the extent to which linkages across the BSC perspectives (and related measures and variables) can only be based on individual assumptions about the means to an end and based on qualitative assertions (finality).

Managing multichannel coordination in retail banking: the influence of customer participation

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 327-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loïc Plé
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Design ◽  
Retail Banking ◽  
Customer Participation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quantitative Studies ◽  
Retail Banks ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to explore the combining of marketing and organizational literature. This paper seeks to evaluate the relationships between multichannel coordination and customer participation, as seen through the lens of potential customer opportunism. It aims at showing the impact of this opportunism on the organizational design of multiple channels structures.Design/methodology/approachThe research reports on an exploratory case study in a French retail bank. A total of 25 in‐depth interviews were conducted, and the use of other sources enabled data triangulation.FindingsThe results show first that an increase in the number of distribution channels is liable to favor customer opportunistic behavior. To counter this, the bank mainly relies on impersonal coordination modes. An emerging result highlights the role of the customer as a “perceptual filter” between the different channels of employees.Research limitations/implicationsCustomer opportunism is studied via channels employees perceptions. An investigation using a customer survey may help to better understand this construct, e.g. to identify its antecedents, and to measure it precisely. Moreover, further qualitative and/or quantitative studies with larger sample sizes are needed to try and generalize these results.Practical implicationsIt is recommended not to forget that customers can facilitate or hinder multichannel coordination. Retail banks have the power to use them conveniently, provided that they are fully conscious of the scope of the “partial employee” role played by the customer.Originality/valueThis paper broadens understanding of how multichannel distribution structures are coordinated, and in a way belies traditional organizational design literature. The emerging result gives birth to the concept of “reversed interactive marketing”, which has interesting theoretical and practical repercussions.

The role of entrepreneurial families in entrepreneurial ecosystems: the family social capital approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Benavides-Salazar ◽  
Cristina Iturrioz-Landart ◽  
Cristina Aragón-Amonarriz ◽  
Asunción Ibañez-Romero
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems ◽  
Family Social Capital ◽  
The Family ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Entrepreneurial Dynamics

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how entrepreneurial families (EFs) influence the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) by using the family social capital (FSC) approach. Design/methodology/approach For this paper, the authors analyzed the Manizales EE as a case study. The authors used a variety of data collection procedures, including in-depth interviews with 26 entrepreneurs and mentors. Findings The authors established how EFs affect EE development, identifying how the FSC bridging mechanisms impact the EE’s social and cultural attributes, boosting entrepreneurial dynamics. Originality/value The results indicated the relevance of EFs’ embeddedness and the degree of the FSC institutionalization in promoting of entrepreneurship within the EEs.

Hospital accreditation systems and salience of organisational tensions

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 57-80
Author(s):  
Geraldine Robbins ◽  
Breda Sweeney ◽  
Miguel Vega
Keyword(s):  
Active Role ◽  
Management Control ◽  
External Control ◽  
Hospital Accreditation ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Depth Interviews

PurposeThis study examines how an externally imposed management control system (MCS) – hospital accreditation – influences the salience of organisational tensions and consequently attitudes of management towards the system.Design/methodology/approachData are collected using a case study of a large public hospital in Spain. In-depth interviews were conducted with 27 senior and middle managers across different functions. Relying on the organisational dualities classification in the literature, tensions are unpacked and analysed.FindingsEvidence is presented of how hospital accreditation increases the salience of organisational tensions arising from exposition of the organisational dualities of learning, performing, organising and belonging. Salient tensions were evident in the ambivalent attitudes of management towards the hospital accreditation system.Practical implicationsThe role of mandatory external control systems in exposing ambivalence and tensions will be of interest to organisational managers.Originality/valueThe study extends the management control literature by identifying an active role for an external MCS (accreditation) in increasing the salience of organisational tensions and triggering ambivalence. Contrary to the prior literature, the embedding of both poles of an organisational duality into the MCS is not a necessary precondition for increased tension salience. The range of attitudes towards MCSs beyond those specified in the previous literature (positive/negative/neutral) is extended to include ambivalence.

The role of retailers during brand scandals: insights from a case study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunaina Kapoor ◽  
Saikat Banerjee ◽  
Paola Signori
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Attitude ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Brand Perception ◽  
Grounded Theory Approach ◽  
Depth Interviews

PurposeThe role of retailers in influencing consumer attitude during a brand scandal is quite complex, as retailers are in direct contact with both marketers and consumers. The purpose of the exploratory research is to propose a theoretical model to capture the influences retailers exercise on consumers during brand scandals.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach has been adopted in the study. The study employs the grounded theory approach on the data collected by conducting in-depth interviews with 25 retailers.FindingsFour contextual conditions and six behavioral antecedents of the retailer's role in the context of the brand scandal were identified. Then, the study finds that companies tend to follow two broad approaches during a brand scandal to address retailers' queries and apprehensions. On these bases, the study proposes a six-pronged typology to better understand retailers' role in shaping consumers' brand perception.Originality/valueExisting literature has not paid adequate attention to this aspect of retailers' role in influencing consumer choices during brand scandal. To the best of the authors' knowledge, there is no prior research which investigates the role and influence of retailers in shaping consumer attitude during brand scandals. It is important to underline that the current research advocates retailers' significant role during a performance-based brand scandal. Specifically, the authors explored a health-related defective scandal of a well-known food brand. In addition, the study focuses on traditional grocery retailers, which already have special relationships with their consumers. Based on retailer perspectives, the authors' contribution is also updating the discussion of branding theory in case of scandals. The identified variables and constructs may be used for empirical investigation on the role of retailers in shaping consumer attitudes toward the scandalized brand.

Artificial intelligence in the defense sector: an RBV and isomorphism perspectives to the case of the Lebanese Armed Forces

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charbel Chedrawi ◽  
Yara Atallah
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Sensitive Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Interview Guide ◽  
Innovation And Technology ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose This paper aims to dynamically analyze the opportunities and challenges of AI in the defense sector in Lebanon or any security agency or any organization with sensitive data through a resource-based view perspective, the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)/narrow AI applications in the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and to diagnose the current strategic orientation toward innovation and technology within the LAF while avoiding isomorphism. Design/methodology/approach The methodology is based on a qualitative interpretive case-study approach collected from several departments of the LAF. In fact, there is a developing convention to use qualitative research approaches among which case studies to study information technology phenomena (Trauth and Jessup, 2000; Benbasat et al., 1987; Klein and Meyers, 1999). Data were collected through centered semi-structured in-depth interviews (two to three hours each) with an interview guide coded abductively between the researchers and the interviewees conducted in numerous departments of the LAF with their top officials and generals (O1, O2, O3…); the anonymity of the interviewees was kept due to the sensitivity of the data collected, which took place between September 2018 and March 2019. Data consolidation and processing were conducted using NVivo. Findings This paper shows that the LAF is undeniably facing many challenges among which isomorphism caused by the lack of resources; it also shows that narrow AI applications provide new avenues for the LAF to avoid such institutional isomorphism. Originality/value The role of narrow AI in limiting isomorphism in the defense sector.

Strengthening the role of communication departments: A framework for positioning communication departments at the top of and throughout organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Brockhaus ◽  
Ansgar Zerfass
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Impression Management ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Corporate Communications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Industry ◽  
Spheres Of Influence ◽  
Depth Interviews

PurposeCorporate communications is often less successful when it is competing for influence with neighboring functions such as marketing or sales within organizations. This article addresses the internal positioning of communication departments by developing a conceptual framework which helps to understand, analyze and optimize their standing in organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on a literature review across several disciplines (e.g. organizational communication, strategic management) and supported by 26 qualitative in-depth interviews with board members, executives and communicators in a global industry company. By combining the theoretical and empirical insights, a framework for positioning communication departments within organizations was developed.FindingsThe framework depicts seven strategies (e.g. expectation and impression management, supporting ambassadors from other departments) and three spheres of influence (organizational integration, internal perceptions and social capital) to strengthen the position of corporate communications.Research limitations/implicationsThe conceptual framework has been supported by one case study so far, and future research may further develop and verify it by applying it to a larger number of companies in different industries.Practical implicationsPractitioners can use the framework as an analytical tool to reflect the current situation in their organization and identify opportunities for strengthening it.Originality/valueThis article introduces a novel view in the academic debate about the role and influence of corporate communications. It establishes a framework that helps to identify different drivers and strategies, and lays ground for future research.

Unbanked to banked: reintermediation role of banks in e-government services for financial inclusion in an Indian context

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessy Nair ◽  
Mohith Kumar Jain
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Government Services ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to develop a framework to implement electronic delivery systems for connecting federal government with rural citizens using banking infrastructure as a reintermediation platform; and second, to understand the challenges faced by banks in reintermediation for financial inclusion (FI). Design/methodology/approach This exploratory research adopts case study method to gain insights of the challenges faced by banks in e-government services for FI. In-depth structured interviews are conducted with key respondents: branch managers heading banks in rural areas. Findings Preliminary results based on in-depth interviews with branch managers of banks suggest that banks leverage facilitators called Bank Mitras (BM) (friends from bank as per the local language) to disseminate services offered by the banks to rural customers at each village. However, a key challenge faced by banks is the increased dependency on bank employees to complete the process of e-government transactions by the beneficiaries because of trust factor. Research limitations/implications This exploratory research builds on the case study approach using in-depth interviews with the branch managers of five banks as key respondents to develop the preliminary research framework for FI. Practical implications Policymakers can design banking systems to enhance transparency by implementing technologies and decentralizing routine transactions to citizens by enhancing the role of facilitators (BM). Social implications FI aims to reach out and empower citizens with banking facilities for disbursing e-government services. This process needs to be refined for the rural population of India to understand and better use the e-government services and schemes. Originality/value Insights from in-depth interviews with key respondents of the banks were collated and augmented with literature to enhance the rigor of the exploratory research.

Gentrification, touristification and revitalization of the Monumental Zone of Pontevedra, Spain

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara María Torres Outón
Keyword(s):  
Local Population ◽  
Population Data ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Registration Data ◽  
Historic Centre ◽  
The One ◽  
Depth Interviews

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore, through the analysis case, how the revitalization of a historic centre has been carried out and the role of tourism in this process.Design/methodology/approachThis case study area is well-documented as there has been extensive fieldwork on the transformation of the commercial sector in the Monumental Zone of Pontevedra in the last three decades. In order to prepare this paper, a bibliographic review, in-depth interviews, premises registration data and population data have been used.FindingsThe findings show that the processes of change and revitalization do not conform to a single reality common to all historical centres, although similar strategies are developed, the role of the participating actors and, especially, the idiosyncrasy of these spaces change the outcomes. On the one hand, gentrification does not occur and the increase of residential uses is still a goal. On the other hand, the tourism strategy brings more visitors and complements the commerce activity and attraction.Social implicationsThe new challenge of these spaces, and the urban contribution from this research, is that in the appropriation of space by citizens, tourism may be a complement for commerce, and shops and hospitality (facilities) make these spaces more livable. Although tourism does not necessarily increase the number of residents, the revenue from tourism may prevent the reoccurrence of abandonment.Originality/valueThe paper focusses on both gentrification and touristification; processes that have led to the substitution of residents and activities and the conflict with the local population and the normalization of urban life. This case has been selected because despite a seemingly successful revitalization process, recently some old threats seem to be returning.

Modeling cause and effect relationships of strategy map using fuzzy DEMATEL and fourth generation of balanced scorecard

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1175-1191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Changiz Valmohammadi ◽  
Javad Sofiyabadi
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Planning ◽  
Automotive Industry ◽  
Balanced Scorecard ◽  
Fourth Generation ◽  
Fuzzy Dematel ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cause And Effect ◽  
Financial Perspective ◽  
Strategy Map

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop the strategy map (SM) of an Iranian automotive industry and the causal and effects relations of the SM’s variables though fourth generation of balanced scorecard (BSC) and fuzzy DEMATEL (decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory) technique. Design/methodology/approach – This research has employed a fuzzy DEMATEL approach in order to find cause and effect relations. At first step, CSFs in Company A’s SM were determined. Then four experts’ views of Company A’s strategic planning department were gathered and calculated by fuzzy set theory. Findings – Results showed the important role of customer perspective in supporting and achieving the organization’s vision which ultimately will lead to fulfillment of the financial objective of the company through satisfied customers. In other words, the dominant approach to logic of SM design in Company A and the obtained results from this research indicate, Company A can achieve strategic result with a more prominent role of customer and financial perspective, through employing the enabler perspective, i.e. learning and growth perspective. Research limitations/implications – Current study is limited to Iranian automotive industry. So, the strategic planning managers and future researchers shall consider their own company’s strategic structures for developing their SM. Originality/value – To the best of knowledge of the authors, it is the first attempt, particularly in the context of Iran, aimed at using fourth generation of BSC and fuzzy DEMATEL technique in an automotive industry which led to the confirmation that these two approaches can jointly be employed for the identifying cause and effect relations in SM and clarification and easy understanding of it. This proposed research structure can be a suitable base for the development of SM in other companies.

Synergy between ISA and manual auditing practises at Jain Chowdhary & Company, India

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Meghna Rishi ◽  
Anjana Singh
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Teaching Objectives ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Source Of Information

Subject area Finance, accountancy, auditing. Study level/applicability Supports information systems audit (ISA), auditing practises and controls, corporate governance and internal controls and financial management modules, business administration and MBA programmes. Case overview The case study focuses on the implementation of ISA and information technology in the highly responsible task of executing financial audits The case emphasises on the fact that the advantages of ISA can only be reaped when they are amalgamated with an auditor's scrutiny, sharp eye, extensive knowledge of auditing systems and accounting principles and a rich experience of the auditing function. The suggested synergy also facilitates a reduction of around 60 per cent, in the cost of executing the audits and the man-hours required to complete the audit, as in the case of Jain Chowdhary & Company. Expected learning outcomes The case helps students to comprehend the relevance of audit trail. It emphasises on the importance of identifying the source of information and tracking raw data backward. It familiarises the students with the complexities involved in a real audit and emphasises on the role of logic, intelligence, diligence, patience and farsightedness while performing the auditing function. It is important for them to understand how White collar crimes take place in real business economy. This case, hence exposes students to these nuances and can make a student, from a non-commerce background, understand the key elements of efficient auditing. (Elaborate teaching objectives are appended in the teaching note.) Supplementary materials Teaching note.

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