Social network and institution-based strategy research

Almost two decades ago, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 19(2/3): 251–267 Peng (2002) called attention to the promise of institution-based strategy research. The puzzle was to explain differences in strategies around the globe. Building on the work accomplished so far, I ask: Can institution-based strategy succeed when embedded in inappropriate social networks? Institutions and networks are usually studied as separate phenomena, yet each also defines the capabilities of the other. Institutions shape social network contacts and structures because institutions define opportunities for affiliation and the relative value of distinct contacts and network structures. At the same time, social networks shape institutions and organizations’ capabilities for institutional innovation. Thus, the social network in which a manager or organization is embedded can either amplify or counteract success in implementing institution-based strategy. After I review the co-constitutional nature of institutions and networks and discuss a number of sample studies using China as a productive research site, I sketch questions that need to be answered to more tightly integrate network behavior into institutional strategy research, and discuss four emerging areas of research into how network-strategy fit affects performance: (1) network fit to adaptive strategy, (2) network fit to change strategy, (3) institutional dynamics and network-strategy fit, and (4) institutional distance and network-strategy fit.

Latest Trends and New Tools Being Used in Strategic Management

In today’s rapidly changing world, there is an increased need for excellent strategic planning. A firm’s survival may indeed hinge on the firm’s planning process being exemplary. Various aspects of the strategic planning process are under review today as organizations wrestle to compete more effectively in an ever-changing world. This paper reveals and describes five new trends or tools being utilized today by firms to more effectively engage in strategic planning. Specifically, the new trends and tools to be discussed in this paper are as follows: increased need to follow a strategic planning model; increased need to develop quality vision and mission statements; a new improved method for incorporating SWOT analysis into practice. Utilizing two matrices one internal and one external to provide a less biased way to access the current strategy fit with conditions facing the firm. Explain the use of a decision matrix commonly called the QSPM (Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix) for assessing the relative attractiveness of various strategies being considered for implementation. The purpose of this paper is to familiarize readers with basic new tools and techniques being used by organizations to effectively develop an improved strategic plan for the firm.

Towards Large-Scale Data Annotation of Audio from Wearables: Validating Zooniverse Annotations of Infant Vocalization Types

Recent developments allow the collection of audio data from lightweight wearable devices, potentially enabling us to study language use from everyday life samples. However, extracting useful information from these data is currently impossible with automatized routines, and overly expensive with trained human annotators. We explore a strategy fit to the 21st century, relying on the collaboration of citizen scientists. A large dataset of infant speech was uploaded on a citizen science platform. The same data were annotated in the laboratory by highly trained annotators. We investigate whether crowdsourced annotations are qualitatively and quantitatively comparable to those produced by expert annotators in a dataset of children at high- and low-risk for language disorders. Our results reveal that classification of individual vocalizations on Zooniverse was overall moderately accurate compared to the laboratory gold standard. The analysis of descriptors defined at the level of individual children found strong correlations between descriptors derived from Zooniverse versus laboratory annotations.

The Role of State and Trait Motivational Regulation for Procrastinatory Behavior in Academic Contexts: Insights from two Diary Studies

Academic procrastination can theoretically be conceptualized as a failure in motivational self-regulation. It can be assumed that besides the mere use of motivational regulation strategies, fitting motivational regulation strategies with the current motivational problem can also have beneficial effects on academic procrastination. As both academic procrastination and motivational regulation can be conceptualized as over time fluctuating and situation-specific behaviors, not only trait, but also state fractions of these constructs have to be considered. To elucidate the interrelations between academic procrastinatory behavior and motivational regulation, we therefore considered trait use, state use, trait fit, and state fit of motivational regulation strategies. To test their relevance for academic procrastinatory behavior, we conducted two longitudinal and situation-specific diary studies with 128 and 218 university students. Results of growth curve modeling indicate that academic procrastinatory behavior varies between persons, declines during exam preparation, and can be reduced by using well-fitting motivational regulation strategies. Specifically, both trait and state strategy fit were negatively associated with academic procrastinatory behavior, while mere strategy use was not.

Competitive Strategy Analysis on Ivanova Printography by Foto 2000 Semarang

This study aims to identify competitive strategies of Ivanova Printography using SWOT analysis and IE matrix. The data were gathered from the owner, competitors, consumers, and employees. Descriptive qualitative was to interpret the results of the SWOT analysis. The results show that the most important thing is that Ivanova Printography should focus on its strengths, minimize the existing weaknesses and threats, and fill the opportunities available. The best combination is to apply the SO strategy (a combination of Strength and Opportunity). It includes conducting market development (Market Development Strategy) by opening a branch in the area of Semarang, adding new customers by developing markets outside Semarang, adding marketing staff and customer service to deal with customer orders in Semarang that have been increasing and routine, increasing promotions of photo products to increase revenue by conducting more intense promotions through social media such as Twitter, Instagram, BBM, and Whatsapp. The theme of advertisements should be more elegant and focuses on target customers or market segments. The IE matrix results in quadrant I, Grow and Build. The suitable strategies are intensive or integration. The intensive and integration strategy fit for photography industry is to apply market development strategy by expanding market share outside Semarang so that more people recognize Ivanova Printography.

Fit between Organizational Culture and Innovation Strategy: Implications for Innovation Performance

Although prior studies have indicated the interrelationships between specific types of innovation strategy and specific elements of organizational culture, few studies simultaneously evaluate the relationship between the two multi-dimensional constructs in holistic perspective. Based on configuration theory, we conceptualize fit as ‘profile deviation’, and investigate the fit between an organization’s culture and its innovation strategy. Data were collected from 183 Chinese organizations. We examine the hypothesis that greater fit between organizational culture and innovation strategy encourages superior innovation speed and innovation quality. Our results provide evidence that in the group of organizations exhibiting either exploratory or exploitative innovation strategy, the more similar the organizational culture configurations are to those of the top performers, the higher their innovation speed and innovation quality are. In the group of organizations exhibiting ambidextrous innovation strategy, the fit between organizational culture and innovation strategy is insignificantly associated with innovation speed and innovation quality. Implications for applying the culture–strategy fit in innovation management are discussed.

Management control system and strategy: the transforming role of implementation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to encourage a discussion of the implementation of management control systems (MCSs) in the MCS-strategy relationship. Borrowing from the literature on software development, the authors propose two archetypes of MCS implementation – waterfall and agile – and employ them to understand how the MCS-strategy fit unfolds over time. Design/methodology/approach The authors empirically ground the archetypes on two exploratory case studies based on the collection of extensive qualitative data. Findings The authors show that MCSs change not only in relation to strategy, but also in response to an autonomous source: implementation. These two implementation archetypes differ in their degrees of specification, in the ways in which the transitions among their implementation phases occur and in the sources and ways in which their feedback loops affect the MCSs; however, both shed light on the dynamic dimension of fit and show that the fit should be assessed over time. Research limitations/implications The two archetypes are derived from two exploratory cases. Further research may both strengthen the framework by testing the validity of the archetypes for a wider set of empirical cases and enrich the framework by investigating the determinants of agile and waterfall MCS implementation. Practical implications The introduction of MCS implementation to the determinants of fit or misfit provides practitioners with a further interpretation and an action driver for fit or misfit. MCS implementation should be coordinated with the pace of change of strategy and should be changed in relation to the possibility for an organisation to move from a process- to a people-centred system (or vice versa). Originality/value The authors propose two archetypes of MCS implementation, both of which support the empirical interpretation and theoretical reconceptualisation of the concept of the MCS-strategy fit in terms of dynamic fit.