Delwyn Clark

Strategic management tool usage: a comparative study

• This exploratory, empirical study of tool usage by strategic management practitioners in the United Kingdom and New Zealand found striking similarities in tool usage patterns for a series of core strategic tasks. • The diversity of approaches used and some country-specific differences are outlined. • Further research is proposed.

Virtual Team Learning: An Introductory Study Team Exercise

This article outlines the design, implementation, and evaluation of an innovative virtual team exercise. Cognitive, affective, and action-learning outcomes highlight the relevance of this grounded experiential exercise for management education and practice. Details are provided to enable the exercise to be adopted in a wide range of programs. Prior online experience, motivation, resistance to online environment, and trade-offs were found affect an overall positive experience reported by students.

Implementation issues in core competence strategy making

This article focuses on implementation of the core competence approach to strategy making: The results from a sample of 20 managers and consultants with experience applying this approach are presented. Factors critical for successful implementation are discussed: including the critical resource inputs, strategy process factors, major contextual influences, and the outputs produced. Issues causing major problems with implementation of this approach are outlined. Further research is proposed. Copyright

Grounded learning from a strategy case competition

This article describes a case competition that reflects the four elements of a grounded learning exercise. These elements include creating a real-world experience, optimizing learning transfer, integrating theory and practice, and shifting learning responsibility to the students. The authors also provide details on implementing this exercise in an undergraduate capstone strategy course and using a real-time case that brings the competition to life.

Innovation Management in SMEs: Active Innovators in New Zealand

Abstract Since innovation is a key driver of economic growth and social development, research on innovation activities and processes is vital for policy makers, practitioners and scholars. This paper reports key findings from an empirical study of innovation processes in 95 New Zealand SMEs which are active innovators. Results include the characteristics of innovative New Zealand SMEs, the types of innovations they are developing, and their perceptions of the context for innovation in New Zealand. The status of their innovation management processes were also evaluated using indices for Srategy, Market, Innovation, and Resource factors. These companies are well established, demonstrating significant growth, high propensity to innovate and a portfolio of innovations. Further, they are well organised to commercialise their innovations. However, significant inhibitors to growth were identified and these have specific policy implications which are important given the imperative for economic growth and productivity improvements in New Zealand.

Core competence strategy making and scientific research: the case of HortResearch, New Zealand

This article focuses on the implementation of the core competence strategy process in a New Zealand scientific research institute, HortResearch. The company and the competitive science environment are introduced. The strategy process, key strategies adopted in 1993 and the strategic position in 1998 are described. Key factors involved in successfully implementing the strategy process are discussed, including the critical resource inputs, strategy process factors, major contextual influences and the outputs produced. The core competence strategy process was the major driver of the transformation of HortResearch into a commercially responsive and successful science business. Copyright

Micro business: Characteristics of home-based business in New Zealand

Abstract Micro businesses, which represent a significant sector in most economies, are rarely studied or profiled officially. Micro home-based businesses (HBB) have been recognised as a major sector and this paper provides the first profile of these enterprises in New Zealand. Empirical survey results on business activities from 522 HBB are reported. Key findings include business work practices, size, age, registration, product/service portfolios, geographic scale, growth aspirations, marketing strategy, international business activities, ICT adoption and business performance. Although HBB are tiny, they are strongly committed to growth and have adopted business processes and information technologies to achieve their aspirations.

Micro-enterprise growth: Lessons from home-based business in New Zealand

Abstract Business growth serves a major role in economic development and employment. This paper focuses on growth of micro-enterprises which represent significant proportions of firms in most economies. Using an empirical survey, the importance of key business processes and resources for growth of micro home-based businesses (HBB) is identified and reported by geographic sales scope (local, regional, national and international). The analysis includes evaluation of business indicators, growth strategies, financial resources, social capital, marketing activities, human capital and other core resources for business growth. Results demonstrate the importance of the personal aspirations, energy, commitment, priorities and social networks of the owner/managers, combined with core functional business activities and growth strategies. Similarly, valuing family, industry links and external advisors equally demonstrates the interconnection of personal and business factors. Of the significant differences by geographic sales scale, only five showed increasing importance with increasing scale and market scope.

Strategy in action: Case studies of strategy, planning and innovation in Australian SMEs

Abstract Small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) comprise the majority of firms in most economies and have been recognised as important sources of innovation. Yet, theory on how leaders of entrepreneurial firms manage growth is lacking. This paper contributes to this gap using a strategy framework for small firms developed by Mazzarol (2005) to evaluate five case studies of entrepreneurial SMEs. The analysis includes entrepreneurship (as measured by the firm’s leaders), innovation, strategic networking, the product–market growth vector, opportunity recognition, and management of the strategic triangle (strategy, structure, resources). The findings provide insights into the role of entrepreneurial leadership including the willingness to embrace innovation take calculated risks and leverage strategic networks to follow a growth strategy best described as emergent rather than deliberate in nature. The importance of successfully matching products to customer needs, and managing limited resources to exploit opportunities are demonstrated.

Profiling micro-enterprises: the case of home-based businesses in New Zealand

Micro-enterprises represent significant proportions of small firms in most economies yet they are not routinely profiled or studied. This paper examines business processes and activities of micro home-based businesses (HBB) from an empirical study of 522 firms in New Zealand. Key findings profile the microscopic scale of HBB and their flexibility in operating both at and away from home. The importance of sources of finance, marketing activities, relationships, and business indicators for HBB are evaluated. Aspirations for growth were very high, with HBB reporting personal factors as the most important resources for growth, followed by functional business activities and expertise. Furthermore, high levels of GST registration and international business activities indicate that many HBB are quite business savvy.