Jochen Koch

Inscribed Strategies: Exploring the Organizational Nature of Strategic Lock-in

An organization’s ability to act strategically under conditions of path dependence relies not only on the particular form of a strategic path but also on how this path is inscribed in an organization. To achieve a better understanding of this process, we shall introduce the concept of strategic path inscription and distinguish between mechanism inscription and pattern inscription. By referring to power, and formal and informal structures, the paper explores dimensions of the organizational context and its relation to strategic path inscription. The paper draws on an empirical study contrasting two established newspaper publishing organizations based in Germany. The comparative analysis of these cases reveals that in both organizations there are different forms of strategic pattern inscription but very similar forms of mechanism inscription. It is argued that the analysis of pattern inscription reveals much about the organizational nature of strategic lock-ins and, consequently, the range of variety that remains available to an organization after a specific path has emerged.

Strategic Paths and Media Management - A Path Dependency Analysis of the German Newspaper Branch of High Quality Journalism

I examine the difficulties of incumbent firms have in acting and reacting to changing environments and in coping with new strategic challenges. The study focuses on the strategic development of media organizations in the market of national daily produced high quality newspapers in Germany. The analysis takes place at the branch level, and by using path dependency theory, explains the difficulties that newspaper companies face in strategic realignment. I introduce the concept of a strategic path and provide an analytical framework for analyzing strategic processes and their inner dynamics. By means of an explanatory case study design, comprising all incumbent players in the field, the analysis sheds light on how and why a specific strategic pattern has emerged and why it is still maintained in quality newspapers. The analysis reveals the different components of the strategic pattern, their self-reinforcing dynamic, and their complex interplay. The results indicate that strategic patterns explain much of the recent crisis and the difficulties that newspapers have in coping with continuing changes. Thus, the paper contributes to both a better understanding why daily produced quality journalism has to be considered a jeopardized product-market-concept and to better explore the emerging and self-reinforcing character of strategic processes. insights of the study could also be helpful for discern and disentangle the core assets of a strategy from the problematic set of strategic assumptions they are embedded in.

Von der individuellen Routine zur organisationalen Praktik — Ein neues Paradigma für die Organisationsforschung?

ZusammenfassungDas Konzept der organisationalen Routine ist in den letzten Jahren zunehmend in den Mittelpunkt der organisationsforschung gerückt und wird als ein zentrales Erklärungsmuster für eine Vielzahl von organisationalen Phänomenen wie Wissen, Lernen und Kompetenzen herangezogen. Dabei werden Routinen jedoch nicht mehr lediglich im Sinne von eindeutig vordefinierten und wiederholten individuellen Handlungsvollzügen gedacht, sondern zunehmend im Sinne von komplexen sozialen Praktiken verstanden. Die sich abzeichnende Hinwendung zur Thematisierung komplexer sozialer Praktiken und die damit einhergehende Bedeutungserweiterung des Konzeptes haben eine Reihe von Implikationen für die Organisationstheorie und unser Verständnis von Organisationen. Der vorliegende Beitrag thematisiert diese Entwicklung und fragt nach der Tragfähigkeit und dem Erkenntnisgewinn, der mit der Hinwendung zu sozialen Praktiken für die betriebswirtschaftliche Organisationsforschung verbunden ist.SummaryIn recent years the concept of organizational routines has deserved increasing attention in organization studies. It is used to conceptualize, explain and understand a variety of diverse organizational phenomena such as knowledge, learning, innovation or competence. This implies that routines are no longer understood as mindless, repetitive individual action patterns but rather as complex organizational practices. This shift toward an understanding of routines as complex, collective and idiosyncratic practices nevertheless has significant consequences for our understanding of organizations. The aim of this paper is firstly to reconstruct the heterogeneous meanings of the routine concept within organization studies and secondly to critically evaluate the explanatory power of the recent shift toward a practice-based understanding of routines. It will be argued that the concept of organizational practices is a fruitful lens for studying organizations, but should, however, not be used as a substitute to the concept of routine.

Organizational Creativity as an Attributional Process: The Case of Haute Cuisine:

In this paper, we develop a framework that conceptualizes organizational creativity as an attributional process in which organizational creativity is constantly negotiated between an organization and its environment through ‘entre-relating activities’. Based on an empirical analysis of this process in the haute-cuisine restaurant Rutz in Berlin, we explore four entre-relating activities – surprising, satisfying, stimulating and savouring – through which ‘being creative’ and ‘being considered creative’ are set in relation to negotiate the attribution of organizational creativity. Our findings demonstrate how the sequential performance of these entre-relating activities is consequential for the gradual transition of external evaluations of an organization’s outcomes, from being considered ‘different’ to ‘one of a kind’, and thus the increasing attribution of organizational creativity over time. Our study contributes to the literature on organizational creativity by exploring the interplay between ‘being creative’ and ‘being considered creative’ through entre-relating activities, which is foundational for understanding organizational creativity. Furthermore, our findings put aesthetic responses at the centre of organizational creativity and demonstrate the playfulness of the process through which the attribution of organizational creativity is produced.

DIGITIZATION AND PATH DISRUPTION: AN EXAMINATION IN THE FUNERAL INDUSTRY

While the digitization of the business landscape provides firms with numerous business opportunities, it has severely disrupted established business practices of many traditional “offline businesses.” To shed light on the disruptive nature of digitization and the challenges that it entails for traditional offline businesses, we draw on path dependence theory to examine how digitization disrupts strategic paths. We explore this issue by analyzing the strategic path of funeral homes, a paradigmatic case of a traditional offline business that has been struck heavily by digitization. We show that digitization is capable of destabilizing the key mechanisms that drive the successful reproduction of strategic paths and, consequently, induce their eventual demise, whereas other (non-digital) disruptive events may challenge the strategic pattern of paths but do not necessarily lead to path disruption. By discerning and emphasizing this disruptive peculiarity of digitization, we contribute to better understanding the disruptive nature of digitization and the challenges that it entails for traditional offline businesses. Furthermore, we extend the extant literature on path dependence by providing a more nuanced understanding of path disruption, and we offer guidance to practitioners on how to cope with the challenges of path disruption through digitization.

Exploring Complex Phenomena with Qualitative Research Methods: An Examination of Strategic Innovation Trajectories in Haute Cuisine

Whereas qualitative research methods have become increasingly popular in the broader social sciences, they remain less prominent in entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology research. In the face of increased complexity of empirical phenomena in these fields of research, we make the case for qualitative research methods as one valuable methodological option for researchers to gain a better understanding of complex phenomena. By unbundling the challenges that the empirical examination of complex phenomena imposes on researchers, we outline that qualitative research methods are particularly well-suited to cope with these challenges. To shed more light on how researchers may use qualitative data to draw theoretical inferences, we propose an analytical approach for the examination of complex phenomena that systematically discloses the inner logic of these phenomena in a step-wise process. In a case study of strategic innovation trajectories in haute cuisine restaurants, we illustrate how researchers may apply this analytical procedure ‘in practice.’ Our illustrative analysis indicates that, despite the severe challenges that researchers face when exploring complex phenomena, the proposed analytical procedure provides a practical and helpful guide for researchers to gain a better theoretical understanding of complex phenomena based on qualitative data.

From entity to process: toward more process-based theorizing in the field of organizational change

The purpose of this paper is to make a case for more process-based theorizing in the field of organizational change.,To emphasize the importance of a process perspective on organizational change, this paper challenges the prevalent theorizing approach that treats organizational change as entity and argues that process-based theorizing can help researchers gain a better understanding of organizational change.,To direct future research toward more process-based theorizing, this paper proposes a systematic four-step procedure for the analysis of qualitative data that helps researchers theorize organizational change from a process perspective.,Overall, this paper contributes to theorizing efforts in the field of organizational change by offering a reflective account on the challenges that entity-based theorizing entails, strengthening the position of process-based theorizing in light of these challenges and providing an outlook on how scholars can develop theoretical insights on organizational change from a process perspective.

Sense, seize, reconfigure: Online communities as strategic assets

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore and illustrate how organizations may use online communities strategically to adapt to a changing business environment, specifically from a dynamic capabilities perspective. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents empirical evidence from three cases. Findings Online communities may help organizations to adapt to a changing business environment by allowing them to sense opportunities and threats, seize opportunities and reconfigure organizational assets. Research limitations/implications The paper contributes to both the strategy and the information systems literatures by providing empirical insights into the strategic use of online communities. Practical implications The results of the paper are relevant for managers, helping them to understand the strategic role online communities (may) play and illustrating ways to use them accordingly. Originality/value The paper addresses a previously defined gap in the literature and provides novel empirical evidence. As online communities become integral parts of digital strategy and open innovation initiatives, the paper is both timely and relevant.

Organizational Artifacts as Pre-presentations of Things to Come: The Case of Menu Development in Haute Cuisine

Whereas the temporal mode of an organization’s past and present relies on material representations, an organization’s future has no material equivalent. Hence, the future of an organization is an ideal but not yet materialized phenomenon. In this chapter, we adopt a process perspective on organizational artifacts, their ongoing production and reproduction. We focus on how an organization’s past and present performance is inscribed into an organizational artifact and we explore how this process materializes as a pre-presentation of things to come. In doing so, we explore how performances resonate in artifacts and how artifacts in turn pre-present an organization’s future. Our study is based on an in-depth and longitudinal qualitative research design conducted in the field of haute cuisine and focuses on the ongoing development process of the menu as the central artifact.

Der Faktor „Führung“: Unternehmerische vs. politische Führung

In Politik und Politikwissenschaft wie auch in Wirtschaft und Wirtschaftswissenschaften wird dem Faktor „Fuhrung“ eine hohe Bedeutung beigemessen. Dabei handelt es sich um ein vielgestaltiges Phanomen, dessen theoretische wie empirische Erfassung mit erheblichen Herausforderungen einhergeht. Der vorliegende interdisziplinare Beitrag nahert sich dem Gegenstand „Fuhrung“ aus beiden Wissenschaftsperspektiven, um die Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede von in modernen, demokratischen und marktwirtschaftlich organisierten Gesellschaften anzutreffenden Konzeptionen unternehmerischer und politischer Fuhrung herauszuarbeiten.