Kenneth J. Hatten

Non-Market-Based Transfers of Wealth and Power: A Research Framework for Family Businesses:

Family businesses are basically owner-managed enterprises with the family Involved within the business. When, to family ties within the business, is added the biological inevitability of an eventual transfer of power, family succession becomes an alternative to selling the business–-a transfer based on non-market considerations. A framework for studying family businesses is proposed which has succession as its anchor. The succession process is where changes in management, in strategy, and in control are planned for and executed. The framework is built upon stages of the family enterprise which emanate from the biological reality of parent and offspring being separated by age and business experience but wedded together by “blood” and a shared family experience.

Non-Market-Based Transfers of Wealth and Power: A Research Framework for Family Business

Family businesses are basically owner-managed enterprises with the family involved within the business. When, to family ties within the business, is added the biological inevitability of an eventual transfer of power, family succession becomes an alternative to selling the business—a transfer based on non-market considerations. A framework for studying family businesses is proposed which has succession as its anchor. The succession process is where changes in management, in strategy, and in control are planned for and executed. The framework is built upon stages of the family enterprise which emanate from the biological reality of parent and offspring being separated by age and business experience, but wedded together by “blood” and a shared family experience.

Supplier performance improvements in relational exchanges

Purpose – This study aims to test both customer and supplier performance benefits associated with closer relational exchanges in light of both resource and technological environmental contingencies.Design/methodology/approach – The research involved a survey of 1,170 managers in the pulp and paper industry to understand their relationship with their primary supplier of process control equipment (PCE). Each respondent was asked to provide their views on the closeness of their supplier relationship, the performance gains realized from their supplier relationships, and the linkage between their performance gains and improvements in supplier performance.Findings – The results indicate that although customers may be achieving better performance through closer relationships, suppliers may not always be reaping reciprocal benefits. Specifically, improvements in customer purchasing performance did not result in improved supplier performance, but customer improvements in production performance resulted in supplier...

Global New Product Development Processes: Preliminary Findings and Research Propositions

This study examines the processes and routines firms employ for developing new global products. Observations from 13 Japanese, American and European multinational companies reveal that global new product development processes vary in terms of the involvement of overseas subsidiaries in project teams and the generation of new product concepts. In particular, when the knowledge about different product design requirements among overseas markets or plants is tacit, firms employ cross-national product development teams and use overseas subsidiaries as sources of new product concepts. Anchoring these findings on information processing theory, we develop a set of research propositions on global new product development processes and suggest directions for future research.

Managing the process-centred enterprise

Abstract This article presents the Enterprise Model which simultaneously addresses business functions and processes. It has two core elements. The first is a schematic network of functions and processes which creates a platform for assessing enterprise-wide alignment and identifying opportunities for performance improvement. The second is the 3Cs —the businesss customer relations, capabilities , and competencies —which constitute the resource platform for the enterprises future strategies and determine the feasibility of its plans. The model links the firms operating decisions to its strategic direction. The article describes the model and how to use it in an integrated audit of an enterprise and its plans.

Information systems strategy: long overdue—and still not here

Abstract Information systems (IS) professionals feel pressure to think strategically about their role in their organizations, but often have a minimal concept of strategy and the role IS might play in contributing to the organizations distinctiveness and competitive success. Nevertheless, new technologies are making information an increasingly pervasive resource, and global competitiveness demands improved market responsiveness and innovative use of all resources. This article describes general strategy concepts, offering templates to assess the organization both internally, within its functions, and externally, within the industry and society. In each of these models, information is critical. Examples are used to demonstrate how IS has been used to strengthen an organizations strategic position. The IS professional role is to integrate with functional management, applying systems thinking to position the organization for a more effective future. The article develops a summary ‘framework for IS strategy’ to describe the dimensions on which the IS manager can be a valuable resource on business strategy issues and generally improve management processes to enable effective customer focus, total quality management and decreased cycle time.

Supplier strategies to increase customer purchases over the duration of customer‐supplier relationships

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to understand factors related to increased customer purchases from suppliers during different stages of the customer‐supplier relationship.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 372 professionals in the paper industry was conducted to investigate how customer performance outcomes, supplier quality and delivery performance, the presence of relational norms and customer perspectives of environmental uncertainty vary in their influence on increasing customer purchases over time.Findings – The results indicate the variables influencing increased customer purchases vary over the duration of the customer‐supplier relationship. It is also shown how the variables influencing increased customer purchases from suppliers are different from the variables leading to increased customer commitment to suppliers over time.Research limitations/implications – Data were collected from the customer perspective only and involved the exchange of one type of product. Similar studies n...

Customer perceptions of dependencies in customer–supplier relationships

This paper studies how customer and their suppliers dependency and the relative dependency of both firms correlates with customer perceptions of environmental uncertainties, relational exchange and both customer and supplier exchange benefits. The study draws on resource dependency and transaction cost economics theories and is based on a survey of 372 paper mills. The results indicate that customers perceive dependency is related to exchange benefits and not environmental uncertainties or relational exchange and the exchange benefits differ depending on which exchange partner is dependent and the relative dependence between the exchange partners.

The longevity of the performance effects of the Miles and Snow strategic archetypes: a ten-year perspective in US banking

This paper presents an investigation of the longevity of Miles and Snows viability hypothesis in the banking industry, identifying, for the first time, five- and ten- year effects of strategic archetype on performance. The research suggests, however, that performance is more intensely associated with strategy implementation and control than archetype. Collectively, these results have important implications for Strategic Management because they reinforce the tradition of the field that management matters, and that what you see when you evaluate performance depends on when you look and what you measure.

The effects of performance, environmental uncertainty and relational norms on customer commitments to suppliers over the duration of customer-supplier relationships

This paper investigates customer commitments to suppliers based on customer performance outcomes, supplier quality and delivery performance, the presence of relational norms and customer perspectives of environmental uncertainty over the duration of the customer-supplier relationship. Customer commitments to suppliers during short, intermediate and long-term relationships are investigated with the results showing that the influences of performance, relational norms and environmental uncertainty differ as the duration of the relationship extends over time. These results also offer suppliers insights into how they could vary their marketing and sales strategies to influence customer loyalty over time.