Ljiljana Erakovic

The interaction of market and technology in radical transformation: The case of Telecom New Zealand

Purpose – This study aims to demonstrate the interaction of the regulatory environment and market forces with rapid technological change in the transformation of SOEs, as exemplified by Telecom NZ.Design/methodology/approach – This case study analysis explicates resource dependency and institutional forces in the process of SOE privatisation, in the first ten years of transformation, through textual analysis of data collected from company annual reports and interviews.Findings – It is demonstrated that resource dependencies on technology and capital, market forces, and the institutionalization of new structures and relationships, are as important as regulatory changes in the analysis of SOE restructuring. It is also documented that the regulatory transitions are not as clear‐cut as the legislative dates and economic analyses suggest.Research limitations/implications – The research focuses on a single exemplar to explicate key interactions. While generalizable to theory, the use of in‐depth case studies is...

Dynamics of decision power in the localization process: comparative case studies of China-Western IJVs

International HRM has focused on the MNC and its control and compliance mechanisms, particularly the tension between ‘internationalizing’ practices and normative host-country practices. This contingency approach does not capture the complexity of MNC interactions in the local environment, however, particularly with regard to international joint ventures (IJVs). Partners to the IJV may wish to impose their own practices, and use contractual and non-contractual resource power, internationalization expertise and operational consistency requirements to gain relative decisional advantage. Case studies of four Sino-Western IJVs illustrate the dynamics of IHRM development under conditions of weak socio-legal constraint and high cultural distance between partners.

Board-Management Relationships: Resources and Internal Dynamics **

This paper investigates directors’ relationships with firms’ managers, using lenses of resource dependence theory and resource based view. Because of different roles that board members perform in modern organisations we seek to find out what board-management relationships may provide a company with competitive advantage relative to other firms. The paper reports the results from a study conducted in six New Zealand companies. We used multiple respondents from the top management and board members in a variety of firms from different industries. Qualitative analysis of interview transcripts, and matching the qualitative results with secondary information on the companies, reveal several interesting patterns of relationship among top management and board members, as well as the value of this relationship to the firm.

Strategic Alliances between SMEs and Large Firms: An Exploration of the Dynamic Process **

This paper explores the dynamics in strategic alliances between small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and large organisations (corporates). Despite the volumes written on this subject, few studies take into account this context of inter-organisational relationships. The dynamics in strategic partnerships between small and large organisations are potentially multifaceted and fraught with complexities and contradictions. The partner organisations bring diverse interests and resources to the strategic partnerships and these affect the dynamics of their relationships. Using the literature on strategic alliances, this article examines four such strategic partnerships in New Zealand. Results show that in order to increase the likelihood of successful collaboration, the alliance partners must understand the importance of building trust and a shared alliance purpose, and both of these must be communicated effectively at executive and operational levels.

Liberalising the German Model: Institutional Change, Organisational Restructuring and Workplace Effects

Institutional change at supranational, European Union level affects national and firm level institutions in various ways. This article traces effects of liberalisation measures in the airport industry enacted in two airport firms in Germany. The study, based on qualitative empirical research, found that EU liberalisation facilitated company creation of subsidiaries (subsidiarisation) and elevated shareholder interest in corporate governance. These factors affected institutional practices and cultural norms within the German industrial context that in turn influenced significant alterations in employment and workplace relations. Considerable disruption of the German social partnership model of corporate governance and industrial relations was observed. However, in addition to patterns of convergence towards neoliberal practices and outcomes frequently observed in Anglo-Saxon systems, the study found some elements of effective retention of cultural institutional resources of the German model. Both ‘path departure’ and social embeddedness appear to coexist.

Change induced by economic reforms in state-owned enterprises and industries: insights from qualitative case study research

This paper summarises the key insights from two studies of organisational and industrial change using qualitative inquiry. In both studies, qualitative research served to reveal dynamic/ongoing processes of change in a variety of settings, in each of which change arose from the corporatisation/privatisation of state-owned enterprises and industries in the wake of economic liberalisation. The first study investigated changes in organisational design of sixteen New Zealand corporatised and privatised organisations. The second study examined the content and process of change associated with the deregulation of the electricity industries in a developed country (New Zealand) and a developing country (The Gambia).

Strategising and the routines of governance: An empirical analysis of practices in an international engineering consultancy firm

Purpose – This paper uses the strategy‐as‐practice perspective to explore the relationship between practices and organisational routines of governance in pluralistic contexts. The purpose of this paper is to explore empirically how strategising activities and organisational actions interact. It discusses and illustrates the relationship between strategising and organising through routines of governance, and in particular the use of board papers.Design/methodology/approach – This research is based on a single longitudinal “soft” case study. The researchers collected both primary and secondary data. Primary data collection took place from the end of 2004 until early in 2008. Primary data collection occurred through three main methods: interviews, meeting observations, and “shadowing” of participants; six participants were each shadowed for a working week (five days), and another participant was shadowed for three days. Interviews were held with 20 participants and typically lasted for between one and two ho...

Researching organisational change in the public sector

Privatisation includes change in ownership, as well as strategy, structure and culture of state-owned enterprises. This paper demonstrates how two different research techniques can be used to increase the robustness of research on public sector transformation. A combination of content analysis of organisational documents and reflexive interviews leads to the development of the idea of change pathways in public enterprise transition. The research is undertaken using 16 cases from the population of New Zealand corporatised and privatised companies. This study provides an important contribution to the understanding of the dynamics of change in organisations during their ownership transition at the levels of both theory and method.