Ming-Jer Chen

Organizational Information Processing, Competitive Responses, and Performance in the U.S. Domestic Airline Industry

This study investigates how firms build competitive advantage by focusing on the actions and responses of rivals in the U.S. domestic airline industry. We identified four attributes of competitive ...

NONRESPONSE AND DELAYED RESPONSE TO COMPETITIVE MOVES: THE ROLES OF COMPETITOR DEPENDENCE AND ACTION IRREVERSIBILITY

Competitive moves that are unchallenged or to which response is delayed are important weapons in a strategists arsenal, so variables that discourage or delay response are of great interest. Using ...

THE SIMPLICITY OF COMPETITIVE REPERTOIRES: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

This research explores the notion of competitive simplicity: a tendency of some firms to concentrate intensely on just a few central activities. Our focus here is the simplicity inherent in the repertoire of concrete, market-oriented actions used by companies to compete: these actions include product introductions, pricing or advertising decisions, and changes in market scope. The simplicity of a competitive repertoire can be assessed by its range of actions and its degree of concentration on one or a few dominant types of actions. We argue that competitive simplicity is largely a function of organizational and environmental properties that attenuate managerial search or restrict knowledge of competitive alternatives. These properties include good performance, munificent, homogeneous or certain markets, a lack of breadth in competitive experiences, and the complacency that may accompany age and size. Paradoxically, although good past performance may contribute to simplicity, simplicity can hurt subsequent performance, especially during periods of uncertainty and growth. Many of these ideas were borne out in a study of the major carriers of the post-deregulation domestic airline industry.

Strategy, Size and Performance

Miles and Snows four different types of strategy are discussed and operationally defined in terms of three recurring organizational problems. A field study of 47 firms was conducted to investigate the typology and the relationship between the typology, size and performance. Support is provided for the analyzer and prospector strategies but there is less evidence for defenders. Results demonstrate the importance of contingency research and indicate that firm size can explain differences in the relationship between strategy and performance.

Reconceptualizing the Competition-Cooperation Relationship: A Transparadox Perspective

Although competition and cooperation individually have received much consideration in the strategy field, researchers have given little attention to the fundamental issue of interplay between the two concepts. Nor has a framework been proposed for examining how competition and cooperation interrelate. Given the notion that competition and cooperation exist in a paradoxical, either/or relationship, reexamination of the idea of paradox itself is imperative. This paper converges Western and Eastern ideas to address the need to transcend conventional perspectives of paradox. It proposes a new concept, transparadox, a hybrid of the either/or and both/and perspectives that characterize, respectively, Western and Eastern thought. The transparadox perspective provides an expansive framework within which the range of competition—cooperation interrelationships may be examined. The introduction of three conceptions of competition—cooperation relationships (independent, or binary, opposites; interconnected opposites; and interdependent opposites) provides researchers with platforms for future theoretical development and empirical study.

Transcending Paradox: The Chinese "Middle Way" Perspective ∗

Western thought is noted for its strengths in categorization and analysis; Eastern, or Chinese thought, is noted for its integrative and encompassing nature. This article seeks to bridge the two. Specifically, it aims to enrich Western thinking and the existing body of paradox literature by proposing the idea of paradoxical integration, a concept derived from the Chinese middle way philosophy. Paradoxical integration, the notion that two opposites (such as “self” and “other”) may be interdependent in nature and together constitute a totality (“integration”), is introduced as one means of transcending paradox and the conventional Western conceptualization of exclusive opposites. It suggests how we can apply the concept of interdependent opposites in a both/and framework to foster reconciliation of the apparent polarities of such dichotomies as competition and cooperation. The article concludes with a discussion of the broad implications of the concept of paradoxical integration upon both academic research and business practice.

Competitive Dynamics: Themes, Trends, and a Prospective Research Platform

We provide a critical retrospective of the competitive dynamics perspective before proposing an integrative research platform for the future. We argue that competitive dynamics can serve as a synth...

An Exploration of the Expertness of Outside Informants

This study reviews the use of outside informants-individuals not employed in the firm being studied-in strategy research reported in major journals. We empirically explored the expertness of these informants in terms of interrater reliability and accuracy of their ratings compared to those provided by insiders. Four groups of outside informants in the airline industry-consultants, security analysts, stakeholders, and academics-and senior airline executives whose companies initiated certain competitive moves rated strategic attributes associated with those moves. Informants in each group manifested high interrater reliability. Of the outsiders, analysts were the most accurate and were highly reliable, and academics were highly reliable and as accurate as consultants and stakeholders.

Predictors of response time to competitive strategic actions: Preliminary theory and evidence☆

The time it takes for a firm to respond to a competitor’s action is the focus of the present study. Theory relating organizational performance to response time, and response time to a number of organizational and environmental factors, is presented and tested. A field study involving interviews and questionnaires was conducted with 22 top-level managers from high-technology electronic firms. The results generally support the theory. As response time decreases, performance increases. Furthermore, the extent of a firm’s external strategic orientation, perceptions of competitor’s actions by managers, and environmental stability were found to be related to response time. However, no relationship was found between organizational formalization and response time. The results are discussed, and modifications to the theory are suggested.

Competitive dynamics: Eastern roots, Western growth

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to bridge the understanding of apparent dichotomies such as East and West, philosophy and social sciences, and antiquity and modernity, and to continue the vibrant expansion of competitive dynamics study into the realm of East-West theoretical fusion. Design/methodology/approach The author looks to classical Chinese philosophy to discover the origins and nature of competitive dynamics. The paper develops the premise that the foundational thrusts of this contemporary Western management topic spring from ancient Eastern conceptions of duality, relativity, and time. Findings Research inroads are made along two paths. First, the paper traces the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of competitive dynamics to Eastern thinking. Then by bridging what have customarily been perceived as fundamentally different paradigms, it reveals, in a new light, empirical findings in this strategy subfield. Research limitations/implications Linking Western management science, and specifically the study of competitive dynamics, to classical Eastern philosophy raises new research questions in the areas of international management and management education as well as competitive dynamics. In the latter, the paper suggests opportunities for exploring connections between traditional Chinese concepts and contemporary organizational and competition research issues, including competitive and cooperative relationships at the industry level. Future research may also investigate the fundamental differences and similarities between Eastern and Western philosophies, and their implications for competitive strategies. Originality/value From a relatively obscure corner of business academia, competitive dynamics now occupies a distinct place in strategic management research and is a topic of intense interest to scholars in a variety of disciplines. The usual view is that competitive dynamics fits squarely in the spectrum of social sciences, an organically home-grown area of Western study. This paper examines the topic from a distinctly different angle – through the lens of ancient Eastern philosophy – to discern deeper a deeper meaning and wider application.