Nicholas O’Regan

The importance of capabilities for strategic direction and performance

This paper re‐visits the perennial question “Why do some firms perform better than others?” by focusing on the resource‐based view of strategy and in particular the role of generic organisational capabilities in the achievement of overall performance and competitive advantage. Presents findings based on data collected from 194 manufacturing small to medium‐sized enterprises. The analysis confirms the authors’ contention that generic organisational capabilities have a positive impact on strategy deployment and on the achievement of overall performance. The findings indicate that generic capabilities enable firms to manage for the future by focussing on customer’s needs and requirements, while at the same time managing crises and problems arising in their operating environment. A further analysis comparing the emphasis on generic capabilities by both high and low performing firms found that high‐performing firms emphasised capabilities to a far greater extent than low‐performing firms. This implies that generic capability is one of the main drivers of performance. The analysis suggests that firms seeking high overall performance would be well advised to ensure that they actively consider their generic capabilities as the basis of their strategic direction. In short, alignment of the generic capabilities and strategic planning is a prerequisite for high performance.

Effective strategic planning in small and medium sized firms

Little attention has been paid to the strategy‐making processes of small and medium‐sized firms (SMEs), or to the effectiveness of strategic planning in the SME sector. Planning often fails because of implementation problems often associated with SMEs’ lack of capability to determine and overcome potential barriers to strategic planning. This paper examines the concept of formal strategic planning, presents the findings of a critical analysis of the suitability of formal planning for SMEs, and identifies some of the barriers which prevent effective implementation of strategic plans. Suggests that SMEs that engage in formal strategic planning experience fewer barriers to implementation than those that do not and that subsidiary firms tend to place a greater emphasis on formal planning than independent firms. Indicates that the eight barriers to deployment examined are experienced to a lesser degree by subsidiary firms compared with independent firms. However, the differences are not statistically significant. Suggests that apart from the preparation of written strategic plans by subsidiary firms, there is little transferability from the parent firm of influences that impact on the reduction or elimination of barriers to the deployment of strategic plans. Parent firms may wish to encourage their subsidiary firms to think and act as part of a larger group and to make greater use of the more significant resources of the parent firm.

Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship A Systematic Review

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature suggests CSR initiatives extend beyond meeting the immediate interests of stakeholders of for-profit enterprises, offering the potential to also enhance performance. Growing disillusionment of for-profit business models has drawn attention to social entrepreneurship and social innovation to ease social issues. Adopting a systematic review of relevant research, the article provides collective insights into research linking social innovation with social entrepreneurship, demonstrating growing interest in the area over the last decade. The past 5 years have seen a surge in attention with particular focus on the role of the entrepreneur, networks, systems, institutions, and cross-sectoral partnerships. Based on the findings of the review, the authors synthesize formerly dispersed fields of research into an analytical framework, signposting a “systems of innovation” approach for future studies of social innovation and social entrepreneurship.

Formal strategic planning: The key to effective business process management?

The literature contends that the lack of strategic business planning is a major drawback in the implementation of business process initiatives such as total quality management. In addition, it is evident that strategic planning firms achieve better performance than other firms. However, strategic planning often fails due to problems or barriers encountered at the implementation stage. It is unclear from the limited research carried out to date what actions, if any, firms can take to minimise or eliminate these barriers. This paper examines the concept of strategic planning and identifies the barriers to its implementation. It considers the suitability of formal strategic planning as the key to eliminating or reducing implementation barriers by comparing the extent to which the barriers are experienced in formal and non‐formal planning firms. The paper also examines the extent to which the barriers are experienced by high and low performing firms.

Market share: the conduit to future success?

Market share is often used to describe the position and success of a firm in an industrial sector. While the impact of market share is not always reflected in a firm’s profitability or performance, many firms see it as an important organisational goal. Accordingly, it could be argued that market share influences the organisational thinking and strategic planning of small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises. However, it is unclear how and to what extent? The analysis indicates that firms with an increased market share differ significantly from firms with a decreased or static market share on the emphasis given to a number of environmental factors. The analysis shows that firms with increased market share are likely to have higher performance and in particular achieve enhanced financial performance, greater customer retention and customer satisfaction. This applies to all firm sizes. To ensure competitive advantage, firms need to consider market share in conjunction with overall profits.

Toward a View of Complementarity Trust and Policy Influence Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Political Activity

The extant literature argues that nonmarket strategies can establish, sustain, or enhance a firm’s competitive advantage. Less clear is how and why effective nonmarket strategies influence a firm’s competitiveness. Moreover, the extant literature tends to examine the two building blocks of nonmarket strategy—corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate political activity (CPA)—separately. In this article, we extend trust to the nonmarket environment. We analyze how CSR and CPA complement each other to create strong trust between firms and the polity, and how they consequently influence government policy. We show the mediating role of trust in policy influence, and argue that CSR and CPA should be aligned for the successful influence of salient government policy.

The impact of management techniques on performances in technology-based firms

Abstract The study begins by examining the degree of profitability of technology-based firms. The results indicate that annual gross profit varies from breakeven to as much as £90,000 per full time employee. Two distinct clusters were identified; high performers (23 firms) achieved profit levels per FTE ranging from £40,000 to £90,000) compared with profits per FTE for low performers (194 firms) ranging from break even to £35,000. In order to ascertain why some firms achieved higher profitability compared with others, we compared and contrasted the following aspects in both groups; costs, employment patterns and the use of efficiency/quality techniques. The results indicate that low performing firms spend significantly more proportionately on direct labour, whilst high performing groups spend more on indirect labour. High performing firms in the study maintained lower staffing numbers. Arguably, they have a core full time staff, and buy in expertise when required. Next, we examined the use of management techniques in technology-based firms. The literature to date indicates that the success rate of these initiatives is a mixed picture. Indeed, some analysts go so far as to say that such initiatives are a waste of time and should be discontinued. This study found no significant correlation between the use of techniques and profitability and in fact, found that high achieving companies tended to be less interested in these techniques than those with a lower gross profit per employee. However, we found distinct patterns in the drivers of the introduction of such techniques in manufacturing firms as well as the main obstacles to their introduction.

A case study and interview with Jill McDonald CEO and President of McDonald's Northern Europe Division

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how strategy is developed and implemented within a subsidiary of a global organization, the relationship between subsidiary and headquarters and the need for continuous change and adaption to remain relevant. Furthermore, this case study describes a successful process of invention and adoption. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on documentary evidence and a semi-structured interview with Jill McDonald CEO and President of McDonalds Northern Europe Division with responsibility for the UK, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and the Republic of Ireland. Management research rarely captures the views of the top executive, yet the top executives have a broad picture and are key strategic decision makers. Findings – The case study and interview offers a unique insight into factors contributing to McDonalds unprecedented success (it has paid an increased dividend for the past 37 years). It also sheds light on its successful internationalization str...

Achieving wider impact in business and management: analysing the case studies from REF 2014

ABSTRACT Universities, across the globe, are increasingly judged on social and economic impact. An important initiative in the UK is the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, which assessed the wider impact of university research. The Impact Case Studies, produced for REF 2014, provide a rich new source of information to explore the wider impact of Business and Management (B&M) research. Each B&M case study, from a structured sample of 194, was read and analysed for this paper. The detailed findings show significant differences between sub-disciplines in demonstrating impact and illustrate why some research reaches a wider audience. The findings show a relatively low level of Mode 2 knowledge production, but a wide range of levels and types of engagement with research users across disciplines. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to building a more nuanced theory on modes of knowledge production and in relation to policy and academic practice.

Editorial: research futures: a UK perspective

Purpose – This editorial aims to provide an overview of the current state of research in the UK and proposes some future directions for research for family business scholars.Design/methodology/approach – This article is an editorial with commentary about recent developments in understanding research gaps in the field of family business research.Findings – The paper discusses the areas where future research in family business is required focusing on three levels: the organization; the individual; and the community.Research implications – The paper suggests that there are many unanswered questions which merit further and future research.Practical implications – The future of family business research is not in question. The paper posits that there are areas of study in family business which may particularly benefit from taking a cross‐disciplinary approach and suggests that family business researchers might consider exploring theory in the entrepreneurship, small business, sociology, economics and industrial...