Povl Larsen

Strategic leadership in super-growth companies—a re-appraisal

Abstract This article reports on a research project to identify the attributes of high and super growth medium-size companies, the strategies they employ to maintain growth and the critical success factors they consider vital to achieve rapid growth. Pronounced differences were found in the preferences between both groups when ranking seven critical success factors: (1) Flexibility; (2) Product diversification; (3) Attracting and holding quality staff; (4) Niche marketing; (5) Early entry into growth markets; (6) Quality; (7) and Frequent innovation. There were also differences in their strategic objectives, as well as, in the ages of the growth companies.

Strategic planning and design in the service sector

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of a research project into strategic planning and design in the service sector sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and supported by the Design Council into Design for Accounting.Design/methodology/approach – The research used a mail survey questionnaire to gain information on design and strategic issues.Findings – The findings are that the majority of medium‐sized service enterprises do not have a design function or use design. For those that do use design, the majority see design as very important: the benefits of design relate to the brand image of both the organisation and the services provided, closely followed by increased profits. Design has been used in the past to add value and improve quality, while innovation has been and will in the future be the main strategic area to concentrate on. Key strategic activities in the past have been adding new customers, whereas in the future the key strategic activ...

Information systems investment within high-growth medium-sized enterprises

IS spending by high‐growth medium‐sized enterprises is at a significantly lower level than that for other companies. However, there was no set pattern or correlation that identified relatively high IS investment with high growth or vice versa. The future forecast for IS investment favours a modest increase in the one to three years planning horizon. Although, given that these are high‐growth companies growing at rates in excess of 15 per cent per annum, the modest increase could represent a real reduction unless the price of technology reduces at a significant rate. The most notable evaluation criteria were “to facilitate change” and “formal financial investment”, but these were closely followed by “act of faith” or “gut feel” approaches. When asked to identify preferred project options, in the past the clear choice of most was medium risk and medium pay off. In the future the preferred options support medium risk and high pay off.

Balanced scorecards and the FTSE 100: exploratory research

This paper reports on an exploratory mail survey questionnaire that sought to identify the current use of the Balanced Scorecard (BS) by the FTSE 100 and possible future research initiatives. The main benefit of the BS was that departmental goals were now being aligned with the overall business strategy. The BS as a learning and feedback system was seen as of least benefit. The majority of users of the BS claimed their employees were aware of their businesss strategy, but they were not as strongly convinced as the non-users of the BS. An issue of some concern was that users of the BS were linking rewards directly to meeting BS objectives even though the BS had not been explained to all the employees. Overall, the initial findings suggest that the use of the BS in the UK is seen primarily as a performance measurement system - not as a strategic management system.

Confronting Barriers to Innovation

The Case Study section of the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation serves two purposes. First, the case studies presented are concerned with problematical issues that are pertinent to students of entrepreneurship. Thus they constitute appropriate teaching and learning vehicles on a variety of postgraduate and undergraduate programmes. Each case study is accompanied by a set of guidelines for the use of tutors. Second, it is envisaged that those engaged in entrepreneurial activities will find the cases both interesting and useful. This issue’s case study concerns the barriers to innovation encountered by the MD of a micro-firm as he tries to turn his idea into a commercially viable product. The focus of the study is on how the barriers were overcome and, as the idea was awarded Millennium Products Status by the UK Design Council for its ‘groundbreaking’ innovativeness, whether the new product development (NPD) processes adopted by the firm could act as an exemplar to others intent on new product development. The case study is a real-life one, but all names are pseudonyms.

Managing the Strategic Planning Process: A comparative analysis between high-growth medium-sized enterprises and the general business population

This paper reports on work in progress to develop a questionnaire to identify the factors which may distinguish the general business populations performance from that of high-growth medium-sized enterprises. The study found that there were differences between the two groups in the areas of leadership; purpose of strategic planning; planning horizon; the areas benefiting from the planning process; components; and strategic objective measurements.

Exploring is Planning in High-Growth Medium-Sized Enterprises

Faster-growing businesses have better approaches to planning their information systems.

Key features in the success of SMEs: A comparison of service and manufacturing

The paper reports on part of the findings from a Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) research project that looked to analyse the strategic, design and accounting processes in medium-sized enterprises. A mail survey questionnaire was used to gather information on new product development drivers and strategic factors. The findings reported in this paper cover the factors responsible for current performance, the growth strategies concentrated on in the past, the key strategic product and market activities and the drivers of new product and service development. It concludes with a synopsis of the findings and a discussion on the implications for managers.