Roland Calori

Transnational project teams and networks: making the multinational organization more effective

The role of transnational project teams and networks (TPTNs) has increasingly become an important organizational mechanism for facilitating horizontal cooperation in multinational corporations (MNCs). In spite of this importance, there is little information on this innovative form of organization. Using data collected from 9 teams in several organizations, this paper explores the impact that context has on TPTNs, how such teams function and the role that leadership plays in their effectiveness. Practical recommendations and implications for future research are provided.

Managing Change at Novotel: Back to the Future

Abstract Novotel is one of the worlds major hotel chains, occupying a leading place in Europe and with locations globally. We interpret Novotels change management programme in the 1990s in three parts. First, we summarise the actions that managers took in terms of strategy and organisation. Second, we consider the sequence and timing of events, and how this resulted in rapid transformation in an organisation employing more than 30,000 people. Third, we emphasise the dialectical nature of the change processes: an element often ignored in the literature that likes to see things as an either–or rather than a both . We observed both deliberation and experimentation; both integration and differentiation. We also observed both preservation and transformation, as noted in our sub-title ‘Back to the Future’. Finally, we wrap up with a discussion explaining how our story can add to better thinking about change. We suggest that we can shed new light on some old debates and provide tangible guides for action.

Designing a business scanning system

Abstract The basic model of industrial dynamics has been inspired by several complementary disciplines (industrial dynamics, industry organization, marketing and strategy) and tested in several industries. It is based on the interaction of four components: actors strategies, the context, the structure and the value of the industry. The successive stages of the consultation of experts are described: the industry definition and the selection of experts, the static analysis and the historical analysis, the prospective analysis and the elaboration of strategic scenarios and the organization of the scanning system. The cases of the photovoltaics industry and of the agrochemical industry in Italy (from the point of view of the strategic business unit of an international corporation) serve as illustrations of this process. Finally, the article advocates a more prospective view of strategic thinking.

Effective strategies in emerging industries

Abstract This paper presents the methodology and the results of an extensive field study achieved in 1982–1983, focusing on industrial firms strategies in two emerging industries. Fiftynine firms participated in this work. Four generic strategies consistent with survival were identified, one of them being the most effective for building market share. Complementary studies are needed to test the external validity of these results.

The dynamics of international competition : from practice to theory

Introduction Geographic Scope - Roland Calori, Gianluca Colombo, Peter Gustavsson and Pancho Nunes Exploring Product-Market Variety Regions, between Global and Local - Roland Calori, Sarah-Kathryn McDonald and Pancho Nunes Structural Forces Driving Local Responsiveness - Roland Calori, Manuela De Carol, Egbert Kahle, Leif Melin and Juan Jos[ac]e Renau Structural Forces Driving Global Integration - Roland Calori, Paul Emmanuelides, Egbert Kahle, Leif Melin and Juan Jos[ac]e Renau Competitive Actions - Tugrul Atamer, Roland Calori, Gianluca Colombo, Sarah-Kathryn McDonald and Martine Menguzzato-Boulard International Strategies - Tugrul Atamer, Roland Calori, Peter Gustavsson and Martine Menguzzato-Boulard Conclusion

International Competition in Mixed Industries

Abstract The collective knowledge of practitioners is useful for theory building. One of the roles of researchers is to tap practitioners knowledge, analyse it and integrate it into a collective knowledge base (a process similar to the design of expert systems). This paper analyses the collective knowledge of practitioners in four mixed industries: cables and wires, chocolate and sugar confectionery, paint, and footwear, and compares their collective espoused theory of the dynamics of international competition to mainstream economic and strategic theories. Several salient concepts are discussed: the formation of regional competitive territories, the dual effect of marketing intensity, the influence of demand factors (international customers and high-growth market), and the role of strategic innovators across borders. These concepts deviate from mainstream theories of internationalisation and suggest new theoretical developments. Also the framework derived from this collective knowledge base can return to managers and be used for crafting international strategies.

1992—Diversity still remains —Views of European managers

Abstract Markets are surely changing in the 1990s and this is reflected in the views of senior executives. In the study discussed here, executives from companies in four different industries across seven of the EC countries were questioned about developments in their industries, including the possible impact of the Single European Market (1992), and the response of their companies in this situation. There is a definite patterning of their answers with regard to the dynamics of competition, and the implications for management development.

How successful companies manage diverse businesses

Abstract Diversity is the result of past diversification or merger. In the global competition and slow growth context of the 1980s, highly diversified companies have to manage diversity in order to benefit from it and to avoid its drawbacks. The benefits are compensation effects and cross-fertilization and the draw-backs are dispersion of resources and internal inconsistencies. To balance integration and differentiation is the key success factor in managing highly diversified companies. This article is based on a field study among 27 diversified companies, most of them very successful, to find out how they manage diversity.