Susanne Royer

Promoting Family: A Contingency Model of Family Business Succession

Succession is a challenge to family businesses for a number of reasons, including the need to address the issue of intergenerational handover. This article focuses on one aspect of succession in family business by investigating when family members are preferred as successors. Results from 860 family businesses indicate that specific (tacit) knowledge characteristics combined with a favorable transaction atmosphere, in certain contexts, make a family member the most suitable successor. A conceptual model is presented that outlines when inside-family succession is preferred.

Value Creation Architectures and Competitive Advantage: Lessons from the European Automobile Industry

In many industries, disintegration processes have drastically changed the overall industry structure as well as the organization of value creation processes and actors. Highly integrated production and distribution systems have been replaced by devolved organization architectures. This article introduces the concept of value creation architectures, a term that describes the structure and relationships of all the valueadding activities that are carried out by various actors and companies to bring a particular product or service to market. Analyses of business firms tend to overlook the relationship between competitive advantage and the architecture of value creation. This article investigates how different architectures of value creation affect the competitiveness of individual firms. The new concept is illustrated by an in-depth case study of the European automobile industry.

Knowledge transfer in family business successions Implications of knowledge types and transaction atmospheres

Purpose – Knowledge often is the fundament for strategic competitive advantage. Thus, it is highly relevant to understand better how knowledge is transferred from one generation to the next in family businesses. The purpose of this paper is to link the competitive advantage realisation in family businesses to the success of transferring strategically valuable knowledge in different business environments to the next generation. Design/methodology/approach – Building on the contingency model of family business succession (Royer et al., 2008) knowledge transfer in family businesses from different cultures is investigated in this paper. From a resource-oriented and transaction cost inspired perspective two family businesses with a similar industry background from China and Europe are compared regarding knowledge transfer in the context of family firm succession taking into account the respective transaction atmosphere. Findings – Different successions for two long-lived family firms are illustrated in a syste...

Intra-system competition and innovation in the international videogame industry

Summary This paper analyses the international videogame industry, focusing on the efficiency and effectiveness of different forms of value chain organization chosen by video console manufacturers. Customer signalling necessities and innovation requirements of the product’s system architecture are investigated in this context. To undertake this analysis, the historical development of the international videogame industry, the competitors in this industry as well as competitive forces within it are first described and evaluated. Indirect network effects characterize competition in the videogame industry. Game developers, publishers and console manufacturers invest in system-specific assets of the product. From a transaction cost perspective it is efficient to minimise the resulting coordination and hold-up problems within a vertically integrated value chain organization. However, from a strategic perspective selecting an inefficient value chain organization can be advantageous, because in certain markets coordination disadvantages are smaller than the strategic competitive advantages achieved. Competition inside a product system can increase innovation activities inside the system and thus increase the attractiveness of the whole system by leading to better components and thus competitive advantage over other product systems.

The suitability of internal versus external successors: relevant knowledge types in family business succession

Understanding knowledge transfer in family firm succession is important for the survival of family firms. Previous research has begun to explore the suitability of internal versus external successor in family firms with regard to relevant knowledge types. This paper builds on the contingency model of family business succession in order to understand when family successors are preferred because of their family-specific experiential knowledge. A case study analysis from the German-Danish border region explores how a family firm has used internal successors for the last 12 successions. We argue that in industries where tacit knowledge forms the basis for competitive advantage, the use of internal successors can help family firms excel after a transition of power has occurred. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed to enhance the long-term perspective for family businesses.

Independent entrepreneurs as an obsolete model? - considerations for the European automotive repair and service markets

Even though the European automotive repair and service markets today are still characterised by many independent small repairers, various indicators can be identified that challenge this classical entrepreneurial model. Globalisation and new technological developments already led to a consolidation in these markets. The objective of this paper is to describe the developments in these markets in more detail and to identify generic organisational models. The systematisation into three generic models, that is, the entrepreneurial, the partnership and the integrated model builds the basis for analysing the competitive potential of the different forms of value net organisation. The reasoning is building on a resource-oriented thinking framework and additional thoughts from transaction cost economics. The underlying data for the analysis are obtained from a qualitative study conducted by the International Car Distribution Programme (ICDP) containing 200 interviews with independent repairers and further expert interviews with franchisers, parts distributors, original equipment suppliers and fleet customers.

Wertschöpfungsorganisation und Differenzierungsdilemma in der Automobilindustrie

ZusammenfassungWie viele andere Branchen befindet sich auch die Automobilbranche in einem voranschreitenden Modularisierungsprozess. Das betrifft sowohl die Produktion als auch die Distribution. Standardisierung und Modularisierung der Wertschöpfungsaktivitäten und -prozesse führen jedoch zu einem betriebswirtschaftlichen Zielkonflikt: die Erzielung von Effizienzvorteilen einerseits und Differenzierungsmöglichkeiten andererseits. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird am Beispiel der Automobilindustrie dargestellt, wie Unternehmen dem Differenzierungsdilemma entgehen können. Dazu werden markenspezifische Wertschöpfungsorganisationen im Rahmen von Integrationsmessungen systematisiert und verglichen. Anhand der Merkmale unterschiedlicher Organisationsformate wird der Zusammenhang zwischen Wertschöpfungsorganisation und Differenzierungspotential diskutiert. Es zeigt sich, dass diejenigen Hersteller, die sowohl in der Produktion als auch in der Distribution eine hohe Wertschöpfungskontrolle und eine hohe Bindungsintensität der strategisch bedeutenden Lieferanten beziehungsweise Händler aufweisen, Wettbewerbsvorteile gegenüber ihren Konkurrenten erzielen und ein strategisch relevantes Differenzierungspotential erreichen.AbstractThe automotive industry is under a strong reconstruction. Modular and disintegrated systems in production as well as in distribution are emerging to obtain scale effects and to increase efficiency. When analysing the value creation architectures around a product in a holistic way it becomes obvious that standardisation and modularisation lead to a trade-off between efficiency and differentiation. In other words: efficiency versus effectiveness. We analyse for the automotive industry how to find a way out of this differentiation dilemma. Therefore different degrees of integration in production and distribution of automobile manufacturers are systematised and contrasted. Our results suggest that car manufacturers who keep the control over the processes in production and distribution obtain competitive advantages compared to competitors with highly disintegrated systems. Value creation architectures who can escape from the differentiation dilemma have strong bonds to strategic important suppliers and dealers even if the relationships are often based on informal cooperative links. Resourceful and loyal external actors deliver strategic important values while central core competencies and capabilities are concentrated to increase efficiency and effectiveness of resources. Reduction of complexity and transparency within the system seem to be other core aspects for competitive advantage realisation.

Resources and Competitive Advantage in Clusters

This book series on research in international human resource management and strategy is designed to stimulate discussions on current developments in these disciplines. The scope of this series reflects the importance of the fields of strategy and human resource management in the international environment of a globalised world. Both fields have the potential to contribute essentially to the description and explanation of competitive advantage realisation, performance issues and to achieving other corporate goals and objectives. Therefore, these areas need attention in research as well as in practice. This series will focus on the latest research results in this field. This volume consists of a series of research articles divided into two sections. Part 1 examines the policy dimensions of clusters across Europe, Australia and the Middle East. Part 2 examines the strategy and management dimension of clusters. This book expands upon and develops the research around cluster development in a number of ways. First, the countries included in the research cover different regions in the world. Second, we have included several conceptual papers that provide interesting theoretical insights into the role of resources, cluster-specific knowledge and social exchange in clusters. Third, we have included several policy papers around the development of cluster policies and the operation of clusters. Fourth, we have included case studies that examine clusters in different national, industry and policy contexts. There are areas of cross over and complementarities in the research presented; as such the book provides an interlinked reflection of the scope and focus of contemporary research on clusters.

Exploiting Locational Resources in a World of Global Value Chains: Strategic Considerations for Clustered Firms and Cluster Managers

The focus of this research is locational resources in overlapping value-adding webs of firms who at the same time may be embedded in global value chains. Through global value chains, regions are both vulnerable to exclusion and hence job loss. However, they also have opportunities to develop value-adding and job generation activities that are integrated into global value chains. The purpose of this chapter is to bring together a strategic firm perspective with cluster management activities. The rationale behind our conceptualisation of locational resources is to enable cluster managers to reduce the complexity of analysing location factors. This gives them criteria to assess the value of resources for cluster firms and shows avenues for sustaining and upgrading them, and placing them within the opportunities offered beyond the region. To achieve this, we bring together the findings of cluster research from a resource-oriented perspective. We contribute to a better understanding of how firms can exploit the resources that they have access to locally and suggest how cluster managers can shape these locational resources.

Strategic Competitive Advantages and Value Net Organisation: Conceptual Considerations and Organisational Recommendations for Two- or Multi-sided Service Markets

This paper wants to explain the relationship between forms of value net organization and competitive advantage realization in two- and multi-sided service markets. Based on these considerations organizational recommendations are developed. Therefore, the economic specificities of services in two- and multi-sided service markets are described and analysed. The core of the paper is a contingency analysis with regard to the impact of horizontal, vertical, and lateral forms of value net organization on the competitiveness of service platforms in two- and multi-sided service markets.