Timothy Kiessling

The human resource management issues during an acquisition: the target firm's top management team and key managers

When a company is acquired, the amount of money paid for the company is normally some multiple of earnings. The assumption is that the purchase price is higher than the tangible assets of the company. Therefore, the acquirer believes that there is value in the company beyond the balance sheet of the company. Frequently, some percentage of the ‘premium’ paid by the acquiring company is for the top management team and/or key managers. This paper examines the role of the top management team and their retention on the post acquisition performance of the company.

The importance of boundary-spanners in global supply chains and logistics management in the 21st century

Abstract The important and required evolution of the logistics boundary-spanner due to changes in the marketplace (i.e., automation and a hypercompetitive global marketplace forging strategic alliances and lean logistical value chains) has often been overlooked by many firms and consequently, these firms have lost a competitive venue. A Market Orientation approach is used in discussing the importance of strategic alliances and the maintenance of these relationships along the supply chain. The paper explores the need for firms to recognize that logistic boundary-spanners must be relationship-focused to acquire market/firm-specific knowledge from the strategic alliance partners; a far cry from the traditional role. IOIS/Internet migration in relation to lean logistics and boundary-spanners is analyzed.

Development of multiple IQ maps for use in the selection of inpatriate managers: a practical theory

The rate of expansion into the global marketplace by multinational corporations has begun to accelerate at a pace where international human resource managers are unable to meet the demand for managers to serve in global assignments. This shortage of qualified managers is exacerbated by a number of societal trends, such as, dual-career professional couples, increased number of high qualified female executives who have not been used extensively in international assignments in the past, and the changing format and sequencing of the overseas assignments beyond the traditional single 3–5 year assignment term. The complexity of global management tasks is increasing requiring multi-talented managers capable of acting as knowledge-integrating boundary-spanners in global network organizations. Inpatriate managers (i.e., host-/third-country nationals relocated to the home organization on a semi-permanent to permanent basis) have been identified as a potential pool of global managers to complement the supply of expatriates for emerging markets. This paper develops a means for selectinginpatriate manag ers based on a multiple IQ approach that attempts to match the inpatriate managers’ portfolio of abilities with the type of assignments that they might have in global organizations. r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aligning strategic orientation with local market conditions: Implications for subsidiary knowledge management

Purpose – One role of a foreign subsidiary within a multinational corporations (MNCs) global portfolio is to connect the MNC to foreign customers. To examine this key customer contact point, this study aims to examine the linkages between local market conditions and strategic orientation, and how strategic orientation influences knowledge management capabilities of MNC subsidiaries, employing the Miles and Snow strategic orientation perspective.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted of 112 managers in foreign MNC subsidiaries in Croatia. Data were analyzed with both discriminant analysis and MANCOVA.Findings – The results indicate that in highly dynamic and competitively intense markets, MNC subsidiaries primarily employ a Prospector orientation. Furthermore, the results indicate that there is a significant difference in knowledge management capabilities among subsidiaries depending on their strategic orientation, with the Prospector orientation most closely aligned with knowledge acquisit...

Staffing marketing positions during global hyper-competitiveness: A market-based perspective

As organizations globalize their operations, there appears to be an imperceptible shift in focus from internal tangible resources to those of external intangible relational resources; in other words, economies of scale appear to being replaced by economies of global scope. The strategic implications of this swing in the importance of resource bases can also have a significant impact on the international human resource management area. Identifying managers with local market knowledge and contacts becomes a critical consideration in the selection process. Maintaining on-going personal relations in foreign markets also helps to cement inter-organizational relationships such as strategic alliances. In the ‘think global, act local’ relational networks of global business, inpatriate managers appear to have the necessary characteristics of both organizational trust and local tacit knowledge to be effective global managers.

Supply chain management as the key to a firm’s strategy in the global marketplace: Trends and research agenda

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the intersection of two literature streams: that of strategy and supply chain management (SCM). This review should create a better understanding of “strategic SCM” by focussing on relevant theories in the strategic management field and their intersection with SCM to develop a joint research agenda. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted a correspondence analysis on the content of 3,402 articles from the top SCM journals. This analysis provides a map of the intellectual structure of content in this field to date. The key trends and changes were identified in strategic SCM research from 1990-2014 as well as the intersection with the key schools of strategic management. Findings – The results suggest that SCM is key to a successful deployment of strategy for competing in the global marketplace. The main theoretical foundations for research in this field were identified and discussed. Gaps were detected and combinations of theoretical foundations ...

Global social time perspectives in marketing: A strategic reference point theory application

Purpose – The ultimate purpose of this paper it to encourage international business scholars and managers to pay more attention to global social time when performing research and developing business strategy.Design/methodology/approach – Strategic reference point (SRP) theory is used as a foundation to assist in visualizing the meaning of social time in a global context. From this grounding point, the authors make specific suggestions about the importance of the topic despite it being largely overlooked in international research dating back to Hofstede.Findings – Time utility takes on a significantly different meaning when both a marketing managers context and market are global. The conceptualization of time by different cultures can yield significantly different meanings based upon a cultures SRP(s) as to how social time is measured. Cultural differences necessitate having this flexible orientation towards social time to effectively develop and implement global marketing strategies. This research addre...

A view of entrepreneurship and innovation from the economist “for all seasons”: Joseph S. Schumpeter

Purpose – The paper seeks to examine the influence of the Austrian School of Economics and its views of innovations and entrepreneurship on one of their champions, Joseph Schumpeter. Schumpeters insights on innovation and entrepreneurship issues are discussed and compared to previous literature.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is conceptual in nature, highlighting that the key process in economic change is the introduction of innovations; the central innovator is that of the entrepreneur.Findings – Insights gained from Schumpeter include the following: in the context of increasing global competition, the importance of innovations by entrepreneurs is becoming more important. The challenge though is for firms to find and make use of these individual for their survival. Another link is the distrust of the government and the ability of the free market to function, though imperfectly, without interference.Originality/value – The paper suggests that innovation and entrepreneurship are the essence of the...

Global Organizational Control: A New Role by Inpatriates

As organizations have expanded globally, control mechanisms utilized in the past may need to be supplemented with a new type of personnel, that of the inpatriate. Expatriates were the most widely used staffing for corporate control, but due to various issues, a complementary set of employees to facilitate corporate goals could be utilized. Inpatriation, as a practical and conceptual means to augment expatriation, is discussed, compared with, and contrasted to, expatriation. This research explores the use of inpatriates in facilitating global control.

The evolving role of supply chain managers in global channels of distribution and logistics systems

Purpose – Supply chains have become a strategic strength to many firms due to the nature of the globalization of business. The past roles of supply chain managers have changed dramatically and now also include various new duties that will enhance firm competitiveness due to their boundary spanning nature and the new focus of learning organizations. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This was a theoretically developed paper exploring trust, learning organizations, and supply chains. Findings – Researchers are now focussing on the relationship among the supply chain network through the paradigm of relational marketing as the governance structures of contractual arrangements globally cannot be anticipated. Originality/value – The research through the lens of relational marketing explores how supply chain managers’ core duties are now compounded by global/cultural nuances in respect to implicit knowledge acquisition and relationship development through strong-form trust.