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STRATEGY AS CONFIGURATION: STRATEGY STRUCTURE, MICRO FOUNDATIONS OF CAPABILITY CONFIGURATIONS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON EXECUTION GAPS UNDER VOLATILITY

Omeike, Stanley Ikenedum-Dike
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0880-7437
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1492828151241198

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Management.
Effective strategy execution depends on the organization’s capacity to understand the dynamics around strategy execution and to shape its strategy. The body of knowledge around strategy formulation is well established, but there is less clarity as to how organizations are to implement strategy to close the execution gap between their intent and reality. Although literature suggests that most successful organizations adapt significantly their strategy during implementation and ultimately realize a different strategy, we find that understanding the role of dynamic strategy process, which connects the firm’s strategic intent with the observed velocity of change and competitiveness within the environment is crucial but less understood. This calls for firm level dynamic capabilities and ambidextrous strategy implementation. Yet most studies of dynamic strategy processes focus less on connecting the interactions between volatility and strategy with the theory of dynamic capabilities to explain how this dynamic is expressed in the implemented strategy. Research largely ignores three important considerations: 1) how volatility and related variations in strategy jointly influence the effectiveness at closing the gap between strategic intent and implementation. 2) the mechanisms through which these factors interact and 3) how such interactions are expressed in the implemented strategy in relation to dynamic capabilities. We pose three related research questions: 1) how does volatility influence the configurations (molar structure) of the implemented strategy? 2) how does volatility affect the strength of each strategy orientation (operational, core expanding, core transforming) in the implemented strategy (Strategy variation)? and 3) to what extent does the presence of each of the strategy orientations mediate the effects of volatility on reducing strategy execution gaps? We study these questions using a sample of 557 companies in the US and Nigeria operating in several industries. We approach organization’s strategy and capability as recursively organized and influenced by environmental volatility. We study specifically environmental factors that constitute the volatility construct and relationships between these environmental constructs and organizational responses as strategy compositions and the related capability configurations. We show that under volatility, variations in strategy and related configurations of capabilities can have a positive relationship with strategic impact and increase implementation effectiveness. The study surfaces variations in the strategy orientations and how they explain the extent to which the organization engages in each capability component. We further uncover patterns of strategic practices with a view to conceptualize how gap reduction happens and what mechanisms influence it. For example, we observe a direct positive effect between volatility and strategy orientations; increasing levels of volatility leads to increased levels of discontinuous change in strategy in that the presence of regenerative change (core leapfrogging strategy) becomes stronger. Surprisingly, we find limited support for a direct negative effect of volatility on the gap reduction. Overall, implemented strategy has a molar structure, which varies to the extent to which organizations engage in each orientation of strategy when volatility changes. This research has several implications: first, it introduces a concept strategy configurations and their variations during strategy implementation; second, it directs executive’s attention towards salient mechanisms that influence the interactions between volatility and strategy structure and how these interactions connect to dynamic capabilities to influence implementation success. Finally, the study invites students of strategy to new research avenues to explore impactful interactions within volatile strategy contexts.
Kalle Lyytinen, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Simon Peck, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Bernard Bailey, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Robin Gustafsson, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
261 p.
Business Administration; Entrepreneurship; Management; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior
Strategy, Strategy implementation, Strategy Execution, Dynamic Capabilities, Strategy Execution Gap, Capability Configuration, Volatility, Strategy Context, Capability Orders

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Omeike, S. I.-D. (2017). STRATEGY AS CONFIGURATION: STRATEGY STRUCTURE, MICRO FOUNDATIONS OF CAPABILITY CONFIGURATIONS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON EXECUTION GAPS UNDER VOLATILITY [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1492828151241198

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Omeike, Stanley. STRATEGY AS CONFIGURATION: STRATEGY STRUCTURE, MICRO FOUNDATIONS OF CAPABILITY CONFIGURATIONS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON EXECUTION GAPS UNDER VOLATILITY. 2017. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1492828151241198.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Omeike, Stanley. "STRATEGY AS CONFIGURATION: STRATEGY STRUCTURE, MICRO FOUNDATIONS OF CAPABILITY CONFIGURATIONS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON EXECUTION GAPS UNDER VOLATILITY." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1492828151241198

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1492828151241198
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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.