Torsten Schmid

Ecosystems are an increasingly important phenomenon, but we know surprisingly little about the processes and practices underlying ecosystem emergence. This paper aims to provide further insights about how incumbents proactively engage in the creation of ecosystems, by studying in-depth and in real time the transformation of an automotive supplier from a hierarchically organized value chain to an ecosystem. We draw on institutional theory to conceptualize ecosystem emergence as a form of radical institutional change that requires the development of a new institutional logic. Our emerging findings indicate that ecosystem emergence is influenced by (i) multiple nested organizational fields, (ii) sector-wide change templates which create isomorphic pressures across different fields, (iii) an unowned change process whose evolution can be shaped with participative and collaborative strategizing.

This symposium focuses on the role of inter-organizational power in strategy formation. Power relations between organizations have been foundational themes in strategy (Child, 1972; MacMillan, 1978; Mintzberg, 1983; Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978; Porter, 1980). Scholars and strategy practitioners alike have sought to understand how to position a company so as to gain and defend market power (Porter, 1980), how to prevail in disruptive innovation and change (Tushman & Anderson, 1986), how to deal with important resource-holders (e.g. Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978) and stakeholders (Freeman, 1984), how to influence or shape regulation and legislation (Keim & Zeithaml, 1986), how to settle inter-organizational conflicts (Helms, Oliver, & Webb, 2012), and how and when to compete or to collaborate with competitors (Ingram & Yue, 2008). In these and other situations, perspectives on inter-organizational politics and power - also referred to as "macro power" (Mintzberg et al., 2005) - are decisive for understanding and explaining organizational and inter-organizational outcomes. The purpose of the symposium therefore is to present and to critically evaluate some of the major theoretical perspectives on inter-organizational power as applied to strategy and management.

The fast adoption of new digital technologies (e.g. smartphones, tablets) enables consumers to ubiquitously access the Internet and switch between online and offline channels when shopping (Neslin & Shankar, 2009). In order to keep up with this development, multichannel incumbents need to better integrate their store business with their online business. For most retailers, this transition from multichannel management to cross-channel management entails a strategic renewal process, which is usually initiated from the top. However, the success of such a transformation process heavily depends on an effec-tive interplay between Top Management (TM) and Middle Management (MM) (Floyd & Lane, 2000). Therefore, we look at how TMs empower (disempower) MMs strategizing in the context of top-driven strategic renewal. We approach this research question with a comparative case design (Eisenhardt, 1989). Our case studies are informed by 73 interviews with TMs and MMs from six major Euro-pean multichannel retail firms. This paper combines two so far rather separate streams of literature - Empowering Leadership (e.g. Spreitzer, 2008) and MM Involvement in Strategy Process (e.g. Wooldridge, Schmid & Floyd, 2008). As a result, we map out TMs day-to-day leadership practices aimed at empowering their MMs for strategic contributions during the organizational transformation towards cross-channel management. We also offer a novel theoretical perspective on strategic leadership and in particular on MMs organizational strategizing in the context of strategic re-newal.

This paper uses a comparative case study of six multichannel retailers' adoption of new cross-channel solutions to explore how top managers empower their middle managers in top-down strategic renewal. Although there is significant research on how top managers maintain control over emergent strategy, we still have a relatively limited understanding of how top-managers empower their mid-levels in deliberate strategic change. Our study produces two empirical findings that somewhat contrast recent research: (i) While current studies recognize the limits to top managers' direct presence at middle levels in dynamic change settings and argue for an active role of middle managers, we find that top managers in firms with relative success in top-driven renewal personally engage with middle managers on a frequent basis, direct and evaluate their change activities through guiding mechanisms, and ensure accessibility to provide feedback to mid-levels. (ii) While prior research shows that middle management empowerment can result from top managers' symbolic invitation to play a broader strategic role, top managers in our successful cases revived hierarchies to maintain an active leadership function in the face of major change which, in turn, became a resource for middle management during deliberate strategic change. In contrast, in less successful cases, top managers refrained from playing an active leadership function, thereby refuting hierarchical relationships. Most fundamentally, we complement the recent focus on symbolic power as a critical means for empowering mid-levels in top-down change by showing how building relational power in the form of functioning hierarchies may be another effective way of fostering middle managers' contributions in deliberate strategic change.