Strategic Ownership
Type
fundamental research project
Start Date
May 2021
End Date
May 2024
Acronym
Strategic Owners
Status
ongoing
Keywords
Firm value creation
corporate governance
ownership
firm strategy
Description
While we know a lot about how management contributes to firm strategy, our understanding about the role of ownership for strategy is more limited. Ownership is fundamental not only to firm governance, but also to firm strategy because ownership implies control and gives owners the right to decide how to deploy resources and consequently, grants owners the authority to pursue unique and idiosyncratic theories and pathways to value creation.
The proposed research program joins an emergent literature that focuses on the strategic, value-creating role of ownership and seeks to develop the concept that we term “strategic ownership”, which assigns a direct role to owners in shaping a firm’s strategic decisions and ultimately, value creation. Examples of strategic owners are owner-managers, founders, family owners, venture capitalists, activist investors, and business foundations.
Focusing on the strategic, value-creating role of owners represents an exciting opportunity for future research as it overcomes the prevailing assumption of owner homogeneity and the relegation of owners to an often passive control and incentive-setting role that dominates our understanding of strategic management and corporate governance today. Thus, the strategic ownership perspective seeks to develop a more nuanced understanding of how strategic owners influence firm strategy and value creation.
The planned research program takes a strategic perspective on ownership by focusing on how owner control rights are strategically deployed to address three questions that are instrumental towards establishing the strategic ownership perspective. Specifically, we plan to study
(1) owners’ competences in deploying control rights,
(2) heterogeneity among owners in exercising their control rights, and
(3) the transfer of control rights (strategic ownership successions).
The proposed research program joins an emergent literature that focuses on the strategic, value-creating role of ownership and seeks to develop the concept that we term “strategic ownership”, which assigns a direct role to owners in shaping a firm’s strategic decisions and ultimately, value creation. Examples of strategic owners are owner-managers, founders, family owners, venture capitalists, activist investors, and business foundations.
Focusing on the strategic, value-creating role of owners represents an exciting opportunity for future research as it overcomes the prevailing assumption of owner homogeneity and the relegation of owners to an often passive control and incentive-setting role that dominates our understanding of strategic management and corporate governance today. Thus, the strategic ownership perspective seeks to develop a more nuanced understanding of how strategic owners influence firm strategy and value creation.
The planned research program takes a strategic perspective on ownership by focusing on how owner control rights are strategically deployed to address three questions that are instrumental towards establishing the strategic ownership perspective. Specifically, we plan to study
(1) owners’ competences in deploying control rights,
(2) heterogeneity among owners in exercising their control rights, and
(3) the transfer of control rights (strategic ownership successions).
Leader contributor(s)
Member contributor(s)
Klein, Marie
Funder
Range
Institute/School
Range (De)
Institut/School
Principal
Schweizerischer Nationalfond (SNF)
Eprints ID
248127