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Corporate Initiative Programs - A Coordination Theory Perspective
Type
fundamental research project
Start Date
01 March 2013
End Date
28 February 2014
Status
completed
Keywords
Strategic Initiatives
Corporate Initiative Programs
Description
This research project centers on the phenomenon of corporate initiative programs (CIP). As temporary organizational structures, corporate initiative programs orchestrate multiple distinct, but interdependent, strategic initiatives that multi-unit firms utilize to transform their current operations and to develop new businesses. Building on a coordination theory perspective, this research projects aims at introducing the program level as a new level of analysis in research on strategic initiatives, and thereby making substantial theoretical and empirical contributions.
Research on strategy process and implementation has thus far focused on the initiative level. Recently, a few studies on acquisitions and alliances have begun to shift attention from individual strategic initiatives to the program level. As these studies largely focus on specific corporate topics, little is known about the bundling of multiple corporate initiatives meant to implement strategy. Research on corporate initiative programs is thus needed from an academic, as well as a managerial point of view. From a theoretical perspective, corporate initiative programs should be separate from the operating business, while simultaneously interacting and coordinating intensely to access corporate resources and overcome inertial forces and rigidities. Nevertheless, the coordination literature pays limited attention to the coordination of undertakings that are temporary in nature and characterized by multiple goals. From a managerial standpoint, corporate initiative programs should produce very distinct managerial challenges. These programs need to resolve conflicts among multiple corporate initiatives with different, potentially conflicting, goals and transform the existing operations to achieve a sustainable impact.
Research on strategy process and implementation has thus far focused on the initiative level. Recently, a few studies on acquisitions and alliances have begun to shift attention from individual strategic initiatives to the program level. As these studies largely focus on specific corporate topics, little is known about the bundling of multiple corporate initiatives meant to implement strategy. Research on corporate initiative programs is thus needed from an academic, as well as a managerial point of view. From a theoretical perspective, corporate initiative programs should be separate from the operating business, while simultaneously interacting and coordinating intensely to access corporate resources and overcome inertial forces and rigidities. Nevertheless, the coordination literature pays limited attention to the coordination of undertakings that are temporary in nature and characterized by multiple goals. From a managerial standpoint, corporate initiative programs should produce very distinct managerial challenges. These programs need to resolve conflicts among multiple corporate initiatives with different, potentially conflicting, goals and transform the existing operations to achieve a sustainable impact.
Member contributor(s)
Funder(s)
Topic(s)
Strategic Initiatives
Corporate Initiative Programs
Method(s)
Panel Data Analysis
Range
HSG Internal
Range (De)
HSG Intern
Division(s)
Eprints ID
218829
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PublicationStrategy Execution with Corporate Programs: Analysis of a Major Structural ChoiceDrawing on research on complexity and coordination, this study examines the incidence and effectiveness of corporate programs. We argue that strategic complexity, organizational complexity, and CEO limitations influence the decision to complement the existing line organization with corporate programs and its effects on performance. Based on a longitudinal analysis of corporate programs in the European financial service sector over a 10-year period, we find support that these three dimensions influence the presence of corporate programs. This analysis of corporate programs informs research on strategy execution and coordination in multi-unit firms.Type: conference paper