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Felix Brunner
Former Member
Title
Dr.
Last Name
Brunner
First name
Felix
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1 - 10 of 13
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PublicationType: journal articleJournal: io managementVolume: 2012Issue: 06
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PublicationFacilitating Discontinuous Strategic Renewal : Routes of Organizational Design AdaptationThis paper uses a comparative case study approach to explain how multichannel firms adapt their organizational design to adequately respond to a disruptive change in the environment - the so-called research shopping phenomenon. Although there is significant research on how firms adapt their organizational design to facilitate innovations driven by incremental contingency misfits with the environment, there still is a relatively limited understanding of how firms adjust their organization design to foster innovations based on disruptive changes in the environment. Based on 69 interviews with 63 top and middle managers from eight multichannel retailers, we extend previous research on organizational design adaptation as well as multibusiness organization and propose a framework consisting of four ideal routes of organizational design adaptation multichannel retailers can adopt to structurally cope with the disruptive change in consumer behavior. We focus on a) changes in organization structure, b) cross-channel collaboration, and c) locus of decision-making of multichannel incumbents to derive these four distinctive routes of organizational design adaptation. Our results show how each route differs in its capacity to promote the adoption of the research-shopping phenomenon and illustrate the four identified routes with examples of German and Swiss multichannel retailers.Type: conference paper
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PublicationCross-Channel Management : How Top Managers Empower Middle Managers in Top-Driven Strategic RenewalThe 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.Type: conference paper
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PublicationRelational Empowerment in Practice : How Top Managers Empower Their Middle Managers in Top-Driven Strategic RenewalThis 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.Type: conference paper
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PublicationToward Cross-Channel Management : A Comprehensive Guide for Retail FirmsIn the age of cross-channel commerce, successful firms must identify, develop, and implement the right cross-channel services to attract and satisfy their target customers. This book aims to assist multi-channel players to increase their company's Performance and enhance their overall value proposition by showing how to select the appropriate cross-channel strategy and how to establish synergies between online and offline channels. . Outstanding holistic management approach . Only book on the topic that is suitable for both retailers and manufacturers around the world . Valuable insights for academics and practitionersType: book
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PublicationDatenerhebung und Beschreibung der Stichprobe(Forschungszentrum für Handelsmanagement, 2011)
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PublicationInternetnutzung(Forschungszentrum für Handelsmanagement, 2011)
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PublicationTowards Cross-Channel Management : Strategic, structural, and managerial challenges for multi-channel retail incumbentsTowards Cross-Channel Management: Strategic, structural, and managerial challenges for multi-channel retail incumbents by Felix Brunner New digital devices such as smartphones or tablets have enabled consumers to ubiquitously access the Internet and switch between online and offline channels when shopping. For multi-channel retailers, this considerable change in consumer behavior offers great potential as it may entail a long-awaited answer to the increasing pressure from fast-growing online pure players. However, multi-channel incumbents often hesitate to integrate their online and offline channels to cater to the new consumer behavior as they struggle with this firm-wide strategic change process. This dissertation offers insight into how firms can overcome said inertia and successfully manage the transformation process towards a cross-channel management approach. In doing so, the present contribution scrutinizes one of today's major challenges in retailing. The constituent four articles of this cumulative dissertation approach the shift from multi-channel management towards cross-channel management from a strategic (Article 1 & 2), a structural (Article 3) as well as a managerial (Article 4) perspective. The following research endeavor employs a multiple case-design and relies on an empirical basis of 78 semi-structured interviews with 71 top and middle managers from nine multi-channel retailers. Article 1 (chapter B) as well as article 2 (chapter C) introduce a typology of strategic channel modes and derive three different strategic development paths for multi-channel incumbents to transform their business model towards a cross-channel setup. Article 3 (chapter D) introduces a framework consisting of four routes of organizational design adaptation which multi-channel retailers can adopt to structurally cope with the fundamental change in consumer behavior. Article 4 (chapter E) identifies three distinctive practices that explain how top managers are able to empower their mid-levels to actively contribute to the firm-wide strategic change process. Furthermore, the practical implications section (chapter F) introduces two management tools to successfully manage the transformation process from multi-channel management towards cross-channel management. The conclusion section of this dissertation (chapter G) summarizes and discusses all findings first by illustrating the theoretical as well as the practical contribution and second by offering limitations as well as directions for further research for each article. Auf dem Weg in Richtung Cross-Channel Management: Strategische, strukturelle und führungsbezogene Herausforderungen für Multi-Channel Händler. von Felix Brunner Neue digitale Geräte (bspw. Smartphones, Tablets) ermöglichen es Konsumenten jederzeit und überall das Internet zu nutzen und fördern den Wechsel zwischen verschiedenen Online- und Offline-Kanälen während des Shoppings. Dieser Wandel im Konsumentenverhalten bietet Multi-Channel Händlern die herbeigesehnte Möglichkeit, sich gegen die schnellwachsenden Pure-Online Player zur Wehr zu setzen. Nichtsdestotrotz fällt es etablierten Multi-Channel Händlern oft schwer, ihre Online- und Offline Kanäle zu verknüpfen um der Veränderung des Konsumentenverhaltens Rechnung zu tragen, da dieses Vorhaben einen unternehmensweiten Wandelungsprozess bedingt. Das Dissertationsprojekt untersucht, wie Firmen den Transformationsprozess vom Multi-Chanel Management hin zum Cross-Channel Management erfolgreich bewältigen und somit eine der grössten Herausforderungen in der heutigen Handelslandschaft nachhaltig meistern können. Die vier Forschungsartikel dieser kumulierten Dissertation thematisieren den Wandel vom Multi-Channel Management hin zum Cross-Channel Management aus einer strategischen (Artikel 1 & 2), einer strukturellen (Artikel 3), und einer führungsbezogenen (Artikel 4) Perspektive. Sie basiert auf einem Multiple-Case Design, welchem Daten aus 78 semi-strukturierten Interviews mit 71 Top und Mittleren Managern von neun unterschiedlichen Multi-Channel Händlern zugrunde liegen. Aufsatz 1 (Kapitel B) sowie Aufsatz 2 (Kapitel C) illustrieren eine Typologie von unterschiedlichen Channel-Modi und leiten daraus drei unterschiedliche strategische Entwicklungspfade her. Jeder Pfad beschreibt eine Möglichkeit, wie etablierte Multi-Channel Händler ihr Geschäftsmodell in Richtung eines stärker koordinierten Cross-Channel Ansatzes transformieren können. Aufsatz 3 (Kapitel D) führt ein Rahmenmodell ein, welches in vier idealtypischen Ansätzen aufzeigt, wie Multi-Channel Händler ihre Organisationsstruktur anpassen können, um dem disruptiven Wandel im Konsumentenverhalten zu begegnen. Aufsatz 4 (Kapitel E) identifiziert drei spezifische Managementpraktiken, die erklären, wie Top Manager das mittlere Management zur aktiven Teilnahme im Rahmen des strategischen Wandelungsprozesses hin zum Cross-Channel Management bewegen können. Im Weiteren stellt der Abschnitt der Praxisimplikationen (Kapitel F) zwei Management-Werkzeuge zur Bewältigung des Transformationsprozesses von Multi-Channel Management hin zum Cross-Channel Management vor. Der Schlussabschnitt dieser Dissertation (Kapitel G) fasst die Kerninhalte der Artikel zusammen und geht auf den wissenschaftlichen und praktischen Beitrag, die Grenzen der jeweiligen Untersuchungen ein. Ausserdem werden ausgehend von dieser Dissertation Ansatzpunkte für die zukünftige Forschung diskutiert.
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PublicationType: newspaper articleJournal: KMU-MagazinVolume: 14Issue: 2
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PublicationType: presentation