This exploratory paper, developing a conceptual model of owner-manager characteristics and access to finance, aims to investigate whether the concept of strategic groups plays a role in the process of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accessing finance. Strategic groups are groups of...

Strategic group research originated in the 1970s and a number of notable studiescentered on the US pharmaceutical industry. Results were however, conflicting. Thisthesis explores the nature of strategic groups and the related concept of competitivegroups in the UK pharmaceutical industry during...

Purpose – Strategic management scholars seek to link strategic factors to performance. When specific causal links cannot be identified, however, other potential explanations should be considered, including the notion of luck. This paper aims to introduce a distinction between scholarly and...

Increased subordinate participation in management decisions has been a recognised trend in both private and public organisations in many western nations. Less is known about such practices in other parts of the world, however, especially in emerging countries. This study assesses similarities...

For 20 years John Allison served as CEO of Branch Banking & Trust Corporation (BB&T), the tenth largest bank in the United States. He retired as CEO at the end of 2008, but has remained with the firm as chairman of the board of directors. Allison attributes BB&T’s success to operating by a set...

This study considers the viability of the combination strategy with regard to the Porter and Miles & Snow generic strategy typologies. Within each framework, it is possible to pursue a “combination strategy,” whereby dimensions of two or more pure strategies are incorporated simultaneously....

This paper compares competitive strategy-performance relationships in Mexico, Peru, and the USA. 334 managers in the USA, 398 in Mexico, and 314 in Peru completed surveys. An innovative strategy orientation was positively associated with performance satisfaction in all 3 nations. The link...

Competitive strategy scholars seek to answer three important questions: (a) what constitutes an effective strategy and how is it crafted, (b) how are strategies implemented in an organization, and (c) how can a strategy’s effectiveness be evaluated? Three corresponding themes, namely, strategy...

Performance management is an increasingly perilous and challenging activity for many firms, and involves understanding the drivers of performance as well as its measurement. Academics tend to see performance in terms of rationality, whereas business leaders tend to interpret drivers of overall...