Jardine Matheson & Company is a Hong Kong multi‐industry conglomerate that has gone through political upheaval, global and regional economic crises, and has survived and transformed itself several times in the process. Firm learning and adaptability are audited across five breakpoints (1832,...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the relationship between three concepts: organisations, transformability and the dynamics of strategy. These three concepts together with their interrelationships are central in explaining the life cycle of organisations, their survival and...

Purpose – The paper advocates a Darwinian explanation of the process of firm transformation. Existing but generally opposing views related to the selection‐adaptation debates are united to consider the dialogic nature of both approaches. It is argued that a Darwinian approach, as opposed to...

Purpose – This paper serves to discuss the benefit of applying scenario‐planning techniques to more traditional approaches to strategy development in helping firms deal with uncertainty and evolutionary change in their surrounding environment. Assessing this environment provides insight into...

Purpose – To investigate what actually influences a merger and acquisitions (M&As) successful implementation. Despite the significant research interest in this topic our knowledge is still incomplete. Design/methodology/approach – Our approach differs from traditional research efforts in the...

Purpose – This paper reconsiders the criticisms of the most influential theory of the rise of the large corporations, and to see how these criticisms can be met without entirely abandoning the basic elements of the theory. Design/methodology/approach – This problem is approached by first...

Purpose – The present paper seeks to establish, through literature reports, if TQM is still a management theory in vogue or now a management fad. To achieve this, the innovative change process of TQM is examined, along the dimension of creativity, invention, innovation, diffusion and adoption....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the understanding that can be gained about employees' use of voice as a response to organisational change using qualitative research and, in particular, narrative analysis. Narrative analysis of voice can provide insight into why voice is used...

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to report on research to date concerning the creation of a hybrid model for managing performance and decision making with elements of an IBM supply chain. Design/methodology/approach – As part of a wider research programme this paper utilises survey,...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that too often decisions concerning change are made on the basis of partial understanding, limited data and unreflective assumptions about people and organizations. In the discussion of the Socratic dialogue the aim is to uncover a useful method...