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15 - Control configurations and strategic initiatives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Markus Kreutzer  and
Christoph Lechner
Edited by
Sim B. Sitkin ,
Laura B. Cardinal  and
Katinka M. Bijlsma-Frankema
Christoph Lechner
Affiliation:
University of St. Gallen
Sim B. Sitkin
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
Laura B. Cardinal
Affiliation:
University of Houston
Katinka M. Bijlsma-Frankema
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
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Summary

Strategic initiatives are central building blocks for both scholarly research as well as managerial practice (Birkinshaw,1997; Burgelman, 2002; Lovas and Ghoshal, 2000). They are defined as coordinated undertakings to develop or renew the capabilities associated with competitive advantage and above-average performance (Lechner and Floyd, 2007; Lechner et al., 2010). In contrast to minor projects, they have characteristics such as substantial investment needs, partial non-reversibility, internal complexity, substantial risk taking, and a significant (positive or negative) impact on organizational performance.

Research on strategic initiatives has been mainly conducted in the realm of corporate entrepreneurship and strategic renewal (Zahra, 1996). Previous studies on initiatives have focused on learning activities (McGrath, 2001), resource allocation procedures (Noda and Bower, 1996), or the interplay of autonomous versus induced initiatives in the ecology of corporations (e.g., Burgelman, 1991, 2002). Although some of these studies emphasized the importance of the organizational context, our knowledge about the impact of managerial control mechanisms on strategic initiatives remains limited.

In order to advance our understanding, we draw on multiple control perspectives (Eisenhardt, 1985; Ouchi, 1977; Ouchi and Maguire, 1975) and focus on six specific control mechanisms (e.g., Cardinal et al., Chapter 3; Long et al., 2002). Based on the distinction between degree of formality and target of control, these control mechanisms are called formal and informal input control, behavior control, and output control (Cardinal et al., 2004).

Type
Chapter
Information
Organizational Control , pp. 463 - 503
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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