1,720,985 research outputs found
Strategic Alliances: Managers’ Response Behaviour in Adverse Situations
Get PDFFirms and non-government organisations (NGOs) have a high failure rate (50-70%) to build alliances due to their different objectives. The NGO wants to contribute to society, and the firm wants to make money. This failure prompted this research on alliances between firms and NGOs in adverse situations. This research investigates managers response behaviour in adverse situations. These new insights can contribute to a lower failure rate.
Currently, little is known about managers’ response behaviour to these alliances in adverse situations. These adverse situations are negative events, which disrupt the alliance between the partners resulting in alliance instability.
Recent studies show that the behaviour of managers in adverse situations differ. The behaviour of managers in adverse situation can increase and decrease the success of the partnership. Some studies indicate that when the partner gives a helping hand, it enhances the success of the partnership. Conversely, other studies show that when the partner reacts negatively, the partnership ends.
The study measures the response behaviour of managers with seven different response strategies: exit, opportunism, aggressive voice, creative voice, considerate voice, patience, and neglect. The effect of investment and involvement on the response strategy is investigated. Most studies on these alliances used qualitative research. Therefore, this study uses a mixed- method approach to conduct this research. Managers of NGOs and firms are interviewed about their response behaviour in adverse situations. With a vignette study, students are asked about their response behaviour in adverse situations. The vignettes converge four different relational-based alliances: philanthropic alliances, transactional alliances, integrative alliances, and transnational alliances. These alliances differ from each other in their degree of investment and involvement.
The author compares the outcomes to answer the research question:
What is the response behaviour of managers in different relational-based alliances between firms and NGOs in an adverse situation
Density effects and the survival of (non-)family firms (over generations)
No full textBased on a combination of the density dependency model, embeddedness theory, socioemotional wealth (SEW) theory, and threshold theory, this study aims to combine environmental- and firm-level characteristics to compare the likelihood of firm exit between family firms and non-family firms in times of high density. In addition, following on from that comparison, this study checks whether generational succession within family firms causes the exit behavior of these firms to change. Using the Cox regression model to analyze the paper and pulp industry in the Zaanstreek between 1600 and 2000, this study reveals that the ability to cope with density effects does indeed differ between non-family firms and family firms, with family firms being less inclined to exit the industry during times of high population density. The further analysis between different generation family firms, yielded no significant results
Big Responsible Oil? A comparison between European and American oil majors in the topics of Corporate Social Responsibility communicated on Facebook using content Big Responsible Oil? A comparison between European and American oil majors in the topics of Corporate Social Responsibility communicated on Facebook using content
No full textThis research aimed to provide explorative insights on the influence of institutional context on the communication of CSR related information on social media. It is examined to what extent European and American oil companies differ in their CSR topics communicated on Facebook. A content analysis has been conducted of a random sample (N=580) of the Facebook posts of six major oil companies in the period of 2013-2018. Overall, it was found that the oil majors use a proportional amount of CSR communication in their overall Facebook communication (41%). Furthermore, CSR related posts communicated by oil companies on Facebook are found to be highly visual and one-way communication still dominates. Next, it was found that the American companies focus on the social aspect of CSR, whereas European companies tend to focus on the environmental aspect of CSR when communicating CSR on Facebook. This empirical research provides evidence that oil companies are adapting to their institutional context when communicating CSR information on social media. Although this research has some limitations, it has become clear that the CSR topics disclosed differ between European and American oil companies
The Radboud University and its identity A case study that sheds light on the question regarding which attributes have to be present when constructing a new identity for the Radboud University, according to its students
No full textOver the last decades, a lot of research has been done into the identity of an organization. Scholars from all kinds of fields have tried to explain, control, or exploit the concept of identity from different perspectives. Despite this attention, it is still proven to be hard to come up with a general set of features for measuring organizational identity. Especially within the field of desired organizational identity in specific, there is a clear lack of efficient methods that accurately map out the desired organizational identity through the eyes of its members.
This study makes a first attempt to study the desired organizational identity based on a mixed method approach. It does by first refreshing a relatively old identity theory, the personality profile, with the help of multiple expert interviews. Based on these findings, a survey was created and distributed among students at the Nijmegen School of Management. This survey enabled the researcher to efficiently measure the desired identity of an organization through the eyes of its members, and to answer the following research question: What should the desired organizational identity of the Radboud University look like based on the personality profile created by students
How do ‘big birds’ tweet about CSR? Exploring the corporate social responsibility communication characteristics and strategies of four large IT companies on Twitter
No full textThe introduction of the internet and different social media enabled people to find and share almost anything, almost anywhere, with almost anyone. The ever-increasing diffusion of internet (Internet World Stats, 2017a; Internet World Stats, 2017b) and these social media (Statista, 2017a; Statista, 2017b) around the world make them useful broad-based tools for companies, whether it is to disseminate information or engage in a conversation with various stakeholders. Within the context of these changes in communication, people have grown to have social and ethical expectations of companies (Moreno & Capriotti, 2009). With this being the case, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a popular topic. CSR deals with ‘the continuous commitment by businesses to make proactive efforts to improve the quality of life
of the community and society at large (both ecological and social)’ (Cho, Furey, & Mohr, 2017; World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 1999). To be successful and fulfill the expectations of stakeholders, communicating the CSR agenda and CSR efforts in the right way is key (Dawkins, 2005), bringing us to the importance of corporate CSR communication. Companies nowadays will have to engage in effective CSR communication to gain the trust and likes of the public, increasing image and reputation, ultimately ensuring corporate survival (Dawkins, 2005). In recent years, much has changed in the communication context, and social media bring both great potential as well as great challenges for corporate CSR communication. Previous studies have looked into CSR communication in social media (e.g. Capriotti, 2011; Colleoni, 2013; Etter, Plotkowiak, & Stanoevska-Slabeva, 2011), however, it is not clear how (large) companies use social media for CSR communication at this point in time.
This is why this study investigated the situation and portrayed to what extent large multinationals use Twitter for CSR communication. The results suggest that these large
multinationals perform well when it comes to CSR communication intensity, using interaction, and using sentiment in their CSR communication. However, the results show these large multinationals fall behind on the aspect of responsiveness in their CSR communication. These CSR communication characteristics make that the overall coordinated CSR communication strategy used is not ideal, and should be changed by companies improving their CSR communication responsiveness
"Analysing the game. Factors at play in municipality amalgamations."
No full textThis thesis was based on a research into six municipality amalgamations in order to gain insight into factors that are at play in the process of a municipality amalgamation. Municipality amalgamations have been happening for ages, but clear insights into the factors at play seems to be missing. The national government encourages municipality amalgamations. Since municipalities receive more and more tasks from the national government under the motto “Decentraal wat kan, centraal wat moet” (decentral when possible, central when necessary), smaller municipalities struggle to offer the services and have to deal with fragile organisations.
In this thesis literature from Merger & Acquisition research was combined with existing literature and research into municipality amalgamations. The process of an amalgamation was explained, motives for amalgamations were named and factors that research have shown are of importance in a merger have been identified. After this the method of this research was explained. The research was based on interviews with key players in the amalgamation processes and documents of the amalgamations, namely the amalgamation advice and the strategic vision. The analysis followed, after which the conclusion followed. In the conclusion five propositions were formulated in which lessons learned from the interviews and the literature were stated. Five factors have been found to be of importance during a municipality amalgamation, namely motives, partner selection, personal relationships between key players, external advisors, and foundation among stakeholders. The propositions are as follows:
Proposition 1. Having similar motives is not as important as sharing the same vision of the new municipality.
Proposition 2. Personal relationships of key players in an amalgamation are most important in amalgamations between equal partners (equal in issues).
Proposition 3. In amalgamations between municipalities with issues and municipalities without issues, promises made by the latter municipalities are key in the partner selection.
Recommendation 4. It is important to discuss what information is necessary for the amalgamation process before starting the amalgamation process.
Proposition 5. Hiring an external advisor is important in order to bring knowledge and experience in the amalgamation and to preserve the equivalency.
Proposition 6. Communication with citizens is more important in the smaller original municipalities in comparison to communication with citizens in the city municipalities.
Keywords: Municipality amalgamation – Mergers – factors
E-health business models Case of Radboud UMC: Mijn.ZorgvoorParkinson
No full textE-health technologies can make a major contribution to healthcare, but they often fail to meet expectations or there is some resistance to the use of e-health technologies in healthcare. This is partly because the stakeholders are often not sufficiently involved in the process, resulting in low acceptance for an e-health technology. The question to what extent the acceptance of stakeholders can be influenced to increase support for the adoption of an e-health technology, is answered in this research.
A case study about the care platform Mijn.ZorgvoorParkinson, a case of Radboudumc, was used to answer this question. Twelve different stakeholders from six different stakeholder groups were interviewed, namely nurses, speech therapists, occupational therapists, clients, dieticians, and physiotherapists. Based on the Social Acceptance Theory of Wüstenhagen, Wolsink, and Bürer (2007) and the combination of the Justice Theory and Fairness Theory of Ariño and Ring (2010), ‘social acceptance’ and ‘fairness derived from justice theories’ became the core concepts of this study.
This research provides a format that can be used to surface the stakeholder bottlenecks of an e-health technology that hinder a fair process and cause low stakeholder acceptance. By resolving the bottlenecks in advance as a manager, stakeholder acceptance will increase, which is a prerequisite of successful adoption of an e-health technology
Collaboration for a Circular Economy. Investigating the Relationship between the Quality of Collaboration in a Buyer-Supplier Relationship and the Degree of Circularity in the Business Model of the Supplier, in order to complement the Circular Business Model Canvas
No full textCollaboration for a Circular Economy
The transition towards a circular economy is a necessity which is recognized by many scholars and practitioners. The present literature already foresees in the knowledge and guidance on introducing circularity into business models. For instance, the circular business model canvas by Lewandowski (2016) describes all elements a circular business model should comprise. However, the present literature often neglects the potential of joint actions. This research addresses this gap. Based on a literature review and a comparative case study it is investigated how the quality of collaboration in a buyer-supplier relationship is related to the degree of circularity in the business model of the supplier. This study shows that all elements of the quality of collaboration (communication, coordination, mutual support, cohesion, and aligned efforts) are positively related to the degree of circularity in the business model of the supplier. Based on the insights of this study, the circular business model canvas is complemented, and an adjusted version of the framework is presented. A new element, called ‘customer collaboration’ is included in the adjusted version of the circular business model canvas. This additional element helps organizations to shape and manage the collaborative relationships with their buyers
The impact of environmental turbulence on the relationship between strategic planning and firm performance within Dutch SMEs
No full textTechnology is changing at an accelerating pace, leading to business model innovations and changing industry dynamics. These changing dynamics raise the need for further understanding of whether and how environmental turbulence impacts the way that SMEs should conduct strategic planning in order to increase financial performance. Therefore, the following research question has been proposed:
“What effect does environmental turbulence have on the relationship between strategic planning and financial performance within Dutch SMEs?”
First of all, quantitative data showed that strategic planning has a positive effect on the innovativeness and financial performance of Dutch SMEs.
Secondly, the data showed that certain aspects of environmental turbulence have a positive moderating effect on both the planning-performance and the planning-innovativenness relationship. Qualitative data also showed that strategic planning is more important in a turbulent environment as it helps SMEs to maintain direction and respond faster to changes in the market.
Thirdly, the qualitative research led to the recommendation to plan formally and involve key players in the decision making process, regardless of the degree of environmental turbulence. Furthermore, the interviewed experts pointed out that SMEs should develop a long-term planning on a strategic level as well as a short-term planning on an operational level
Air France KLM: Uniting or Dividing? A qualitative case study on the negotiation strategies within the Air France KLM group due to the systemic event COVID 1 9
No full textThis research contributes to the research gap on the underlying factors that could create alliance instability because of external systemic events. One factor that has been neglected as a potential underlying factor, is the negotiation strategy regarding resolving conflicts between alliance partners. In order to gain insight into the relation between external systemic events and negotiation strategies, a qualitative content analysis of 56 news articles is conducted on the negotiation strategies within the Air France-KLM group before the systemic event COVID-19 and during the systemic event COVID-19. Hereby, potential changes in the negotiation strategies due to the COVID-19 pandemic could be identified. It seems from the results that the parties before the COVID-19 pandemic continuously reacted to each other’s contending strategy actions by means of their own contending approach. During the COVID-19 pandemic both parties still primarily have a contending approach, however they do not react to the contending actions of each other. Hereby the process escalation stopped, whereby the stability of the group is increased
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