Corporate strategies represent the long-term direction for the organization. Issues addressed as part of corporate strategy include those concerning diversification, acquisition, divestment, strategic alliances, and formulation of new business ventures. SMG research in this domain includes both content and process issues:

1. Strategy processes and strategic risk management: Effective strategy processes are comprised by a mixture of central planning activities and autonomous response initiatives dispersed throughout the organization. This research effort tries to assess the risk-return effects of these integrative strategy models and thereby uncover their mechanics. By adopting risk management reasoning, the strategy process can be interpreted as a combination of long cycled forward looking risk considerations and short cycled experiential risk responses. It thus provides a promising new analytical approach. 

2. Strategic alliances. Strategic alliances constitute a fundamental strategic choice that is often associated with a tradeoff between risk and control of investments. Hence, a particular focus within this research stream focuses on how firms use various governance mechanisms to increase the functionality and returns of their alliance strategies.

3. Strategic decision-making. The alignment of strategic initiatives is a corporate-wide effort. Hence, considering strategy in terms of levels is a convenient way to distinguish among the various responsibilities involved in strategy formulation and implementation. Such levels may include lower to middle level management, as well as the particular roles of the top management team and board. By applying the upper echelons perspective to strategic decision-making, this research stream assesses how decisions are conditioned by bounded rationality of individuals, utilizing advanced, multilevel methodology.

 

SMG Participants in research stream

Professor Torben Andersen
Associate Professor Bo B. Nielsen
PhD Student Johanna Sax
PhD Student Stefan Linder

 

Recent Results/Representative Publications

Nielsen, B.B. & Nielsen, S. 2011.  The Role of Top Management Team International Orientation in Strategic Decision-Making: The Choice of Foreign Entry Mode , Journal of World Business, 46(2): 185-193.

Andersen T. J. & Schrøder, P.W. 2010.  Strategic Risk Management Practice: How to Deal Effectively with Major Corporate Exposures , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Nielsen, B.B & Nielsen, S. 2009.  Learning and Innovation in International Strategic Alliances: An Empirical Test of the Role of Trust and Tacitness , Journal of Management Studies, 46(6): 1031-1056.

Andersen TJ, Nielsen B.B. 2009.  Adaptive strategy-making: The effects of emergent and intended strategy modes , European Management Review, 6(1).

Andersen T.J, Denrell J, Bettis R.A. 2007.  Strategic responsiveness and Bowman’s risk-return paradox , Strategic Management Journal, 28, 2007.

Linder, S. 2011.  Micro-foundations of Strategic Entrepreneurship: Essays on Autonomous Strategic Action.  PhD Thesis. Department of Strategic Management and Globalization, CBS.