Session 200
Strategic Leadership, Learning, and Exploration
Track I |
Date: Monday, October 5, 2015 |
Time: 16:45 – 18:00 |
|
Paper |
Room: Governor's Square 17 |
Session Co-Chairs:
- Priscilla Sarai Kraft, University of Giessen
- Christian Stadler, University of Warwick
Abstract: While firms need to explore and exploit, literature is divided on whether the direct relationship between the two notions is a positive or a negative one. Top Management Teams play an important role here as they allocate resources. We study the role of family managers. Using longitudinal data from German firms we show that family managers foster the positive impact exploration has on exploitation and diminish the effects of exploitation on exploration. This is due to the family managers aversion to risk associated with exploration which might reduce future family influence.
Abstract: In this paper, I examine how heterogeneity in individual- and team-level tenure experience impacts the rate of learning-by-doing in a new practice implementation. I use data from a large retail chain which implemented a new restocking process in its stores to understand the extent to which differences in prior experiences of employees impact the ability to learn to execute the new process. Initial findings show that stores dramatically improve over time. However, there is large heterogeneity in performance across stores. Employee tenure and tenure diversity are both sources of improved performance as is supervisor experience. However, tenure and tenure diversity are not equally impactful across implementation weeks. Taken together, these findings suggest that basic variations in human capital impact firm learning and capability development.
Abstract: We investigate how boards of directors initiate and influence organizational shifts from exploitation to exploration. Based on a comparative case study of nine Swiss electric utility companies, we find that depending on whether a shift toward exploration is initiated by the management or the board, the board draws on different instruments which can be subsumed under either selection or variety creation. Furthermore, as soon as managerial exploration rises, the board is confronted with issues beyond its existing capabilities and needs to engage in learning. Given the lack of a hierarchically superior governance body within the firm, board learning is strongly dependent on the presence of board-internal higher-order learning capabilities. We discuss the implications of these findings for the literature on organizational learning and governance.
Abstract: Although a substantial body of research has emphasized the key role of strategic leadership for innovation, empirical studies have generated inconclusive results and the precise mechanisms through which strategic leadership influences innovation remain unclear. Drawing on upper echelon theory, this study examines the mediating role of organizational learning on the relationship between strategic leadership and innovation. Using meta-analytic techniques combined with structural equation modeling, this synthesis integrates results from 107 studies, covering over 15 years of research. The results from the partial mediation model confirm that strategic leadership fosters organizational learning which, in turn, promotes innovation. The findings further reveal that national culture significantly moderates the relationship between strategic leadership and innovation. These results provide important insights for the management of innovation in different cultures.
All Sessions in Track I...
- Sun: 08:00 – 09:15
- Session 276: K&I Sunday Panel: Big Data & Analytics in Strategy
- Sun: 09:45 – 11:00
- Session 277: K&I Foundations Session: A Conversation with Dan Levinthal
- Sun: 11:15 – 12:30
- Session 278: K&I Sunday Panel: Knowledge and Innovation in models of Business Models
- Sun: 16:15 – 17:30
- Session 104: Resource Allocation and Innovation
- Session 261: Knowledge Creation and Sharing in Virtual Communities
- Sun: 17:45 – 00:00
- Session 317: Knowledge and Innovation Business Meeting
- Mon: 08:00 – 09:15
- Session 62: Multi-level perspectives on capability development
- Session 105: Sourcing Strategies for Knowledge
- Session 256: Innovation and the Strategy-Performance Relationship
- Mon: 11:15 – 12:30
- Session 203: Post Acquisition Learning
- Session 204: Acquiring human capital: Process and outcomes
- Mon: 13:45 – 15:00
- Session 107: Evolving Industries, Evolving Products
- Session 205: Knowledge Recombination and Interdependencies
- Mon: 16:45 – 18:00
- Session 100: Innovation Management in Networks, Ecosystems, and Innovation Hubs
- Session 200: Strategic Leadership, Learning, and Exploration
- Tue: 08:00 – 09:15
- Session 136: Innovating and Learning in Collaborative Alliances
- Session 255: Processes for Innovation and Ideation
- Tue: 11:00 – 12:15
- Session 101: Strategic Patenting
- Session 137: Entrepreneurial Experience and Cognition: Implications for Venture Performance
- Tue: 14:15 – 15:30
- Session 198: Emerging Market Strategies
- Session 206: Knowledge Replication, Transfer and Absorption
- Tue: 15:45 – 17:00
- Session 17: Human Capital and Entrepreneurship
- Session 108: Open Innovation: Antecedents and Performance Effects
- Session 262: Pioneering Knowledge
- Tue: 17:30 – 18:45
- Session 60: Blurring the Boundaries of Strategy Work
- Session 202: Team Dynamics and Creativity
- Session 271: Spinouts