Handling change : An explorative study of strategic flexibility

• Previous research on strategic flexibility offered a rather simplistic view of how firms act in regards to changes without emphasising the interaction between the natures of changes in the business environment, the actions of the firm, and the organisational factors that frame the actions. The purpose of this article is thus to provide a framework that explicates how firms handle changes in their environment, emphasising influences from the context of the situation. The article employs explorative case research and abductive reasoning. Ten situations requiring flexible actions in five large market-leading northern European firms are explored. The findings and the analysis highlight the interaction of these three elements, delineate changes as positive and negative and show how actions of firms are context-dependent. A framework showing these findings and emphasising how firms gather and process context-specific information and knowledge about the changes is presented as the main contribution of the article. The implications of the findings are presented in the discussion, followed by future research suggestions and practical implications.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

strategic flexibility

strategic change

strategic options

change management

företagsekonomi

Business Administration

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)