5-Year Project: 2009 Review

If I did not know I was a researcher focused on organizations, this year certainly would have cleared it up. Since the management department at my school is divided between organizational behavior and strategy, it is good to see evidence (in the form of a word cloud) of my preferences.

I originally chose strategy because I wanted to do something different than what I focused on at my last job (human resources). But going agains everything I knew was not easy. Ever since I started, I had some doubts about my chosen side of the house. With this year of review under my belt (not to mention two years of coursework), I am absolutely sure I chose right.

Words such as firm, organizational, and institutional all speak to the macro side of the house. So YAY me! I am right on track!

I looked at 264 different entries in the top five strategic management journals. Of those, I immediately liked 31 articles:

1. Bartel, C., & Garud, R. (2009). The role of narratives in sustaining organizational innovation. Organization Science. Retrieved from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1080.0372
2. Beck, T., & Plowman, D. (2009). Experiencing rare and unusual events richly: The role of middle managers in animating and guiding organizational interpretation. Organization Science. Retrieved from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1090.0451
3. Berrone, P., & Gomez-Mejia, L. (2009). Environmental performance and executive compensation: An integrated agency-institutional perspective. Academy of Management Journal. Retrieved from http://amj.aom.org/content/52/1/103.short
4. Christianson, M., & Farkas, M. (2009). Learning through rare events: Significant interruptions at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum. Organization  …. Retrieved from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1080.0389
5. Dokko, G., Wilk, S., & Rothbard, N. (2009). Unpacking prior experience: How career history affects job performance. Organization Science. Retrieved from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1080.0357
6. Fanelli, A., Misangyi, V., & Tosi, H. (2009). In charisma we trust: The effects of CEO charismatic visions on securities analysts. Organization Science. Retrieved from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1080.0407
7. He, J., & Wang, H. (2009). Innovative knowledge assets and economic performance: The asymmetric roles of incentives and monitoring. Academy of Management Journal. Retrieved from http://amj.aom.org/content/52/5/919.short
8. Heugens, P., & Lander, M. (2009). Structure! Agency!(and other quarrels): A meta-analysis of institutional theories of organization. Academy of Management Journal. Retrieved from http://amj.aom.org/content/52/1/61.short
9. Holcomb, T. (2009). Making the most of what you have: managerial ability as a source of resource value creation. Strategic Management  …. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.747/abstract
10. Huang, K., & Murray, F. (2009). Does patent strategy shape the long-run supply of public knowledge? Evidence from human genetics. Academy of Management Journal. Retrieved from http://amj.aom.org/content/52/6/1193.short
11. Kang, M., Mahoney, J., & Tan, D. (2009). Why firms make unilateral investments specific to other firms: The case of OEM suppliers. Strategic Management Journal. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.730/abstract
12. Kennedy, M., & Fiss, P. (2009). Institutionalization, framing, and diffusion: The logic of TQM adoption and implementation decisions among US hospitals. Academy of Management Journal. Retrieved from http://amj.aom.org/content/52/5/897.short
13. Lampel, J., Shamsie, J., & Shapira, Z. (2009). Experiencing the improbable: Rare events and organizational learning. Organization Science. Retrieved from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1090.0479
14. Lee, S., & Makhija, M. (2009). Flexibility in internationalization: is it valuable during an economic crisis? Strategic Management Journal. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.742/abstract
15. Lin, Z., Yang, H., & Arya, B. (2009). Alliance partners and firm performance: resource complementarity and status association. Strategic Management Journal. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.773/full
16. Madsen, P. (2009). These lives will not be lost in vain: Organizational learning from disaster in US coal mining. Organization Science. Retrieved from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1080.0396
17. Maguire, S., & Hardy, C. (2009). Discourse and deinstitutionalization: The decline of DDT. Academy of Management Journal. Retrieved from http://amj.aom.org/content/52/1/148.short
18. Marcel, J. (2009). Why top management team characteristics matter when employing a chief operating officer: A strategic contingency perspective. Strategic Management Journal. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.763/abstract
19. Miller, K., Fabian, F., & Lin, S. (2009). Strategies for online communities. Strategic Management Journal. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.735/abstract
20. Moldoveanu, M. (2009). Thinking strategically about thinking strategically: the computational structure and dynamics of managerial problem selection and formulation. Strategic Management Journal. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.757/full
21. Nonaka, I., & Krogh, G. Von. (2009). Perspective-tacit knowledge and knowledge conversion: Controversy and advancement in organizational knowledge creation theory. Organization Science. Retrieved from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1080.0412
22. Plambeck, N., & Weber, K. (2009). CEO ambivalence and responses to strategic issues. Organization Science. Retrieved from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1090.0471
23. Purdy, J. M., & Gray, B. (2009). Conflicting logics, mechanisms of diffusion, and multilevel dynamics in emerging institutional fields. Academy of Management Journal, 52(2), 355–380.
24. Reid, E., & Toffel, M. (2009). Responding to public and private politics: Corporate disclosure of climate change strategies. Strategic Management Journal. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.796/abstract
25. Rerup, C. (2009). Attentional triangulation: Learning from unexpected rare crises. Organization Science. Retrieved from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1090.0467
26. Reus, T., & Ranft, A. (2009). An interpretive systems view of knowledge investments. Academy of Management  …. Retrieved from http://amr.aom.org/content/34/3/382.short
27. Siggelkow, N., & Rivkin, J. (2009). Hiding the evidence of valid theories: how coupled search processes obscure performance differences among organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly. Retrieved from http://asq.sagepub.com/content/54/4/602.short
28. Starbuck, W. (2009). Perspective-cognitive reactions to rare events: perceptions, uncertainty, and learning. Organization Science. Retrieved from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1090.0440
29. Tsoukas, H. (2009). A dialogical approach to the creation of new knowledge in organizations. Organization Science. Retrieved from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1090.0435
30. Wiersema, M., & Bowen, H. (2009). The use of limited dependent variable techniques in strategy research: issues and methods. Strategic Management Journal. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.758/abstract
31. Zollo, M. (2009). Superstitious learning with rare strategic decisions: Theory and evidence from corporate acquisitions. Organization Science. Retrieved from http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.1090.0459

Most came from Organization Science. They had two issues in late 2009 which had most of the articles that caught my attention. The wordcloud reflects the most-used words for the 31 articles cited above.

Next week, my goal is to do 2010.

Productivity Tactic #2: Rescue Time

My computer is the source of all the things. It is both my place of work and entertainment. I connect with my family and friends and conduct meetings. I have all the papers that I am writing for my degree as well as a science fiction I have been working on. I learn by participating in Coursera classes and I play video games (Civ V, anyone?).

Given that all productive and downtime activities take place on the same screen, I have to be careful about how I spend my time. I discussed before the importance of staying away from my browser (thank you, Mailbox). Today I want to talk about RescueTime.

RescueTime tracks all the things you do on your computer. From the specific websites you access on your browser, to the programs you use such as Word or Mendeley. You can access your dashboard to see how you use your computer time. You can also classify certain activities from very productive to very distracting.

My goal is to have my productivity pulse above 80. This is not always possible, since there are meetings to schedule, emails to respond to, and world news to keep up with. In general, as long I spend most of my time in the Composition and Learning categories, I call it a good day.

Exploring the Top Management Literature

I spent today trying to create a brief overview of the Top Management literature - well beyond my review for comps. This is but a small step in my quest to identify an area to make a theoretical contribution.

BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW
In their 1984 paper, Hambrick and Mason (Hambrick & Mason, 1984) lay the foundations of top management research, or what they call Upper Echelons Theory. This theory explores how the strategies and effectiveness of firms are related to the characteristics of their top managers.

The basic argument states that complex decisions cannot be economically optimized, and behavior dominates. So, the more complex the decision the more the idiosyncrasies of decision makers matter. In their argument, they note that the composition of the entire top management team (TMT) matters, not just the CEO.  It makes sense to examine the team as a whole and to not just focus on the chief executive; in particular, heterogeneity in the TMT, and power differentials, can have a substantial effect on outcomes (Hambrick, 2007).

In addition, the importance of the CEO – and their character – depends on managerial discretion.  When an executive has more discretion, upper echelon characteristics will have a larger effect on outcomes. Higher demands on an executive will force them to rely more on their experience and instincts, which makes character matter more.

SOME AREAS TO EXPLORE
While this literature review is brief, there are some potential areas to explore further in order to determine where the gaps are. For instance:

• The literature discusses the CEO’s personal characteristics and demographics of Top Management Teams. Some of the literature has addressed the team as a whole.  
• Papers explored revolving characteristics: (Briscoe, Chin, & Hambrick, 2014; Chatterjee & Hambrick, 2007; Chin, Hambrick, & Treviño, 2013; Hayward & Hambrick, 1997; Wiersema & Bantel, 1992)
• Papers explored revolving the team: (Hambrick, Cho, & Chen, 1996; Knight, Pearce, & Smith, 1999; Smith, Smith, & Olian, 1994; Tihanyi & Ellstrand, 2000; Wiersema & Bantel, 1992)
• Managerial discretion is discussed as an important concept that explains the influence managers have. I am wondering what other concepts have been identified (beyond environment). 
• Papers explored discussing managerial discretion and the environment: (Carpenter, 2002; Collins & Clark, 2003; Crossland & Hambrick, 2011; Finkelstein & Hambrick, 1990; Haleblian & Finkelstein, 1993; Priem, 1990; Wiersema & Bantel, 1993)
• Strategic Change is very relevant and is discussed in some papers I read. I am curious to read what other types of change is discussed in the literature. In particular, I am curious to read if response to uncertain environments has been addressed.
• Papers explored: (Carpenter, 2002; Cho & Hambrick, 2006; Wiersema & Bantel, 1992)

NEXT STEPS – IDENTIFYING GAPS
This literature review builds on the content discussed in class, with a very high-level review a few other highly cited TMT papers in the top strategic management journals.
In order to move my understanding of the gaps in this literature forward, and thus my ability to make a theoretical contribution, I will continue to do a more targeted literature search with the following topics in mind:

• Personal characteristics and team composition.
• Next, I will further narrow my literature review search for knowledge of top management teams.
• The kind of knowledge and training the TMT can make a difference in how they interpret the environment, how they perceive problems, and create solutions.
• I hope to see if I can identify some gaps revolving the kind of knowledge of TMT.
• I also hope to learn about the kinds of roles in TMT.
• Managerial discretion.
• Next, I will continue to narrow my search to understand managerial discretion and the environment better.
• Change.
• Strategic change is purposeful. I wonder how the literature addresses change that is in response to a change that not planned or foreseen.

SOME RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Some very preliminary research questions revolving top management teams include:

• How and when do organizations create new TMT roles? Is this in response to a difficult environment? If so, does it make a difference in the outcomes of the firm? Or are these positions mostly ceremonial? Do they negatively impact the firm?
• Do TMT with less traditional roles perform better? For instance, some organizations have created positions such as Chief Integrations Officer, Chief Business Officer. 
• Some organizations have very specialized products. I wonder if having credentials in those specific areas makes a difference in the performance of the CEO or TMT.

These questions are contingent on a closer and more detailed examination of the literature.

CITES
Briscoe, F., Chin, M., & Hambrick, D. (2014). CEO Ideology as an Element of the Corporate Opportunity Structure for Social Activists. Academy of Management Journal.

Carpenter, M. (2002). The implications of strategy and social context for the relationship between top management team heterogeneity and firm performance. Strategic Management Journal. R

Chatterjee, A., & Hambrick, D. (2007). It’s all about me: Narcissistic chief executive officers and their effects on company strategy and performance. Administrative Science Quarterly.

Chin, M., Hambrick, D., & Treviño, L. (2013). Political Ideologies of CEOs The Influence of Executives’ Values on Corporate Social Responsibility. Administrative Science

Cho, T., & Hambrick, D. (2006). Attention as the mediator between top management team characteristics and strategic change: The case of airline deregulation. Organization Science.

Collins, C., & Clark, K. (2003). Strategic human resource practices, top management team social networks, and firm performance: The role of human resource practices in creating organizational. Academy of Management Journal.

Crossland, C., & Hambrick, D. (2011). Differences in managerial discretion across countries: how nation‐level institutions affect the degree to which ceos matter. Strategic Management Journal.

Finkelstein, S., & Hambrick, D. (1990). Top-management-team tenure and organizational outcomes: The moderating role of managerial discretion. Administrative Science Quarterly.

Haleblian, J., & Finkelstein, S. (1993). Top management team size, CEO dominance, and firm performance: The moderating roles of environmental turbulence and discretion. Academy of Management Journal.

Hambrick, D. (2007). Upper echelons theory: An update. Academy of Management Review.

Hambrick, D., Cho, T., & Chen, M. (1996). The influence of top management team heterogeneity on firms’ competitive moves. Administrative Science Quarterly.

Hambrick, D., & Mason, P. (1984). Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers. Academy of Management Review.

Hayward, M., & Hambrick, D. (1997). Explaining the premiums paid for large acquisitions: Evidence of CEO hubris. Administrative Science Quarterly.

Knight, D., Pearce, C., & Smith, K. (1999). Top management team diversity, group process, and strategic consensus. Strategic Management

Priem, R. (1990). Top management team group factors, consensus, and firm performance. Strategic Management Journal.

Smith, K., Smith, K., & Olian, J. (1994). Top management team demography and process: The role of social integration and communication. Administrative Science

Tihanyi, L., & Ellstrand, A. (2000). Composition of the top management team and firm international diversification.

Wiersema, M., & Bantel, K. (1992). Top management team demography and corporate strategic change. Academy of Management Journal.

Wiersema, M., & Bantel, K. (1993). Top management team turnover as an adaptation mechanism: The role of the environment. Strategic Management Journal.