FEATURE
PAPER
Conflict, Participative Decision Making, and Generational
Ownership Dispersion: A Multilevel Analysis
The
following paper was presented at the 2007 USASBE/SBI Conference.
It was written by Kimberly A. Eddleston of
Northeastern University, Robert Otondo and Franz W. Kellermanns
both of Mississippi State University.
Abstract
This study examines how participative decision making and generational ownership dispersion
affect conflict in family firms. Participative decision making was found to be associated with
cognitive and relationship conflict. Furthermore, the relationship between participative decision
making and conflict as individual-level variables was moderated by generational ownership
dispersion as firm-level variables. When ownership was dispersed through multiple generations,
participative decision making was found to be positively related to cognitive and relationship
conflict, but in one- and two-generational ownership firms those same relationships were found
to be negative.
Executive Summary
Recent research has discussed
how family firms need to encourage beneficial conflict that increases
options and improves the quality of decisions while preventing dysfunctional
conflict
that hurts relationships (Kellermanns & Eddleston, 2004). Our study examined
both types of conflict and how they are affected by participative decision making.
Results from our study show
that participative decision making is related to beneficial and dysfunctional
conflict, but the relationships are complex and contradictory. The study showed
that in one- and two-generational
firms, increasing participative decision making decreases both types of conflict,
the detrimental as well as the beneficial. These effects were reversed in multigenerational
firms: increasing
participative decision making increases beneficial but also detrimental conflict.
Our study helps explain why managing conflict is difficult in family firms, and
assists family firm owners and
managers in anticipating and preparing for beneficial as well as detrimental
outcomes from their
decision making and conflict management activities.
Read
the Entire Paper...
TIP
OF THE WEEK
The New Path to Sustainable Competitive Advantage
How are today's firms reacting to this challenge? The response has been dramatic. A veritable cornucopia of new strategic initiatives have preoccupied executives' time over the past decade. These include rightsizing, unbundling, focusing on core businesses while divesting others, business process reengineering, total quality management, flattening structures and decentralizing decision-making, outsourcing, creating self-directed work teams, forming strategic alliances, and more. Meanwhile, major companies have found themselves eliminating millions of jobs, closing plants, moving operations to low-cost countries, and attempting to become "lean and mean." Yet they continue to struggle.
There are important lessons to be learned from this. First of all, turbulence in the external environment is causing a fundamental transformation in the internal operations of companies. Or, more simply put, external change forces internal change. Second, there are no simple formulas for success in the new competitive environment. While it is clear that traditional models of bureaucracy, hierarchical management systems, and companies operating with a command and control philosophy do not work in the contemporary environment; it is less clear what does work. It is all about experimentation, as management looks for the right structure, approach to control, leadership style, and way to reward employees. Third, there is an important upside to external environments as they become more complex, dynamic and hostile. Turbulence also means opportunity. That is, changes in markets, technologies, regulation, and other areas close some doors while opening others. Market fragmentation also means new market segments are appearing, new technologies create new company capabilities, a regulatory change results in some sort of new need, and so on. While some companies focus only on defending themselves against threats, others understand that there is a new opportunity to be found behind every threat.
But what is the ultimate "bottom line"? That is, what is the real quest as managers sort through the various theories, concepts, and new techniques and tools? The answer is and always will be sustainable competitive advantage. But the rules have changed here as well. Traditionally, competitive advantage was achieved by having lower costs than the competition, achieving higher quality or product performance, adding a new product feature, or delivering better customer service. Unfortunately, this game of "one-upmanship" can no longer produce sustainable advantage. Whatever one firm does in these areas is quickly matched by other firms. Moreover, to be successful in any industry today, firms must continually reduce costs, improve quality, enhance customer service, and so forth. Such continuous improvement is a minimal criterion for remaining in the competitive game.
Remaining competitive is very different from achieving sustainable competitive advantage. The quest for competitive advantage requires that companies and the managers within them continually reinvent themselves. Specifically, we believe advantage derives from five key company capabilities. These include:
• Adaptability - the ability to adjust, on a timely basis, to new technologies, customer needs, regulatory rules, and other changes in conditions without losing focus or causing significant disruption of core operations and commitments
• Flexibility - the ability to design company strategies, processes, and operational approaches that can simultaneously meet the diverse and evolving requirements of customers, distributors, suppliers, financiers, regulators, and other key stakeholders
• Speed - the ability to act quickly on emerging opportunities, to develop new products and services more rapidly, and to make critical operational decisions without lengthy deliberations
• Aggressiveness - an intense, focused and proactive approach to eliminating competitors, delighting customers, and growing employees
• Innovativeness - a continuous priority placed on developing and launching new products, services, processes, markets, and technologies, and on leading the marketplace
| Michael
H. Morris, Donald F. Kurakto
and Jeffrey G. Covin. Corporate Entrepreneurship
and Innovation, 2nd edition.
2008. Thomson South-Western. p7-8. |
|
CONFERENCES
FBD
|
| Who: |
Federation
of Business Disciplines
|
| What: |
34th
Annual Meeting
|
| Where: |
San
Diego, California, USA |
| When: |
March
14-17, 2007 |
|
|
|
EFP
|
| Who: |
Eye
For Procurement
|
| What: |
Supplier
Management Forum 2007
|
| Where: |
Miami,
Florida, USA |
| When: |
April
17-18, 2007 |
|
|
|
AACSB
|
| Who: |
AACSB
Communications
|
| What: |
World
Class Practices in Management Education
|
| Where: |
Beijng,
China |
| When: |
May
20-22, 2007 |
|
|
|
CS
|
| Who: |
Creativity
Seminars
|
| What: |
Creativity
Workshop - 2007 Educator Fellowships
|
| Where: |
Florence,
Italy |
| When: |
July
13-22, 2007 |
|
|
|
ISBE
|
| Who: |
Institute
for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
|
| What: |
30th
Annual ISBE Conference
|
| Where: |
Heriot-Watt
University, Glasgow, Scotland |
| When: |
November
7-9, 2007 |
|
|
|
CALLS FOR PAPERS
FU
|
| Who: |
Fordham
University |
| What: |
The
Fordham University Pricing Conference
|
| Where: |
Fordham
University, New York, New York, USA |
| When: |
September
28-29, 2007 |
Submission
Deadline:
March 15, 2007
|
|
|
|
CNU
|
| Who: |
Christopher
Newport University
|
| What: |
"Truth & Consequences" Exploring
Economic Development from Entrepreneurship to Relationship
|
| Where: |
Newport
News, Virginia, USA |
| When: |
September
28-30, 2007 |
Submission
Deadline:
April 1, 2007
|
|
|
|
AMA
|
| Who: |
Atlantic
Marketing Association
|
| What: |
Atlantic
Marketing Association Annual Meeting
|
| Where: |
New
Orleans, Louisiana, USA |
| When: |
September
26-29, 2007 |
Submission
Deadline:
April 17, 2007
|
|
|
|
FBD
|
| Who: |
Federation
of Business Disciplines
|
| What: |
Annual
Meeting
|
| Where: |
Hyatt
Regency, Houston, Texas, USA |
| When: |
March
4-8, 2008 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
SBANC Newsletter is provided as a service to the members of
our affiliates: Academy of Collegiate Marketing Educators (ACME),
Association for Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ASBE),
Federation of Business Disciplines (FBD), International Council
for Small Business (ICSB), Institute for Supply Management
(ISM), The International Small Business Congress (ISBC), Marketing
Management Association (MMA), Small Business Administration
(SBA), Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), Small Business
Institute (SBI), Society for Marketing Advances (SMA), United
States Association for Small Business & Entrepreneurship
(USASBE), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).. If you
are interested in membership or would like further information
on one of our affiliates, please see our web site at http://www.sbaer.uca.edu
SBANC STAFF
Main Office Phone: (501) 450-5300
Dr.
Don B. Bradley III, Executive Director of SBANC & Professor
of Marketing;
Direct Phone: (501) 450-5345
Garion
McCoy, Development Intern
Tyler
Farrar, Development Intern
To subscribe or unsubscribe to
the SBANC Newsletter, please E-mail SBANC at sbanc@uca.edu
|
