The strategic importance of top management resistance : extending Alfred D. Chandler

Friesl, Martin and Kwon, Winston (2017) The strategic importance of top management resistance : extending Alfred D. Chandler. Strategic Organization, 15 (1). pp. 100-112. ISSN 1476-1270

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Abstract

We investigate the role of top management resistance against bottom-up initiatives for strategic change. While resistance has been mostly considered leading to inertia and rigidity by maintaining a particular strategic path, some scholars make the counterintuitive point that resistance could also be a facilitator of change. In this essay, we argue that such a generative perspective of top management resistance has important implications for strategy research. To do so, we draw on Alfred D. Chandler’s historic account of the emergence of the M-form at DuPont at the beginning of the 20th century. Based on this case, we illustrate three generative mechanisms of top management resistance for strategic change: the reframing, restructuring and the recoupling of strategic initiatives. We build on these generative mechanisms in order to develop implications for future research.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Strategic Organization
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3304
Subjects:
?? resistancestrategic changestrategic initiativesemergent strategystrategy as practicetopics and perspectiveseducationbusiness and international managementstrategy and managementindustrial relations ??
ID Code:
80913
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
16 Aug 2016 13:02
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
21 Feb 2024 00:45