Einleitend werden ein Überblick über die Entwicklung der M&A-Aktivität Chinas über die vergangenen Jahre vermittelt und diese Entwicklung in Relation zum M&A-Verhalten anderer (Entwicklungs-)Länder gesetzt. Eine Betrachtung der Zielindustrien der chinesischen Akquisitionen leitet über die staatspolitischen Strategien Chinas über zu den Einzeltransaktionen, welche im Fokus der Analysen dieses Artikels stehen. Aus der Betrachtung dieser Akquisitionen folgt ein Stärken- und Schwächenprofil chinesischer Akquisiteure, welches erlaubt, wichtige Gestaltungsfelder für DACH-Unternehmen bei der Entwicklung ihrer China-Strategie abzuleiten.
This case compares how Apple, Microsoft and Google have tried to achieve dominant market positions within a converging Internet industry over the last decade. The case starts in 2000, when the three companies found themselves as survivors of the dot-com bubble. Knowing that there would soon be a renaissance of Internet business, the three companies devised strategies that set out to shape the development of the Internet in the following years. Starting from very different market positions in the year 2000, the unequal players forged a new digital economy that combines an expanding scope of services, such as communications, information, entertainment and media. Within this market, Apple, Microsoft and Google became fierce competitors in becoming dominant service integrators. This case is designed to serve the following teaching objectives: (1) to illustrate and discuss the most recent phases of Internet evolution as competitive arenas; (2) to analyze the key economics of converging Internet markets; (3) to illustrate successful and less successful competitive strategies of the major players. This case is aimed at MBA students and is intended to be part of the strategic management curriculum.
The utility industry is undergoing major regulatory changes, freeing up a competition between alternative business models. Diversification marks one of the main themes in this struggle for success. The question of how companies can add value by engaging in multiple businesses inevitably relates to the concept of economies of scope. This chapter introduces the concept as a rationale for diversification, highlights its practical limitations, and discusses whether it explains the exhibited diversification trends within the utility industry. The chapter concludes by supporting the relevance of the concept for explaining diversification in general and the trends within the utility industry in particular.
While the empirical evidence on the merits of fast-paced strategic decision-making and action in high velocity environments is compelling, it remains unclear whether the effect is driven by the speed, volume, or continuity of the actions. We examined this research question by analyzing all the announced actions of 401 firms of the S&P 500 sample during a ten-year period from 2003 to 2012. We coded the activities into different activity categories and the diversity of the industries allowed us to also perform comparisons between higher and lower velocity industries. Based on our analysis, we find that industry velocity enhances the performance effects of high activity levels and that firms that pace their actions above the industry average outperform their peers.
Economists and politicians alike have had no shortage of advice on how to solve the so-called Euro Crisis. Their consultation stretches between two basic suggestions: a break-up of the EU or its further integration-with hopes that the adoption of either would resolve the current crisis. Yet, even as critics repeatedly call for EU leaders to take more decisive actions, time and again, European officials have made only last minute and seemingly unavoidable decisions. What are EU leaders doing?
Previous studies on strategic group dynamics have generated valuable insights into the industry-level determinants of changes in strategic group membership and group strategy. Complementary to this line of research, the present study focuses on the firm-level determinants underlying shifts in firm positioning within strategic group structures. Drawing on the behavioral theory of the firm, the study examines the influence of firm performance and performance aspirations on the extent to which firms strategically diverge from or converge towards their strategic groups. Empirical results from a longitudinal analysis of the strategic repositioning by 1191 US insurance firms over a 10-year time period (1999-2008) suggest that firms performing below aspirations show a greater inclination to diverge from their current strategic group than firms performing above aspirations. Industry conditions are found to moderate the relationship between performance aspirations and strategic divergence-convergence. The study's findings highlight the influence of performance feedback on strategic group dynamics, and the importance of considering the interplay between firm-level and industry-level characteristics in explaining strategic group dynamics.
This paper investigates the behavioral foundations of strategic group dynamics by analyzing the strategic repositionings of 1,221 U.S. insurance firms over the period 1999 to 2008. Our results provide insights on (1) the factors that motivate firms to leave their own strategic groups, (2) the directions firms take when they reposition, (3) the role of slack resources and (4) how environmental uncertainties moderate the firms' repositionings. We find that underperforming firms are particularly inclined to diverge from their strategic groups and move towards better performing groups within close proximity. In contrast to well-performing firms, they also do not seem to become discouraged by environmental uncertainties from their ambitions to change their strategic group membership.
This study investigates how market shocks impact interfirm rivalry. Based on competitive dynamics research and imitation theory, we propose that market shocks upset the rivalrous process among firms. We argue that market shocks give rise to new competitive opportunities, challenge extant mutual forbearance equilibria, and make managers detach from rivals' extant competitive behaviors when contemplating own moves. To validate our arguments, we investigate with duration models how market shocks punctuate patterns in firm action sequences. Our study is set in the global insurance industry between 2001 and 2007 and explores the effects the terrorist attacks of September 11 and Hurricane Katrina had on the industry's interfirm rivalry in 2001 and 2005. The study's findings highlight a clear need for a stronger integration of the environmental context in competitive dynamics research.
This paper initially explicates how 3rd party rivalry and industry-wide environmental shocks affect the individual competitive behaviors of firms. With applying event history analysis on more than 15'000 competitive moves, we present how the 63 leading global insurance firms navigated their industry over the period 1998 to 2007. In contrast to prior efforts, we simultaneously consider firm- and industry-level factors in explaining the competitive moves of firms. Our analyses thereby complement prior approaches, such as dyadic analyses, and offer a more comprehensive perspective on the competitive behavior of firms.
