When Firms Change Direction

by Huff, Anne Sigismund; Huff, James Oran; Barr, Pamela

• ISBN13: 9780195136432
• ISBN10: 0195136438
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-01-11
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Firms within the same competitive environment (industry) respond in different ways to changing environmental (competitive) conditions. The authors of this book argue that the strategy field has not found answers to the questions that flow from this observation. They answer these questions by using what they call a "cognitively anchored theory of strategic change."

Author Biography

Anne Sigismund Huff is past president of the Academy of Management and a professor of strategic management at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the Cranfield School of Management in England.

Table of Contents

Economic, Behavioral, and Cognitive Contributions to Strategy Theory	3	(38)
The Search for Strategy Theory	3	(2)
Economic Theories of the Firm	5	(2)
Behavioral Theories of the Firm	7	(7)
Contributions from a Cognitive Perspective	14	(17)
Introduction to a Cognitively Anchored Theory of Strategic Change	31	(5)
Conclusion	36	(5)
Part I. Multilevel Theoretic Accounts of Change and Stability
Individual Cognition, Stress, and Inertia	41	(19)
Schema	42	(4)
The Inertial Character of Schema	46	(2)
Stressful Challenges to Schema	48	(3)
Coping Mechanisms and Schema Change	51	(1)
Schema and Management Theory	52	(2)
Beyond Schema Theory	54	(4)
Conclusion	58	(2)
Group Effects That Make Second Order Change Less and More Likely	60	(20)
The Need for a Bridge between Individual and Aggregate Levels of Analysis	61	(2)
First and Second Order Change	63	(12)
Implications for Leaders	75	(3)
Conclusion	78	(2)
A Formal Model of Strategic Transformation (with Howard Thomas)	80	(29)
Key Considerations for Firm-Level Analysis	80	(6)
A Four-State Model of Second Order Strategic Change	86	(11)
A Simulated History of Strategic Change	97	(8)
Conclusion	105	(4)
Part II. Empirical Studies of Change and Stability in the Pharmaceutical Industry
The Pharmaceutical Industry 1970-1995	109	(14)
Kurt A. Heppard
Jim Blasick
Strategic Issues Facing the Industry	109	(2)
Pricing and Health Care Costs	111	(1)
Regulation and Patent Protection	112	(1)
Marketing and Advertising	113	(1)
Research and Development	114	(3)
Industry Reconfiguration	117	(5)
Conclusion	122	(1)
Understanding Diversity in the Timing of Strategic Response	123	(25)
Shared Schematic Frameworks within the Firm	123	(3)
Study of Pharmaceutical Response to Regulatory Change in 1962	126	(7)
Empirical Evidence of the Interpretive Precursors to Strategic Change	133	(10)
Discussion	143	(3)
Conclusion	146	(2)
Industry-Level Learning and the Social Construction of Recipes	148	(28)
Gail E. James
Study of Recipes for Biotech/Pharmaceutical Alliances 1984-1994	148	(1)
The Existence of Industry Recipes	149	(10)
Learning and the Evolution of New Recipes	159	(7)
The Development of Group Recipes	166	(7)
Conclusion	173	(3)
Predicting the Magnitude and Directin of Strategic Change	176	(30)
Cognitive Foundations	177	(3)
Mapping Strategic Change	180	(5)
Empirical Analysis, 1976-1990	185	(9)
SIOP: A Two-Stage Model of Strategic Change	194	(8)
Conclusion	202	(4)
The Structuration of Industries	206	(17)
Larry Stimpert
Structuration Theory	206	(4)
Example: A Structuration Perspective on Entry	210	(9)
Conclusion	219	(4)
References	223	(36)
Index	259