Images of Competitive Space A Study of Strategic Cognition

by Hodgkinson, Gerard

• ISBN13: 9781403902962
• ISBN10: 1403902968
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-06-11
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book represents the findings of the first-ever major investigation into the ways in which individual and group perceptions of competition impact the development of strategy at individual, group and industry levels of analysis. It is based on a study undertaken in the residential estate agency industry, during a period of rapid change and instability and draws extensively on one of the largest and most sophisticated data sets ever gathered in this field to date. The book will be of interest to researchers and advanced students in the field of strategic management, organizational theory and behavior, organizational psychology and marketing.

Author Biography

Gerard Hodgkinson is Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Organizational Behaviour and Strategic Management, Leeds University Business School.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	xi
List of Tables	xii
Foreword	xvii
Preface	xix
Publisher Acknowledgements	xxv
1. Introduction	1	(7)
Research agenda and key themes	2	(3)
The study	5	(1)
Methodological approach	5	(2)
Structure of the book	7	(1)
2. The Cognitive Analysis of Competition in Industries and Markets	8	(37)
Background to the development of cognitive approaches for the analysis of competitive structures	9	(2)
"Theoretical developments in the cognitive analysis of competitive structures	11	(10)
Competitor categorization processes	11	(5)
The social construction of competitive groups	16	(4)
The situated learning perspective	20	(1)
Empirical studies of competitive enactment and related conceptions: A review and critique	21	(14)
The limitations of small-scale exploratory and larger-scale cross-sectional studies	23	(1)
The limitations of extant longitudinal studies	24	(3)
The limitations of single informant, multiple organization designs	27	(2)
The case for studying individual and subgroup similarities and differences in mental models of competitor definition	29	(2)
Studies of the nature and extent of individual and subgroup variations and homogeneity in mental models of competitor definition	31	(3)
Towards fusion: Exploring the relative impact of task and institutional influences on actors' mental models of competitive industry structures	34	(1)
Methodological Issues in the analysis of competitor cognition	35	(8)
The elicitation of maps	36	(3)
The comparison of maps	39	(1)
The validation of maps	40	(2)
Implications	42	(1)
Towards a constructive alternative	42	(1)
Research agenda	43	(2)
3. The Research Context	45	(18)
The UK residential estate agency industry	46	(3)
Major developments in the industry	49	(10)
The entrance of national financial institutions	49	(4)
Estate agency co-operatives	53	(1)
Changes in the housing market	54	(3)
Operating practices	57	(1)
Other developments	58	(1)
Relevance of the industry to the research objectives	59	(3)
Conclusion	62	(1)
4. Research Methods and Design	63	(29)
The Research Instruments: Background and development	63	(10)
The competitor analysis questionnaire (CAQ)	63	(4)
The strategic locus of control scale	67	(2)
Strategy making behaviour, organizational structure and environment	69	(1)
Organizational size	70	(1)
Market buoyancy	71	(1)
Organizational performance	71	(1)
Environmental scanning	72	(1)
Biographical data and career history	73	(1)
Sampling and data collection procedures	73	(3)
Reliability analysis and data reduction	76	(4)
Reliability analysis	76	(1)
Data reduction	76	(4)
Construct validity of the scales	80	(7)
Individual-level analyses	80	(1)
Organizational-level analyses	80	(7)
Comparison of returners and non-returners	87	(4)
Summary and conclusions	91	(1)
5. Mental Models of Competitive Space and their Correlates	92	(22)
Assessing actors' mental models of competitive space	92	(6)
Three-way scaling for the assessment of mental models	93	(3)
Basic analytical strategy	96	(1)
Multidimensional scaling analysis	97	(1)
Results and discussion	98	(14)
The industry-level mental model	98	(4)
Validation of the CAQ	102	(14)
A note on the meaning and significance of participant source weights	103	(4)
Correlational analysis of the participant weights at T1	107	(2)
Correlational analysis of the participant weights at T2	109	(2)
Cross-lagged analysis	111	(1)
Summary and conclusions	112	(2)
6. Homogeneity and Diversity	114	(18)
Inter-organizational subgroup comparisons	116	(12)
Comparison of the dimension weights	117	(1)
North East Midlands Estates: An exception to the norm?	118	(3)
Comparison of the group space configurations	121	(16)
The PINDIS model	122	(3)
PINDIS analysis of the organizational subgroup configurations	125	(3)
Functional subgroup comparisons	128	(2)
Summary and conclusions	130	(2)
7. Longitudinal Stability	132	(11)
Longitudinal comparison of market conditions and strategic behaviours	133	(4)
Longitudinal analyses of mental models of competitive space	137	(4)
Longitudinal comparison of the participant source weight ratios	137	(1)
Comparison of the group space configurations	138	(3)
Summary and conclusions	141	(2)
8. Conclusions and Implications	143	(26)
Implications for theory	145	(7)
Competitive enactment and related conceptions	146	(2)
Industry recipes and cognitive inertia	148	(1)
Mental models of competitive space, strategy and performance	149	(1)
Wider theoretical implications	150	(2)
Methodological implications	152	(7)
Research design and analysis	152	(1)
Contextual embeddedness	153	(2)
Sampling characteristics	155	(1)
Size	155	(1)
Scope	155	(1)
Advances in cognitive modelling	156	(3)
Advances in knowledge elicitation	157	(1)
Advances in data analysis	158	(1)
Implications for practice	159	(5)
Survey feedback for fostering organizational development	159	(1)
Scenario planning for fostering competitive foresight	160	(2)
Comparison with strategic groups analysis	162	(1)
Strategic locus of control	163	(1)
Limitations	164	(1)
Implications for future research	165	(3)
Conclusion	168	(1)
Appendix 1 Development and Validation of the Strategic Locus of Control Scale	169	(4)
Appendix 2 MDS Solutions for the Various Organizational Subgroups	173	(9)
Appendix 3 MDS Solutions for the Various Functional Subgroups	182	(8)
Appendix 4 MDS Solutions for the Longitudinal Comparisons	190	(4)
References	194	(16)
Index	210