A longitudinal design was used to examine the effects of changes in both environmental uncertainty and resource dependence in the external environment on the change in strategic orientation of organizations in the oil industry, using revenue flows during three distinguishable phases of growth. The authors argue that the interactive effects of these two environmental variables yield more meaningful results than either variable observed separately. Implications of the study are discussed, along with recommendations for research.
References
1.
AldkichH. E. (1979) Organizations and environments. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
2.
AldrichH. E.MindlinS. (1978) Uncertainty and dependence: two perspectives on environment. In KarpikL. (Ed.), Organization and environment: theory, issues and reality. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Pp. 149–170.
3.
AnsoffH. I. (1965) Corporate strategy. New York: McGraw-Hill.
4.
AnsoffH. I. (1984) Implanting strategic management. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
5.
AnsoffH. I. (1988) The new corporate strategy. (Rev. ed.) New York: Wiley.
6.
BhideA. (1994) How entrepreneurs craft strategies that work. Harvard Business Review, 72(2), 150–161.
7.
BuckoA. (1994) Conceptualization and measurement of uncertainty: an assessment of the Miles and Snow perceived environmental uncertainty scale. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 410–425.
8.
CastrogiovanniG. J. (1991) Environmental munificence: a theoretical assessment. Academy of Management Review, 16, 542–565.
9.
D'AveniR. A. (1994) Hypercompetition. New York: Free Press.
10.
DaftR.L.WeickK. E. (1984) Toward a model of organizations as interpretation systems. Academy of Management Review, 9, 284–295.
11.
DillW. R. (1958) Environment as an influence on managerial autonomy. Administrative Science Quarterly, 2, 409–443.
12.
DuncanR. B. (1972) Characteristics of organizational environments and perceived environmental uncertainty. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17, 313–327.
13.
GinnG. O.McDanielP. R. (1987) Strategic adaptation in the hospital industry. Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings, 87–90.
14.
GinsbergA. (1984) Operationalizing organizational strategy: toward an integrative framework. Academy of Management Review, 9, 548–557.
15.
HambrickD. C. (1983) Some tests of the effectiveness and functional attributes of Miles and Snow's strategic types. Academy of Management Journal, 26, 5–26.
16.
HamelG.PrahaladC. K. (1994) Competing for the future. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
17.
KatzD.KahnR. L. (1978) The social psychology of organizations. (2nd ed.) New York: Wiley.
18.
MilesR. E.SnowC. C. (1978) Organizational strategy structure, and process. New York: McGraw-Hill.
19.
MillikenF. J. (1987) Three types of perceived uncertainty about the environment: state, effect, and response uncertainty. Academy of Management Review, 12, 133–143.
20.
MintzbergH. (1978) Patterns in strategy formation. Management Science, 24, 934–948.
21.
MintzbergH. (1994) The fall and rise of strategic planning. Harvard Business Review, 72(1), 107–114.
22.
PfefferJ.SalancikG. R. (1978) The external control of organizations: a resource dependence perspective. New York: Harper & Row.
23.
RamaswamyK.ThomasA.LitschertR. (1994) Organizational performance in a regulated environment: the role of strategic orientation. Strategic Management Journal, 15, 63–74.
24.
SchreyoggG.SteinmannH. (1987) Strategic control: a new perspective. Academy of Management Review, 12, 91–103.
25.
SimerlyR. (1994) A contingency study of the relationship between strategic groups and performance. Psychological Reports, 74, 939–947.
26.
SmithK. G.GrimmC. M. (1987) Environmental variation, strategic change and firm performance: a study of railroad deregulation. Strategic Management Journal, 8, 363–376.
27.
SnowC. C.HambrickD. C. (1980) Measuring organizational strategies: some theoretical and methodological problemsAcademy of Management Review, 5, 527–538.
28.
SutcliffeK. M. (1994) What executives notice: accurate perceptions in top management teams. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 1360–1378.
29.
ThomasA. S.LitschertR. J.RamaswamyK. (1991) The performance impact of strategy-manager coalignment: an empirical examination. Strategic Management Journal, 12, 509–522.
30.
TosiH. L.AldagR. J.StoreyR. (1973) On the measurement of environment: an assessment of the Lawrence and Lorsch Environment Uncertainty Scale. Administrative Science Quarterly, 18, 27–36.
31.
TungR. L. (1979) Dimensions of organizational environments: an exploratory study of their impacts on organizational structure. Academy of Management Journal, 22, 672–693.
32.
von KroghG.RoosJ.SlocumK. (1994) An essay on corporate epistemology. Strategic Management Journal, 15, 53–71.