Strategy, Structure and Performance in a Transition Economy (eBook)

Dr. Tobias Weigl promovierte bei Prof. Dr. Christopher Jahns am Supply Management Institute der European Business School (ebs) in Oestrich-Winkel. Er ist als Business Development Manager Emerging Markets bei DHL tätig.

Foreword 6
Acknowledgements 8
Table of Contents 9
List of Figures 13
List of Tables 16
List of Abbreviations 19
1 Introduction 21
1.1 Background and Problem Definition 21
1.2 Research Gaps and Objectives 24
1.3 Structure 28
2 Basics on Strategy, Structure and Environment 32
2.1 Strategy and Strategic Management 33
2.2 Business Networks and Inter-organizational Structures 71
2.3 Institutional Environment 104
2.4 Summary 121
3 Russia as a Major Transition Economy 125
3.1 Economies in Transition and Transition Phases 125
3.2 Russia’s Transition to a Market Economy 144
3.3 Russia in the 21st Century 156
3.4 Summary 166
4 Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses 170
4.1 Model 1: Strategy-Structure Configurations and Their Relationship With Performance 171
4.2 Model 2: The Environment-Strategy-Structure- Performance Model 182
4.3 Model Summary 196
5 Empirical Data 197
5.1 Data Gathering 197
5.2 Sample Description 200
5.3 Status Quo and Trends in Russia’s Business Environment 207
5.4 Operationalization of the Constructs 220
6 Empirical Analysis of the Theoretical Model 242
6.1 Configurations and Their Impact on Performance 242
6.2 Interplay Between Institutions and Firms’ Strategy, Structures, and Performance 271
6.3 Summary 292
7 Conclusion 295
7.1 Final Comments and Recommendations 295
7.2 Implications for Future Research 302
Bibliography 305
List of Appendixes 357

5 Empirical Data (S. 177-178)

This chapter introduces the empirical data used in this dissertation. First, the data gathering process is described in Chapter 5.1. Following this, an overview of the sample is provided in Chapter 5.2. Then, a descriptive analysis of the status quo and trends of Russia’s business environment is performed in Chapter 5.3. Here, possible insights on the future development of Russia are provided with particular focus on its business environment. Finally, the operationalization of the constructs is discussed in Chapter 5.4.

5.1 Data Gathering

To complement the extensive literature review, several interviews with experts are conducted in order to gain a better overall understanding of the topic, both from a theoretical as well as from a practical perspective. The interviews are conducted with a group of seven management directors and management professors. The interviews are based on a relatively open scheme, but cover a few pre-defined topics.54 Naturally, these interviews are not sufficient to make substantive, quantitative assessments, or to draw conclusions about the population (e.g. Dillmann, 2002). Thus, they are not suited for validating the theoretical model. However, they serve to determine important dimensions, which later require more in-depth investigation. For this purpose, a standardized55 questionnaire has been used in order to generate an extensive database in line with the goals of this dissertation.

The standardized questionnaire, in English and Russian, includes classification questions (seven point metric scale). The Russian version has been translated back into English by an independent source to ensure comparability of the two versions. The questionnaire contains six sections:

(1) General questions about the firm: In the first section, the respondents are asked to provide general information about themselves, such as name and job title, and about the firm, such as revenue and number of employees.

(2) Institutional context: The respondents are asked to evaluate the institutional context in Russia. The focus is on six areas (see Chapter 2.3.3): A) political system, b) social system, c) openness, d) product markets, e) labor market, and f) capital market.

(3) Business environment: The respondents are also asked to evaluate their firm’s specific business environment. This part provides a better understanding about the status quo and trends in the Russian business environment. It covers five dimensions: A) market demand, b) market opportunities, c) technology development, d) suppliers’ and buyers’ behavior, and e) development of local sourcing.

(4) Strategy: The respondents are asked to evaluate their firm’s specific strategic orientation. Referring to the Miles and Snow framework explained in Chapter 2.1.3.3, four strategy types are included: A) prospector, b) analyzer, c) defender, and d) reactor. The firms are classified based on the proximity of each firm’s business strategy attributes to the ideal profiles for the four strategy types. This approach is recommended by several authors (e.g. Segev, 1987, Namiki, 1989, Smith et al., 1989, Conant et al., 1990, Thomas et al., 1991, Desarbo et al., 2005) and explained in more detail in Chapter 6.1.