Leavy, Brian (1988) Strategy formation in Irish complex organisations. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This is a comparative study of strategy formation in Irish complex
organisations. Four organisations were chosen for study which are
representative of the four main types of organisation to be found in
the Irish economy,a state agency,a public limited company,a state-owned
entreprise and a producer cooperative. The approach taken in this
research is multi-level and contextual,an approach which is still very
rare in organisational studies. Insight is sought through intensive,
longitudinal study of the four organisations over their whole life
histories. The central thrust of the inquiry is the empirical
examination of how situational context and autonomous organisational
behaviour influence organisational strategy and of how these two
elements interact. The context - strategy formation link,in particular,
is under-explored in the strategy literature. The small national
context facilitates the development of a multi-level perspective on
the interaction of situational context and organisational action
that includes the national,industry and organisational levels of
analysis. It also throws the context-organisation interrelationship
into greater relief than would be possible through using a similar research design in a much larger national context.
The empirical analysis identifies SITUATIONAL CONTEXT,ORGANISATIONAL
LEADERS and ORGANISATIONAL HISTORY as the three main elements
in strategy formation. It isolates and empirically analyses FIVE
important CONTEXTUAL FACTORS that shape strategy,and provides a
greater elaboration of the contextual influences on organisational
action than that to be found in much of the organisational literature,
where the environment of organisations tends to be viewed as
homogeneous and residual. It also reveals that the contextual influences
on organisational action often arise from INTER-LINKING PROCESSES OF
SOCIAL VOLITION across multiple levels of social and economic structure
and it examines the nature of these processes. In this way the study
goes beyond the predominant conception of contextual influences
as 'impersonal forces', a perspective on situational context that also
predominates in the organisational literature. The study also provides
a FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON the role of LEADERSHIP in strategy formation.
It deflects attention away from the predominant pre-occupation
in the leadership literature with the personality and personal
attributes of the leader. Leadership effectiveness is also seen
to be related to the ongoing processual dynamics of leading(i.e. to
ongoing performance and the maintenance of credibility over time) and to
the nature of the historical challenge presented to individual leaders
by situational context and organisational history. A classification of
leaders in terms of their historical roles is developed and offered as a
useful way of organising future research into the leadership phenomenon.
The study then develops,from the data and the analysis,a model
of organisational development,based on the concept of ORGANISATIONAL
CAREER,which is more existential and less deterministic than that
based on the life cycle analogy. These insights are finally synthesised
into A RELATIONAL MODEL OF STRATEGY FORMATION and the study ends
with an assessment of the utility of this model,and of the related
findings, for future research and practice.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Strategic planning -- Ireland, Complex organizations -- Ireland, Leadership -- Ireland
Official Date:	November 1988
Dates:	Date Event November 1988 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Industrial and Business Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Wilson, David C. (David Charles), 1951- ; Pettigrew, Andrew M. (Andrew Marshall), 1944-
Sponsors:	Dublin City University
Extent:	ix, 627 leaves
Language:	eng

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