Journeys in a declining industry: stories of footwear manufacturing

Represents an experiment in style and methodology. Presents stories of managing decline in a rapidly deregulating environment. Collected data from managers in the New Zealand footwear manufacturing industry in face‐to‐face interviews with the intention of giving an insider view of strategic change. Highlights the stories of the managers, both visually and structurally, and places the academic discourse of theory and method in this background. Six stories demonstrate the diversity of the journeys taken in an attempt to manage decline in one industry. Suggests that, from the manager’s perspective, destination is determined by (and after) the journey, and not vice versa as suggested in the classical strategic management literature.

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