Challenging the strategy paradigm within the paper packaging industry

Formulating and implementing a new strategy may be a challenging task, especially if it alters the way in which a company has operated and positioned itself before. This may be particularly true for companies within the forest industry, like manufacturers of paper packaging products, pursuing differentiated customer value and innovative solutions where, traditionally, success has been measured in volume and relative position on a cost curve. In theory there are different schools of thought and approaches on how to go about formulating and implementing strategy. In practice, going through strategic change may create a need to embrace new ways of thinking and acting in order to close the gap between formulation and implementation, between knowing what to do and doing it. This gap, particularly the interdependence between formulation and implementation in the context of change between strategies of different schools and assumptions, merits more attention in literature. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of strategic change, illustrating a change process of formulating and implementing a strategy through the lenses of schools of strategy and cognitive research. The purpose is also to suggest areas for future research and practical guidance for organisations aiming to break away from a reigning strategy paradigm in search for new ways to compete. Based on a longitudinal case study of Billerud, a Swedish world-leading manufacturer of paper packaging material, two propositions are suggested for future research and practical guidance for managers when formulating and implementing strategic change. Firstly for an organisation going through strategic change, understanding the assumptions behind different strategic intents and the link between a chosen strategy and critical core activities, capabilities and culture is a prerequisite to enable a transition. Secondly, strategic change is enabled through an iterative and probing approach between formulation and implementation which considers knowledge and learning of new concepts, activity and culture as situated.

[1]  Alan R. Dennis,et al.  Rethinking media richness: towards a theory of media synchronicity , 1999, Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences. 1999. HICSS-32. Abstracts and CD-ROM of Full Papers.

[2]  Jay F. Nunamaker,et al.  Invoking Social Comparison to Improve Electronic Brainstorming: Beyond Anonymity , 1995, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[3]  Danny Samson,et al.  Effective case research in operations management: a process perspective , 2002 .

[4]  Malin Olander Roese,et al.  Multi theoretical perspectives in an abductive action research study , 2005 .

[5]  Arie Shirom,et al.  Job-related burnout: A review. , 2003 .

[6]  G. Johnson.  Managing strategic change--strategy, culture and action. , 1992, Long range planning.

[7]  Evangelia Demerouti,et al.  Burnout and work engagement: a thorough investigation of the independency of both constructs. , 2010, Journal of occupational health psychology.

[8]  R. Calantone,et al.  Hitting the Target…but Missing the Point: Resolving the Paradox of Strategic Transition , 2010 .

[9]  Jay F. Nunamaker,et al.  Information technology for negotiating groups: generating options for mutual gain , 1991 .

[10]  J. Wagner.  Studies of Individualism-Collectivism: Effects on Cooperation in Groups , 1995 .

[11]  A. Likierman,et al.  The five traps of performance measurement. , 2009, Harvard business review.

[12]  Donald A. Hantula,et al.  The medium matters: Mining the long-promised merit of group interaction in creative idea generation tasks in a meta-analysis of the electronic group brainstorming literature , 2007, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[13]  C. Prahalad,et al.  To revitalize corporate performance, we need a whole new model of strategy. Strategic intent. , 1989, Harvard business review.

[14]  Wilmar B. Schaufeli,et al.  The factorial validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory‐General Survey (MBI‐GS) across occupational groups and nations , 2000 .

[15]  Christina Maslach,et al.  THE TRUTH ABOUT BURNOUT , 1997 .

[16]  B. Nijstad,et al.  Production blocking and idea generation: Does blocking interfere with cognitive processes? , 2003 .

[17]  M. Porter.  The five competitive forces that shape strategy. , 2008, Harvard business review.

[18]  Paul Benjamin Lowry,et al.  The CMC Interactivity Model: How Interactivity Enhances Communication Quality and Process Satisfaction in Lean-Media Groups , 2009, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[19]  Kenneth L. Kraemer,et al.  Computer-based systems for cooperative work and group decision making , 1988, CSUR.

[20]  J. Peiró,et al.  Linking organizational resources and work engagement to employee performance and customer loyalty: the mediation of service climate. , 2005, The Journal of applied psychology.

[21]  Jay F. Nunamaker,et al.  On the Measurement of Ideation Quality , 2007, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[22]  J. Pissarra,et al.  Idea generation through computer‐mediated communication: the effects of anonymity , 2005 .

[23]  A. Bakker,et al.  Burnout and Engagement in University Students , 2002 .

[24]  Richard Whittington,et al.  What Is Strategy and Does It Matter , 1998 .

[25]  A. Mento,et al.  A change management process: Grounded in both theory and practice , 2002 .

[26]  Rodney McAdam,et al.  Business performance measures and alignment impact on strategy , 2002 .

[27]  A. Neely,et al.  Measuring performance in a changing business environment , 2003 .

[28]  J. Valacich,et al.  Group Size and Anonymity Effects on Computer-Mediated Idea Generation , 1992 .

[29]  A. Bakker,et al.  The Measurement of Engagement and Burnout: A Two Sample Confirmatory Factor Analytic Approach , 2002 .

[30]  Christopher A. Voss,et al.  Case research in operations management , 2002 .

[31]  Umit Bititci,et al.  Dynamics of performance measurement systems , 2000 .

[32]  Preston G. Smith,et al.  Developing products in half the time , 1995 .

[33]  Toon W. Taris,et al.  A multigroup analysis of the job demands-resources model in four home care organizations , 2003 .

[34]  Joseph S. Valacich,et al.  Enhancing the Motivational Affordance of Information Systems: The Effects of Real-Time Performance Feedback and Goal Setting in Group Collaboration Environments , 2010, Manag. Sci..

[35]  Loizos Heracleous,et al.  Answers for questions to come: reflective dialogue as an enabler of strategic innovation , 2005 .

[36]  Maureen Meadows,et al.  The impact of performance measurement in strategic planning , 2005 .

[37]  Edward Toomer,et al.  Qualitative Methods in Management Research , 1989 .

[38]  Jay F. Nunamaker,et al.  Communication Concurrency and the New Media , 1993 .

[39]  Arnold B. Bakker,et al.  The convergent validity of two burnout instruments: A multitrait-multimethod analysis. , 2003 .

[40]  Umit Bititci,et al.  Business performance measurement: Integrated performance measurement systems: Structure and dynamics , 2002 .

[41]  Jay F. Nunamaker,et al.  Electronic meeting systems , 1991, CACM.

[42]  Wilmar B. Schaufeli,et al.  Validation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey: An Internet Study , 2002 .

[43]  Andy Neely,et al.  Strategy and Performance: Getting the Measure of your Business , 2002 .

[44]  Gordon W. Cheung,et al.  Evaluating Goodness-of-Fit Indexes for Testing Measurement Invariance , 2002 .

[45]  Donald N. Sull,et al.  Closing the Gap Between Strategy and Execution , 2007 .

[46]  A. Bakker,et al.  How do engaged employees stay engaged , 2012 .

[47]  A. Bakker,et al.  Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: a multi‐sample study , 2004 .

[48]  Clayton M. Christensen,et al.  Reinventing Your Business Model , 2008 .

[49]  R. Gallupe,et al.  Some Liberating Effects of Anonymous Electronic Brainstorming , 1998 .

[50]  Jeffrey Pfeffer,et al.  Knowing "What" to Do Is Not Enough: Turning Knowledge into Action , 1999 .

[51]  James Brian Quinn,et al.  The strategy process : concepts and contexts , 1992 .

[52]  A. Neely,et al.  Managing Performance in Turbulent Times: Analytics and Insight , 2011 .

[53]  Monica J. Garfield,et al.  Research Report: The Effectiveness of Multiple Dialogues in Electronic Brainstorming , 1997, Inf. Syst. Res..

[54]  M. Csíkszentmihályi,et al.  Positive psychology. An introduction. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[55]  Christina Maslach,et al.  Early predictors of job burnout and engagement. , 2008, The Journal of applied psychology.

[56]  E. Greenglass,et al.  Introduction to special issue on burnout and health , 2001, Psychology & health.

[57]  R. Kaplan,et al.  The office of strategy management. , 2005, Harvard business review.

[58]  Ruut Veenhoven,et al.  Freedom and happiness: A comparative study in forty-four nations in the early 1990s. , 2000 .

[59]  Mike,et al.  The Performance Prism , 2004 .

[60]  Toon W. Taris,et al.  Construct validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey: A two-sample examination of its factor structure and correlates , 1999 .

[61]  Leonard M. Jessup,et al.  The Effects of Anonymity on GDSS Group Process with an Idea-Generating Task , 1990, MIS Q..

[62]  Evert Gummesson,et al.  All research is interpretive , 2003 .

[63]  C. Nerstad,et al.  Factorial validity of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) across occupational groups in Norway. , 2009, Scandinavian journal of psychology.

[64]  I. Tsaousis,et al.  Factorial invariance and latent mean differences of scores on trait emotional intelligence across gender and age , 2013 .

[65]  Andy Neely,et al.  The forces that shape organisational performance measurement systems:: An interdisciplinary review , 1999 .

[66]  Christian Homburg,et al.  A Multiple-Layer Model of Market-Oriented Organizational Culture: Measurement Issues and Performance Outcomes , 2000 .

[67]  U. Kinnunen,et al.  Longitudinal factorial invariance of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey among employees with job-related psychological health problems , 2011 .

[68]  Stefan Tangen.  Analysing the requirements of performance measurement systems , 2005 .

[69]  Wilmar B. Schaufeli,et al.  Burnout and work engagement: Independent factors or opposite poles? , 2006 .

[70]  Massimo Marraffa,et al.  Organizational learning II: Theory, method and practice , 1998 .

[71]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems , 1987, MIS Q..

[72]  Edson Pinheiro de Lima,et al.  Strategic performance measurement systems: a discussion about their roles , 2009 .

[73]  Mike Bourne.  Performance measurement: learning from the past and projecting the future , 2008 .

[74]  A. Neely.  The performance measurement revolution: why now and what next? , 1999 .

[75]  Gary L. Neilson,et al.  The secrets to successful strategy execution. , 2008, Harvard business review.

[76]  Achieving synergy between strategy and innovation: The key to value creation , 2010 .

[77]  Andy Neely,et al.  Survival of the fittest: measuring performance in a changing business environment , 2003 .

[78]  O. Gadiesh,et al.  Transforming corner-office strategy into frontline action. , 2001, Harvard business review.

[79]  Richard A Fenske,et al.  For good measure: Origins and prospects of exposure science (2007 Wesolowski Award Lecture) , 2010, Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.

[80]  I. Heyman.  Tolkning och reflektion , 1996 .

[81]  Richard T. Watson,et al.  Social Loafing in Technology-Supported Teams , 2008, Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW).

[82]  Andy Neely,et al.  Designing, implementing and updating performance measurement systems , 2000 .

[83]  Paul M. Leonardi,et al.  When Flexible Routines Meet Flexible Technologies: Affordance, Constraint, and the Imbrication of Human and Material Agencies , 2011, MIS Q..

[84]  Alan Meekings.  Effective review meetings: the counter‐intuitive key to successful performance measurement , 2005 .

[85]  Alan R. Dennis,et al.  Understanding Fit and Appropriation Effects in Group Support Systems via Meta-Analysis , 2001, MIS Q..

[86]  Sigvald J. Harryson.  Managing Know-Who Based Companies: A Multinetworked Approach to Knowledge and Innovation Management , 2000 .

[87]  Victor Pantano,et al.  Insights from the Balanced Scorecard Performance measurement systems: successes, failures and future - a review , 2006 .

[88]  Wilmar B. Schaufeli,et al.  Defining and measuring work engagement : Bringing clarity to the concept , 2010 .

[89]  J. Kohnen,et al.  Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant , 2006 .

[90]  M. Diehl,et al.  Productivity loss in brainstorming groups: Toward the solution of a riddle. , 1987 .

[91]  Michael C. Mankins,et al.  Turning great strategy into great performance. , 2005, Harvard business review.

[92]  S. Cummings,et al.  A Guide to the Future of Strategy? The History of Long Range Planning , 2009 .

[93]  J. Kotter.  Leading change: why transformation efforts fail , 2009, IEEE Engineering Management Review.

[94]  R. Deshpandé,et al.  Organizational Culture and Marketing: Defining the Research Agenda , 1989 .

[95]  Derek Steeple,et al.  A FRAMEWORK FOR AUDITING AND ENHANCING PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS , 2000 .

[96]  T. Verhallen,et al.  The influence of business strategy on new product activity : The role of market orientation , 2003 .

[97]  C. Prahalad,et al.  Strategy as stretch and leverage. , 1993, Harvard business review.

[98]  Robert O. Briggs,et al.  On The Relationship Between Idea-Quantity and Idea-Quality During Ideation , 2008 .

[99]  Renée Mauborgne,et al.  Blue ocean strategy. , 2004, Harvard business review.

[100]  Imre Bernolak,et al.  Effective measurement and successful elements of company productivity: The basis of competitiveness and world prosperity , 1997 .

[101]  M. Porter.  Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance , 1985 .

[102]  J. Valacich,et al.  Idea Generation in Computer-Based Groups: A New Ending to an Old Story , 1994 .

[103]  Sakari Taipale,et al.  Work engagement in eight European countries , 2011 .

[104]  Chris Argyris,et al.  Strategy implementation: An experience in learning , 1989 .

[105]  Jennifer A. Farris,et al.  Improving the performance review process , 2011 .

[106]  Jonathon R. B. Halbesleben,et al.  A meta-analysis of work engagement: Relationships with burnout, demands, resources, and consequences. , 2010 .

[107]  K. Dugosh,et al.  Cognitive and social comparison processes in brainstorming , 2005 .

[108]  M. Patton.  Qualitative research & evaluation methods , 2002 .

[109]  M. Tushman,et al.  The ambidextrous organization. , 2004, Harvard business review.

[110]  Alan R. Dennis,et al.  Media, Tasks, and Communication Processes: A Theory of Media Synchronicity , 2008, MIS Q..

[111]  S. Jackson,et al.  The Measurement of experienced burnout , 1981 .

[112]  Malin Olander Roese,et al.  Adapting to changes in the supply chain – Challenges to re-defining the supply chain for increased customer orientation and product innovation within the paper packaging industry , 2007 .

[113]  John Hulland,et al.  Ambidextrous organizations and firm performance: the role of marketing function implementation , 2010 .

[114]  P. Paulus,et al.  Idea Generation in Groups : A Basis for Creativity in Organizations , 1994 .

[115]  David J Sternberg,et al.  Strategic innovation. , 2021, Marketing health services.

[116]  T. Brown,et al.  Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Applied Research , 2006 .

[117]  M. Porter.  What is strategy , 2000 .

[118]  C. K. Prahalad,et al.  Strategic Intent , 2007 .

[119]  N. Kerr,et al.  Group performance and decision making. , 2004, Annual review of psychology.

[120]  R. Kaplan,et al.  Using the balanced scorecard as a strategic management system , 1996 .

[121]  Umit Bititci,et al.  Strategy Management through Quantitative Modelling of Performance Measurement Systems , 2001 .

[122]  A. Bakker,et al.  Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology , 2008, Bioscience trends.

[123]  W. Schaufeli,et al.  Consistency of the burnout construct across occupations , 1996 .

[124]  R. Kaplan,et al.  The balanced scorecard--measures that drive performance. , 2015, Harvard business review.

[125]  R. Vandenberg,et al.  A Review and Synthesis of the Measurement Invariance Literature: Suggestions, Practices, and Recommendations for Organizational Research , 2000 .

[126]  Lars-Erik Gadde,et al.  Systematic combining: an abductive approach to case research , 2002 .

[127]  Andy Neely,et al.  A framework of the factors affecting the evolution of performance measurement systems , 2002 .

[128]  Uday S. Murthy,et al.  The effectiveness of synchronous computer-mediated communication for solving hidden-profile problems: Further empirical evidence , 2009, Inf. Manag..

[129]  A. Collins,et al.  Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning , 1989 .

[130]  C. Argyris.  Double Loop Learning in Organizations , 1996 .

[131]  Denise M. English,et al.  Levers of Control , 1996 .

[132]  T. Ferkol,et al.  Hitting the target: new treatments for cystic fibrosis. , 2010, American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine.

[133]  Karl T. Ulrich,et al.  Idea Generation and the Quality of the Best Idea , 2009, Manag. Sci..

[134]  Frédéric Jallat.  Reframing Business: When the Map Changes the Landscape , 2004 .

[135]  S. Jackson,et al.  Maslach burnout inventory manual , 1996 .

[136]  Jay F. Nunamaker,et al.  Computer-Aided Deliberation: Model Management and Group Decision Support: Special Focus Article , 1988, Oper. Res..

[137]  A. Bakker,et al.  The job demands-resources model of burnout. , 2001, The Journal of applied psychology.

[138]  Cory Searcy,et al.  Updating corporate sustainability performance measurement systems , 2011 .

[139]  K. Eisenhardt.  Building theories from case study research , 1989, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[140]  G. Hamel,et al.  Strategy as revolution. , 1996, Harvard business review.

[141]  R. Kaplan,et al.  The strategy-focused organization , 2000 .

[142]  Donald A. Schön,et al.  Organizational Learning II: Theory, Method, and Practice , 1995 .

[143]  E. Salas,et al.  Productivity loss in brainstorming groups: A meta-analytic integration. , 1991 .

[144]  Dean R. Spitzer,et al.  Book Review: Transforming Performance Measurement: Rethinking the Way We Measure and Drive Organizational Success. , 2007 .

[145]  D. Leonard,et al.  The Role of Tacit Knowledge in Group Innovation , 1998 .

[146]  Wilmar B. Schaufeli,et al.  Work engagement and financial returns: A diary study on the role of job and personal resources , 2009 .

[147]  Magnus Wiktorsson,et al.  Dynamic abilities in performance measurement system : a case study on practice and strategies , 2011 .

[148]  Andy Neely,et al.  Performance measurement system design: Should process based approaches be adopted? , 1996 .

[149]  Susan E. Reid,et al.  The Fuzzy Front‐End of Discontinuous Innovation: Insights for Research and Management , 2012 .

[150]  Michael Diehl,et al.  Productivity loss in idea-generating groups: Tracking down the blocking effect. , 1991 .

[151]  Henry Mintzberg.  The rise and fall of strategic planning , 1993 .

[152]  P. Herrmann,et al.  Evolution of Strategic Management: The Need for New Dominant Designs , 2005 .

[153]  J. McGrath.  Groups: Interaction and Performance , 1984 .

[154]  J. Valacich,et al.  Effects of anonymity and evaluative tone on idea generation in computer-mediated groups , 1990 .

[155]  A. Bakker,et al.  How job demands, resources, and burnout predict objective performance: A constructive replication , 2008, Anxiety, stress, and coping.

[156]  Norah E. Dunbar,et al.  Testing the Interactivity Model: Communication Processes, Partner Assessments, and the Quality of Collaborative Work , 1999, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[157]  T. Wettstein,et al.  A maturity model for performance measurement systems , 2002 .