Strategy-as-Coping in Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Social Process of Collective Sensing for Acquisition Opportunities

TY - JOUR

T1 - Strategy-as-Coping in Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Social Process of Collective Sensing for Acquisition Opportunities

AU - Ng, Wilson

AU - Alshaghroud, Maha

N1 - Co-Author Maha Alshaghroud (PhD 2012, Leeds)

PY - 2018/6/19

Y1 - 2018/6/19

N2 - We explore what may be learned from managerial practices of an established medium-sized enterprise (“MSE”) in surviving and thriving during a recession. Drawing on a Strategy-as- Practice (“SAP”) view of managerial action, an improvised strategic process was observed in four acquisitions undertaken by the MSE when its closely-knit management reacted to operational pressure by improvising ideas for potential acquisitions. This process, which we call “collective sensing”, occurred within unscheduled “get-togethers” in the workplace, when participants enacted a range of roles in a routine of sensing potential acquisitions. We explain collective sensing by viewing it as a consistent pattern of actions among top managers who used get-togethers as a creative platform for identifying a stream of potential acquisitions, including potentially valuable opportunities that have been overlooked in the market. Several contributions are proposed for developing and using collective sensing in SMEs as a practical managerial process that can produce high-potential acquisitions. © 2018, The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

AB - We explore what may be learned from managerial practices of an established medium-sized enterprise (“MSE”) in surviving and thriving during a recession. Drawing on a Strategy-as- Practice (“SAP”) view of managerial action, an improvised strategic process was observed in four acquisitions undertaken by the MSE when its closely-knit management reacted to operational pressure by improvising ideas for potential acquisitions. This process, which we call “collective sensing”, occurred within unscheduled “get-togethers” in the workplace, when participants enacted a range of roles in a routine of sensing potential acquisitions. We explain collective sensing by viewing it as a consistent pattern of actions among top managers who used get-togethers as a creative platform for identifying a stream of potential acquisitions, including potentially valuable opportunities that have been overlooked in the market. Several contributions are proposed for developing and using collective sensing in SMEs as a practical managerial process that can produce high-potential acquisitions. © 2018, The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

KW - Strategy-as practice; Cognition; SMEs; medium-sized, closely controlled enterprises; top managers

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85049585065

M3 - Article

SN - 2380-1751

VL - 28

SP - 16

EP - 32

JO - Journal of Small Business Strategy

JF - Journal of Small Business Strategy

IS - 2

M1 - 28(2)

ER -