Long Range Planning Special Issue on
"The Strategic Management of Dynamic Growth"
Deadline for Paper Submissions: 31 December 2014
Web site:
www.journals.elsevier.com/long-range-planning/call-for-papers/special-issue-on-the-strategic-management-of-dynamic-growth
Guest editors:
Arturo Capasso
University of Sannio at Benevento
Giovanni Battista Dagnino
University of Catania
David King
Iowa State University
Janne Tienari
Aalto University
Firm growth is a classic theme in strategic management research and
practice that dates back to Edith Penrose's 1959 celebrated book. A
great deal of theoretical and empirical work has been done on this
topic, but there is growing concern among researchers and
practitioners about its usefulness. Major changes in the business
environment during recent decades have made it important for strategy
researchers to rethink established theories of growth. How is growth
sustained in the face of blurring boundaries among markets and
technologies, increased competition and intense competitive dynamics,
and the rising importance of intangibles and knowledge?
Mainstream theories of firm growth assume that internal growth is
characteristic of high-growth emergent industries and external growth
is typical of mature industries. Stable markets make it more
convenient to acquire existing production capacity and market share
rather than making risky commitments to new capacity and market
development. However, the pace of change today makes it critical for
firms to reconsider their growth strategies. In this changing business
environment, traditional strategic options may not achieve desired
levels of growth. For this reason, combinations of growth strategies
such as organic growth, acquisitions, joint ventures, or alliances
have become a means to accelerate growth in both established firms and
small hi-tech firms and innovative startup initiatives.
We may need to take a new look at long-standing strategy issues
related to planning and implementing growth and develop a new
understanding of how firms, networks, ecosystems and platforms achieve
longer term growth. The goal of this special issue is to provide
strategy scholarship with new perspectives that consider contemporary
environmental dynamism in the analysis of growth. In order to achieve
this aim, the LRP special issue welcomes theory-driven,
theory-building, and empirical papers investigating the strategic
management of firm growth for a range of industries and firms. We are
particularly interested in papers addressing topics related to:
-Planning and implementing acquisitions in high-growth and technology
industries;
-Outlining the relationship between growth by acquisition or internal
investment;
-Typology of alliance forms and internal growth options;
-Network effects, or strategic alliances as formalized
interorganizational relationships to manage growth;
-Capabilities needed to manage growth in firms for different growth
modes (acquisition, internal investment, or hybrid options);
-Small business growth dynamics that drive external growth and/or make
small businesses acquisition targets;
-Start up or new venture strategic trade-offs between internal and
external growth;
-Differences and commonalities between start-up and restart strategies;
-Managing dynamic growth in and between established firms;
-How competitive dynamics affects the choice between internal and
external growth strategies;
?How coopetition among firms can influence the choice between internal
and external growth.
The topical list reported above should be seen as illustrative more
than prescriptive, and scholars may wish to complement the proposed
list with other topics related to industry and firm growth strategies.
We aim to attract robust submissions and offer a well balanced mix of
papers using various relevant methodologies (both quantitative and
qualitative), as well as strong conceptual papers. We would
particularly welcome research work applied to samples and cases from
emerging countries and hi-tech settings as well work on more
traditional geographic spaces and industries that reveal new insights
on growth. We would also welcome papers that study the strategic
management of dynamic growth in-depth by comparing different
industries and/or geographical spaces.
Our ultimate goal is to craft a special issue of LRP presenting an
excellent combination of high-quality papers that make a relevant
contribution to advance investigation of strategies for dynamic growth.
References
Peng, M. W., & Heath, P. S. (1996). The growth of the firm in planned
economies in transition: Institutions, organizations, and strategic
choice,. Academy of Management Review, 21(2):, 492-?528.
Penrose, E. T. (1959). The theory of the growth of the firm. Oxford:
Basil Blackwell
Pettus, M.L. (2001) The resource-based view as a developmental growth
process: Evidence from the deregulated trucking industry, Academy of
Management Journal, 44: 878-896.
Vandaie, R. & Zaheer, A. (2013). Surviving bear hugs: Firm capability,
large partner alliances, and growth, Strategic Management Journal,
DOI: 10.1002/smj.2115, published online.
Villalonga, B. & McGahan, A. (2005).The choice among acquisitions,
alliances, and divestitures, Strategic Management Journal, 26(13):
1183-1208.
Special Issue Workshop
Subsequent to the first round of reviews, it is our intention to
organize a paper development workshop for the authors of the papers
that have passed the first round of reviews. The invitation of authors
to the workshop will not guarantee publication in LRP. The special
issue workshop will be hosted in Sothern Italy, at the University of
Catania or at the University of Sannio-Benevento, in the Summer of 2015.
Submission guidelines and deadline
Papers for the special issue should be prepared according to LRP?s
guidelines for authors. All papers will undergone the usual double
blind review process of LRP. Submit full manuscripts to the online
submission system of LRP by the special issue submission deadline of
31 December, 2014:
http://ees.elsevier.com/lrp/default.asp
Additional information
For additional information, refer to the special issue guest editors:
Arturo Capasso, University of Sannio at Benevento - E-mail:
capasso@unisannio.it
Giovanni Battista Dagnino, University of Catania - E-mail:
dagnino@unict.it
David King, Iowa State University - E-mail:
drking@iastate.edu
Janne Tienari, Aalto University - E-mail:
janne.tienari@aalto.fi
Bio sketches
Arturo Capasso is Professor of Corporate Governance, Director of the
Graduate Program in Economics and Management and Director of the
Master in Clinical Governance at University of Sannio at Benevento,
Italy. He is also Professor of Corporate Finance and Professor of
Business Valuation at the Masters in Economics and Finance (MEF) of
the University of Naples ?Federico II?. He received is MBA from
Columbia University in New York, and his Ph.D. in Corporate Finance
from the University of Bergamo and Catholic University of Milan. His
main research interests lie in the areas of corporate strategy (M&As),
corporate governance, finance, project finance, shipping finance,
venture capital and private equity. He was panelist and track
organizer in several Academy of Management Conferences and European
Academy of Management Conference. He serves on the editorial board of
the Journal of Management and Governance and review papers for
numerous international journals. He has published articles and
chapters in international outlets and authored/edited six books.
Giovanni Battista Dagnino is Professor in the Department of Economics
and Business of the University of Catania, Italy, where he is
Coordinator of the PhD Program in Economics and Management and
Academic Director of GRIM-Group of Research on Insurance and Banking
Economics and Management. In addition, he is faculty member of the
European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM) in
Brussels, Fellow of the Strategic Planning Society in London, Friend
of the European Investment Bank Institute in Luxembourg, and
representative at large of the Competitive Strategy Interest Group of
the Strategic Management Society. He has held visiting positions at
the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Wharton School, London
Business School, IESE Business School, Grenoble Ecole de Management,
the University of Mannheim and IAE Business School, Universidad
Austral, Buenos Aires. He has served or is serving as guest editor for
special issues of outlets such as Strategic Management Journal,
Industrial Marketing Management, International Studies of Management
and Organization, Journal of Management and Governance, Global
Strategy Journal, and Management Research. His current research
revolves around the strategic theory of the firm with specific focus
on coopetition strategy dynamics, the role of anchor firms and
networks in regional innovation and development, the relationships
between strategy, governance and entrepreneurship, and the evolution
of strategy paradigms. He has authored/edited eleven books and several
articles in leading management journals.
David King. Dr. King earned his Ph.D. in Strategy and Entrepreneurship
from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, following a
military career where he managed multi-million dollar development and
procurement programs, he joined Marquette University in 2010 as
Associate Professor of Management, and Iowa State University in 2013.
His research focuses on merger and acquisition (M&A) integration and
performance, technology innovation and defense procurement with
articles appearing in leading journals. His work has been published in
Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management, Journal of
Management Studies, Organization Science, and Strategic Management
Journal. He is an Associated Editor of Journal of Management Studies,
and has also edited a special issue of the Journal of Cost Analysis
and Management and a forthcoming book on M&A published by Routledge.
Janne Tienari is Professor of Organizations and Management at Aalto
University, School of Business, Finland. He also works as Guest
Professor at Stockholm University, School of Business, Sweden. He is
associate editor of Organization and on the editorial board of
Organization Studies. Tienari?s research and teaching interests
include managing multinational corporations, strategy work, gender and
diversity, cross-cultural management and communication, and
management, new generations and the future. He has published in
journals such as the Academy of Management Review, Organization
Science, Organization Studies, Journal of Management Studies, Human
Relations, British Journal of Management, Organization, and Journal of
Management Inquiry.
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Giovanni Battista DAGNINO
Professor of Business Economics and Management
Department of Economics and Business
University of Catania
Corso Italia, 55
95129 - Catania (Italy)
Tel: 39.095.7537.622
Fax: 39.095.7537.610
E-mail:
dagnino@unict.it
Web site:
www.giovannibattistadagnino.eu