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Investigating Three Key Principles of Sustained Strategic Renewal

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B&T29386-ERIM Omslag Kwee_18mei09 INVESTIGATING THREE KEY PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINED STRATEGIC RENEWAL 174 ZENLIN KWEE A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF LONG-LIVED FIRMS How do long-lived firms strategically renew themselves over time? Viewing organiza- tional longevity as sustained strategic renewal, this PhD research investigates three key principles of self-renewing organizations. Building on the coevolutionary perspective that Investigating Three Key incorporates both selection and adaptation perspectives, we developed a comprehensive ZENLIN KWEE Key Principles of Sustained Strategic Renewal - Investigating Three framework to investigate these three key principles in the oil industry as our case industry, Principles of Sustained with Shell (1907-2008) as our focal case company and BP (1970-2008) as our comparative case company. Besides the multilevel and comparative case study methods, we employed the method of longitudinal content analysis to incorporate the temporal analysis of Strategic Renewal sustained strategic renewal over an extended period of time. First, we investigated the principle of matching the internal rate of change with the external rate of change. Our A Longitudinal Study of Long-Lived Firms results suggest that aligning the internal rate of change of a firm with the external rate of change of the firm’s environment positively influences the firms’ sustained strategic renewal. Second, enviro nmental turbulence requires firms to renew their organizational structure and develop self-organization. Our findings propound that self-organization ERIM positively influences sustained strategic renewal. Third, we investigated exploratory and exploitative strategic renewal trajectories as well as the role of top management team (TMT) in influencing these trajectories. We found that balancing exploration and exploitation positively influences sustained strategic renewal and that the TMT’s Design & layout: B&T Ontwerp en advies (www.b-en-t.nl) Print: Haveka (www.haveka.nl) Design & layout: B&T Ontwerp en advies (www.b-en-t.nl) corporate governance perspective (shareholders / stakeholders) does influence strategic renewal trajectories. Finally, we substantiated managerial implications based on the enabling antecedents of the three key principles. ERIM The Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) is the Research School (Onder - zoek school) in the field of management of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. The founding participants of ERIM are Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), and the Erasmus School of Econo mics (ESE). ERIM was founded in1999 and is officially accredited by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). The research undertaken by ERIM is focussed on the management of the firm in its environment, its intra- and interfirm relations, and its business processes in their interdependent connections. The objective of ERIM is to carry out first rate research in management, and to offer an ad vanced doctoral pro gramme inResearch in Management. Within ERIM, over three hundred senior researchers and PhD candidates are active in the different research pro- grammes. From a variety of academic backgrounds and expertises, the ERIM community is united in striving for excellence and working at the forefront of creating new business knowledge. Erasmus Research Institute of ManagementErasmus Research - ERIM PhD Series Research in Management Erasmus Research Institute of Management - ERIM Tel. +31 10 408 11 82 ERIM Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) Fax +31 10 408 96 40 Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) E-mail [email protected] P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam Internet www.erim.eur.nl The Netherlands Investigating Three Key Principles of Sustained Strategic Renewal A Longitudinal Study of Long-Lived Firms Zenlin Kwee 1 2 Investigating Three Key Principles of Sustained Strategic Renewal A longitudinal study of long-lived firms Onderzoek naar drie kernprincipes van duurzame strategische vernieuwing Een longitudinale studie van lang bestaande bedrijven PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam op gezag van de rector magnificus Prof.dr. S.W.J. Lamberts en volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties. De openbare verdediging zal plaatsvinden op donderdag 25 juni 2009 om 13.30 uur door Zenlin Kwee Geboren te Tanjung Balai, Indonesië 3 Promotiecommissie Promotoren: Prof.dr.ing. F.A.J. Van Den Bosch Prof.dr. H.W. Volberda Overige leden: Dr. M.G. Baaij Prof.dr. C.W.F. Baden-Fuller Prof.dr. A. Heene Erasmus Research Institute of Management – ERIM Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) Erasmus University Rotterdam Internet: http://www.erim.eur.nl ERIM Electronic Series Portal: http://hdl.handle.net/1765/1 ERIM Ph.D. Series in Research in Management, 174 Reference number ERIM: EPS-2009-174-STR ISBN 978-90-5892-212-0 © 2009, Zenlin Kwee Design: B&T Ontwerp en advies www.b-en-t.nl Print: Haveka www.haveka.nl All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. 4 Voor mijn allerliefste Peter For my beloved parents, Nurlelie & HanKheng Kwee In loving memory of my brother, Kawi Kwee, and my godmother, AhDjie Kwee 5 6 vii Preface Long-lived firms have long fascinated me. As a researcher, their long existence has made me ponder how they renew themselves over time in the context of changing external conditions. The starting point of my research on corporate longevity can be traced back to January 2004 when I had my first MSc thesis meeting with my thesis coach at TU Delft, Ivo Wenzler. Ivo introduced me to the topic of corporate longevity and provoked my interest in delving into this topic further. Soon after I defended my MSc thesis, Erik den Hartigh, my other thesis supervisor back then and now one of my colleagues at TU Delft, informed me that there was a PhD vacancy for the research topic of corporate longevity and self-renewing organizations at the Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM). I owe both Ivo and Erik many thanks. Back then as part of my application for the PhD vacancy, I had an interview with Frans van den Bosch and Henk Volberda who later became my PhD supervisors. I would like to thank both Frans and Henk for giving me this unique research opportunity. The overall research has provided me with invaluable learning experience. Frans and Henk, I also thank you for giving me indispensable guidance and especially for believing in me when I most hesitated along the route. During my PhD time, I was surrounded and supported by wonderful colleagues at the Department of Strategic Management and Business Environment (RSM). I would like to thank my former officemates Ancella, Ania and Marja for giving me moral supports and for sharing with me the ups and downs of being a PhD student. I thank Anna and Raymond for giving me encouragement especially during the Academy of Management conferences. I thank Marten for his companionship at the JMS conference in Oxford and for helping me to move my office stuffs from Rotterdam to Delft. I thank Joy, Annelies, Andriew, Flore, Henri, Pieter-Jan, Michiel, Hans, Pepijn, Frank, Justin, Koen, Ilan, René, Patrick, and the rest of the former as well as the current department members for being nice colleagues and friends. I would also like to thank Marc Baaij for helping me during the proposal stage at the Shell project, for giving his helpful comments during the project, and for being one of my PhD committee members. My special thanks go to the secretariat office: to Carolien, Patricia, Marisa, and (formerly) Cindy for being always helpful and supportive. 7 viii The longitudinal nature of my PhD research is time and resource intensive and I would not have been able to employ the longitudinal content analysis method without the help of my great research assistants. In particular, I would like to thank Paul Methorst. Paul and I started the research project at Shell by photocopying thousands of pages of Shell’s Annual Reports from the early years. Later on Annika Kappner joined us. Both Paul and Annika helped me to digitalize thousands of pages of annual reports, code and document strategic renewal actions of Shell and BP. When I needed additional internal archival documents to analyze the self-organization principle, Bernardo Lima helped me to sort and code the data from the Shell’s Organizational Directories. Additionally Bernardo also helped me to code parts of the strategic renewal actions of BP case. I also thank Oli Mihalache for reading some of my working papers, for giving his comments and for helping me to sort out the list of variables. I am indebted to ERIM for funding my PhD project. In particular, I would like to thank Tineke, Olga, and (previously) Myra for their practical supports towards the achievement of this PhD thesis. The empirical part of this PhD research would not have been possible without the support from many former as well as active top executives and top managers at Royal Dutch Shell. In particular, I am indebted to Leo Roodhart. Leo has always given me his whole-hearted support. Despite his hectic schedule, he still made himself accessible to me whenever I needed to discuss my research with him. Special thanks to Jan van der Eijk, Peter Kwant, Michiel Groeneveld, and Hessel de Jong for giving me the opportunity to conduct my research at Shell. I would also like to thank Dave McCormick, Gerard Bol, Willem Manders, Shell GameChanger team in Rijswijk and Houston, Mariandl van Otterloo, Ramona Hazebroek, Xander Campman, Wim Schinkel, and Shell Student Society in Rijswijk. Although I was based in Rijswijk, I am very grateful to also get support from Shell’s head office in The Hague, Shell Global Solutions in Amsterdam, and Shell’s office in London.
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