On November 12, I presented the following paper at the 5th Fifth Annual Mid-Atlantic Strategy Colloquium at the University of Maryland:

• Kellermanns, F. W., Walter, J., Matherne, C., Floyd, S. W., & Veiga, J. F. “Decision alignment: A missing link in the relationship between strategic consensus and organizational performance.”

Thanks to all the participants for the great feedback we received.

From August 6-10, the 2010 Academy of Management Annual Meeting took place in Montreal, Canada. Under the conference theme “Dare to care,” my colleagues Daniel Levin (Rutgers University) & Melissa Appleyard (Portland State University) presented our paper:

• “Trusted bridging ties: A dyadic solution to the brokerage-closure dilemma.”

For more information, check the AOM Website.

New Article Forthcoming in Organization Science:

Dormant ties: The value of reconnecting

Daniel Z. Levin*, Jorge Walter**, J. Keith Murnighan***

* Rutgers University, ** The George Washington University, *** Northwestern University

The social networks literature suggests that ties must be maintained to retain value. In contrast, we show that reconnecting dormant ties—former ties, now out of touch—can be extremely useful. Our research prompted Executive MBA students to consult their dormant contacts about an important work project; outcomes compared favorably to those of their current ties. In addition, reconnecting previously strong ties led to all of the four benefits that are usually associated with either weak ties (efficiency and novelty) or strong ties (trust and shared perspective). These findings suggest that dormant relationships—often overlooked or underutilized—can be a valuable source of knowledge and social capital.

Keywords: Social capital, tie strength, knowledge transfer

For a copy of the article, please see here.

After four both personally and professionally rewarding years at Portland State University, my family and I recently transferred back to the East Coast where I will start my new position at The George Washington University.

I’m thrilled to work at this Top 50 school and to enjoy the perk to be so much closer to family now…

New Article Forthcoming in the Journal of Business Research:

To agree or not to agree? A meta–analytical review of strategic consensus and organizational performance

Franz W. Kellermanns*, Jorge Walter**, Steven W. Floyd***, Christoph Lechner***, & John C. Shaw****

* Mississippi State University, ** Portland State University, *** University of St. Gallen, **** Jacksonville University

The premise underlying most of the research on strategic consensus is that a higher degree of consensus has a positive impact on organizational performance. Empirical studies, however, have produced inconsistent results for the strength and direction of this relationship, as well as for the role of potential moderators. With this meta-analysis, we provide empirical support for a positive effect of strategic consensus on organizational performance, and offer evidence for the existence of several moderators of the aforementioned relationship, which we then discuss as fruitful avenues for future research. This study enhances our understanding of this important strategy process construct and benefits managerial practice by discussing means for improving the realization and implementation of strategies.

Keywords: Strategic consensus, organizational performance, meta-analysis, strategy implementation

For a copy of the article, please see here or contact me directly.

New Article Forthcoming in the Journal of Management:

Decision making within and between organizations: Rationality, politics, and alliance performance

Jorge Walter*, Franz W. Kellermanns**, & Christoph Lechner***

* Portland State University, ** Mississippi State University, *** University of St. Gallen

This study extends research on strategic decision making into the realm of strategic alliances by examining the interactive effect of decision process characteristics at the firm and alliance levels on alliance performance. Located both within and at the boundary between partners, alliance-related decision processes have to balance each partner’s self-interest on one hand and collective actions on the other hand, with both partners being dependent on each other’s collaboration. Using primary, cross-sectional data obtained from 103 high-technology alliances, we study the effects of procedural rationality and politics in decision making. Our results corroborate the importance of procedural rationality that facilitates collective actions between alliance partners, but also uncover the pitfall of an unconditional reliance on procedural rationality at the firm level. Our results further show that politically charged decision processes impair decision makers’ ability to reconcile individual interests both within and between alliance partners, and therefore jeopardize alliance performance.

Keywords: Strategic alliances; alliance performance; decision process characteristics; procedural rationality; politics.

For a copy of the article, please see here or contact me directly.

The 29th Annual International Conference of the Strategic Management Society took place from October 11-14 in Washington, D.C. Under the conference theme
“Strategies in an uncertain world,” I presented my paper:

• “Value creation in technology licensing deals: An empirical comparison of the pharmaceutical and computer industries.”

For more information, check the SMS Website.

From August 7-11, the 2009 Academy of Management Annual Meeting took place in Chicago, IL. Under the conference theme “Green management matters,” we presented two papers:

• “The corporate context and the speed of SBU-level decision making,” with Maximilian Kownatzki (Oliver Wyman) & Christoph Lechner (University of St. Gallen), which was also included in the BPS Best Conference Paper Proceedings (see post from April 9).
• “Dormant ties: Reconnection choices and the value of reconnecting,” with Daniel Z. Levin (Rutgers) & J. Keith Murnighan (Kellogg), which was part of the symposium on “Decay, death, and rebirth of networks and network ties” that Daniel and I organized (see post from March 20).

For more information, check the AOM Website.

Today, the College of Business at Oregon State University has invited me to present my working paper “Rent Appropriation in Technology Licensing Deals” as part of their Austin Entrepreneurship Scholars Research Seminar Series.

Thanks to Ted Khoury for the kind invitation and to all the participants for the valuable feedback on my paper!

The Office of Graduate Studies and Research at Portland State University has generously awarded me a 2009-2010 Faculty Enhancement Grant of $6,000 for my research project:

"Technology licensing deals: Motives, partner selection, and value creation."

The School of Business Administration at Portland State University has generously granted me the 2009 Exceptional Performance Recognition Award.

This is a competitive annual award and salary increase granted to the top 10% of faculty of the School of Business Administration.

My colleague Daniel Z. Levin and I are happy to announce the upcoming symposium we just got accepted at the 2009 Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL:

“Decay, death, and rebirth of networks and network ties.”

Participants: Jason P. Davis (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Ranjay Gulati (Harvard University), Sérgio Lazzarini (IBMEC, Sao Paulo), J. Keith Murnighan (Northwestern University), Ray E. Reagans (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and Todd R. Zenger (Washington University-St. Louis).

For more information, check the AOM Website.

Since I’m recently doing some research on reconnecting dormant ties (see the previous posts from Aug 13, Apr 10, and Mar 20), a colleague sent me this interesting article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/magazine/15wwln-lede-t.html

The author contrasts the ever increasing number of 35-54 year-old users–and their main interest to reconnect with old acquaintances–with the way Facebook may profoundly change the way young people create their adult identity…

I gladly accepted an invitation by the new editor of the Journal of Management, Prof. Talya Bauer, to join the editorial board of the journal.

Please check JOM‘s website for more information.

From October 11-15, the Strategic Management Society Annual International Conference took place in Cologne, Germany. Under the conference theme “How does knowledge matter?”, we presented our papers:

• “Not just ‘anything that leads to performance’: The operational validity of resource definitions” with Franz W. Kellermanns (Mississippi State University & WHU) & Benedict Kemmerer (Bosch Siemens Hausgeraete).
• “Judgment-theoretical assessments of value and inimitability within the realm of the resource-based view” with Franz W. Kellermanns (Mississippi State University & WHU), Benedict Kemmerer (Bosch Siemens Hausgeraete), & V. K. Narayanan (Drexel University).

For more information, check the SMS website.

From August 8-13, the Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2008 took place in Anaheim, CA. Under the conference theme “The questions we ask”, we presented our paper:

• “Dormant ties: The value of reconnecting” with Daniel Z. Levin (Rutgers University) & J. Keith Murnighan (Northwestern University).

Our paper was also included in the Best Paper Proceedings (see the post from April 10).

For more information, check the AOM website.

New Article Published in the Journal of Management Studies 45(3): 530-560

Disentangling alliance management processes: Decision making, politicality, and alliance performance

Jorge Walter*, Christoph Lechner**, & Franz W. Kellermanns***

* Portland State University, ** University of St. Gallen, *** Mississippi State University

Using a sample of 106 organizations engaged in strategic alliances, we develop and test a framework of alliance-related organizational decision-making processes and their impact on alliance performance. With regard to direct effects, our results show a negative impact of decision-making recursiveness and no significant relationship for openness and procedural rationality. Acknowledging the importance of the organization’s micropolitical context in which these decision processes are embedded, we also test the moderating influence of politicality. Our findings provide support for our hypotheses that in a context of low politicality, the decision-making characteristics of openness and procedural rationality have a positive influence, whereas recursiveness negatively affects alliance performance. In a context of high politicality, however, openness and procedural rationality exert a negative influence, and the negative impact of recursiveness is aggravated. We suggest that alliance-related decision making cannot be adequately understood without explicitly considering the micropolitical context in organizations.

Keywords: Strategic alliances, alliance performance, alliance-related decision-making processes, politicality.

For a copy of the article, please see here or contact me directly.

My co-author Daniel Levin (Rutgers) has presented our new working paper “Dormant ties: The value of reconnecting” (co-authored with Keith Murnighan at Kellogg) at Purdue University (on February 19) and the University of Kentucky (on March 18).

We received a lot of valuable feedback to incorporate into our paper before submitting it to a journal by early summer, so thanks to all seminar participants!