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Strategies for Companies in Supply Chains with turbulent environments

Ekelund Axelson, Johan LU (2004)
Abstract
The borderless world is providing new opportunities for conducting

business, both within Europe and between continents. Sustainable

competition will be harder to attain and competition will become fiercer,

day-by-day. The Austrian school of strategy emphasizes change,

continuous innovation, and entrepreneurial discovery as sources of

supernormal profits. An important assumption is that these supernormal

profits are not sustainable. Richard D’Aveni’s (1994) concept of

hypercompetition is based on the same assumption about the nature of

competitive advantage.

In order to explore D’Aveni’s model for hypercompetition through

obtaining empirical evidences,... (More)
The borderless world is providing new opportunities for conducting

business, both within Europe and between continents. Sustainable

competition will be harder to attain and competition will become fiercer,

day-by-day. The Austrian school of strategy emphasizes change,

continuous innovation, and entrepreneurial discovery as sources of

supernormal profits. An important assumption is that these supernormal

profits are not sustainable. Richard D’Aveni’s (1994) concept of

hypercompetition is based on the same assumption about the nature of

competitive advantage.

In order to explore D’Aveni’s model for hypercompetition through

obtaining empirical evidences, the model is tested on three different

markets. This is described in four papers, which have been presented at

four different conferences. As the model by D’Aveni on

hypercompetition can still be regarded as new, it has been important to

do in depth theoretical studies as well as several field studies to validate

if the model really is applicable. The objects are business relations and

the strategies behind these business relations.

The overall purpose of this thesis is to explore if new insights into

strategic management of companies can be gained by the application of

D’Aveni’s framework for hypercompetition, with particular focus on the

following two research questions;

• How has each of the D’Aveni’s 7 S’s been made operational in the

case studies?

• Can D’Aveni’s 7 S’s provide guidance on choice of methods and

concepts for handling turbulence in supply chains?

The case studies start from a truck transportation perspective, as nearly

everything we in some way consume has been partly transported on a

truck. A product that is greatly influenced by the new open borderlines in

Europe is the tomato, which during darker half the year is imported and

during the brighter season is produced in Sweden, but under strong

import competition. These tomatoes have to be transported through the

viii

whole supply chain in some type of transport packaging. How can you

act to get control over these supply chains?

Learning about the model does not make it mandatory to use it. Instead

the model can be used for analysing and understanding what is happening

or what is at risk to happen in a business sector. The findings and

theoretical construct in this thesis are intended to be used in a manager’s

toolbox at all levels of an organisation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
strategic management, turbulence, D’Aveni., Hypercompetition
pages
66 pages
ISBN
91-631-5529-X
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
ISRN LUTMDN/TMTP--1041--SE
id
a60ff5b7-e56d-44e5-a2d9-73f222466e21 (old id 636928)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 14:22:03
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:19:54
@misc{a60ff5b7-e56d-44e5-a2d9-73f222466e21,
  abstract     = {{The borderless world is providing new opportunities for conducting<br/><br>
business, both within Europe and between continents. Sustainable<br/><br>
competition will be harder to attain and competition will become fiercer,<br/><br>
day-by-day. The Austrian school of strategy emphasizes change,<br/><br>
continuous innovation, and entrepreneurial discovery as sources of<br/><br>
supernormal profits. An important assumption is that these supernormal<br/><br>
profits are not sustainable. Richard D’Aveni’s (1994) concept of<br/><br>
hypercompetition is based on the same assumption about the nature of<br/><br>
competitive advantage.<br/><br>
In order to explore D’Aveni’s model for hypercompetition through<br/><br>
obtaining empirical evidences, the model is tested on three different<br/><br>
markets. This is described in four papers, which have been presented at<br/><br>
four different conferences. As the model by D’Aveni on<br/><br>
hypercompetition can still be regarded as new, it has been important to<br/><br>
do in depth theoretical studies as well as several field studies to validate<br/><br>
if the model really is applicable. The objects are business relations and<br/><br>
the strategies behind these business relations.<br/><br>
The overall purpose of this thesis is to explore if new insights into<br/><br>
strategic management of companies can be gained by the application of<br/><br>
D’Aveni’s framework for hypercompetition, with particular focus on the<br/><br>
following two research questions;<br/><br>
• How has each of the D’Aveni’s 7 S’s been made operational in the<br/><br>
case studies?<br/><br>
• Can D’Aveni’s 7 S’s provide guidance on choice of methods and<br/><br>
concepts for handling turbulence in supply chains?<br/><br>
The case studies start from a truck transportation perspective, as nearly<br/><br>
everything we in some way consume has been partly transported on a<br/><br>
truck. A product that is greatly influenced by the new open borderlines in<br/><br>
Europe is the tomato, which during darker half the year is imported and<br/><br>
during the brighter season is produced in Sweden, but under strong<br/><br>
import competition. These tomatoes have to be transported through the<br/><br>
viii<br/><br>
whole supply chain in some type of transport packaging. How can you<br/><br>
act to get control over these supply chains?<br/><br>
Learning about the model does not make it mandatory to use it. Instead<br/><br>
the model can be used for analysing and understanding what is happening<br/><br>
or what is at risk to happen in a business sector. The findings and<br/><br>
theoretical construct in this thesis are intended to be used in a manager’s<br/><br>
toolbox at all levels of an organisation.}},
  author       = {{Ekelund Axelson, Johan}},
  isbn         = {{91-631-5529-X}},
  keywords     = {{strategic management; turbulence; D’Aveni.; Hypercompetition}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Licentiate Thesis}},
  title        = {{Strategies for Companies in Supply Chains with turbulent environments}},
  year         = {{2004}},
}