Feedforward Orientation in the Strategic Management Process: A Contingent ChoiceVeliyath, Rajaram (1986) Feedforward Orientation in the Strategic Management Process: A Contingent Choice. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
AbstractIs organizational performance influenced by an appropriate mix of 'feedforward' and 'feedback' activities at the business unit level ? Do certain environmental contingencies and strategic orientations require different proportions of these characteristics in the strategic management process in order to promote organizational eff activeness ? This research attempted to answer these and other questions by investigating the relative importance of 'feedforward' and 'feedback' characteristics employed in strategic planning and control processes. This balance between feedforward and feedback orientations was studied under different environmental contingencies and strategic orientations at the Strategic Business Unit (SBU) level. Dynamic environments were found to be associated with a feedforward orientation, as expected. Hostile environments required an emphasis on both feedforward and feedback orientations, which suggests that here, lessons from the past have to be coupled with sensitivity to the future. Complex or heterogeneous environments moderated the relationship between strategy and the feedforward orientation of the management process. Prospector strategies were normally associated with a feedforward In general, higher performance was strongly correlated with a greater feedforward orientation. Even here, conditions of high heterogeneity were observed to reduce the strength of this association, thereby confirming that a feedforward orientation was more useful when the complexity in the environment was relatively less. A major contribution from the research was the development of measures for the 'feedforward' orientation employed in the strategic planning and control package. The primary sample for the main study consisted of 500 SBUs in the manufacturing sector (i.e., 20-39 SIC codes) which were picked at random from the 'Directory of Corporate Affiliations, 1984'. Data collection was accomplished through questionnaires mailed to the CEOs of these SBUs. Reliability was established through obtaining a second response from a different member of the SBU's top-management team. Share
Details
MetricsMonthly Views for the past 3 yearsPlum AnalyticsActions (login required)
|
![[feed]](/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}