Doctoral Dissertations
Date of Award
5-1990
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
Business Administration
Major Professor
Max S. Wortman Jr.
Committee Members
Dudley Dewhirst, David Barnaby, Alex Miller
Abstract
How do organizations pursuing different strategies solve the problem of capacity shortfall? To understand the evaluation of strategic alternatives and strategic decision making, several Issues were addressed concerning the Industrial site location decision as a major strategic decision. Questions central to this purpose concerned: (1) the types of location decisions made by firms following different strategies, (2) the type of decision making tactics used by firms following different strategies, (3) differences In the level of success achieved by firms following different strategies, and (4) differences In the level of success across firms using different decision making tactics. These Issues were Investigated In a sample of 1049 firms that have located, relocated, or expanded with new capital or new employment across Tennessee during 1984-1985. A mall survey was used to collect the data from 396 responding firms. The analysis consisted of examining crosstabulatlons of strategy by type of expansion decision, decision making tactics used, and level of success attained. As these variables are Independent categorical variables, the categorical modeling procedure was used to fit linear models to the functions of the response frequencies. The maximum-likelihood Chi-square test was utilized to determine the statistical dependence or Independence of the variables. The site decision, type of decision making tactics used, and level of success were all found to vary depending upon the strategy. The nature of the variation was further investigated with analysis of contrasts (similar to ANOVA). Firms following a vertical integration strategy had the highest percentage of firms using external sources of information and the lowest percentage of firms using organization-wide tactics such as site committees. Diversifying companies were characterized by a lower percentage of firms going outside for decision making information and a higher percentage relying on the personal knowledge of the CEO than firms following any of the other strategies. Firms following combined strategies of concentration, product development, and market development had a lower reliance on the knowledge of the CEO than firms following straight concentration, product development, or joint venture strategies. More complex combinations of strategies resulted in a wider search for information about possible strategic alternatives. Firms following the concentration and joint venture strategies generally were more successful than firms pursuing other strategies. Firms which used outside sources of information such as consultants, relators, local officials, or executives of other firms were the most successful with their expansions and relocations. The level of success was not statistically different from firms that based their location decision solely on the knowledge of the CEO. Firms using organization-wide tactics such as site selection committees, published data, and the site visit were less successful then firms using CEO centered or outside sources of information.
Recommended Citation
Watson, Kerr F., "The analysis of a strategic decision : an empirical examination of strategies pursued, alternatives evaluation, decision making tactics, and outcome satisfaction : the case of industrial site location. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1990.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/11521
