Putting Strategy into Action – The Role of Artefacts for Business Format Replication

Abstract

In order to facilitate the implementation of replication strategies, organizations often use a variety of artefacts such as manuals and handbooks. Existing research has largely focused on the extent to which artefacts can act as knowledge repositories that help to facilitate replication. This body of literature has made significant contributions to our understanding of the role of replication, but has focused more on highlighting key challenges involved in the codification of knowledge. This paper demonstrates that artefact based replication is a double edged sword. While replication is enabled by ‘configuring’ artefact‐action relationships (focusing, situating, coordinating) our analysis also reveals that replication is constrained by ‘decoupling’ artefact‐action relationships (accounting, differentiating, disengaging). Our findings contribute to research on replication and provide a more nuanced understanding of why the implementation of replication strategies might fail. We also add to the recent debate on socio‐materiality in strategy research more generally.

Leveraging innovation spaces to foster collaborative innovation

“…Specifically, I applied the logic of retroduction, or abductive inference (Peirce, 1883), moving from real-world observations to "inference to the best explanation" (Harman, 1965). The data analysis was built in four steps (Friesl, Larty, & Jacobs, 2018). The first step was to list all the boundary objects used by the participants of the observed contexts.…”

Strategy implementation: Taking stock and moving forward

“…Finally, strategy work involves the use of tools: the various textual and/or visual materials that substantially shape how strategy work is conducted (Jarzabkowski & Pinch, 2013;Jarzabkowski, Spee, & Smets, 2013;Kaplan & Jarzabkowski, 2006;Vaara & Whittington, 2012). Examples of tools studied include strategy frameworks as part of workshops (Werle & Seidl, 2015), routine descriptions and handbooks (Friesl, Larty, & Jacobs, 2018), information technology (Demir, 2015), and PowerPoint slides (Kaplan, 2011;Knight, Paroutis, & Heracleous, 2018). The S-as-P perspective highlights how tools shape and mediate strategic activities.…”

“…The S-as-P perspective highlights how tools shape and mediate strategic activities. This is of particular relevance in situations of implementation where managers aim to put codified strategies into practice (Friesl et al, 2018;Leonardi, 2015).…”

“…Hence, coherence between texts (rather than between people and levels of hierarchy) enabled SI. Similarly, Friesl et al (2018) showed that the use of material artifacts as tools prescribing implementation can be a double-edged sword during SI. They may invite diverging interpretations and thus not just enable but also constrain implementation.…”

“…Moreover, these objects have a distinct materiality. They can be physical objects with certain characteristics, software, or written documents that enable or constrains certain types of uses (Demir, 2015;Friesl et al, 2018;Werle & Seidl, 2015). As is typical with theories of practice, there is not a single theoretical perspective.…”