Individual decision-making by top executives as a valuable resource for strategic management – A resource-based view and dynamic capability approach

Strategy is highly important for organisational success and the achievement of competitive advantage. Strategy is dynamic and it depends on accurate individual decision-making from medium and high-level managers and executives. Since managers always formulate strategy, its formulation depends mostly on their assertive decisions. Making good decisions is a complex task, even more in today’s business world where a large quantity of information and a dynamic environment forces people to decide without having complete information. As Shafir, Simonson, & Tversky (1993) point out, "the making of decisions, both big and small, is often difficult because of uncertainty and conflict". In this paper the author will explain a basic theoretical framework about top manager's individual decision-making, showing how complex the process of making high-impact decisions is; then, he will compare this theory with one of the most important streams in strategic management, the Resource-Based View (RBV) of the firm. Finally, within the context of individual decision-making and the RBV stream, the author will show how individual decision makers in top management positions constitute a valuable, rare, non-imitable and non-substitutable resource that provides sustained competitive advantage.

Resource-based view and dynamic capabilities - Achieving competitive advantage through internal resources and competences

Strategy has always been important for success. Whether strategy is applied for military purposes, in large firms, or even for personal objectives, there are certain key characteristics that every successful strategy carries on: clear, objective and simple goals; deep knowledge and understanding of the competitive environment; objective understanding and exploitation of resources; and an effective plan implementation. In this paper, the author’s attention will be focused on the role of internal resources, routines and processes as the bases of sustained competitive advantage (hereafter SCA) into what is now known as the resourcebased view of the firm (RBV) and Dynamic Capabilities (DC). First, the relevance of RBV and DC approaches and the main characteristics of those are briefly mentioned. Second, RBV and DC are examined as an important piece to achieve SCA. Later on, the author deepens into some examples and the manager’s importance when using these RBV and DC approaches. Then issues related with complexity and undefined concepts in RBV and DC are briefly mentioned. Finally, conclusions and personal comments are presented.

Emberi erőforrás menedzsment és gyakorlatai a lean termelésben – a tevékenységmenedzsment irodalmának tükrében = Human resource management and practices in lean manufacturing – review of Operations Management’s literature

A lean bevezetése nem korlátozódik a termelés újraértelmezésére, hanem jellemzően a vállalati belső működés (számvitel, emberi erőforrás, beszerzés) és külső kapcsolatok (beszállítók, ellátási lánc) újszervezését is megköveteli. Ezek a kapcsolódási pontok számos, tudományterületek határán fekvő kutatási irányt nyitnak meg. Ebben a tanulmányban a lean termelés és a belső működéshez sorolt emberi erőforrás menedzsment kapcsolatára fókuszálok. Célom, hogy a tevékenységmenedzsment vonatkozó irodalmának áttekintésével bemutassam a lean termelés logikájához illeszkedő emberi erőforrás menedzsmentet, annak jellemző gyakorlatait. = Lean goes beyond manufacturing, implementing its principles usually requires companies to reorganize their companywide internal operations (accounting, human resource, purchasing) and also external relations (supplier, supply chain). This linkages offer several multidisciplinary research directions, this study focuses on the relationship between human resource management and lean production. The main aim of this working paper is to review Operations Management’s literatures on this issue and present the human resource policy and its practices that fit and support lean production.

A kivonulás-tiltakozás-hűség fogalomhármas közgazdaságtani relevanciája a 21. században = The relevance of "exit, voice and loyalty" theory in 21st-century economics

A dolgozat a politikatudomány és közgazdaság-tudomány határán álló kivonulás-tiltakozás-hűség modell lényegét járja körbe. Az Albert O. Hirschman által felépített gondolati keret szemléleti frissessége és sajátos megközelítési módja rendkívül termékenyítően hatott az elmúlt évtizedekben a társadalomtudományok fejlődésére. Mégis viszonylag periferikus helyet foglal el a közgazdaság-tudományon belül, miközben például a rendszerváltás és az azt követő társadalmi feszültségek megjelenése szempontjából is sokoldalúan használható fogalmi keretről van szó. A válság indukálta turbulens környezet még inkább rávilágít arra, hogy ma is időszerű perspektívát kínál a hanyatlás politikai gazdaságtana, azaz hasznos elemzési kapaszkodó nyújt az úgynevezett Hirschman-trilemma a társadalmi és gazdasági folyamatok értelmezéséhez. ________ The article concerns the "exit, voice, and loyalty" concept, which straddles the border of political science and economics. This theoretical framework, invented by Albert O. Hirschman, has exercised a fruitful influence in the social sciences in the last few decades, through its fresh features and original approach. However, it holds a peripheral position in economics and plays an undervalued role in eco-nomic education in Hungary, even though it can be flexibly applied in analyses of such phenomena as the economic transition and the ensuing social tensions. Moreover the very turbulence of the conditions brought about by the crisis show that the political economy of decline offers a relevant perspective, so that the Hirschman trilemma is a practical analytical tool for understanding social and economic processes.