ORGANIZATIONAL LONGEVITY AS THE INDICATOR OF STRATEGIC SUCCESS: A CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL DISCUSION

Abstract

Even the dominant view in mainstream business literature is ‘firms/companies will survive if they perform above the average’, in the reality of the business world/ in the market long-lived organizations are very few in number. Besides there are studies (De Geus, 1999; Capital Online, 2010; ATO, 2005) which found that life time of the organizations/firms are decreasing. Therefore it is thought that performing above the average does not guarantee the organizational longevity. In other words, achieving on average is necessary condition but not sufficient condition for living-company. Based on this basic assumption this study aims to discuss ‘organizational longevity’ in strategic management discipline framework - as a strategic success indicator instead of ‘performance’ that popular concept of the literature-. Since the study looks to the firms’ long time performance in the context of sustainable competition advantage issue, strategic management field is chosen as theoretical frame of the study. The design of the study consists of two parts: i- conceptual part which focuses on the definition of organizational longevity and the linkage between the concept and strategic management, iitheoretical part which is concerning to discuss organizational longevity through the basic discussions and classifications of strategic management field. In consequence of the study put forward that, classical strategic management perspective and the basis paradigm of this thought dominate the mainstream literature by prioritizing the concept of ‘performance’. But it is possible to enlarge discussion areas of strategic management discipline by focusing organizational longevity which enable to research different contexts and different firm types

Keywords

• -

STRATEJİK BAŞARI GÖSTERGESİ OLARAK ÖRGÜTSEL UZUN ÖMÜRLÜLÜK: KAVRAMSAL VE KURAMSAL BİR TARTIŞMA

Abstract

İşletme disiplini literatüründe hakim olan görüş, işletmelerin ortalamanın üzerinde performans sergilediklerinde hayatta kalacağı yönünde olsa da, gerçeklikte/piyasada uzun ömürlü işletmelerin sayısının oldukça az olduğu görülmektedir. Bununla birlikte işletmelerin/örgütlerin yaşam sürelerinin giderek kısalmakta olduğunu bulgulayan çalışmalar da mevcuttur (De Geus, 1999; Capital Online, 2010; ATO, 2005). Bu nedenle ortalamanın üzerinde performansın işletmenin uzun ömürlülüğünün teminatı -bir başka ifade ile performansın uzun ömürlülük için gerekli şart olduğu, ancak yeterli şart- olmadığı düşünülmektedir. Bu temel varsayımdan hareketle bu çalışma ‘örgütsel uzun ömürlülüğü’ bir başarı göstergesi olarak kabul edip, kavramı stratejik yönetim disiplini çerçevesinde tartışmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu kabul ile çalışma, başarı göstergesi olarak çoğunlukla ‘performans’ kavramının araştırıldığı literatürden farklılaşmaktadır. Rekabet avantajının nasıl oluşturulup, sürdürüleceği problematiği kapsamında, işletmelerin dünü, bugünü ve yarınını araştırmaya konu edildiğinden stratejik yönetim alanı bu çalışmanın kuramsal sınırlarını çizen çerçeve olarak seçilmiştir. Çalışmanın tasarımı iki seviyeden oluşmaktadır. Bunlardan ilki, örgütsel uzun ömürlülük kavramının tanımlanıp, literatürdeki araştırmalar yardımıyla stratejik yönetim disiplini ile ilişkisinin kurulduğu kavramsal kısımdır. İkincisi ise stratejik yönetim disiplini içinde var olan temel sınıflandırmalar üzerinden örgütsel uzun ömürlülüğün tartışıldığı kuramsal kısımdır. Çalışmanın sonucunda, ‘performans’ kavramını önceleyerek ana akım strateji yazınına yön veren kaynağın, klasik stratejik yönetim perspektifi ve bu perspektifin üzerinde yükseldiği paradigmanın anlaşılmıştır. Çeşitli stratejik yönetim perspektiflerinden beslenerek örgütsel uzun ömürlülük konusuna odaklanmanın, farklı bağlamlardaki farklı işletme tiplerinin strateji araştırmalarına imkan sağlayacağı ve böylece disiplinin tartışma alanlarını genişleteceği de çalışmanın sonuç niteliğindeki iddiasıdır.

Keywords

• Örgütsel Uzun Ömürlülük, Stratejik Yönetim Perspektifleri

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