The Impact of Strategy on Conflict: A Cross- National Comparative Study of U.S. and Japanese firms
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Although researchhas alreadyprovidedmuch insightinto the relationshipof strategyand implementation[Milesand Snow 1978;Porter1980;Ruekertand Walker1987],the globalizationof businessheraldsnew challengesin translating companies'abstractlong-termgoals and objectivesinto their concrete expressionin daily firm activities.Both escalatingglobal competition and a shift in managementpracticesworldwideimply increasinglyfrequentchanges in firm strategy [Beechlerand Yang 1994; Kotabe 1990; Rosenzweig and Nohria 1994].Consequently,businesseswill face an imperativeto make the rightchangesin theirstrategyimplementationprocessesquickly[Hoffmanand Gopinath 1994]. Yet, the presentation of a new strategic agenda often engendersconflict rather than cooperativeimplementationwithin the firm [Hutt,Walkerand Frankwick1995;Quinn 1973]. *Dr. BarbaraDyer is Assistant Professorof Marketingand Scott Fetzer Faculty Fellow at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She holds an M.S. in Retailing from the University of North Carolinaat Greensboroand a Ph.D. in Marketingand StrategicManagementfromthe Universityof Tennessee.Her researchinterestscenter on relationshipissues in new product developmentand sales,with an emphasison global firms. **Dr.X. MichaelSong is AssociateProfessorof Marketingin the Eli BroadGraduateSchool of Management,MichiganState University.He receivedan M.S. from CornellUniversity,an MBA and Ph.D. in BusinessAdministrationfrom the Universityof Virginia.His research interestsincludethe managementof technology,innovation,and joint venturewith Japanese and Chinese companies, with particularemphasis on studying the best practices of new productdevelopmentmanagement. We would like to acknowledge the generous support of the College of Business, University of Tennessee, the College of Business, Ohio University, and the Hitachi Research Fund. Received: July 1996; Revised: November 1996 & April 1997; Accepted: April 1997. 467
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JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1997
Understanding the relationship of strategy to conflict approaches within the firm is important for a number of reasons [Kim and Mauborne 1993; Manu 1992]. First, conflict during strategy implementation is increasing as a result of frequent strategy shifts and shifts in general management practices worldwide [Beechler and Yang 1994; Kotabe 1990; Rosenzweig and Nohria 1994]. Too much conflict can slow down and impede successful communication, and, therefore, strategy implementation [Gray and Starke 1988; Hall 1991]. Second, conflict approaches are changing. Eastern and Western management techniques appear in some respects to be converging, involving a realignment of cooperative and individualistic behavior [Misawa 1987]. This realignment may modify the way individuals and collective groups within the firm accept or challenge strategic goals [Triandis, Bontempo, Villareal, Asai, and Lucca 1988]. Thus
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