Strategizing in a complex environment: business, government and the Lynemouth aluminium smelter, 1965-1973

Recently, researchers in strategic management have begun to analyze strategy-making in organizations as dynamic, social processes rather than looking at strategy mainly as static positioning. While most of this novel approach towards 'strategizing' has focused on internal processes, a more comprehensive analysis also has to consider external factors. Such an analysis is best served by examining a particular case, since this will allow to take into account a wide range of actors and their interactions. Our paper examines these complex processes by studying the events and decisions leading to the construction of an aluminium smelter at Lynemouth in the North East of England in the early 1970s by the Canadian producer Alcan. The in-depth archive-based historical case study shows how this result was the - partially unintended - outcome of a complex process involving the company's managers, its competitors as well as a broad range of political actors and government agencies.

 

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Matthias Kipping is Professor of Strategic Management and Chair in Business History at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, Canada. He earned his doctorate at the University of Munich in Germany and also has degrees from the Sorbonne and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris as well as Harvard's John F Kennedy School of Government. He held previous appointments at the University of Reading in the UK, Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain, and has been a visiting professor at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy and at several Japanese and French universities.

His main research interest has been the international diffusion of management knowledge, with a particular focus on the role of consultants and business schools. He has published widely on this topic, including many journal articles. He is currently co-editing The Oxford Handbook of Management Consulting and is finalising a manuscript on The Consultancy Business in Historical and Comparative Perspective, both to be published by Oxford University Press. He is starting a new research project on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, examining their role in company strategy as well as their long-term economic and social impact.

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^{Venue: Lilybank House Seminar Room}

^{Time: 11am}

^{Tea, coffee & biscuits will be provided.}

 

First published: 15 May 2009