Tilburg University promotie PhD Defense

Promotie X. Nghona

Datum: Tijd: 10:00 Locatie: Aula

From one dominant growth mode to another: Switching between strategic expansion modes

In this PhD thesis, chapter 1 narrates the extant literature showing that firms expand through the organic growth strategy, others through the acquisition strategy, and some by a combination of these two modes. It also reveals that firms sometimes switch from one dominant growth mode to the other, but we have limited insight on why top managers switch modes and how these strategic switch processes unfold. After showing that extant literature is silent about these gaps, chapter 2 reveals that behavioral theory of the firm (BTOF) stand a chance to offer plausible explanations but rather through a newly emergent stream instead of the dominant performance feedback. Chapter 3 adopts qualitative, interpretative grounded theory permitting us to tap into the lived experiences of top managers and annual reports to form the basis of emerging theory. While the context of the study is discussed in chapter 4, case-by-case and cross-case data analyses are explored in 5 and 6, respectively. Lastly, chapter 7 offers three theoretical contributions a) performance anxiety as a major driver leading top managers to switch strategies, from one growth mode to another b) explaining this through forward-looking logic (performance prospects) of BTOF, instead of backward-looking logic (performance feedback), and c) exposing the three phases that bring to bear the situational, action-formation and transformational mechanisms at work, and in doing so reveal the unfolding processes taking place during the formation of a specific switch mode.

Xolani graduated BTech (2008) and MTech (2010) degrees at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Cape Town in South Africa. In 2016 he moved to the Netherlands for PhD in Business at Tilburg University. He is a co-founding director at Intrapreneurship Factory – consulting firm helping managers to create intrapreneurship culture, strategy, etc., to transform employees into intrapreneurs. He is an intrapreneurship honorary fellow at Global Intrapreneurs Institute based in Australia, received intrapreneur training offered by Studio Zao based in London. He is a guest lecturer at University of Pretoria for a Masters’ program, teaching intrapreneurship. Since 2012 he has been teaching Construction Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management, supervising Bachelor & Masters’ thesis, at CPUT. 

  • Locatie: Cobbenhagen building, Aula
  • Promotor: prof. dr. N.G. Noorderhaven
  • Copromotor: dr. J.S. Small

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