Published research
A qualitative, real-time, longitudinal (2010 – 2022) study with
Automobili Lamborghini
This project proposes a dynamic approach to organizational autonomy. The theoretical model which my co-authors and I developed explains how the interactions between parent managers’ autonomy reduction efforts to achieve economies of scope and unit managers’ autonomy extension efforts to achieve a distinctive organizational identity can create oscillations in a unit’s level of organizational autonomy. These oscillations enable the strategic renewal of distinctive resources and capabilities.
Abstract
Through a 21-year longitudinal study of the relationship between Italian supercar manufacturer Automobili Lamborghini and its parent, German carmaker Audi AG, we examine how a unit’s degree of organizational autonomy is renegotiated over long periods of time. Using detailed empirical data, we develop a process model of the dynamics of organizational autonomy in a unit–parent relationship. This process model shows an ongoing dialectical tension between parent managers’ autonomy-reduction efforts and unit managers’ autonomy-extension efforts, and it reveals oscillations in the unit managers’ discretion over resource-orchestration decisions. Driving this dialectic are parent managers’ appraisal respect for the unit, their search for firm-wide strategic integration, and unit managers’ organizational identity and concern for distinctiveness. Our process model captures concurrent feedback loops that endogenously produce these oscillations between lower and higher autonomy.
This research project was conducted in collaboration with:
Paolo Barbieri (Bologna)
Jean-Luc Arrègle (emlyon)
Thomas Lawton (Cork)
Duncan Angwin (UCL).
“Oscillations in the level of organizational autonomy enable the strategic renewal of distinctive resources and capabilities.”
By regaining organizational autonomy from their parent managers, Automobili Lamborghini managers were able to access the resources and capabilities of new partners. This regained autonomy allowed Lamborghini to successfully develop and bring to market several radical innovations in the Aventador.
The theoretical model explains how interactions between integration efforts, organizational identity and performance create oscillations in a unit’s level of organizational autonomy.
Prize & Recognition
This research publication won the
2023 FNEGE SYNTEC Consulting Prize for Best Research Article in Management
A “behind the scene” interview is available on the ASQ Blog
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