A conceptual framework for enterprise management

Abstract

This paper reports on the theoretical foundations and the practical reasons for the increasing popularity of the enterprise management perspective. Theoretical foundations are given that discuss vertically integrated, virtual and extended enterprises in terms of endogenous and exogenous factors, and the tensions that these create. An exploratory study in the German automotive industry using inductive grounded theory was conducted, involving data collection via 28 semi-structured interviews with 16 companies and data validation via a questionnaire survey receiving 110 responses from 52 companies. The research delivers a conceptual framework to show how enterprise structures emerge, depending on the prevailing type of core competencies that they use. Furthermore, it proposes contingency-planning recommendations to facilitate managing the change from one structure to another as the demands placed upon the enterprise change.

Keywords:

• Enterprise management
• Core competencies
• Contingency planning
• Organizational design
• Collaboration
• Automotive industry

Acknowledgements

Extensive thanks to all the companies and interviewees from the German automotive industry who have contributed to this research. For reasons of confidentiality, the majority of the companies and interviewees wish to remain anonymous.