Administrative Heritage: An Exploratory Study of Large Australian Firms

Tatiana Zalan and Geoffrey Lewis
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Tatiana Zalan: Department of Management, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010.
Geoffrey Lewis: Professorial Fellow, Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010.

Australian Journal of Management, 2006, vol. 31, issue 2, 293-311

Abstract: In this study we address the existing gap in the literature on the strategic evolution of Australian MNCs and the effect their administrative heritage, developed in the domestic market, had on their ability to compete internationally. We explore the administrative heritage of eleven large Australian-owned firms in four industries and conclude that these firms had a distinct administrative heritage—domestic portfolio mentality and reliance on strategic assets for competitive advantage, coupled with limited FDI traditions. We contend that the firms' administrative heritage explains in part their lack of success in international markets. Our findings support the propositions advanced by other scholars (e.g. Bartlett & Ghoshal 1989; Collis 1991) that a firm's administrative heritage establishes unique constraints on strategic choice.

Keywords: CORPORATE STRATEGY; INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY; ADMINISTRATIVE HERITAGE (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ausman:v:31:y:2006:i:2:p:293-311

DOI: 10.1177/031289620603100206

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