THE LINK BETWEEN STRATEGIC POSITIONING AND OPERATIONAL CONTROL: A FIELD STUDY OF A RESTAURANT BUSINESS

Abstract

Hybrid organizations that pursue both social mission and profit aims have been prevalent in our society for many decades. However, the importance of for-profit corporations’ positive social impact has been emphasized and scrutinized in recent few decades, attracting attention of both scholars and practitioners. This study builds on the existing strategy and control framework and proposes an extended conceptual framework for the link between strategic positioning and operational control for hybrid organizations that pursue both social mission and financial sustainability. By conducting a field study, I document three main findings. First, hybrid organizations differentiate themselves from each other by striking a unique balance between social mission and profit goals, and this unique balance determines unique strategic positioning of a hybrid organization. Second, hybrid organizations with different strategic positioning mobilize different dimensions of operational control to monitor their operating activities that support the unique balance between social mission and profit aims. Third, using the content analysis, I document that managerial attention placed on various dimensions of operational control on a daily basis vary across hybrid organizations with different strategic positioning as each organization configures different sets of operating activities to support its unique hybridity.