Baan Company’S Corporate Web Strategy – an Effort to Reach Main Street

23 Pages Posted: 9 Mar 2004

See all articles by Henk A. Post

Henk A. Post

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE); Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)

Harry R. Commandeur

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Rotterdam School of Management (RSM); Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)

Date Written: 27 2004 2,

Abstract

During the 1990s Baan Company became a market leader in the enterprise applications industry. Its mission was to become an independent software manufacturer, serving a global market. To speed up growth, Baan developed its Baan Web strategy which implied a far-reaching renewal of its corporate strategy. Burgelman and Grove (1996) define the moment of choosing a new strategy as a strategic inflection point. Their framework named “Dynamic Forces in Firm Evolution” explains that ssuccessful development and implementation of a new corporate strategy is a process of aligning five dynamic forces. The focus of this study is on the vital role of the internal selection environment. This force regulates the allocation of the company’s scarce resources – cash, competences/capabilities and senior management attention – to strategic action. It is the crucial force in the continuing alignment processes that have to take place. Every company has a unique combination of distinctive competences (Burgelman) or dynamic capabilities (Teece). The study explains that to execute a new strategy successfully new competences/capabilities have to be developed based on existent ones. The development of Baan’s corporate strategy is analyzed and discussed with reference to the Technology Adoption Life Cycle (Moore). The study concludes with the management implications of a strategic inflection point.

Keywords: corporate strategy, strategic inflection point, distinctive competences, dynamic capabilities, software, ERP, growth, globalization, business web

JEL Classification: M, L20, L12

Suggested Citation

Post, Henk A. and Commandeur, Harry R., Baan Company’S Corporate Web Strategy – an Effort to Reach Main Street (27 2004 2,). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=514812

Henk A. Post

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE)

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam, NL 3062 PA
Netherlands

Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

Harry R. Commandeur (Contact Author)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
Room T08-21
3000 DR Rotterdam, 3000 DR
Netherlands

Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

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