Tactical Management in Complexity: Managerial and Informational Aspects
by Petrevska Nechkoska, Renata (Author)

About the Author
Renata Petrevska Nechkoska is a researcher, lecturer and practitioner with considerable experience both in rising economies such as in Western Balkans and in Western Europe. After a decade of middle management experience in banking, she moved to the academic world in order to approach tactical management from a multidisciplinary perspective. She holds a double PhD degree in Business Economics from Ghent University (Belgium) and in Management from the University of St. Kliment Ohridski (North Macedonia). In her role as a project evaluator for the European Commission, she applies strategic, tactical and operational management practices in an unpredictable global environment in order to promote sustainable business models and innovations. In her role as head of research in the Western Balkans Alumni Association, she effectuates her internationally-acquired capabilities to improving the higher education ecosystems in the Western Balkans. She is committed to facilitate co-evolution among students, peers, academics, businesses, economies, societies and disciplines.

About this book
This book draws on the author’s own experience as a practitioner, collaborations with professionals from small and medium-sized businesses with international scope in North Macedonia and Belgium, and academic research. Its goal is to bring together tactical management and information systems research in complex environments. By developing the “DENICA” managerial method it re-introduces tactics as an important managerial function and underestimated source of competitive advantage. The book also offers a roadmap for dynamic reconfiguration of the managerial systems in complex environment, while considering adaptability, sustainability and effectiveness in the process. Furthermore, the book introduces a methodological “kaleidoscope” which combines IS methodology with the managerial sciences, offering a model that can be adapted and replicated to specific contexts in order to achieve fitting solutions. Real-world case studies from North Macedonia and Belgium apply these methods and illustrate their practical implications.

Brief contents
1 Introduction to Tactical Management Research 1
    1.1 Research Context: Starting Point: Tactical Management 2
        1.1.1 Main Research Questions 9
    1.2 Positioning of the Research 10
        1.2.1 Strategic Managerial and Management Information System Support 10
        1.2.2 Operational Managerial and Management Information System Support 11
        1.2.3 Tactical Managerial and Management Information System Support 11
    1.3 Research Methodology 13
        1.3.1 Design Science Research 13
        1.3.2 Action Design Research 16
        1.3.3 Nested Problem Solving 18
        1.3.4 CIMO Logic 18
    1.4 The Methodological Kaleidoscope Through the Structure of the Book. 21
    References 24
2 Problem Investigation and Solution Requirements for Tactical Management 27
    2.1 Research Methodology for Problem Investigation and Solution Analysis 28
    2.2 Problem Investigation 29
        2.2.1 Interviews 32
        2.2.2 Literature Review 40
        2.2.3 Identifying Managerial Methods and Management Information Systems Support for Strategic, Tactical, and Operational Management 48
    2.3 Defining Tactical Management 52
    2.4 Delineating Tactical Management Among Operational, Strategic, and Project Management 53
    2.5 Solution Requirements 57
    References 59
3 Theoretical Foundations: Management—Information Systems—Complexity 65
    3.1 Particular Postulates On: What Is Being Managed, In Which Environment, and How to Address It 68
        3.1.1 Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) 68
        3.1.2 The Edge of Chaos 71
        3.1.3 Concepts of Adaptive and Adaptable and Incorporation of Purpose 71
        3.1.4 Managing Sociotechnical Complex Adaptive Systems in Uncertainty 74
    3.2 Tactical Management Postulates for Purposive Adaptability 81
        3.2.1 System Design and System Thinking 83
        3.2.2 Context Capture and Situation Awareness in Dynamic Systems 92
        3.2.3 Effective Continuous Communication and Visualization 100
    3.3 Management Information Systems Nature for Tactical Management 106
    3.4 Sense-and-Respond Framework Toward Providing Managerial and Informational Adaptability for Tactics 110
        3.4.1 Background and History 110
        3.4.2 The Basics of the S&R Framework 111
        3.4.3 Recommended Applicability of the S&R Framework 115
        3.4.4 Sense and Respond Managerial Profile 116
        3.4.5 Role-and-Accountability (R&A) System Diagram 117
        3.4.6 Sense–Interpret–Decide–Act (SIDA) Loop: The Adaptive Loop 120
        3.4.7 Management Information Flows in the S&R Framework 122
        3.4.8 Sense and Respond Implementation Roadmap 122
    3.5 Mapping Complex Adaptive Systems, Sense-and-Respond Framework, and Social Network Analysis 123
    References 126
4 Tactical Management Method Development and Evaluation 135
    4.1 Action Design Research for Tactical Management Information Systems and Adaptability 138
        4.1.1 Action Design Research as Method 138
        4.1.2 Performing Action Design Research with Companies and Managers in Belgium and North Macedonia 140
    4.2 Context(s): Description of the Business Collaborators in the ADR. 145
        4.2.1 Context 1: Company A, End-Users 1–9 145
        4.2.2 Context 2: Company B, End-User 1 146
        4.2.3 Context 3: Company C, End-User 10 147
        4.2.4 Context 4: Company D, End-User 11 147
    4.3 ADR Stages 147
        4.3.1 ADR Stage 1: Problem Formulation 147
        4.3.2 ADR Stage 2: Building—Intervention—Evaluation 149
        4.3.3 ADR Stage 3: Reflection and Learning 188
        4.3.4 ADR Stage 4: Formalization of Learning 196
    References 208
5 Tactical Management Contributions to Managerial, Informational, and Complexity Theory and Practice 213
    5.1 Research Contributions 214
        5.1.1 Contribution 1: The Artifact DENICA 215
        5.1.2 Contribution 2: The Methodological Kaleidoscope 220
        5.1.3 Contribution 3: Enhancing the Sense-and-Respond Framework for Tactical Management 222
        5.1.4 Contribution 4: Tactical Management 2.0 223
        5.1.5 Contribution 5: Interrelating Complex Adaptive Systems, Uncertainty, and Tactical Management 227
    5.2 Implications for Research 229
    5.3 Implications for Practice 231
    5.4 Limitations and Future Prospects 233
    References 236
6 The Tactical Management Method “DENICA” in Practice: Business Cases 239
    6.1 Description of the Problem Formulation (Problem Types, Contextual Factors, and Risks) for the Four Contexts 240
        6.1.1 Existing Situation Improvement for Existing Organization: Context 1 240
        6.1.2 New Project Support for New Organization: Context 2 242
        6.1.3 New Project Support for Existing Organization: Context 3 243
        6.1.4 Existing Project Support for Existing Organization: Context 4 244
    6.2 The Building-Intervention-Evaluation Stage Elaborated for Each of the Four Contexts 246
        6.2.1 Context 1 246
        6.2.2 Context 2 254
        6.2.3 Context 3 272
        6.2.4 Context 4 276
    References 288

Series: Contributions to Management Science
Pages: 288 pages
Publisher: Springer; 1st ed. 2020 edition (August 11, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 3030228037
ISBN-13: 978-3030228033