Publications

Samina’s research has been published in a wide array of top journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Harvard Business Review, Management Science, Organization Science, Sloan Management Review, and Strategic Management Journal. She currently serves as Deputy Editor at Organization Science, and on the editorial review boards of Journal of Organization Design (where she was Senior Editor 2013-2017), Strategic Management Journal (where she was Associate Editor 2014-2020), Strategic Organization, and Strategy Science.

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Aidan P 5/31/24 Aidan P 5/31/24

Acqui-hires: Redeployment and retention of human capital post-acquisition (2024)

Acqui-hires (or talent acquisitions) are acquisitions of small firms solely for the employees(and their knowledge and skills). This paper studies the beginning of the acqui-hire phenomenon in the technology sector. We find that the disruptiveness of the acquired technology leads more likely to the acqui-hired team being preserved within a business unit (versus dispersed)at the new parent firm, and the founder being given a high status position. We find that a mismatch can lead to negative implications such as the premature departure of the founder(s).

Aidan P 12/1/17 Aidan P 12/1/17

Restructure or Reconfigure? (2017)

To cope with ever-changing market conditions, companies often have to reorganize. But leaders tend to get conflicting advice about when and howto do so. In this HBR article, we provide a framework for how executives should decide between two different reorganization processes: restructuring and reconfiguration. Restructuring involves changing the structural archetype around which resources and activities are grouped and coordinated(e.g., around function,business line, customer segment, technology platform, geography). Reconfiguration involves adding, splitting,transferring, combining, or dissolving business units and their resources without modifying the company’s underlying structure

Aidan P 11/1/16 Aidan P 11/1/16

DELAYING CHANGE: EXAMINING HOW INDUSTRY AND MANAGERIAL TURBULENCE IMPACT STRUCTURAL REALIGNMENT (2016)

We examine how various conditions affect whether and when firms pursue structural realignment by recombining business units. We find that while firms initiate structural recombination during periods of industry (revenue) growth, they reduce their recombination efforts during periods of industry turbulence (i.e., revenue volatility) and managerial turbulence (i.e., growth in top management team size). We also find evidence that firms delay realignment and bide their time for better environmental conditions of declining turbulence and industry growth. We propose that decision makers delay initiating business unit recombination until they can effectively process information and assess how structural changes will help them realign the organization to the environment.

Aidan P 10/1/16 Aidan P 10/1/16

RECONFIGURATION: Adding, Redeploying, Recombining and Divesting Resources and Business Units VSI Introduction (2016)

This introduction to the Special Issue on Reconfiguration discusses how reconfiguration is a dynamic capability encompassing the corporate development activities in which firms engage to align resources with a decision to expand (i.e. do more), contract (i.e. do less) or innovate (i.e. do something new). Internal modes of reconfiguration include internal resource sourcing, redeployment and recombination. External modes include acquisitions and divestitures, while alliances, spin outs and corporate venturing are hybrid modes. We highlight fifteen papers that inform a reconfiguration framework involving reconfiguration antecedents, the reconfiguration process (focused on growth strategies, retrenchment strategies, or international strategies), and reconfiguration outcomes.

Aidan P 11/1/12 Aidan P 11/1/12

Exploring structural embeddedness of product market activities andresources within business units (2012)

Structural embeddedness describes how activities and their underlying resources are embedded within their business units. We argue that if activities and resources are highly embedded in unit structures then unit reconfiguration should have an impact on activity reconfiguration. We find evidence of structural embeddedness by showing that activities within a firm that are moved from one unit into another unit are less likely to be retained than activities that are moved in conjunction with their units (e.g., when units are recombined). Our findings should make managers cautious of pulling activities out of their contextual environment within which activities reside.

Aidan P 9/1/12 Aidan P 9/1/12

STRUCTURAL KNOWLEDGE: HOW EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE WITH STRUCTURAL COMPOSITION AFFECTS INTRAFIRM MOBILITY AND UNIT RECONFIGURATION (2012)

We explore how knowledge embodied in executives is tied to the organizational context in which it develops. We predict that executives will move between units with similar ‘structural composition’—a characteristic representing unit origin (as acquired or internally developed) and how the unit was reconfigured — and be conduits of organizational change. We predict that units receiving more transferred executives, executives with recombination experience, and executives from core internal units will have a greater likelihood of being recombined, while units receiving executives from previously acquired units will tend to remain unchanged. The study examines a 20-year panel of 48 multidivisional firms from the U.S. medical sector.

Aidan P 12/1/09 Aidan P 12/1/09

Business Unit Reorganization and Innovation in New Product Markets (2009)

We examine how business unit reconfiguration (as the creation, deletion, or recombination of business units) affects innovation. Innovation involves product market entry by a firm into
markets in which it was not previously active. We find that reconfiguration and innovation have a U-shape relationship, supporting learning arguments that stress the importance of experiencing a cohort of multiple events. Further, only reconfiguration experiences within a current period affect future innovation; past experiences do not impact future innovation, implying that firms may face constraints in organizational memory. The study concludes by exploring the structural origin (i.e., from internal, acquired, or recombined units) of innovative activity within firms.

Shah Karim 10/1/06 Shah Karim 10/1/06

MODULARITY IN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE:THE RECONFIGURATION OF INTERNALLY DEVELOPED AND ACQUIRED BUSINESS UNITS (2006)

Unit reconfiguration is the addition of units to, deletion of units from, and recombination of units within the firm. This study compares the reconfiguration of internally developed vs. acquired units, explores what forms of unit recombination are common, and observes whether firms pursue recombination before divestiture. We find that acquired and internally developed units serve different roles in the process of change, and that firms perceive reconfiguration to be beneficial.

Shah Karim 11/1/04 Shah Karim 11/1/04

Innovating through Acquisition and Internal Development (2004)

We track the evolution of product lines and business units in Johnson & Johnson’s medical sector from 1975 to 1997. We found that J&J acquired most of its product lines and units during the
period, and actively reconfigured most acquired units in attempts to create new value, rather than simply leaving them to operate within their original boundaries. In addition, unit reconfiguration commonly preceded product line movement across unit boundaries, providing evidence of the embedded nature of resources within structure. At the same time, however, internally developed resources and units were more likely to be retained:
indeed, stable internally created units were the most common sources of innovations. The underlying message of these evolutionary patterns is that innovation stems from maintaining a deep understanding of organizationally-embedded routines, while undertaking careful ongoing redefinition of
unit boundaries.

Shah Karim 10/31/04 Shah Karim 10/31/04

PATH-DEPENDENT AND PATH-BREAKING CHANGE:RECONFIGURING BUSINESS RESOURCES FOLLOWING ACQUISITIONS IN THE U.S. MEDICAL SECTOR, 1978–1995 (2000)

We study how firms use acquisitions to achieve long-term business reconfiguration. We compare the relative extent of change by acquiring and non-acquiring businesses focusing on product line addition, retention, and deletion as forms of changing resources. We develop and test hypotheses that compare and contrast resource-deepening and resource extension arguments. We test the hypotheses with data from more than 3000 firms that offered more than 200 product lines in the U.S. medical sector between 1978 and 1995.