Exploring organizational expansion modes and their associated communication system requirements: consolidation and complementation

The expectation of firms following aggressive growth strategies is that firms expanding geographically will acquire extensive economic advantages unavailable to more conservative competitors. Growth-minded firms also believe that by integrating info-communication technology (ICT) within their regional infrastructures, distribution channels, and marketing approaches, they can achieve lower costs or enhanced differentiation within a broad scope of operations. Empirical evidence shows that many organizational expansions have been implemented utilizing two major expansion modes, consolidation and complementation. This research examines the modal properties of these approaches in terms of their configurational characteristics, economic rationales and managerial requirements. Viewed from a top-down perspective the modal properties further suggest the organization's management support system requirements. This study also identifies and explores the corresponding communication system requirements, especially for key dispersion-related communication configurations and systems. The desired practical effect of this research would be an increased awareness of and an incentive for commercial and industrial enterprises to include communication system requirements in their adopted expansion mode deliberations.