Strategic Issues Management: Implications for Corporate Performance

Protecting the corporate reputation and safeguarding primary transformation processes are of key interest to all commercially operating organizatons, bu require careful management of critical events and dependencies. This thesis reports two studies pertaining to the introduction process of genetically engineered foods in the Netherlands, focusing on the measures taken by the Dutch food industry to accomodate this highly salient issue. Both studies demonstrate that strategic issues management activities can help managers protect the corporate reputation against potentially harmful developments and obtain a more favorable strategic position vis-a-vis their companies' direct competitors.