Strategic Management Research Research Articles

SETTLING INTERNAL STRENGTHS AND EXTERNAL DEPENDENCIES: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK INTEGRATING RDT AND RBV THEORIES FOR ORGANIZATIONAL SURVIVAL

<p><span lang="EN-US">The purpose of this study is to explore the integration of two mainstream theories of strategic management rooted in resource Dependency Theory (RDT) and Resource-Based View (RBV) in utilizing the internal strengths and external dependencies of companies</span><span lang="EN-US">. </span><span lang="EN-US">This study will explore the area of theory integration by using a literature review method that involves the collection, analysis and synthesis of influential publications on both theories, semi-systematic literature review is carried out with narrative analysis techniques. The results of the study provide a conceptual framework in understanding organizational strategy and to gain stability in managing the main sources of competitive advantage and dependency of the organization. Studies of how organizations are leveraging their internal strengths, and external dependencies can reveal improvement trends and under-explored areas in strategic management research. The implications of exploring the integration of these two key perspectives will enhance the prospect of using both theories together in strategic planning, organizational behavior and decision-making, and serve as an integration view for managers to engage in process utilization. Internal forces and external dependencies are rooted in two mainstream theories: Resource Dependency Theory (RDT)</span><span lang="EN-US"> and Resource </span><span lang="EN-US">Based View (RBV). This study explores the area of integration of these theories using a literature review method that involves the collection, analysis, and synthesis of existing influential publications from both theories. The implications of this research provide a conceptual framework in understanding organizational strategy and to gain stability in managing the main sources of competitive advantage and dependency of the organization</span></p>

The missions of companies in the Henokiens Association: Content analyses of their configuration with linkages to business longevity

Rapidly changing business environments and fierce competition are making it increasingly difficult for modern companies to maintain competitive advantage and accomplish business longevity. This study can fill the research gap in mission research and longevity research, and provides implications on what form and content of mission should be selected when determining the direction of a company’s corporate strategy. Although a company’s mission is a communication tool that represents the company’s strategic priorities and unique values, it has rarely been considered an important factor in business longevity. This study conducts a content analysis of the mission statements of 43 companies in the Henokiens Association to clarify the linkage between a company’s mission and business longevity and the configurations of long-lived firms’ missions. Our results show most long-lived firms have clear missions and perceptions of familism expansion. The firms’ past, present, and future additions to their concern for products, business growth, unique philosophy, and stakeholders are highlighted in their mission statements. Therefore, the main theoretical contribution of focusing on the corporate mission as a factor of business longevity in this study is not only a new approach to the longevity factor, but also the discovery of new values of the mission in strategic management research. The practical contribution of this study is that it reveals that companies seeking long-term competitive advantage in the market need to design, possess, and share a high-quality mission from a long-term perspective and instill the ideology of extended familyism. It can also provide hints about strategic priorities for small, family-run businesses facing threats to their survival.

Sustainability: Is It a Strategic Management Research Fashion?

This article aims to identify the relationship between sustainability and strategic management to determine whether sustainability can be considered a strategic management research fashion. This involves a bibliometric analysis of recent academic literature from 2021 to 2023 to identify the latest academic research, key trends, collaboration and keyword networks within this relationship. The analysis was conducted using two datasets from the Scopus database. These datasets focus on English-language journal articles on business, management and accounting. The first covers academic research on strategic management, while the second expands to sustainability and sustainable development. The results show that strategic management research focusing on sustainability has recently grown faster (24.70%) and with higher funding frequency (22.4%) than the whole strategic management research field (14.30% and 17.5%, respectively). Furthermore, the geographical analysis of co-authorship identified articles from 88 countries, suggesting a broad interest in this relationship. Notably, the strategic management network mapping revealed a unique, sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability cluster. Moreover, extended mapping revealed four clusters: strategic and innovation-driven sustainability, operational corporate sustainability, crisis management and environmental economics, and sustainable supply chain and resource management. The thematic analysis further highlights well-developed sustainability and strategic management research topics like digitalisation, circular economy, sustainable supply chain management, sustainable development goals, industry 4.0, COVID-19, environmental sustainability, etc. that are contributing to the progress of sustainability and strategic management research. The results thus confirm the rapid growth and widespread coverage of research on sustainability and strategic management, highlighting sustainability as a strategic management research fashion.

EXPRESS: The increasing value of status in low-performing organizations: Evidence from the video game industry

Strategic management research generally assumes that high-status teams outperform their low-status counterparts. Indeed, status can cause decision makers to favor high-status teams, providing them with better access to resources. However, we theorize that in organizations which demonstrated high previous performance, status has a much weaker influence on decision makers. This is because in these organizations, there is no expected resource scarcity that would push decision makers to favor high-status teams. We therefore hypothesize that the difference between low- and high-status teams in terms of performance is smaller in organizations that exhibited high performance in the recent past. By analyzing a unique dataset from the video game industry, we find support for our theory. Our results confirm that the relationship between team status and performance is much stronger in organizations with low previous performance. Our study provides fresh insights about the organizational contingencies of the Matthew effect.

Advancing Strategic Management Research: Applications of Generative AI

Advancing Strategic Management Research: Applications of Generative AI

The Role of Time in Strategic Human Resource Management Research: A Review and Research Agenda

Although time is an essential component of the relationships between human resource (HR) systems and their antecedents and consequences, strategic human resource management (SHRM) research has been long criticized for not paying enough attention to the role of time in theory development and research design. To evaluate how the time issue has been addressed in this research field, we reviewed 237 empirical studies on HR systems that incorporated time, using temporal features. We found that while the number of studies incorporating time has increased substantially over time, there is a lack of progress regarding testing and theorizing temporal effects, thus we lack understanding of change or relationships over time. Based on our findings, we offer specific guidance on hypothesizing and theorizing the role of time in SHRM, and we offer suggestions for research design and statistical analyses in temporal research of SHRM. By integrating temporal models, temporal features, and methodologies for testing temporal relationships with SHRM research, this review aims to advance SHRM research to adopt more truly dynamic views to examine HR systems and their antecedents and effects.

Effectuation in digital multi-sided platform startups: An entrepreneurial journey through open innovation process

A paradox arises in platform-based open innovation, wherein digital Multi-Sided Platform (MSP) firms with little initial co-creation ability can successfully adopt an open innovation strategy that typically requires a high level of co-creation capacity. This study aims to fill this gap by theoretically exploring the connection between effectuation, which involves entrepreneurial action based on a given set of means and the selection of possible effects, and the open innovation process with co-creation capacity. The objective is to contribute to the significant growth of digital MSP startups. This study investigates the process of open innovation based on platforms in the context of resource constraints, limited knowledge, and uncertainty. The outcomes of a quantitative study including 70 digital MSP startups indicate that the most efficient route for these businesses to achieve Innovation Performance is by first developing Effectuation, followed by Integrative Capabilities and Co-Creation Capacity, and last, Innovation Performance. However, in this shortest path, the involvement of Crowds or Communities Management Practices plays a role in partially moderating the relationship between Effectuation and Integrative Capabilities. Platform-based innovation serves as the point of integration between effectuation theory in entrepreneurship research and open innovation strategy in strategic management research. The bridge connecting these two fields has significant implications for research on platform-based innovation in the field of strategic entrepreneurship.

What characterizes strategy research in Latin America? A bibliometric analysis for the 1990–2023 period

Purpose This article examines strategic management research across Latin America from 1990 to 2023, addressing four critical inquiries: the themes prevalent in strategic discussions, the leading countries in strategic management (SM) publications, the defining characteristics of strategic research in major Latin American economies and the reflection on whether Latin America is a region that generates or follows the knowledge of the Global North. Design/methodology/approach Utilizing co-occurrence analysis, this study maps the terrain of SM research in the region, analyzing 4,963 articles indexed in the Scopus database. The authors employed a co-occurrence analysis to map SM research in Latin America, analyzing 4,963 articles from the Scopus database. Findings Predominant themes include the theoretical underpinnings of strategy, sustainable development, innovation, tourism and international trade. Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Chile have emerged as leaders in research volume and thematic diversity, particularly in sustainable development and innovation. Practical implications By identifying patterns, behaviors and trends in SM research, the authors uncover methods and tools that, once contextualized for the region, can significantly enhance organizational performance. Originality/value This investigation is a pioneering effort, providing a focused analysis on SM research within Latin America. It highlights significant contributions since 1990 across the region's main economies. This study represents one of the first comprehensive mappings of this academic field within Latin America. This is the first article, to the authors’ knowledge, developed to map the intellectual structure of the SM field in Latin America through an analysis of co-occurrences, with emphasis on the region's main economies.

Cheap Talk? Strategy Disclosure Intensity, Corporate Risk‐Taking and Financial Performance

AbstractCorporate risk‐taking is key to a firm's ability to achieve competitive advantages. Drawing on the attention‐based view and the information‐processing perspective, we argue that firms with higher strategy disclosure intensity (i.e. greater frequency of ‘corporate strategy’ mentions in a firm's public disclosure) will allocate more attention to corporate strategy and develop stronger information‐processing capacities, enabling them to undertake more intensive risk‐taking. This is particularly true when investment opportunities are more abundant and the environment is more dynamic. In addition, corporate risk‐taking will lead to better financial performance when firms exhibit stronger strategy disclosure intensity. Findings from 3190 firms support our arguments. Overall, this study advances strategic management research by demonstrating that strategy disclosure intensity provides important insights into a firm's risk‐taking decisions and performance.

Bibliometric Analysis of Firm Adaptation Strategies in a Hypercompetitive Environment

This study utilizes bibliometric analysis to map the scholarly landscape of research in hypercompetitive environments and strategic management. Through VOSviewer visualizations, we identified thematic clusters, examined trends over time, analyzed under-researched opportunities, and explored patterns of author collaboration. Our findings reveal a significant shift from foundational theoretical research towards more practical, industry-specific strategies that address dynamic competitive challenges. We identified key thematic areas such as industry dynamics, leadership in hypercompetition, globalization impacts, and sector-specific adaptation strategies. Furthermore, less-explored areas such as opportunity recognition and competitive dynamics offer fruitful avenues for future research. The author collaboration network analysis highlighted both active clusters and potential areas for increased interdisciplinary collaboration, suggesting a maturing yet still siloed research community. This comprehensive overview not only synthesizes existing research but also highlights strategic gaps and opportunities for future scholarly work in the domain of strategic management within hypercompetitive contexts.

From SOFT approach to SWOT analysis, a historical reconstruction

Purpose The purpose of this study is to revisit the conventional wisdom about a key contribution [i.e. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis] in the field of strategic management. The societal context and the role of academics, consultants and executives is taken into account in the emergence of SWOT analysis during the 1960–1980 period as a pivotal development within the broader context of the satisfactory, opportunities, faults, threats (SOFT) approach. The authors report on both the content and the approach, so that other scholars seeking to invigorate indigenous theories and/or underreported strategy practices will thrive. Design/methodology/approach Applying a historiographic approach, the authors introduce an evidence-based methodology for interpreting historical sources. This methodology incorporates source criticism, triangulation and hermeneutical interpretation, drawing upon insights from robust evidence through three iterative stages. Findings The underreporting of the SOFT approach/SWOT analysis can be attributed to several factors, including strategy tools being integrated into planning frameworks rather than being published as standalone materials; restricted circulation of crucial long-range planning service/theory and practice of planning reports due to copyright limitations; restricted access to the Stanford Research Institute Planning Library in California; and the enduring popularity of SOFT and SWOT variations, driven in part by their memorable acronyms. Originality In the spirit of a renaissance in strategic planning research, the authors unveil novel theoretical and social connections in the emergence of SWOT analysis by combining evidence from both theory and practice and delving into previously unexplored areas. Research implications Caution is advised for scholars who examine the discrete time frame of 1960–1980 through mere bibliometric techniques. This study underscores the risks associated with gathering incomplete and/or inaccurate data, emphasizing the importance of triangulating evidence beyond scholarly databases. The paradigm shift of strategic management research due to the advent of large language models poses new challenges and the risk of conserving and perpetuating academic urban legends, myths and lies if training data is not adequately curated.

Conceptual underpinnings: theory selection in strategic management research

PurposeTheories are crucial for addressing research questions and advancing the boundaries of knowledge. However, in the field of strategic management, the existence of diverse schools of thought from various disciplines, including economics, politics, and sociology, poses significant challenges for researchers seeking to develop theories for argumentation and theorization. In this study, we have conceptualized a novel approach to selecting an appropriate theory for addressing specific research questions.Design/methodology/approachThought experiment, disciplined imagination, and a conceptual examination of a diverse set of theories.FindingsBecause the central focus in the field of strategic management revolves around how firms achieve sustainable high performance, a research question should initially clarify the fundamental phenomenological issues it aims to address. Subsequently, the process of problematization should identify the ontological assumptions and premises that establish a connection between the research question and existing theories. Finally, the identification and abstraction of rhetorical concepts derived from these assumptions and premises lead to theory selection criteria, namely connectedness, reliability, parsimoniousness, and falsifiability.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough we believe that our model for theory selection is generalizable to a wide range of management disciplines, we have primarily focused on its application in the field of strategic management. Future work could validate and further explore the applicability and effectiveness of this model in selecting appropriate theories for conceptual development in other domains.Originality/valueWhile many researchers have proposed methods for writing theoretical papers, few have provided suggestions specifically focused on theory selection. This paper stands out as one of the few that not only attempts to address this gap but successfully develops a comprehensive model for theory selection.

Strategic Management in Improving the Quality of Education in Madrasah Dta Al-Ishlahul Athfal Cirebon

The achievement of quality education will not succeed without the right strategy for improving the quality of all components in an educational institution. This study aims to reveal and analyse the natural background, analysis of internal and external conditions, implementation and evaluation of strategic management, and the results achieved from implementing strategic management in improving the quality of education in Madrasah DTA Al-Ishlahul Athfal Cirebon. The research method used in this study is descriptive qualitative. Data collection techniques are carried out through interviews, observations, and documentation studies. The results of strategic management research in improving the quality of education in Madrasah DTA Al-Ishlahul Athfal Cirebon consist of four stages: environmental analysis, formulation, implementation, and evaluation. Environmental analysis is carried out by internal analysis covering strengths and weaknesses and external analysis covering opportunities and threats. The conclusion of this study is strategic management in improving the quality of education carried out by Madrasah DTA Al-Ishlahul Athfal Cirebon, namely by carrying out several stages as follows. The stage of analysis of the internal and external environment, formulation of strategic management, implementation of strategic management, evaluation of strategic management and results of strategic management.

Customers, Markets, and Five Archetypical Value Creation Logics: A Review of Demand-Side Research in Strategic Management

Scholars have examined the role of customer preferences, and demand-side characteristics more generally, in varied core strategy areas like market entry and timing, diversification, positioning, resource reallocation, and firm adaptation, among many others. We review this diverse demand-side literature and develop an empirical classification that identifies five archetypical customer value-creation logics seen in the literature to date. To apply each of these logics, a firm must look downstream with the intent of matching, leveraging, adapting, learning, or shaping customer preferences or market characteristics to create value for customers. For each value-creation logic, we detail the logic itself, how the demand side is characterized, how specific strategic decisions allow for value creation following the logic, literature gaps in the logic, and opportunities for future research. Opportunities include extending the work on existing logics, examining the combined effects of multiple logics, identifying understudied demand-side characteristics, and studying strategy applications for which demand-side attributes have received comparatively little attention to date. These include business models, corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate governance, and demand-side shocks. Finally, we address implications for managerial practice.

Exploring performance heterogeneity: Integrative insights from strategic management and marketing

The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast several definitions of performance outcomes across the strategic management and strategic marketing literature streams. We motivate our study on the shared history of both fields in explaining performance heterogeneity across firms. Our review of literature on the concept of competitive advantage in the strategic management field, and an exemplar case of strategic marketing research on brand competitiveness, highlights opportunities for cross-fertilization across these domains. In particular, we argue that future research on brand competitiveness may benefit by drawing on the concept of ecosystems, business models, and microfoundations research in strategic management.

Strategy Implementation Model for Commercial Banks in a Developing Economy: A Resource-Capability Approach

Extensive research in strategic management has shown that more than half of the business strategies fail to accomplish their intended objectives due to problems with strategy implementation. However, in comparison to strategy formulation, strategy implementation has received insufficient attention both at the theoretical and empirical levels. The objective of the study was to develop a comprehensive model that augments the effectiveness of strategy implementation in the context of a developing economy. A sample of 229 top and middle-level managers of commercial banks was chosen to collect quantitative data, and around 187 (82%) questionnaires were returned. The quantitative data analysis was carried out using structural equation modelling. By operationalizing strategy implementation capability as a second-order reflective-formative construct, the study established an empirically informed strategy implementation model that entails three components, namely, critical strategy implementation-related resources, key elements of strategy implementation capability and strategy implementation performance. The study contributes to the existing knowledge on strategy implementation by expanding the extant strategy implementation frameworks/models to a broad-based and integrative model.

Safe Bets, Long Shots, and Toss-Ups: Strategic Engagements Between Activists and Firms

We use a game-theoretic model to examine how different types of activist motivation affect strategic interactions between an activist and a firm in the context of a threatened adversarial engagement, in which the activist can benefit from “warm glow” and media publicity as well as from firm compliance with activist demands. The model yields novel predictions about when firms prefer to self-regulate to pre-empt a contested engagement, how vigorously firms defend themselves against the activist’s attack if an engagement occurs, and a new taxonomy of engagements, characterized by offensive and defensive strategies and the likelihood of activist success. The model predicts that when warm glow and campaign-driven wins are important motivations for activists, safe bet and long shot types of engagements are more likely to occur: These tend to be lower expenditure skirmishes where one party has a clear advantage and where a pre-emptive settlement is infeasible. By contrast, firms and activists are more likely to negotiate self-regulation that pre-empts resource-intensive toss-up engagements where each side is evenly matched and expends significant effort. Our findings contribute to strategic management research by developing new insights about how firms respond to different activist motivations and types of engagements. We explore extensions of the model and discuss implications for future empirical and theoretical research on the management of activist relations. This paper was accepted by Joshua Gans, business strategy. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.01638 .

Future Directions in Strategic Brand Management Research Using Bibliometric Analysis: A Decade Review

This research aim is to examine future directions in strategic brand management research through a bibliometric computational mapping analysis using VOS viewer. Publish or Perish reference manager application is used to retrieve the Google Scholar database in order to fulfill research data. The title and abstract of the article are used to provide guidance on the search process based on the keywords "Strategic Brand Management". The results showed 997 relevant articles. The search for publication data used as study material was carried out in the last ten years (2013-2023). The results also showed that there are two larger circles comparing others, namely “brand loyalty” and “business strategy”. The term “brand loyalty” is associated with 15 links, 33 total link strength, and 30 occurrences, while the term “business strategy” is associated with 10 links, 33 total link strength, and 31 occurrences. The results of strategic brand management research in the last ten years show a declining trend, from 104 publications to 61 publications. There were only increase a little bit in 2015, from 104 publications to 115 publications, and increase in 20203, from 80 publications to 93 publications. Based on a downward trend, publications on strategic brand management in the last ten years were dominated by 2015 (115 publications). The results of this study are expected to inspire and develop the articles of related terms in the future.

Enhancing public sector enterprise risk management through interactive information processing.

Federal agencies are increasingly expected to adopt enterprise risk management (ERM). However, public sector adoption of ERM has typically focused on the economic efficiency of tax-financed activities based on control-based practices. This reflects an emphasis on quantifiable concerns that invariably directs attention to risk, that (by definition) relates to identifiable and measurable events, thereby downplaying uncertain and unknown aspects of public exposures. This is a potentially serious shortcoming as government entities often act as society's risk managers of last resort. When extreme events happen what were previously considered private matters can quickly turn into public obligations. Hence, there is a need for proactive assessments of the evolving public risk landscape to discern unpredictable-even unknowable-developments. The article reviews recent empirical studies on public risk management practices, effects of digitalization in public sector institutions, current strategic management research, and insights uncovered from a recent study of risk management practices in federal agencies. On this basis, the article explains how the ability to generate value from ERM can be enhanced when it intertwines with local responsive initiatives and central strategic risk analyses. It can form a dynamic adaptive risk management process where insights from dispersed actors inform updated risk analyses based on local autonomy and open exchange of information. This approach builds on specific structural features embedded in culture-driven aspirations to generate collaborative solutions. Its functional mode is an interactive control system with open discussions across levels and functions in contrast to conventional diagnostic controls that monitor predetermined key performance indicators (KPIs) and key risk indicators (KRIs). Backed by theoretical rationales and empirical research evidence, it is found that applications of ERM frameworks can produce positive results but is unable to deal with a public risk landscape characterized by uncertain unpredictable conditions with potentially extreme outcome effects. It is shown how interactive exchange of fast local insights and slow integrated strategic risk analyses supported by digitized data processing can form a dynamic adaptive system that enable public sector institutions to deal with emergent high-scale exposures. It is explained how the requirement for conducive organizational structures and supportive values require a new strategic risk leadership approach, which is contrasted to observed practices in federal agencies that are constrained by prevailing public governance requirements. The need to deal with uncertainty and unknown conditions demands a cognitive shift in current thinking from a primary focus on risk to also appraise complexity and prepare for the unexpected where data-driven methods can uncover emergent exposures through dynamic information processing. This requires strategic risk leaders that recognize the significance of complex public exposures with many unknowns and a willingness to facilitate digitalized information processing rooted in a collaborative organizational climate. If handled properly, adoption of ERM in public risk management can consider emergent dimensions in complex public exposures applying interactive information processing as a dynamic adaptive risk management approach incorporating digitized methods to solicit collective intelligence for strategic risk updating.

Why do firms fail? A new view on bankruptcy from the angle of top management team heterogeneity

Avoiding bankruptcy is a crucial task for any firm’s top management team (TMT), and reasons for the failure to accomplish it have long been studied. While financial metrics can predict near-term bankruptcy, governance characteristics increase precision in the long term. With TMT heterogeneity, we introduce a powerful predictor for the critical time frame in between. Grounded in upper echelons theory, we argue that TMT age heterogeneity increases while heterogeneity in TMT pay and TMT functional backgrounds decreases the bankruptcy probability. We test our hypotheses using a unique dataset of large, public U.S. firms, about half of which filed for bankruptcy between 2001 and 2020. Our results support our research model and show how TMT heterogeneity significantly predicts bankruptcy. We contribute to both bankruptcy and strategic management research by underscoring the importance of TMT heterogeneity as a level of analysis when predicting bankruptcy and add to the ongoing discussion on the impact of TMT pay differences on firm performance. Additionally, we offer valuable insights to practitioners navigating their firms in times of crisis and to regulators shaping the insolvency statutes of the future.