Has Strategic Shed the Normal Science Straightjacket?: Revisiting Bettis' (1991) Critiques

Authors: T. Russell Crook, Virginia K. Bratton, Vera L. Street, and David J. Ketchen

This is a postprint of an article that originally appeared in Journal of Managerial Issues on March 8, 2006. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40604548

Crook, T. Russell, Virginia Kim Bratton, Vera L. Street, and David J. Ketchen. 2006. “Has Shed the Normal Science Straightjacket?: Revisiting Bettis' (1991) Critiques”. Journal of Managerial Issues 18 (3). Pittsburg State University: 409–23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40604548.

Made available through Montana State University’s ScholarWorks scholarworks.montana.edu JOURNALOF MANAGERIALISSUES Vol.XVIII Number3 Fall 2006: 409-423

Has StrategicManagement Shed the Normal Science Straightjacket?:Revisiting Betas' (1991) Critiques T. RussellCrook AssistantProfessor of Management NorthernArizona University

VirginiaKim Bratton Lecturer The Universityof Melbourne

VeraL. Street AssistantProfessor of Management SalisburyUniversity

DavidJ. Ketchen,Jr. LowderEminent Scholar and Professorof Management AuburnUniversity The purposeof strategicmanage- promptedscholarly assessments of mentresearch is to learnwhy some thefield (e.g., Bettis, 1991; Daft and organizationsoutperform others and Buenger,1990; Daft and Lewin,1990; thenconvey this knowledge to man- Meyer,1991; Mintzberg,1990; Sum- agers(Rumelt et ai, 1994;Summer et meret al, 1990). al, 1990). Althoughstrategic man- Daft and Lewin (1990) outlined agementtraces its roots to the early broadcritiques of theorganizational twentiethcentury (e.g., Barnard, sciencesin general.That sameyear, 1938), manyscholars credit Chan- Mintzbergoffered important but nar- dler's (1962) studyof strategyand rowercritiques centered on the de- structureas theinquiry that launched signschool of strategy.The scope of strategicmanagement as a fieldof Bettis'(1991) assessmentlay in be- study.Three decades later, broad cri- tweenthese pieces. More specifically, tiques of organizationalscience re- ofthe assessments offered in theearly searchand thevolume of published 1990s, the one offeredby Bettis strategic management research (1991) is notablefor deriving specific

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(409) 410 Crook, Bratton, Street,and Ketchen critiquesof the state of strategic man- "straightjacket."We documenteach agementresearch. Bettis' overarch- critiquebelow. ingconcern was that the field had be- come ensnaredin a normalscience Critique1 - Dated Concepts/Lack "straightjacket"similar to thatcon- of Relevance strainingthe organizationalsciences in general(Daft and Lewin,1990). A Bettis'(1991) firstcritique was that fieldthat relies mainly on normalsci- strategicmanagement research suf- ence (Kuhn,1962) is limitedto tak- feredfrom the use ofdated concepts, ing narrowapproaches to well-de- suchas thestudy of irrelevant organ- fined issues,constraining creativity izationalstructures. In particular,he and intellectualdevelopment (Daft questionedthe relevanceof many and Lewin,1990). Bettis(1991) ex- studiesin the 1980sthat focused on pressedconcern that this was true of obsoleteorganizational forms, such strategicmanagement research, in- as the M-Form organizationde- hibitingresearchers' abilities to ex- scribedby Chandler in 1962,the use plainwhy some firms outperform oth- of diversificationtypologies devel- ers and, thus, deterring the oped in the early 1970s (Rumelt, developmentof valuableknowledge 1974;Wrigley, 1970), and over-stud- forresearchers and managers. ied firmssuch as theFortune 500. He Overa decadehas passed since Bet- arguedthat researchers needed to fo- tis'admonitions were offered, and if cus on morerelevant topics, and that researchershave not addressed these it is troublingthat researchers make concerns,it mightcall thefield's di- broadgeneralizations when much of rectioninto question.This suggests thedata used to makesuch generali- thatan assessmentof thefield's cur- zationswere from Fortune 500 organ- rentstate is timelyand warranted. izations.Thus, he citedthe need for researchthat di- Giventhis, our article'spurpose is to progressive applied assesshow much has been rectlyto businessand government progress contexts. made concerningthe fivecritiques offeredby Bettis(1991). In chroni- - clingthe progress made, we also iden- Critique2 EthnocentricFocus tifyremaining challenges for the field. More our Bettis'(1991) secondcritique was broadly, objective that the bulk of parallelsBettis' objective - to "help strategicmanage- stimulatefurther reflective mentresearch was ethnocentric. His thinking was based on two in thefield" (1991:315). argument key points.First, he argued that com- merce often extendsbeyond U.S. FIVE CRITIQUES FOR bordersbut mostresearch does not. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Second,he positedthat firms from differentcountries have different Bettis(1991) offeredfive specific structures,cultures, and problems critiquesabout strategic management thanthe U.S. firmsmost often rep- research.Taken together,these cri- resentedin strategyresearch. Draw- tiqueslend supportfor his conten- ing on Lyles'(1990) survey,he indi- tion thatstrategic management re- catedthat although strategy scholars searchwas stuck in a normalscience recognizedthe importanceof re-

JOURNAL OF MANAGERIALISSUES Vol. XVIII Number3 Fall 2006 RevisitingBettis 411 search in internationaland global Critique4 - Second-class competition,few pursuedsuch re- EconomicsResearch search and that much more was needed. The fourthcritique put forthby Bettiswas thatmany strategic man- agement researchers"do second- 3 - MethodDominates class economicsresearch instead of Critique economicsto do first-classstra- Theory using tegicmanagement research" (1991: 316). Because Bettis' third strategicmanagement (1991) critique has deep economicroots (Rumelt et claimed at thetime of his that, article, al, 1994),it is not surprisingto find many researchersblindly acquired thatoccasionally the distinctionbe- large amountsof data to perform tween the two fields is somewhat multivariatestatistical analyses. Bettis blurred.Indeed, later in 1991,an en- suggestedthat this practice allowed tirespecial issue of StrategicManage- thedata/method, as opposedto the- mentjournal(SMJ) was devoted to ex- ory,to determine patterns of research amining the intricaterelationship inquiryand theorydevelopment. betweenstrategic management and Consistentwith this claim, Summer et economics (Schendel, 1991). Al- al (1990) arguedthat a significant thoughthere is a somewhatcontro- amount of strategyresearch con- versialoverlap between the two fields, ducted in the 1980s was cross-sec- Bettis'(1991) keyconcern was that, tional/correlationalin nature,and in additionto economics,the field thatnumerous studies used pre-exist- also neededto drawon theoriesfrom ing archivaldatabases such as Com- otherdisciplines (e.g., ). pustatand PIMS. Overlooked in these commentsis thatthere was still a siz- Critique5 - Lack of Prescription able bodyof research relying on case studies,interviews, and surveysthat Becausemanagerial prescription is followedin the traditionof seminal considereda primarycontribution research worksuch as Chandler(1962) and thatstrategic management makes Bettis' Milesand Snow(1978). Yet other no- (Meyer,1991), (1991) tablescholars chose to out the fifthcritique, which falls in thisarea, point His valueof studies.For mightbe themost scathing of all. archivally-based concernhere was that re- that overarching instance,Meyer (1991) suggests searchersfocused too muchon data research- pro- usingsecondary help viding theoretical explanations ers overcomesome of the biasesas- ratherthan sociatedwith data. meaningfulprescriptions self-report Thus, forindustry and government.He felt suchresearch has both merit and dis- that this trenddetracted from the Bettisdid not advantages.Indeed, field'sability to meet its full potential, call fora halt of such research.In- and that even scholarlyresearch stead,he assertedthat methodologi- neededto informpractice. cal diversityshould be encouraged, The precedingdiscussion indicates whichis a commonsuggestion for or- thatBettis admonished researchers in ganizationalresearch (e.g., Cosier, fivespecific ways. He assertedthat his 1983;Jick, 1979). critiqueswere offered not througha

JOURNAL OF MANAGERIALISSUES Vol. XVIII Number 3 Fall 2006 412 Crook, Bratton, Street, and Ketchen scholarlyanalysis, but instead by his managementresearch (BPS Division impressionsof the general literature JournalSurvey, 2003). trends at the time. In contrast,we systematicallychronicled research Procedure and Measures trendsto determineif the field has progressedtoward shedding the nor- We used contentanalysis procedu- mal science straightjacket.Next, we res to code data from the articles outline the method used to deter- (Stone-Romeroet al, 1995). Our first mine whetherprogress was made rel- step was to establishcoding criteria ativeto each critique. thatcould showwhether progress has been made concerningBettis' (1991) METHOD critiques.Thus, before coding com- menced,we developed a coding sheet Sample and rules for coding. The coding scheme allowed us to collect data re- Our data are drawnfrom 725 strat- garding each of Bettis' critiques. egyarticles published in the SMJand However, if a studydid not specify the Academyof ManagementJournal coding criteriaregarding a specific (AMJ).To capturethe stateof the re- critiqueor the criteriadid not fitinto search at the time of Bettis' 1991 ar- the categories Bettis outlined, we ticle,we examined empiricalarticles placed thisstudy in an "other" cate- publishedfrom 1987-1991. To exam- gory. ine how the field has progressedto For Critique 1, which posited that date, we chose the most recent arti- researcherspursued topics involving cles (2000-2004) for comparison. dated conceptsthat lacked relevance, This gap in timeframeswould enable we collected data on the phenome- Bettis' (1991) critiques to become non and type of firmunder investi- knownand permitresearchers to al- gation. Specifically,data on the phe- ter theirresearch accordingly. nomenon included M-Form, To ensure thatwe examined only interfirmrelationships, diversifica- strategicmanagement articles, we in- tion, or mergers and acquisitions; vestigatedall SMJarticles (Bergh and data on the firmsincluded Fortune Holbein, 1997) and AMJarticles that 500 and all others. fitSummer et aUs (1990) definition For Critique 2, which argued that of strategic management research. strategyresearch was ethnocentric Specifically,Summer et al. assertthat (i.e., U.S. focused), we recorded the strategicmanagement research ex- sampled firms'home countriesand amines relationsamong the environ- whether researchers acknowledged ment,strategy, and organ- differencesin countrycontexts. Thus, ization,and performance.If an AMJ we coded whetheran articlestudied: articleexamined such relations,it was 1) U.S. headquarteredfirms, 2) non- included in our data set. Strategic U.S. headquarteredfirms (e.g., Rus- ManagementJournal articles that were sia), or 3) firmsheadquartered in dif- purely conceptual or methodologi- ferentcountries (e.g., U.S., Mexico, callyoriented were not included. We and Canada headquarteredfirms in- limitedour investigationto SMJand cluded in sample), and then grouped AMJbecause of theirreputations for the lattertwo categories.Further, of publishing high-impact strategic thosearticles in the lattercategory, we

JOURNAL OF MANAGERIALISSUES Vol. XVIII Number3 Fall 2006 RevisitingBettis 413

coded whetherthe articlecontained Althoughnot explicitlymentioned in informationabout country differences thearticle, we included game theory be- (e.g.,cultural or regulatory).Our ob- causeit is related to economics (e.g., the jectives here were to determine structure-conduct-performancepara- whetherthere was an increasedfocus digm) (Van Witteloostujin,2002). All on internationalstrategy research and othertheories (e.g., resource depend- whetherresearchers included key dif- enceand institutional theory) were con- ferencesbetween countries. siderednon-economic. If researchers ForCritique 3, whichasserted that usedmore non-economic theories over methoddominates theory, we col- time,we consideredthis progress. lecteddata on the data sourcefrom For Critique5, whichposited that each articleand createdfive catego- strategyresearchers do not offer ries. Specifically,we coded for pri- enoughmanagerial prescriptions, we mary- survey,primary - interview/ ob- examineddiscussion and conclusion servation/experiment/other,mixed sectionsto determineif authorsof- primarydata approach(e.g., survey fered specificmanagerial implica- and interview),secondary - archival tionsor prescriptions.Although Bet- (e.g., Compustat),or a mixed ap- tis' (1991) concernwas that research proach(i.e., use of primaryand sec- neededto informpractice in a mean- ondarydata). Because Bettisques- ingfulway, we onlycoded whether tioned the reliance on large-scale implicationsor prescriptionswere of- archival databases, we assessed fered.Thus, we did not attemptto whetherrecent research used more ratethe quality of the prescriptions. alternativedata sources. ForCritique 4, whichsuggested that Analysis strategicmanagement research is too oftensecond-class economics research, Once thedata were coded, we com- we collecteddata on eacharticle's the- paredarticle content between the two oreticalunderpinnings. Specifically, we timeperiods. Because each journal codedwhether articles drew from: 1) ec- publishedmore issues and articles onomictheories, 2) non-economicthe- from2000-2004, we createdperiodic ories,or 3) used an integrativeap- use indices (PUIs). This technique proach that examined the has been used in previousresearch phenomenonthrough more than one designed to assess researchtrends theoreticallens. To derivecriteria for overtime. Stone-Romero etal (1995) whethera theory was grounded in eco- usedPUIs toshow how organizational nomics,categorizations used by Ramos- researchersdesigned studies from Rodriguezand Ruiz-Navarro(2004: 1975-1993.More recently, Shook et al 994)were followed. Specifically, they ar- (2003) used thistechnique to show gue thateconomic theories include: the most common methodological transactioncost theory(Williamson, approachesused by strategic manage- 1975,1985), agency theory (Jensen and mentresearchers from 1980-2001. Pe- Meckling,1976), evolutionary econom- riodicuse indicesare createdby di- ics (Nelson and Winter,1982), re- vidingthe frequencyof data points source-basedtheory (Barney, 1991; concerninga specificcritique by the Wernerfelt,1984), structure-conduct-total number of articlesin each ti- performance(Porter, 1980), and stra- meframeand then multiplyingby tegicgroups (Caves and Porter,1977). 100.A PUI of 10 meansthat 10 per-

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centof thearticles during a timepe- Critique2 focuseson the issueof riodrelated to theissue at hand.In- ethnocentricityin strategy research. dices were created for each time The relevantPUIs changedfrom 68.9 period.By examining all articlespub- to 50.1 (studiesof U.S. headquar- lishedin each timeperiod, the indi- teredfirms) and 20.3 to 37.1 (studies ces controlledfor the number of ar- of non-U.S.headquartered firms or ticlespublished, thereby providing with samples involvingfirms from relativecomparisons rather than sim- multiplecountries) between time plycounts. periods,respectively. Of the articles Aftercomputing each PUI,we con- involvingnon-U.S. headquartered ductedmean difference tests using t- firmsor firmsfrom multiple coun- tests.If the mean difference between tries,we foundthat researchers today indicesof timeperiod one and time are morelikely to outlinekey country periodtwo was statistically significant differences(e.g., culturalor regula- and in thecorrect direction, we con- tory).Specifically, the PUI changed cludedthat the field made significant from7.4 to 18.2.All but one relevant progressconcerning a specificcri- meandifference test result was statis- tique. ticallysignificant, which suggests that strategyresearchers are nowmore fo- RESULTS cused on non-U.S.firms and recog- nizethat there can be keydifferences In thissection, we chroniclethe amongcountries. progress made regarding Bettis' Critique3 concernsthe question of (1991) fivecritiques. Table 1 outlines whethermethod dominates theory in samplesizes, and indicatesthe PUIs strategyresearch. The relevantPUIs and statisticalsignificance for each changedfrom 34.1 to 23.3 (primary critique.Critique 1 addressesphe- data), 45.9 to 54.1 (secondarydata), nomenaand firmsunder investiga- and 14.9 to 21.9 (mixedapproach) tion.The PUIsfor Critique 1 changed betweentime periods,respectively. from14.2 to 7.7 (outdatedconcepts), Thus,we foundthat, in contrastto 12.2 to 28.0 (contemporary),and our expectations,primary data were 13.9 to 8.9 (Fortune500 firms)be- used less, and thatsecondary data tweenthe time periods 1987-1991 wereused more,in timeperiod two. and 2000-2004.The meandifference Encouragingly,we also foundthat re- testresults were in theanticipated di- searchersmixed primary and second- rectionsand all butone showedsome arydata more oftenin timeperiod statisticalsignificance. This indicates two.Four of six relevant mean differ- that researchersstudied outdated ence testresults were significant, but topics,such as the M-Form,less in onlyone was pointedin the antici- timeperiod two, and studiedcontem- pateddirection. porarytopics, such as interfirmrela- Theoreticalunderpinnings ofstrat- tionships,more. Further, the results egyarticles are the emphasisof Cri- suggestthat researchers focused less tique 4. The relevantPUIs changed on Fortune500 firms,although they from23.3 to 42.4 (economictheo- are stillpopular subjects. Taken to- ries)and 42.2 to 37.8 (non-economic gether,these resultssuggest that theories)between time periods.In someprogress has been made relative contrastto our expectations,the to Critique1. meandifference test results were sta-

JOURNAL OF MANAGERIALISSUES Vol. XVIII Number 3 Fall 2006 Revisiting Bettis 415

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JOURNAL OF MANAGERIALISSUES Vol. XVIII Number 3 Fall 2006 RevisitingBettis 417 tisticallysignificant and in theoppo- changestraditional firm boundaries sitedirection, indicating that the field (Zengerand Hesterley,1997). reliedmore on theoriesgrounded in In additionto movingaway from economicsin timeperiod two. dated concepts,our resultssuggest Lastly,Critique 5 addressesthe thatthe field is devoting less attention topicof managerialprescriptions in to Fortune500 firms.Meanwhile, Bus- strategyresearch. The relevantPUI enitzet al (2003) foundthat the study changedfrom 45.9 to 31.2 between of entrepreneurshipand entrepre- timeperiods, which was not in thean- neurial firmshas enjoyed modest ticipated direction. Further, the growth in managementjournals. mean differencetest result indicates Thus, althoughsome mightargue thatresearchers are nowoffering less thatstrategic management research managerialimplications and pre- is stilllargely focused on thestudy of scriptionsto a statisticallysignificant large, multidivisionalorganizations, degree. thisevidence suggests that the field has evolved.In sum,scholars exam- DISCUSSION ine not onlyolder, established types of ,but also address Our resultssuggest that since 1991, moremodern structures and contem- strategicmanagement researchers porarytopics of interest.Future re- have increasinglylooked beyond search should continueto include "wooly mammoth" organizational suchvariety. forms(e.g., M-Form) to conduct stud- Our resultsalso suggestthat, since ies geared towardsunderstanding 1991, strategic management re- modernday "elephants." Indeed, re- searchershave focused more on firms searchershave shiftedtheir focus outsidethe U.S. Indeed, both SMJ fromolder, less relevant structures to and AiW/havedevoted special issues newer ones, such as franchises to topics involvingglobal (Combsand Ketchen,1999; Shane, strategy,and researchershave drawn 1996) and joint ventures(Parkhe, data from over 30 countries.We 1993;Yan and Gray,1994). Perhaps founda muchgreater emphasis on not surprisingly,Ramos-Rodriguez globalstrategic management and/ or and Ruiz-Navarro(2004) reported international,cross-cultural contexts thatmore recentscholarly research in recentyears. Further, we found reliesless on theworks of Chandler thatauthors now tryto includekey (1962), Wrigley(1970), and Rumelt distinctionsamong countries, such as (1974). In addition,more strategy culturalor regulatorydifferences, scholarsare researchinghow organi- thatare unique to the sample.Be- zationalforms are shaped by infor- cause thesedifferences often present mation technology innovations. boundaryconditions for many of our Rohmand Milne (2003), forexam- well-knowntheories (e.g., Gibson and ple,showed how managers use thein- Marcoulides,1995; Kogut et al, ternetto change existingbusiness 2002), thesearticles have important models and distributionchannel implications- they help provide strategies,and howsuch changes can morecomplete explanations of how improve firm performance.Such firmsoperate and perform. studiesare indeed salientto today's Regardingmethodology dominat- businessesas informationtechnology ing theory,we foundthat strategic

JOURNAL OF MANAGERIALISSUES Vol. XVIII Number 3 Fall 2006 418 Crook, Bratton, Street,and Ketchen

managementresearchers now rely timeperiod two. Indeed, the use of mareon secondarydata sourcesthan economic theorieshas more than whenBettis first voiced his critique. doubled.Ghoshal's (2005) recentad- We are encouragedthat more re- monitionssuggest that the over-ap- searchersare mixing primary and sec- plication of economic theoriesis ondarydata sources in an effortto tri- causingmore harm than good. A key angulate.However, it is unlikelythat implicationis thatthe field might be relianceon archivaldatabases will go portrayingfirms in an overlyrational awayanytime soon becausescholars manner,which could reduce the (especiallythose new to the field) field'srealism. Although the richness needto publish, and to do so quickly. of the fieldof strategycould suffer Usingarchival databases can be rela- froma completehalt in drawing tivelyless time-intensivethan other upon economic theories,we con- methods.Additionally, obtaining pri- cludethat researchers must endeavor marydata fromexecutives (where to incorporateelements from other strategicdecisions are made) can be disciplinesand morecarefully delin- a dauntingtask. Yet the difficultyof eate howthese elements can be situ- obtainingsuch data does notreduce ated withinstrategic management's its importanceor justifythe lack of uniquebody of knowledge. researcheffort in thisarea. We still Finally,we foundthat most strate- need a betterunderstanding of how gicmanagement research still fails to strategyis created.Perhaps this task providespecific managerial implica- fallsmainly to seniorscholars, given tionsand prescriptionsin theirwork. thepragmatic issues facing their jun- Thereare notableexceptions. For ex- ior colleagues.In sum,whether Bet- ample,Huselid (1995) makesclear tis'third critique was accurate in 1991 thevalue of strategic human resource is subjectto debate.It seemedto ig- systemsto managersby identifying norethe vast body of research relying specificamounts of turnoverpre- on case studies,interviews, and sur- ventedand profitsincreased by using veys.However, based on our results, suchsystems. Although such findings it seemsclear thatstrategy research offermeaningful insight into strate- hasnot progressed enough relative to gic managementissues that are rele- hisconcerns, at leastwithin SM/and vantto policymakers and practition- AMJ.But giventhat thesejournals ers, more insightsare needed to tendto publishstudies offering more ensure that scholarlyresearch in- methodologicalrigor, perhaps this formspractice. Further, not includ- resultis notsurprising. ingsuch implications in studies might Becausestrategic management has no longerbe an optionas journals deep economicroots (Rumelt et al, seek to increaseknowledge transfer 1994),it is notsurprising to findthat betweenacademics and practitioners. occasionallythe distinctionbetween Indeed,this journal's (JMFs) goal - the twofields is somewhatblurred. 4'to contributeto the advanceof in- YetBettis' (1991) keyconcern was the formation,ideas, and conceptsre- overuseand misapplicationof eco- lated to the theoryof organizations nomictheories. Our researchdesign and thepractice of management" - didnot allow us toexamine the latter; includesdoing so. Specifically,itseeks however,we did findthat the use of submissions"that have direct practi- economictheories increased during cal applicationto business."We view

JOURNAL OF MANAGERIALISSUES Vol. XVIII Number3 Fall 2006 RevisitingBettis 419 thisas a positivestep, and believethat it marksstrategy as a forwardthink- otherjournals should ensure that au- ing, ambitiousarea of inquiry(Ra- thorsarticulate their findings' rele- mos-Rodriguezand Ruiz-Navarro, vanceto practice.Such an emphasis 2004). The downsideis thattransfer- pervadedearly strategy research and ringknowledge from one streamto shouldbe restored. anotheris problematicbecause their conceptualfoundations are oftenso CurrentChallenges distinct.Thus, researchthat builds bridgesbetween seemingly disparate Our assessmentreveals that sub- researchstreams is sorelyneeded stantialprogress has been made to- (e.g., Ketchenet al, 2004). One po- ward addressingsome of Bettis' tentialpractical impediment is that (1991) critiques.There remains, journals (and some promotion/ten- however,much progress to be made. ure committees)typically value new Thus, some keyelements of Bettis' ideas thanefforts to - higher integrate concerns includingthe need for existing ideas. Thus, gatekeepers moreprimary data collection, the in- suchas editorsand reviewersneed to corporationof more non-economic be mindfulof their roles in reversing theories,and theneed for more man- thefield's fragmentation. agerialprescriptions - continueto serveas usefulbenchmarks for re- Issue 2 - MethodologicalAccuracy searcherswho devise new projects. Alongsidethe progressmade since The yearssince Bettis'(1991) cri- 1991,other issues have emerged. Be- tiquehave seen the emergence of sev- low,we detailtwo fundamental prob- eral articlesthat assess methodologi- lems thatwe believelimit strategic cal practices.These pieces have management'sability to informman- consistentlyfound strategy research agers and researchers.This discus- to have seriousshortcomings, sug- sionis notmeant to be exhaustive.A gestingthat methodological accuracy comprehensivediscussion of the is a pre-eminentproblem for the challengesfacing the field could con- field.The use of clusteranalysis was sumean entirebook (cf. Rumelt et al, foundto be poor throughoutthe lit- 1994).Instead, we focuson twobasic erature(Ketchen and Shook,1996). issuesthat should be resolvedto im- Bergh (1993, 1995) noted that re- proveknowledge generation. searchershave consistentlyviolated statisticalassumptions, and oftenex- Issue 1 - ecuted their methodologyincor- Conceptual and Holbein re- Fragmentation rectly.Bergh (1997) portthat only four percent of studies One huge challengefacing strate- in theirreview addressed the dynamic gicmanagement is thefragmentation aspects of empiricalrelationships, ofthe field.1 There has been a prolif- even when the data were available. erationof theoriesto tacklespecific Moreover,statistical power is gener- researchquestions, with many of ally inadequate in strategystudies themhaving their origins in econom- (Fergusonand Ketchen,1999), sam- ics.This is beneficialin thesense that pling decisions are often suspect

1 We thankan anonymousreviewer for this insight.

JOURNAL OF MANAGERIALISSUES Vol. XVIII Number 3 Fall 2006 420 Crook, Bratton, Street,and Ketchen (Shortet al, 2002),and threatsto in- SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION ternalvalidity are pervasive(Bergh et to Bettis(1991) offeredhis al, 2004). Despite* encouragement initially escape the 'regressionparadigm" critiquesto improvestrategic man- (Camererand Fahey,1985), the use agementresearch. Over a decade of regressionin strategystudies dra- later,we are encouragedthat we maticallyincreased from the 1980s foundsignificant progress has been (36% of empiricalarticles) to the madetoward addressing problems in- 1990s(65%) (Shooket al, 2003). Fi- volvingdated concepts,over-studied nally,the use and reportingof struc- organizations,and ethnocentricity. turalequation modelinghas often As a group,strategy researchers have been less than ideal (Shook et al, notdone enoughto use primarydata 2004). collection,avoid over-reliance on ec- use of some Beyondthe improper onomictheories, and providemana- methodologicaltechniques, the ap- Further, ofsome re- gerialprescriptions. concep- plication techniques(e.g., tual fragmentationand a lack of gression)limits researchers' abilities have become to make inferencesabout the methodologyaccuracy strong keychallenges that the field must ad- strategy-performancelinkage among dress. top performingfirms (Camerer and How can we ensurethat 1985;Hitt etal, 1998).Indeed, positive Fahey, trendscontinue and negativetrends a keycriticism of traditional empirical are reversed?We our col- is that results encourage techniques theyyield to considerthe behavioral centeredon firms.Yet the leagues average offered Im- heartof strategy for any given firm is guidance byphilosopher theallocation of resources to achieve manuelKant. His "categoricalimper- ative" that an individual itsgoals, not what firms in generalare suggests The best shouldnot takeany action that the doing. strategiesleverage individualwould not want thefirm's core competenciesto cre- everyone ate and to take. Withinstrategic manage- competitiveadvantages entry done to barriers.Thus, the natureof a suc- ment,the harm knowledge accumulationefforts one cessfulstrategy is a calculatedeffort byany study to the firmfrom the aver- thathas some or all ofthe weaknesses separate discussedabove is minimal. age.2One implicationis thatmore at- typically tentionshould be devoted to re- Collectively,however, a series of such studiesundermines the field's search approachessuch as outlier ability analysisthat shed lighton the "ex- to generateactionable knowledge. ception,"rather than on the"rule." Thus,we closethis article by suggest- By helpingstrategy researchers un- ing thateach of us mustrecognize derstandkey differencesbetween ourrole in thegreater enterprise, not high-and low-performingfirms, out- just focuson our individualcareers. lieranalysis could improve our knowl- Further,each of us musttake some edge aboutthe strategy-performance responsibility through our owndeci- relationshipand help us provide sionsfor the stateof the fieldas a strongermanagerial prescriptions. whole.

2 We thankan anonymousreviewer for this insight.

JOURNAL OF MANAGERIALISSUES Vol. XVIII Number 3 Fall 2006 Revisiting Bettis 421

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