Knowledge that Transforms

The need for effective competitive strategy planning for a firm's survival and growth has long been recognized to be important. The identification and selection of good, or robust, market strategies must be based on the anticipation of the likely strategies of significant competitors, who should ideally be visualized as undergoing a similar process of assessing their own and other's goals and probable strategies. This paper reviews and evaluates the traditional economic and game theoretic approaches to competitive strategy analysis and presents an application of metagame analysis—an approach which has not previously been used in the strategic business environment. This approach, which appears to have some significant advantages over both economic and game theoretic approaches has been utilized and evaluated in a business firm (Dutta and King, forthcoming). An illustration of its use, which is based on a real‐world application, is discussed.

This paper extends previous work in the development of a methodology for ill‐structured policy problems. It argues that recent advances in the structure and logic of argumentation allow one to develop a new basis for treating policy issues. In brief, policies may be viewed as the outcome of a process of reasoning (argumentation) whose purpose is to establish the basis (rationale) for the policy. This paper shows how the tools of symbolic logic may be applied to handle arguments containing strong inconsistencies. The tools presented allow treatment of one of the most fundamental issues concerned with ill‐structured problems, the divergence between opposing formulations or perceptions of a problem.

The paper describes how six large Swedish multinational corporations manage the task of assuring strategic integration between headquarters and foreign subsidiaries. Swedish companies are shown to address the problem in an informal way and by leaving their foreign subsidiaries a great deal of autonomy. However, in many instances the necessary integration is not assured. Cases of strategic conflict between parts of companies are analysed, characteristics of and trends in the environment of multinational corporations are identified, and theoretical considerations are applied. With this discussion as a basis, some suggestions are advanced about how to involve subsidiaries more in strategic decision making.

The need for planning in business organizations operating in today's complex environment is widely accepted. Implied is an assumption that planning improves performance. However, the empirical evidence for such a claim is thin. Since planning is an integral part of strategy formulation, the facts to confirm or refute an assumed connection between planning and performance invite attention. Our research focuses on new data from 61 companies which test this linkage and, in addition, reviews the conclusions of prior empirical studies.

Systematic strategic management is a recent and still developing concern of both practitioners and students of management. It is necessary, therefore, to define in this first issue of the Strategic Management Journal (SMJ) both the limits and the contents of the subject which will be welcomed to its pages. Since we hope to attract our readers and contributors from both practice and academia, it is appropriate to describe strategic management from their respective viewpoints.

Market failure concepts together with a corporate strategy taxonomy have important implications for the direction of growth of firms and their possible success. This paper discusses the relationship between these concepts and shows how specific types of market failure give rise to specific classes of firms. Arguments are presented why specific types of firms will be more or less successful than others. Empirical research by Rumelt is then cited which supports the themes developed in the paper.

The conceptual construct, exit barriers, is expanded using both statistical findings and the results of field studies. The immobility of resources, it is suggested, can be overcome by helping marginal competitors to exit from potentially volatile businesses. The implementation of such tactics can be adapted to the firm's own strategic commitment and to the nature of the business in question, although it is expected that firms which might consider purchasing the physical and intangible assets of competitors in order to help them to scale high exit barriers, must themselves perceive the business to be of sufficiently high strategic importance to do so.

This study examines the interrelationships of environmental changes and strategic action variables with each other and with short term success, for 358 large business firms over a 45 year period. Success ( Fortune ratings and ROA) is found to be related to two strategic decision segments. Several strategy‐environment relationships are also found. Some methodological problems are noted in the attempt to move policy research from case analysis to statistical explanation.

In the recruitment of managers it is increasingly necessary to attune the choice of candidate to the strategy of the company or its subsidiary. In this paper—coauthored by specialists in the fields of management recruitment and corporate strategy—the authors develop classifications of strategies and of management archetypes. Linking of these classifications leads to an approach that can assist both managers‐employees and managers‐employers when filling management vacancies. In addition, the approach can be used to assist management development programmes and to relate management planning to strategic planning.

This paper reports the findings of an empirical field study of savings and loan associations. The investigation centres upon whether combinations of environment, strategy, and organization structure of “high”‐performance firms differ from combinations associated with “low”‐performance firms. Results show that such combinations differ, both statistically and with respect to their basic character. There is also evidence that norms held by managers of competing institutions and the nature of relationships between organizations and populations served to influence the vigour and form of interfirm rivalries and, in turn, organizational performance.