What Makes a Decision Strategic?

Michael J. Leiblein (), Jeffrey J. Reuer () and Todd Zenger ()
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Michael J. Leiblein: Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210
Jeffrey J. Reuer: Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309
Todd Zenger: David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112

Strategy Science, 2018, vol. 3, issue 4, 558-573

Abstract: The growth and diversity of strategic management research raise important questions about the field’s identity. In response to the increasing breadth of topics addressed in the field, scholars have suggested the need for a more topical focus, improved theoretical and empirical rigor, or additional integrative reviews. We suggest an alternative approach, one that emphasizes the distinctive contributions of strategic management. We highlight three unique characteristics of strategic decisions: interdependence across contemporaneous decisions, across the decisions of other economic actors, and across time. We suggest that this threefold characterization of strategic decisions improves on existing definitions that rely on the perceived importance of decisions or the trade-offs presented by a decision. Our definition of strategic decisions highlights patterns of interdependent choices that are complementary or superadditive to value creation. Moreover, this characterization of strategic decisions offers a ready way for scholars with multiple disciplinary or topical interests to connect with the field’s core. These characteristics of strategic decisions also relate to theories of resource allocation and strategic investment, competitive advantage, and firm boundaries that suggest opportunities to better connect these streams of research.

Keywords: strategic management; strategic decision-making; resource allocation and investment; theory of the firm; competitive advantage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orstsc:v:3:y:2018:i:4:p:558-573

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