The adoption of the multidivisional form of organization: a contingency model

Article Abstract:

This article examines the proposition that the multidivisional structure is determined by both power and efficiency imperatives. It is theorized that combining the coalitional power and information-processing perspectives of organizational choice enables us to explain and predict organizational form. The theory is tested on 291 Fortune 500 firms. The results largely confirm theoretical expectations. It is submitted that the multidivisional paradigm illustrates the central premises of the article: (1) a synthesis of efficiency and power perspectives is a viable research programme; and (2) theoretical pluralism increases empirical content and should be valued by those concerned with progress in the emerging field of strategic management. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

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Strategic management and determinism: sustaining the conversation

Article Abstract:

This article suggests that strategy research should concern itself with continuing the conversation of the field rather thsn insisting upon a place for universal methodological criteria within that conversation. It attempts to sustain the dialogue begun by Bourgeois, Bowman, Jemison, Huff, and others, who recommend the pragmatic approach of methodological and theoretical pluralism as the best way forward in increasing empirical content. The article draws heavily on the philosophical writings of Dewey, Kaplan, and Rorty and the methodological essays of economists such as Boland, Caldwell, and McCloskey in an effort to persuade others in the strategy field that 'good science is good conversation'. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

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Edith Penrose's (1959) Contributions to the Resource-based View of Strategic Management

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The authors demonstrate how Edith Penrose has directly influenced the present-day perspective of resource-based strategic management. Topics include creating and sustaining competitive advantage, economic rents, and isolating mechanisms.

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