Introduction: Dan and mary lou schendel best paper award winners, 1993‐2014

• Date: 01 December 2016
• Author: Will Mitchell,Aija Leiponen
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2539
• Published date: 01 December 2016

Introduction:DanandMaryLouSchendelBestPaperAwardWinners,1993‐

2014

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AijaLeiponenandWillMitchell

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Wearedelightedtopulltogetherthiscollectionofwonderfulpapers,representingmorethantwenty

yearsofjudgmentaboutwhatworkhasbeeninfluentialinthefieldofstrategicmanagement.The

winnersoftheDanandMaryLouSchendelBestPaperAwardforresearchpublishedintheStrategic

ManagementJournalrepresentstellarresearch,bothreflectinganswerstoimportantquestionsinthe

fieldandfeedingimportantnewwork.Eachindividualpaperishighlycitedandhasalreadyhadamajor

impactonthefield.Bypullingtheworktogetherintoacohesivecollection,weseektoexpandthat

influenceandencouragescholarsinthefieldtotacklequestionsthatreflectthehighaspirationsofthe

scholarsofthesestudies.

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Themultiplepapersreflectbothstrongdifferencesandacommoncore.Atfirst,thedifferencesmaybe

moreobvious.Someofthepapersareempirical,othersfocusondevelopingnewlogicalarguments.

Someoftheempiricalpapersusemultipleformsofqualitativemethods,othersuselargesamplesand

statisticalanalyses.Somedrawtheirframingprimarilyfromtraditionaldisciplinarybasessuchas

economics,sociology,andpsychology;othersemphasizenewconceptuallensesthataredistincttothe

disciplineofstrategicmanagementresearch.Thepapersvarystrikinglyinthelevelsofanalysisthatthey

focuson,fromindividualtointra‐firmunits,tofirms,toindustriesandenvironments.Someemphasize

performanceandotheroutcomesofstrategicactions,whileothersfocusonhowdifferentstrategies

arise.Hence,oneinterpretationofthiscollectionofbestpapersisthatstrategicmanagementresearch

isaheterogeneousfield,inwhichscholarspursueanextensivevarietyofquestions,usinganequally

broadsetofperspectivesandmethodstoderiveanswerstothosequestions.

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Certainly,thatconclusionofheterogeneityiscorrect–thefieldofstrategicmanagementdoesembrace

adiverserangeoftopics,arguments,andmethods.Indeed,thatispartofthepowerofourfield.

Strategicmanagementscholarsareengagedinstudyingsomeofthemostcomplexanddynamicsocial‐

sciencephenomenathatexist–thebusinessorganization,peopleengagedwithinit,andthe

competitiveandsocialenvironmentsinwhichpeopleandbusinessesexist.Thecomplexityandconstant

changeoftheseinterrelatedsubjectsofstudyrequirethewillingnesstoembracearangeofquestions,

usinganequallydiversesetofperspectivesandmethodstoframethework.

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