The expanding domain of strategic management research and the quest for integration

• Author: Rodolphe Durand,Tammy L. Madsen,Robert M. Grant
• Date: 01 January 2017
• Published date: 01 January 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2607

Strategic Management Journal

Strat. Mgmt. J.,38: 4–16 (2017)

Published online EarlyView in WileyOnline Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/smj.2607

Received 24 October 2016

THE EXPANDING DOMAIN OF STRATEGIC

MANAGEMENT RESEARCH AND THE QUEST

FOR INTEGRATION

RODOLPHE DURAND,1ROBERT M. GRANT,2*and TAMMY L. MADSEN3

1HEC, Paris, France

2Department of Management and Technology, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy

3Management Department, The Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University,

Santa Clara, California, U.S.A.

Research summary: This special issue of Strategic Management Journal was motivated by

concern that the growing scope and diversity of the strategic management eld creates the

risk of incoherence and fragmentation and the belief that research reviews could contribute to

synthesis and integration. In this introductoryessay, we address the expanding domain of strategic

management, consider where its boundaries lie, identify the forces engendering fragmentation,

and discuss how this special issue— and research reviews in general— can assist convergence

within the eld of strategy.We conclude by addressing the potential for integrationmore broadly in

relationto the theories we deploy, the phenomena we investigate, and cohesiveness of our scholarly

community.

Managerial summary: The expanding domain of strategic management reects the widening

range of strategic issues that practising managers face. However, the fragmentation that has

accompanied this broadening scope impedes the usefulness of strategic management research

in guiding strategic decision making. We argue that reviews of strategic management research,

such as those included within this special issue, can support the accumulation of an integrated,

empirically-validated knowledge base which is essential to informing management practice.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

INTRODUCTION

Is everything “strategy”? Since its formal inception

in the late 1970s, the strategic management eld has

experienced rapid growth as an area of research and

as a community of scholars. In particular, the eld

has broadened in the range of phenomena studied,

the concepts and theories used to analyze these

phenomena, and the empirical methods deployed.

However,the expanding scale and scope of strategic

management has been accompanied by increasing

disquiet over its direction of development.

Keywords: literature reviews; paradigm; scholarly eld;

fragmentation, integration

*Correspondence to: Robert M. Grant, Bocconi Uni-

versity, Via Roengen 1, 20136 Milan, Italy. E-mail:

robert.grant@unibocconi.it

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

On the one hand, scholars criticize the eld’s

fragmentation, its preference for novelty over

incremental advancement, its lack of rigorous

theory building, its unwillingness to document and

report on empirical facts, its inability to subject

its many theories to systematic empirical testing,

and the limited guidance it provides to managers.

A common theme among the many critics is a

call for a period of consolidation, integration,

and redirection. In contrast, other scholars view

fragmentation, rather than convergence, as a sign

of the eld’s richness and vitality. For instance,

explaining rm heterogeneity, a long-standing

focus of the strategic management eld, warrants

theoretical and methodological pluralism since

differences among rms depend on many differ-

ent factors. As such, steps to narrow theoretical

diversity risk stiing new ideas, whereas steps to