Associate editor reflections on the Progress in and Future of strategic management research in Journal of Management & Organization

Abstract

In my previous editorial (O’Shannassy, 2015), I highlighted the important role strategic management research and the work of strategy practitioners plays in improving the performance of organizations to the satisfaction of shareholders and stakeholders, the practice of strategy work, the well-being of society and our quality of life. Review of recent media articles (e.g., Gottliebsen, 2017; Rogers, 2017; Stuart Hunter, 2017) highlights the importance of effective strategic management for the well-being of the global financial system, effective management of the healthcare sector including the health insurance sector for all countries, the practice of innovation, the evolution of technology (Rogers, 2017) and sustainability (O’Shannassy, 2015). Hambrick (2004: 91) observes that the focus of the field of strategic management is to ‘study the roles and responsibilities of general managers’ and avoid being taken over by ‘microeconomics, organizational sociology, marketing and psychology’. The term general managers has been interpreted broadly by the field of research since the late 1970s. Mintzberg (1994) made a strong point that strategic management performed effectively is much more than about the work of the chief executive officer on his or her own managing the strategy context, processes and content. There has been since the 1980s an increasing appreciation of the strategy work of top managers inspiring and working with internal and at times external strategists (i.e., management consultants), and middle-line managers to achieve better strategic thinking and innovation outcomes (Mintzberg, 1994; Tushman & O’Reilly, 1997). These strategy workers are required to work together to efficiently harness organization resources deployed at the network-level, corporate-level, business-level and functional-level in human resources, marketing, finance, information technology and operations for the firm to succeed. How strategy workers do this varies from firm to firm and industry to industry (Hart, 1992; O’Shannassy & Hunter, 2009). This is what we study. Strategic management plays a crucial role in big business, the small and medium-size enterprise (SME) sector, the private sector, the public sector and the not-for-profit sector. Strategic management is equally vital to the performance and success of the big business executive, the SME general manager, the new venture entrepreneur and the not-for-profit general manager to provide a contrast of the influence of the field and where it is applied. Firm size does have an important impact on the strategic choices made by the general manager – see Merchant (2014) for a wider discussion. If we as a community of academics deliver quality, relevant and useful research findings and then disseminate these findings with impact across the community, our work can inform the future work of general managers and improve outcomes for their constituents including shareholders, employees, customers and the wider community. This is how we make a difference. Journal of Management & Organization (JMO) is pleased to present here the strategic management themed issue for 2017. In terms of a roadmap for this editorial the next section presents this year’s eclectic mix of six research articles that reflect the range of interests of scholars in our field. Following the remarks on these articles the editorial presents a summary and synthesis of 20 strategic management research articles published in JMO since my editorial in the previous strategic management themed issue in Volume 21, Issue 5 from 2015 with supporting comments and reflections. In helping our