Demystifying Organization Success: A Bibliometric Analysis and Future Research Agenda

Organizational success is multi-dimensional. Survival is essential but not a sufficient condition for the organization’s success. Considering the importance and proliferation of organizational success research, it is an opportunity to review the extant literature to guide understanding of its current and future progress. In this connection, the goal of this study is to review the performance and intellectual structure of organizational success. To do so, this study conducts a comprehensive, systematic review with bibliometric and content analysis of 370 Scopus-indexed articles based on the PRISMA framework to identify the performance (publication and citation trends, top authors and publications) and science mapping (content analysis, keyword co-occurrence analysis, bibliometric coupling) of extant literature published since 1974. This research helps to identify the most widely used 29 theories in organizational success research and provides a new avenue for future research directions. In addition to identifying key research themes, sub-themes and knowledge structures, this review would help to create value through the consolidation and quantification of the organization’s successful research evolution. This is the first comprehensive literature review article using a hybrid approach (systematic literature review, bibliometric analysis and content analysis) in organizational success.