Strategic management is considered to be a younger subspecialty of
management. As such, it often has been criticized for a lack of rigor in
both the framing and testing of hypotheses. In response to this concern,
limitations in strategic management research practices, along with
recommendations for improvement, have been identified in a stream of
articles. The results of these articles have substantially influenced
subsequent research designs and methods of execution. Construct measurement
stands out as a specific area that would benefit from a focused feature
topic, as relatively limited emphasis has been placed on measurement issues
in strategic management articles. Therefore, Organizational Research
Methods (ORM) invites authors to submit manuscripts for a feature topic on
Construct Measurement in Strategic Management.
The goal of this feature topic is to advance knowledge regarding the design
and application of constructs in empirical strategic management studies.
Therefore, we encourage papers that are diverse in approach, including
quantitative, qualitative, and review papers. The special section might
include, but is not restricted to, the following:
_ The definition of a firm’s strategic orientation vis-a`-vis Porter’s
typology versus that of Miles and Snow
_ The representation of firms’ aspirations (We see plenty of studies that
assume industry average performance and/or the firm’s previous year
performance as reasonable ways to represent aspirations.)
_ Construct validation of approaches to measurement of prominent strategic
management
constructs, such as diversification, discretion, knowledge, or social
capital
_ Measurement issues in qualitative studies
_ The application of formative versus reflective indicators
_ The use and/or misuse of proxies and how they can undermine construct
validity and thus undermine knowledge creation
_ Issues with retrospective data
_ Use of survey data, including reliance on single respondents to capture
group-level phenomena and/or whether traditionally low response rates
contaminate construct measurement
_ Development and use of multilevel variables
_ Development and validation of new measures for strategic management
constructs
Papers will undergo the usual double-blind, developmental review, and the
final acceptance of approved papers will be contingent on incorporating
reviewer feedback to the satisfaction of the editors. Submissions will be
evaluated with respect to the following criteria:
a. Relevance. The manuscript should make a contribution to the focus of the
special issue. Papers where measurement issues are secondary themes will
receive lower evaluations.
b. Scope of interest. Although the primary focus of the special issue is on
strategic management, papers that are also of interest to the broader
readership of ORM will receive higher evaluations.
c. Organization and coherence. The paper should follow a logical structure,
read clearly, and thoroughly represent the available research.
d. Insight for future work. The paper should convey important implications
for future management scholars, particularly regarding the application of
strategic management constructs.
The guest editors for this special issue are Brian Boyd, Arizona State
University (briankboyd@ asu.edu); Don Bergh, University of Denver
(
dbergh@du.edu); Duane Ireland, Texas A&M University
(
DIreland@mays.tamu.edu); and Dave Ketchen, Auburn University
(
ketchda@auburn.edu).
We welcome any questions or queries about possible submissions.
Please note that due to editorial constraints, it is vital for authors to
submit their manuscripts by December 1, 2011. We will not be able to accept
late submissions.
Prospective authors must specify that their manuscripts are not under
consideration at other journals and that their manuscripts have not been
published elsewhere in substantially similar form or with substantially
similar content. Further, if a manuscript represents a substantial revision
of a manuscript previously rejected by ORM, it must be identified as such
with the previous manuscript number and a letter outlining why you feel it
should be considered in its new form.
Manuscripts should be submitted electronically via SAGETRACK. Authors will
be required to set up an online account on the SAGETRACK system powered by
ScholarOne. After logging in, submissions are completed through your Author
Center. Please select ‘‘Feature Topic: Construct Measurement in Strategic
Management’’ as the manuscript type. Your title should be no more than 20
words, and your abstract no more than 180 words. Corresponding authors need
to completely enter all coauthor information as well. The manuscript to be
uploaded should be completely devoid of any author identification and
should be prepared using Microsoft Word. It should be ONE file
starting with the abstract on page 1 and with the text starting on page 2.
Following the text, arrange endnotes, references, appendices, tables, and
figures, in this order. Manuscripts should generally not exceed 30 pages,
inclusive, and should follow the style guidelines of the American
Psychological Association (current edition).