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We are excited to present our hybrid interactive panel symposium (Session 1199),

Adding to the Toolbox: Expert Perspectives on Conducting Experiments in Strategic Management

10:00-11:30 Pacific Time on Monday, August 8^th, SCC Room 618 and interactive online

Co-Sponsored by STR, MOC, RM, Advance registration is not required

Direct link: https://2022.aom.org/meetings/virtual/dRDbuKawDcmpgLWDW

We invite you to join us for a panel discussion on the benefits of, and best practices for, using experiments in strategic management.  The symposium will mostly consist of a moderated panel discussion followed by open round table discussions with panelists.  There will be both in-person and interactive online round table discussions.

Panelists and Round Table Topics

Tony Tong, University of Colorado - Topic opportunities for strategy experiments

Rembrand Koning, Harvard Business School - Firm-level manipulations (using firms as participants)

Lamar Pierce, Washington University - Why experimental papers are accepted or rejected (an editor's perspective)

Ryan Krause, Texas Christian University - Merits of using professionals versus students as participants

Regan Stevenson, Indiana University - Ecological validity and generalizability best practices

Discussant/Provocateur

Michael Hitt, Texas A&M University – Also hosting an online round table on conducting strategic management experiments

Organizers

Mark Bolinger, Appalachian State University

Regan Stevenson, Indiana University

Matthew Josefy, Indiana University

Full Description: Strategic management as a field is primarily concerned with examining and explaining performance asymmetries between firms, yet the field's heavy reliance on archival studies and resulting lack of methodological diversity leads to endemic problems with endogeneity and the potential presence of confounding variables.  Experimental methods are excellent for dealing with endogeneity, but level of analysis concerns, lack of reviewer acceptance, and other barriers have prevented their widespread use in the strategic management context.  Nonetheless, scholars have successfully published papers on important strategic management topics that have served to consolidate past theoretical gains, serve as a platform for future work, and drive the field forward.  The purpose of this symposium is to gather some of these scholars together to share their experiences publishing strategic management papers that included experiments.  We hope to address both the theoretical benefits of how greater methodological diversity can improve individual papers and the field as a whole, and share very practical suggestions for how scholars can overcome the very real barriers to using such methods in this context.  Importantly, the theme of the panel will not be that experiments should completely replace archival methods, or that archival methods are not valuable; rather, it will advocate that the field should "widen its toolbox" and exploit the benefits of a wider range of methods for the benefit of the field.