CURRENT AND POTENTIAL IMPORTANCE OF QUALITATIVE METHODS IN STRATEGY RESEARCH

Abstract

The study of strategy is the study of how firms gain and maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. It is an examination of both the types of strategy that appear to be most successful in a given situation, as well as the organizational resources, systems, principles, and processes that create, transform, and carry out strategic action in competitive arenas. Since its development as a distinct disciplinary area, strategy research has focused primarily on large, cross-sectional studies of quantitative data gathered through questionnaires, archival sources such as financial reports, and commercial data bases such as PIMS and COMPUSTAT. These analyses have focused on, and revealed, patterns of strategy content, formulation processes, and competitive interaction that exist across firms within a given competitive context and that explain variations in performance across firms. These results have led to the development of several basic theoretical frameworks that help us to understand and predict competitive activity and organizational performance.

Citation

Barr, P.S. (2004), "CURRENT AND POTENTIAL IMPORTANCE OF QUALITATIVE METHODS IN STRATEGY RESEARCH", Research Methodology in Strategy and Management (Research Methodology in Strategy and Management, Vol. 1), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 165-188. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-8387(04)01106-3