Theory Building in Strategic Management

The purpose of this work is to articulate the terrain of foundational issues in strategic management research and suggest a framework for understanding and justifying the generation of knowledge in this field. The authors propose a framework with four dimensions: specification of the strategic decision, identification of decision level, delineation of the purpose of the decision, and specification of the decision context. Freeman and Lorange demonstrate that the proposed framework points towards a building block approach for reaching a full-blown theory of strategy, and that there exists too little theory to enable researchers to integrate the bits and pieces into a coherent whole.

Originally published in: Advances in Strategic Management, 3, 9–38, © Elsevier Books Limited, 1985

Reprint by Springer, Reproduced with permission of The Licensor through PLSclear, DOI 10.1108/astm

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Process-Oriented Strategic Theory

Process-Oriented Strategic Theory

Epistemological Underpinnings and Original Concepts of Strategic Management

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA R. Edward Freeman
2. IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland Peter Lorange

1. R. Edward Freeman