This volume brings together various emerging perspectives in strategy research for further interaction and debate. Contributions address a range of issues related to the globalization of strategy research and chapters examine strategy theory, methods and research as well as strategy as practice, discourse and reflexive design.

The field of strategic management emerged and developed in North America before migrating to other parts of the world. Historically, the relationship between North American strategy research and research elsewhere was asymmetric: North America led, other research communities followed. More recently, however, the pattern of interaction has shifted as strategy research communities outside North America have attained critical mass and begun to challenge North American dominance. The challenge takes several forms. To begin with, whereas a decade or more ago top management journals rarely featured strategy research conducted outside North America, today the volume of work by non-North American strategy researchers that appears in these journals is substantial, and arguably approaching parity. Moreover, strategy research communities outside North America are no longer inclined to defer to the North American community as sole arbiter of research quality, nor do they routinely accept North American views of what constitutes “cutting edge” research. This newly gained confidence in their own abilities and judgment has emboldened non-North American researchers to explore intellectual traditions distinct from those that ground North American strategy research. As North American strategy researchers are increasingly exposed to these new ideas and approaches, optimistically, this should give rise to cooperation, consolidation and common ground. But, for the present, strategy research seems to be moving in the opposite direction, toward increased rivalry and fragmentation as new rhetorical, discursive, and practice perspectives emerge and gain traction. For some, this fragmentation reflects the effects of globalization on the larger cycle of variation, selection and consolidation in the evolution of strategy research. For others, however, it is the result of a confrontation between diverse intellectual traditions and socioeconomic conditions that not only make fragmentation and hostility likely to persist, but also give rise to distinctive and potentially irreconcilable schools of thought (O'Shannasy, 2001) . Whether strategy research is destined for permanent pluralism or merely in transition to greater coherence is difficult to say precisely because we do not understand adequately how fields evolve in general, and how globalization will affect the intellectual evolution of our field in particular (Baum, 2007). At one level it can be argued that the end-state does not matter. What matters at this point is letting a “thousand flowers” bloom by encouraging new ideas and giving new voices an opportunity to be heard. This is the policy we adopted for this volume of Advances in Strategic Management. We cast our net wide deliberately, inviting contributions that tackle and capture the globalization of strategy research, with particular emphasis on contributions that “challenge the historically dominant North American tradition in strategy research - from both outside as well as inside North America.” We believe we have succeeded in bringing together as diverse a collection of contributions as space allows, but in the course of reading and editing them it became clear to us that not only do many of these contributions challenge the dominance of the North American influence in strategy research, but they also challenge each other. For us, as editors, this posed a dilemma: Espousing diversity may satisfy our belief in the importance of keeping an open mind, but stopping there would ignore how the increasing conceptual diversity of strategy research is changing the field. A useful starting point for understanding the impact of this diversity on the field of strategy is the wider historical context. As with the broader impact of globalization, the emergence of a challenge to North American dominance of strategy research is due in part to technological change, specifically convenient access of researchers via the Internet to articles published in what are often colloquially referred to as 'second tier' management journals. Easier access to these journals has increased their influence, and reduced the power of so-called 'top tier' journals, which are almost invariably North American, to enforce a particular approach to strategy research. It has also allowed non-North American researchers, and North American researchers who dissent from the dominant perspective, to link up and form new research perspectives. The increased diversity, however, has intensified competition for what Collins (1998) terms the “intellectual attention space”. This, in turn, has triggered greater attention to fundamental questions of legitimacy, or more specifically, why it is increasingly difficult for strategy researchers to agree on how knowledge claims should be judged. This the main issue that we examine in this opening chapter. We begin by framing the issue of intellectual or scientific legitimacy in general. This is a large issue so, by necessity, we focus on several key points that are useful to our analysis. We continue by examining how the history of the field of strategy or, more precisely, the “emergence narrative” of how the field began has been used to legitimize the dominance of North American strategy research. We show that contrary to the emergence narrative that now prevails, there were alternative visions of how the field should evolve, but that these alternatives were marginalized when certain epistemologies, specifically logical empiricism, were promoted as the best way of legitimizing research. Research that challenges the dominant North American approach to research could only make headways if it sought different sources of legitimacy. In the final part of the paper we therefore examine the various ways in which emerging perspectives in strategy have sought to consecrate their research, and consider to the extent to which different consecration tactics exacerbated the fragmentation of the field of strategy as a global enterprise.

This Research Handbook provides a solid foundation for exploring the vibrant field of strategic entrepreneurship, with an examination of important topics from theoretical, psychological and economic perspectives. PhD students, scholars and researchers alike who want to investigate further into strategic entrepreneurship in depth as well as uncharted territories, will find this Research Handbook a valuable resource.

Strategic management relies on an array of complex methods drawn from various allied disciplines to examine how managers attempt to lead their firms toward success. This book discusses about key methodology issues in the strategic management field.

The Handbook of Research on Competitive Strategy presents a comprehensive state-of-the-art picture of current strategic management issues and demarcates the major investigation strands that are likely to shape the field into the future. The Handbook is the outcome of a far-reaching endeavour including new contributions from highly-reputed experts around the world, outlining the conceptual and empirical advancements and assessing the promises and practical relevance of the competitive strategy field. Looking at key areas such as alliances and innovation, ownership and networks, coopetition and entrepreneurship, multinational and trust management, and firm's financial structures and business models, the book sets a research agenda for the future of competitive strategy research. Gathering various solid branches of investigation that revolve around specific theories and applications (such as the socio-cognitive perspective, the strategy-as-practice view, and the most recent developments in competitive dynamics and the resource-based perspective of the firm), this inspiring and thought-provoking Handbook will provide executives, entrepreneurs, students and scholars in management with many insights into the nature and process of competitive strategy emergence, configuration and development.

Regularly considered to be the cap-stone course on any business or management degree, strategy has developed into a wide-ranging and sometimes overwhelming field of study. However, in recent years the theory of strategy has come under increasing scrutiny for its perceived failures and detachment from real world practice. With an engaging and conversational tone, this new concise textbook offers an accessible and timely review of the theory and practice of strategic management, explored from a more critical perspective. In a refreshing change from much of the literature, Richard Godfrey takes a wider view of strategy, incorporating insights from the worlds of sociology, psychology and history to highlight the complexity and plurality at the heart of the discipline. The book also incorporates a number of extensive case studies on contemporary business strategy from the likes of Apple, Nike, Zara and IKEA. Written for both an undergraduate and postgraduate audience, the book challenges a number of underlying assumption and beliefs about strategy and seeks to add clarity and context to the field.

The premise of this volume is that the complex social processes that animate strategic decisions involve not only top-level executives, but also middle managers distributed throughout the organization. Designed for doctoral students and others interested in middle managers and strategy process, the Handbook integrates the threads of scholarly work in this domain and charts a course for future research. Chapters are written both by scholars who have ‘paved the way’ for the middle management perspective and scholars who have done recent, cutting edge research from this point of view.

Strategic management relies on an array of complex methods drawn from various allied disciplines to examine how managers attempt to lead their firms toward success. This book intends to provide a forum for critique, commentary and discussion about key methodology issues in the strategic management field.

ïVerbeke and Merchant have assembled a remarkable collection of brand new essays by the whoÍs-who of international business. It will become a standard reference for both junior and senior scholars working in this increasingly important area.Í _ Ravi Ramamurti, Northeastern University, US ïLeading thinkers about the multinational enterprise offer both concise syntheses and critical reflections of the state of the art on international strategic management research. They in particular highlight the potential of internalization theory as a central paradigm for the field, and critically examine pertinent issues such as the complex notion of distance in international business. Refreshingly, they do not shy away from naming flaws in recent work, while offering avenues to improve the quality and impact of future research.Í _ Klaus Meyer, University of Bath, UK The Handbook provides an impressive state-of-the-art overview of the international strategic management field as an area of scholarly inquiry. The great strength of the work is the thoughtfulness of the messages conveyed by the expert team of authors. The implications for future international strategy research and for international management practice are profound and will influence the next generation of scholars in international strategy as well as senior level managers. Corporate executives will continue to operate in a world that is far from flat and will use this volume as a reliable compass, in the form of powerful conceptual frameworks, to navigate uncharted territory in the global economy. The Handbook presents a collection of 24 original research papers that should serve international strategy scholars and reflective MNE managers alike.

This core textbook is concerned with the managerial decisions, processes and activities that allow the creation and implementation of a strategy. Advanced Strategic Management adopts a multi-perspective approach to evaluate and challenge assumptions about what strategy is concerned with and thus strengthen students' understanding of strategic management. This new third edition weaves together theoretical debate and practical insights to enrich the way in which strategy is both viewed and enacted. Written by leading experts, this is an engaging and challenging resource, perfect for undergraduate and postgraduate students taking strategy courses. New to this Edition: - Fully revised and updated content throughout - A new detailed introduction and conclusion which link together the ideas and different perspectives throughout the book