Strategic Management

Strategic management is a youthful discipline. Its origins date back to the 1960s, with its roots to be found mainly in the seminal publications by Chandler, Ansoff and Andrews. Since then, it has evolved significantly, becoming an ever more mature and consolidated field within the realm of management. The discipline's progress toward maturity has been accompanied by several factors. First, there has been a marked increase in the range of topics addressed. The study of "best practices" in the 1960s has given way to an analysis of such varied topics as internationalization, cooperation between firms, strategies and competition in the markets for products and factors, strategic leadership, and the relationship between a firm's strategy and its corporate social responsibility, to mention just a few. Second, there has been significant growth in the range of research methods used, with these becoming steadily more sophisticated. In-depth case studies have been largely replaced by the use of quantitative tools based on complex econometric techniques, multilevel analysis and, more recently, hybrid methodologies, whereby a single study combines quantitative and qualitative techniques, with each being adapted to the nature of the problem to be analyzed.