Toward Reimagining Strategy Research: Retrospection and Prospection on the 2011 AMR Decade Award Article

Abstract

We focus on implications of an agreed upon yet little considered conclusion from our 2001 article—that resource value is determined outside the business-level resource-based view. Starting with this premise, we argue that knowledge accumulation from strategy research—especially actionable knowledge about effective versus ineffective managerial judgments—would be stimulated with more balanced attention not only to value capture for the firm but also to value creation for the firm's customers and, ultimately, consumers. To spur such wider attention, we offer an expanded boundary model that includes the demand side, business models, and business ecosystems within the strategy research “umbrella.” Our proposal (1) extends what the current scholarly consensus might consider “normal” strategy research, (2) sets specific boundaries to guide future research, and (3) brings value creation for consumers to a more central position in the field. Viewing strategy from this broader perspective requires a shift in mindset, from focusing primarily on the firm to focusing more equally on the consumer, and from a primary emphasis on value capture to an equal emphasis on value creation. Such a shift faces obstacles but likely would spur innovative knowledge generation and result in a more dynamic, yet accumulative and prescriptive, strategy field.