We examine the moderating effect of industry clockspeed on the relationship between strategic schemas, strategic flexibility and firm performance. We employ two key properties of strategic schemas: complexity and focus. Using a sample of 225 firms from 14 industries, we show that the pattern of relationships among the theoretical constructs is different in fast-and slow-clockspeed industries. The results suggest that complexity of strategic schemas promotes strategic flexibility and success in fast clockspeed industries, whereas focus of strategic schemas fosters strategic persistence, which is effective in slow-clockspeed industries.

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This article integrates the literature on strategic cognition (SC) within a framework that links the antecedents, structure, and process of SC with outcomes. Reviewing the literature from 1993 (two years prior to Walsh’s review of managerial and organizational cognition) until 2007, this article identifies three elements of SC structure (organizational identity, strategy frames, and organizational routines) and four SC processes (strategy formulation, strategy implementation, strategic change, and organizational learning). The literature portrays strategy formulation as a complex activity consisting of scanning, sensemaking, and decision making. Strategy implementation is composed of sensegiving, sensemaking, and issue selling. This review identifies five streams of empirical research with three well-developed themes (the antecedents and outcomes of strategy frames, determinants and consequences of strategy formulation, and cognitive construction of competitive/industry dynamics) and two emerging themes (the determinants and consequences of strategy implementation and the antecedents and outcomes of organizational identity). This review identifies several opportunities to extend the literature and outlines key methodological implications. Finally, the review addresses the need to build linkages to the ongoing theoretical conversations within strategic management literature.

This study analyzes the empirical literature concerning the influence of various factors on shareholder wealth creation in mergers and acquisitions using a multivariate framework. Overall, results indicate that while the target firm's shareholders gain significantly from mergers and acquisitions, those of the bidding firm do not. Findings also indicate that the use of stock financing has a significant impact on the wealth of both the target and bidding firms' shareholders. The presence of multiple bidders and the type of acquisition influence the bidders' return, while regulatory changes and tender offers influence the targets' returns. The paper also provides a comparison of our findings with that of previous narrative reviews and discusses their implications from the viewpoint of managers and researchers.

This paper calls attention to a central but neglected process in strategic decision making, i.e. strategic issue diagnosis (SID). A framework for discussing SID is presented in terms of three critical components: inputs, process characteristics and outputs. The framework is illustrated in the context of PIMS and BCG, two widely recognized strategy models. The major implications highlight the theoretical significance of SID for understanding strategic decision making.