This article discusses the research strategy of theory building from cases, particularly multiple cases. Such a strategy involves using one or more cases to create theoretical constructs, propositions, and/or midrange theory from case-based, empirical evidence. Replication logic means that each case serves as a distinct experiment that stands on its own merits as an analytic unit. The frequent use of case studies as a research strategy has given rise to some challenges that can be mitigated by the use of very precise wording and thoughtful research design.

Theory Building From Cases: Opportunities And Challenges

We will review some of the major results in random graphs and some of the more challenging open problems. We will cover algorithmic and structural questions. We will touch on newer models, including those related to the WWW.

Random graphs

This article presents some helpful suggestions on how researchers can write an interesting and convincing paper based on case-based research. A single case study, unless the subject is extremely interesting, will be hard to make interesting enough to hold readers' attention. Case-based research is often criticized for having a biased sample of cases. The main object of case studies should be to provoke thought and new ideas, rather than to poke holes in existing theories. Theories are only simplifications of a much more complex reality.

Persuasion with case studies

/pdf/the-theory-of-industrial-organization-19bejph0ej.pdf

The Theory of Industrial Organization

Exploration and exploitation have emerged as the twin concepts underpinning organizational adaptation research, yet some central issues related to them remain ambiguous. We address four related que...

/pdf/the-interplay-between-exploration-and-exploitation-1zlrgstdkw.pdf

The interplay between exploration and exploitation

Competition and Strategy: The Creation of a Group and a Field

Organizing to Strategize in the Face of Interdependencies: Preventing Premature Lock-in

In this paper we introduce lifetime (or long-term) investor value appropriation (LIVA) to measure firm performance, defined as the ex post value of discounted cash flows over a firm’s lifetime (or ...

https://journals.aom.org/doi/pdf/10.5465/ambpp.2017.210

Introducing LIVA to Measure Long-Term Firm Performance

A number of logics have been proposed to describe and prescribe the direction of firm growth. Among the most well-established logics are arguments relating to positioning, resources, legitimation and vicarious market learning. Using data of all mutual fund openings in the U.S. for the period 1961-1996, we find that all four logics help explain firm behavior. To make correct inferences, however, it is important to consider all logics simultaneously. In addition, we infer the growth logic(s) followed by individual firms from their product introductions and test the performance consequences, i.e., the prescriptive aspects, of each logic. Firms that followed a positioning logic had higher performance than firms that did not. No such performance benefit was detected for the other logics. Even though firms that followed a resource logic were able to introduce superior products (new funds with higher returns), their overall performance was not positively affected. This finding points to a potential pitfall of following exclusively a resource-based strategy. By focusing internally on existing resources and capabilities, firms may develop superior products for markets that are, however, not very attractive.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm?abstractid=401860

Directions of Growth: A Test of Positioning, Resource, Legitimation, and Vicarious Market Learning Arguments

Organizational design affects performance via coupled search processes. At low frequency, managers search for appropriate organizational designs. At higher frequency, managers use designs to search for high-performing operational choices. The two searches are coupled: organizational design molds the choice among operational alternatives, and performance feedback from operational choices shapes design. Our simulation model shows how coupled search processes can dramatically obscure the true impact of design on performance, confounding empirical research. We identify research strategies for tackling this difficulty; discuss population-level advantages of coupled search processes; and highlight implications for analogous coupled search processes that shape networks, cognition, and capabilities.

Nicolaj Siggelkow

Papers

Competition and Strategy: The Creation of a Group and a Field

Organizing to Strategize in the Face of Interdependencies: Preventing Premature Lock-in

Introducing LIVA to Measure Long-Term Firm Performance

Directions of Growth: A Test of Positioning, Resource, Legitimation, and Vicarious Market Learning Arguments

Coupled Search Processes: Why is it so Difficult to Find that Organizational Design Matters?