Strategic Management and Economics

Strategic Managetnenzt an.-d Ec0onom0nics 17
they learned in the classiroomn, typically thl-rugl basic disciplinle in whiclh the fa1CUlty member hiad
a case, anid the occasionial puiblislhed ariticle. beeni trcainied.
Along the way suLch faculties were frequenitly In the world ol' business, more aind more large
cast in the Irole of consultants to piracticiing firms began to create their own managemiieint
businiess mianaiagei-s and mn.laiy founid greater developmlleInt programs, aimileCi at fillintg the
financial Ireward in suclh work thlani they did tfr-om gaip between the incr-easinigly theoretical MBA
their scholarliship alone. The new, discipline-based education anid the needs of practice. In addition,
faculty oni the othieri hand fouind theiI- schlolasIship COlSItilng firmns gIew in scope aiind sophistication.
inside the acadein-. in the writingys of othei-s In manv*' functional areas, inicltudinig management
similarly placed, aind in advaincinig the theory of anid strategy, specialist conslltinig firmils re placed
tleii- field, ofteni without Iresor-t to priactice and businiess schools as repositories of best practice.
apllication of what they learned. TheiI minids These factors led to an increased piopoitioni
anid rewards were concentrated on what thev of businiess school faculties cither traiined in
prIodLuced iniside the academin. Set in inotioni wIaIS economics diirectly. or illmportanllItly illfluLenced
a priocess that retir-ed practice-based scholars in by the stanidaids commnoni to discipline baised
favor of discipline-based ones.
scholars. Unfoieseen by Gordon, 1lowell. and
In time, probably longer than anticipated, Pier-soni was the changing character of economlics,
the disciplinie batsed prefeienIce in hIingi(I and aiid other social scienices. Less anid less conccrined
pIomotioii led to a stionilgIe aind stroinger pIresenice \Nwith emilpiriicismi. econiomilics became inicreasinigly
otf disciplinie based scholars, iluCiding economists. concernied with workinig out the inteniial logic of
Indeed, some newer business schools anid soime its theoretical structur-e anid less aind less conolderI
onles as well, weire oIrgaiiized withi the cernicd with descrilbing real illStitUtionls. This tIrenld
ecoinomiiics depai-tmiienits as part of theiIr facultyt. contilnues today, \vith 'advanced' deparitmenits of
As businiess schools became ImloIre disciplinie ecoInoImiics offering Ph. D. programs in w\hich
basedl, tlheir- standards foi hiringy anid priomiiotion price-thieoiry is considered applied anid nlot eveni
came into alignmiiienit with the social scien1ces. cover-ed duriniig the fiIrst yeair of study.
The pr-imaiy meeasui-e of excellenice became These changes in business sclhools forced those
publication ill disciplinle-based jouIrnials aind
acceptance by the commiilluniity of discipline-based
inlterIested in stIrate(Tic management to 'take sides.'
and adopt a discipline. Early on, the typical
scholars, Iratleri than relevance to priactice oI faculty memiibei in stiategic management (then
conltIributioins to pIrofessionial educationi. Disci- called businless policy) was recruited fromii those
plinle-based scholars nlot oinly earnIIed internal with expeirience and high ri-ank in a functional
rewN-ards imore easilv. they also typically lacked area (e.g. marketinig). The switch required was
the cushioni of consultationi that would otherwise to that of the total enteriprise anid its genierial
allow a greateIr adaptation to the special circum- management funlctioin. The inicreased disciplinie
stainces of professional schools. This self reinfor-c- base of business schools made this switch imiore
ing cycle is still presenit today.
difficult. and many schools began to hire young
ThIroughlout most of this pei-iod very high growtth faculties and expect them to mlove up through
rIates chaIracterized business sclhools, as they Imloved the ranks oni the mllerIit of woIrk donie in straiitegy.
fiom granltinlg about 12,000 to ovei 70,000 MBA To move through the system in this 'new' field
degr-ees per yeai, and to imanvy mlloIre schools offteringC was especially difficult, as it tended to lack
the MBA. Well-trained faculties in specialty areas the infrastructuie peculiar to proiriotioni needs:
sUchi as maiketing, finanice, accouLn1ting. an1d other patrons, senior faiculties wlho had beeni throglth
funlctiolns were in shoit supply, especially in the the system; jouiriials. veniues for exchanige of
earlier yeais of greatest growtlh. To fuel expiansioin views. Additionally, it had a case-based tradition
it was a short step to hire disciplined based faculties of research increasingly shuinined by the acadeimly.
directly, and worr y about their adaptatioll to Consequentlyx gI oups initerested in gelneral mIanlapplicationis
in business firms later. Sonme made agemnenit anid strategyy begani to take either
the tranisitioni, some did not, but maniy who did organization theory or economics as their base
retainied ani allegialnce to their base disciplinies that discipline.
included seekiing publicatioin reputations, not in Throughout the 1970s it appeared that organithe
field in which they were to profess, but in the zation theory was the discipline of choice for