Developing an Effective Empirical Dissertation in Management and Strategy

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Developing an Effective Empirical Dissertation in
Management and Strategy

• BPS Managing Your Dissertation Workshop
• August, 2006
• AOM Meetings
• Scott Stern, Northwestern and NBER

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There are three crucial inputs into empirical
management research...
Phenomena
Measurement
Theory
....And even excellent research projects choose
among these inputs for different types of
projects.
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While coursework focuses (nearly) exclusively on
the use of specific tools and models to test
given hypotheses within a given data
environment....
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An empirical dissertation requires an integrated
approach, from a clear understanding of the
phenomena, to the development of behavioral and
statistical foundations, to the recognition of
data limitations, to understanding the elements
of a persuasive empirical argument
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• At least in part, these other objectives can only
  happy by getting your hands dirty with real
  datasets and thinking through data issues,
  replication, and extension

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Lets think about a simple but crucial example

• Suppose we would like to evaluate the performance
  impact of an organizational practice.
• Typical empirical approach

• Variations of this regression are pervasive in
  strategy, operations, decision sciences,
  marketing, finance, and accounting, etc....
• Under H1, best-practice policy recommendation!

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The Behavioral Challenge

• Suppose
• Doesnt this imply that firms should adopt an
  infinite level of X?
• Even if X is discrete, why arent all firms at
  the highest level?
• One immediate idea lets add in a squared term
  to allow for a nonlinear relationship
• Suppose that
• Doesnt this imply that all firms should adopt an
  optimal level, X? Why is there variation in
  adoption if there are well-defined benefits to
  adoption?
• In principle, a clear understanding of the
  phenomena should allow us to identify factors
  that result in a given value of X, independent of
  the performance benefits arising from adoption?
• Garbage can theories of organization
• Interest Group Politics within the firm
• The Timing and Details of the Adoption Process
• In other words, rather than a false divide
  between phenomena and applied econometrics,
  careful understanding of phenomena can allow us
  to craft a far more persuasive empirical
  argument, and the econometrics can reinforce the
  insights and issues raised by the
  phenomena-driven theory!