Cuestiones estratégicas: una revisión sistemática de la literatura.
| Autor | José Eduardo Valladares Teixeira, Fernando Antonio Ribeiro Serra, Kent D. Miller |
| Cargo | Universidade Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP, Brazi / Universidade Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP, Brazi / Eli Broad College of Business, East Lasing, MI, USA |
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BAR-Brazilian Administration Review, 20(3), e230075, 2023.
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Keywords:
strategic issue; decision-making; strategic
management
JEL Code:
M1, M10
Publication date:
July 17, 2023.
Conflict of Interests:
The authors have stated that there is no conflict of interest.
Corresponding author:
José Eduardo Valladares Teixeira
Universidade Nove de Julho
Rua Deputado Salvador Julianelli s/n, Barra Funda,
CEP 0115 6-000 , São Paulo, SP, Brazil
j.e.teixeira@hotmail.com
Editor-in-Chief:
Ivan Lapuente Garrido
(Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Brazil).
Editorial assistants:
Eduarda Anastacio, Kler Godoy and Simone Rafael
(ANPAD, Maringá, Brazil).
ABSTRACT
Although the strategic issue (SI) construct has been used since the 1970s as a theo-
retical framework to investigate and explain several phenomena in organizational and
strategic management, few reviews on SIs have been carried out so far. This study
aims to fill this gap. A systematic review of the literature was conducted, comprising 77
empirical and theoretical papers published in peer-reviewed academic journals since
1975. The analysis of this sample of papers led to the identification of five themes or
perspective on SIs, which are discussed. This review contributes to the organizational
and strategic management literature by identifying lines of inquiry, convergences, and
gaps in the studies on SIs, and proposing an agenda for future research.
Strategic Issues: A Systematic Review of the
Literature
José Eduardo Valladares Teixeira1 , Fernando Antonio Ribeiro Serra1 , Kent D. Miller2
1 Universidade Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
2 Eli Broad College of Business, East Lasing, MI, USA
How to cite: Teixeira, J. E. V., Serra, F. A. R., & Miller, K. D. (2023). Strategic issues: A systematic review of the literature. BAR-Brazilian Administration Review,
20(3), e230075.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/1807-7692bar2023230075
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Strategic issues: A systematic review of the literature
BAR-Brazilian Administration Review, 20(3), e230075, 2023.
INTRODUCTION
Strategic issues (SIs) — defined as “emerging developments,
trends or concerns perceived as aecting the achievement
of the organization’s objectives” (Dutton, 1986a, p. 3) —
have been an enduring theme in management research
since its initial conceptualization in the 1970s. Although
strategic issues (SI) are critical to the management litera-
ture, yet a thorough assessment of the research on SIs is
long overdue, despite numerous studies being published
over the past four decades. As a result, it is imperative to
pose critical questions to guide future studies, including
the identification of the most relevant empirical results and
theoretical conceptualizations, the identification of short-
comings or inconsistencies in theoretical underpinnings
and empirical methods, and the identification of gaps in
the literature that require further exploration.
Arising from an initial preoccupation with the incorpo-
ration of environmental turbulence and unforeseen events
into traditional strategic planning approaches (Anso, 1975,
1980), the construct was initially used in papers in which
scholars prescribed structured, regimented methods man-
agers should use to analyze these emerging phenomena
and incorporate them into the strategic planning practices
of their firms (Anso, 1975, 1980; King, 1982). In the early
1980s, however, the study of SIs took a dierent turn, after
the publication of several papers by Jane Dutton and col-
leagues, which would have a lasting influence on future
research on SIs. This change was spearheaded by a theo-
retical paper by Dutton et al. (1983), in which the authors
presented the concept of strategic issue diagnosis (SID)
and characterized SID in terms of its scope, importance,
and dominant characteristics. Authors who subscribe to
the perspective first exposed in this paper have since ar-
gued that due to the ill-defined (Dutton & Jackson, 1987),
ambiguous (Dutton, 1986a), complex (Miller & Lin, 2020),
not easily quantifiable (Dienbach, 1982), and interdepen-
dent (Dutton et al., 1989) nature of SIs, there is little objec-
tive basis for the choice of solutions to the problems they
pose (Dutton & Ashford, 1993). Therefore, SID involves a
strong component of interpretation and judgment on the
part of the decision-makers, in which the data and stimuli
available on the issues under analysis must be infused with
meaning (Dutton et al., 1983). Harking back to the prin-
ciples and concepts of the behavioral theory of the firm
(Cyert & March, 1963; Simon, 1947), this perspective high-
lights the bounded rationality of individuals and the role of
cognitive schemas and data structures in memory, used
by managers to represent knowledge and relationships
about SIs, and to respond to these issues (Barr et al., 1992;
Dutton & Jackson, 1987). It also calls attention to the fact
that SID does not follow a linear, structured set of stages,
as in rational problem-solving process, but takes a fluid, re-
cursive, and interactive character (Dutton et al., 1983).
The research on SIs has expanded considerably since
the early 1980s. Scholars investigated the antecedents,
moderators, and consequences of the interpretative ba-
sis upon which individuals and firms deal with SIs. Some
studies addressed the eects of the attributes of the issue
itself, such as its salience for the firm, in terms of its impact
and urgency, and the perceived feasibility of resolving it
(Barreto & Patient, 2013; Dutton & Duncan, 1987a; Dutton
et al., 1990; Julian & Ofori-Dankwa, 2008). Others investi-
gated the eects of beliefs and cognitive frames on the se-
lective attention individuals and firms pay to certain issues,
the meaning they attach to these issues, and the respons-
es to address them (Bundy et al., 2013; Chattopadhyay,
et al. 1999). The processes used to deal with SIs, which
influence the selection of issues that are incorporated
into (and later discarded from) the strategic agenda of the
firm (Dutton, 1986a, 1988 , 19 97; Joseph & Ocasio, 2012;
Spickermann et al., 2014), were also investigated. Other
scholars researched the eects of contextual factors on SI
processing, at several levels of analysis: contextual factors
aecting issue interpretation and response were identified
at the individual level, such as locus of control (Plambeck
& Weber, 2009; Thomas et al., 1994). At the group level,
studies investigated demographic (Knight et al. 1999) and
cognitive Bergman, et al. 2016) diversity at the groups
most involved with SIs, usually top management teams.
At the organizational level, factors such as the strategic
orientation and posture (Ginsberg & Venkatraman, 1992;
Plambeck & Weber, 2009; Thomas & McDaniel, 1990),
identity (Dutton & Dukerich, 1991), resource base (Dutton
& Duncan, 1987a), and structure (Dutton et al., 1990) of the
firm were addressed in several studies. Finally, at the envi-
ronmental level, factors such as national culture (Sallivan &
Nonaka, 1988; Schneider & Meyer, 1991), munificence (Barr
et al., 1992), and competitive intensity (Barr, 1998) were
found to be significant.
Besides the investigation of issue interpretation, its an-
tecedents, moderators, and consequences, the research
on SIs has branched into specialized sub-fields, which
gained prominence and became themselves the focus of
several studies. Among these sub-fields is the investiga-
tion of issue categorization. Among the many categori-
zation frameworks and typologies for SIs proposed in the
academic literature, the most extensively used has been
the threat and opportunity scheme originally proposed
by Dutton and Jackson (1987) and later used in many pa-
pers (including, for instance, Amason & Mooney, 2008;
Grégoire et al. 2010; Laamanen et al., 2018; Wulf et al.,
2020). Another sub-field is the study of issue selling, first
conceptualized by Dutton & Ashford, 199, and further ex-
plored in subsequent studies (Alt & Craig, 2016; Ashford, et
al. 1998; Dutton et al., 2001).
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