Shedding Some Light on the Dark Matter of Competition: Insights from the Strategic Management & Organizational Science Literature for the Consideration of Diversity Aspects in Merger Review

This article explores the usefulness of a recognition framework for the study of the relationship between municipal administrations and citizens. Within the organizational science literature, employee recognition has been shown to enhance their commitment to their organization. In a context where public authorities consistently seek to improve levels of civic engagement, could this conclusion be applied to the relationship between municipalities and their constituents? Following a review of the literature, we present the results of a content analysis of the websites of Quebec municipalities whose populations are greater than 20,000. Three modes of recognition are identified: personalized attention, value confirmation, and gratitude. Recognition practices are also found to vary between municipalities. Our study opens new pragmatic and theoretical horizons in the area of municipal management. Points for practitioners Managers know that showing recognition toward their employees is not only a sign of respect, but a means to mobilize employee commitment to their organization. This article explores the value of this finding for the field of municipal management and, specifically, to the study of the relationship between municipal managers and citizens. Should serving citizens not ultimately mean recognizing their individual identities, civic capacities, and contribution to their community’s vitality?

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Decision comprehensiveness and the outcomes of firms: Reinterpreting and extending a recent meta-analysis

Strategic Organization ◽

10.1177/1476127020927483 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 147612702092748

Author(s):

C. Chet Miller ◽

Rob Austin McKee

Keyword(s):

Strategic Management ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Scientific Field ◽

Decision Processes ◽

Subjective Outcome ◽

Future Directions ◽

New Findings ◽

Meta Analyses ◽

Organizational Science ◽

Methodological Artifact

Disagreement and debate are the lifeblood of any scientific field. With that truth in mind, we express our disagreement with some of the conclusions drawn by Samba et al. in a generally well-conducted meta-analysis recently published in Strategic Organization. We carefully reexamine several aspects of their study and suggest that two of their key conclusions are flawed because of misinterpretations of data and analyses. We present new findings that call into question their conclusion that observed positive relationships between decision comprehensiveness and firm outcomes are likely a methodological artifact of researchers’ use of subjective outcome measures. In addition, we question Samba et al.’s conclusion regarding the unimportance of proper lag structures in assessments of comprehensiveness and outcomes. Because meta-analyses are vital tools for consolidating and extending research, our work is important for informing future directions of both science and practice. Because the value of systematic, extensive decision processes has been the focus of a decades-long debate in organizational science and strategic management, our goal is particularly important.

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