Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis in Strategic Management Research: An Examination of Combinations of Industry, Corporate, and Business-Unit Effects
Thomas Greckhamer1*,
Vilmos F. Misangyi2,
Heather Elms3,
and
Rodney Lacey4
1 Louisiana State University
2 University of Delaware
3 American University
4 University of California, Davis
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tgreck{at}lsu.edu.
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Abstract |
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The authors present qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) as a viable method for strategic management research. Specifically, they demonstrate its ability to examine the potential interdependence and complexity among effects through a study of how industry, corporate, and business-unit attributes combine in determining business-unit performance. They present in an accessible manner the consecutive phases of the QCA approach by analyzing a sample of 2,841 cases of business-unit performance, and they examine the insights that the QCA analysis provides for this particular stream of literature. The authors conclude with a discussion of the benefits and limitations QCA poses for strategic management research more generally, including major contingencies under which QCA or linear methods may be more appropriate for strategy research.
