Premium
Measuring and testing change in strategic management research
Author(s) -
Bergh Donald D.,
Fairbank James F.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
strategic management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 11.035
H-Index - 286
eISSN - 1097-0266
pISSN - 0143-2095
DOI - 10.1002/smj.232
Subject(s) - measure (data warehouse) , variable (mathematics) , reliability (semiconductor) , computer science , simple (philosophy) , econometrics , change management (itsm) , test (biology) , risk analysis (engineering) , management science , economics , operations management , business , mathematics , data mining , epistemology , mathematical analysis , paleontology , power (physics) , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , lean manufacturing , biology
Abstract This paper reviews some critical issues associated with measuring and testing change and then reports on how strategy researchers have addressed those matters. We first discuss three key methodological requirements: reliability assumptions of change variables, correlations between the change variable and its initial measure, and selection of unbiased measurement alternatives. Next, we present data from a content analysis of 126 change studies which suggest that strategy researchers tend not to recognize those requirements. Indeed, the typical approach used to measure and test change (as a simple difference between two measures of the same variable) is usually inappropriate and could lead to inaccurate findings and flawed conclusions. We conclude by offering suggestions for how change can be studied more rigorously. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.