Open AccessThe relevance of various subject areas taught in business strategy. The use of multidimensional scaling to map managers' perceptions
Author(s) -
Patrick Miller,
Arthur Money
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
south african journal of business management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.179
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 2078-5976
pISSN - 2078-5585
DOI - 10.4102/sajbm.v15i3.1122
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , perception , politics , control (management) , orientation (vector space) , term (time) , resource (disambiguation) , subject (documents) , cognitive map , strategic management , function (biology) , cognition , public relations , atmosphere (unit) , marketing , multidimensional scaling , business , psychology , political science , management , economics , computer science , geography , mathematics , law , computer network , biology , geometry , quantum mechanics , evolutionary biology , machine learning , physics , neuroscience , library science , meteorology
The research outlined had as primary objective the testing of managers' perceptions of those areas taught in the business policy programmes. A significant finding is the cognitive linking of strategy and structure without prior exposure to the literature or concepts. Among top managers this linking was related to resource orientation, a conclusion previously held by Bower (1970). The perceptual positioning of a political orientation suggests that the emphasis given to intra-organizational political strategies is of little relevance to managers who prefer organizations without a political atmosphere. Finally the 'fire-fighting' aspect which often makes the case-study method pedagogically exciting is questioned, because the aspect is closely related to the functional duties of executives rather than the strategic nature of the executive function. 'Fire-fighting' problems are per se short-term and are radically different to strategic problems which require a broader long-term view.