Efficiency v. Structure-Conduct-Performance: Implications for Strategy Research and Practice

Abstract

The strategic management field has derived many of its theoretical concepts from other social science disciplines including economics, psychology, and sociology. Industrial organization (IO) economics and the structure-conduct-performance paradigm, in particular, provided many of the building blocks upon which strategy formulation was constructed (Barney, 1986; Harrigan, 1981; Porter, 1981). However, some researchers are now questioning this transfer of theory from IO economics to Strategic Management (Barney, 1986; Conner, 1991; Hirsch & Friedman, 1986; Rumelt, 1984).