A comparison of qualitative and quantitative operationalizations of strategic management constructs

This paper compares two approaches to definition of the environmental and organizational influence constructs in strategic management research by quantitatively examining loading of variables on these constructs versus the predominant qualitative approach to construct definition in the field. Variables operationalizing competition, network externalities, and community resources were used to capture the environmental influence construct based on a qualitative review of the literature. Variables representing organizational complexity, slack resources, control of domain, and size were used to capture the organizational influence construct. Factor analytic methods quantitatively indicated that the qualitative alignment of the variables with the constructs were supported except for the variable of slack resources. These results and their implications are discussed along with implications for future research. This study suggests the utility of quantitative methods to help define constructs to supplement the predominantly qualitative approach in much strategic management research.