IN PRAISE OF MANAGERIAL NARROW-MINDEDNESS

Dunbar, Garud, and Raghuram (this issue) claim that managers must disc redit their interpretive frames when these beliefs no longer match env ironmental circumstances. Extending this argument, they conclude that business schools should teach deframing skills to help managers period ically destroy old beliefs and create new ones. In contrast, we argue that managerial frames are neither accurate nor inaccurate and that a frame's fit with the external environment is largely irrelevant. Inste ad, we suggest that a firm's success is a function of its ability to i mpose frames on the environment and that consistency of purpose and a focused mindset are the keys to competitive advantage. Finally, we sug gest that business education's primary task is to teach managers how t o develop strategies that are based upon their firm's unique skills an d to pursue these strategies relentlessly.