Organizational configurations and performance: The role of statistical power in extant research

The relationship between organizational configurations and performance has been a frequent albeit controversial subject of research in the field of st rategic management Many studies have failed to find a link between configur ations and performance, leading prominent researchers to question the value of the concept of organizational configurations. Before the concept can be discarded, however, other plausible explanations for the lack of findings should be examined. This paper examines the possible role of statistical po wer. Specifically, it may be that the sample sizes in many studies are too small to detect relationships between configurations and performance when s uch links are, in fact, present. Analysis of 24 tests of the configurations -performance link revealed that only 8 percent had samples large enough to detect all important relationships. Thus, there is reason to suspect that i nsufficient statistical power may help to explain extant results. Given the se findings, suggestions are presented for improving the ability of configu rational studies to detect relationships. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & S ons, Ltd.