SEEING ISNT BELIEVING - UNDERSTANDING DIVERSITY IN THE TIMING OF STRATEGIC RESPONSE

There is general consensus in the strategy literature that successful firms alter strategy to address changes in their environments and enac t more favourable conditions. Studies of organizational change suggest that this adjustment is not always made in a timely manner. Different beliefs about cause and effect have been established as a plausible e xplanation fbr differential responses to environmental change. This ex ploratory study of six pharmaceutical firms suggests more specifically that multiple concepts associated with environmental changes must be directly linked to organizational performance before new strategies ar e initiated. The results emphasize the importance of stress as a precu rsor to strategic response and have implications for the way we concep tualize 'response' when referring to significant changes in strategy.