Mapping the scholarly development of strategic management

In an effort to move from speculative to scientific discourse, a key meta-i ssue in strategic management is addressed by systematically tracing the int ellectual development of this sub-discipline. The flow of scholarly knowled ge is mapped over time by combining multivariate statistics and other techn iques. Observed citation frequencies are fitted to a chi-square model of im portance, receptivity and similarity, while cluster analysis is employed to map changes in journal relationships over time. The results contradict at least one widely espoused and previously uncontested assertion, by revealin g that the strategic management sub-discipline has evolved from a receptor to a transmitter of interdisciplinary knowledge and entered the mainstream of social science. The study demonstrates the potential to shed objective l ight on the social construction of knowledge and to address important issue s in other scholarly disciplines.