Thursday, March 5, 2009

Mahoney and Pitelis (2009): The most frequently cited strategy study recently

Why did the chicken cross the road?

“We must first study the chickens in aggregate; once we understand the chicken industry, then we can explain the individual chicken’s conduct.” — Joe Bain
“We must study the potential mobility barriers of a meaningful strategic group of chickens to understand the individual chicken’s conduct.” — Richard Caves
“The reason for the chicken’s behavior is causally ambiguous.” — Richard Rumelt
“The behavior of the chicken is socially embedded.” — Mark Granovetter
“The chicken is merely following its standard operating procedures.” — Richard Cyert and James March
“Walking across the street is a core competence of the chicken.” — Gary Hamel
“Walking across the street is the chicken’s strategic intent.” — C. K. Prahalad
“It is the chicken’s dominant logic.” — Richard Bettis
“It is simply a routine of the chicken.” — Sidney Winter
“In a complex environment such behavior is the chicken’s dynamic capability.” — David Teece
“”We will need to triangulate to understand the ESSENCE OF DECISION of the chicken.” — Graham Allison
“The chicken is attempting to economize on bounded rationality and attenuate opportunism.” — Oliver Williamson
“The chicken is choosing purposefully based on its perception of its subjective opportunity set.” — Edith Tilton Penrose
“The chicken will likely be hit by a car.” – Population ecology theorists
“The chicken is driven to seek power and resources from the other side of the road.” — Jeffrey Pfeffer
“The chicken’s walking is part of its activity system.” – Michael Porter
“The chicken’s walking is a discovery procedure; a kind of chicken’s spontaneous order.” — Friedrich Hayek
“The fact that the chicken continues to walk across the road, indicates that the chickens walking has been transformed from a core capability to a core rigidity.” — Dorothy Leonard Barton
“To position itself.” — Porter
“Because the path is more interesting than the equilibrium position.” — Penrose
“Learning by doing.” — Arrow
“Because of procedural (ir)rationality.” — Simon
“To effect intra-chicken conflict resolution.” — Cyert and March
“To experience unit cost economies.” — Chandler
“To claim the residual corn.” – Alchian and Demsetz
“Spontaneous dis-order.” – Mises
“For creative distraction.” — Schumpeter, before he learned English
“To avoid chicken capture.” — Stigler
“Because of market failure.” — Coase
“It has nothing to lose except the oven.” — Marx
“Because of its animal spirit.” — Keynes
“To collect dispersed knowledge.” — Hayek
“Just to be on the safe side.” — Knight
“A road unexamined is not worth crossing.” — Socrates
“To return to God.” — St. Augustine
“It is due to the chicken’s monads.” — Leibniz
“To advance the evolution of the world.” – John Dewey
“The chicken is absurd.” — Sartre
“It does not make a difference.” – Albert Camus
“All I know is that I don’t know.” — Plato
“It just keeps walking.” — Johnny Walker


As Klein (2009) claims, Mahoney and Pitelis (2009) is their "...most original, and possibly most enduring, piece of scholarly work [in strategic management]".

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