This proposal develops a new approach to the study of strategic decision making among firms over time. Decisions made by firms with respect to repositioning themselves vis.a.vis other firms are important in understanding the behavior of organizations but, to date, have been studied very little in terms of a dynamic process that is induced by stress but made difficult for reasons of organizational inertia. This proposal will develop a dynamic model of the strategic decision.making process typically employed by firms, focusing not on any single dimension of the search process (e.g., the spatial aspects of search behavior) but on a broad set of concerns that include organizational, cognitive, and political factors. The project is believed likely to make a contribution to the study of organizational behavior and includes an empirical analysis, involving a longitudinal study of strategic mobility decisions within two industrial sectors, that is considered to be both appropriate and original. The study will furthermore compare the empirical model to an existing data base, developed from a study of the pharmaceutical industry, and to alternative models of strategic change. The principal investigators on the project are highly qualified and well able to explore both the theoretical and applied lessons of the project.
