ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we propose to empirically show the presence of the decision-making model of strategic incrementalism within the context of the
strategic management of technological learning
(SMOTL). We attempt to do so through in-depth-interviewdriven, ethnographic case studies of companies that:
1. Operate with varying degrees of sucess in high risk and/or uncertainty 2. Are very dynamic (due to intensity of competition and/or technological
complexity) 3. Are technologically intensive business environments (where technology
has
strategic import
, and in many cases one has to “bet the company” when deciding for or against a certain project or technology)
In particular, the focus of the empirical component of the thesis has been on five technologically driven industries (Table 5.1) to derive the framework(s) of strategic decision making actually being practiced — a “theory-in-action” vs. “an espoused theory” of strategic decision making (Argyris, 1985, 1990). “As long as the building of frameworks is based on in-depth empirical research, it has the potential to not only inform practice but to push the development of more rigorous theory” (Porter, 1991, pp. 95-117).
