Is strategy, like economics “pre-science, like astronomy before Copernicus and Galileo.” (Steve Keen: Debunking Economics )? We laugh at superstitions like“Storks and babies arrive around the same time – storks must bring babies”, but all that is different in most of the strategy science today (and much other social science), is that we use econometrics to ‘prove’ there really is a statistically significant correlation between storks and babies.
Don’t believe me? – If you can bear it, skim through a few years’ back-issues of that popular management publication Strategic Management Journal (there are plenty more). Never heard of it? … maybe because it’s by academics, for academics. But to the extent that any of this wisdom finds its way into things managers might actually read, just remember that this is the “science” on which it is based.
Fortunately for the future of our economies, serious policy-makers are listening to Steve’s call for a more rigorous foundation for economic policy. Maybe serious decision-makers will want the same for strategic management.