Strategic thinking: theoretical development and assessment

PurposeThe purpose of the article was to identify the core dimensions of strategic thinking and create a measure that provides a comprehensive operationalization of the construct.Design/methodology/approachThe construct validity of the measure was assessed in two studies using four samples with a to...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of strategy and management 2024-02, Vol.17 (1), p.1-21
Main Author: Geier, Michael T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chief executive officers
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive ability
Competitive advantage
Convergence
Criteria
Decision making
Decision theory
Factor analysis
Strategic management
Strategic planning
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:PurposeThe purpose of the article was to identify the core dimensions of strategic thinking and create a measure that provides a comprehensive operationalization of the construct.Design/methodology/approachThe construct validity of the measure was assessed in two studies using four samples with a total of 985 participants. The measure was created using a multi-step process that included item development and content validation, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, convergent and discriminant validity, criterion validity and test-retest validity.FindingsThe exploratory factor analysis (EFA) supported the existence of the three dimensions of strategic thinking (visionary, synthetic and creative thinking) as conceptually proposed. The measure was reduced to nine items. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the three dimensions and revealed acceptable factor loadings and model fit. Convergent, discriminant and criterion validity were established, and the measure demonstrated acceptable test-retest reliability.Originality/valueAn individual's ability to think strategically is vital for making strategic decisions and relevant to upper echelon theory and strategic management. The definition and core dimensions of strategic thinking are unclear in the literature, creating confusion. This study added to the literature by defining the core dimensions of strategic thinking and developing the strategic thinking assessment (STA) to measure the construct.
ISSN:1755-425X
1755-4268
DOI:10.1108/JSMA-10-2021-0212