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ABSTRACT
This study explored the relationship between 24 personal values and strategic preferences. Data was collected from 137 participants. Through stepwise discriminant analysis, the data were analyzed to reveal that personal values do have a relationship with strategic preferences. In particular, the 'obedience' value was more distinctly related to customer-focused business strategies. 'Courtesy' was mostly associated with backward integration strategies, while 'adaptability' was more related to forward integration strategies. Finally, the findings of this study revealed that diversification strategies were not related to personal values.
Keywords: Strategy, Personal Values, Strategic Preferences, Business Strategy, Corporate Strategy
INTRODUCTION
Strategic decisions are vital in shaping the success of a firm (Eisenhardt & Zbaracki, 1992; Hitt, Keats, & DeMarie, 1998; Shivakumar, 2014). Decision makers have a strong influence on the strategic direction of the firm and make strategic choices regarding the direction of their corporations (Child, 1972). The term strategic choice 'is intended to be a fairly comprehensive term to include choices made formally and informally, indecision as well as decision, major administrative choices... as well as the domain and competitive choices more generally associated with the term strategy' (Hambrick & Mason, 1984: 195). In other words, strategic choice involves the options that a decision maker faces concerning the type of strategies to be followed.
Despite the fact that managers make the final choices regarding a firm, decision making is a complex issue influenced by various forces in and outside the firm (Elbanna & Child, 2007; Rahman & De Feis, 2009). The state of the competition in the industry, managers' personal characteristics such as education, organizational characteristics, psychological factors, and ownership type can all have an impact on strategic decision making (see for example Hitt & Tyler, 1991; Papadakis, Lioukas, & Chambers, 1998; Lee, Newman, & Price, 1999; Ashill & Jobber, 2013). For the purposes of this paper, the focus will be placed on personal characteristics. According to the theory by Hambrick and Mason (1984) on managerial characteristics, two major groups of factors affect strategic choices: first, psychological, which includes the cognitive base, values, and personality, and second, observable characteristics. The latter includes factors such as age, education, and socio-economic roots. Whereas most of the studies have centered on the influence of observable characteristics on strategic choices...