دانلود رایگان مقاله استفاده از تحلیل متقارن متریک در تحقیقات تجارت خانوادگی

abstract

Strategic decisions are important because they influence the strategic direction, competitive positioning and performance of firms. However, these decisions are difficult to research, especially in family firms, as their top managers are even less forthcoming than those of their non-family counterparts. With the metric conjoint analysis method, researchers are able to analyze management decisions at the time when they are made. This method is based on an experimental technique in which the manager has to make a series of judgments based on a number of decision scenarios containing a set of decision attributes. Based on the experiment, the underlying structure of the manager’s decision-making process can be investigated. This article conducts a literature review of management studies using metric conjoint analysis, presents an exemplary study in the family business field and suggests potential future applications for this method in family business research.

Conclusion

In this article, we reviewed existing empirical studies applying metric conjoint analysis as an empirical method and presented an exemplary study using this method. Metric conjoint analysis is a ‘‘technique that requires respondents to make a series of judgments based on a set of attributes (cues) from which the underlying structure of their cognitive system can be investigated’’ (Shepherd & Zacharakis, 1997: 211). Compared to post hoc methods, such as questionnaires and surveys, this method has the advantage of examining the content of a decision-making process through a decision that respondents are actually making and thus of capturing ‘theory-in-use’. However, researchers have to deal with certain limitations of this method. The limited external validity of this method in particular has been mentioned in the literature (Shepherd & Zacharakis, 1997). Any metric conjoint experiment, therefore, has to be grounded in theory and heavily pilot tested. The literature review showed that the use of metric conjoint analysis has increased in recent years. The methodology is primarily used in entrepreneurship research, but other areas are increasingly adopting the technique as well. The resource-based view is most often used as a theoretical basis for studies using metric conjoint analysis, indicating that this method is relatively well suited for general management research. The literature review, further, provided valuable reference points for future research.