The intellectual structure of behavioral strategy: a bibliometric study

Abstract

Behavioral strategy is a relatively new subfield of strategic management and yet its roots go back to the origins of the discipline. Its rapid growth over the last few years, the interest created in the research community, and the intrinsically diversified approaches call for organization of the intellectual structure developed by scholars. This paper aims to provide the intellectual structure of the subject based on the published research for the entire period covered by the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) Database. By using bibliometric and data analytic techniques, we determine the key works in the development of the subfield, the groups that determine the conceptual contributions and the bridging works that provide the common bond between them. To achieve this, we have used co-citation analysis to capture relationships. It is followed by multidimensional scaling (MDS) and a principal component factor analysis (PCFA) for displaying the groups of works that constitute the different lines of research. The study offers useful insights in the discipline and conclusions for future developments in the subject for researchers and practitioners alike.