Antecedents and outcomes of strategic thinking

This study focuses on the factors that influence strategic thinking at the organizational level. Based on previous research on strategic thinking in diverse management fields including marketing strategy, strategic management, and human resource management, this research provides a hypothetical model that links the firm's internal and external variables regarding strategic thinking at the organizational level, which in turn links to marketing performance. The results of empirical analysis provide evidence that the attitude of firms' management toward risk taking, the CEO's emphasis on strategic thinking, interdepartmental teams in the organization, and marketing competency foster strategic thinking at the organizational level, but formalization in the organizational structure impedes it. Contrary to the proposed hypotheses, centralization in the organizational structure is positively related to strategic thinking at the organizational level. The results also show that market turbulence and technological turbulence foster strategic thinking at the organizational level and there is a positive relationship between strategic thinking and marketing performance. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.