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The authors test whether acquisitions and divestitures are related to environmental uncertainty and diversification strategy. Drawing from transaction cost economics, they predicted that increases in environmental uncertainty would reduce a company's ability to manage its subsidiaries efficiently and would lead to divestiture. Conversely, they predicted that decreases in environmental uncertainty would enable a company to manage its subsidiaries more efficiently and would lead to acquisition. Those predictions were expected to be strongest for firms with intermediate levels of diversification, as such firms are believed to be the most difficult to manage efficiently. Repeated measures analyses of a panel of 164 Fortune 500 companies supported the predictions for highly diversified firms (e.g., unrelated businesses) only. Less diversified firms reacted to increases in uncertainty by acquiring and to decreases in uncertainty by divesting. The results suggest that the relationship between diversification strategy and portfolio restructuring depends on environmental uncertainty. In addition, the study findings imply that there may be limits in the hierarchy's governance efficiency in relation to market modes and that those limits may be affected by environmental uncertainty and diversification strategy.

The authors examine how strategy scholars have measured and tested industry effects. They report findings from three studies. First, they replicate the Dess, Ireland, and Hitt (1990) article on industry controls in strategic management research using a new sample of studies published during 2000 to 2009, finding that there has been a decrease in the proportion of articles that do not control for industry effects at all and at the same time noting a significant increase in the number of single-industry studies. Second, they employ a fine-grained content analysis of articles published in the Strategic Management Journal at three different points during the study period to identify the different ways that industry effects have been considered. Findings depict a myriad of highly diverse industry-level measures that researchers have applied. Third, they test the empirical implications of applying different measures of one particular industry characteristic, industry performance. They demonstrate that empirical findings and the interpretation of theoretical models can differ based on how industry effects are incorporated. Recommendations are offered for guiding future research about how to examine industry effects.

This introductory article for the feature topic on mediation is designed to provide a context for the articles that follow. Specifically, the authors revisit the history of mediational inferences in social and organizational sciences and illustrate how mediational inferences have been evident for more than a century. Some of the important milestones and the evolution of thought leading to today are chronicled. Then a modern-day framework for understanding mediational inferences is outlined that serves to highlight how the articles included in this feature topic contribute to the continued evolution of the bases of mediational inferences. The article concludes with the authors' vision of what may be fruitful directions for future research.

Despite being a relatively young discipline, strategic management has grown dramatically in size and influence over the past few decades. As with any field, the findings generated within strategic management are only as robust as the research methods used to conduct the analyses. Although strategic management's accomplishments with regard to methods have been substantial, it is confronted by significant challenges as well. The authors describe these accomplishments and challenges, explain how the articles offered in this feature topic help to address certain challenges, and offer suggestions for future work that may create additional progress.

Construct measurement is a cornerstone for research in any area. In the absence of information on the caliber of measurement practices within and across studies, it is extremely difficult to synthesize research and develop normative guidelines for managers. This Feature Topic aims to advance measurement practices by strategic management scholars. The Feature Topic includes six articles from a diverse array of perspectives. We describe the context of strategic management and measurement, examine how the Feature Topic articles address critical issues, and conclude with advice for authors and reviewers on this topic.

A growing methodological trend is emerging from the recognition that integrating qualitative and quantitative methods in the same study, that is, employing a mixed methods approach, can provide the necessary empirical intricacy and rigor to match the complexities of organizational phenomena. The authors describe opportunities and challenges of mixed methods research in the organizational sciences, explain how the articles offered in this Feature Topic help to advance mixed methods in our field, and offer suggestions for future work that may create additional progress.