Revisiting the logical and research considerations of competitive advantage

Abstract

This commentary addresses the main points made in the recent article by T. C. Powell on the logical and philosophical flaws in the main thesis of strategy research. Each one of Powell's three points is refutable. The main thesis of strategy research retains logical causation given a reasonable definition of the main explanatory variable. Strategy theory is falsifiable when the implied assumptions of the theory are exploited and the endogeneity of its explanatory variables is considered. The characterization of strategy research as pragmatic instrumentalism void of progress to the objective truth is a proposition without any logical or empirical support. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.