CLICK HERE to download the data as a single zip file, titled
New_Knowledge_in_Strategic_Management_Dataset_Ertek_et_al_2017.zip
This data sets includes two different graph files, to be used with the yEd software by yWorks and the visualization of these graphs using various graph layout algorithms.For the convenience of researchers, we also include the pdf versions of these graphs, to enable analysis without even having to download yEd software.
These graphs encapsulate the tacit knowledge in the “Profit Patterns” book by Moser et al. (1999), in the form of explicit knowledge. The analysis of the second graph through various layout algorithms in yEd and the insights obtained are reported in the following research paper:
The story of how the data is collected, and the explanation of the data are given below.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in the research literature where a strategy map is represented as a graph and visualized using graph layout algorithms for insights.
Our research started with our fascination with the “Profit Patterns” book , which -despite its being published nearly 20 years ago- is still an excellent resource to develop strategies across industries. We were particularly enchanted with the extensiveness in which the cases where each strategy applies. While the strategy suggestions in the book followed a structure and presented general rules for applying each strategy, it was still not codified in an easy-to-use form, and was still tacit knowledge.
The first epiphany moment was when we realized that the “rules” in the “Profit Patterns” book can be “drawn” as a graph. This realization was reflected in the thesis of one of our research members, Ilter Irdesel, and was the basis of his M.Sc. thesis research. Ilter Irdesel’s thesis focused on developing an expert system based on this graph representation.
The second epiphany moment was when we realized that the “strategy graphs” could actually be visualized in different ways using various layout algorithms, yielding new insights. This second a-ha has been the motivation and source of the research we conducted. Through such visualizations, we were able to identify different types of patterns.
The dataset that we share with the research and business community in its core, consists of two graph files, one that does not include the strategies in the “Profit Patterns” book, and the other that does include the nodes for the strategy. These files reside within the 02 Graphs folder inside the zip file. The 03 Analysis includes various visualizations of the second file, in two categories: Analyses that start with the letter A refer to those analyses of the first graph file, and those with the letter B refer to the latter graph file. The other two folders in the zip file, namely 01 Resources and 04 References for yEd Graph Editor Software give additional resources for researchers.
To cite this research, please consider the following:
To download the paper‘s final draft version, please click here.
To download the dataset (yEd graph files) for your research, please click here.