Strategic management research on emerging economies: cultural imperialism in universalizing research paradigms

Abstract

Purpose: Universalizing approaches to knowledge when combined with a dominating cultural discourse is problematic for management research paradigms as “West meets East”. This study aims to examine the case of the rapidly expanding, mainstream strategic management research in and on emerging economies through a critical perspective. Design/methodology/approach: The authors analyze the strategic management society’s special conferences and workshops on “Emerging India” that aimed to write a fresh chapter of research on India as an emerging economy, using the methodology of critical discourse analysis (CDA). The authors treat this conference as representative of several such conferences and workshops being organized in emerging economies. Findings: The results detect some troubling undercurrents of privilege and marginalization. The authors find support for a dominating cultural discourse embedded in the rapidly expanding, universalizing strategic management research perspectives in and on emerging economies. Research limitations/implications: The implications for indigenous knowledge creation is discussed with a concluding call for academic reflexivity through revisiting different philosophies of science in management research and studying the social mechanisms of international knowledge exchange. Originality/value: The theoretical framework combining the process of universalizing knowledge (Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1999) with a dominating cultural discourse sustained through a system of pressures and constraints (Said, 1978, 1993) is an original contribution. The choice of an emerging economy site is not very common, and the use of CDA on an event like a conference is valuable to research methodology.