Mapping and Analysis of Global Research Trends on Strategizing: A Bibliometric Approach

Abstract

Purpose: Over the past decades, the notion of strategizing has attracted growing scholarly attention as a distinctive approach within strategic management. In contrast to traditional perspectives that portray strategy primarily as a rational, top-down planning process orchestrated by senior executives, the strategy-as-practice (SaP) perspective emphasizes that strategy is not a static plan but continuously enacted through the everyday practices, discourses, and interactions of multiple actors both inside and outside the organizations. This perspective shifts the analytical focus from strategy as an outcome to strategizing as an ongoing process of activities. While the literature on strategizing has expanded considerably, most contributions remain qualitative and fragmented, leaving a limited understanding of the broader thematic dynamics and emerging directions of the field. Addressing this gap, the present study employs a bibliometric approach to systematically map the global research on strategizing published between 1990 and 2024. It aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the domain, identify influential scholars, and reveal thematic clusters and trends shaping the future of strategizing research.

Methodology: The analysis draws on bibliometric techniques using data extracted from the Scopus database for the period 1990–2024. A total of 3176 documents were analyzed across multiple dimensions, including author productivity, citation impact, temporal evolution, geographical distribution, co-occurrence of keywords, trend topic dynamics, and thematic mapping. Descriptive analysis was applied to examine the temporal evolution of publications, the most cited authors, the most influential documents in the field, and the geographical distribution of contributions. Science mapping techniques, including keyword co-occurrence analysis conducted with VOSviewer, were employed to identify conceptual clusters and thematic communities. Trend topic analysis using Biblioshiny was performed to capture the temporal dynamics of key themes. Furthermore, a thematic map was generated to position research themes within four categories—motor, basic, niche, and emerging—based on their centrality and density in the field.

Findings: The results reveal a steady growth in strategizing research since the mid-1990s, with a marked acceleration after 2010. Particularly since 2015, the field has expanded into new areas such as openness, innovation, sustainability, and digital transformation, reflecting its increasing breadth and interdisciplinarity. Influential scholars identified include Jarzabkowski, Whittington, and Vaara, while the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada stand out as the leading countries in terms of research output.
The keyword co-occurrence analysis revealed eight major thematic clusters: (1) Strategic interaction and evolution, (2) Dimensions of strategizing, (3) Theoretical foundations and strategy-as-practice theory, (4) Openness, (5) Innovation and business model, (6) Digital transformation and technological capabilities, (7) Strategy process, and (8) Sustainability. These clusters highlight the intellectual diversity of the field, bridging sociological, interpretive, and technological perspectives.
Trend analysis confirmed a clear thematic transition. In earlier phases, the literature was dominated by constructs such as “strategy process,” “capabilities,” and “strategy practices”. In the past decade, however, research has increasingly turned toward themes such as “open strategy,” “digital transformation,” “sustainability,” and “artificial intelligence.” This shift underscores the adaptive nature of strategizing, which mirrors the growing complexity of the socio-technical and environmental contexts in which strategy unfolds.
The thematic map offered further insights. Strategy-as-practice and strategizing emerged as motor themes—both conceptually mature and central to the field. Sustainability and innovation appeared as basic themes, central but still requiring deeper theoretical elaboration. Topics such as blockchain, value creation and collaboration were classified as niche and specialized, whereas artificial intelligence, open strategy and strategic interaction surfaced as emerging themes, not yet fully integrated but holding strong potential for future development.

Conclusion: Overall, the findings indicate that strategizing research has matured into a consolidated academic domain, yet one that is undergoing profound transformation. The growing prominence of themes such as sustainability, open strategy, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence suggests that strategizing is increasingly expanding beyond the organizational level to encompass wider business ecosystems. This development marks a paradigmatic shift from intra-organizational strategizing to ecosystem-level strategizing, in which diverse actors—firms, policymakers, consumers, and technology providers—jointly co-create strategic outcomes.
This study contributes to the literature by presenting one of the first systematic bibliometric analysis dedicated exclusively to strategizing. It consolidates a fragmented body of research into a coherent knowledge map, highlights influential works and contributors, and identifies conceptual gaps that warrant further exploration. For practitioners, the findings underscore the urgency of adopting open, digitally enabled, and sustainability-oriented approaches to strategizing. Scholars highlight promising research avenues, particularly in understanding strategizing at the ecosystem level, integrating digital technologies into strategic practices, and embedding sustainability imperatives into strategizing processes