On the Risk of Studying Practices in Isolation: Linking What, Who and How in Strategy Research

This article challenges the recent focus on practices as stand-alone phenomena, as exemplified by the so-called Practice-Based View of Strategy proposed by Bromiley and Rau. While the goal of Practice-Based View of Strategy points to the potential for standard practices to generate performance differentials (in contrast to the resource-based view), it marginalizes well-known insights from practice theory more widely. In particular, by limiting its focus to practices, that is, what practices are used, it underplays the implications of who is engaged in the practices and how the practices are carried out. In examining practices in isolation, the Practice-Based View of Strategy carries the serious risk of misattributing performance differentials. In this article, we offer an integrative practice perspective on strategy and performance that should aid scholars in generating more precise and contextually sensitive theories about the enactment and impact of practices as well as about critical factors shaping differences in practice outcomes.