Strategic Issues: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Teixeira, José Eduardo Valladares; Serra, Fernando Antonio Ribeiro; Miller, Kent D.

doi:10.1590/1807-7692bar2023230075

José Eduardo Valladares Teixeira

Universidade Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9757-3435

Fernando Antonio Ribeiro Serra

Universidade Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8178-7313

Kent D. Miller

Eli Broad College of Business, East Lasing, MI, USA

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9297-1185

Corresponding author: José Eduardo Valladares Teixeira Universidade Nove de Julho Rua Deputado Salvador Julianelli s/n, Barra Funda, CEP 01156-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil j.e.teixeira@hotmail.com

Author

José Eduardo Valladares Teixeira * https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9757-3435

Universidade Nove de Julho

Rua Deputado Salvador Julianelli s/n, CEP 01156-000, Barra Funda, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

j.e.teixeira@hotmail.com

Fernando Antonio Ribeiro Serra https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8178-7313

Universidade Nove de Julho

Rua Deputado Salvador Julianelli s/n, CEP 01156-000, Barra Funda, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

fernandoars@uni9.pro.br

Kent D. Miller https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9297-1185

Michigan State University

North Business Building, 632 Bogue St Rm N475B, 48824

East Lansing, MI , USA

millerk@broad.msu.edu

Conflict of Interests:

The authors have stated that there is no conflict of interest.

Editor-in-Chief:

Ivan Lapuente Garrido https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3741-7961

(Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Brazil).

Editorial assistants:

Eduarda Anastacio, Kler Godoy and Simone Rafael

(ANPAD, Maringá, Brazil).

Paper	Type of paper	Noteworthy concepts, propositions, and/or empirical results
Dutton et al. (1983Dutton, J. E., Fahey, L., & Narayanan, V. K. (1983). Toward understanding strategic issue diagnosis. Strategic Management Journal, 4(4), 307-323. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2485923 https://www.jstor.org/stable/2485923... )	Theoretical essay	Strategic issue diagnosis (SID): those activities and processes by which data and stimuli are translated into issues (attention organizing acts) and these issues are explored (acts of interpretation).
Dutton (1986aDutton, J. E. (1986a). Understanding strategic agenda building and its implications for managing change. Scandinavian Journal of Management Studies, 3(1), 3-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/0281-7527(86)90008-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0281-7527(86)900... )	Theoretical essay	Strategic agenda or issue portfolio: the set of SIs receiving collective attention in the organization. Agenda building is the process through which SIs gain decision-makers’ attention and are legitimated in the organization.
Dutton (1986bDutton, J. E. (1986b). The processing of crisis and non-crisis strategic issues. Journal of Management Studies, 23(5), 501-517. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1986.tb00434.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1986... )	Empirical research	Describes how crisis SIs are processed differently from non-crisis issues in organizations.
Dutton and Duncan (1987aDutton, J. E., & Ottensmeyer, E. (1987). Strategic issue management systems: Forms, functions, and contexts. Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 355-365. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971 https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971... )	Theoretical essay	Presents a process model of how decision-makers interpret SIs, encompassing three stages: activation, assessments of urgency (U), and assessments of feasibility (F). (FU was later considered a framework for the categorization of issues.)
Dutton and Jackson (1987Dutton, J. E., & Ottensmeyer, E. (1987). Strategic issue management systems: Forms, functions, and contexts. Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 355-365. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971 https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971... )	Theoretical essay	Proposes that the meanings attributed to SIs by decision-makers influence organizational responses to these issues. Meanings are imposed by (cognitive) categories; categories are engaged by using (linguistic) labels. The two labels most frequently applied to SIs are: threat (T) and opportunity (O).
Dutton and Duncan (1987bDutton, J. E., & Ottensmeyer, E. (1987). Strategic issue management systems: Forms, functions, and contexts. Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 355-365. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971 https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971... )	Theoretical essay	Describes how the strategic planning process affects the set of SIs that are incorporated in the firm’s strategic agenda, and how the characteristics of the strategic agenda translate into the initiation and implementation of strategic change.
Dutton and Webster (1988Dutton, J. E., & Webster, J. (1988). Patterns of interest around issues: The role of uncertainty and feasibility. Academy of Management Journal, 31(3), 663-675. https://doi.org/10.2307/256464 https://doi.org/10.2307/256464... )	Empirical research	Suggests that people are attracted to issues that appear to be feasible (solvable), and existing in a more certain, stable environment.
Dutton et al. (1989Dutton, J. E., Walton, E. J., & Abrahamson, E. (1989). Important dimensions of strategic issues: Separating the wheat from the chaff. Journal of Management Studies, 26(4), 379-396. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1989.tb00735.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1989... )	Empirical research	Identifies the dimensions decision-makers use to sort SIs - giving attention to some of them while dropping others.
Dutton et al. (1990Dutton, J. E., Stumpf, S. A., & Wagner, D. (1990). Diagnosing strategic issues and managerial investment of resources. In P. Shrivastava & R. Lamb (Eds.), Advances in Strategic Management (vol. 6, pp. 143-167). JAI Press.)	Empirical research	Provides evidence that assessments of SIs are related to the allocation of individuals to positions in an organization structure and on organizational resources.
Dutton and Dukerich (1991Dutton, J. E., & Dukerich, J. M. (1991). Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizational adaptation. Academy of Management Journal, 34(3), 517-554. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/256405 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/2564... )	Empirical research	“… what people see as their organizations’ distinctive attributes (its identity) and what they believe others see as distinctive about the organization (its image) constrain, mold, and fuel interpretations - help link individual cognitions and behaviors to organizational actions” (p. 550, emphasis added).
Dutton (1993Dutton, J. E., & Ashford, S. J. (1993). Selling issues to top management. Academy of Management Review, 18(3), 397-428. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/258903 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/2589... )	Theoretical essay	Proposes that issues are not always diagnosed intentionally (active SID), identifying conditions under which organizations put decision-makers in an unreflexive diagnosis mode (automatic SID) involving the activation of ready-made issue categories (TO).
Dutton and Ashford (1993Dutton, J. E., & Ashford, S. J. (1993). Selling issues to top management. Academy of Management Review, 18(3), 397-428. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/258903 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/2589... )	Theoretical essay	Proposes that issue selling by middle managers is central to explain how issues are incorporated in the strategic agenda of an organization.
Denison et al. (1996Denison, D. R., Dutton, J. E., Kahn, J. A., & Hart, S. L. (1996). Organizational context and the interpretation of strategic issues: A note on CEOs’ interpretation of foreign investment. Journal of Management Studies, 33(4), 453-474. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1996.tb00164.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1996... )	Empirical research	Explores the relationship between organizational context and the interpretation of SIs.

Paper	Type of paper	Noteworthy concepts, propositions, and/or empirical results
Thomas and McDaniel (1990Thomas, J. B., & McDaniel, R. R., Jr. (1990). Interpreting strategic issues: Effects of strategy and the information-processing structure of top management teams. Academy of Management Journal, 33(2), 286-306. https://doi.org/10.2307/256326 https://doi.org/10.2307/256326... )	Empirical research	Found a relationship between the organizational context (strategic orientation of the firm and the information-processing structure of the TMT) and the CEO’s interpretation of SI (labels assigned to SIs - threat and opportunities - and range of variables used in interpretation).
Ginsberg and Venkatraman (1992Ginsberg, A., & Venkatraman, N. (1992). Investing in new information technology: The role of competitive posture and issue diagnosis. Strategic Management Journal, 13(S1), 37-53. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250131005 https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250131005... )	Empirical research	Concluded that strategic posture (efficiency vs. service quality orientation) influenced the adoption of new technology, both directly and indirectly, through issue interpretation (effect response and valence).
Schneider and Meyer (1991Schneider, S. C., & Meyer, A., de. (1991). Interpreting and responding to strategic issues: The impact of national culture. Strategic Management Journal, 12(4), 307-320. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250120406 https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250120406... )	Empirical research	Following Sallivan and Nonaka (1988Sallivan, J., & Nonaka, I. (1988). Culture and strategic issue categorization theory. Management International Review, 28(3), 6-10. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40227887 https://www.jstor.org/stable/40227887... ), found that national culture influenced the interpretation of SI (as a crisis and as a threat) and the nature of the responses to these SI (magnitude and internal/external focus of the response).
Barr et al. (1992Barr, P. S., Stimpert, J. L., & Huff, A. S. (1992). Cognitive change, strategic action, and organizational renewal [Special Issue]. Strategic Management Journal, 13, 15-36. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2486350 https://www.jstor.org/stable/2486350... )	Empirical research	Found a link between changes in mental models (cause-effect understandings) and changes in organizational action when studying the evolution of the interpretation of a SI by leaders of two U.S. railroads over a 25-year period, a time span in which these firms experienced varying levels of environmental munificence.
Thomas et al. (1993Thomas, J. B., Clark, S. M., & Gioia, D. A. (1993). Strategic sensemaking and organizational performance: Linkages among scanning, interpretation, action, and outcomes. Academy of Management Journal, 36(2), 239-270. https://doi.org/10.5465/256522 https://doi.org/10.5465/256522... )	Empirical research	Investigated the relationship between strategic sensemaking (scanning, interpretation, and action) and organizational performance, and found that high information use (scanning) influence issue interpretation (TO), and that interpretation influence product-service change (action). Product-service change, by its turn, influenced performance.
Palich and Bagby (1995Palich, L. E., & Bagby, D. R. (1995). Using cognitive theory to explain entrepreneurial risk-taking: Challenging conventional wisdom. Journal of Business Venturing, 10(6), 425-438. https://doi.org/10.1016/0883-9026(95)00082-J https://doi.org/10.1016/0883-9026(95)000... )	Empirical research	Used experiments to conclude that entrepreneurs are predisposed to cognitively categorize business situations more positively (as opportunities) than non-entrepreneurs.
Judge and Speitzfaden (1995Judge, W. Q., & Speitzfaden, M. (1995). The management of strategic time horizons within biotechnology firms: The impact of cognitive complexity on time horizon diversity. Journal of Management Inquiry, 4(2), 179-196. https://doi.org/10.1177/105649269542009 https://doi.org/10.1177/105649269542009... )	Empirical research	Incorporated the size of the SI array of a firm on a model that established a relationship between strategic time horizon diversity and financial performance.
Gioia and Thomas (1996Gioia, D. A., & Thomas, J. B. (1996). Identity, image, and issue interpretation: Sensemaking during strategic change in academia. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41(3), 370-403. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/2393936 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/2393... )	Empirical research	In a study of higher education institutions, found that TMT members’ perceptions of identity and image mediate the relationship between the organization’s internal context (strategy and information-processing structures) and issue interpretation (strategic vs. political issues).
Mittal and Ross (1998Mittal, V., & Ross, W. T., Jr. (1998). The impact of positive and negative affect and issue framing on issue interpretation and risk taking. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 76(3), 298-324. https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.1998.2808 https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.1998.2808... )	Empirical research	Investigated the influence of transient affective states and issue framing on issue interpretation (and risk taking) and found that framing an issue (as a threat or an opportunity) had a stronger impact on issue interpretation among negative affect participants than among positive affect participants in experiments.
Barr (1998Barr, P. S. (1998). Adapting to unfamiliar environmental events: A look at the evolution of interpretation and its role in strategic change. Organization Science, 9(6), 644-669. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2640247 https://www.jstor.org/stable/2640247... )	Empirical research	Investigated the evolution of the interpretation of a strategic issue in the pharmaceutical industry and found distinct patterns in this evolution, dependent on whether the issue was familiar or not. She also found that (change in) interpretation is strongly linked to the triggering of strategic response.
Knight et al. (1999Knight, D., Pearce, C. L., Smith, K. G., Olian, J. D., Sims, H. P., Smith, K. A., & Flood, P. (1999). Top management team diversity, group process, and strategic consensus. Strategic Management Journal, 20(5), 445-465. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199905)20:5%3C445::AID-SMJ27%3E3.0.CO;2-V https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(... )	Empirical research	Investigated how demographic diversity and group processes influence strategic consensus in the TMT. They found that group processes - interpersonal conflict and agreement-seeking behaviors (defined as the degree to which TMT members worked to reach agreement on SIs) - partially mediated the relationship between diversity and strategic consensus.
Kuvaas (2002Kuvaas, B. (2002). An exploration of two competing perspectives on informational contexts in top management strategic issue interpretation. Journal of Management Studies, 39(7), 977-1001. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00320 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00320... )	Empirical research	Investigated the effect of informational context on SI interpretation. He found that higher availability of environmental information leads to the perception of issues as controllable, but that managers in TMTs with higher processing capacity perceive higher degrees of control and manageability, and search for less data in issue interpretation.
Anderson and Nichols (2007Anderson, M. H., & Nichols, M. L. (2007). Information gathering and changes in threat and opportunity perceptions. Journal of Management Studies, 44(3), 367-387. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00678.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006... )	Empirical research	Found that time spent searching for information leads to changes toward seeing the issue as more of a threat, while the diversity of information found leads to changes toward seeing it as less of a threat (they found no effect of information search on opportunity perceptions).
Ocasio and Joseph (2005Ocasio, W., & Joseph, J. (2005). An attention-based theory of strategy formulation: Linking micro-and macroperspectives in strategy processes. In G. Szulanski, J. Porac, & Y. Doz (Eds.), Advances in Strategic Management (vol. 22, pp. 39-61). Emerald Group Publishing.).	Theoretical essay	Proposed an attention-based theory of strategy formulation, predicated on several propositions, the first of which states that “decision-making is guided by selective attention to organizational issues and initiatives.”
Julian and Ofori-Dankwa (2008Julian, S. D., & Ofori-Dankwa, J. C. (2008). Toward an integrative cartography of two strategic issue diagnosis frameworks. Strategic Management Journal, 29(1), 93-114. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.647 https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.647... )	Empirical research	Investigated the explicative power of two alternative issue categorization frameworks - TO vs. FU - and found that the FU approach is a better predictor of both intentions and actual responses to SIs than the TO approach.
Amason and Money (2008Amason, A. C., & Mooney, A. C. (2008). The Icarus paradox revisited: How strong performance sows the seeds of dysfunction in future strategic decision-making. Strategic Organization, 6(4), 407-434. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127008096364 https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127008096364... )	Empirical research	Examined how (past) performance influence SI framing and decision processes. They found that strong performance is associated with framing issues more as threats than opportunities, and that strong performance leads to less comprehensiveness in decision-making.
Plambeck and Weber (2009Plambeck, N., & Weber, K. (2009). CEO ambivalence and responses to strategic issues. Organization Science, 20(6), 993-1010. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25614712 https://www.jstor.org/stable/25614712... , 2010)	Empirical research	Found that when decision-makers evaluate an issue as both positive and negative, they are more likely to act on the issue, and that these actions were of greater scope, novelty, and riskiness. An ambidextrous strategic orientation and a sense of control of the environment both influence ambivalence in issue interpretation.
Rerup (2009Rerup, C. (2009). Attentional triangulation: Learning from unexpected rare crises. Organization Science, 20(5), 876-893. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25614701 https://www.jstor.org/stable/25614701... )	Empirical research	Found that the inability to notice the weak signs of an emerging issue and to act on it in a coherent fashion resulted in an unexpected crisis at Novo Nordisk. He proposed ‘attentional triangulation’ to identify issues that have potentially critical consequences for an organization.
Barreto and Patient (2013Barreto, I., & Patient, D. L. (2013). Toward a theory of intraorganizational attention based on desirability and feasibility factors. Strategic Management Journal, 34(6), 687-703. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23471038 https://www.jstor.org/stable/23471038... )	Empirical research	Investigated how managers in a firm attended to the threat and opportunity aspects of an issue (an exogenous shock). They found that attention was influenced by desirability (shock distance) and feasibility (capability perception) considerations.
Bundy et al. (2013Bundy, J., Shropshire, C., & Buchholtz, A. K. (2013). Strategic cognition and issue salience: Toward an explanation of firm responsiveness to stakeholder concerns. Academy of Management Review, 38(3), 352-376. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43700495 https://www.jstor.org/stable/43700495... )	Theoretical essay	Developed a cognitive theory of issue salience. They proposed that firms will respond more substantially to those issues perceived as salient to both an instrumental logic (the rational pursuit of organizational objectives) and an expressive logic (how the firm defines its identity) and more symbolically to those issues perceived as salient to only one logic.
Liu and Maitlis (2014Liu, F., & Maitlis, S. (2014). Emotional dynamics and strategizing processes: A study of strategic conversations in top team meetings. Journal of Management Studies, 51(2), 202-234. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2012.01087.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2012... )	Empirical research	Analyzed how emotional dynamics influence the processing of SIs by TMTs. Through the analysis of the conversations in TMTs, they identified five kinds of emotional dynamics, each associated with a different type of strategizing process. The strategizing processes, by their turn, varied in how issues were proposed, discussed, and evaluated, and whether decisions were taken or postponed.
Miller and Lin (2015Miller, K. D., & Lin, S. J. (2015). Analogical reasoning for diagnosing strategic issues in dynamic and complex environments. Strategic Management Journal, 36(13), 2000-2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2335 https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2335... , 2020)	Mathematical/Computational modeling	Investigated the accuracy of analogical reasoning when applied (over time) on the interpretation of SIs as threats and opportunities, in environments that differed in variation.
Bergman et al. (2016Bergman, J. P., Knutas, A., Luukka, P., Jantunen, A., Tarkiainen, A., Karlik, A., & Platonov, V. (2016). Strategic interpretation on sustainability issues - eliciting cognitive maps of boards of directors. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 16(1), 162-186. https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-04-2015-0051 https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-04-2015-0051... )	Empirical research	Using the concept of cognitive maps, examined the role of cognitive diversity on strategic issue interpretation among boards of directors. Provides evidence that even though boards of directors of firms in the same industry manifest cognitive diversity, they follow strong industry-wide, common patterns on SI interpretations.

A SI is…	…which occurs/manifests itself…	…considered by…	…to cause…	…impact…	Reference
A forthcoming development,	either inside or outside of the organization,		which is likely to have an important impact	on the ability of the enterprise to meet its objectives.	Ansoff (1980Ansoff, H. I. (1980). Strategic issue management. Strategic Management Journal, 1(2), 131-148. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250010204 https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250010204... )
A ‘condition or pressure’ on the organization			that involves: (a) possible outcomes that are important to, or of possible high impact… (b) strategic consequences (c) controversy	…on the organization’s overall performance.	King (1982King, W. R. (1982). Using strategic issue analysis. Long Range Planning, 15(4), 45-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-6301(82)90090-5 https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-6301(82)900... )
An emerging development		that in the judgment of some strategic decision-makers	is likely to have a significant impact	on the organization’s present or future strategies.	Dutton et al. (1983Dutton, J. E., Fahey, L., & Narayanan, V. K. (1983). Toward understanding strategic issue diagnosis. Strategic Management Journal, 4(4), 307-323. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2485923 https://www.jstor.org/stable/2485923... )
Emerging developments, trends, or concerns		perceived	as affecting	the achievement of the organization’s objectives.	Dutton (1986aDutton, J. E. (1986a). Understanding strategic agenda building and its implications for managing change. Scandinavian Journal of Management Studies, 3(1), 3-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/0281-7527(86)90008-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0281-7527(86)900... )
Developments or trends			with the potential to impact	the organization’s strategy and its effectiveness.	Dutton (1986bDutton, J. E. (1986b). The processing of crisis and non-crisis strategic issues. Journal of Management Studies, 23(5), 501-517. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1986.tb00434.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1986... )
Developments or events	that have not yet achieved the status of a decision event		and that have the potential to influence	the organization’s current or future strategy.	Dutton and Duncan (1987aDutton, J. E., & Ottensmeyer, E. (1987). Strategic issue management systems: Forms, functions, and contexts. Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 355-365. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971 https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971... )
Developments or trends	that emerge from an organization’s internal or external environments	perceived	to have the potential	to affect an organization’s performance.	Dutton and Ottensmeyer (1987Dutton, J. E., & Ottensmeyer, E. (1987). Strategic issue management systems: Forms, functions, and contexts. Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 355-365. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971 https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971... )
Events and trends		perceived	as having the potential to have an effect	on achieving organizational objectives.	Dutton and Jackson (1987Dutton, J. E., & Ottensmeyer, E. (1987). Strategic issue management systems: Forms, functions, and contexts. Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 355-365. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971 https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971... )
Developments, events, and trends			having the potential to impact	an organization’s strategy.	Dutton and Duncan (1987aDutton, J. E., & Ottensmeyer, E. (1987). Strategic issue management systems: Forms, functions, and contexts. Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 355-365. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971 https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971... )
Developments, events, and trends	internal or external	viewed by decision-makers	as consequential	to the organization	Dutton and Duncan (1987bDutton, J. E., & Ottensmeyer, E. (1987). Strategic issue management systems: Forms, functions, and contexts. Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 355-365. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971 https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971... )
Potentially important developments		that in the minds of organizational decision-makers	are likely to affect	the organization’s ability to achieve its objectives.	Dutton (1988Dutton, J. E., & Webster, J. (1988). Patterns of interest around issues: The role of uncertainty and feasibility. Academy of Management Journal, 31(3), 663-675. https://doi.org/10.2307/256464 https://doi.org/10.2307/256464... )
‘Messy’ or ‘unstructured’ issues			having a wide range of effects	on an organization.	Thomas et al. (1989Thomas, J. B., McDaniel, R. R. Jr., & Dooris, M. J. (1989). Strategic issue analysis: NGT+ decision analysis for resolving strategic issues. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 25(2), 189-200. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886389252009 https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886389252009... )
Trends, developments, and events			suggesting a change	in the environment (internal or external) of an organization.	Thomas et al. (1989Thomas, J. B., McDaniel, R. R. Jr., & Dooris, M. J. (1989). Strategic issue analysis: NGT+ decision analysis for resolving strategic issues. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 25(2), 189-200. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886389252009 https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886389252009... )
Events, developments, or trends		perceived by decision-makers	as having the potential	to affect their organization’s performance.	Dutton et al. (1989Dutton, J. E., Walton, E. J., & Abrahamson, E. (1989). Important dimensions of strategic issues: Separating the wheat from the chaff. Journal of Management Studies, 26(4), 379-396. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1989.tb00735.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1989... )
Trends, developments, and dilemmas			that affect	an organization as a whole and its position in its environment.	Thomas and McDaniel (1990Thomas, J. B., & McDaniel, R. R., Jr. (1990). Interpreting strategic issues: Effects of strategy and the information-processing structure of top management teams. Academy of Management Journal, 33(2), 286-306. https://doi.org/10.2307/256326 https://doi.org/10.2307/256326... )
Events, developments, and trends		that an organization’s members collectively recognize	as having some consequence	to the organization.	Dutton and Dukerich (1991Dutton, J. E., & Dukerich, J. M. (1991). Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizational adaptation. Academy of Management Journal, 34(3), 517-554. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/256405 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/2564... )
An emerging development			that has the potential to affect significantly	the organization or its position in the environment.	Ginsberg and Venkatraman (1992Ginsberg, A., & Venkatraman, N. (1992). Investing in new information technology: The role of competitive posture and issue diagnosis. Strategic Management Journal, 13(S1), 37-53. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250131005 https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250131005... )
Developments, trends, and events		judged	to be significant	to the current and/or future performance of the organization.	Jackson (1992Jackson, S. E. (1992). Consequences of group composition for the interpersonal dynamics of strategic issue processing. In: J. Dutton, A. Huff, & P. Shrivastava, Advances in Strategic Management (vol. 8, pp. 345-382). JAI Press.)
Events, developments, or trends		viewed	as having implications	for organizational performance	Dutton and Ashford (1993Dutton, J. E., & Ashford, S. J. (1993). Selling issues to top management. Academy of Management Review, 18(3), 397-428. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/258903 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/2589... )
Issue becomes strategic		when top management believes	it has relevance	for organizational performance.	Dutton and Ashford (1993Dutton, J. E., & Ashford, S. J. (1993). Selling issues to top management. Academy of Management Review, 18(3), 397-428. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/258903 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/2589... )

Categorization Frameworks/Typologies	Proposed/Used by
Table 3. Some definitions of SIs found in the literature	Ansoff (1975Ansoff, H. I. (1975). Managing strategic surprise by response to weak signals. California Management Review, 18(2), 21-33. https://doi.org/10.2307/41164635 https://doi.org/10.2307/41164635... )
Crisis or non-crisis	Dutton (1986bDutton, J. E. (1986b). The processing of crisis and non-crisis strategic issues. Journal of Management Studies, 23(5), 501-517. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1986.tb00434.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1986... )
Feasibility and urgency	Dutton and Duncan (1987aDutton, J. E., & Ottensmeyer, E. (1987). Strategic issue management systems: Forms, functions, and contexts. Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 355-365. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971 https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971... )
Problems or opportunities	Dutton and Duncan (1987bDutton, J. E., & Ottensmeyer, E. (1987). Strategic issue management systems: Forms, functions, and contexts. Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 355-365. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971 https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971... )
Threat and/or opportunity	Dutton and Jackson (1987Dutton, J. E., & Ottensmeyer, E. (1987). Strategic issue management systems: Forms, functions, and contexts. Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 355-365. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971 https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4307971... ); Jackson and Dutton (1988); several others
Feasible or unfeasible	Dutton and Webster (1988Dutton, J. E., & Webster, J. (1988). Patterns of interest around issues: The role of uncertainty and feasibility. Academy of Management Journal, 31(3), 663-675. https://doi.org/10.2307/256464 https://doi.org/10.2307/256464... )
526 discrete attributes, aggregated in 42 dimensions and 3 classes	Dutton et al. (1989Dutton, J. E., Walton, E. J., & Abrahamson, E. (1989). Important dimensions of strategic issues: Separating the wheat from the chaff. Journal of Management Studies, 26(4), 379-396. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1989.tb00735.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1989... )
Urgency, feasibility, and interdependence	Dutton et al. (1990Dutton, J. E., Stumpf, S. A., & Wagner, D. (1990). Diagnosing strategic issues and managerial investment of resources. In P. Shrivastava & R. Lamb (Eds.), Advances in Strategic Management (vol. 6, pp. 143-167). JAI Press.)
Certainty or uncertainty	Milliken (1990Milliken, F. J. (1990). Perceiving and interpreting environmental change: An examination of college administrators’ interpretation of changing demographics. Academy of Management Journal, 33(1), 42-63. https://doi.org/10.2307/256351 https://doi.org/10.2307/256351... )
Emotional (‘hot’) or non-emotional (‘cold’)	Dutton and Dukerich (1991Dutton, J. E., & Dukerich, J. M. (1991). Keeping an eye on the mirror: Image and identity in organizational adaptation. Academy of Management Journal, 34(3), 517-554. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/256405 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/2564... ); Liu and Maitlis (2014Liu, F., & Maitlis, S. (2014). Emotional dynamics and strategizing processes: A study of strategic conversations in top team meetings. Journal of Management Studies, 51(2), 202-234. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2012.01087.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2012... )
Strategic or political	Thomas et al. (1994Thomas, J. B., Shankster, L. J., & Mathieu, J. E. (1994). Antecedents to organizational issue interpretation: The roles of single-level, cross-level, and content cues. Academy of Management Journal, 37(5), 1252-1284. https://doi.org/10.2307/256672 https://doi.org/10.2307/256672... ); Gioia and Thomas (1996Gioia, D. A., & Thomas, J. B. (1996). Identity, image, and issue interpretation: Sensemaking during strategic change in academia. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41(3), 370-403. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/2393936 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/2393... )
Level of interest and power to influence, capability to address and impact (high/low)	Perrott (1996Perrott, B. E. (1996). Managing strategic issues in the public service. Long Range Planning, 29(3), 337-345. https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-6301(96)00030-1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-6301(96)000... )
Favorability, urgency, and influence (FUI)	Julian and Ofori-Dankwa (2008Julian, S. D., & Ofori-Dankwa, J. C. (2008). Toward an integrative cartography of two strategic issue diagnosis frameworks. Strategic Management Journal, 29(1), 93-114. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.647 https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.647... )
Desirability and feasibility (plus threat or opportunity)	Barreto and Patient (2013Barreto, I., & Patient, D. L. (2013). Toward a theory of intraorganizational attention based on desirability and feasibility factors. Strategic Management Journal, 34(6), 687-703. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23471038 https://www.jstor.org/stable/23471038... )

Topic	Research questions	Future research	Possible contributions
Definition of SIs	How do organizations define and identify SIs? What criteria do organizations use to classify issues as strategic?	Investigate differences in SI identification and definitions across industries and organizational types. Explore the impact of digital technologies and globalization on the definition and identification of SIs. Explore the influence of stakeholder expectations and pressures on SI identification.	Provide clarity on the conceptualization of SIs. Offer insights on the factors that influence the identification of SIs. Help organizations develop appropriate criteria for identifying and defining SIs.
Issue categorization	How do organizations categorize SIs? What are the key dimensions of SI categorization? How do SI categorizations influence organizational responses?	Examine the impact of cognitive biases and heuristics on SI categorization. Investigate the role of organizational culture in shaping issue categorization.	Enhance understanding of how organizations prioritize and structure SIs. Provide insights into the relationship between issue categorization and organizational responses. Inform organizational decision-making processes related to SIs.
Issue interpretation	How do organizations interpret SIs? What are the cognitive mechanisms underlying issue interpretation? How do cognitive schemas and mental models shape the interpretation of SIs?	Investigate how cognitive diversity within organizations influences issue interpretation. Examine the impact of information-sharing and communication practices on issue interpretation. Explore the role of leadership in shaping issue interpretation.	Improve understanding of the cognitive processes involved in interpreting SIs. Provide insights into the role of cognitive schemas and mental models in issue interpretation. Offer guidance on developing more accurate and nuanced interpretations of SIs.
Level of analysis	How do the individual, group, and organizational levels of analysis interact and influence SI processing? What are the key factors at each level that contribute to the identification, interpretation, and response to SIs?	Investigate the role of power and politics in shaping SI processing at different levels of analysis. Examine how organizational structures and hierarchies influence SI processing at each level. Explore the impact of cross-functional collaboration on SI processing across levels.	Provide a more comprehensive understanding of the multi-level nature of SI processing. Offer insights into the interactions between different levels of analysis in SI processing. Inform the development of more effective strategies for addressing SIs.
Underlying Mechanisms and Processes	What are the underlying mechanisms and processes that govern SI processing in organizations? How can organizations improve their ability to recognize and adapt to novel SIs? How can organizations facilitate unlearning and the development of new cognitive models for SI processing?	Investigate the role of feedback loops and learning mechanisms in SI processing. Examine the influence of organizational culture on SI processing mechanisms. Explore the impact of leadership styles and practices on SI processing.	Enhance understanding of the dynamics governing SI processing in organizations. Offer insights on how to improve organizational adaptability and learning. Inform the development of strategies for fostering organizational innovation and resilience.

[1] Corresponding author: José Eduardo Valladares Teixeira Universidade Nove de Julho Rua Deputado Salvador Julianelli s/n, Barra Funda, CEP 01156-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil j.e.teixeira@hotmail.com

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Strategic Issues: A Systematic Review of the Literature

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