Strategy Experiments in Nonexperimental Settings: Challenges of Theory, Inference, and Persuasion in Business Strategy.

The article focuses on the distinct challenges of theorizing and experimentation in business strategy, emphasizing two key dimensions: the repeatability of strategic experiments and whether they require individual or joint action. It argues that many strategic initiatives are nonrepeatable—meaning their execution changes the business environment and future outcomes—and often require collective buy-in from multiple internal and external actors, making persuasion a critical component of theory-building. These properties complicate inference and learning from strategic actions, as traditional experimental and statistical methods assume repeatability and independence, which do not hold in many real-world strategic contexts. The authors highlight how these factors shape the nature of strategic decision-making, learning, and the role of theory in guiding and coordinating actions within evolving ecosystems.