Anomalies: Where the Action Is in Strategic Business Research
Introduction
Special issue of Strategic Business Research; Deadline 30 Jun 2026
INTEREST CATEGORY: MARKETING STRATEGY
POSTING TYPE: Calls: Journals
Posted by: Arch Woodside
Anomalies: Where the action is in strategic business research
Submission deadline:聽30 June 2026
Guest editors:
Arch G. Woodside,聽Boston College,聽Chestnut Hill, MA, United States,聽arch.woodside@bc.edu, Cell: (+1)843.855.2777
V Kumar,聽Brock University, Catharines, ON, Canada,聽vkumar@brocku.ca
Special issue information:
厂肠辞辫别:听This special issue on anomalies will explore how unexpected, contradictory, and/or oxutlier phenomena in markets, organizations, and consumer behavior challenge prevailing theories and advance new frameworks in strategy, management, finance, marketing, tourism and hospitality, and public administration research.
Why this special issue?聽Anomalies happen! Typically, anomalies in strategic business research (SBR) refer to cases (e.g., firms, organizations, or individuals) that exhibit exceptional behavior, such as a customer firm submitting an extraordinarily high purchase order. In 1954 Ray Kroc (at the time, a multimixer milkshake鈥憁achine salesperson) performed a classic SBR study on anomalies by driving from Chicago to San Bernardino, CA (a 30-hour car trip), after he received an unusually large order–eight Multimixers鈥攆rom a single hamburger stand in San Bernardino, California. Kroc鈥檚 research was the pivotal moment that connected his sales hustle with the McDonald brothers鈥 operational genius. That trip set in motion the franchising empire that would become McDonald鈥檚 Corporation–one of many powerful examples of strategic business research of anomalies. This SBR special issue intends to do more than report fascinating anomalies in business. The aim is to assist strategic business researchers to replace the bad science practices of focusing on modeling via variable directional relationships by refocusing on the good science practices of modeling distinct, singular and complex, outcome conditions via algorithms (AKA: filters, screens, and heuristics). Management anomalies can be positive, neutral, or negative, depending on context and impact. The term 鈥渁nomaly鈥 simply means a deviation from expected norms or patterns.
Possible study contribution topics to this special issue:聽While not limited to only the issues in the following list, the full scope of this SBR Anomalies Special includes the following topics.聽Finance & Economics:聽1. Equity market anomalies 鈥 Momentum, value vs. growth, size effect, and post鈥慹arnings announcement drift. 2. Behavioral finance anomalies 鈥 Investor overreaction, underreaction, and disposition effect. 3. Calendar anomalies 鈥 January effect, Monday effect, holiday effect in stock returns. 4. IPO Underpricing Anomalies 鈥 Persistent first鈥慸ay underpricing despite market efficiency. 5. Dividend puzzles 鈥 Why firms pay dividends despite tax disadvantages. 6. Cross鈥態order Valuation Anomalies 鈥 Differences in pricing of similar assets across markets. 7. Risk鈥搑eturn anomalies 鈥 Low鈥憊olatility and low鈥慴eta stocks outperforming CAPM predictions.聽Management & Strategy:聽8. Firm performance anomalies 鈥 Outlier firms thriving in adverse environments (contrarian cases). 9. Innovation anomalies 鈥 High R&D spenders with low innovation output, or vice versa. 10. Leadership Anomalies 鈥 Cases where unconventional leadership styles outperform expectations. 11. Organizational resilience anomalies 鈥 Firms that prosper during crises while peers collapse. 12. Corporate Governance Anomalies 鈥 Firms with weak governance structures yet strong performance. 13. Merger & Acquisition Anomalies 鈥 Deals that defy the 鈥渨inner鈥檚 curse鈥 and create long鈥憈erm value.聽Marketing & Consumer Research:聽14. Consumer choice anomalies 鈥 Preference reversals, framing effects, and irrational brand loyalty. 15. Pricing anomalies 鈥 Why consumers pay premiums for commoditized goods (e.g., bottled water). 16. Advertising effectiveness anomalies 鈥 Campaigns that succeed despite violating 鈥渂est practices.鈥 17. Customer satisfaction鈥揚rofit anomaly 鈥 Firms with high satisfaction but weak financial returns. 18. Word鈥憃f鈥憁outh anomalies 鈥 Negative reviews that paradoxically boost sales. 19. Brand equity anomalies 鈥 Brands with low awareness but high willingness鈥憈o鈥憄ay. 20. Tourism & experience anomalies 鈥 Destinations thriving despite poor infrastructure or safety perceptions.
Examples of highly-cited studies focusing on anomalies in strategy business research
Here is a list of example studies that relate to anomalies in business and knowledge research:
Bipasha, Y. A. (2022). Market efficiency, anomalies and behavioral finance: A review of theories and empirical evidence. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 15(2), 827鈥839.聽
Daniel, K., Hirshleifer, D., & Subrahmanyam, A. (1998). Investor psychology and security market under- and overreactions. Journal of Finance, 53(6), 1839鈥1885.聽
Fama, E. F., & French, K. R. (1992). The cross-section of expected stock returns. Journal of Finance, 47(2), 427鈥465.
Lo, A. W., & MacKinlay, A. C. (1990). Data-snooping biases in tests of financial asset pricing models. Review of Financial Studies, 3(3), 431鈥467.聽
March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. (1976). Ambiguity and choice in organizations.
Sarno, R., Sinaga, F., & Sungkono, K. (2020). Anomaly detection in business processes using process mining and fuzzy association rule learning. Journal of Big Data, 7(1), Article 5.聽
Sharma, A., Kumar, V., Borah, S., & Adhikary, A. (2022). Complexity in a multinational enterprise’s global supply chain and its international business performance: A bane or a boon? Journal of International Business Studies, 53(8),聽850鈥878.
Woodside, A. G., Nagy, G., & Megehee, C. M. (2018). Applying complexity theory: A primer for identifying and modeling firm anomalies. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 3(1), 9鈥25.
Zajac, E. J., & Westphal, J. D. (2004). The social construction of market value: Institutionalization and learning perspectives on stock market reactions. American Sociological Review, 69(3), 433鈥457.
Invitation:聽Do submit your manuscript on anomalies in strategic business research for publication consideration in this special issue! Length requirement: 6,000 to 10,000 word manuscripts are preferred for this special issue. See the SBR Journal site for submission details to the following in submitting:聽.
Questions? Email or telephone the guest editors, Arch G. Woodside and V Kumar for this special issue.