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searchers did not show how these factors interact as a bundle to drive performance.
The 'implication for future research' implies the researchers had tried to establish a relationship between strategy, contextual variable and performance. They however suggested that future researchers could do that by integrating the variables studied instead of working on the assumption that variables contribute independently to the fitness concept.
The basis of warranted conclusion, given the quality of the data collection instrument and the rigor in the data analyses process, it might be argued that the researchers' conclusions are based informed evidence. Thus the conclusions drawn from the evidence they were able to show from their statistical analysis warrants their claims. The subject of warranted conclusion holds that the evidence informing the conclusions should be convincing enough to draw a logical link to the conclusions (Gorard, 2002).
However like previous studies, the study reviewed is not explicit about the impact of situational variables on performance; which is central to how the research will affect practice. This is crucial as Gerdin and Greve (2004) contend that such omissions may have implications on the choice of theory building and testing. They argue that: 'With a contingency approach, it is assumed that organizations may have varying degrees of fit. Thus, the researcher must show that a higher degree of fit is associated with higher performance' (p.305).
Gerdin and Greve, (2008), contended that studies which fail to link the studied variables to performance would be more appropriately referred to as congruence studies rather than contingency studies. Congruence studies assumed that only the best-performing organizations survive to be observed. Therefore context-structure paradigm could be evaluated without relating it to performance.
The relationship between structure and context, or the degree of fit between an organization structure and contingencies is suggested as the explanation for any variation in performance in organizations. Itterner and Larcker (2001) suggested that improved outcome(s) of research in this area (contingency theory) could be enhanced by improving the measurement of strategy. They argued that measuring strategy as a band between companies following 'low cost' or 'product differentiation' would unlikely pick-out many vital distinctions

Appropriateness of Alternative Approach 替代方法的恰当性

Researchers have argued that the formulation and implementation of strategy is a social process which is dynamic in nature (Helliar et al, 2002). Therefore the quantification of such variables may not appropriately generate results that are applicable to other situations. However, contingency theory research has attracted a functional appeal in which quantification and analyses of data using correlation and regression is a common norm (Langfield-Smith, 1997; Caniato et al., 2008).
Studies adopting the positivist perspective which is informed by quantification produce results which could be widely applied. This is the strong point of quantitative studies and a disadvantage of the qualitative approach. Qualitative research approaches aim at evaluating; in a much detailed manner the impact situational factors on a studied case. It therefore produces outcomes that cannot be easily generalized.
In the study by Jermias and Gani (2004), a