Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 January 2018
The objective of this article is to estimate the spatial structure of the collective economic conceptualization of strategic actions by cidermakers in Québec. It employs group concept mapping, a mixed methods–based approach. Given the limited research on the economic conceptualization of horizontal coordination for guiding collective strategic action orientations, this contribution is threefold: methodological, empirical, and practical. Methodologically, the results show the perspective of horizontally coordinated cidermakers and use statistical estimates and retroduction as an inference mode to produce and structure the concept map. Empirically, the spatial economic conceptualization consists of a concept map with seven strategic action clusters organized around the notions of product supply and demand and highlights tensions between individual and collective strategic actions. Practically, measures of relative importance and relative feasibility are obtained for each cluster on the map, and implications are discussed. (JEL Classifications: D02, L23, L26, L66, Q18)
The authors would like to express their thanks to participants at the AAWE annual conference and journal reviewers for helpful comments. The Producteurs de cidre du Québec (PCQ) association is gratefully acknowledged for encouraging its members to participate in this study. Finally, the authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of their institutions: HEC Montréal and the University of Québec at Montréal.