Challenges and Guidelines for Conducting Internet-Based Surveys in Strategic Management Research

Given the ubiquity of Internet access in the business world, the question for strategy researchers is no longer over whether or not Internet surveys are viable, but rather over the comparative advantages and disadvantages of this modality. To address this question, we provide guidelines for researchers to help minimize the challenges while still reaping the benefits. We begin by first defining Internet survey modalities and some of their benefits, and then we focus on the associated sampling challenges and often ways that strategy researchers can address them. To further assist researchers in using this survey modality, we present a comparison of some software packages that might be useful, followed by a discussion of the lessons that we have learned from our own use of Internet surveys.