The management literature has explored and recognized that managers' perceptions of their hospitals' external conditions or environment are important antecedents to effective strategic choices and, therefore, superior performance. We have less understanding, however, of the relationship between...

The contingency approach and its relevance to theory building and research in marketing is described. The approach is delineated and its theoretical foundations traced. Several established contingency theories within the management discipline are outlined and the research they have stimulated on...