The objectivist approach to the social reality is not the only acceptable methodological approach, despite being the dominant research strategy in the Business Strategy field. Interpretive approaches to business Strategy have been suggested by many authors since the 1960's and 1970's. This article aims at reviewing the most important elements of a construtivist approach to business strategy, focusing on the consequences of such approach to the decision-making practice. Those consequences are: (1) Abandoning the prescription that organizations should adapt to their environment. (2) Redefining opportunities, threats and strategic constraints from a cognitive perspective, and (3) the possibility of thinking differently about business strategy giving more emphasis to the decision making process. In this article the strategic styles of Brazilian internet start-ups are evaluates from a neo-institutional perspective, illustrating some practical aspects of a strategy research based on a construtivist approach.
business strategy; institutional theory; cognitivism
