Eisenhardt's impact on theory in case study research

This article summarizes the key points of Eisenhardt's (1989), “Building theories from case study research,” and its impact on research in management and marketing. The present article uses citation data from the Web of Knowledge database which shows that Eisenhardt (1989) has 2509 citations to the end of 2008, and that the articles first citing Eisenhardt (1989), most frequently citing Eisenhardt (1989), and most recently citing Eisenhardt (1989) appear in high-ranking journals. The citation impact for Eisenhardt (1989) far exceeds that of other articles appearing in the same issue of the Academy of Management Review. Eisenhardt (1989) continues to receive high numbers of citations annually. The use of citations indicates an increasing engagement with Eisenhardt's (1989) framework, and an influence across several business disciplines. In a comparison with Armstrong's (2003) measure of important findings, this present study concludes that Eisenhardt's (1989) article is important in terms of the replication, validity, usefulness, and surprise values of her findings.