Atefeh Saniee - Master of Administration, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran
Shamsodin Nazemi - Professor, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran
Mohammad Lagzian - Associate Professor, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran

The differences observed in the performance levels of organizations in an industry have led to research on both strategies followed by companies and managers directing these organizations. The strategy-management alignment can bring about positive performance results for organizations. This study was conducted to measure the performance effects of this alignment and compare it to the organizational size and age in the food industry of Mashhad, Iran. The hypotheses are tested through Chi2, T-student, and multiple linear regression analysis. Findings indicate that the characteristics of top managers are aligned with organizational strategic orientation in the studied population. The aligned organizations perform better than the non-aligned ones. The effect of strategy-manager fit on performance is compared to the effect of firm size and age on it. It was indicated that strategy-manager alignment is more effective in performance than the other two factors.

Strategic Orientation, Miles and Snow Strategies, Managers’ Characteristics, Strategy-Manager Alignment, Strategic Management, Food Industry