A review of empirical research on dynamic competitive strategy, страница 8

Cooperative links within an industry also seems to be an important contingency in the environment–strategy link. First, an increase in alliances within an industry decreases competitive intensity (Young et al. 1996). Second, firms are more likely to engage in firm-level alliances if competition increases (Eisenhardt and Schoonhoven 1996; Sakakibara 2002). Third, firms react to alliance extension by partners by forming a new collaborative relationship of their own (Singh and Mitchell 1996). Similar results have been suggested for small companies or new ventures, where the owner's personal network influences competitive strategy (Ostgaard and Birley 1996).

In conclusion, there has been substantial coverage of the competitor actions and competitive landscape→competitive strategy link, with several identified studies also focusing on timing issues. However, path characteristics, for example the history of strategic interactions, do not seem to have been considered often.

Organizational Performance→Competitive Strategy

A history of favorable performance builds a level of confidence that encourages managers to continue past strategies. This persistence is caused by several distinct mechanisms. For instance, managers generally face less pressure from a deviation of aspiration level and actual performance after periods of good performance (Greve 1998a). Additionally, persistence often permits the reliance on proven routines (Lant et al. 1992; Miller 1993) and increases viability through confidence and fit with existing mental models (Barr et al. 1992; Lant et al. 1992).

Empirical studies covered in this review have demonstrated strategic persistence after historically good performance to exist in terms of stickiness in core operational ratios (Audia et al. 2000), corporate aggressiveness (Fombrun and Ginsberg 1990) and product portfolio additions and divestitures (Goodstein and Boeker 1991; Ketchen and Palmer 1999). Results also show inertia to affect tactical as well as strategic actions (Miller and Chen 1994), and to persist in the face of radical technological change (Audia et al. 2000). Ferrier (2001) extends these results by studying the effect of good performance on the yearly number of competitive attacks, their complexity, and their average duration and found a negative relationship between past periods of good performance and attack duration. Nonetheless, despite the considerable number of studies identified in this review, we found little work on how past performance influences the timing of strategic actions or its effect on long-term path characteristics.

Organizational Contingencies→Competitive Strategy

In addition to environmental variables and past performance, research on dynamic competitive strategy has identified three different types of organizational contingencies: (1) strategic context; (2) organizational structure; and (3) organizational resources and capabilities. We describe each of them briefly.

Strategic context→Competitive strategy. Here, the focus is the firm's history of competitive and corporate strategic decisions. Researchers in this area have found that a dominant strategic logic can reduce the propensity for strategic change (Boeker 1989), and that managers tend to pursue strategic actions that follow those taken in the past (Eisenhardt and Schoonhoven 1996; Washington and Ventresca 2004), therefore past decisions influence subsequent decisions. Changes in the strategic context, such as acquisitions or diversifications will, on the other hand, often trigger changes in competitive strategy variables and so serve as a source of momentum (Hitt et al. 1996; Hoskisson and Johnson 1992). Consequently, studies in this area are beginning to account for path dependencies in terms of past decisions and how they shape the direction of future competitive activity. However, there still seem to be comparatively few studies that deal with how the strategic context influences the timing of strategic actions.