Strategic purity: A multi-industry evaluation of pure vs. hybrid business strategies

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Thornhill, Stewart; White, Roderick E.
• 署名单位: Western University (University of Western Ontario); University Western Ontario Hospital
• 刊物名称: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0143-2095
• DOI: 10.1002/smj.606
• 发表日期: 2007
• 页码: 553-561
• 关键词: strategic purity; competitive strategy; generic strategy; in-the-middle

摘要

Twenty-five years of empirical research has failed to resolve a basic strategy question. Does strategic purity pay? Most theorists believe strategic purity-the extent to which a business pursues one type of generic strategy over another- contributes to better performance. By defining the strategy space consistent with the theory, and employing improved design and methods, our study of 2,351 businesses finds a significant relationship between strategic purity and performance. Purity does appear to pay. Some variations in strategic purity and performance relationship were observed across four major industry sectors: manufacturing, construction, retail, and business services. But in all instances pure strategies never did less well, and often did better than hybrid strategies. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.