Environmental Constraints And Sectoral Recipes: Strategy Change In Britain’s Military Industrial Base

There has been a significant growth in research providing a sectoral‐level analysis for a range of organizational behaviour, including company strategy (Smith et al., 1990; Spender, 1989). One of the main strengths of this work is that it shows a sensitivity to how an organization’s institutional–structural context influences its behaviour. This paper will add to this growing body of research through examining one particular sector: the UK’s military equipment sector in the period immediately following the end of the Cold War. One of the most interesting findings from the research on which this paper is based was the similarity in strategies pursued by most of the companies examined. This similarity in strategies is explained in terms of two main factors. Firstly, drawing on elements of contingency theory it is suggested that the strategic options open to the companies examined were constrained by the specific nature of their capabilities, which were shaped by the character of military equipment markets. Secondly, it is suggested that the institutional characteristics of the UK’s military equipment sector were conducive to the development of a strategic ‘recipe’.