The Techno‐economic Ecology of Corporate Strategy

Abstract C orporate strategy is viewed as a set of guidelines or policy heuristics developed as a response to the contingencies faced by a firm. If the environment is rich in contingencies, as when it is dynamic, complex, and uncertain, the firm's corporate stratedgy is likely to be comprehensive or multi‐faceted. If the environment is not rich in contingencies, as when the environment is stable or predictable, the strategy is likely to be quite limited in scope. Data from seventy‐nine firms are consistent with this contingency view of corporate strategy. When the perceived importance of each of several activities is correlated with the perceived magnitudes of different forms of competition and technological change experienced by the firm, it is found that (i) the associations between these techno‐economic environmental variables and the importance of these activities are generally positive; and (ii) there are striking differences, as between the techno‐economic variables, in their relationships with the importance of four areas of stratedgic import that are secured by classifying these activities by function. The observed relationships are explained in terms of contingencies that the techno‐economic variables may create for the firm. Plans for further research are briefly outlined.