Strategic Orientation of Business Enterprises: The Construct, Dimensionality, and Measurement

This paper reports the results of a research study aimed at conceptualizing and developing valid measurements of key dimensions of a strategy construct—termed Strategic Orientation of Business Enterprises. This construct is first defined by addressing four theoretical questions of scope; hierarchical level; domain; and intentions versus realizations, and then conceptualized in terms of six dimensions. Subsequently, operational indicators are developed for the six dimensions in terms of managerial perceptions across 200 business units in a field study. An evaluation of the measurement properties within an analysis of covariance structures framework indicated that the operational measures developed here largely satisfy the criteria for unidimensionality, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. Implications and lines of extensions are outlined.