Strategic Flexibility in New High-Technology Ventures
Ye Dai, John C. Goodale, Gukdo Byun, Fangsheng Ding
Journal of Management Studies · 2018 · Volume 55 · Issue 2
Abstract
Strategic flexibility is a vital capability for new ventures to update their strategies in a timely manner. However, the role of external knowledge sources in new ventures’ endeavours to develop strategic flexibility are unclear. Drawing on the knowledge-based and relational views, we explore the effect of two sources of external knowledge: new product development (NPD) alliances, representing tightly coupled sources, and loosely coupled sources such as industry associations. Our field study of 148 high-tech ventures found that the extent to which firms utilize knowledge from NPD alliances has a curvilinear relationship with strategic flexibility, whereas the extent to which firms utilize loosely coupled sources has a positive linear relationship with strategic flexibility. We also found that in new ventures, decentralization of decision-making and institutional support enhance knowledge integration, positively moderating these relationships.
Keywords
alliances, knowledge, new ventures, strategic flexibility, survey research
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