| Popis: |
We examined whether growth volition and related strategies and organizational structures have a robust positive effect on growth during a period of dramatic slowdown in industry growth. Received literature has not examined this question using longitudinal study designs. We found that a dominant growth orientation strategy may lead to sub-optimal performance in such conditions because of inertial forces that hamper the adjustment of strategies. Specifically, and as an interesting contribution to received literature, we found that the presence of external investors can operate as a strong traditionalizing force which hampers the firm's ability to modify its strategies during dramatic slowdown in industry growth. We employed longitudinal study design in the context of Finnish software product firms during the period from 1998 to 2002. This period and context represents a particularly dramatic change in an industry's fortunes, thus making it an appropriate context for our study. |
